British War Medal: Sergeant J C Evans, 19 Battalion, AIF

British War Medal. Impressed around edge with recipient's details.

John Colvin Evans was born in Orange, NSW, the son of John and Elizabeth Evans. He enlisted with the AIF on 10 February 1915 from Liverpool, NSW, at the age of 21. Prior to enlistment he lived in Strathfield, NSW, with his parents and worked as a bank clerk. He was assigned as a lance corporal to A Company, 19 Battalion, with the service number 215.

Following training Evans embarked from Melbourne on 25 June 1915 aboard HMAT Ceramic, bound for Egypt. After further training in Egypt he embarked for Gallipoli with the 19th Battalion and landed at Anzac Cove on 21 August 1915. The battalion took part in the attack on Hill 60 during the August Offensive. After a short time Evans was admitted to hospital with typhoid fever on 7 September at 16 Casualty Clearing Station. Due to the severity of his condition he was invalided to Malta aboard the hospital ship Maheno on the 12 September 1915 .

Evans recovered in late November 1915 and rejoined his unit on 13 January 1916 in Egypt. He was briefly admitted to 4th Auxiliary Hospital Cairo on 27 January for mumps and rejoined his unit in time for embarkation for France on 25 March 1916.

The 19th Battalion participated in its first major offensive on the Western Front around Pozieres in July 1916. During this offensive Evans suffered a shrapnel wound to his side and leg on 1 August, and was admitted to 3 General Hospital at Camiers the next day. He returned to duty with the 19th Battalion on 28 August as acting sergeant. On 7 September he was promoted to sergeant, and posted to the 5th Training Battalion in late October in Rollestone, England. He was appointed to the permanent cadre of the training battalion until 18 September when he rejoined the 19th Battalion in France.

From 9 to 10 October 1917 the battalion took part in a major battle at Poelcappelle, Belgium, in thick mud and waterlogged terrain. Evans was killed in action on 9 October 1917, aged 24, one of 18 men from the battalion killed that day. An account by Lieutenant Leslie Layton-Smith, recalled 'I was with Sergeant Evans at the time of his death. He was killed by a shell which landed on the parados and the "backwash" entered his head and neck killing him immediately. Sergeant Evans was digging to deepen the trench, which was waterlogged when he met his death'. He was buried where he fell and his rifle and a paper inscription were place above his grave. The same shell also killed 224 Private William Harvey Foat from Dubbo, NSW, and the two men were buried together. Despite the attempts made to record the exact location of his death and burial, his body could not be located after the war. Evans is commemorated at the Menin Gate Memorial, Belgium.