THE funeral of Rose Davis, who campaigned tirelessly in the 1970s to free husband George Davis wrongly jailed for armed robbery, took place in East London yesterday. The procession set off from her home in Stepney for the service at All Saints in Poplar before the cremation

By Else Kvist

THE funeral of Rose Davis, who campaigned tirelessly in the 1970s to free husband George Davis wrongly jailed for armed robbery, took place in East London yesterday (Friday).

Rose won her fight to free him in 1977 after he had served three years for a raid in Ilford he never took part in.

But she lost her fight against cancer earlier this month, aged 67, just as her autobiography The Wars of Rosie about her troubled East End life was being published by Pennant Books.

Yesterday’s funeral procession set off from her home in Argyle Road, Stepney Green, for the service at All Saints in Poplar before the coffin was taken to City of London Crematorium in Manor Park.

’G DAVIS IS INNOCENT OK’

Rose led the George Davis is innocent OK’ campaign between 1974 and 77 which got her husband off a 20-year stretch.

The slogan appeared on railway bridges everywhere. One can still be seen today in the East End on a bridge in Bow Common Lane, Mile End (pictured above), some 33 years on.

Her campaign entered the national arena in 1975 when supporters dug up the cricket pitch overnight at Headingley in Yorkshire, preventing further play in a Test match between England and Australia.

But disappointment was to mar Rose’s life when George was later caught red handed in a bank heist after she had won his freedom—only to see him back behind bars.