Royal Navy Admiral (1901-1987)
Admiral Sir William Wellclose Davis GCB DSO (11 October 1901 – 29 October 1987) was a British Royal Navy officer who went on to be Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.
Early life and education
Davis was the elder son of Walter Stewart Davis (1856–1946), JP , of the Indian Political Department, and Georgina (died 1925), daughter of David Ross, CIE . The Davis family were landed gentry, of Well Close, Brockworth , Gloucestershire ; Davis's middle name came from the family estate.[ 1] [ 2] Davis was educated at Summer Fields School in Oxford , the Royal Naval College, Osborne , and the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth .[ 3]
Naval career
Davis was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1917, towards the end of the First World War .[ 4]
He also saw active service in the Second World War , initially as Executive Officer on the battlecruiser HMS Hood . From 1940 he was Deputy Director of Plans at the Admiralty and then, from 1943, returned to sea as Commander of the cruiser HMS Mauritius , in which capacity he was involved in the Sicily landings , the Normandy landings , and the action at Audierne Bay .[ 4] From November 1944 to February 1946 he was appointed Director of Torpedoes and Mining .[ 5]
After the War Davis was made Director of Underwater Weapons at the Admiralty and then, from 1948, Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet .[ 4] He became Naval Secretary in 1950 and Flag Officer, Second in Command of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1952.[ 4] He went on to be Vice Chief of the Naval Staff in 1954 and Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet and Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Atlantic Area in 1958.[ 4] He was First and Principal Naval Aide-de-camp to the Queen from 1959 to 1960.[ 4] He retired in 1960.[ 4]
Family
On 28 April 1934 he married Lady Gertrude Elizabeth Phipps, daughter of Constantine Phipps, 3rd Marquess of Normanby ; they went on to have two sons and two daughters.[ 1] His first cousin was the actor Stringer Davis , husband of Margaret Rutherford .[ 1] [ 2]
References
^ a b c Burke's Landed Gentry, 17th edition, ed. L. G. Pine, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1952, pp. 623–624
^ a b Armorial Families: a directory of gentlemen of coat-armour, seventh edition, vol. 1, A. C. Fox-Davies, T. C. & E. C. Jack, 1905, p. 511
^ "The Papers of Admiral Sir William Wellclose Davis" . Archivesearch, Churchill Archives Centre. Retrieved 3 February 2019 .
^ a b c d e f g Sir William Davis Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
^ Mackie, Colin (January 2018). "Royal Navy Senior Appointments from 1865: Director of Torpedoes and Mining" (PDF) . gulabin.com . C. Mackie. p. 39. Retrieved 3 February 2019 .