Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Before the War:

Ernest William Evans was 25 and 6 months old at time of enlistment and was born in Kilmore, Victoria. He was the son of William Francis Evans, who was listed as his next of kin, prior to being changed to his wife. Evans was married to Mrs May Evans, who lived with him in Gellibrand, Victoria. Evans and his wife lived on Wonga Road, Gellibrand, a town located in southwest Victoria, in the Otway Ranges. This was in the Colac Otway Shire, found midway between the Princes Highway and what is now the Great Ocean Road. Evans was a Roman Catholic, and his profession was a cook. Evans was slightly shorter than the average height of a soldier as he was 5 ft 7 inches, with blue eyes, dark brown hair and a medium complexion. The Civil Power never convicted him and his enlistment of World War 1 was his first military service.

Life in service:

Ernest William Evans enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force as a Private on the 23rd of June 1917 in Mount Gambier, South Australia. His regimental number was 7484 and he was appointed to the 25th Reinforcement of the 10th Battalion. Evans immediately commenced his training at the 3rd Military District, located in Victoria, continuing until the 27th of October 1917; the date from which he and his comrades were considered entrained by the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Evans was transferred from the 3rd Military District to the 4th, located in South Australia, during this period. He then embarked overseas on the HMAT A60 “Aeneas” from Melbourne, on the 30th of October.

Evans’ Reinforcement joined the 10th Battalion at Sutton Veny on the 27th of December 1917. Sutton Veny consisted of ten individual campsites located near Warminster, in the United Kingdom, which housed Australian soldiers from 1916 to 1919. The positional structure between Sutton Veny and surrounding villages ensured it was an ideal location where troops could be trained prior to being deployed to Northern France. Many of the camps were dedicated for training purposes, however some were set-aside for wounded soldiers to recover from illnesses or receive medical treatment.

During his time at Sutton Veny, Evans committed multiple offences. He was declared Absent Without Leave (AWOL) from midnight on the 29th of January 1918, until 4 pm on the 30th of January. Evans was then recorded as hesitant to obey the order of a Non Commissioned Officer, which resulted in him receiving 168 hours detention, as determined by Lieutenant Colonel L. Walstat. He was in custody for one day awaiting trial and forfeited nine day’s pay as a result of these offences.

Evans continued to undergo his training at Sutton Veny, however he fell ill on the 19th of March 1918. He was admitted to the Sutton Veny Hospital with pneumonia of the lungs, a disease caused by a bacterial, viral or fungal infection. Evans may have developed this through participation in a training exercise mimicking trench warfare as these occurred at Sutton Veny. Evans slowly recovered before being discharged from hospital a month later on the 18th of April.

Evans proceeded overseas to France via Folkestone, where he stopped at Etaples Military Base, the British Expeditionary Force’s (BEF) main infantry base, on the 14th of May 1918. The Battalion camped at the Military Base for two days before being dispatched to the Western Front. Evans and his comrades’ first day fighting on the Western Front was the 2nd of June. The 10th Battalion endured an attack near Merris, located in France, and engaged in ‘Peaceful Penetration’ where they attempted to regain land lost to the German forces through small attacks that seized German outposts. These tactics were a cross between trench raiding (when forces would gather prisoners and intelligence) and patrolling, the aim being for soldiers to dominate no man’s land, thus gaining ground. The offensive continued for a month to follow and by the 8th of July, almost five kilometres of land had been gained and 1,000 German prisoners, in addition to weapons and supplies, were captured.

On the 6th of August 1918, Evans was again admitted to hospital determined sick, although his records do not state when he was discharged. However on the 24th of August, records detail Evans was injured accidently, having obtained a knife wound to his left thigh, although it is unclear how this happened. Evans was transferred to Sutton Veny from France on the 25th of August, where he was admitted to hospital to recover. This injury required subsequent follow up visits to the hospital.  

After the War:

Ernest William Evans was discharged from Europe at the end of the war. He returned to Australia upon the ship “Mamari” and disembarked at the 3rd Military District on the 4th of February 1919. He then proceeded to Broadmeadows, Victoria, awaiting transport to 4th Military District, located in South Australia. By the 23rd of February, Evans had returned to Adelaide, South Australia and was officially discharged. After returning to his wife, Evans received the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his services to the AIF, given to many Australian soldiers who served during World War 1.  Evans spent a total of 1 year, 246 days in service and 1 year, 106 days in service abroad. The age and cause of Evans’ death is uncertain.

Bibliography:

• Australian War Memorial 2019, Anzac Spirit, viewed 1 April 2020, <https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/anzac/spirit>.
• Virtual War Memorial Australia n.d., Timeline, viewed 29 March 2020, <https://vwma.org.au/>.
• UNSW Australia 2016, AIF Project, Canberra, viewed 21 March 2020, <https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/search>.
• Australian War Memorial n.d., Search for a Person, Canberra, viewed 15 March 2020, <https://www.awm.gov.au/advanced-search/people>.
• National Archives of Australia 2020, Record Search, viewed 25 March 2020, <https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/BasicSearch.aspx>.
• National Library of Australia n.d., Trove Australia, viewed 29 March 2020, <https://trove.nla.gov.au/?q&adv=y>.
• Australian War Memorial n.d., Unit Diaries, viewed 17 March 2020, <https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/AWM4/>.
• State Library South Australia n.d., viewed 13 March 2020, <https://www.catalog.slsa.sa.gov.au/search/X>.
• Sutton Veny - ANZACs 2020, viewed 1 April 2020, <https://suttonveny.co.uk/1st-world-war/anzacs/>.
• Sutton Veny - First World War 2020, viewed 1 April 2020, <https://suttonveny.co.uk/1st-world-war/>.
• Notorious Etaples Camp 2015, viewed 2 April 2020, <http://roadstothegreatwar-ww1.blogspot.com/2015/07/notorious-etaples-camp.html>.