E Davies L.Cpl KSLI

Enoch Davies was born in Madeley in 1884. He was the son of Henry Davies, a coal miner, and his wife Rebecca. Soon after Enoch's birth, the family moved to Highley where they lived at 2 Silverdale Terrace. When he left school, Enoch went to work at the pit.

Enoch served with the King's Shropshire Light Infantry in the 5th and then the 1/4th Battalions. He went to France in October 1915. He died of wounds on the 6th June, 1918 - which suggests that he may have taken part in the Battle of Bligny for which the 1/4th won the Croix de Guerre avec Palme. The citation for the award reads:

On the 6th June 1918, when the right flank of an English Brigade,which had been heavily engaged, was threatened by the progress of a heavy enemy attack, the 1/4th Battalion of the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, which had been held in reserve, was called upon to counter-attack an important position from which their comrades had just been driven.
With magnificent dash, this Battalion rushed the hill on which the enemy had established themselves, inflicting heavy losses on them and in the course of hand-to-hand fighting captured an officer and 28 other ranks.
Thanks to this gallant and spirited recapture of the key to the whole defensive position, the line was completely restored. The dash, energy and intrepidity with which, on this memorable occasion, the 1/4th KSLI carried all before it, was largely responsible for the retrieval of a situation which had temporarily become critical.

Lance Corporal Enoch Davies, 18288 KSLI, probably died at the 32nd Casualty Clearing Station in Sezanne. He is buried in Sezanne Communal Cemetery. He was awarded the Victory and British War Medals and the 1915 Star.