Major General Sir John Humphrey 'Tavish' Davidson DSO KCMG CB (24 July 1876 – 11 December 1954) was a British army officer and Member of Parliament. He was born in Mauritius to George Walter Davidson, a merchant, and his wife Johanna, and some time before 1890 they moved back to England. From 1890 Davidson was educated at Harrow School, continuing his education at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst after he left Harrow in 1893. He graduated in 1896 and joined the 1st Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps. By 1899 the Corps had been transferred to Cape Colony, and they were directly involved in the Second Boer War. Davidson and his battalion served in both the Battle of Talana Hill and the Battle of Ladysmith before Davidson was attached to a local cavalry unit with the objective of disrupting Boer commando units. By 1902 he had been promoted to Captain and made a DSO.[1]
After the end of the Boer War he served in Malta and Crete before being accepted into the Staff College, Camberley in 1905. After graduation he served in a variety of positions as staff officers, including as director of training at the War Office from 1908 to 1910 followed by two years as a staff major with the 5th Infantry Brigade. In 1912 he was transferred back to the Staff College, this time as an instructor. After the outbreak of World War I Davidson joined the III Corps as a staff officer and participated in the First Battle of the Marne, First Battle of the Aisne and the First Battle of Ypres. After the formation of the First Army in 1915 he became the operations officer for Douglas Haig, the Army commander. As operations officer Davidson was the principal organiser of the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, Battle of Loos and the Second Battle of Artois.[1] After Haig became commander of the British forces on the western front Davidson became head of planning the military operations on that front. In 1916 he was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, in 1917 he was made a CB and in 1919 he was made a KCMG.
He left the army in 1922, and immediately ran for Parliament as a Conservative. He was returned for Fareham, and took an active role in the House of Commons army committee. He resigned in 1931 by appointment as Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds to concentrate on his business interests, including a seat on the Vickers-Armstrongs board and a position as chairman of the Bank of Australia between 1937 and 1945. He died in Daviot on 11 December 1954.[1]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Arthur Lee |
Member of Parliament for Fareham 1918 – 1931 |
Succeeded by Thomas Inskip |