Legion appeals for help to find relatives of Manor Park soldier killed in WWII

Kay Atwal

Published: 6:18 PM April 28, 2014

Updated: 9:59 AM October 13, 2020

The British war cemetary in Bergen op Zoom where L/Cpl Davison is buried - Credit: Archant

A branch of the Royal British Legion is appealing for help in tracing the family of a soldier who died in World War Two.

The headstone at lance corporal Davison's grave bears the inscription 'In our hearts his memory is kept. We loved him too well to ever forget. Mum and Dad' - Credit: Archant

George Donville Davison from Manor Park was a lance corporal with The 1st Battalion The Leicestershire Regiment when he died at the age of 32 in the Netherlands on October 27 1944.

Another 17 British servicemen were killed in the village of Wouw, where he is buried at the Bergen op Zoom war cemetery, nearby.

Now, the members of a historical association in Wouw are planning to host a memorial dedicated to those who gave their lives to liberate the Netherlands. They are trying to trace L/Cpl Davison’s surviving family. All that is known about him is that he enlisted on July 1 1940, he was married to D.T Davison and his parents were Basil Leonard and Elizabeth Davison.

Robert Strong, treasurer and secretary of the Manor Park branch of the RBL, said : “We are appealing for members of the public, if they know his family, to get in touch. It is possible that his family may never have visited his grave.

“We are very proud to hear that they (the historical association) have not forgotten them.

“It is nice of them to remember them but its such a shame that we haven’t managed to track down his family.”