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Posted: 14.08.17

Christ College Remembers…Second Lieutenant Neville Vernon Evans

REMEMBRANCE DISPATCH NO. 36 COMMEMORATES SECOND LIEUTENANT NEVILLE VERNON EVANS (SCHOOL HOUSE 1913-1916) WHO WAS KILLED IN ACTION ON 16TH AUGUST 1917.

Neville Vernon Evans, elder son of the Reverend J.D. Evans, Vicar of Treherbert, joined school House from Leatherhead at Easter 1913. Known as “Neddy”, he was popular “for his sterling qualities and cheery good nature”. He gained academic prizes at school and did “good service” in House fives, rugby and hockey teams. He also played for the ‘Fly Catchers’ in the cricket league competition, scoring a total of 335 runs in the season.

In the Summer Term of 1916, Neville was promoted Lance Corporal in the Cadet Corps, newly affiliated to the Breconshire Territorials. Just a few weeks later, in July 1916 he left school and enlisted in the Army. Commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion South Wales Borderers in March 1917, he was sent to join the 2nd Battalion in the Autheux (Picardy) training area on 11th June 1917 before moving up to the Front.
On 14th-15th August came the preparations for a major attack at the Front line at Woesten on 16th August. All objectives were reached, with 53 prisoners captured and several enemy guns damaged. However, 163 officers and men were killed, wounded or missing. Second Lieutenant Vernon Neville Evans, attached to C Company, was one of the officers killed. To bring in his body, his men worked continuously for nearly nine hours – a significant tribute to their affection for one who “appreciated their difficulties and hardships”.
In his obituary, The Breconian recorded that Neville “had not been more than a few weeks abroad before the last call came” and that he would be remembered as “dear old Neddy, who was everyone’s friend and nobody’s enemy”.
Second Lieutenant Neville Vernon Evans is buried in Artillery Wood Cemetery in France and is remembered on the Christ College War Memorial.

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