I am continuing my research into the men and women from Whitchurch in north Cardiff who lost their lives during the Second World War, towards a book to be published later this year. For some time I have been searching for information on one of only two women commemorated on our local War Memorial - Audrey W. Davies. I believe that she was Audrey Winifred Davies (also found spelt as Davis on her death certificate), who died of TB on 15th January 1946 in Kensington, London. She had been born in Newport, Monmouthshire, on 20th December 1921. Her parents had worked at the hospital in Whitchurch during the First World War period before moving to a small mining village - Bedwas - which was near to Caerphilly. On Audrey's death certificate, there is no mention of any services involvement or service number. Her job was given as 'stores assistant', which may suggest a military stores rather than a commercial store i.e. a shop. Forces War Records has a likely candidate in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force - 423427, Audrey Winifred Davis. It states that she would have enlisted after July 1940 and was later 'appointed' as a Class F Reservist. Apart from making a formal application for her service records, which I suspect could take some months to come through, are there any other avenues of research that I could try to obtain any more information? I have found no newspaper articles locally referring to her death. Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions.
She definitely Didn’t die as a WAAF . Usually if someone dies of TB then they are commemorated even post discharge, whereas if they developed cancer for example , they probably won’t be commemorated . What leads you to believe she was WAAF ? My sister has done lots of WAAF work , she’s got details of about 98 percent of Welsh WAAF casualties . I’ve got many of the Welsh RAF casualties details if you need anything
Whitchurch Serviceman Statue Nothing on CWGC ties in with any of the names/numbers you quote, what makes you think that the Kensington death is hers? Perhaps you could post up the death certificate, does that give her parents names?
Despite her name being quite common, I have found only one Audrey W. Davies that seems to fit. She was the Audrey Winifred Davies / Davis mentioned in the first post. I have now found a person of the same name on Forces War Records that certainly looks as though it could be her, but I do need to find more evidence of her service history. The informant on the death certificate was an aunt who lived near Bridgend in South Wales. Through research I have confirmed that she was the sister of Audrey's mother, so she is certainly the correct person. Birth & Death Certificates etc are attached. Thanks, Ceri.
Hi Tony, I agree that she does not appear in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records, but then again, there are several people commemorated on the Whitchurch Memorial who are also not in the CWGC records.
Here is the marriage certificate of Audrey's parents, showing that they worked at the hospital in Whitchurch. David John Davies and Sarah Roach. The informant on the death certificate (E. Matthews) was originally Elizabeth Roach before her marriage.
Hi, thanks for this information. I suspect that she had probably left the WAAF by the time of her death then, hence the fact that no service number is quoted on the death certificate as was usually the case with service deaths in the UK. My reasoning for thinking she was in the WAAF at some stage during the war is the record found on Forces War Records as stated above. Another search I have is to find a cause of death for 941069, Leading Aircraftman Arthur Medlicott, 156 MU, RAFVR, who died on 6th October 1943 and is buried at El Alia Cemetery, Algeria. His death is noted as 'on active service' in the local newspaper of the time. He was born in Briton Ferry in 1908. Any help on the cause of his death would be much appreciated. Cheers, Ceri.
If she’s on the war memorial it’s in error as there’s no link to service causes at all. Almost, not quite all, but almost all deaths due to TB are commemorated as they didn’t go into service with TB. I found a bloke the other day , died of a brain tumour a month after discharge . RAFVR on his private headstone , no commemoration though as his tumour was not linked to war service , if he’d died the month before, he’d be commemorated as he’d still be in the RAF . I’ll have a look for Medlicott for you
just to butt in dont go with that website you stated in your second post you have to pay and you wont find service records for WW2 and you will only get confused by various names best check here first sorry to be so blunt
It certainly looks as though she had already left the services when she died in 1946, but it would still be useful to find out any more information about what she did, but I guess that would mean sending for her service record. I also take the point made by CL1 regarding the website mentioned.
The qualifying criteria for a CWGC gravestone is laid down in this CWGC document. A war death, a death on active service no matter the cause, or a death within the qualifying period which can be attributed to war service. Qualifying periods are: 4 August 1914 to 31 August 1921 3 September 1939 to 31 December 1947 While the qualifying periods for both world wars has been well publicised, I did not realise that the subject was subject to a 3 yearly review. The next review is due in May 2023. https://www.cwgc.org/media/udkhsep3/cwgc-policy-eligibility-criteria-for-commemoration.pdf
Thank you for posting the various certificates, unfortunately, despite further searching, there seems nothing to prove a link to the Audrey W Davies on the memorial. Have you checked out the others by the name of Davies, are they related at all? Have tried looking for Audrey and her parents in 1939 but again no luck.
Medlicott, a fitter class 2 Airframes attached to 156 MU , died in a road accident in Bilda . NoK was informed on the 8th. davis / Davies is one of those war memorial errors to me you see all so often . People that don’t exist , didn’t die , didn’t die of service causes or who did of all three and were omitted by mistake
England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 Name: Audrey W Davies Death Age: 24 Birth Date: abt 1922 Registration Date: Jan 1946 [Feb 1946] [Mar 1946] Registration Quarter: Jan-Feb-Mar Registration District: Kensington Inferred County: London Volume: 1a Page: 149 Name: Audrey W Davis Death Age: 24 Birth Date: abt 1922 Registration Date: Jan 1946 [Feb 1946] [Mar 1946] Registration Quarter: Jan-Feb-Mar Registration District: Kensington Inferred County: London Volume: 1a Page: 149 Dont see that too often - 2 certificate records for presumably the same person (vol and page references match) but with different surname spellings, and as stated on the death certificate copy Davis/Davies TD
Hi Jon, Thanks so much for the detail on Medlicott, very much appreciated. I will double check if I have any other RAF personnel that I am missing causes of death on. Certainly Winifred Audrey Davies / Davis is on the War Memorial, but probably should not be. There are a couple of other names there too that I can find no service details of. One such is Thomas Kennedy Griffiths, who died at home on 15th November 1945. I have no idea of any service history for him, but he was an electrical engineer by trade and died at the age of 34.
Hi TD, Yes, this is her. Still a mystery as to whether she is the same person as the one located on Forces War Records as a WAAF. I think that she must be, but it would be great to find a definite link. Thanks for your help. Cheers, Ceri.
Then why not apply for her service record Request records of deceased service personnel apply as a General Enquirer To be honest the site you mention above does not hold service records - it only holds details that are already publicly available and WW2 service records are not publicly available TD
Hi TD, Thanks for the message. Yes, I have thought about applying for her records, but having done so in the past for previous research projects, I know that it can take anything up to 6 months and that was before the Covid backlog. For the book that I am writing, I have some 250 casualties in it, so the budget does not run to spending the £30 a time too often on service papers! Cheers, Ceri.
Ceri I understand your situation but there are some cases that I assume cannot be resolved without service records. I would suspect this could be one of those and they would officially determine if she was in or out of service at the time of her death and therefore completely answer your question. TD
