Fusilier Thomas Evan EVANS

[ChrisS]

Thank you for all your efforts, Al.

Why would Fusilier Evans be given even one transfer, let alone two in quick succession? We read that the RWF 7th Battalion went right through Holland to Germany, and we would have expected him to have an ongoing role in his regiment to achieve that task.

We had an online look at the Yorks and Lancs Museum but no windows opened up, and we could find no forum for that regiment equivalent to this excellent centre.

Yes, I have been looking at other threads, and the Tierney one is very exciting. (You don't miss much, do you!) and the prospect of further family provides another dimension. If this does materialise some extreme diplomacy would be required, possibly using a third party, because Thomas' later family may have no idea about Val, and it would be entirely wrong to cause an upset - not the preferred objective! One step at a time though!

Thank you for calling for help - we are mindful that certain information may be restricted, but our suggestions for his possible identities posted above may allow someone to feel able to comfortable in helping in this way. We will certainly be contacting the Glasgow records centre with the £30 fee as soon as we know where we are going.

Again, your diligence used on our behalf is much appreciated.

Chris

[ChrisS]

Please do any readers of this thread know of, or have a reasonable idea about, the maximum and minimum ages for a man to be accepted into the Territorial arm of the RWF in the 1938-1940 era, the time that Al and Gwil sense that Fusilier Evans joined up?

We are actually trying (with the help of this Forum) to establish his date of birth. If we can limit the possible period of his birth to a minimum it would be more than useful!

Thank you
Chris

[ap1]

Found some detail:

.
During the 1930s some men still chose to enter the armed forces after leaving school and in 1937 there were 200,000 soldiers in the British army. The government knew that this was not enough to fight a war with Germany and in April 1939 introduced the Military Training Act. The terms of the act meant that all men between the ages of 20 and 21 had to register for six months' military training.

In October 1939 the British government announced that all men aged between 18 and 41 who were not working in 'reserved occupations' could be called to join the armed services if required. Conscription was by age and in October 1939 men aged between 20 and 23 were required to register to serve in one of the armed forces. They were allowed to choose between the army, the navy and the airforce

However reading it, I'm starting to think that he may have been conscripted. At the start of the War, we had 2 regular battalions. The 1st and the 2nd. In 1939 The 1st Bn deployed to France with the BEF, the 2nd Bn were in India, and began to travel back to the UK., the 2nd Bn did not take part in any action until 1942

In 1940 at Dunkirk, the 1st Bn took a severe mauling, a large portion of the battalion were either killed, wounded or captured. Only a small percentage made it off the beaches and back to the safety of the UK. Surely the replacements would have come from some of the TA soldiers in training, and from those finishing training at Wrexham.

Maximum Age: If he was 23 in 39, and was one of the first conscripted, he would have been 25/26 in 1943 when he turns up with his Battalion in Kent. Its possible that if he joined the same time as Fred Green, who has a similar service number, perhaps Thomas was under the age of 20, and so although he enlisted at the same time, he may have commenced his training later on after reaching the required age. Note that Fred went to the 2nd Battalion, who were fighting in 1942.

Minimum Age: His minimum age in 1943 must have been 18, I dont think he could have been any younger, while serving with a unit awaiting to deploy on active service.

Based on that, your looking for someone born between 1916 - 1925. However I think its unlikely he could have avoided earlier active service with either the 1st or 2nd Battalion, if he was born as early as 1916.

So you can probably add a couple of years onto the 1916 date....Clear as mud

This is all guesswork. Anyone who can further this or correct any inaccurcies, please join in.

[debs1265]

Hello -
I am the granddaughter of Fusilier Thomas Evan Evans, and my mother and I have both been watching this thread with great interest. We still need Thomas’s date of birth to be able to request his service records of course, and we can’t help but wonder if we will ever able to properly identify him to the satisfaction of the Army Personnel Centre in Glasgow despite all the efforts you have gone to on our behalf.
We have learned about the role of the RWF in the BEF and the later post D-Day Landings and this has been really fascinating. It was horrifying to hear of the devastation suffered by the 1st Battalion at Dunkirk.
Early on in this thread Al told us that the 4th, 5th and 7th Territorial Battalions gathered in south eastern England for the D-Day landings when Thomas met my grandmother in Herne Bay, and he might have been with the 7th Battalion. Please do you know if the replenished Regular 1st Battalion also waited in this area at that time, which could therefore have included Thomas? Or indeed if the 2nd Battalion were there (having returned from India) with the same implication?

Thank you so much for allowing us to join your Forum and helping us with our investigations.
Debs

[ap1]

Welcome to the Forum Debs.

Sorry at this stage we are unable to give you Thomas's birthdate. However, it just takes one stroke of luck, so keep looking.

With regard to the 1st and 2nd Bn's, neither were in Herne Bay. In April 1942, the 1st sailed to South Africa, following the 2nd Bn who were already on route to Madagascar.

One suggestion regarding his rapid transfers between units could be due to his role as a driver, perhaps he was transferred to a different unit, then transferred on again as his new unit deployed to Normandy