Lieutenant Colonel Peter George "Pug" Davis (9 December 1923 – 18 August 2011) was an officer in the

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

. He was considered a 'founding father' of the

Special Boat Service The Special Boat Service (SBS) is the special forces unit of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The SBS can trace its origins back to the Second World War when the Army Special Boat Section was formed in 1940. After the Second World War, the Roy ...

Early life

Davis was born in on 9 December 1923, the son of Solly Davis and Iris Davis (née Pinto). He attended

Highgate School Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is a co-educational, fee-charging, private day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate Pre-Preparato ...

and enlisted in the

in 1942.

Career

Second World War

In mid-1944, Davis was based on the island of

Vis Vis, ViS, VIS, and other capitalizations may refer to: Places * Vis (island), a Croatian island in the Adriatic sea ** Vis (town), on the island of Vis * Vis (river), in south-central France * Vis, Bulgaria, a village in Haskovo Province * Visa ...

in the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

off the coast of the

Former Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

(in present-day

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

) as commander of a flotilla of Landing Craft (Assault) (LCAs). In June some of his reinforcements were ambushed in the mountains during a mission and only twelve men escaped to shore. Davis, who was on an LCA, took the chance to recover their weapons and rescue another officer who had been wounded. He was awarded the

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) *Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) *Distinguished Service Cross (U ...

on 13 March 1945 for his actions that day.

Later career

After the war, Davis was sent to Germany to oversee the establishment of the Royal Marines Demolition Unit along

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

, intended to be a deterrent against the Soviets in the

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

. During the 1960s he was a company commander in

40 Commando 40 Commando RM is a battalion-sized formation of the British Royal Marines and subordinate unit within UK Commando Force, the principal Commando formation, under the operational command of the Fleet Commander. Their barracks are at Norton Manor ...

deployed to the jungles of

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

for the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. He led "Pugforce", an amalgam of Royal Marines, Ghurkhas,

Sarawak Rangers The Sarawak Rangers were a paramilitary force founded in 1862 by the second White Rajah of the Raj of Sarawak, Charles Brooke. History Sarawak rangers evolved from the fortmen which were raised to defend Kuching in 1846. The Sarawak Ran ...

and

Iban IBAN or Iban or Ibán may refer to: Banking * International Bank Account Number Ethnology * Iban culture * Iban language The Iban language () is spoken by the Iban, one of the Dayak ethnic groups who live in Brunei, the Indonesian provinc ...

trackers deep in the jungle and managed to capture several rebels. Later in his career Davis became an amphibious warfare instructor. He retired in 1971.

References

Military personnel from the City of Westminster People from Paddington People educated at Highgate School 20th-century British Jews Royal Marines Commando officers Special Boat Service officers 1923 births 2011 deaths Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Marines personnel of World War II {{UK-navy-bio-stub Burials in Hampshire