Noel Parry Davies

 Lieutenant Noel Parry Davies

Royal Air Force

Family Background

Noel Parry Davies 

Born in 1899 in Singapore, Noel Parry Davies was the son of Elizabeth Jane Davies, later widowed. By the 1911 Census, Noel, aged 12, was living with his mother, his sister Phyllis (17), and grandmother Mary Jane Pickard (79) at 29 Ffynone Terrace, Swansea.

Early Life

1911 Census

Very little is recorded of Noel’s early life beyond the 1911 Census. His family roots connected him to Swansea, and by the time of the First World War, he was preparing for military service.

Military Service

Royal Air Force

Noel Parry Davies
RAF Officer Service Record

In April 1918, the Royal Air Force was formed from the merger of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. Its motto, Per Ardua ad Astra — “Through Adversity to the Stars” — became the guiding spirit of a new service that, at the time of its founding, was the largest air force in the world. Noel Parry Davies was among its youngest officers, commissioned as a Lieutenant at just 18 years old.

Death and Burial

B.E.2e B4556

Daily Record

Dundee Courier

On 8^th April 1918, Noel was flying a B.E.2e (B4556) from RAF Turnhouse, Edinburgh, to North Queensferry with fellow officer Lieutenant George Armitage Bird. The aircraft stalled and nose-dived. Noel was killed instantly; Bird survived but was injured. The accident was reported in the Daily Record and the Dundee Courier. His RAF officer service record named his sister Phyllis as next of kin.

Noel Parry Davies
Scottish death certificates

Cambrian Daily Leader

On 12^th April 1918, Noel was buried with full military honours at Bethel Welsh Congregational Chapel, Sketty. His funeral was reported in the Cambrian Daily Leader. Unlike some of his fellow servicemen, Noel’s grave does not bear a military headstone.

Legacy

Noel Parry Davies
Bethel Welsh Congregational Chapelyard

Noel Parry Davies was among the first generation of men to serve in the newly formed Royal Air Force, and one of its earliest casualties. Just eighteen years old, his short life and tragic death are remembered in Bethel’s chapelyard, where his grave recalls both the youth of the RAF and the dangers faced by its earliest pilots.