Private William J Evans

William James Evans (Jim) was the son of Ross Roy and Mary Evans, of West Creston, British Columbia, Canada, he enlisted in the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion on 1 September 1942 and attended a para course at Fort Benning, Georgia, USA on 7 January 1943, qualifying as a parachutist on 6 February 1943. He arrived in the UK on 28 July 1943 and took part in Operation Overlord (Normandy).

Private Evans and the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion jumped into Normandy on the night of 5/6 June 1944. He was 5’9”, 142 Ibs, fair complexion, blue eyes, light brown hair and 20/20 vision. He was killed in action on 14 June 1944, aged 20, and was given a field burial on the edge of an orchid at Le Mesnil and was re-interred to Ranville War Cemetery, Calvados, France, on 26 June 1945.

If you are part of Pte Evans’s family and would like to complete this biography, you can apply to the curator to do so. To do this you will need to become a member of ParaData and select the 'friend or family member' option on the registration form.

If you would like to find out more about becoming a member please visit our registration page.

Members of ParaData can submit their material by clicking on the 'Add content to this article' button on the right.