War Memorial
James Charles Davis was the only son of Charles and Eliza Davis, who lived at West Gatehouse Lodge in Leigh. Born in Leigh, Kent, he moved with his family to Wood Green in Middlesex in 1899 and earned his living as a hosiery warehouseman.
When war came, he enlisted at Southend, giving his residence as Brockley. He served as a Corporal in the Royal Army Service Corps, attached to 45th Anti-Aircraft, under the service number M/298237.
He did not see the end of the conflict. On 8th June 1918 he died at Norwich Military Hospital, aged just 39. His body was brought home and buried in the Southend-on-Sea (Leigh-on-Sea) Cemetery.
The family had already known sorrow. His father Charles had died on 12th April 1912, aged 66, and his mother Eliza Ann survived him until 11th December 1930, dying at 86. A daughter, Alice, had died young, on 5th August 1893, aged only 21. All are commemorated together on the family gravestone in St Mary's churchyard, Leigh, where James Charles is also remembered.
His name appears on the Leigh War Memorial, marking the sacrifice of a local man who served far from the village of his birth.