James Llewellyn Davies

James Llewellyn Davies VC (16 March 1886- 31 July 1917) was a Welsh recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

He was 31 years old, and a corporal in the 13th Battalion, The Royal Welch Fusiliers, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 31 July 1917 at Polygon Wood, Pilkem, Belgium, during an attack on the enemy line, Corporal Davies, single-handed, attacked a machine-gun emplacement after several men had been killed in attempting to take it. He bayoneted one of the gun crew and brought in another, together with a captured gun. Then although wounded, he led a bombing party to the assault of a defended house and killed a sniper who was harassing his platoon. He died of his wounds the same day.

On 20 October, 1917, the King presented Corporal Davies’ Victoria Cross to his widow and his eldest son. His VC is now on display at the Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum, Caernarfon Castle, Caernarfon, Wales.

References

*Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
*The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
*VCs of the First World War - Passchendaele 1917 (Stephen Snelling, 1998)