Brinley Davies

Private Brinley Davies – Devonshire Regiment, 2^nd Battalion

Early Life

1901 Census

Brinley Davies was born in 1896, the son of David Davies and Mary Ann John. In the 1901 Census, the family was living at 22 Part of Carnglas, Sketty. David, aged 32, worked as a Colliery Hewer, while Mary Ann, then 29, managed the household. Their children were Evan J. (7), Brinley (5), and Lizzie J. (10 months). This is the only census record in which Brinley appears.

Military Service

Brinley enlisted with the Devonshire Regiment, 2^nd Battalion, a regular battalion that formed part of the 23^rd Brigade, 8th Division of the British Army.

On 1^st July 1916, the opening day of the Battle of the Somme, the battalion went into action near the village of Mametz. Their task was to advance across open ground towards heavily defended German positions. The men left their trenches at 7:30 a.m., moving forward in waves, but were met almost immediately with a devastating storm of machine-gun fire.

The attack proved extremely costly. Within hours, the battalion had suffered 11 officers and 221 men killed or missing, with another 5 officers and 194 men wounded. In total, over half the battalion became casualties.

Memorial Stone
Devonshire Cemetery

The survivors buried their dead in the very trench from which they had begun their assault. This became the Devonshire Cemetery, where soldiers from the 2nd, 8th, and 9th Battalions were laid to rest. Four days after the attack, a ceremony was held to honour the 161 men of the regiment buried there. A wooden cross, erected by comrades of the 8th and 9th Battalions, bore the now-famous words:

“The Devonshires held this trench, the Devonshires hold it still.”

Although the original wooden cross disappeared in the 1980s, it was later replaced with a permanent stone memorial that stands at the cemetery to this day.

Death

Private Brinley Davies was among those killed in action on 1^st July 1916, the first day of the Somme. He was just 20 years old.

Burial

Brinley Davies
Thiepval Memorial
credit - findagrave

Brinley has no known grave. His name is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, which bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men who died in the Somme sector and have no known resting place.

Legacy

Brinley’s sacrifice is remembered not only on the Thiepval Memorial, but also at St Paul’s, Sketty, where his name is recorded twice on the parish memorial. His story reflects both the devastating impact of the Somme on Swansea families and the lasting legacy of the Devonshire Regiment’s sacrifice in the trench they came to call their own.