In Cement House Cemetery, West Vlaanderen, near Ypres, Belgium is the Commonwealth War Grave of 19160 Private Ralph Davison serving with the 7th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment who died 15/11/1917.
Pauline Priano has submitted the following:-
Ralph Davison was born in Sunderland, he was the son of Mr R. Davison and his wife Mary Ann. This is all we know about his early years other than his family lived at 21, Wylam Street, Craghead.
Ralph enlisted in Sunderland, during 1914/15, exact date unknown and was assigned to the Yorkshire Regiment as Private 19160, 7th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. His service record no longer exists, one of many destroyed during the blitz of WW2 but he would have trained in England and embarked for France in about July 1915 landing at Boulogne. The battalion was attached to the 50th Brigade, 17th Northern Division and upon arrival they took over the front line in the Ypres salient to the south. Spring of 1916 they were in action at the Bluff south of Ypres then moved to the Somme seeing action for the first time at the Battle of Albert and the Battle of Delville Wood.
In 1917 they moved to Arras returning in late summer to Flanders (Belgium) where they fought in the First Battle of Passchendaele, October 12th 1917 and the Second Battle of Passchendaele October 26th-November 10th 1917. Returned to the reserve trenches Private 19160 Ralph Davison Yorkshire Regiment was killed November 15th 1917. His body was buried on the battlefield, marked with a cross erroneously naming him as L/Cpl 19160 Dickson Y. R., his name and rank were later corrected when his body was exhumed and brought into Cement House Cemetery, West Vlaanderen, near Ypres, Belgium, after the Armistice during the clearing of the battlefields. He is at rest grave VIII. A. 22.
Ralph was single and had nominated his mother Mary Ann as his beneficiary. She received all monies due to him from the Army, a pension and his awards of the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.
Private 19160 Ralph Davison is buried alongside Private 33777 Joseph Craigs also of the 7th Yorkshire Regiment, a resident of Fawcett Hill Terrace, Craghead. They died the same day, buried together on the battlefield and were also brought into the cemetery for re-burial together along with several others, some of whom were unknown.
In God’s safe keeping. Rest In Peace.
Ralph Davison (Davidson) is remembered at Craghead on C120.01 and C120.04
