Evan Stanley Evans – Devonshire Regiment, 2nd Battalion

Private Evan Stanley Evans – Devonshire Regiment, 2^nd Battalion

Birth and Family Background

Evan Evans and Jame Grace Jones
marriage certificate
St. Peter's Church, Lampeter

Evan Stanley Evans was born in 1891 at Lampeter, Cardiganshire, the son of Evan Evans and Jane Grace Jones, who were married in December 1885 at St. Peter's Church Lampeter.

1901 Census

At the time of the 1901 Census, the Evans family were living at Snowdon View, Anglesey. Evan, aged 38 and born in Carmarthenshire, was employed as an Inland Revenue Officer, while his wife Jane G., aged 42 and born in Cardiganshire, kept the home. The children then present were Gwladys G. (14), Thomas B. (13), Evan S. (10), Milton I. (7), Arthur E. (6), Esther A. (5), and William I. (3). Also residing with the family was Catherine Jones, an 18-year-old servant.

1911 Census

By the 1911 Census, the family had moved to 209 Kensington Terrace, Swansea. Evan, now aged 48, was working as a Custom Excises Officer (1st Class), and his wife Jane Grace, aged 52, was recorded beside him. Their children at home were Evan Stanley (20), employed as a House Painter Apprentice; Milton James (17), working in Custom Excises; Ester Anne (15), listed as a student; and William John (13) and David Percivual (9), who were both attending school.

Military Service and Death

Evan later served as a Private with the 2^nd Battalion, Devonshire Regiment, a regular army battalion which was holding front-line and support positions on the Western Front during the winter of 1914–1915. In early February 1915 the battalion was occupying trenches in a quiet but hazardous sector, where duties included manning firing steps, strengthening parapets, repairing wire, and sending working parties forward after dark. Although no major assault was underway at this time, the battalion experienced a slow but steady toll from sniper fire, shell bursts, and accidents in the deteriorated trench system.

Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects

The Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects records that Private Evan Stanley Evans was killed in action on 7^th February 1915 during this phase of routine front-line service. He is buried at Aubers Ridge British Cemetery, Aubers, France, among those who fell in these early months of trench warfare, when daily exposure to enemy fire could be fatal even in the absence of a named battle.