Roger Evans (British Army officer)

Roger Evans
Roger Evans (right) with John Crocker during the opening of the Army Cadet Force Center in 1945
Born(1886-01-09)9 January 1886
Christchurch, Hampshire, England
Died22 October 1968(1968-10-22) (aged 82)
Stocklinch, Ilminster, Somerset, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service / branchBritish Army
Years of service1911–1944
RankMajor General
Service number23006
Unit7th Queen's Own Hussars
5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards
CommandsAldershot Area (1941–44)
1st Armoured Division (1938–40)
5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards (1929–33)
Battles / warsFirst World War
Second World War
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Military Cross
Mentioned in despatches

Major General Roger Evans, CB, MC (9 January 1886 – 22 October 1968) was a British Army officer who commanded the 1st Armoured Division during the early stages of the Second World War.

Military career

Evans was born in Christchurch, Hampshire, on 9 January 1886, the son of Roger Evans.[1][2] After serving in the Territorial Force,[2] he was commissioned into the 7th Hussars in December 1911. He saw service in the First World War, in the Mesopotamian campaign, from 1917 to 1918.[3] Evans was awarded the Military Cross (MC) in 1918.[1] His citation read:[4]

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. This officer led the leading squadron with consummate skill and dash over unknown and difficult country. At dusk he took up a position astride the enemy's line of retreat and succeeded in cutting off and capturing the main portion of the enemy's force, which desperately attempted to break through during the night.

After attending the Staff College, Camberley, from 1920 to 1921, Evans then returned there, this time as a GSO2 instructor, from 1924 until 1927.[5][2] He became commanding officer of the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards in 1929, followed by attendance at the Imperial Defence College in 1934, and a promotion to brigadier on the General Staff at Western Command in India in 1935.[3][5]

Evans was appointed General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 1st Armoured Division in 1938, continuing in that role into the Second World War with the British Expeditionary Force in France,[6] before relinquishing the appointment on 24 August 1940.[7] He was made GOC Aldershot Area on 13 March 1941 and appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1941 Birthday Honours,[1][8][9] before being made supernumerary to the establishment on 9 January 1943.[10]

Evans retired from the British Army on 13 October 1944.[11] From 1937 to 1947 he held the colonelcy of the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards.[12] He was appointed High Sheriff of Somersetshire in 1955.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c Who was Who: EVANS, Maj.-Gen. Roger. A & C Black. December 2007.
  2. ^ a b c "British Army officer histories". Unit Histories. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Evans, Roger". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  4. ^ "No. 30901". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 September 1918. p. 10947.
  5. ^ a b Smart 2005, p. 98.
  6. ^ Orders of Battle – September 1939
  7. ^ "No. 34939". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 September 1940. p. 5389.
  8. ^ "No. 35126". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 April 1941. p. 1952.
  9. ^ "No. 35204". The London Gazette (Supplement). 27 June 1941. pp. 3735–3736.
  10. ^ "No. 35903". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 February 1943. p. 805.
  11. ^ "No. 36743". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 October 1944. p. 4675.
  12. ^ "5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 27 February 2007. Retrieved 6 August 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  13. ^ "No. 40433". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 March 1955. p. 1609.

Bibliography

Military offices
Preceded by General Officer Commanding 1st Armoured Division
1938–1940 		Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Colonel of the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards
1937–1947 		Succeeded by