Private William Davidson
The background of this North Irish Horseman is not certain, other than that he was born around 1897, and at some point after the war he lived at 64 Ruth Street, Belfast. He may have been the older brother of John Davidson of Spamount Street, Belfast, as the two men enlisted in the North Irish Horse together. This man, born as William Connor Davidson, was born on 1 September 1918 at 17 Hogarth Street, Belfast, the first of seven children of engine fitter John Davidson and his wife Annie (née Connor). By the time of the 1911 Census he was living in Spamount Street, Belfast, with his parents and siblings.
Davidson enlisted in the North Irish Horse on 19 August 1916 (No.2239). He trained at the regiment's Antrim reserve camp before embarking for France in the first half of 1917, where he was posted to one of the squadrons of the 1st or 2nd North Irish Horse Regiments.
In August-September 1917 the 2nd NIH Regiment was disbanded and its men, together with some surplus to the needs of the 1st NIH Regiment, were transferred to the Royal Irish Fusiliers, an infantry regiment. Most, including Davidson, were transferred on 20 September and posted to the 9th (Service) Battalion – renamed the 9th (North Irish Horse) Battalion – joining it in the field at Ruyaulcourt five days later. Davidson was issued regimental number 41444.
He probably saw action with the battalion at the Battle of Cambrai in November and December 1917.
Davidson was injured in late 1917 or the first half of 1918, suffering a fracture of the right patella. Evacuated to the UK for treatment, on 1 October 1918 he was discharged, being 'no longer physically fit for war service' (paragraph 392 (xvi), King's Regulations). He was awarded a pension, his level of disability assessed at 30 per cent in August 1920.