Evan Rhys Lewis Bishop – Canadian Infantry, C.E.F., 1st Battalion

Private Evan Rhys Lewis Bishop – Canadian Infantry, C.E.F., 1^st Battalion

Birth and Family Background

Evan Rhys Lewis Bishop

Robert John Bishop and Alice Ellen Lewis
marriage certificate
Parish Church of Llanddewi Velfrey

Evan Rhys Lewis Bishop was born in 1886 in Llangolman, Pembrokeshire. He was the son of Robert John Bishop and Alice Ellen Lewis, who were married in 1880 at the Parish Church of Llanddewi Velfrey.

1891 Census

The 1891 Census records the Bishop family residing at 66 St Helens Road, Swansea.
Robert John Bishop (32), born in Northamptonshire, was employed as an insurance agent, while his wife Alice Ellen (34), born in Pembrokeshire, managed the household.

Their children were Louisa L. (10), John R. L. (9), Frank P. L. (8), Alice G. L. (7), Evan R. L. (5), all attending school, together with Maud J. L. (2) and Louisa C. L. (8 months).
Also present were a visitor, Elizabeth Mathias (58), and a servant, Mary Grey (18).

Emigration to Canada

Lake Erie Passenger Lists

In April 1909, Evan Rhys Lewis Bishop emigrated to Canada, sailing aboard the ship Lake Erie. He arrived at Saint John, with his final destination being Winnipeg, where he worked as a miner.

Military Service

Attestation Papers

Evan enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in February 1915, serving as a Private with the Canadian Infantry, C.E.F., 1^st Battalion. The battalion was one of the earliest Canadian units to serve overseas and was continuously engaged on the Western Front.

Canadian Infantry, C.E.F., 1^st Battalion — June 1916

In June 1916, the 1^st Battalion was heavily engaged on the Western Front in Belgium, serving with the 1^st Canadian Infantry Brigade, 1^st Canadian Division. This period followed earlier hard fighting at Ypres and marked another costly phase of sustained front-line service.

During early June, the battalion took part in fierce fighting around Mount Sorrel and Hill 62 (Sanctuary Wood). Between 2^nd and 13^th June 1916, Canadian forces launched determined counter-attacks to recover ground lost during a powerful German offensive that included heavy artillery bombardment and underground mining.

The 1^st Battalion was involved in trenched assaults, counter-attacks, and the consolidation of shattered positions under intense enemy fire. German shelling was relentless, inflicting heavy casualties from high-explosive artillery, trench mortars, and machine-gun fire. The devastated terrain offered little protection, and evacuation of the wounded was extremely difficult.

Many soldiers were seriously wounded rather than killed outright and were evacuated to rear-area medical facilities along the Channel coast. Casualties from the Ypres sector were commonly treated at hospitals in Boulogne, including No. 13 General Hospital, where medical staff struggled with the severity and volume of wounds.

It was during this intense period of fighting in June 1916 that Evan Rhys Lewis Bishop received the wounds from which he later died.

Death and Burial

Evan Rhys Lewis Bishop
Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, France
credit - findagrave

Evan Rhys Lewis Bishop died of wounds on 26^th June 1916 at No. 13 General Hospital, Boulogne. He is buried at Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, France.

His story reflects the journey of a Pembrokeshire-born miner who emigrated to Canada and lost his life during one of the most intense and costly phases of Canadian service on the Western Front, illustrating the enduring human cost of the fighting around Ypres in 1916