Fairman, Arnold Richard, stepson of Harry Fairman of Regent's Park, London; father's surname Tamplin; b. 11 Apr. 1907; adm. Apr. 1921 (A); left July 1925; d. 17 Mar. 1928.
Evers, Gilbert Davey, son of Harold Evers of Bromley; b. 11 Jan. 1912; adm. Sept. 1925 (B), (A) Sept. 1926; left Apr. 1929; RAFVR 1939-45 (Flt Serg., flying instructor); PO Jan. 1945; killed in air operations over Germany 28 Jan. 1945.
Gilbert Davey “Pop” Evers was born at Bromley, Kent on the 11th of January 1912 the younger son of Harold Evers, a chartered secretary, and Rhoda Skene (nee Heathcote) Evers of 6, Haven Green, Ealing in London. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Busby’s from September 1925 and up Ashburnham from September 1926 to April 1929.
He was granted a short service commission in the Royal Air Force with the rank of Acting Pilot Officer on the 21st of October 1935 and was confirmed in his rank on the 21st of October 1936. He resigned his commission on the 11th of March 1937.
On the outbreak of war he was working as an instrument flying instructor and was lodging at 83, Grand Avenue, Hassocks in Sussex.
He enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in 1940 where he rose to the rank of Warrant Officer before being commissioned as a Pilot Officer on the 16th of January 1945.
On the 28th of January 1945, Bomber Command dispatched 153 Lancasters for an operation on the Gremberg railway marshalling yards at Cologne. The weather was clear and the target was hit but with some bombs overshooting.
Gilbert Evers and his crew took off from RAF Chedburgh at 10.46am on the 27th of January 1945 in Lancaster Mk I PD296 HA-B, as the Squadron’s lead aircraft for the operation. This was to be his 30th operation, the final one of his tour of operations. While the aircraft was in the target area it was hit by anti aircraft fire and crashed at 2pm at Bergisch-Gladbach, 14 kilometres to the east north east of the centre of Cologne, with the loss of all but one of the crew.
The crew was: -
Pilot Officer Gilbert Davey Evers (Pilot)
Sgt Ernest Noel James Francis (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Frederick J. Norton (2nd Navigator) (Wounded) (POW)
Flight Sergeant Anthony Morris (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant David Charles Allen (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Eric Holland (Wireless Operator)
Sergeant Edward Bertram Barradell (Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer John Towns DFC (Air Gunner)
Theirs was one of four aircraft which were lost during the operation, one of which crash landed in liberated France.
The navigator, Frederick Norton, was the only member of the crew to survive. He had been wounded by shrapnel in the arm but landed safely by parachute and was captured. Had Gilbert Evers survived the operation he would have been stood down from further operations.
He is commemorated on the war memorial at the Church of Christ the Saviour, Ealing.
He is buried at Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Plot 31, Row C, Grave 1.
Evans, Jeffrey Dilwyn, son of Edwin James Evans of Maida Vale; b. 27 Aug. 1908; adm. Jan. 1922 (A); left July 1926; RAFVR in WW2 (Flt Lieut.).
Evans, Gordon Lavery, son of Elliott Alfred Evans, res. chemist, of Ealing, and Elsie Elizabeth, d. of Joseph Birks of Chapel Allerton, Yorks; b. 2 Sept. 1916; adm. May 1930 (A); left Dec. 1934; Trin. Col . Camb., matric. 1936, BA 1939; Westminster Hosp. Med. Sch., MRCS LRCP 1943; FFARCS 1953; consult. anaesthetist Bradford Group of Hospitals 1948-81; pres. Yorkshire Soc. of Anaesthetists 1965-7; m. Aug. 1943 Mary, d. of John F. Halford, co. director, of Bradford; d. 23 July 1995.
Evans, Giles Edwin, son of Very Rev. Sydney Hall Evans CBE DD, Dean of Salisbury, and Eileen Mary, d. of Gordon Knox Evans, master mariner and Trinity House Pilot, of Gravesend, Kent; b. 1 Sept. 1949; adm. Sept. 1962 (A); left Mar. 1968; Mansfield Coll. Oxf, matric. 1968, BA 1971, Cert. Ed. 1972, MA 1975; asst. master The King’s Sch. Chester 1972-5; King Edward’s Sch. Birmingham 1976-, head of Drama 1983-; LGSM 1982; m. 3 July 1982 Lisabeth Jane Collier LCST, speech therapist, d. of Brian David Collier, photometrist; d. 4 Aug. 1988.
Evans, Evan George Henry, son of Frank Evans, of Regent's Park, barrister-at-law, by Eliza Frances, second daughter of T. Garth, of London; b. Jan. 23, 1882; adm. Sept. 27, 1895 (A); left July 1896; a clerk successively in the Central Office, Supreme Court of Justice and in the Master's Secretary's Dept., Royal Courts of Justice; d. Aug. 10, 1946.
