Henry Stanley Davis was born on 25 May 1889 at Drysdale, Victoria. He was studying municipal engineering when he enlisted for service with the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on 25 September 1915. The 26-year-old had already spent several years with the senior cadets and the 69th Infantry Regiment. Davis, who had recently been commissioned as a lieutenant, was allotted to the 14th Infantry Battalion. On 16 October 1915 he embarked from Melbourne aboard the troopship HMAT Port Lincoln, bound for Egypt.

After arriving in Egypt, Davis spent his time performing battalion drills and route marches, interspersed with occasional sightseeing. In March 1916 he was transferred to the newly-formed 46th Infantry Battalion. In his diary, Davis wrote of the havoc caused by the heat and sandstorms after the battalion took over trenches on the Suez Canal. In June 1916, Davis and the 46th Battalion departed Egypt for France arriving in Marseilles on 8 June. Soon after arriving in France he was sent into the front lines at Pozières and recorded in his diary details of the fighting and his experiences as second in command of “C” Company. For the remainder of 1916, Davis rotated in and out of the front line. During the fighting at Gueudecourt on 12 November 1916, heavy artillery fire killed his company commander, wounded several others and stunned Davis. He took command of the company and rallied the men to complete their objective. For his actions Davis was recommended for the French Croix de Guerre and promoted to the rank of captain, taking formal command of his company. At the end of 1916 and through to early April 1917, Davis was detached to the 4th Australian Divisional School as an adjutant and quartermaster.

On 2 April 1917 he rejoined the 46th Battalion at the front. Just over a week later he was killed in action near Riencourt during the first battle of Bullecourt on 11 April 1917. The Australians were forced to retreat during the battle and the Germans recaptured the ground upon which Davis had been killed, likely burying him soon after. Despite an exhaustive search by the Australian Red Cross Society Wounded and Missing Bureau, his grave was unable to be located, although his identity disk was later found. Henry Stanley Davis is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France. He was 27 years old.