This is a tribute to.....

DOUGLAS ATHOL DAVISON

I was very intrigued to find out  about him as the plaque that we stumbled across was not only on a small remote island but also on a small insignificant rock that was so easily missed, but there had to be good reason for it to be there to surely? Our friend John, back in the UK, has found a lot of information about Douglas. Frankly, I hadn't a clue where to start, so a VERY big thank you John xxxxx.

A reminder here,  that most of the Greek islands, no matter how small, were occupied by both the Germans and Italians during WW2.

This is what he has discovered:-

“ Davison and Bowler were on a mission to obtain some water  and assess the possibility of escape using the assault boats. They took with them a German PoW to assist with carrying water.  However, Davison  and Bowler never returned  and were presumed probably ambushed and killed. Both were later posted as missing in action with no known grave. It is possible they were buried by the Germans on  the island,  but no notation of it was made, or it was lost in the chaos of war, or else they may have simply fallen from the  cliffs into the sea. It is also unknown what became of the German PoW .

There is no known grave so he was either buried as an unknown soldier or his body was not recovered.

This story has touched my heart. Finding the plaque had led me to wanting to know more about this man, this young man – he was merely 23 years old – who gave his life for our freedom.  The young people of today need to know these stories, but sadly, selfies, Facebook,  Instagram and YouTube are far more important. I cannot imagine our youth rallying to the frontline if we went to war. How on earth would  they cope without their mobile phones ? What a sad world we now live in.

Muse for this post : A very sad story, one of very many, but that was war, wasn't it?