WW2 Veteran Reaches a Century!
Happy 100th Birthday to a WW2 veteran
WBro Morian Davies PPrJGW was born on 6th June 1922 and rather appropriately celebrates his 100th Birthday on the anniversary of D-Day.
Read about his experiences below and reflect on his courage next time you are facing a particular challenge!
When war broke out, a local ball-bearing factory was bombed in Newark which so incensed Morian, that he decided to volunteer for pilot training and commit himself to the war effort. His initial training was at Scarborough, flying Tiger Moths and he was then sent to America to continue training. This did not work out as expected and he was then sent to Canada to continue his training, where he was trained as an Observer, Navigator and Bomb Aimer.
On returning to the UK, Morian was allocated to the Pathfinder Squadron of Bomber Command and after further extensive training, started to fly missions over Germany, leading the way and marking the targets for the bombers following on behind.
His first ten missions were in the Sterling aircraft and the next twenty were in the Lancaster Bomber. Between 19 June 1943 and 2 January 1944, he flew a total of thirty missions over Germany.
On the 3 January 1944, he was flying a night mission over Berlin when his aircraft was attacked by a night fighter which set fire to their port engine. It was clear that the aircraft was not fit to fly much further, so the order was given to prepare to abandon the aircraft. Morian at this time was lying on the escape hatch busy with his bomb aiming task. The last thing he remembers is his crew mate Jimmy Weeway putting his knee in Morian’s back and the hatch was then released and Morian was thrown out into the night sky…. That was the last he ever saw of his crew-mates and he believes that the aircraft disintegrated very shortly after his exit. Morian parachuted safely to the ground on the outskirts of Berlin and he felt that he would not be very popular with the locals if captured, due to the amount of damage inflicted by him and his colleagues over previous months. He hid for 24hrs and then tried to make his way to the local train station where he was spotted and captured and taken into the signal box to await transport. Much to his surprise and relief, his captors treated him very well and the first thing that they did was to give him a cup of coffee. He was collected the following day and after a few days interrogation, sent to Stalag 4B Prison camp at Marburg, which is located between Dresden and Leipzig. He spent the rest of the war there until eventually being liberated by the Russians and handed over to the Canadians.
After the war, Morian returned to his job at Newark on Trent but by this time his family had moved back to Porthcawl in Wales. Feeling that he needed to live nearer his family, Morian applied for a transfer to the office in Bath which would bring him nearer to Wales. His skills were very quickly recognised and he attended the Co-op academy and qualified as a Chartered Secretary.
His career continued within accountancy and he worked for Huntleys the Grocers in Wiltshire and then settled as the main accountant for Wiltshire Farmers Association, a job which he held down for just over 20yrs. He retired at the age of 64yrs and then took up a role with Hebron and Medlock here in Bath, managing their property portfolio which he carried out for another 20yrs !!! Finally retiring at the age of 84yrs.
Masonic Career:
1 March 1958 – Initiated into Venables Llewelyn Lodge No 3756 as a LEWIS as this was his father’s Lodge. He was initiated in a double first ceremony on the same day with his Cousin Allan Morgan and passed in a double second ceremony with his cousin on the 5 April 1958 and Raised on the 1 January 1959
4 March 1961 – Joined St Alphege Lodge as a Joining Member
1 April 1976 – Worshipful Master of St Alphege Lodge
Also performed the role of Assistant secretary, Secretary and Treasurer for many years.
7 March 2015 – Elected to Honorary member of St Alphege Lodge
Provincial Promotions:
1 January 1981 – Promoted to Past Provincial Senior Grand Deacon
1 January 2001 – Promoted to Past Provincial Grand Sup’t of Works
3 April 2008 – Promoted to Past Provincial Junior Grand Warden
Morian (seated) pictured with WBro Roy Hayward PPrJGW and RWBro David Medlock PGM
Added by. Ian Evans 7 June 2022
