25th County of London Cyclist Battalion
The London Regiment


Private Henry William C. DAVENPORT


Henry (Harry) was born in 1892 in Chatham, Kent, the son of Henry, a retail boot manager, and Florence Ada (nee Gould). In the 1911 census Harry was shown as a clerk.

He married Florence Adelaide Hoult in the Sep Quarter of 1915 in  the Mutford Registration District in Suffolk. Mutford R.D. is in the Yarmouth area on the Norfolk / Suffolk border. Florence was from Balham in SW London and must have travelled to Suffolk to marry Henry whilst the battalion was stationed there on coastal protection duties. It appears there were no children.

Obituary


The last name on our melancholy list is that of L/Cpl Davenport, and his perhaps was the saddest death of all, for he succumbed to pneumonia subsequent to influenza, immediately after the signing of the armistice.
He joined the First Battalion in January, 1915 and was posted to "H" Company joining the Q.M. Staff at Burhan.
A fuller obituary notice will appear in the next publication of the 'Londoner'.

 [The Londoner magazine, Feb 1919 - V.III, No.2 pg.53.]
 
   

Q.M. Burt & Davenport

[Photo from the album of Reginald Cuthbert GRIFFITHS]
 


The following documents were sold on Ebay in May 2016.

The following is a letter to Henry's wife. This is confirmed by the address which is the same that Florence is recorded at in the 1911 census.


In Memory of
 
Lance Corporal H W C DAVENPORT

740748, 25th Bn., London Regiment (Cyclists)
 
who died on 12 November 1918
 
Remembered with honour  KIRKEE 1914-1918 MEMORIAL

Commemorated in perpetuity by
the Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The Kirkee Memorial commemorates more than 1,800 servicemen who died in India during the First World War, who are buried in civil and cantonment cemeteries in India and Pakistan* where their graves can no longer be properly maintained. This total includes the names of 629 servicemen whose remains were brought from Bombay (Sewri) Cemetery for re-interment here in 1960.

Kirkee, also known as Khadki, is a Military Cantonment adjoining the large university town of Poona on the Plateau above Bombay . It can be reached by train from Bombay to Poona or by long distance taxi service from Dada Taxi Stand, Bombay . There are direct flights from Bombay , Madras and Delhi but these tend to be irregular. Taxis and Motor Rickshaws are available from Poona Railway Station. To reach Kirkee War Cemetery , in which the memorial stands, one must ask for Mula Road along which the cemetery is located. One way is to cross the Sangam Bridge and follow the road which has the River Mula on its right. The CWGC road direction board is on a crossroads with the Bombay Poona Road . The cemetery is situated on the right hand side and backs onto the river. From the railway station follow the way via Juna Bazar, Sangam Bridge , past the Engineering college, over Wakdewadi Bridge , past Bajaj Kamal Nayan Udyan and onto Bhayawadi and Mula Roads. From the airport, one reaches Ahmadnagar Road which joins onto Nagar Road followed by Deccan College Road ; over the Holkar Bridge and, keeping left at the junction with Elphinson road, one enters Mula Road . The cemetery is a short distance away on the left hand side of the road. The Commonwealth War Graves road direction sign is situated at the junctions of Elphinson Road and Mula Road , but it should be noted that this is often hidden from view by Market Stalls.

[Courtesy of Commonwealth War Graves Commission]


  

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