Sergeant · NZ #37293 · T1 Patrol · BEM
| Rank | Sergeant |
|---|---|
| Service number | NZ #37293 |
| Patrol | T1 Patrol |
| Regiment | 2 NZEF |
| Known as | “Jack; also recorded as Jack L. D.” |
| Born | 1914-01-09 |
| Honours | BEM |
| Record | https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/153150 |
HIS BRITISH EMPIRE MEDAL IS DATED AT LAST, AND NOT FROM THE LONDON GAZETTE. The announcement was made in New Zealand. Under the heading “Decorations Awarded to Two Members of N.Z.E.F.”, the Hawera Star of 28 March 1944 carried a Press Association telegram datelined WELLINGTON, MARCH 27: “The War Office advises that the King has approved of the following awards to members of the 2nd N.Z.E.F. in recognition of gallant and distinguished service in the field:— The British Empire Medal. Sergeant John L. B. Davis.” The other man in the same notice is Private Stanley W. J. Schroder, D.C.M., and Schroder’s Distinguished Conduct Medal appears in the London Gazette Supplement 36436 of 23 March 1944 under “New Zealand Military Forces” — which fixes the London end of the same announcement to within a few days. THE GAZETTE PAGE CARRYING DAVIS HIMSELF HAS NOT BEEN FOUND: Supplement 36436 was read and its New Zealand section lists only the D.C.M. Sources: Hawera Star, 28 March 1944, page 4, via Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand); The London Gazette, Supplement 36436, page 1367.
Confirmed.
March 1942 roll (courtesy Tarek el Mahdy)
Barce Raid, Sept 1942 (courtesy Tarek el Mahdy): 2nd navi — T6 truck
The Kiwi Scorpions (Brendan O'Carroll): Sgt J. L. D. Davis, BEM — clerk, Stratford; born Taumarunui, 9 Jan 1914.
During the break-out from Barce (13–14 September 1942) his truck stopped under fire to extricate Wilder, Parker and Burke from their overturned jeep; he then served as navigator on the party that carried the wounded out to safety. Source: ‘The Barce Raid’, Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (NZ official war history).
On Kithnos (1943), using his knowledge of Greek, gathered reliable intelligence from the local people about enemy dispositions and shipping, and held command of the observation post while Saxton was away. His conduct throughout the Aegean operations won him the BEM. Source: ‘Invasion of the Dodecanese Islands’ (Battle of Leros / Assault on Levita), Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (NZ official war history).
Clerk, of Stratford; born Taumarunui, 9 Jan 1914. BEM. Source: Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (biographical notes).
New Zealand (A) Squadron, LRDG — T1 Patrol at disbandment, 10 December 1943. Source: Brendan O’Carroll, ‘The Long Range Desert Group in the Aegean’ (Appendix IV, New Zealand (A) Squadron Disbandment Roll, 10 December 1943).
Took part in the Barce Raid with T1 Patrol, 13/14 September 1942. Source: Brendan O’Carroll, ‘The Kiwi Scorpions’ (Appendix VIII, T1 Patrol members who took part in the Barce Raid, September 1942).
Service number amended in August 2026 from NZ #37296 to NZ #37293, on the balance of evidence rather than on proof. The Auckland War Memorial Museum’s L.R.D.G. Membership Roll of February 1970 gives 37293. No second source has been found either way, so the superseded figure, 37296, is recorded here in case it proves to be the right one. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum, “Long Range Desert Group Membership Roll” — the L.R.D.G. Membership Roll of February 1970, the New Zealand Association’s own register of surviving members, https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/popular-searches/lrdg
His British Empire Medal is confirmed on his Cenotaph record. It was already quoted on this card from Brendan O’Carroll’s “The Kiwi Scorpions” as “Sgt J. L. D. Davis, BEM”, but the honours field itself had been left empty; it has been filled in August 2026. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.
Forenames given in full in August 2026 as John Llewellyn Dorrian, where this roll held only “Jack L. D.”. The Auckland War Memorial Museum’s L.R.D.G. Membership Roll of February 1970 gives the full form against the same service number. The old form is kept in the AKA field and stays searchable. The initials L. D. resolve to Llewellyn Dorrian, and “Jack”, by which O’Carroll and this roll have always known him, is the familiar form of John. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph, record 153150.
Embarkation detail from his Cenotaph record: he embarked as TEMPORARY LANCE CORPORAL, Infantry Reinforcements, 2NZEF Nominal Roll 3 p. 117, Third Echelon. (Cenotaph service number 37293 - the roll's 37296 was corrected to this today.). The rank held on this card, Sergeant, is his LRDG rank; promotion after embarkation was the rule rather than the exception, so the two are not in conflict. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph, record 153150.
Cenotaph record linked. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.
Checked (2026): The London Gazette holds no notice pairing service number 37293 with the surname Davis. Recorded so the search is not repeated.
A CONTEMPORARY NEWSPAPER NAMES HIM AS LRDG, WHICH NOTHING ELSE ON THIS CARD DOES FROM 1944. Under “Former Stratford Man Decorated”, the Taranaki Daily News of 31 March 1944 reported his award and went on: he “was a member of the Longe Range Desert Group in North Africa” — the Group’s name misspelt by the paper or its typesetter, but unmistakable. Everything else this roll holds about his LRDG service comes from post-war unit histories; this is a wartime source, printed within days of the award. IT ALSO ADDS TWO THINGS ABOUT THE MAN. His employer: he was on the staff of NEWTON KING LTD at Stratford before he enlisted, which puts flesh on the bare word “clerk” this roll carried. And he was a keen member of the STRATFORD FIRE BRIGADE, prominent in competition fire-fighting. Source: Taranaki Daily News, 31 March 1944, page 6, via Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand).
A DISCREPANCY IN HIS INITIALS, RECORDED RATHER THAN RESOLVED. Both 1944 newspaper reports give him as “John L. B. Davis”, where this roll and the Auckland War Memorial Museum give John Llewellyn Dorrian — J.L.D., not J.L.B. The likely explanation is visible in the telegram itself, which prints the awarded man and his next of kin one after the other, and the next of kin’s initials are L.B.; a telegraphed list is an easy place for the two to run together. It is not proof, and the roll keeps J.L.D. on the strength of the Museum’s record and the February 1970 L.R.D.G. Membership Roll. Recorded so that a reader meeting “J. L. B. Davis” in the papers knows it is the same man. Source: Hawera Star, 28 March 1944; Taranaki Daily News, 31 March 1944, via Papers Past.
See him in the full roll →This page is part of the Long Range Desert Group roll of members at lrdgarchive.org. If you hold rights to anything on it and would like it credited differently, or taken down, please see Sources and Copyright. It will be dealt with promptly.
Not By Strength But By Guile