The Roll of Honour, Volume 1 : A biographical record of all members of His…
1914. He was only 18, and was _unm._
2352 words | Chapter 70
[Illustration: =Richard W. H. M. Empson.=]
=EMPTAGE, GEORGE WILLIAM=, Petty Officer, 1st Class (R.F.R., B.
2960), 160112, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept.
1914.
=ENFIELD, CHARLES JOHN=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 2781), S.S. 77, H.M.S.
Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov.
1914.
=ENTWISTLE, BENJAMIN=, Pte., No. 5791, 2nd Battn. East Lancashire
Regt.; was in the employ of Proctor Bros., Cotton Manufacturers,
Wheatley Lane Mills, Burnley; enlisted, went to France, and was killed
in action at Neuve Chapelle, April, 1915; _unm._
=EPPS, WILLIAM JOHN=, Stoker, Petty Officer, 2nd Class C.G.,
(R.F.R., Ch. A. 1834), 154131, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the
North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.
=SWEET-ESCOTT, MURRAY ROBERTSON=, Lieut., 1st Battn. King’s
Liverpool Regt., yr. _s._ of the Rev. Edward Herbert Sweet-Escott,
of Hartrow Manor, Taunton, a Master of Dulwich College, S.E., by his
wife, Anna Frances, dau. of Henry Robertson, of Over Stowey; _b._
Over Stowey, Bridgewater 14 Dec. 1887; educ. Dulwich College, and
Marlborough; gazetted 2nd Lieut. 3rd Battn. King’s Liverpool Regt.
(Special Reserve), in Dec. 1909, and, after a year’s training with
the Irish Fusiliers, was promoted Lieut. 24 Feb. 1911. Three years
later he was seconded for service as A.D.C. to Sir E. B. Sweet-Escott,
K.C.M.G., the Governor of the Leeward Islands, and in the same year
followed him in the same position to Fiji. He returned in the autumn
of 1913, and on the outbreak of war at once volunteered for foreign
service, being transferred to the 1st Battn. 5 Aug. 1914. He went with
his battn. to the Front, and was killed in action on the Aisne, close
to Missy and near the town of Brayne, 20 Sept. 1914, and was buried
where he fell; _unm._ His commanding officer wrote: “Your son was
killed while leading his platoon to repel a very heavy attack made on
my battn. by six German battns.; and it was in great part due to the
gallant behaviour of his company that we were eventually able to repel
the attack. I cannot speak too highly of your son’s behaviour, and,
although he had been with us so short a time, he had endeared himself
to both officers and men.”
[Illustration: =Murray R. Sweet-Escott.=]
=ETHERTON, CHARLES EDWARD=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 5096), 199736, H.M.S.
Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov.
1914.
=ETHERTON, HENRY JOHN=, Private, R.M.L.I., Po./16052, H.M.S. Good
Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
=EVANS, ALEXANDER EASSON=, C.E., Lieut., No. 2 Field Coy.
Canadian R.E., _s._ of the Rev. Maurice John Evans; _b._
Stratford-on-Avon, co. Warwick, 6 Jan. 1872; educ. Herriott-Watt
College, Edinburgh; went to Canada, and became a Civil Engineer;
volunteered for service overseas on the outbreak of war, and enlisted
in the 3rd Battn. in Oct. 1914; promoted Corpl.; left Victoria, British
Columbia, for England, 14 Feb. 1915; trained at Shorncliffe, where he
was drafted into the 7th Battn.; crossed to France the first week in
May, and went straight up to the trenches; took part in the fighting at
Festubert, 23–26 May, where he displayed great gallantry and was given
a commission as Lieut. and posted to the Canadian Royal Engineers
in Oct.; appointed Brigade Wiring Officer, and was shot by a sniper
while attending to wire entanglements on the night of 5 Jan. 1916.
His commanding officer wrote that he was mourned by all his brother
officers as an efficient officer, and an unselfish comrade. Lieut.
Evans _m._ at Newcastle-on-Tyne, 1899, Ethel A. B. (_d._),
6th dau. of J. G. Fenwick, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, and had two children:
Maurice John, _b._ 3 May, 1900 and Helen Margaret, _b._ 2
Oct. 1902.
[Illustration: =Alexander Easson Evans.=]
=EVANS, ARTHUR=, 2nd Lieut., 18th (Service) Battn. The Welsh
Regt., only surviving _s._ of John Evans, of Broniarth, North
Road, Aberystwyth, Solicitor, Coroner for North Cardiganshire and
Deputy Town Clerk of Aberystwyth, by his wife, Jane, dau. of John Jones
(Ivon), of Aberystwyth; _b._ Aberystwyth, 26 Feb. 1892; educ.
Towyn County School, and on leaving there was articled to Mr. Bassett,
A.R.I.B.A., Aberystwyth. On completing his articles he entered the
service of Mr. Sydney Moss, F.R.I.B.A., Manchester, and gave promise of
a successful career as an architect and land surveyor, but after the
outbreak of war in Aug. 1914, he returned home, joined the University
College of Wales (Aberystwyth) O.T.C. in Oct., and on 19 Feb. 1915, was
gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the 18th Welsh Regt., then in training under
Col. Homfray at Porthcawl, Glamorgan. On 31 March, 1915, he was thrown
off a motor cycle while out riding with some brother officers near
Porthcawl, and died the same day at King Edward VII Hospital (Bedford
House), Cardiff; _unm._ He had been very eager to get to the
Front, and his commanding officer wrote that he “had proved himself to
be a very capable officer.”
