John's Story.
John Davidson was born in early 1898 and was baptised on 17thMarch of the same year. His parents were George and Mary Jane Davidson (né Findlow) and he was their youngest son. He grew up in the Duke’s Field area of Runcorn. He attended the parish day and Sunday school and before enlisting worked as a painter.
John enlisted in May 1915 at just 17 years of age. Because he was so young, he was initially transferred from the Cheshire Regiment to the Royal Defence Corps, but later was transferred back to the Cheshires. He arrived in France with the 13thBattalion of the Cheshire Regiment in May 1917.
John Davidson was killed in action on 5thAugust 1917 during the first week of the Battle of Passchendaele (The Third Battle of Ypres). He was killed in a gas attack during the build-up to the Capture of Westhoek, a battle which would kill a further 414 men from John’s battalion.
It took five weeks for official confirmation of his death to reach his parents, however other soldiers from Runcorn had already delivered the news of John’s death in their letters home. Meanwhile, the Davidsons had heard nothing from their eldest son William, who was fighting in Palestine, since April. William had already died on 19thApril 1917 in the Second Battle of Gaza, aged 27, but this would only be confirmed in January 1918.
John’s body was not recovered. He is commemorated on the Menin Gate in Ypres. He was awarded the Victory Medal and British War Medal.
He was survived by his parents George and Mary Jane, his brothers Fred and George (who fought in Salonika and survived the War) and his sisters Annie (who lost her husband, Private James Levi French in November 1915), Elizabeth, Harriett and Ivy.