Lance Sergeant John W Evans

Lance Sergeant John William Evans was the son of John William and Elizabeth Evans and husband of Amelia Evans, of Exhall, Warwickshire..

He enlisted into the Warwickshire Regiment and was serving with the 13th Battalion as a Lance Corporal when it was turned over to airborne duties to become the 8th (Midlands) Parachute Battalion, part of the 3rd Parachute Brigade in the newly formed 6th Airborne Division in 1943.

After training at Hardwick Hall he attended Parachute Training Course 65 which ran at RAF Ringway from 17 to 28 May 1943. The course was unfortunate in having a fatal accident and a crash landing which affected some of the men.

Jackie was a musician and formed a trio with two of his 8th Battalion comrades, Allan Reading, who was later to win a Military Medal and "Tizzy" Tisdale.

Jackie took part in the Normandy landings with the Battalion's HQ Company in June 1944. Unfortunately, both he and "Tizzy" Tisdale were killed within the first week of the campaign.

L/Sgt Evans died, aged 34 years, on 7 June 1944 and is now buried in Ranville War Cemetery, Calvados.

Cemetery photo courtesy of CWGC.