Pte 21404 Robert Rowland Evans

• Age: 40
• From: Bangor N Wales
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 19th Btn
• K.I.A Sunday 30th July 1916
• Commemorated at: Guillemont Rd Cem
  Panel Ref: VI.A.10

Robert Rowland Evans was born on the 08th June 1876 in Bangor, Caernarfonshire, the son of Robert Curry Evans and his wife Sarah (nee Graham). His parents married in Bangor in the September quarter of 1875. His father was born in Llandyfrydog near Amlwch in Anglesey, and his mother in Dublin. Robert had two younger brothers, Rowland George, born in 1878 in Bangor, and Thomas John, born in 1881 in Rhyl.

At the time of the 1881 census the family, with two sons, is living in Claddone(?) Villas, Aquarium Street, Ruddlan, Rhyl.

His father, 45, is a bookseller, his mother is 40.  Robert is 4, and Rowland 2 years old.  The family members speak both Welsh and English.  Thomas John, was born later that year.

The 1891 Census shows the family have moved to 5 Edward Henry Street in Rhyl.

His mother is 50, keeping a lodging house. Robert is 14, Rowland 12, and Thomas 9. His father is a commercial traveller, visiting Helen Thompson and her son Rowland in his home town of Llandyfrydog in Anglesey.

His parents are at the same address in 1901. 

His father is listed as a commission agent.  Rowland, aged 22, is a chemist's assistant. Robert has not been identified on the 1901 census. On enlistment in 1914 he stated previous service in the Calcutta Volunteer Rifles, indicating that he spent time in India, possibly having enlisted in the Army in the U.K., or having travelled there as a civilian for 3 years. This almost certainly required him to be in India to volunteer and as no passenger records have been found for him it is not possible to put an actual date on it. His father was involved in livestock transport so one scenario is that he may have travelled on the merchant ships for horse and cattle(or feed). 

In 1911 he lived at 5 Edward Henry Street, Rhyl, Flintshire, with his widowed father Robert Curry Evans, aged 75, a Commission Agent for Horse and Cattle Transport. Robert, aged 34, was employed as a Clerk. The house had nine rooms and two attics.

He enlisted on Thursday 24th September 1914 in Liverpool, joining the 19^th Battalion of The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 21404. He gave his age as 33 years and 108 days (he was actually 38 at this time) and his occupation as a clerk. He had at some time served in the Calcutta Volunteer Reserve for a period of three years. On enlistment he was described as being five feet six and a quarter inches tall, weighed 114lbs, fresh complexion, grey eyes, brown hair and gave his religion as Church of England. He had a chest measurement 35″, expansion 2″, and his physical development was described as good and according to the Recruitment Officer and Medical Officer he was fit for Military Service. He gave as next of kin his father at 58 Millbank Road, Rhyl. 

Formed on 07^th September 1914 the 19^th Battalion trained locally at Sefton Park and remained living at home or in rented accommodation until November 1914. They then moved to the hutted accommodation at Lord Derby’s estate at Knowsley Hall. On 30th April 1915 the 19th Battalion alongside the other three Pals battalions left Liverpool via Prescot Station for further training at Belton Park, Grantham. They remained here until September 1915 when they reached Larkhill Camp on Salisbury Plain. 

Whilst stationed at Grantham he married Gladys Sarah Tozer on Thursday 29th July 1915 at Denbigh. Their address thereafter was Clasdir, Colwyn Crescent, Llandrillo yn Rhos, Colwyn Bay. Robert gave his age as 34 (he was 39), Gladys was 26.  She was born in 1889 in Holywell and in 1911 lived with her parents in "Clasdir", Colwyn Crescent, Llandillo yn Rhos, and worked as a shop assistant.  No children were born to the marriage.

He arrived in France on 7^th November 1915.

Robert was killed in action on the 30^th July 1916, one day after his first wedding anniversary, aged 40, at the village of Guillemont, France, during the Somme Offensive.

19^th Battalion Diary 

MALTZ HORN FARM

BATTLE begun. ZERO hour 4:45 am. The Battalion reached its objective, but suffered heavy losses, and had to evacuate its position owing to no reinforcements.

Everard Wyrall gives details of the attack in his book The History of The King’s Regiment; 

"The 2nd Attack on Guillemont- 29th July 1916 the 89th Brigade the 20th King's were to attack on the right and the 19th on the left. During the evening of the 29th the night was dark and foggy when the Battalions moved off and the 19th with Lt Col G Rollo commanding, when passing the South east of the Briqueterie they were heavily shelled first with H E and then with a new kind of asphyxiating Gas shell which had curious results, at first it had no nasty effect but about 8 hrs later men began to fall sick with violent headaches and pains in the stomach. All ranks had to wear gas masks which in the darkness and mist made the going terribly difficult. It was indeed wonderful that they were able to reach their Assembly point at all. But they did and by 2.45 a.m. on the 30th July 1916 the Btn was assembled having suffered about 30 Casualties on the way up ready for the Zero hour at 4.45 a.m.

It is known that the two left Companies of the 19th under Capt. Dodd and Capt. Nicholson advanced in touch with the 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers on their left although they suffered many casualties from Machine gun Fire did not encounter many Germans and reached their final objective about the time allocated, beginning at once to dig in south of the orchard on the South east corner of Guillemont.  

On the left of the 19th the Scots Fusiliers most gallantly forced their way through Guillemont to the eastern side of the village but were soon overwhelmed by the enemy and few returned. 

