Lieutenant Llewelyn Crichton Davies (9 January 1889 – 16 March 1918) was a Welsh World War I

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

credited with five aerial victories.

Biography

Llewellyn Crichton (or Crighton) Davies was born in Cardiff, the son of William Henry Davies, the editor of the ''Cardiff Figaro'', and Hanna Crighton, from

Forfar Forfar (; , ) is the county town of Angus, Scotland, and the administrative centre for Angus Council, with a new multi-million-pound office complex located on the outskirts of the town. As of 2021, the town had a population of 16,280. The town ...

. He was educated at Cardiff and at Halifax, and became a chartered accountant.du Ruvigny & Raineval (1922) On the outbreak of World War I, he was living in

Pollokshields Pollokshields (, Scots language, Scots: ''Powkshiels'') is an area in the Southside of Glasgow, Scotland. Its modern boundaries are largely man-made, being formed by the M77 motorway to the west and northwest with the open land of Pollok Count ...

, Glasgow, and enlisted as a private in the 5th Battalion,

Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) was a rifle regiment of the British Army, the only regiment of rifles amongst the Scottish regiments of infantry. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 26th Cameronian Reg ...

on 4 August 1914. On 7 March 1915 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant. Davies saw action with his regiment on the Western Front during the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

, and on 28 August 1916 he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

. His citation read: :Second Lieutenant Llewellyn Crighton Davies, Scottish Rifles. :For conspicuous gallantry in action. He handled his trench-mortars with great skill, and knocked out an enemy machine-gun that was holding up the advance. He also took charge of various parties that had lost their officers, and brought in single-handed a wounded man under heavy fire. In February 1917 he was seconded to the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

as a flying officer (observer), and served with No. 22 Squadron as an observer/gunner in the FE.2b reconnaissance aircraft.Guttman & Dempsey (2007), pp. 80 & 93. While flying with Captain Carleton Main Clement on morning formation patrol, he was credited with two

Albatros D.III The Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service () during World War I. A modified licensed version was built by Oeffag for the Austro-Hungarian Air Service (''Luftfahrtruppen''). The D.III was flown ...

fighters destroyed on 6 and 8 April 1917, although they were shared with several others, including

Gerald Gordon Bell Captain Gerald Gordon Bell (11 June 1890 – 7 October 1970) was a Canadian First World War flying ace, officially credited with sixteen aerial victories while serving in the British Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force. World War I Bell w ...

. On 5 June, Davies and Clement destroyed an Albatros D.V and drove a second one down out of control. Davies was promoted to lieutenant on 1 July. On 29 July, having upgraded to a Bristol F.2 Fighter, Davies and Clement shot down another German aircraft, thought to be that of

Kurt Schneider Kurt Schneider (7 January 1887 – 27 October 1967) was a German psychiatrist known largely for his writing on the diagnosis and understanding of schizophrenia, as well as personality disorders then known as psychopathic personalities. ...

, ''

Staffelführer ''Staffelführer'' (, " Formation leader") was one of the first paramilitary ranks used by the German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) in the early years of that group's existence. The later SS rank of ''Staffelführer'' traces its origins to the First ...

'' of ''

Jasta 5 History Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 5, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 5, was created on 21 January 1916, and mobilized on 21 August 1916, as one of the first fighter units of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army ...

''. Schneider later died of wounds received in this action. In November 1917, Davies was reassigned to No. 105 Squadron.Franks ''et.al.'' (1997), p. 13. He was appointed a flying officer on 27 February 1918, but on 13 March, while based at the 54th Training Depot Station, he was fatally injured after crashing his

Airco DH.4 The Airco DH.4 is a British two-seat biplane day bomber of the First World War. It was designed by Geoffrey de Havilland (hence "DH") for Airco, and was the first British two-seat light day-bomber capable of defending itself. It was desig ...

(serial number B5495), and died three days later at the Somerville Section of the 3rd Southern General Hospital in Oxford. Davies is buried at Holy Trinity Church,

Penton Mewsey Penton Mewsey is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. It is located north-west of Andover. The village is home to approximately 400 people and has about 110 houses. The name Penton is derived from ''Penitone'', which is a farm hel ...

, Hampshire, England.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Llewelyn 1889 births 1918 deaths Burials in Hampshire British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from Cardiff British accountants Cameronians soldiers Cameronians officers Royal Flying Corps officers British World War I flying aces Recipients of the Military Cross Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in England Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1918 Welsh aviators