Trafford

Born on the 26th September 1897 at Forest Hill, Lewisham, London, the son
of Professor Thomas William R. & Caroline Augusta Rhys Davids (nee Foley). 
Birth registered as Arthur Percival F. Davids (no mention of Rhys) during
the December quarter 1897 in the Lewisham R.D. - ref: 1d/1213.

1901 Census - 21 Honor Oak Road, Lewisham, London.   Son - aged: 3 - born:
Lewisham.  (Recorded as Rhys Davids).  Head of household - Thomas William
Davids - Married - aged: 56 - occ: Barrister - born: Colchester, Essex.  
Also - Caroline Davids - Wife - aged: 43 - occ: Author - born: Wadhurst,
Susex.   Plus 2 siblings and 4 domestic servants.

1911 Census -  Summerfields School, Mayfield Road, Summertown, Oxford.  
Boarder - aged: 13 - Scholar - born: Forest Hill, Surrey.

His parents were then residing at Harboro Grange, Ashton upon Mersey.  His
father was a Professor at Manchester University and his mother an Author. 
Plus their 2 daughters and 2 domestic servants.  The family later moved to
Middleshaws, Chipstead, Surrey.

Educated at Sale, Brooklands and Ashton upon Mersey High School for Boys,
1906-7; Wadham House School, Arthog Road, Hale, 1909; Summer Fields,
Oxford, 1909-10; and Eton, 1911-16; and won an exhibition to Balliol
College, Oxford.   He suffered from asthma and a speech impediment (bad
stammer), for which he received treatment.

He joined the Royal Flying Corps on the 28th August 1916, and was sent to
the Oxford School of Military Aeronautics.   Quickly promoted to 2nd
Lieutenant on the 10th January 1917.     After training as a pilot, which
included a time with the Communication Flight Sqn, he was posted to 24
Reserve Sqn and finally to 56 Squadron in France, on the 5th July 1917.  
Promoted to full Lieutenant on the 1st September 1917.

He shot down 25 enemy pilots, including the German ace Werner Voss, and was
awarded the Military Cross on the 18th July 1917 and a Bar to it on the
17th September 1917.  He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order on the
27th October 1917 and was Mentioned in Dispatches on the 11th December
1917.    He went missing in action, 27 October 1917 when he was last seen
flying east of Roeseclare.  He was shot down by the German ace pilot, Karl
Gallwitz.

For more information about him see:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Rhys-Davids   See also web-site -
http://www.oriental.cam.ac.uk/archive/rhys.html#apfrd

RD A/3/6 - Miscellaneous correspondence and papers - undated, 1911-19. 
Mainly comprises papers about Eton Includes a form of admission, 1911; a
copy of the regulations, 1911; concert and speech programmes, 1913, 1915,
1916; a brochure about the Universities' Camps for Public Schools, 1914; an
application form for the Old Etonian Association, 1916; a copy of the Eton
College Chronicle, 1916; press cuttings, undated, 1916; a copy of the
annual report of the Eton War Memorial Fund, 1917; and a copy of the roll
of honour, 1919.   Also with an invitation to the prize giving at Sale,
Brooklands and Ashton upon Mersey High School for Boys

RD A/4 - Correspondence and papers about treatment of Arthur Rhys Davids'
speech impediment 1913-18.   1 bundle, ms and printed, Includes a copy of
Cortlandt MacMahon, Stammering. A Method of Curative Treatment Thereof
Based on Practical Experience (1911) 

RD A/6 - Letters and papers about the Royal Flying Corps - undated,
1916-17.  1 bundle, ms, typescript and printed Includes a letter of
appointment, 16 Aug 1916; a telegram about the award of the MC, 5 Jun 1917;
a receipt for photographs, 1 Oct 1917; a copy of the statutes of the DSO,
undated; and a poem.

From London Gazette 18th March 1918 relating to his DSO:

RHYS-DAVID, ARTHUR PERCIVAL FOLEY, M.C., Second Lieut., Royal Flying Corps,
Special Reserve. For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in bringing
down nine enemy aircraft in nine weeks. He is a magnificent fighter, never
failing to locate enemy aircraft and invariably attacking regardless of the
numbers against him.

Thomas and Caroline Rhys Davids were eminent Pali scholars. They were
married in 1894 and had three children: Vivien, Arthur and Nesta.    
Thomas Rhys Davids was the son of Thomas William Davids, an ecclesiastical
historian and pastor of Lion Walk Congregational Church, Colchester, Essex.
 He was born in Colchester, Essex, 12 May 1843. He was educated at Clive
House School, Brighton, and Breslau University, where he studied Greek and
Sanskrit. He held a number of posts in the Ceylon Civil Service, including
District Judge and Archaeological Commissioner, 1866-72. He was taught Pali
by a Buddhist scholar, Yatramulle Unnanse. He returned to England, 1873,
and became a barrister, 1877. He was appointed Professor of Pali and
Buddhist Literature at University College, London, 1882-1904; Secretary and
Librarian of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1885-1904; and Professor of
Comparative Religion at Manchester University, 1904-15. He married Caroline
Foley, 1894. He was a founder and President of the Pali Text Society,
1881-1922, and a founder of the British Academy, 1901. In his retirement,
he wrote for the Manchester Guardian and worked on the preparation of a
Pali dictionary. He died at Chipstead, Surrey, on the 27th December 1922.

Caroline Augusta (Foley) Rhys Davids was the daughter of John Foley, vicar
of Wadhurst, Sussex, and Caroline Elizabeth Foley (née Windham). She had a
brother, Charles Windham Foley, a solicitor at Morgan and Co, Calcutta,
India, and a sister, Mary Cecilia Foley. Through her father, John Foley,
the son of John Foley, rector of Holt, Worcestershire, and grandson of
Robert Foley, vicar of Mordiford, Herefordshire, she was connected to the
Foley family of Witley Court, Worcestershire. Through her mother, Caroline
Elizabeth Foley (née Windham), she was a member of the Windham family of
Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk.     She was born in Wadhurst, Sussex, 27 September
1857. She was educated at home and at University College, London, BA, 1886,
MA, 1889. She was a member of staff of the Economic Journal, 1891-5. She
worked on behalf of various societies for the welfare of women and
children, 1890-4, and was a campaigner for women's suffrage, 1896-1914. She
married Thomas Rhys Davids, 1894. She was appointed Lecturer in Indian
Philosophy at Manchester University, 1910-13, and Lecturer in the History
of Buddhism at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, 1918-33.
She was Honorary Secretary, 1907-22, and President, 1923-42, of the Pali
Text Society. She died at Chipstead, Surrey, on the 26th June 1942.