Canada. A Memorial Cross to Sergeant William Corley Davis, Royal Canadian Air Force

Canada; George VI (SGT. AIR BOMBER W.C. DAVIS R193967). Naming is engraved. Sterling silver, hallmarked, maker marked "LACKIE" and marked "STERLING" on the reverse, replacement ribbon, contact marks, better than very fine. Accompanied by his Royal Canadian Air Force Identification Bracelet (two-piece construction, sterling silver with blue enamels, maker marked "BIRKS" and marked "STERLING" on the reverse, engraved "BEST AIR GUNNER - COURSE 87 / No 7. B.G.S. PAULSON. MAN." on the obverse, 22.7 mm x 36 mm, on a full wrist chain with clasp); a Royal Canadian Air Force Sweetheart Pin (bronze gilt with red and blue enamels, unmarked, 17.8 mm x 42.8 mm, horizontal pinback); and a Sweetheart Locket (Gold-filled, initials engraved on the front cover, intricate pattern engraving and seven embedded glass stones on the back cover, inside cover with a black and white photo of Davis, inside back cover is blank, 29.5 mm, ring suspension).

Footnote: R/193967 Sergeant (Air Bomber) William Corley Davis was born on September 19, 1922, the son of James Corley Davis and Gertrude Helen Davis of Toronto, Ontario. He enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force and was posted to No. 28 Operational Training Unit at RAF Castle Donington, Derbyshire. Davis was with No. 93 Group Bomber Command and a member of a crew of six aboard Wellington X MK10 LP397, on a training operation on June 13, 1944, taking off at 14:47 hours from RAF Wymeswold on a cross country exercise. During a thunderstorm, the aircraft emerged from cloud cover while in a steep dive and crashed in Mayfield, Staffordshire, near the Parish Church, killing Sergeant Davis, at the age of 22, along with the entire crew, which included three other Royal Canadian Air Force airmen (J/39007 Flying Officer (Navigator) George David Willis Buchanan, age 20; R/203228 Sergeant (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner) Richard John Taylor, age 21; and R/206869 Sergeant (Air Gunner) James Joseph Urban Stevens, age 19); a Royal Air Force airman (53473 Flying Officer (Pilot) Joseph Starr, age 29) and a member of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (1024471 Sergeant (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner) William George Patterson, age 31). Subsequent investigations could find no evidence of structural failure, although it is thought that the aircraft may have been struck by lightning. R/193967 Sergeant (Air Bomber) William Corley Davis is buried in Brookwood Military Cemetery, Brookwood, Surrey, United Kingdom, Grave Reference: 49. J. 5. and is commemorated on page 287 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance. The other three Royal Canadian Air Force airmen are buried in the same cemetery, while the pilot, Flying Officer Joseph Starr, Royal Air Force is buried in Nottingham Jewish Cemetery (Wilford Hill) and Sergeant William George Patterson, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve is buried in Toryburn Cemetery. In May 2011, the Mayfield Heritage Group unveiled a memorial in the churchyard of St. John the Baptist's Church.