Lieutenant-Colonel Gwyn Davies - Telegraph Lieutenant-Colonel Gwyn Davies, who has died aged 91, won an MC in close combat during fierce fighting in the Arakan, Burma, in 1944. In February 1944, Davies, then a lieutenant, was serving with the 1st Battalion the Somerset Light Infantry (1 SLI). On the night of February 7 he led a fighting patrol of five men which ambushed a 10-strong Japanese patrol near Pyinshe Ridge. He had orders to obtain the identities of the Japanese, and his men held their fire until the enemy was a few yards away. The machine gun jammed without firing a shot and Davies jumped on a Japanese soldier and brought him to the ground. The two men wrestled, in the course of which Davies was badly bitten in the hand. Meanwhile the rest of his patrol fired their rifles and threw grenades, and the enemy made off. In a subsequent search four sets of Japanese equipment were found; they were covered in blood. Davies secured his prisoner and brought him back to the battalion lines. When the man was interrogated, he told the interpreter that he first thought that he had been felled by a tree. The citation for Davies's MC stated that he had been an inspiration to his platoon and company since coming to the Arakan. Ralph Gwyn Davies, always known as Gwyn, was born on May 3 1918 near Alexandria, where his father, W "Barry" Davies, a former Welsh rugby international, was working on the railway. He was educated at Warwick School before training as an accountant near his family's home at Bleadon, near Weston-super-Mare. He joined a local Royal Engineers territorial unit before being commissioned into the SLI. Mobilised on the outbreak of war, he went with his company to the Orkneys to guard the naval base at Scapa Flow before going to France with the BEF. Davies was evacuated from Dunkirk and, in 1942, accompanied the 1st Battalion SLI to India, where it was on riot duty during the period of unrest that preceded partition. In August 1943 he arrived in Burma. After the war he was granted a regular commission and served with the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry in Malaya. He was mentioned in despatches. Davies subsequently transferred to the Corps of Royal Military Police (RMP). He served in Scotland before being posted to Korea and then commanded the RMP Company in Hong Kong. After spells in Germany, HQ 3 Division at Bulford Camp and Cyprus, Davies was posted to HQ Southern Command in 1964, where he was promoted Assistant Provost Marshal (APM) in the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Davies served as APM successively at HQ Rhine Area and HQ Berlin British Sector. In the latter posting he was responsible for the security of Rudolf Hess in Spandau prison. He moved to HQ Northern Command, again as APM, before retiring from the Army in 1973. He was appointed OBE in 1971. Having settled at Bridport, he divided his time between gardening and fishing. An all-round sportsman, as a young man he had played cricket, rugby, hockey and golf. Gwyn Davies died on September 18. He married, in 1939, Peggy Arnold. She predeceased him and he is survived by their daughter. Another daughter also predeceased him.
I know this is a bit of a long shot, but I am very interested in learning more about Lt Col Gwyn Davies' father, W 'Barry' Davies. He is a Welsh rugby interantional about whom very little is known. His date of birth, christian name, place of birth and date and place of death are all missing from his biographical details. If anyone can help, I'd greatly appreciate it.