At 8 a.m. finding that the village was not held the two left Companies of the 19th received no word from the rear or either flank believed themselves to be totally isolated so were forced to fall back and dig in, their position being untenable.

At midday the effective fighting strength of the 19th Btn was just 7 Officers and 43 other ranks" 

When darkness fell on the battlefield the 30^th Division held a line from the railway on the eastern side of Trones Wood , southwards and including Arrow Head Copse, to east of Maltz Horn Farm. On this line the division was relieved by the 55^th Division during the early hours of the 31^st July.

Casualties in the 19^th Battalion were 11 Officers and 435 Other Ranks 

The events of 30^th July 1916 were regarded at the time as Liverpool’s blackest day. There follows an extract from The History of the 89^th Brigade written by Brigadier General Ferdinand Stanley which gives an indication of the events of the day.

Guillemont

Well the hour to advance came, and of all bad luck in the world it was a thick fog; so thick that you couldn’t see more than about ten yards. It was next to impossible to delay the attack – it was much too big an operation- so forward they had to go. It will give some idea when I say that on one flank we had to go 1,750 yards over big rolling country. Everyone knows what it is like to cross enclosed country which you know really well in a fog and how easy it is to lose your way. Therefore, imagine these rolling hills, with no landmarks and absolutely unknown to anyone. Is it surprising that people lost their way and lost touch with those next to them? As a matter of fact, it was wonderful the way in which many men found their way right to the place we wanted to get to. But as a connected attack it was impossible.

The fog was intense it was practically impossible to keep direction and parties got split up. Owing to the heavy shelling all the Bosches had left their main trenches and were lying out in the open with snipers and machine guns in shell holes, so of course our fellows were the most easy prey.

It is so awfully sad now going about and finding so many splendid fellows gone.     

Robert was initially reported as Missing in the Liverpool Daily Post on 18th September 1916. 

King’s(Liverpool Regiment) - Evans, 21404, R. (Colwyn Bay); 

The War Office informed Infantry Records (date illegible) that the Director of Graves Registration and Enquiries had reported that the grave of Pte. 21404 Evans had been discovered two and a quarter miles west of Combles (which would be near the village of Guillemont); accordingly "it must now be definitely accepted that the soldier was killed".

After the war, when graves were concentrated, his body was removed and reinterred in Guillemont Road Cemetery where he now rests. 

Guillemont was an important point in the German defences at the beginning of the Battle of the Somme in July 1916. It was taken by the 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers on 30 July but the battalion was obliged to fall back, and it was again entered for a short time by the 55th (West Lancashire) Division on 8 August. On 18 August, the village was reached by the 2nd Division, and on 3 September (in the Battle of Guillemont) it was captured and cleared by the 20th (Light) and part of the 16th (Irish) Divisions. It was lost in March 1918 during the German advance, but retaken on 29 August by the 18th and 38th (Welsh) Divisions.

The cemetery was begun by fighting units (mainly of the Guards Division) and field ambulances after the Battle of Guillemont, and was closed in March 1917, when it contained 121 burials. It was greatly increased after the Armistice when graves (almost all of July-September 1916) were brought in from the battlefields immediately surrounding the village and certain smaller cemeteries, including:-

HARDECOURT FRENCH MILITARY CEMETERY. The village of Hardecourt-au-Bois was captured by French troops on the 8th July 1916, and again by the 58th (London) and 12th (Eastern) Divisions on 28 August 1918. Five British Artillerymen were buried by their unit in the French Military Cemetery, in the middle of the village, in September 1916; and in 1918 the 12th Division buried in the same cemetery 14 men of the 9th Royal Fusiliers and two of the 7th Royal Sussex.

Guillemont Road Cemetery now contains 2,263 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War. 1,523 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to eight casualties known or believed to be buried among them.

The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.

His CWGC headstone gives his age as 35. He was in fact 40 years old. His headstone bears the epitpaph:

"GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN"

Robert is also remembered on the following Memorials;

Colwyn Bay War Memorial

Royal Alexandra Hospital, Marine Drive, Rhyl, Flintshire, on a First World War Remembrance Plaque

North Wales Heroes Memorial Arch, Deiniol Road, Bangor. 

Gladys was awarded a pension of 10/- a week from April 1917 (showing Robert as Missing at that time). 

His Casualty Form shows an entry dated 08th August 1917 stating that, for official purposes, this soldier was considered to have died on or since 30th July 1916. 

On 27th October 1917, a payment of £5. 9s. 3d. was made to his widow Mrs Gladys Evans, monies owed to her husband Robert.

On 25th November 1917, Gladys received Robert’s personal property, which consisted of a wallet, 2 photographs, a post card and cap badge. 

On 04 October 1919, a further payment, which is recorded as a War Gratuity of £8. 10s. 0d. was also made to her. 

In 1919 Gladys provided information on Robert's relatives. His parents had both died. (His mother appears to have died in 1904, aged 62 or 63, and his father earlier in 1919 aged 82.)  Gladys was living in her family home, Clasdir. His brother Rowland, 38, was running a pharmacy in Bristol, and Thomas, 35, lived in Victoria, London S.W.1.

Gladys never remarried.

On the 1921 Census Gladys is living with her parents James Richard and Mary Elizabeth Tozer in Llandrillo Yn Rhos. 

In 1939 she was 50 years old, living in Ormes View, Penmaenmaer, Carnarvonshire, and working as an upholsterer/interior decorator.

She died in 1975 at the age of 86.

We currently have no further information on Robert Rowland Evans, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.