Private William Henry Davis
illiam Henry Davis was born on 17 October 1890 at Ballintine, Blaris, Lisburn, County Down, the third of six children of shoemaker Thomas James Davis and his wife Isabella (née Kain). By the time of the 1911 Census he was living at nearby Largymore with his parents and siblings and working as a farm labourer.
Davis enlisted in the North Irish Horse on 9 or 10 November 1915 (No.1835 – later Corps of Hussars No.71582). He trained at the regiment's Antrim reserve camp before embarking for France sometime between 1916 and 1918, where he was posted to one of the squadrons of the 1st North Irish Horse Regiment, which served as corps cavalry to VII, XIX, then V Corps from May 1916. In February-March 1918 the regiment was dismounted and converted to a cyclist unit, serving as corps cyclists to V Corps until the end of the war.
Davis remained with the regiment throughout the war. He was wounded in September or October 1918 during the Advance to Victory offensive.
On 17 March 1919 he was demobilised and transferred to Class Z, Army Reserve.
Davis's father and brother also served in the war. His brother, Thomas James, served in the 14th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles. His father, also Thomas James, a veteran of the Boer War, served in France and Egypt in the Royal Irish Rifles, Royal Dublin Fusiliers, and Royal Irish Regiment, and was awarded a Military Medal and Mentioned in Despatches (see article below).
Lisburn Standard, 2 August 1918