Edward Kevil Davis Sr. Verified listing

Edward K. Davis was born in Pennsauken on September 8, 1921. He attended Collins Tract Elementary School and graduated from Pennsauken Jr. High School in 1937. He later attended Moorestown High School and the Camden County Vocational & Technical School for welding, leaving after completing the 10th grade. Before entering the Army on September 7, 1942, he worked at the John H. Mathis Shipyard in Camden and for the Kieckhefer Container Company. He reported for active duty on September 21, 1942.

After basic training, Pvt. Davis was assigned to an anti-aircraft unit, where he served until his transfer to the infantry. He went overseas as a member of Company K, 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division. The 99th Infantry Division landed in France in December of 1944 and was assigned to defend a 19-mile front in the then-quiet Ardennes sector, immediately to the north of the equally inexperienced 106th Infantry Division. In December of 1944, German forces mounted a surprise attack against these two units in what came to be known as the Battle of the Bulge.

Pvt. Davis took part in the fight for Losheimergraben and the defence of the Elsenborn Ridge, where a desperate defence by vastly outnumbered American forces bought valuable time by delaying the German advance. Company K defended an area near Bucholz Station. Two platoons were at Lanzerath and were completely engulfed by the German advance on December 16, 1944. A few men managed to avoid capture for the moment, but were left stranded behind the German lines as the panzers advanced.

Taken prisoner by German forces on December 18, 1944, Pvt. Davis was taken to Stalag 13D (Oflag 73) at Nuremburg, Bavaria, Germany. It was there that he died on February 1, 1945.

Pvt. Davis’s wife, Frances, and their son, Edward K. Davis Jr., live with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. R. Taggert, of 3118 Cove Road, Pennsauken. Mrs. Davis was notified on March 6 by the International Red Cross that her husband had died; the telegram did not explain the circumstances. Davis was an infantryman with the First Army. He was reported missing in action on December 18, and it is believed he was captured during the Battle of the Bulge.

Pvt. Davis is survived by his mother, Mrs. Dorothy M. Davis; his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank R. Blizzard of 6626 Westfield Avenue, Pennsauken, NJ; and his father, Edward W. Davis, of Allenhurst, NJ, who had received the Purple Heart during his service in World War I.