William Charles Frederick Evans

Royal Engineers, 52^nd Field Regiment

William Charles Frederick Evans
Bethel Welsh Congregational Chapelyard
credit - findagrave

In 1942, only one serviceman was laid to rest in Bethel Welsh Congregational Chapelyard.

Family Background

William was the son of William Richard Evans and Emily Pretoria Lewis. His parents married in October 1916 at Haverfordwest, and William, born in 1919, was their eldest child.

1911 Census

His father’s family came from Milford Haven. In the 1911 Census, William Richard Evans, then 23, was living at 9 Marble Hall with his parents, Charles and Hannah. Charles, a Navy Pensioner and shipwright, kept a steady household, while young William worked as a plasterer alongside his brother Edward, then apprenticed as a wheelwright.

1911 Census

Meanwhile, William’s mother, Emily, appeared in the 1911 Census as an 11-year-old schoolgirl living at 15 Pill Road, Milford Haven. Her father, John George Lewis, worked as a dock labourer, and her mother, Jane, kept a busy home with many children, including Emily, still in school. This household, filled with working sons, daughters in service, and even a grandson, reflected the hard lives of dockside families.

1939 Register

By the time of the 1939 Register, William was living with his parents at 19 Park View Terrace, Sketty, Swansea. He was employed as a carpenter while his father was still working locally.

Military Service

William enlisted in the Territorial Army in 1937, later serving with the Royal Engineers, 52^nd Field Regiment. When war broke out, he was deployed to France and took part in the desperate campaign of 1940. He was among those who survived the evacuation from Dunkirk, returning home after one of the most perilous moments of the war.

Death and Burial

South Wales Daily Post

On 5^th June 1942, William died while serving in Denbighshire. He was only 22 years old. His body was returned home to Swansea and laid to rest at Bethel Welsh Congregational Chapelyard. His grave, like many others here, does not carry a military headstone, but is remembered within the chapel yard’s roll of honour.

Legacy

As the only military burial at Bethel in 1942, Sapper William Charles Frederick Evans represents a single thread in a much larger story of service and loss. His survival at Dunkirk showed courage and fortune, yet his early death reminds us of the continuing toll of war even away from the front line. For his parents, William Richard and Emily Pretoria Evans of Park View Terrace, Sketty, his grave was a deeply personal place of mourning. Today, it stands as part of the wider memory kept at Bethel, where each name links Swansea’s history to the cost of global conflict.