Torrington soldiers joining the Devonshire Regiment continued with Archie Davey. Archie was actually born in Holsworthy in 1897 and lived his early years in the town. Although Archie is yet to be born, the family, headed up by father and mother, John and Amelia Davey, can be found living at Victoria Square, Holsworthy, in the 1891 census.  John was born in Stratton in 1854 and works as a shoemaker; whilst his wife, who was born in Pancrasweek, is a housewife. They have five children at this point.

 

The first we see of Archie on the 1901 census after being born in 1897. Once again, the family can be found in the Victoria Square area of Holsworthy. His father has extended his duties to a rural postman, as well as a shoemaker, whilst his eldest brother, James, has commenced an apprenticeship as a plumber and tinplate worker. The other two children, Ellen and Albert, are still of school age.

 

From here, the family’s movements are a little harder to trace. Despite various searches, there appears to be no record of them in the 1911 census. We do know that Archie’s mother, Amelia, passed away in 1910 and the parish where the death was registered at that time was Holsworthy, so it is reasonable to conclude that the family were still in the town at that point. There are a number of leads to show that at some point between 1910 and the outbreak of war, the family moved to Great Torrington and were resident at New Street. Archie’s service records note that he was resident in Great Torrington at the time of enlistment. Moreover, a later newspaper article refers to his father, John Davey, and reports his address as the above [1].

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Enlisting at the beginning of the war, Archie was posted with the Devonshire Regiment’s 8th Battalion. Like Thomas Henry Bidgway, Archie would fight at the Battle of Loos.

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Battle of Loos

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The 8th Battalion would not have to wait terribly long to see their first action. This would be at the Battle of Loos, which occurred between 25th September and 15th October 1915. The battle was partly seen as a sideshow diversion to the larger French attack at the Third Battle of Artois. Some suspected the terrain of the battleground that had been chosen for the attack meant it was doomed to failure from the start. The flat land provided excellent firing positions for the defending Germans. Regardless, the attack was to continue. Amongst other distinctions, the Battle of Loos would be the first time that the British would use poison gas in military operations. However, as a result of communication mix-ups and less than ideal weather and wind conditions, this would ultimately cause greater problems than the intended advantage, including the disablement of their own troops in large numbers as the still wind simply didn’t carry the payload to the intended target of the German lines. As always, the customary artillery bombardment took place before the main infantry assault.

 

There were mixed results after the first days fighting. In particular, the attack at the southern end of the line saw impressive gains. Objectives such as the village of Loos, Hill 70 and further advances beyond these waypoints were made, although these gains would later be countered by lack of supplies and the cumbersome movement of reinforcement from the reserves. However, it would be the 20th Brigade and the 8th Devons that would bear the brunt of the fighting.

 

The objective for 7th Division was the town of Hulluch, which was beyond the German frontline. From the start of the fighting, the battalions ‘on point’ for the 20th Brigade were the 2nd Gordons (formerly the 92nd Highlanders) and the 8th Devons. It would be the first time the 8th Devons would have seen this level of first hand fighting since their arrival in France. The attack was due to commence at 6.30am. Despite an automatic disadvantage of sections of wire being uncut by the earlier bombardment, they were able to make great progress. Within half an hour of the ‘off’ the 8th Devons had made it through the wire, cleared the frontline German trenches and were making gains in the support trenches beyond.   

 

The official account of the 8th Devons at the Battle of Loos continues the action:

 

“Despite the loss of most of their officers, these two units pressed on vigorously, capturing eight field guns and more prisoners; they were only checked when they reached the point where the Hulloch-Vermelles road crosses that from Lens to La Bassée. Here, well ahead of the troops on either flank and reduced to a mere handful, they came to a standstill. In support of them came up the 6th Gordons, a Territorial battalion from Banff and Donside, and some of the 9th Devons and 2nd Borderers. The bulk of the 9th Devons and Borderers halted at the gun positions where they dug in, linking up the emplacements into a continuous trench, hereafter known as Gun Trench. To this point, two battalions of the 21st Brigade, the 2nd Borderers and 2nd Wiltshires, made their way a little later.    

 

Some of the battalions had been terribly reduced. The loss in officers had been especially heavy; all but three officers of the 8th Devons fell before the front line was taken, and several other units had been little less fortunate. Moreover, the different brigades which had reached the German second line were not effectually linked up.” [2]           

 

By midday the 7th Division had reached the outskirts of Hulluch, although the momentum of the attack could not be capitalised on and they eventually ground to a halt when it was decided that further advances at this stage would be futile. They were ordered to consolidate their position.

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Archie would be killed on the first day of these operations. His date of death is recorded as the 25th September 1915. It wouldn’t be until October that his family would receive news of his fate, largely down to the scale of losses being difficult to determine the whereabouts of bodies and potentially injured soldiers. Initially, unofficial news had been received, which prompted his family to make further enquiries [3]. Archie Davey is also remembered on the Loos Memorial.

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Since posting an article about Private Davey in the Torrington Crier, I have been contacted by local lady, Shirley Pateman, who is a family member. Shirley has helped fill in some more details of Archie's life and the below photos. Shirley explained that after leaving school, Archie started work in one of the local gloving factories. He lived in one of the alms houses located where Rolle Court now stands. He lived with his father, stepmother and Shirley's mother, who was the daughter of Archie's sister, Ellen (meaning she was Archie's niece). Ellen moved to Plymouth and married a sailor; they had another two children. Shirley explained that "my mother always remembered Archie with love, she looked at him more like a brother". Shirley also remembered her mother saying that Archie had been killed on his birthday. In the below photo is a picture of Ellen and her husband with their two children. You will see a picture of Archie's 'Death Penny' in the next photo.  

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[1] Western Times. October 29th 1915. ‘News of the West’.

[2] devonheritage.org. THE DEVONS AT LOOS - THE OFFICIAL ACCOUNT

[3] Western Times. October 8th 1915. ‘News of the West’.