David John Palmer – Devonshire Regiment, 2nd Battalion

Private David John Palmer – Devonshire Regiment, 2nd Battalion

David John Palmer was born in 1899 in Swansea, the son of Lewis Palmer and Elizabeth Walters.

1901 Census

According to the 1901 Census, the Palmer family were living at Cae Badbell, Cockett, Swansea, where Lewis, aged 34, worked as a Coal Hewer, and his wife Elizabeth A., aged 30, managed the home. Their only child at that time was David J., aged 2. Also present was William D. Walters, aged 31, David’s uncle, who was likewise employed as a Coal Hewer, reflecting a family firmly rooted in the mining communities of west Swansea.

1911 Census

By the 1911 Census, the family had moved to Welford House, Gendros, Fforestfach, near Swansea. Lewis, now 44, continued to work as a Coal Hewer, while Elizabeth Ann, aged 40, cared for their growing family. Their children were David John, aged 12; William Lewis, aged 8; Richard Hugh, aged 6; Arthur Sidney, aged 4 — all attending school — and Megan Elizabeth, a baby of two months. The census paints a picture of a young, expanding household typical of the mining districts of Swansea at the beginning of the twentieth century.

As he reached adulthood, David John Palmer enlisted and served as a Private with the Devonshire Regiment, 2nd Battalion, a Regular Army battalion with a long and distinguished history. Before the war, the battalion had been stationed in Cairo, Egypt, serving as part of Britain’s imperial garrison. When war broke out in August 1914, the battalion was recalled to Britain, arriving home on 1 October 1914, and was assigned to 23rd Brigade, 8th Division. They landed in France on 6 November 1914, joining the British Expeditionary Force during the early, brutal months of trench warfare.

Throughout 1914 and 1915, the 2nd Devons served in some of the harshest sectors of the Western Front, including the Neuve Chapelle area, where they endured bitter winter conditions, constant shellfire, and the daily attrition of trench life. Their war diary records actions such as the attack on Moated Grange in December 1914 and numerous patrols, raids, and defensive operations that hardened the battalion for the major offensives to come.

David John Palmer
Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France
credit - findagrave

By early 1916, the battalion was positioned in the Somme sector, preparing for the largest British offensive yet attempted. They rehearsed attacks, studied trench maps, dug assembly trenches, and moved supplies forward in readiness for the assault. Their objective on 1 July 1916 was one of the most difficult on the entire front: the attack on Ovillers Spur, advancing across the exposed ground of Mash Valley.

At 7.30 a.m., when the British artillery barrage lifted, the 2nd Devons advanced in waves. They were immediately met by devastating machine‑gun fire from the German front line and by enfilading fire from both flanks. Entire companies were cut down within minutes. Only a handful of men reached the German trenches, and those who did were quickly overwhelmed. The battalion suffered catastrophic casualties, among the worst of any British unit on the first day of the Somme. Among those killed was Private David John Palmer, who was only 17 years old.

Like so many who fell that morning, he has no known grave. His name is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France — the great monument to the missing of the Somme, where more than 72,000 men with no known resting place are honoured. Though the surviving details of David’s life are few, his sacrifice is preserved in the enduring record of the 2nd Devons, a battalion remembered for its professionalism, endurance, and the terrible price it paid on that first day of July 1916.