DarleneSeamon8: expand layout after review and cleaned formatting per standard format

2026-02-12T10:36:48Z

expand layout after review and cleaned formatting per standard format

Bot: robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

2022-08-31T12:55:53Z

robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Sir William Davis
|birth_date=11 October 1901
|death_date={{death-date and age|29 October 1987|11 October 1901}}
|birth_place=[[Shimla]], [[India]]
|death_place= [[Gloucester]], [[Gloucestershire]]
|image=
|caption=
|nickname=
|allegiance= {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[United Kingdom]]
|serviceyears=1917–1960
|rank= [[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]]
|commands=[[HMS Mauritius (80)|HMS ''Mauritius'']]<br>[[Home Fleet]]
|branch=[[Image:Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|23px]] [[Royal Navy]]
|unit=
|battles=[[World War I]]<br>[[World War II]]
|awards=[[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]<br>[[Distinguished Service Order]]
|laterwork=
}}
[[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]] '''Sir William Wellclose Davis''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCB|DSO}} (11 October 1901 – 29 October 1987) was a [[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), [[Magistrate (England and Wales)|JP]], of the Indian Political Department, and Georgina (died 1925), daughter of David Ross, [[Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]]. The Davis family were landed gentry, of Well Close, [[Brockworth]], [[Gloucestershire]]; Davis's middle name came from the family estate.<ref name="Burke's Landed Gentry 1952, pp. 623">Burke's Landed Gentry, 17th edition, ed. L. G. Pine, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1952, pp. 623–624</ref><ref name="Armorial Families 1905, p. 511">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</ref> Davis was educated at [[Summer Fields School]] in [[Oxford]], the [[Royal Naval College, Osborne]], and the [[Britannia Royal Naval College|Royal Naval College, Dartmouth]].<ref name="janus">{{cite web|title=The Papers of Admiral Sir William Wellclose Davis|url=https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1890|url-status=live|publisher=Archivesearch, Churchill Archives Centre|accessdate=3 February 2019}}</ref>

==Naval career==
Davis was commissioned into the [[Royal Navy]] in 1917, towards the end of the [[World War I|First World War]].<ref name=lh>[http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/DAVIS2.shtml Sir William Davis] Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives</ref>

He also saw active service in the [[World War II|Second World War]], initially as Executive Officer on the [[battlecruiser]] {{HMS|Hood|51|6}}. From 1940 he was Deputy Director of Plans at the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] and then, from 1943, returned to sea as Commander of the [[cruiser]] [[HMS Mauritius (80)|HMS ''Mauritius'']], in which capacity he was involved in the [[Allied invasion of Sicily|Sicily landings]], the [[Normandy landings]], and the [[Battle of Audierne Bay|action at Audierne Bay]].<ref name=lh/> From November 1944 to February 1946 he was appointed [[Department of the Director of Underwater Weapons Materials|Director of Torpedoes and Mining]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mackie |first1=Colin |title=Royal Navy Senior Appointments from 1865: Director of Torpedoes and Mining |url=http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Senior%20Royal%20Navy%20Appointments%201865-.pdf |website=gulabin.com |publisher=C. Mackie |accessdate=3 February 2019 |page=39|date=January 2018}}</ref>

After the War Davis was made [[Department of the Director of Underwater Weapons Materials|Director of Underwater Weapons]] at the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] and then, from 1948, Chief of Staff to the [[Home Fleet|Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet]].<ref name=lh/> He became [[Naval Secretary]] in 1950 and Flag Officer, Second in Command of the [[Mediterranean Fleet]] in 1952.<ref name=lh/> He went on to be [[Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (United Kingdom)|Vice Chief of the Naval Staff]] in 1954 and [[Home Fleet|Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet]] and Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Atlantic Area in 1958.<ref name=lh/> He was [[List of First and Principal Naval Aides-de-Camp|First and Principal Naval Aide-de-camp]] to [[Elizabeth II|the Queen]] from 1959 to 1960.<ref name=lh/> He retired in 1960.<ref name=lh/>

==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.<ref name="Burke's Landed Gentry 1952, pp. 623"/> His first cousin was the actor [[Stringer Davis]], husband of [[Margaret Rutherford]].<ref name="Burke's Landed Gentry 1952, pp. 623"/><ref name="Armorial Families 1905, p. 511"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{succession box|title=[[Naval Secretary]]|before=[[Peveril William-Powlett]]|after=[[Richard Onslow (Royal Navy officer)|Richard Onslow]]|years=1950–1952}}
|-
{{succession box|title=[[Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (United Kingdom)|Vice Chief of the Naval Staff]]|before=[[Guy Grantham|Sir Guy Grantham]]|after=[[Caspar John|Sir Caspar John]]|years=1954–1957}}
|-
{{succession box | title=[[Home Fleet|Commander in Chief, Home Fleet]] | before=[[John Eccles (Royal Navy officer)|Sir John Eccles]] | after=[[Wilfrid Woods|Sir Wilfrid Woods]] | years=1958–1960}}
|-
{{s-hon}}
{{s-bef | before=[[Guy Grantham|Sir Guy Grantham]]}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[List of First and Principal Naval Aides-de-Camp|First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp]] | years=1959–1960}}
{{s-aft | after=[[Caspar John|Sir Caspar John]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, William}}
[[Category:1901 births]]
[[Category:1987 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at the Royal Naval College, Osborne]]
[[Category:Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College]]
[[Category:People educated at Summer Fields School]]
[[Category:Royal Navy admirals]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Lords of the Admiralty]]
[[Category:Royal Navy officers of World War I]]
[[Category:Royal Navy officers of World War II]]
[[Category:Deputy Lieutenants of Gloucestershire]]
[[Category:Military personnel of British India]]

William Davis (Royal Navy officer) - Revision history

DarleneSeamon8: expand layout after review and cleaned formatting per standard format

Bot: robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.