Alfred Edward Davies – Naval Auxiliary Personnel (Merchant Navy)

 1^st Writer Alfred Edward Davies – Naval Auxiliary Personnel (Merchant Navy)

Early Life

Alfred Edward Davies was born in 1887 in Cardiff. Few early records survive for him, but by the time of the Second World War he was living in Swansea and serving in a naval administrative role.

Service with the Naval Auxiliary Personnel

Alfred served with the Naval Auxiliary Personnel (Merchant Navy) and was attached to H.M.S. Mersey, a Royal Navy shore establishment. He held the rank of 1st Writer, a specialist clerical position responsible for administration, record‑keeping, correspondence, and personnel documentation—work essential to the smooth running of naval operations.

H.M.S. Mersey – A Royal Navy Shore Establishment

During this period, H.M.S. Mersey functioned as a shore establishment, often referred to as a “stone frigate.” Such establishments carried ship names so that naval personnel serving there fell under the same regulations as those afloat. H.M.S. Mersey provided administrative, training, and logistical support, and Writer ratings like Alfred were central to its day‑to‑day operation. Their work ensured that pay, service records, communications, and operational paperwork were maintained accurately—vital tasks during wartime.

Royal Naval Auxiliary Hospital, Liverpool

Alfred later received treatment at the Royal Naval Auxiliary Hospital, Liverpool, one of several hospitals established by the Royal Navy to care for naval and auxiliary personnel during the Second World War. Liverpool, as the headquarters of Western Approaches Command, was a major centre of naval activity, and the city required extensive medical facilities to support the thousands of sailors passing through its port.

Royal Naval Auxiliary Hospitals were often created by adapting existing buildings—such as convalescent homes or large public institutions—into military medical centres. Staffed by naval medical officers, nurses, Sick Berth ratings, and civilian specialists, these hospitals provided surgery, infectious disease care, rehabilitation, and general treatment for those injured or taken ill while serving. It was at one of these Liverpool hospitals that Alfred’s life came to an end.

Death

British Army and Navy Birth, Marriage and Death Records

According to the British Army and Navy Birth, Marriage and Death Records, Alfred Edward Davies, of 11 Oakland Road, Mumbles, Swansea, died on 25^th October 1945 at the Royal Naval Auxiliary Hospital, Liverpool, shortly after the end of the Second World War.

Burial and Commemoration

Alfred Edward Davies is buried at Anfield Cemetery, Liverpool, where his service is formally recorded and remembered. His contribution as a 1^st Writer reflects the essential but often unseen administrative work that supported Britain’s wartime naval operations.