Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Roger Evans (9 January 1886 – 22 October 1968) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer who commanded the 1st Armoured Division during the early stages of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Military career

Evans was born in

Christchurch, Hampshire Christchurch () is a town and civil parish in Dorset on the south coast of England. The town had a population of 31,372 in 2021. For the borough the population was 48,368. It adjoins Bournemouth to the west, with the New Forest to the east. Pa ...

, on 9 January 1886, the son of Roger Evans. After serving in the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry ...

, he was commissioned into the 7th Hussars in December 1911. He saw service in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, in the

Mesopotamian campaign The Mesopotamian campaign was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the Allies represented by the British Empire, troops from Britain, Australia and the vast majority from British India, against the Central Po ...

, from 1917−1918. After attending the Staff College, Camberley from 1920 to 1921, he then returned there, this time as a GSO2 instructor, from 1924 until 1927. He became Commanding Officer of the

5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards The 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army formed in 1922 by the amalgamation of the 5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) and the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons. It served in the Second World ...

in 1929, followed by attendance at the

Imperial Defence College The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

in 1934, and a promotion to brigadier on the General Staff at Western Command in India in 1935. He was appointed General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 1st Armoured Division in 1938, continuing in that role into the

with the British Expeditionary Force in France, before relinquishing the appointment on 24 August 1940. He was appointed GOC Aldershot Area on 13 March 1941, before being made supernumerary to the establishment on 9 January 1943. He retired from the British Army on 13 October 1944.

Honours and decorations

Evans was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

(MC) in 1918. His citation read: From 1937 to 1947 he held the colonelcy of the

. In the 1941

King's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are prese ...

, he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). He was appointed High Sheriff of Somersetshire in 1955.

References

Bibliography

External links

British Army Officers 1939–1945
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Roger 1886 births 1968 deaths 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards officers 7th Queen's Own Hussars officers Alumni of the Royal College of Defence Studies British Army generals of World War II British Army major generals British Army personnel of World War I Companions of the Order of the Bath Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley High Sheriffs of Somerset People from Christchurch, Dorset Recipients of the Military Cross Academics of the Staff College, Camberley Military personnel from Hampshire