In Memory Of

DAVISON, DEANE FRANCIS

Service Details
Age:
 21
Date of Birth:
 1919-04-24
Rank:
 Able Seaman
Unit:
 S.S. Maid of Kent (London)
Regiment:
 Merchant Navy
Date of Death:
 1940-05-21
Cause of Death:
 Killed in the bombing of the Maid of Kent at Dieppe. SS Maid of Kent made her way to Folkestone as soon the United Kingdom declared war on Germany. She was taken over by the Royal Navy and designated as a hospital ship and made her way from Newhaven to Dieppe. Throughout May 1940 she made several trips to and back carrying hundreds of wounded. On 18 May, a bomb dropped nearby HMHS Maid of Kent but she was unable to relocate, three days later on 21 May, a bomb from the Luftwaffe air raid hit her engine room which caused a fire aboard the ship. She sank that day but was later raised by the Germans and moved into deeper water.
Commemoration
Grave Reference:
 Panel 66.
Cemetery:
 TOWER HILL MEMORIAL
Localitly:
 London
Country:
 United Kingdom
Additional Information
Son of John Deane Davison and Alma (nee Francis) Davison. Born Johannesburg. Educated Parktown High School, Johannesburg; General Botha Cadet Draft 1934-56 (Junior Cadet Captain) (KGM). After completing his course in General Botha, Deane Francis Davison joined the British India Line and served in the Merchant Navy during the war.