In memory of Hugh Lewis Davies
Hugh was born on 11 February 1896 to Hugh and Marret Davies of Panteidal Farm, writes great-nephew Dai Sheppard. Two of his brothers moved to South Wales (Ebbw Vale and Porth) for work, another farmed Penteidal until the 1960s. Other siblings also remained in the area.
In 1911 Hugh lived with the family in Copper Hill Street and was a baker's apprentice. On 31 August 1914 – shortly after the war began – he enlisted as a Private with the South Staffordshire Regiment in West Bromwich. He gave his address as 3 Brynniau Ucha, Aberdyfi.
He spent the next 14 months in camps at Lichfield, Tavistock and Harrogate, before going to the Western Front.
Hugh was killed in the Ypres area of Belgium on 27 July 1917, while out on a reconnaissance patrol a few days before the start of the Third Battle of Ypres (commonly known as “Passchendaele”). He was 21 years old. He has no known grave, and is therefore commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres.
A number of his comrades of the 7th Battalion also died in this action, and one soldier was awarded the Victoria Cross – Britain’s highest bravery honour – for covering the men’s retreat.
The handwriting in the corner of his portrait records his date of death with the comment: “His duty nobly done.” It is believed the inscription was added by his grieving sister Dora.
Return to Aberdyfi war memorial page
Return to Tywyn war memorial page
