Brothers in Arms: John and Joseph Davison

John Robert Davison was known as Bob to his friends. He joined the Royal Engineers in 1943 at the age of eighteen years. His army number was 14599026. On the 12th of February 1945, John left Liverpool for Burma where he stayed until 1947 when he was demobbed.

John never spoke about his time during the war years except very occasionally. When asked by a family member if he ever had to kill anyone, he replied that he did but did not want to talk about it and became visibly upset. Years later, when visiting Edan Camp, he saw an exhibition about Japanese POW and became very upset and said, "they were animals". The only light-hearted memory he would share was getting sunburnt whilst being stationed in Burma.

Joseph Davison was known as Joe to his friends and was the brother of John Robert Davison mentioned above. Joe was in the RAF at the outbreak of WWII. His squadron number was 158.

In 1942, his aircraft failed to return. In 1948, his family received a letter reporting that the crew he was flying with were buried in Berlin with a number of other unidentified officers from the time. Sadly, Joe was due to be married only three days before his aircraft went missing.

Daughter/niece has brought in a number of photos, letters and documents relating to her father and uncle.