George William Davis

A Private with 6th Battalion, George died on 22nd of August 1917 at the age of 37. 

George was born at Morar, Bengal, India, on 30 November 1882, a son of George and Jane Davis. George’s father was serving in India with the Royal Artillery. George was baptised at Morar, on 22 December 1882. By 1891 his family had settled at Lowestoft and lived at 3 Selby Street. This was still their home in 1901 when George worked as a timber carter. 

George married Harriett Elizabeth Grand at Lowestoft in autumn 1902. By 1911 they were living at 61 Clemence Street, Lowestoft, with George’s parents and George was a general carter.

George enlisted in the Army at Lowestoft. Initially he served with the East Surrey Regiment, service number 23474. He was transferred to the Somerset Light Infantry, number 27330, and posted to the 6th Battalion in France. 

On 21 August 1917 the 6th Battalion attacked the German positions in the vicinity of Inverness Copse. They had a number of strong points to deal with and faced sustained machine-gun fire. They were engaged in heavy fighting around Herenthage Chateau and took around 130 prisoners, but the Battalion lost many officers and the attack faltered through lack of leadership. Reinforcements were sent, in small numbers, but this did not help. About 2 p.m. on the 22nd the Germans, possibly 1,000 in number, grouped in preparation to make a counter-attack. This was checked by British artillery and machine-gun fire. 
At dawn on the 24th the Battalion was still holding on to Inverness Copse and the Germans counter-attacked in large numbers. Again, the attacked was checked by machine-gun fire. Later in the morning operational control was handed over to the Officer Commanding the 10th Battalion Durham Light Infantry. 

The Battalion’s casualties from 21 to 24 August 1917 were:
Officers: 6 killed, 2 wounded and missing, 9 wounded
Other Ranks: 42 killed, 74 missing, 209 wounded  

George was killed in action on the 22nd August. 

George's brother, Henry, had a long career in the Royal Navy and died in 1944.