[Illustration: =Arthur Evans.=]
=EVANS, EDWARD=, Private, No. 1682, 2nd Battn. Monmouthshire Regt.
(T.F.), elder _s._ of the late Edward Evans, by his wife, Abigail
(2, Gibson’s Steps, High Street, Pontypool); _b._ Cardiff, 27 Oct.
1897; educ. National School there; enlisted early in 1912, and was
killed in action in France, 30 Dec. 1914. Capt. L. P. A. Rolls wrote:
“Your son had been my servant ever since the beginning of Oct., when
we were in Northampton, and had been with me till he met his death.
I cannot tell you what a good willing lad he was in all that he did
for me. He was killed like so many other--nobly doing his duty in the
trenches.”
=EVANS, EDWARD FRANK=, S.B.A., M. 4751, H.M.S. Hawke, _s._ of
Edward Evans, of 2, Clisby Cottages, Iver Lane, Cowley, co. Middlesex;
lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.
=EVANS, HERBERT CLYDE=, B.A., LL.B., Barrister-at-Law,
Lieut.-Commander, Nelson Battn. Royal Naval Division, yst. _s._
of the late John Thomas Evans, of Gisborne, New Zealand, shipowner, by
his wife, Emma; _b._ Oamaru, N.Z., 26 April, 1883; educ. Gisborne
(N.Z) High School; and was apprenticed in one of his father’s ships,
and served eight years in the mercantile service. He was first officer
in a ship in the service of the Russians during the Russo-Japanese War,
and was at the fall of Port Arthur; he was wrecked near Siberia, where
his eyesight was so injured by the frost that he had to relinquish
the sea. He then entered St. John’s College, Cambridge, taking a
second-class B.A. and second-class LL.B., and was called to the Bar at
the Inner Temple, June, 1914. On the outbreak of war he was appointed
lecturer to officers by the Admiralty, and given a commission as
Lieut.-Commander in the Royal Naval Division, 1 Oct. 1914. He left
for the Dardanelles on 3 March, and was killed in action there, near
Achi Baba, 5 June, 1915. Lieut.-Com. Evans was mentioned in Sir Ian
Hamilton’s Despatches [London Gazette, 5 Nov. 1915], for gallant and
distinguished service in the field. He _m._ at Fairwarp Church,
Sussex, 25 March, 1913, Constance (Clevedon, Newick, Sussex), dau. of
the Rev. George Whelpton Johnson, Vicar of Fairwarp, and had two daus.:
Constance Joy Nelson, _b._ 7 Aug. 1914; and Grace Nina Clyde,
_b._ posthumous, 9 Aug. 1915.
=EVANS, JAMES=, L.-Corpl., No. 12922, 11th (Service) Battn.
Royal Scots, 5th _s._ of William Evans, of 19, Main Street,
Thornliebank, near Glasgow, employee in the Thornliebank Calico Print
Works, by his wife, Mary, dau. of Robert Williamson, Fireman; _b._
Thornliebank, afsd., 14 July, 1888; educ. Thornliebank Public School;
worked for some time in the Thornliebank Calico Print Works, and was
later a warehouseman in the employ of Cerebos, Ltd., Drysalters,
Glasgow; enlisted, 31 Aug. 1914; and died in Field Lazarette 9, Bauvin,
29 Sept. 1915, of wounds received in action at Loos; _unm._
=EVANS, JAMES=, Able Seaman, Ch./167339 R.F.R.B. 3892, 2nd
_s._ of James Evans, Coal Miner, by his wife, Annie Elizabeth;
_b._ Ludgate, Durham, 3 Dec. 1875; educ. Sunderland; joined the
Navy, 27 May, 1892; Boy, 2nd Class, H.M.S. Boscawen, 4 June, 1892–30
June, 1893; Boy, 1st Class, H.M.S. Boscawen, 1 July–2 Dec. 1893;
Ordinary Seaman, H.M. Ships Pembroke, 3 Dec. 1893–8 Jan. 1894, and
Sabellite, 9 Jan. 1894–30 April, 1896; A.B., H.M. ships Sabellite, 1
May, 1896–6 Aug. 1897; Pembroke, Aug. 1897–23 Feb. 1898; Wildfire, 24
Feb.–20 July, 1898; Pembroke, 21 July–9 Aug. 1898; Galatea, 10 Aug.
1898–10 April, 1899; Forte, 11 April, 1899–14 May, 1902; Pembroke,
15 May–26 Sept. 1902; Anson, 27 Sept. 1902–4, and Pembroke, 7 May–31
Dec. 1904, when he obtained his discharge with conduct “Very good.”
