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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
|honorific_prefix = [[Major general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]]
|name= Henry Rodolph Davies
|honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CB}}
|image=
|image_size=
|alt=
|caption=
|nickname=
|birth_date= {{birth date|1865|09|21|df=yes}}
|birth_place= [[Windsor, Berkshire]], England<ref>{{cite web|url=https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/1118020|title=Henry Rodolph Davies|publisher=Imperial War Museum|access-date=17 November 2023}}</ref>
|death_date= {{death date and age|1950|01|04|1865|09|21|df=yes}}
|death_place=
|placeofburial=
|allegiance= United Kingdom
|branch= [[British Army]]
|serviceyears= 1883–1923
|servicenumber=
|rank= [[Major general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]]
|unit= [[Worcestershire Regiment]] [[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry]]
|commands= [[49th (West Riding) Infantry Division|49th (West Riding) Division]] [[11th (Northern) Division]] [[3rd Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|3rd Infantry Brigade]] 2nd Battalion, [[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry]]
|battles= [[Third Anglo-Burmese War]] [[Tirah campaign]] [[Boxer Rebellion]] [[Second Boer War]] [[First World War]]
|awards= [[Order of the Bath|Companion of the Order of the Bath]] [[Mentioned in Despatches]] (9) [[Officer of the Legion of Honour]] (France) [[Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France)|Croix de guerre]] (France)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=13491|page=2877|date=25 August 1919|city=e}}</ref>
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}
[[Major general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] '''Henry Rodolph Davies''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100|CB}} (21 September 1865 – 4 January 1950) was a [[British Army]] officer who commanded the [[11th (Northern) Division]] during the [[First World War]].

==Early life==
Henry Rodolph Davies was born in [[Windsor, Berkshire]], on 21 September 1865, the younger son of Henry Fanshawe Davies, a [[British Army]] officer who would rise to the rank of [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|lieutenant general]]. His grandfather was General Francis John Davies and his great-grandfather was [[Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy)|Admiral of the Fleet]] [[Thomas Byam Martin|Sir Thomas Byam Martin]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Walford |first1=Edward |title=The County Families of the United Kingdom Or Royal Manual of the Titled and Untitled Aristocracy of Great Britain and Ireland |date=1876 |page=265 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wt2wGQa8iDUC&q=Henry+Fanshawe+Davies&pg=PA265 |access-date=8 May 2019 |language=en}}</ref> The family seat was [[Elmley Castle]], [[Pershore]], [[Worcestershire]]. His elder brother was [[Francis Davies (British Army officer)|Francis John Davies]], who later became a full general in the [[British Army]]. Henry junior was educated at [[Eton College]],{{sfn|Davies|Maddocks|2014|p=131}} where he was proficient in Oriental languages.<ref name=mullaney>Mullaney, p. 45</ref>

==Early military career==
Davies joined the [[British Army]], initially being [[Officer (armed forces)|commissioned]] as a [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] into the [[4th (Worcestershire Militia) Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment]] in January 1883.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25184|page=31|date=2 January 1883}}</ref> He resigned his commission over a year later, in February 1884,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25318|page=791|date=15 February 1884}}</ref> and, after graduating from the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst|Royal Military College at Sandhurst]], was re-commissioned into the Oxfordshire Light Infantry (which later became the [[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry]]) as a lieutenant in August that year.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25389|page=3831|date=22 August 1884}}</ref>

He was sent to British-controlled Burma in 1887 and to Siam in 1892, the year in which he became a [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26319|page=4821|date=23 August 1892}}</ref> In 1893 he was attached to a survey unit which surveyed the passes between Burma and China and located the Crouching Tiger Pass, the Heavenly Horse Pass and the Han Dragon Pass. On completion of the team's objectives Davies remained in China to explore the Yunnan area. On his return to England he was asked to survey a potential railway route from India to the Yangtze river via Yunnan and in 1898 returned to Burma. By mid-1899 his team had travelled nearly 2,500 miles of the proposed route, mapping the terrain in detail. He wrote a book about his experiences and in 1906 was awarded the [[Royal Geographical Society]]'s [[Murchison Award]].<ref name=mullaney/>

Davies was involved in the [[Tirah campaign]] (1897–98),{{sfn|Davies|Maddocks|2014|p=131}} where he was [[mentioned in despatches]], the [[Boxer Rebellion]] (1900), and the [[Second Boer War]] (1901–1902).

In September 1911 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28532|page=6881|date=19 September 1911}}</ref> and ordered back to Britain to take command of the 2nd Battalion, OBLI, taking over from [[Robert Fanshawe (British Army officer)|Robert Fanshawe]].<ref name="WWW">"DAVIES, Maj.-Gen. Henry Rodolph", in ''Who Was Who'' (2007). [http://ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U224512/ Online edition]</ref>{{sfn|Davies|Maddocks|2014|p=131}}

==First World War==
On the outbreak of the [[World War I|First World War]] in the summer of 1914, the battalion was based at [[Aldershot]] and was mobilised as part of the [[5th Brigade (United Kingdom)|5th Brigade]], [[2nd Division (United Kingdom)|2nd Division]], in the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War I)|British Expeditionary Force]] (BEF).<ref>Edmonds, p. 417</ref> Davies remained in command of the battalion through the first early campaigns on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]], including the [[Battle of Mons]] and the subsequent [[Great Retreat]] and the [[First Battle of Ypres]].{{sfn|Davies|Maddocks|2014|p=131}}

