Digger
25-05-2008, 20:58
Hi, my name is Dave Evans and I live in Christchurch New Zealand. My father served as a regular in the Royal Navy from 1940 to 1946. He joined at the age of 15, a couple of years after his brother. Both served throughout the war, my fathers first ship being HMS Ark Royal which he joined in mid 1941 after finishing his training at HMS St. George on the Isle Of Man. He has his own small claim to naval historical fame as the youngest survivour from HMS Ark Royal, this being reported in hs local newspaper, the Leighton Buzzard Observer, at the time with limited details of the sinking.
My father spoke very highly of the Ark and always had fond memories of her. From the Ark he served on various ships including the Illustrious, in the Indian Ocean and Med. He also served on HMS Cotswold, HMS Eastern and one of the 4" O Class destroyers who's name escapes me. But at what time he was on each ship i'm not certain. He was on several Russian convoys and both he and my Uncle were awarded two Soviet medals for their service on these convoys, and was involved while on the Cotswold and the Eastern with East Coast convoys. While always ready to talk of the ships he served on he was more reticent about the things he had actually seen and done.
My uncle was on several ships during the war, i'm not certain of all of them but they included the Southampton, Terror, Ajax and i believe the Manchester and after the war he was on HMS Waterwitch. His last ship was HMS Ocean.
My fathers name was Bernard James Evans, his nickname was 'Lofty Sparks' as he was 6'4" tall, my uncle was William John Evans, known as John as my Grandfathers name was also William. They both came from a small village in Bedfordshire, England called Little Billington. Unfortunately they both died in 2002/03 and are buried in the RSA section of the Nelson, New Zealand cemetry.
Being an ex serviceman myself, Australian and New Zealand armies, I have always been interested in their time in the Royal Navy during WWII. If anyone knows of photos of the survivours from the Ark I would be very pleased to hear from them. Thank you.
My father spoke very highly of the Ark and always had fond memories of her. From the Ark he served on various ships including the Illustrious, in the Indian Ocean and Med. He also served on HMS Cotswold, HMS Eastern and one of the 4" O Class destroyers who's name escapes me. But at what time he was on each ship i'm not certain. He was on several Russian convoys and both he and my Uncle were awarded two Soviet medals for their service on these convoys, and was involved while on the Cotswold and the Eastern with East Coast convoys. While always ready to talk of the ships he served on he was more reticent about the things he had actually seen and done.
My uncle was on several ships during the war, i'm not certain of all of them but they included the Southampton, Terror, Ajax and i believe the Manchester and after the war he was on HMS Waterwitch. His last ship was HMS Ocean.
My fathers name was Bernard James Evans, his nickname was 'Lofty Sparks' as he was 6'4" tall, my uncle was William John Evans, known as John as my Grandfathers name was also William. They both came from a small village in Bedfordshire, England called Little Billington. Unfortunately they both died in 2002/03 and are buried in the RSA section of the Nelson, New Zealand cemetry.
Being an ex serviceman myself, Australian and New Zealand armies, I have always been interested in their time in the Royal Navy during WWII. If anyone knows of photos of the survivours from the Ark I would be very pleased to hear from them. Thank you.