Served in the Gambia, 1894, and through the South Africa War, 1899–25
June, 1900; landed for the protection of Durban, 24 Nov. 1899; took
part in the operations with Natal Field Force, including the Battles
of Botha’s Pass and Allman’s Nek and occupation of Utrecht, Volkorust
and Wakestroom, and was awarded the Ashanti medal with clasp (Gambia,
1894), 21 March, 1896; the South African medal with five clasps (Tugela
Heights, Relief of Ladysmith, Laing’s Nek, Transvaal, Orange Free
State), 1 Dec. 1902; and the Good Conduct medal. On leaving the Navy he
entered the P. & O. service, but on mobilisation was called up, 5 Aug.
1914, and appointed to H.M.S. Cressy, in which he was lost when she was
torpedoed in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914. He _m._ at St. Luke’s
Church, Tidal Basin, 6 Jan. 1906, Annie Elizabeth (113, Jersey Road,
Custom House, London), dau. of Alexander James George Tyler, and had
four children: James George Alexander, _b._ 3 March, 1909; Annie
Elizabeth Lilian, _b._ 16 Sept. 1910; Hilda Violet, _b._ 15
April, 1912; and Doris Ivy, _b._ 8 Aug. 1914.
[Illustration: =James Evans.=]
=EVANS, JAMES WRIGHT=, Stoker, 2nd Class, K. 20456, H.M.S. Good
Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
=EVANS, THOMAS HATFIELD=, Lieut., 3rd Battn. Australian Imperial
Forces, only _s._ of the late Thomas Evans, of Huyton, by his
wife, Alice Stewart (Honors Mead, Bovington, Herts), dau. of John Smyth
Hatfield, of Innellan, Argyleshire; _b._ Huyton, co. Lancaster,
18 May, 1881; educ. Sedbergh; joined the Leicestershire Imperial
Yeomanry when 18 on the outbreak of the South African War, and served
through that campaign, 1899–1901, receiving the Queen’s medal with four
clasps (Rhodesia, Cape Colony, Transvaal, South Africa). He went to
Australia about May, 1913, but when war was declared in Aug 1914, he
volunteered and joined the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force, and was
given a commission as Lieut. 1 Jan. 1915. He was killed at Gaba Tepe
during the landing at the Dardanelles, 26 April, 1915; _unm._
He was mentioned in Sir Ian Hamilton’s Despatch [London Gazette, 5
Aug. 1915], for gallant and distinguished conduct in the field. His
commanding officer, Col. Owen, C.M.G., wrote: “On landing at Anzac
Cove he showed great energy, courage and ability in the handling of
his machine gun section, and notwithstanding the difficult country and
absence of day transport, he had his gun in action at an early hour in
the front line of defence, where he remained till he fell. It devolved
on him to stop the firing of a machine gun of another battn. which was
firing too close to our troops, and the ground was swept by a heavy
rifle and machine gun fire. However, he safely returned, to my great
relief. Later, whilst I was temporarily at another part of the firing
line, the same gun again became dangerous, and a message reached your
son to that effect from Major Brown, of my battn. Lieut. Evans again
went over, and when returning stopped to succour a wounded man who had
been left in the open. Having bound up the man’s wound, he tried to
carry him back to safety, but was hit repeatedly. Though badly wounded
he still tried to save his man, to the admiration of all those who saw
his gallant conduct. An attempt was made by my men to rescue them, but
your son was riddled with bullets and died a hero. I may mention that
I recommended your son for the V.C. on account of his distinguished
valour in the field, and his name is one of three in my battn. who were
specially mentioned in Sir Ian Hamilton’s Despatches”; and one of his
men (Private F. G. Hallett): “Your son was a man to be proud of, for he
carried four wounded men to the stretcher-bearer station under heavy
fire.” He also wrote: “We had to cross a deep gully which was infested
with Turkish snipers. It seemed as if some of us would be killed, but
we reached our destination without a single casualty, entirely owing
to the cool and skilful way in which Lieut. Evans handled us. He was
a fine example to us all.” Capt. White also wrote: “From all accounts
by men near him he died a hero’s death. As a machine gunner himself he
must have realised it was certain death that awaited him when he rushed
to rescue a wounded comrade from a zone of bullets from one of the
enemy’s machine guns.” Lieut. Evans was a keen sportsman and athlete,
and exceptionally powerful swimmer and a first-class shot.
[Illustration: =Thomas Hatfield Evans.=]
=EVANS, WILLIAM ALFRED=, Petty Officer, 199251, H.M.S. Good Hope;
lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.
=EVANS, WILLIAM HERBERT=, Major, 11th (Service) Battn. The Royal
Scots, _s._ of James S. Evans, of Montreal, Canada; _b._
Montreal, 27 Feb. 1872; educ. there; was for some time a member of the
Victoria Rifles, Montreal; afterwards served in the North-West Mounted
Police for two years; on returning to Montreal joined the 5th Battn.
Royal Scots of Canada, and subsequently took command of the Prince of
Wales’ Fusiliers of Montreal. He served through the South African War,
and on the outbreak of the European War, came over to England and was
given a commission in the 11th (Service) Battn. of the Royal Scots, 22
Oct. 1914. He went to France, and was killed while in Billets, 14 Aug.
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