Military History

Hospital Evacuation under Fire, Dunkirk, Mar 1918

The following is a narrative account from the diary of Molly Evans, a VAD nurse in the Queen Alexandra Hospital, Dunkirk. She had returned from leave on 17 Mar and the three days from 20 to 23 March 1918 were the worst experienced so far. She wrote up a special piece in the diary to describe it, starting on the evening of 20 Mar 1918. Continue reading →
Last updated on 7 March 2019 by JJ Morgan

The Pow-Wow: Unofficial Journal of U.P.S. Brigade

The Pow-Wow as defined by its creators was The Unofficial Journal of the Universities and Public Schools  (U.P.S.) Brigade (118th and later 98th). The intention was both to chronicle training in Epsom, Ashtead, Leatherhead, Woodcote, Clipstone and Tidworth and to amuse “two or  three thousand members of the Brigade for a few minutes each Friday”. Noel Downing treasured a complete set of 38 numbers issued from 18 Nov 1914 to 3 Sep 1915. Continue reading →
Last updated on 17 January 2019 by E Morgan

21st Battalion (4th Public Schools) Royal Fusiliers

Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, Noel Downing enlisted and joined the 21st Battalion (4th Public Schools) Royal Fusiliers. In early Oct 1914 he arrived in Ashtead, Surrey where he was billeted. Noel kept a series of postcards that illustrate the new recruits’ arrival and early training and the construction of a vast encampment of huts in Woodcote Park, Epsom. Continue reading →
Last updated on 23 July 2023 by E Morgan

Wilmot Evans’ Service Records, 1909-1916

This is a timeline of Wilmot Evans‘ military career. He was commissioned into the South Staffordshire Regiment at the age of 19. He served in Gibraltar and South Africa during peacetime and fought on the battlefields on the Western Front during the First World War until he was killed at the age of 25. Continue reading →
Last updated on 18 July 2020 by E Morgan

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

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

Thomas Owen Evans

Thomas Owen Evans was the eldest son of Major General Thomas Evans (CB). He was born on 2 Aug 1819, probably in Canada, but possibly in Cork, Ireland. He followed his father into 41st Foot and had obtained the rank of Lieutenant when he was killed by a sniper in Istalif, north of Kabul in Afghanistan. Continue reading →
Last updated on 17 December 2020 by JJ Morgan

General Thomas Evans CB

Thomas Evans was born on 9 Mar 1776 in Chapel Ash, Wolverhampton. His father was John Evans the inn keeper of the Old Bell Inn on the western fringe of the rapidly growing town of Wolverhampton. He was baptized on 20 Apr 1776 at St Peter’s Collegiate Church in Wolverhampton. His father died in 1784 and he was brought up by his mother Mary. She herself was to die in 1792 but the young Thomas was clearly a determined and resourceful boy. Continue reading →
Last updated on 21 October 2021 by JJ Morgan

South Staffordshire Regiment in Gibraltar, 1911-1913

We have a fine collection of annotated photographs of the Presentation of Colours to the 1st Battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment by King George V on 31 Jan 1912. The event took place on the Alameda Parade, Gibraltar and would have been redolent of historical connections of the regiment – the Old Colours had been presented on the same ground on 5 Jan 1887. Continue reading →
Last updated on 7 February 2024 by JJ Morgan