Robert John Davies, GC (3 October 1900 – 27 September 1975) was a

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

officer who was awarded the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational Courage, gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, ...

(GC) for the heroism he displayed in defusing a bomb which threatened to destroy

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

on 12 September 1940.

Early life

Davies was born in

Newlyn Newlyn () is a seaside town and fishing port in south-west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' It is the largest fishing port in England. Newlyn lies on the shore of Mount's Bay and for ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, the son of John Sampson Davies of

St Erth St Erth () is a civil parishes in England, civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. St Erth takes its name from Saint Erc, one of the many Irish saints who brought Christianity to Cornwall during the Sub-Roman Britain, Da ...

and Annie Vingoe. Davies had emigrated to Canada and joined the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...

in 1918. He returned to Cornwall in the 1930s, and on 6 March 1940 was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the

, serving as a

bomb disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are disabled or otherwise rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated fun ...

officer during

the Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...

George Cross

On the night 8/9 September 1940, a ''

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

'' air raid on the city of London resulted in an unexploded bomb landing very close to St Paul's Cathedral. The bomb was lodged 27 feet deep in Deans Yard (close to the west end of the cathedral) and took three days to dig out. It was placed on two lorries (joined in tandem) and Davies drove it through deserted streets to

Hackney Marshes Hackney Marshes is an area of open space in London's Lower Lea Valley, lying on the western bank of the River Lea. It takes its name from its position on the eastern boundary of Hackney, the principal part of the London Borough of Hackney, an ...

where it was safely destroyed.

Citation

The citation from a supplement to the ''

London Gazette London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...

'' of 27 September 1940 (dated 30 September 1940) reads:

Sapper A sapper, also called a combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses ...

George Cameron Wylie was also awarded the George Cross for his part in the same action. Sergeant James Wilson and Lance-Corporal Herbert Leigh were awarded the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

(for meritorious service) (BEM) for their part in the action.

Later war career

After defusing the St Paul's bomb, Davies then served in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, but returned to the United Kingdom for an investiture at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

in February 1942.

Court-martial

In May 1942, Davies was

court-martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

led and convicted of eight charges of

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

, obtaining money dishonestly, and theft. He also pleaded guilty to 13 further charges of issuing cheques without ensuring he had sufficient funds to draw on. He was

cashiered Cashiering (or degradation ceremony), generally within military forces, is a ritual dismissal of an individual from some position of responsibility for a breach of discipline. Etymology From the Flemish (to dismiss from service; to discard ...

on 1 June 1942, and sentenced to two years' imprisonment, reduced to 18 months following review by the

General Officer Commanding General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

London District London District (LONDIST) is the name given by the British Army to the area of operations encompassing the Greater London area. It was established in 1870 as ''Home District''. History In January 1876 a ‘Mobilization Scheme for the forces i ...

. He afterwards migrated to Australia. In 1955 he was appointed by the Chief Engineer (EPC Hughes) of the Portland (Victoria) Harbour Trust, then under construction as Construction Engineer overseeing all work being performed in quarries, on the two breakwaters and wharves. His appointment was unannounced and resented by some of the existing technical staff who openly raised questions about his background, experience and qualifications. No verifiable information was made public. He lived with his wife and daughter in a Harbour Trust housing community and is believed to have continued this role until the completion of the Harbour construction in the late 1950s. After Portland he moved to and lived with his family in Kogarah, Sydney. Nothing is known of this period of his life ' ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' of 1 October 1970 reported that his medal had been sold for a then record £2,100. It is now on display at the

Imperial War Museum The Imperial War Museum (IWM), currently branded "Imperial War Museums", is a British national museum. It is headquartered in London, with five branches in England. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, it was intended to record the civ ...

. Upon his death on 27 September 1975 he was cremated and his remains interred at the Northern Suburbs Crematorium, Sydney. His interment niche is located in the "OT" wall, niche 175.

References

;Further reading * ''Danger UXB'' by James Owen has several chapters on Davies's life and the St Paul's bomb. Published by Little, Brown, 2010

External links

British Army Officers 1939−1945
* http://vingoe.name/George%20Cross.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Robert 1900 births 1975 deaths Military personnel from Cornwall British Army personnel of World War II British recipients of the George Cross Bomb disposal personnel Canadian Expeditionary Force soldiers People from Newlyn Royal Engineers officers