Photographs of Private J.V.Davies service in Mesopotamia and North West Frontier of India, 1914 - 1920 (9)

John Vaughan Davies - a soldier of the Great War

John Vaughan Davies was born at 17, Glynllifon Street, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Meirionethshire, North Wales, on 20.5.1896. He was the third son, one of nine children of Morris Vaughan Davies, a slate quarry worker, and Eliza Davies.

John started work in the slate mines in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Meirionethshire, North Wales, at the age of 14 years, and became interested in First Aid. He joined the local branch of the St. John Ambulance Brigade and became the quarry's first aid representative.

consequently, at the outbreak of the first World War he volunteered early into the British Army and served with the Royal Army Medical Corps in the U.K., Ireland, and from 1916 to 1919 at a base hospital in Basra, Mesopotamia (Present day Iraq).

He was unfortunate enough to be in Mesopotamia when the British Government decided to send armed forces to India to deal with an armed rebellion in the North West Frontier and Afghanistan in 1919. He was then posted to that area where he continued to serve in various military medical posts in the Peshawar and Khyber Pass areas. He was not demobilized until 1920.

On demobilization he resumed work at the Graig Ddu Slate Quarry, Blaenau Ffestiniog, until its closure in 1940. He was then employed as a railway shunter by the Great Western Railway company at their station at Blaenau Ffestiniog and remained there, retiring upon its closure.

He died on 11.7.1973

约翰·沃恩·戴维斯——一战士兵

约翰·沃恩·戴维斯于1896年5月20日出生于北威尔士梅里奥尼思郡布莱诺弗斯提尼奥格的格林利丰街17号。他是莫里斯·沃恩·戴维斯与伊丽莎·戴维斯的九名子女中的第三子，其父为石板采石场工人。

约翰14岁时便进入北威尔士梅里奥尼思郡布莱诺弗斯提尼奥格的石板矿场务工，并对急救医学产生兴趣。他加入圣约翰救伤队（St. John Ambulance Brigade）当地分部，出任所在采石场的急救代表。

第一次世界大战爆发之际，他早早志愿加入英国陆军，先后服役于皇家陆军医疗兵团（Royal Army Medical Corps），在英国、爱尔兰等地履职，并于1916年至1919年间，在美索不达米亚（今伊拉克）巴士拉的一处基地医院工作。

1919年，英国政府决定派遣武装部队前往印度，镇压西北边境与阿富汗地区的武装叛乱，而戴维斯当时恰好在美索不达米亚地区。随后他被调派至该区域，在白沙瓦与开伯尔山口一带的多类军事医疗岗位继续服役，直至1920年才正式复员。

复员后，他重返布莱诺弗斯提尼奥格的格雷格杜石板采石场工作，直至该采石场于1940年关停。此后他受雇于大西部铁路公司（Great Western Railway），在布莱诺弗斯提尼奥格车站担任铁路调车员，并在此岗位工作至车站关停后退休。

他于1973年7月11日逝世。