Otto Lewis Davy

Private - Service No. P/60127 - Labour Corps

Air Mechanic 3rd Class - Service No. 94044 - Royal Air Force

Although not mentioned on the Swardeston war memorial, Otto and his elder brother Harry are included here as they were both born and raised in Swardeston until they married and moved to Norwich, where they are commemorated. Their inclusion illustrates the typical sacrifice endured by the family of Walter and Emily Davy who saw at least seven sons and grandsons go off to war of whom three, Harry, Otto and Robert, did not return.

Otto Lewis Davy was born on 3rd April 1887 in Swardeston, Norfolk, the son of Walter James Davy and his wife Emily (Hubbard). He was the eleventh of thirteen children, Selina (1866), Herbert (1867), Walter (1870), Robert (1872), William (1874), Sarah (1876), Frederick (1878), Harry (1880), Edward (1881), Emily (1884), Ella (1888) and Etta (1891). Walter and Emily married on 1st January 1866 in Swardeston and lived there virtually all their lives, Walter initially being apprenticed, as a carpenter, to his maternal grandfather, James Hall, and then working for James and then James' son Daniel until taking over the business, by the turnpike, in the late 19th century. Walter died on 5th August 1904, in Swardeston, at the age of 60 while his widow, Emily, having moved to 35 Avenue Road in Norwich with married daughter Ella, died in 1925 having lived to the age of 79.

Otto was educated at Swardeston village school after which he trained as a carpenter in the Hall family business. On 3rd August 1908 Otto married Grace Breed-Winter in Norwich. Grace was the daughter of William Breed-Winter, a sawyer and general labourer, and his wife Sarah (Wicks), from Norwich.

Otto and Grace settled in Ebenezer Terrace, Norwich with Otto working as a carpenter and Grace as a boot fitter. In 1913 Otto and Grace had a daughter, also named Grace, but she tragically died when a few days old. This was followed, on 4th August 1915, by the birth of their son, also called Otto Lewis Davy.

Otto initially joined the army, enlisting in the 101st Labour Corps on 16th October 1916, just six months short of his 30th birthday and just after his son's 1st. On 10th August 1917 he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps and was sent to France for just ten days. On 1st April 1918 he transferred once again to the Royal Air Force on the day it was formed. He was stationed at the 1st Training Depot Squadron at Wittering which provided Avro and Bristol fighters for corps reconnaissance. Unfortunately, towards the end of 1918, Otto was taken ill and died in Wothorpe Hospital, Stamford on 25th November 1918 as a result of septic bronchitis. Otto died exactly two weeks after the armistice was signed, officially bringing the war to an end. Otto Lewis Davy is buried in Earlham Cemetry, Norwich, Services section in plot 54, grave 538. Just eighteen months after Otto's death, on 24th May 1920, his widow Grace also passed away and was buried with her husband in grave 538.

The headstone inscription reads:- "94044 THIRD AIR MECH. OTTO LEWIS DAVY. ROYAL AIR FORCE. 26TH NOVEMBER 1918. AGE 31". And added below the cross:- "ALSO HIS WIFE GRACE DAVY. DIED 24TH MAY 1920. AGE 30. REUNITED".

Otto's RAF records survive and we know he was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal.

Otto Davy (Jnr) married Ann Pollard in Norwich in 1940. Records indicate they had no children and Otto (Jnr) died in 1987.

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