William Robert Davis is reported to have died on April 1st, 1945, while a prisoner of war in Japanese hands, at the age of 32.
He was born in New Zealand, and began his career as a mining cadet in 1929 at the State coal mines, Greymouth, joining the staff of the Westport Coal Company, Ltd, in December of that year. He entered the Otago School of Mines in 1932, and obtained the degrees of B.Sc. and B.E. (Mining) of the University of New Zealand.
In 1937 Mr. Davis was appointed assistant mining engineer to Pahang Consolidated Co., Ltd., and he was in the Federated Malay States when the Japanese overran the country. He had been a member of the Volunteer Force and it was learned in April, 1944, that he was a prisoner of war in Malaya.
He was elected to Studentship of the Institution in 1934.
Vol. 55, Trans IMM 1945-46, p.565
