World War I

John Fritz Kivas Dobbs

John Fritz Kivas Dobbs was born on 15 Nov 1888 in Castlecomer, Ireland, the son of Joseph Dobbs JP. He attended Shrewsbury School and left in 1906 for Sandhurst. He joined the Royal Dublin Fusiliers with a commission and became a full Lieutenant in 1910. Continue reading →
Last updated on 17 December 2020 by JJ Morgan

Charles Geraint Christopher Payne

Charles Geraint Christopher Payne was born in Shifnal on 23 Apr 1888, the son of Charles Henry Payne. His father was the first cousin of Florence Evans, the younger brother of Florence’s erstwhile governess Edith Payne. This photo forms part of a collection of World War 1 photos of colleagues and relations of Wilmot Evans. On the obverse it is inscribed “2nd Lieut Charles Geraint Christopher Payne, 1st Highland Light Infantry, killed in action Neuve Chapelle 14 Mar 1915” possibly in the hand of Florence Evans. The stiff card photo has been torn in half and put back together again.  Continue reading →
Last updated on 12 August 2019 by JJ Morgan

William Augustus Portman Foster

William Augustus Portman Foster was born in 2 Jun 1887 in Hardingham, Norfolk and was a fellow officer of Wilmot Evans in the 1st Battalion, South Staffordshires. His father was Col Sir William Yorke Foster. He was with Wilmot in Gibraltar and in PieterMaritzburg from 1912 to 1914. In Aug 1914 the regiment returned to England and was deployed immediately to France. Continue reading →
Last updated on 26 September 2017 by JJ Morgan

No Man’s Land Dec 1918

The following is a description by Molly Evans, then a 28 year old nurse, of her day trip into “no man’s land”, immediately after the armistice on December 11, 1918. She was based with The Friends’ Ambulance Unit, the Queen Alexandra Hospital, Dunkirk at the time. Continue reading →
Last updated on 16 October 2020 by JJ Morgan

Molly Evans’ WW1 Nursing Scrapbook

Molly Evans‘s nursing scrapbook covers the period 1914 to 1920. This includes a large number of photos, maps and newspaper articles of the period. It also contains letters, poems and testimonials of patients – British, Canadian and Belgian. Continue reading →
Last updated on 28 June 2023 by JJ Morgan

Roy Marten

Robert Humphrey Marten, known as Roy, was the oldest son of Tib Marten. He was born in Adelaide in 1891, where his father was a surgeon. He was educated back in England at Cheltenham College and Gonville and Caius College Cambridge, matriculating in 1909.  Continue reading →
Last updated on 30 November 2018 by JJ Morgan

Henry Humphrey Marten

Henry Humphrey Marten was the second son of Robert Humphrey Marten, Tib, the brother of Florence Evans. He was born in 1894 in Adelaide where his father was a surgeon, but was educated in England at Cheltenham College and was destined to study at Gonville and Caius College Cambridge. His Aunt and Uncle lived in Cheltenham, and his father had obtained his medical degree from Caius College.  Continue reading →
Last updated on 30 December 2018 by JJ Morgan

Lennox Holmes

Francis Lennox Holmes was a fellow officer of Wilmot Evans in the First South Staffordshires. He was born on 11 Oct 1887 and therefore a few years older than Wilmot. He features on the photographs of the regiment in both Gibraltar and PieterMaritzburg. They must have first got to know each other in Devonport where Wilmot was first stationed in 1910.  Continue reading →
Last updated on 13 January 2021 by JJ Morgan

Wilmot to Teddy Letter

This letter, from Wilmot Evans to his uncle Edward Dimmack Marten, is written on 30 Jan 1915 from the trenches. Wilmot had returned after a spell of leave back in Hagley, probably in early January, after his ordeal at the first Battle of Ypres in October 1914. He was to stay in France until he was wounded again on 16 May 1915. Continue reading →
Last updated on 2 October 2017 by JJ Morgan

Noel Letter to Molly, Nov 1916

This letter was written on 11 November 1916 – shortly after Noel Downing had returned to the trenches after taking up his commission in the Welsh Guards. Molly Evans  was about to formally resign her nursing post in France to return home to look after her mother, whose health had deteriorated after the death of her brother Wilmot on the first day of the battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916. Continue reading →
Last updated on 17 January 2019 by JJ Morgan