He was CO of the battalion until promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general in February 1915<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29107|page=2820|date=19 March 1915|supp=y}}</ref> (his permanent rank of lieutenant colonel was advanced to colonel in September of that year)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29302|page=9301|date=17 September 1915|supp=y}}</ref> to take command of the 1st Division's [[3rd Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|3rd Infantry Brigade]] from [[Richard Butler (British Army officer)|Richard Butler]].{{sfn|Davies|Maddocks|2014|p=131}} He served as the brigade's [[general officer commanding]] (GOC) during heavy fighting at the [[Battle of Neuve Chapelle]] and at the [[Battle of Aubers Ridge]] and at the [[Battle of Loos]] later in the year. In June 1916 he was made a [[Order of the Bath|Companion of the Order of the Bath]] (CB).<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29608|page=5555|date=2 June 1916|supp=y}}</ref> Later that same year, he led his brigade during the [[Battle of the Somme]], specifically during the heavy fighting at [[Battle of Bazentin Ridge|Bazentin Ridge]] and [[Attacks on High Wood|High Wood]].{{sfn|Davies|Maddocks|2014|p=131}}

He remained with the 3rd Brigade until he was transferred to the [[33rd Brigade (United Kingdom)|33rd Infantry Brigade]], part of the [[11th (Northern) Division]], as its new GOC in March 1917. In May of that year, after Major General [[Archibald Ritchie (British Army officer)|Archibald Ritchie]], the division's GOC, was wounded, Davies took command of the division.{{sfn|Davies|Maddocks|2014|p=131}} He served as the division's GOC throughout 1917 and into 1918. It was in September of that year, during the [[Hundred Days Offensive]], where Davies was wounded in action, as the divisional diary records:

{{Quote|Arras. Major-General H. R. Davies, C.B., Cmd. the Division, was wounded while going round one of the forward companies, and was evacuated to [[Casualty Clearing Station|C.C.S.]]{{sfn|Davies|Maddocks|2014|p=131}}}}

After returning to his command the following month, he continued to lead the 11th until the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918]] and relinquished command when it was demobilised in 1919, by which time Davies' rank of major general was made permanent in January of that year.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31092|page=13|date=31 December 1918|supp=y}}</ref>

During the war, Davies was mentioned in despatches eight times and rose rapidly in rank, from a lieutenant colonel to major general in just three years.<ref name="WWW"/>

[[File:Eton generals 1919.png|thumb|left|Eighteen Old Etonian generals revisit Eton, May 1919. Major General Davies stands in the middle row, third from the right.]]

==Post-war and final years==
After the end of the war, Davies, awarded the [[Croix de Guerre]] in August 1919,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31514|page=10603|date=19 August 1919|supp=y}}</ref> returned to the UK and commanded the reformed [[49th (West Riding) Infantry Division|49th (West Riding) Division]] in the [[Army Reserve (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]] (TA) from June 1919<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32853|page=5556|date=14 August 1923}}</ref> before relinquishing it due to his retirement from the army in June 1923.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32853|page=5556|date=14 August 1923}}</ref>

He died on 4 January 1950, at the age of 84 years.<ref name="WWW"/>{{sfn|Davies|Maddocks|2014|p=131}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{Refbegin}}
*{{cite book|first1=Frank|last1=Davies|first2=Graham|last2=Maddocks|title=Bloody Red Tabs: General Officer Casualties of the Great War 1914–1918|location=[[Barnsley]], [[South Yorkshire]]|publisher=[[Pen and Sword Books]]|year=2014|orig-year=1995|isbn=978-1-78346-237-7}}
*{{cite book |title=Military Operations France and Belgium 1914: Mons, the Retreat to the Seine, the Marne and the Aisne August–October 1914 |author-link=James Edward Edmonds|last=Edmonds |first=Brigadier General . E. |publisher=Macmillan |year=1922 |url=https://archive.org/details/militaryoperatio01edmouoft |series=[[History of the Great War]] }}
*{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s3MlDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA45|title=Coming to Terms with the Nation: Ethnic Classification in Modern China|first=Thomas|last= Mullaney|publisher=University of California Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0520272743}}
{{Refend}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Archibald Ritchie (British Army officer)|Archibald Ritchie]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[General Officer Commanding]] the [[11th (Northern) Division]]|years=1917–1919}}
{{s-non|reason=Post disbanded}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Neville Cameron]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[General Officer Commanding]] the [[49th (West Riding) Division]]|years=1919–1923}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Alfred Kennedy (British Army officer)|Alfred Kennedy]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Henry Rodolph}}
[[Category:1865 births]]
[[Category:1950 deaths]]
[[Category:Worcestershire Militia officers]]
[[Category:Worcestershire Regiment officers]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Windsor, Berkshire]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry officers]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:British Army generals of World War I]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Second Boer War]]
[[Category:British Army major generals]]
[[Category:Recipients of the MacGregor Medal]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Third Anglo-Burmese War]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Tirah campaign]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Boxer Rebellion]]

Henry Rodolph Davies - Revision history

Aakasham at 04:19, 17 March 2026