Daniel Davies was born on 28th December, 1890 at Bryn Llwyni, Llandrillo yn Rhos, Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, and the seventh of 11 children to Daniel Davies and Catherine (Davies).
Daniel junior lived at Bryn Llwyni throughout his bachelor life and was employed in one of the outfitting establishments in Flint.
Daniel Davies senior died on 12th April, 1913, aged 66, and buried in Bron-y-Nant Cemetery, Colwyn Bay.
On Wednesday, 9th April Mr Davies was about as usual and attended the music festival at Engedi. He was taken ill on the Thursday, and passed away on Saturday, after only two days’ illness. He was a native of Mochdre, and had resided in Upper Colwyn Bay for many years. He was a faithful member of the Seion Welsh Calvanistic Methodist Chapel, where he acted as a deacon since the inception of the cause 14 years previously. For many years before coming to reside at Bryn Llwyni he was in business as a butcher, but in the latter part of his life he had taken to market gardening. His funeral was well attended and there was an unusually large attendance of ministers and the general public. In the evening, at Seion, a memorial service was held, at which the Reverend W R Owen, the pastor of the church, preached a special sermon. References were made to the sterling qualities of the deceased, and the faithful manner in which he carried out the duties in connection with the cause at Seion Church.
Private Davies’s brother, Hugh Goronwy, also served in the war as a Private with the 10th Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers, No. 40571, and was killed in action in France on 16th August, 1916, when he was hit by shellfire, and is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial, France and Colwyn Bay Town memorial. He was employed by Brookes Brothers the Drapers in Llandudno.
Daniel Jnr married Jane ( Jennie) Horrobin in the Register Office, Conway on 9th June, 1913, and they set up home at 24, Sydney Street, Flint. Jennie was born in Greenfield and a daughter of Walter Horrobin, storekeeper, and his wife Eliza Abigail, of 55, Holywell Road, Flint.
They had two children – Herbert Gordon (1913–1983), and May (1914–1999). Herbert was a tax inspector who served in WW2 with the RAOC. He married Hilda Culley (1919–?) and they lived in Cardiff. May was a spinster and employed at London House, Flint.
Daniel Davies Jnr enlisted in Shotton in September 1914 and landed at Boulogne, France on 19th July, 1915, and was wounded in action in September of that year.
In an undated postcard from the Front addressed to his son, Master G H Davies, c/o Mrs Horrobin. 55 Holywell Road. Flint, he wrote:
To Dear little Gordon
Hoping you are all well see you all soon drop me a line love to all yours Daniel
To little Gordon From Dada xxxxxxx
xxxx
In September, 1917 Private Davies, who was a Stretcher Bearer, forwarded to his wife a Military Card, signed by the Brigade General, intimating that the General Officer had brought to his notice his gallant conduct in the field at the time of a certain engagement. And on the morning of Saturday 22nd September she received from her husband a letter, in which he said: “You will be pleased to hear that I have won the D.C.M.” and that every one of his friends in the Company were pleased to learn the news, and that he had been congratulated by the officers of the Company.
The citation for his DCM (Distinguished Conduct Medal), which appeared in the London Gazette on 22nd October, 1917 & Edinburgh Gazette on 28th January, 1918, read as follows: “for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty as stretcher bearer during an attack. He continually attended to the wounded under rifle and shellfire, and on one occasion he left the trench under heavy fire and rescued a badly wounded comrade in the open. He set a splendid example of courage and devotion to duty.”
Private Davies was killed in action during the battle of Arras, France on 22nd March, 1918.
He has no known grave but is commemorated on the Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France on Bay 6.
He is remembered on four war memorials: Flint Town, St Mary’s Parish Church, Flint, Caersalem Chapel, Flint and Colwyn Bay Town.
He is also remembered on his wife’s headstone in the Old London Road Cemetery, Flint, on
Grave C914, Section D, and his parent’s headstone in Bron y Nant Cemetery, Colwyn Bay, on Grave D350, as well as being commemorated on the North Wales Heroes’ Memorial Arch, Bangor.
Along with the DCM he was awarded the 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal.
In the family bible, presented to Daniel and Jane, on the occasion of their marriage, by Mrs Davies, Jennie wrote the following:- “In loving memory of my dear husband killed in France March 22nd 1918 aged 26 years. He stood a soldier until the last sad end. A perfect patriot and a noble friend.”
In June 1919 the Mayor of Flint made an official presentation of gallantry medals to the Flint soldiers but in the case of Private Daniel Davies the DCM was pinned on the breast of his son Herbert Gordon.
Daniel’s mother Catherine was born in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire and died 17th February, 1932, aged 75, and is buried with her husband and children William Griffith, Catherine Rachel and Deborah.
Jennie, who didn’t remarry, was residing at 73, Sydney Street, Flint when she became seriously ill and died in hospital a fortnight later on 22nd December, 1962, aged 73. She was the superintendent of Muspratt’s Sunday School for many years and a devoted member of St Mary’s Parish Church. She was buried in the Old London Road Cemetery, Flint, with her sisters Edith and Elizabeth Mary.
