An official website of the United States government. Here's how you know. 
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Unit:
525th Port Battalion
Date of Birth:
December 18, 1922
Hometown:
Spartanburg, South Carolina
Date of Death:
10/8/1945
Place of Death:
near Marseilles, France
Awards:
Unknown
Cemetery:
George Burly Davis lived with his mother and two siblings on Glendalyn Street in Spartanburg, South Carolina. His father, John, passed away when Davis was only ten. Davis attended Cummings Street School, a school for African-American students. He was considered a high school graduate even though he only completed eleventh grade.
His older sister, Johnnie Mae, graduated two years before Davis and later moved to Brooklyn. His younger brother, Samuel, finished school two years after Davis and joined the U.S. Navy. Davis married Sennie Reid and worked as a truck driver for a wholesale house. In 1943, he was drafted into the U.S. Army.
Davis completed boot camp at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina. Davis was then sent to Fort Clark, Texas. He trained as a stevedore and was assigned to the 525th Port Battalion. The 525th Port Battalion embarked from Newport News, Virginia, on February 28, 1944. Nine days later, Davis debarked in Oran, Algeria.
The 525th Port Battalion, an African-American unit, arrived in early March 1944 and was assigned to the 399th Port Battalion for further training. Davis, along with the other soldiers, attended 25 days of classes in the “Principles of Stevedoring.” A stevedore works on docks to load and unload cargo from ships in port. During this training period all units of the battalion constructed a recreation hall, mess halls, and latrines.
On July 9, 1944, the 525th Port Battalion completed its training. The battalion took over the operations of Mole Millerand, one of the many jetties, or piers, in the port of Oran, Algeria. Its mission was to unload and discharge materiel to combat units.
While in Oran, soldiers formed football and basketball leagues and held scrimmages. They also watched movies and attended concerts. However, Davis and the other soldiers of the 525th Port Battalion were required to continue training about safety regulations on the docks. The U.S. Army also instructed the men on how to conserve supplies and fuel for motor vehicles. Davis and the 525th Port Battalion shipped out of Oran on February 21, 1945, for Germany.
Upon arrival in Heilbronn, Germany, on March 17, 1945, the battalion was assigned to the Continental Advance Section, CONAD. It performed duties of loading and reloading trucks at a transfer point along with the 6th Port Transfer Company. Davis and the 525th Port Battalion drove approximately 20,000 miles a month delivering supplies to combat forces. The unit was also responsible for the security and supervision of two German Prisoner of War companies.
Even though Germany surrendered in May 1945, the unit continued to distribute supplies daily to Allied soldiers still in Europe. On September 5, the 525th Port Battalion moved to the Calas Staging Area on the southern coast of France near Marsailles, where it began to process the redeployment of soldiers to the United States.
While awaiting his papers, George Burly Davis died of a gunshot wound to the chest on October 8, 1945. Records do not indicate the circumstances surrounding his death.
“525th Port Battalion; Records of the Adjutant General’s Office 1917, World War II Operations Report 1941-1948, Transportation (Box 18856); National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD.
Anderson, Forest. “GENBRIT-L Archives.” Roots Web. June 7, 2005. Accessed October 1, 2016. archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/GENBRIT/2005-06/1118157464.
Britain’s Homage to 28,000 American Dead. July 4, 1951.
Davis, Samuel, Jr. Personal Interview with author. January 16, 2016.
Davis, George. Personal Interview with author. April 1, 2016.
Davis, Vernon. Personal Interview with author. April 1, 2016.
Davison, Frieda Patrick. More Than a Name: The Duncan Park Veterans’ Memorial Volume I, 136. Spartanburg, SC: Honoribus Press, 2015.
George B. Davis in Uniform, 1943. Davis Family Collection.
George B. Davis’s grave at Rhone American Cemetery, July 16, 2016. Collection of Marion Touzel
“George B. Davis.” American Battle Monuments Commission. Accessed October 31, 2015. abmc.gov/node/421086#.VxAGYtK4nhk.
George B. Davis, Official Military Personnel File, Department of the Army, RG 407, National Archives and Records Administration – St. Louis.
George B. Davis, World War II Army Enlistment Records, National Archives and Records Administration – St. Louis. Accessed October 31, 2015.
Huston, James A. Across the Face of France: Liberation and Recovery, 1944-63, 140-141. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press, 1963.
Sims, Patricia. Personal Interview with author. January 16, 2016.
Smith, Robert Ross, and Jeffrey J. Clarke. United States Army In WWII – Europe – Riviera To The Rhine, 228. Washington, DC: United States Army, 1976.
South Carolina. Spartanburg County. 1940 U.S. Census. Digital Images. ancestry.com.
Spartanburg County City Directory, 1951-1983. Spartanburg County Library. Spartanburg, SC.
This profile was researched and created with the Understanding Sacrifice program, sponsored by the American Battle Monuments Commission.
The American Battle Monuments Commission operates and maintains 26 cemeteries and 31 federal memorials, monuments and commemorative plaques in 17 countries throughout the world, including the United States.
Since March 4, 1923, the ABMC’s sacred mission remains to honor the service, achievements, and sacrifice of more than 200,000 U.S. service members buried and memorialized at our sites.
