DAVEY, Joshua Norman Russell
| Service Number: | 3220 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 5th Pioneer Battalion |
| Born: | Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, 29 July 1894 |
| Home Town: | Claremont, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Claremont Practising School, Scotch College, Western Australia |
| Occupation: | Plumber |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 28 April 1918, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
Mont Huon Military Cemetery, le Treport, France Service conducted by Rev J G Lunn at gravesite Plot 6 row H grave 6.b., Mont Huon Military Cemetery, Le Treport, Haute-Normandie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Fremantle Fallen Sailors & Soldiers Memorial, West Leederville Town Hall HB2 |
World War 1 Service
| 9 Nov 1916: | Involvement Private, 3220, 6th Pioneer Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Argyllshire embarkation_ship_number: A8 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Nov 1916: | Involvement Private, 3220, 7th Pioneer Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Argyllshire embarkation_ship_number: A8 public_note: '' | |
| 9 Nov 1916: | Embarked Private, 3220, 6th Pioneer Battalion, HMAT Argyllshire, Fremantle | |
| 9 Nov 1916: | Embarked Private, 3220, 7th Pioneer Battalion, HMAT Argyllshire, Fremantle | |
| 28 Apr 1918: | Involvement Private, 3220, 5th Pioneer Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 3220 awm_unit: 5 Pioneer Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1918-04-28 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Kay Vellender
My Great Grandfathers brother, Joshua Norman Russel Davey died in France in World War I he was wounded in the battle near Villers-Bretonneux and died a few days later from his wounds on the 28th April.
My grandmother had very fond memories of her favourite Uncle Norman and passed on some photos of him to my mother and myself, she was only 12 when he sailed from Fremantle.
Joshua Norman Russell Davey was born into the large Davey family on 29th July 1894 Ballarat Victoria. His mother Sarah Davey was the second wife of John Moss Davey. At the age of 4 he had an accident which left him blind in his left eye. 1900 saw the family move to Western Australia when my Great Great Grandfather came to manage the Perth branch of Lysaght Galvanised Iron. They resided at a house in Alice Road Claremont which they named “Purleigh” after the town in England where the Davey’s had originally come from.
Norman attended the Practicing School Claremont and Scotch College Claremont whose records show he had left by 1910. The boys were keen sailors and sailed their boat “Wendouree” at the Claremont sailing club on the Swan River. Norman became a Plumber with the Metropolitan Water Supply Fremantle.
At the age of 22years and 6 months he enrolled in the AIF on 1st October 1916 and Embarked 9th November 1916 on the Argyllshire from Fremantle. His medical describes him as fresh complexion grey eyes fair hair 5’9”.
From Folkstone they landed in Etaples France 6 April 1917. There he marched to join the Engineers 5th Australian Pioneer Battalion at Bussy-Les-Dours which is 7km from Villers-Bretonneux and was moved to Corbie on the Somme about 2km away from the current Villers-Bretonneux War Memorial. The 5th Battalion job was to the dig trenches. The war diaries tell of the heavy shelling they received on the 24th April 1918 from the front and to the rear and of the recapture of Villers-Bretonneux on the 25th April 1918. Wounded in action on the 24th April 1918 at Corbie on the Somme, Norman was taken to the 47th General Hospital Le Treport.
“He was admitted here on the 26-4-18 suffering from a large wound of the left thigh with much comminution of the bone. His condition was very bad. The wounds did not improve and it was necessary to amputate the leg. The patient gradually became weaker and passed away.”
Norman died on the 28th April 1918 from wounds aged 23years and 9months.
He was buried at the military cemetery MONT HUON LE TREPORT FRANCE the service conducted by Rev J G Lunn at gravesite Plot 6 row H grave 6.b.
Lest We Forget
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