EVANS, JOHN; b.; adm.; QS Lady Day 1564/5-70 (Chapter Muniments 54005-18, 54020).
Evans, John Dudley, son of Dudley Evans, solicitor, and Emily Rosetta, d. of William Schofield Race of Wakefield, Yorks; b. 18 Sept. 1911; adm. Jan. 1925 (H); left July 1929; adm. a solicitor Aug. 1934; practised in London; RA (Lond. Scottish, TA) Apr. 1939; served WW2 in UK 1939- 44, AFHQ. (Med.) 1944-5; m. 1st 28 July 1937 Ethel Elizabeth Moreen, d. of John Robert Cairns, Metropolitan Magistrate; 2nd 8 Jan. 1953 Marjorie Lily, d. of Elias Ford of Ealing; d. 6 July 1987.
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, James Bruce Harington, son of the Rev. Jarnes Lachlan Evans, Rector of St. Dunstan in-the-West, London, by Alice Maud, daughter of Harry Curtis Nisbet, of Wimbledon, Surrey; b. March 14, 1902; adm. Sept. 23, 1915 (H); left July 1920; Trin. Coll. Camb., rnatric. Michaelmas 1920; B.A. 1923; M.A. 1927; Ridley Hall, Carnb. 1923; ord. deacon 1925, priest 1927 (London); Curate of St. John, Paddington 1925-31; Vicar of Holy Trinity, Southall, Middx 1931-9; of Enfield, Middx 1939-54; Rector of St. Marylebone, 1954; m. Feb. 3, 1938, Frances Muriel, daughter of Cecil Ernilius Laurie, of Moniaive, Durnfriesshire, d. May 16, 1958.
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, Geoffrey Alan, brother of Ralph Gordon Evans (qv); b. 18 May 1924; adm. Sept. 1937 (B); left July 1942; RN 1942-6; Gonville & Caius Coll. Camb., matric. 1946, BA 1948, MA 1978; asst. librarian Devon County Library 1950-6; Foreign Office 1957-9; Brit. Council 1959-71; Commonwealth Inst. 1971-2; NSW Coll. of Paramedical Studies, Australia 1972-4; Milperra Coll. of Advanced Education, NSW, Australia 1974-84; retd. 1984; m. 29 Aug 1953 Dorothy Isabelle, d. of Alan Stuart of Exeter, Devon; d. 12 Feb. 1994.
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, David Christopher, son of Charles Evans, publisher, of Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey, and Rose Elizabeth, d. of William Callaghan of Leytonstone, Essex; b. 28 Mar. 1922; adm. Sept. 1935 (G); left July 1940; PO RAFVR Mar. 1942; killed in action in a raid on Bremen June 1942.
David Christopher Evans was born at Walton-on-Thames, Surrey on the 28th of March 1922 the fifth and youngest son of Charles Seddon Evans, a publisher, and Rose Elizabeth (nee Callaghan) Evans of Bilders Farm, Ewhurst in Surrey.
He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Grant’s from September 1935 to July 1940. He enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve where he trained as a pilot and rose to the rank of Leading Aircraftman before being commissioned as a Pilot Officer on the 7th of March 1942. He was posted to No. 15 Operational Training Unit as an instructor.
On the night of the 26th/26th of June 1942, Bomber Command dispatched 472 Wellingtons, 124 Halifaxes, 96 Lancasters, 69 Stirlings, 51 Blenheims, 50 Hampdens, 50 Whitleys, 24 Bostons, 20 Manchesters and 4 Mosquitos for an operation on Bremen. The force was intended to be a “1,000 bomber raid” but, in the event, 960 aircraft were sent, which included some aircraft from Operational Training Units to make up the numbers. The force was to attack the Focke Wulf factory, the A.G. Wesser shipyard, the Deschimag shipyard as well as other areas of the town and its docks. 572 houses were destroyed during the raid with a further 6,108 damaged, the vast majority of which were in the southern and eastern quarters of the city. 85 people were killed on the ground with another 497 injured and 2,378 were bombed out of their homes. Six buildings at the Focke Wulf factory were seriously damaged and one assembly shop was completely destroyed. Damage was also caused to buildings at the Atlas Werke, the Vulcan shipyard, the Norddeutsche Hutte and the Korff oil refinery.
David Evans and his crew took off from RAF Harwell at 10.41pm on the 25th of June 1942 in Wellington Mk IC DV737 for the operation. While flying in the target area at a height of 7,000 feet at 1.45am the aircraft was hit by anti aircraft fire and exploded, killing the entire crew. Parts of the wreckage fell on to the house of Frau Hoeber at 37, Stoeversand Strasse in Sebaldsbruck with the rest falling into the garden of the house where it burned out.
The crew was: -
Pilot Officer David Christopher Evans (Pilot)
Sergeant Ronald Idris Coffin (2nd Pilot)
Sergeant Thomas Phillip Morgan (Observer)
Sergeant Alfred George Leyland (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Michael Sweeney (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant John McRewin Kennedy (Air Gunner)
Theirs was one of forty eight aircraft which failed to return from the raid.
His father received the following telegram date the 25th of September 1942: - “Deeply regret to inform you that according to information received through the International Red Cross Committee your son Pilot Officer David Christopher Evans is believed to have lost his life as the result of air operations on 26th June 1942. Letter confirming this telegram follows. The Air Council express their profound sympathy.”
David Evans’ body and those of two of his crew were found on the road in front of the house, with another being recovered from the bottom of the garden. Another body was found near to the air raid shelter. The bodies of the crew were collected by the local undertaker, Herr Stubbe.
The crew was buried with full military honours at Waller Cemetery near Bremen on the 2nd of July 1942. Their bodies were exhumed by No. 4 Missing Research and Enquiry Unit, Royal Air Force on the 23rd of January 1947 and were moved to their present location.
He is commemorated on his parent’s grave
He is buried at Becklingen War Cemetery Plot 26 Row G Grave 13.
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.