George Rae DAVIDSON

Regimental number2614
Place of birthAnnandale, Sydney, New South Wales
ReligionPresbyterian
OccupationClerk
AddressKillarney, Dulwich Hill, Sydney, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation20
Height5' 7.5"
Weight126 lbs
Next of kinMother, F.S. Davidson, Fraser Street, Dulwich Hill, Sydney, New South Wales
Previous military serviceMilitia (1 year)
Enlistment date25 July 1915
Place of enlistmentLiverpool, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name18th Battalion, 6th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/35/2
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A14 Euripides on 2 November 1915
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll3rd Battalion
FateKilled in Action 4 May 1917
Age at death from cemetery records21
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
36
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Thomas and Florence Susan DAVIDSON (nee FULLER), Fraser Street, Marrickville, New South Wales
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Taken on strength of 3rd Bn, Tel el Kebir, 14 February 1916, and reverts to the rank of Private the same day.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 22 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 28 March 1916.

Wounded in action, 22/27 July 1916; admitted to No 3 Casualty Clearing Station, 25 July 1916, and transferred to No 21 Ambulance Train the same day (gunshot wound, arm); to No 1 Convalescent Depot, Boulogne, 26 July 1916; to England, 28 July 1916; to Colchester General Hospital, 28 July 1916; discharged to furlough, 25 August 1916.

Proceeded overseas to France, 22 September 1916; marched into 1st Australian Divisional Base Depot, Etaples, 24 September 1916.

Proceeded to unit, 4 October 1916; rejoined 3rd Bn, 6 October 1916.

On Command at Lewis Gun School, 9 December 1916; rejoined unit, 20 December 1916.

Admitted to No 1 Divisional Rest Station, 2 March 1917 (pleurisy); discharged, 17 March 1917; rejoined unit, 18 March 1917.

Killed in action, 4 May 1917.

Buried in vicinity of Maricourt Wood.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, DAVIDSON George Rae