Tribute to D-Day veteran Len Davidge who died in Winchester

A service celebrating his life was held at the Charlton Park Crematorium, near Andover, on Tuesday. The celebration, led by Wesley (Weeke) Methodist Church Minister, Revd Canon Dr G Howard Mellor, was attended by his close family members.

Len was born in the seaside town of Eastbourne in 1924. His father Walter had been an RNVR reservist who volunteered to serve in the Royal Navy during World War 1. With this background it was, perhaps, unsurprising that when the Second World War commenced, Len, while still a teenager, was anxious to ‘do his bit’. Upon reaching 18, and now living at St Albans with his parents and brother, he volunteered to join the Navy ‘until the end of the period of the present emergency’.

Len Davidge in 1943

Early on the morning of 5 June, 1944, Len was on board ‘Landing Craft Gun (Large) 681’ (LCG (L)) departing its berth at Southampton Docks to join the massive D Day invasion fleet gathering in the Channel south of the Isle of Wight. At 19 years of age, Len was the youngest crew member.

Assault Convoy G9A arrived off Gold beach Normandy at about 0556 on 6 June. The role of the LCG (L)s was to provide supporting fire in the area of landing beaches during amphibious assaults.

Len’s boat LCG (L) 681 leaving Southampton Docks on 5 June 1944 to join the D-Day invasion fleet – Marines in khaki lining the rail. By kind permission of Imperial War Museum

The naval vessels could be subject to attack from land, sea and air. A particular hazard at night time was Luftwaffe bombers laying mines amongst the fleet. Len’s boat and those around it came under fire from the Le Havre heavy gun battery; He requested smoke cover, which was provided by Marines in craft weaving in and out of the target vessels, burning oil. One of these Marines turned out to be a church mate of Len’s from St Albans, who hailed him across the water in the middle of the action!

After a break in the UK, Len’s war moved towards the far-east, in preparation for the Allies’ planned Japanese invasion. To his frustration, Len was not going any further east, however, after the Americans dropped their atom bombs and Japan surrendered. Len left the service as a Leading Telegraphist and often said in recent years that this concluded the most exciting time of his life – in retrospect, he sometimes wished he had signed on for longer than ‘the present emergency’.

If he had stayed in the Navy, however, his and the family’s future might have been rather different.

Len Davidge: 1924-2020

The Government was recruiting ex GPO and services personnel with radio experience to man a network of ‘Listening Stations’ across the country to keep an ear on what Russia was up to.

Len was engaged as a radio operator at Woodcock Hill, Sandridge, St Albans. This had been a World War II ‘Y station’ intercepting enemy and ‘diplomatic’ radio traffic and locating the source of German transmissions. He started in the employment of the Foreign Office, then the Home Office and finally GCHQ. Len’s work was always a bit of an enigma to family and friends. He was very close about his job, and it was going to stay that way as he had ‘signed the Official Secrets Act’. Enigmatically, he would say: ‘you wouldn’t believe what we got up to’.

He met and married ‘the love of his life’ Beryl (Clamp) at Dagnall St. Baptist Church, St Albans, in 1949, where they were members. Their two daughters arrived in their time living at St Albans. Len then moved to the GCHQ outpost at Flowerdown, Winchester (another World War II ‘Y’ station) where he was to stay until its closure and his early retirement. Upon his retirement, having served 35 years “in the service of the Crown”, the Head of GCHQ’s Station Operation Division wrote of Len’s “outstanding record of service with the department”.

The Davidge family lived at Kings Worthy and attended Winchester Baptist Church. When Len’s eyesight failed, Beryl and he moved in to Winchester where they became involved with the Wesley Methodist Church at Weeke, which was nearer to them. Sadly, Beryl died unexpectedly in 2015. From then, notwithstanding the enduring sadness of that loss compounded by his failed eyesight, Len lived as determinedly independent as he could, with the support of his family, latterly with some assistance with care and companionship.

At the celebration of Len’s life on Tuesday, it was recorded that Len’s late wife Beryl had written of him: “He was a good and loving husband, father, grandad and great grandad”; this was echoed warmly by his daughters Hilary and Jennifer, and his grandchildren Michelle and David.

Len lost his sight due to Macular degeneration, so it was most appropriate that donations in Len’s memory were invited for the Macular Society. These may be sent care of Richard Steel & Partners, Alderman House, 12-14 City Road, Winchester, SO23 8SD.