Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 28 June 1916 Letters 1916-1923 James Davidson

This work was originally published by Maynooth University in Ireland in 2017. In 2026 this data, stored in a relational database was extracted and converted into this TEI/XML document.

 Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities Vienna, AT 2026

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Letter from James Davidson (1877-1916) to his mother, Clara Mary (b.1852). Davidson writes during the Somme preliminary bombardment, noting that the 'din is awful just now.' His letter describes final preparations ahead of the morning attack, the dreadful weather conditions and the nervous tension in the trenches. Davidson requests that, should anything happen to him, his mother send Eileen, his fiance, on the personal items that he kept for her. The Somme offensive, originally planned for 28 June was postponed several days to July 1 due to bad weather. James, like so many others, was killed on 1 July.This letter is part of a large correspondence from Captain James Davidson to his parents. Davidson, who was Managing Director of the Sirocco Engineering Works in Belfast, served with 13 Royal Irish Rifles and the Machine Gun Corps. His letters describe his experiences while training in England and serving in France. He was killed on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

 Public Record Office of Northern Ireland PRONI-D3642-B-8-59, PRONI-D3642-B-8-59 https://letters1916.ie/item/1053 English James Davidson 1916-06-28 Clara Mary Davidson Seacourt, Bangor, Co. Down, Ireland Male World War I (1914-1918) World War I (1914-1918) Personal Relations

The data in these XML files was generated based on a data dump from the Magellan database (https://github.com/Maynooth-Center-for-Digital-Humanities/Magellan). Each database record has been converted to a JSON file (https://github.com/letters1916static/letters-data/tree/main/json). The element section of the JSON file contains the TEI-encoded contents of the letters. The TEI XML has been cleaned and made well-formed using a Python script (https://github.com/letters1916static/letters-data/tree/main/src).

 28/6/16 My dearest Mother Only a few minutes to tell you I am well. The din is awful just now & it is impossible almost to think. The Dawn of tomorrow will be the critical time for us but I hope good luck will attend us. Weather perfectly awful torrents of rain & we only have the clothes we stand in. Mother dearest I don't want you to be too anxious about me but if I should have bad luck will you give Eileen any of my little personal things she would like to have. I will send a PC just as soon as I can if all goes well. My fondest love to everyone. One of my guns goes over with Gerards Coy. Your loving son Jim On Active Service written 28th Jun recd 3rd July Mrs S.C Davidson Seacourt Bangor Co Down Ireland 25 June 1916 Seacourt, Bangor, Co. Down, Ireland Letter from James Davidson to Clara Mary Davidson, 3 November 1915Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary. Davidson, 16 February 1916Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 30 June 1916Telegram from Samuel Davidson to Frederick Ponsonby, 11 July 1916Letter from K.E. Fitzgerald to Clara Davidson, 5 July 1916Postcard from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 25 June 1916Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 28 June 1916Telegram from the War Office to Samuel Cleland Davidson, 7 July 1916Telegram from James Davidson to Samuel and Clara Davidson, 8 April 1916Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 12 April 1916Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 18 June 1916Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 16 April 1916Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 21 June 1916Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 29 February 1916Letter from James Davidson to his father Samuel Cleland Davidson, 16 February 1916Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 5 June 1916Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 6 June 1916Telegram from James Davidson to Samuel and Clara Davidson, 10 April 1916Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 9 April 1916Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 15 June 1916 James Davidson Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 28 November 1915Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 12 November 1915Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 16 November 1915Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 19 December 1915Letter from Captain James Davidson to Clara Mary Davidson, 6 December 1915Letter from James Davidson to Clara Mary Davidson, 3 November 1915Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 3 November 1915Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 2 December 1915Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 17 December 1915Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 12 December 1915Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 22 December 1915Letter from James Davidson to Clara Mary Davidson, 21 November 1915Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 31 December 1915Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 1 February 1916Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 11 January 1916Letter from Captain James Davidson to his mother Clara Mary Davidson, 7 December 1915Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 19 January 1916Letter from James Davidson to his mother, S.C. Davidson, 27 December 1915Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 27 January 1916Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 28 May 1916Telegram from Samuel Cleland Davidson to Captain SJ Davidson, 6 March 1916Letter from James Davidson to his sister, Kathleen, 7 March 1916Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 13 March 1916Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary. Davidson, 16 February 1916Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 19 February 1916Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 30 June 1916Postcard from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 25 June 1916Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 28 June 1916Telegram from James Davidson to Samuel and Clara Davidson, 8 April 1916Letter from James Davidson to Samuel Davidson, 9 June 1916Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 12 April 1916Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 18 June 1916Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 16 April 1916Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 21 June 1916Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 27 February 1916Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 29 February 1916Letter from James Davidson to his mother, Clara Mary Davidson, 21 May 1916Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 5 June 1916Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 6 June 1916Telegram from James Davidson to Samuel and Clara Davidson, 10 April 1916Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 9 April 1916Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 15 June 1916Letter from James Davidson to Clara Davidson, 23 April 1916