James Davies

Private James Davies – Middlesex Regiment, 4^th Battalion

Early Life

Details about the early life of James Davies are limited. He was the son of Rees Davies (deceased by the time of the war) and Elizabeth Davies, who later remarried and became Elizabeth Parker. At the time of the 1911 Census, Elizabeth was living with her second husband, Eli Parker, at Cwm, Cockett, Sketty, Swansea. While Elizabeth and Eli appear in earlier census records, there is no clear reference to James in those, leaving aspects of his youth and early family life uncertain.

Military Service

James served with the 4^th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment during the final months of the First World War. By September 1918, the British Army was engaged in the Hundred Days Offensive, a series of successful Allied operations that eventually led to the end of the war.

Death

Private James Davies was killed in action on 9^th September 1918, aged 38. The timing places his death amidst these operations of the Hundred Days Offensive, when the Allies were applying pressure along several fronts in France and Flanders, gradually breaking through German lines, and securing territory.

Burial

James is buried at Vaulx Hill Cemetery, France. This cemetery contains the graves of many men who died during the final pushes of 1918, when operations were swift and casualties continued even as battlefield gains increased.

Legacy

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records that James was the son of Elizabeth Parker (formerly Davies), of 1 Cwm Cockett, Sketty, Swansea, and of the late Rees Davies. His name is preserved in the CWGC register and on his headstone, ensuring his sacrifice is not forgotten.

Though much about his service remains unclear, situating his death in September 1918 binds him to the final, decisive phase of the war—the period in which many such soldiers fell while the Allies advanced towards victory. His memory lives on in Sketty and among all those communities that lost sons, husbands, and fathers in those closing months.