Sidney Francis Davies - Royal Sussex Regiment, 11th (Service) Battalion (1st South Downs)

Second Lieutenant Sidney Francis Davies - Royal Sussex Regiment, 11^th (Service) Battalion (1^st South Downs)

Birth and Family Background

Sidney Francis Davies was born in 1894 in Swansea. He was the son of John Francis Davies and Jessie Davies.

1901 Census

At the time of the 1901 Census, the family were residing at 8 Prince of Wales Road, Swansea. Merthyr-born John Francis Davies (45) was employed as an undertaker, and his wife Jessie (30) was also born in Merthyr. Their children were Robert J. (18), an undertaker; Bernard F. (15), a general labourer; Sidney F. (8); Aubrey (3); and Willie J. (2). Also present in the household were a servant, Sarah Maris (16), and a visitor, Mary Jones (19).

1911 Census

By the time of the 1911 Census, Sidney Francis (17) was recorded as a stockbroker’s clerk, residing at 8 Prince of Wales Road, Swansea, the home of his elder brother Robert John (28).

Military Service and Death

Sidney was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Sussex Regiment, 11^th (Service) Battalion (1^st South Downs).

On 15^th November 1917, during the closing phase of the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele), the battalion was holding advanced positions in the devastated landscape east of Ypres. Although the main assault on Passchendaele Ridge had concluded earlier that month, the fighting remained severe. The ground was churned into deep mud by months of bombardment, trenches were shallow or flooded, and movement depended on fragile duckboard tracks. Units such as the 11th Royal Sussex were engaged in consolidating captured positions, strengthening defences, and resisting persistent German artillery fire and counter-attacks. Casualties frequently occurred during routine duties in these exposed and waterlogged conditions. It was in this harsh and attritional environment, in the Hooge sector of the Ypres Salient, that Sidney was killed in action.

Burial

Sidney Francis Davies
Hooge Crater Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
credit - findagrave

Second Lieutenant Sidney Francis Davies is buried at Hooge Crater Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, a cemetery closely associated with the heavy and sustained fighting around Ypres in 1917