(EEC)—Davies voiced uncompromising opposition. In a letter to the South Wales Echo on 9 August 1971, he challenged the government's claim that "our security has been bound up with our European neighbours for over a thousand years", pointing out Britain's involvement in numerous European wars, "including the Hitler war when British security meant co-operation with Russia". On 22 February 1972, Davies attended parliament to vote against the government on an EEC-related motion. He returned to Merthyr suffering from a chest infection, took to his bed on 24 February, and the following day was transferred to Merthyr General Hospital where he died later that day. His funeral was held at Soar-Ynysgau chapel, Merthyr on 29 February, followed by burial at the Maes-Yr-Arian Cemetery at nearby Mountain Ash. Griffiths records: "It was indicative of [Davies's] breadth of vision that the ceremony attracted socialists, communists, Welsh nationalists, republicans, and many of no political creed at all". In the April by-election to fill the vacancy caused by Davies's death, the Labour candidate, Ted Rowlands, won the seat with a narrow majority over Plaid Cymru. Tributes According to a BBC correspondent, Davies "looked as if he belonged to a different age, in his parliamentary 'uniform' of Homburg hat, silk scarf, black jacket and pin-striped trousers". Two close Merthyr friends who had followed him out of the Labour Party described him as "[a] tall man who walked tall and never bowed to anyone, but treated everyone alike." His obituarist in The Times referred to his deceptively mild outward demeanour, "but underneath, fires were forever smouldering". Many of the tributes paid to Davies after his death acknowledged his commitment to Merthyr and the mining communities of the Welsh valleys, for which he was an unfailing advocate. The mayor of Merthyr remarked that he was "an individualist who followed the teaching of 'Love thy neighbour as thyself'. He was highly respected by all, even by those who didn't agree with him". His parliamentary colleague and fellow mineworker Jim Griffiths, who had shared with Davies the leadership of the South Wales miners after the 1926 general strike, thought that had Davies cultivated an ability for compromise, he would have achieved ministerial office. But "he always was a lone figure ... and seemed to like being in isolation." In April 2013, a heritage plaque in Davies's honour was unveiled at Penydarren Park, Merthyr Tydfil. On 5 August 2015, as part