John Llewellyn Evans (died St David's Day, 1st March 1917) A Story of The Great War

One hundred years ago today my great uncle, John Llewellyn Evans, fell fighting in the trenches of Vimy Ridge in Northern France. I want to tell his story here, not only because it's a tale of heroism, tragedy and horror, but also to honour the hundreds of thousands of men of so many nationalities who were killed in the First World War.

John Llewellyn Evans in Canadian Army uniform with maple leaves on the collar

I had long known that my father's uncle had been killed in the Great War. However, in common with so many other families, the details were lost. Just as my father seldom spoke of his experiences in Malaya after WW2, so his father never spoke of either his own experiences of the trenches (where he had been wounded) or of his brother, whom he had lost in such tragic circumstances and after whom he named his son, my father. So, within the space of two generations, the memory of a fine young man was nearly lost. 

And then my son Tom, at Sandhurst training to be an Army officer, decided to find out what he could of his great great uncle. He approached my father, who was able to give him a few sketchy details of John's early life in Whitchurch, near Cardiff in South Wales. Research in British military records revealed nothing until he found that John had emigrated to Canada in 1913 to work in a bank. From there, due to the excellence and accessibility of Canadian military records, he was able to start some two years of patient research to reveal the remarkable story of his great great uncle. 

John, living and working in Canada, volunteered early in the war and, after an apparently successful early career, was commissioned as an officer. He travelled across the Atlantic to England on RMS Olympic, Titanic's sister ship, and arrived in France later in September 1916, joining his battalion as a lieutenant in D Company, 54th Battalion, Canadian Infantry - part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He was wounded during the last hours of the Battle of The Somme in November 2016.

John recovered quickly from his physical wounds and rejoined his unit. Within a few months the 54th 'Kootenay' Battalion was moved north to Vimy Ridge. This long, low ridge stands sentinel over the flatlands of northern France, giving any army in possession of its territory a significant strategic advantage.

Some of Evans family at Vimy Ridge 2016. My father, named after his uncle, is second left. Tom, Welsh Guards, left. As far as we know, we were the first Evans to visit John's grave in France - Image Carole Evans

Towards the end of February 1917, after a severe winter, activity at Vimy Ridge increased. Raids across no-mans land were often preceded by gas attacks to soften up the enemy before going over the top. On the morning of 1 March 1917 the Canadians released gas, planning to follow it up with a raid up the Ridge. But the Germans were prepared; they'd heard the gas canisters being prepared not far away in the Canadian lines and immediately shelled the Canadians, damaging some gas canisters. This coincided with a change of wind direction, which blew the deadly chlorine and phosgene back into the Canadian trenches.

This state of affairs had been predicted by the commander of the 54th Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Kemball, who had asked for a postponement of the raid. Shockingly, the request was denied - lions led by donkeys indeed. Realising the hopelessness of the situation, Kemball decided that he had no option but to lead his men over the top on what could only be a suicidal mission. With his company commanders and platoon commanders (one of whom was John) leading, some 400 men went over the top and advanced on the German lines. 

Struggling up the ridge, through barbed wire, mud, shell holes and plagued by gas, the attack was doomed to fail. The Germans, unaffected by gas, brought heavy fire to bear on the advancing Canadians. About half the men were casualties. Kemball and five of his officers, including John, were lost.

Looking up the ridge towards the German lines (and the Vimy Memorial) where the attack was made - image Grey Fox

Initially, attempts to recover the bodies were beaten back. But then a remarkable series of events occurred. The German commander, who had been educated at St Paul's School in London, allowed the 54th to recover their dead during a two hour truce the following morning. The Germans helped by bringing casualties half way towards the Canadian lines.

Among the casualties was John. The German commander sent word to John's Colonel specifically mentioning the young lieutenant. Later the Colonel wrote to John's mother as follows, 'It may be some solace to you to hear that the German commander reported that [John] fell when gallantly leading on his men, and that his body was actually furthest into the German lines of the whole of the British. It is something to be proud of to have given a son like that.'

And clearly that news did make my great grandmother proud. On John's War Commission grave she asked that Byron's words be carved; 'He rushed into the field and foremost fighting fell'.

John's grave at Villers au Bois. 'He rushed into the field and foremost fighting fell' - Byron - Image Carole Evans

After WW1 an imposing memorial was built on Vimy Ridge to commemorate those who died. The sanctity of the area was respected by all sides during WW2 and the Ridge and its memorial remained undamaged. Interestingly, Vimy Ridge was liberated from the Germans at the end of WW2 by The Welsh Guards, now my son Tom's regiment.

Vimy Ridge today, not far from where John fell. The scars of battle remain - image Carole Evans

This year, on 9 April 2017, Canada is commemorating the Battle of Vimy Ridge, which took place some five weeks after John's death, with a ceremony to open a new museum on the battle site. The Canadian (and of course other nationalities were involved) victory at Vimy in early April 1917 marked the birth of Canada as a nation with its own heritage and pride. It's sad that John didn't live to see the ridge captured from the Germans, but he played his part in what was to come, only weeks after his death. The ceremony will mark this significant event in the life of a young nation, and the men who died. 

The Vimy Memorial

The Evans family will be at Vimy Ridge next month to remember a brave young member of the family.

The temporary graves at Villers-Au-Bois. John's grave is third from right alongside his fellow officers. Lt Colonel Kemball's is on the extreme left. These crosses were later replaced by The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Image Carole Evans

Afterword

The sadness I feel at the death of my great uncle, at the age of just 23, in the midst of such pointless slaughter, is acute. I hope that my son Tom, who, as a lieutenant in the Welsh Guards has a unique insight into his great uncle's life, never has to face the horrors and waste of war.

Without Tom's hard work we would never have known about John. Space hasn't enabled me to include more than the briefest details of what Tom uncovered about John's life and death. The Canadian war records are superbly well-maintained and are free to access (unlike those in the UK).

Tom's work was used by my photographer sister, Carole Evans, in a hand-made booklet, 'A Man of The Great War' which shows photographs she took on a family visit to Vimy Ridge last year. Some of Carole's photographs are reproduced here. More information about her work can be found on her website here.

Sadly John died on St David's Day, the patron saint of Wales. On a trip to Vimy Ridge in March last year I noticed a small cluster of daffodils, the national flower of Wales, growing among the trees and broken ground (now formally Canadian territory), around where John fell. I like to think that, with John's blood, a little piece of Wales was absorbed into the mud that day and that these spring flowers marked his passing place.

John's name appears, alongside hundreds of thousands of others, on several war memorials in Canada, Northern France and in South Wales. 

In memory of John Llewellyn Evans - 5th  April 1893 to 1st March 1917