WW II hero leaves memoir legacy

TWENTY-THREE years after his father’s tragic death in Mariannhill, Paul Davis released his dad’s first-hand account of his time with the SAS during World War II.

Peter Davis was 72 years old, a war hero and a beloved community member when he was shot in the back of the head in his home in 1994. The story, which was covered extensively in the Highway Mail, by its previous editor Robyn Scott, described Peter as a man who never criticized, was fair, honest, had a wonderful sense of humour and was a friend to everybody. His murder was never solved.

His death shook the family and Paul was reluctant to let any of his father’s belongings go.

A priceless heirloom was stolen during the night his father was murdered. A gold Omega watch with an inscription on the back which was gifted to his beloved dad for 25 of years service at ICI. “It is a very distinctive piece. I would recognise it immediately,” said Paul.

The book was written after the war using the diaries that he kept and covered his time with the SAS from Africa to Siciliy and the mainland of Italy between 1942 and 1943.

“I knew of the manuscript’s existence, but I was never asked to read it. Over the years it was forgotten. After his murder I cleared out his house and his personal papers were stored until such time as it wasn’t too painful to go through them,” said Paul.

It was in 2012 when Paul came across the manuscript and read his father’s wartime account for the first time.

“At the age of 20 he was experiencing things and taking on responsibilities which I had never known about. I never realised quite how lucky he was to survive the war. When I read the book now, I wonder why he didn’t talk about that time more. Perhaps the past was too painful.”

Paul said the only time he can recall his father talking about his life during the war was when Peter visited one evening years before his death.

“He went into a little bit of depth of when a truck exploded that he was going to get onto. I remember him saying that if he had gotten onto the truck the two of us would not have been having the conversation,” said Paul.

His description of the event in the book is as follows:

“Without a word the men began climbing into the trucks. To their delight, my lads found that the driver of one of the lorries was Mc Ninch, who, because of a bad foot, had been left out of the battle and had come up as a driver. Naturally they all wanted to travel in the truck driven by their old friend, and since no definite allocation of trucks to sections had been made, I saw no reason to prevent them from climbing in behind Mc Ninch.

“For at just the moment when the squadron was packed into the half-dozen or so trucks, which were parked nose to tail in that narrow side street, we were all transfixed by the frenzied shriek of a heavy shell, which suddenly distinguished itself from the normal noises of battle, deafening us with the rush of its passage and seemingly sweeping the whole world before it.”

The scene is one that could have been plucked up from a modern action movie and not one that could possibly have been witnessed by a 20-year-old.

Peter Davis’s accounts are in-depth and, in a macabre sense, beautiful.

He was the youngest officer to serve in the SAS during World War II and it explores the difficulty of a young, inexperienced officer leading seasoned soldiers. Peter easily points out his mistakes and shows his growth and the steep learning curve he was forced to endeavour to ensure the survival of not only himself bu of the men under his command.

“After my read-through I asked my wife, Lisa, for her opinion as I needed to see if someone else thought it was any good because I thought it was publishable,” said a proud Paul.

“In the book he is almost like an observer, always talking about other people being brave,” said Paul about the humble nature of his father. He was awarded the Military Cross for a skirmish in France. I was really very excited and very proud of my dad. I think that he would be very pleased that the story is out there.”

As an autobiography, it includes the day to day things that people in the army deal with intermingled with the mounting tension, fear and the build up to a battle.

The book can be ordered directly from Amazon in hardcopy or downloaded as an e-book. Or, order a copy directly from the publishers, Pen and Sword via their website, www.pen-and-sword.co.uk.

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