Evans, Darrell Marsh, brother of Gordon Lavery Evans (qv); b. 14 Oct. 1918; adm. May 1932 (A); left July 1935; Trin. Coll. Camb., matric. 1937, BA 1940, MA MB BChir 1947; Westminster Hosp. Med. Sch., MRCS LRCP 1943; RAMC 1944-5 (Capt.); a specialist in occupational medicine, DIH 1956, MFOM 1982; author of articles in BMJ on mercury and cadmium poisoning; m. 22 Dec. 1944 Edwina Betty, d. of Albert Edwin Howarth of Maidstone; 28 Sep. 2013.
English, Sir Thomas Crisp, elder son of Thomas Johnston English, M. D., M.R.C.S., of Chelsea; b. July 22, 1878; adm. as exhibitioner Sept. 24, 1891 (A); left July 1894; St. George's Hospital, entrance scholar Dec. 1895; William Brown Scholar and Murchison Scholar, Royal Coll. of Physicians, 1900; M.R.C.S. and L.R.C.P. 1900; Jacksonian Prize, Royal Coll. of Surgeons, 1902; F.R.C.S. 1903; Hunterian Professor of Surgery, Royal Coll. of Surgeons, 1903-4; M.B. (London Univ.) 1903; B. S. 1904; surgeon to St. George's Hospital; Lieut.-Col. R.A.M.C. and Hon. Col. in the army in Great War I; consulting surgeon to the B. E. Forces at Salonika and Italy 1915-8; mentioned in despatches L. G. Jan. 1, Sept. 25, and Dec. 6, 1916, and Nov. 28, 1917; C.M.G. Jan. 1, 1917; K.C.M.G. Jan. 1, 1918; Serbian Order of St. Sava, 3rd class; consulting surgeon to Queen Alexandra's Military Hospital, Millbank, the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, and a number of other hospitals; Prime Warden, Goldsmiths Company 1937; author of The Language of Facts (1933) and other works; Knight Commander of Order of George I of Greece and Knight of Grace of Order of St. John of Jerusalem; m. 1905, Annie Gaunt, daughter of Angus McLeod, of Edinburgh; d. Aug. 24, 1949
Engelbach, Alfred Eric, son of Alfred Henry Hunter Engelbach, of Stockwell, Surrey, by Amy Rowena, daughter of Henry Pearce, of Brjxton; b. Aug. 15, 1899; adm. May 4, 1911 (A); left July 1916; Air-Mechanic R. F. C. Nov. 1 1, 1917, R.A.F. April 1, 1918; Aircraftsman Feb. 12, 1919; a clerk in the Bank of England Aug. 5, 1919.
Ellissen, Francis Lyon Gordon, son of Arthur Victor Ellissen, member Lond. Stock Exchange, of Richmond, Surrey, and Irene Maude Mary, d. of George Lyon Begbie; b. 26 May 1918; adm. Jan. 1932 (A); left. July 1935; RNVR in WW2; lost in the sinking by enemy action of SS Laconia 12 Sept. 1942.
Francis Lyon Gordon Ellissen was born at Richmond, Surrey on the 26th of May 1918 the son of Arthur Victor Sampson Ellissen MC MP, a barrister at law, and Irene Maude Mary (nee Begbie) Ellissen, an artist, of 6, Cardigan Road, Richmond. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Ashburnham from January 1932 to July 1935. On leaving school he worked as a commercial artist.
Following the outbreak of war he enlisted in the Royal Navy, was trained as a gunner and was attached to the 19,695 ton passenger liner SS Laconia.
The SS Laconia, under the command of Master Rudolph Sharp OBE, sailed from the Middle East bound for Liverpool, and stopped at Capetown before setting sail for Freetown. She was unescorted and was carrying 136 crewmen, 80 civilians, 268 military personnel, including nurses, and 1,809 Italian prisoners guarded by 160 Polish troops; she was also carrying 200 tons of general cargo.
At 10.20pm on the 12th of September 1942, the SS Laconia was sailing some 360 miles to the north, northeast of the Ascension Islands when she was struck by a torpedo which had been fired by the U-Boat U-156, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Werner Hartenstein. The torpedo struck her in the hold on the starboard side, killing many of the Italian prisoners in the explosion. She began to list to starboard and, as Captain Sharp was regaining control of her, she was struck in her Number 2 hold by a second torpedo. With the forecastle now awash, Sharp issued the order to abandon ship with the women, children and the wounded taking to the lifeboats. 32 lifeboats had been destroyed by the explosions. At 11.11pm the ship sank by the bow leaving hundreds of survivors in the water. Although estimates vary, between 1,658 and 1,757 passengers and crew are thought to have lost their lives in the attack.
He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Memorial Panel 68, Column 1.