Davies, Tasman Roy

No.3117 – Corporal Tasman Roy Davies – 12^th Field Artillery Brigade

Tasman Roy Davies was born in Richmond Victoria in 1893 to Percy and Margaret Davies. He received his initial education in Victoria but then the family came to Western Australia, where for a time Percy Davies worked in the drapery business in Kalgoorlie. Tasman followed his father in this trade and in the 1900’s the Davies began the Bradshaw’s department store in Fremantle, situated just near the Town Hall. Tasman worked as a Draper in the Fremantle store and the family lived in Swanbourne Street Fremantle.

It appears that Tasman returned to Victoria in 1914/15 and he enlisted into the AIF in Melbourne on the 17^th July 1915. He had previous experience in the junior and senior cadets and was passed as fit for service. The medical examiner recorded Tasman’s physical attributes as;

Height:                                     5 feet 6 inches;

Weight:                                    104lbs;

Chest Measurement:               35-37 inches;

Complexion:                            Fair;

Eyes:                                       Blue;

Hair:                                        Fair;

Religious Denomination:         Presbyterian;

Distinctive Marks:                    scar on left forearm

However shortly after his enlistment Tasman was given leave to marry his sweetheart Amelia Cohen on the 14^th August 1915. They were only able to have a short honeymoon but it was fruitful as a son, Louis was born on the 27^th June 1916.

After returning from his honeymoon Tasman was sent to Broadmeadows Camp where he was assigned to the 10^th Reinforcements to the 12^th Battalion AIF. He spent several weeks training with this group while they waited for their embarkation orders to arrive. These finally came through and on the 16^th October 1915 Tasman boarded the HMAT Port Lincoln in Port Melbourne and set sail for Egypt, reaching there in mid November.

After being disembarked the men were sent into the 3^rd Training Battalion reinforcement camp. As the decision had now been made to evacuate the Dardanelles, Tasman and his group were retained in Egypt. The 12^th Battalion returned to Egypt in early January 1916 but they were soon brought up to strength with the large amount of reinforcements then in Egypt.

Tasman would remain in the 3^rd Training Battalion Camp through to the end of February 1916. With the expansion of the AIF, Tasman was sent to form a part of the newly created 52^nd Battalion AIF. He spent just three weeks with this group as on the 29^th March he was transferred to the 45^th Battery of the 12^th Field Artillery Brigade. He was soon promoted Bombardier and trained with his new unit in the Egyptian desert until the end of May 1916. Their departure orders soon arrived and on the 2^nd June 1916 Tasman and his Battery boarded a transport ship and set sail for France, disembarking at Marseilles on the 10^th June 1916. They were then marched through the city to the Railway Station where they boarded trains which took them to northern France.

Tasman’s artillery unit soon reached Armentieres and on the 10^th July 1916 he was promoted to Corporal. Tasman’s 45^th Battery would have their first taste of action in the Fleurbaix sector in July 1916 when they were involved in providing artillery supporting fire during the Fromelles action. They were then sent to the Somme battlefield where they continued to give supporting artillery fire during the Somme campaign.

On the 18^th November Tasman was sent to the 19^th Casualty Clearing Station suffering from boils on the neck and he was in the CCS for eleven days while being treated. He returned to the 45^th battery on the 29^th November 1916. His brother Percy was also now in France serving with the 7^th Battery but they brothers were able to wangle a transfer so that Percy joined the 45^th Battery, however this wasn’t enabled until March 1917.

With the retirement of the Germans to the Hindenburg Line this meant that the Artillery batteries were able to move forward but the Germans knew the best places for the artillery to be situated so they were often under heavy bombardment. On the 11^th April 1917 Tasman was killed instantly when shrapnel struck him as he was bringing up more ammunition to his battery. He was buried on the right of the road from Vaulx to Noreuil (map reference c.20 D.2.3) Tasman’s brother Percy stated to the Red Cross that;

“I was with my brother just a few minutes before he was killed. He had just left our battery in charge of several wagons and was returning to the wagon lines when a shell burst on the side of the road instantly killing him and another poor fellow, Foster (?) of the 15^th Battalion, they were both buried together on the high bank on the right hand side 300 yards from the crucifix standing on the outskirts of Vaux Vaucourt on the road to Noreuil. I attended to the grave and placed a cross with a brass plate on which the memorial inscription was stamped. If its possible for you to register it I would be grateful as we left that sector before I could attend to it. I both cabled and wrote to my parents and his wife giving them every detail.”

Percy also drew a sketch of where Tasman was buried. (see below)

Unfortunately after the war when war graves parties came through this area Tasman’s grave could not be located and so he is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.

Amelia Davies would live a long life, dying in Canterbury Victoria in 1981 aged 89, while Louis Davies, who served in the Royal Australian Air Force in WW2, died in 2005 in Tawonga Victoria.