53rd Battalion Private Richard ‘Dick’ Davies

Dick was born in 1885 in Strata-Florada Abbey, South Wales, but later immigrated to Australia with his family. Here they lived at 3 Attfield Street, Beaconsfield, where his widowed mother lived for the rest of her life.

Dick, who worked as a boilermaker for the Midland Railways, married Jessie Francis Wilson in 1905. They seem to have lived together quite happily in Leederville until around September 1907 when Jessie went to Melbourne for work. In November Dick received the most extraordinary letter from her. She started out with pleasantries - she was sorry he wasn’t working; she wasn’t in town much; she had plenty of sewing to do, making dresses, etc; and she knew he still liked her by his letter, so she was going to tell him the truth. She wrote she had liked him but never really loved him, and it was his fault they married. The truth was, she confessed, she had seen an old sweetheart in Fremantle and had followed him to Melbourne since, according to Jessie, he was the only man she had ever loved. She closed with the advice Dick should forget her, and a footnote imploring him to burn the letter for her sake.

Perhaps in response to Jessie’s letter, Dick left the railways in 1908 with a “satisfactory” record of service and joined the Merchant Marine, moving freely between the west and the east coasts. During these trips, it seems reasonable to assume he may have visited his errant wife.

In 1909 Jessie gave birth to a baby boy. She named him Eric and cited Dick as the father, but it seems neither Dick nor his mother knew of the boy's existence.

Dick was in Sydney, NSW, when he enlisted on 22 September 1915 at the age of 32. He stated he was single and named his mother, Elizabeth, as next of kin. His medical exam records some exotic tattoos - of a dancer on his right forearm and an anchor with ‘E’ on his left; possibly for his mother.

In the tin trunk containing Dick’s pre-enlistment possessions were “Book of Rules – Stewards and Pantrymen”; starched white shirts and short white jackets, suggesting a uniform he may have worn as a ship's purser or steward when he worked for the Merchant Marines. Other items were not uniform items: a box of visiting cards; a magnifying glass in a jewelled case; a silver watch; cigarette case; corkscrew; a short checked jacket and fancy vest; soft shirts; and a black neck bow[tie]. Dick’s items were lodged with the Army as personal effects upon his enlistment.

At some stage during Dick’s lengthy training, he made a fleeting trip back to Perth to see his mother and had his photo taken at Dease Studio. These photos show this handsome, confident young man modelling his uniform as if he were on the catwalk during Paris Fashion Week.

Initially assigned to the 1st Battalion, Dick embarked on 8 March 1916 from Sydney aboard the Star of England. On arrival in Egypt he marched to Ismailia and there, was reassigned to the 53rd Battalion. On arrival he was briefly admitted to hospital with ‘alcoholism’, likely a one-off event after over-imbibing, and returned to his unit later the same day. He was deployed with the 53rd Battalion to Marseilles, arriving on 28 June. Sadly, just 21 days later, Dick was killed in action at Pozieres on 19 July 1916.

In 1917 Dick’s mother received a his many pre-war effects packed away on his enlistment and, in time, a pension.

In 1919 Dick’s widow, Jessie, married commercial artist Wynne Davies (no relation to Dick and seven years Jessie’s junior). In 1921 she wrote to the army claiming her status was that of deserted wife and, as Dick’s widow, she should have rights to his pension and his effects.

Dick’s mother Elizabeth, alerted to Jessie’s assertions by the army, swiftly responded with her own evidence - the 1907 letter Jessie had implored Dick to burn, and a statement proclaiming “Richard’s so-called-wife Jessie Wilson... deserted him eight years before the war, went with an old sweetheart of hers ...and had children from this man and lives with him [to] this day, so far as I know.”

Jessie received nothing. Elizabeth kept her pension and her son’s cherished effects and, in time, received his British War and Victory medals, and the King’s Memorial Scroll and Plaque. She placed memorial notices every year for Dick, until she died in Fremantle in 1931, aged 87.

Jessie’s son, Eric, was adopted by Michael and Geraldine O’Kane. They had had one child, a son, born in 1911 who had lived for just three weeks. Eric O’Kane lived with his adopted parents and grew up to be a commercial artist. When he died aged 29 in 1938 his parents were listed as Dick and Jessie Davies. Jessie immediately placed a death notice for him in the Sydney newspapers claiming him as her only son. She died in NSW in 1967 aged 82, Wynne having predeceased her in 1963.

Had Jessie had the last laugh and denied Elizabeth a grandson?

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