Arthur Charles Evans

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(21 March 1916 – 18 March 2011) was best known as the author of ''Sojourn in Silesia: 1940 – 1945'', in which he recounts his experiences of his time in

World War II 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 opposin ...

, between 1940 and 1945, in the

prisoner-of-war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

camp, Stalag VIIIB. Thousands of young men were incarcerated in Stalag VIIIB, in Lamsdorf, by the Germans during

. Evans recounted these experiences both in his book, as well as on his website, Lamsdorf Remembered. The website was created due to public response from the children and grandchildren of former inmates of Stalag VIIIB, the website originally named Lamsdorf Reunited was created to record stories and photographs from that experience. Evans encountered the respected RAF pilot

Douglas Bader Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, (; 21 February 1910 – 5 September 1982) was a Royal Air Force flying ace during the Second World War. He was credited with 22 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared ...

while at Stalag VIIIB, and talked about his escape attempts in his book. Evans himself is mentioned in a book called POW: Allied Prisoners in Europe, 1939–1945 by Adrian Gilbert who used Sojourn in Silesia for his information. Evans was a member of The National Ex-Prisoner of War Association, whose patron is Dame Vera Lynn, DBE, LLD, M.MUS, and is mentioned in the August 2001 newsletter. More recently, on his website Lamsdorf Remembered, a half-hour

Radio Kent BBC Radio Kent is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Kent. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at The Great Hall in Tunbridge Wells. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience o ...

interview with Evans was published, as well as a blog called Letters from Stalag VIIIB, which is made up of Evans' letters home during his four years as a

. The blog was published as a book in February 2014 by Evans' daughter Kathryn Gower.

Life

Arthur Charles Evans was born in 1916 in the Wirral, Cheshire. The first years of his employment were at

Lever Brothers Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and successfully promoted a new soap-making p ...

, soapworks at

Port Sunlight Port Sunlight is a model village and suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside. It is located between Lower Bebington and New Ferry, on the Wirral Peninsula. Port Sunlight was built by Lever Brothers to accommodate workers in it ...

, and then with the

New Zealand Shipping Company The New Zealand Shipping Company (NZSC) was a shipping company whose ships ran passenger and cargo services between Great Britain and New Zealand between 1873 and 1973. A group of Christchurch businessmen founded the company in 1873, similar ...

. One voyage to Australia and then another to New Zealand convinced him he was not meant to be a sailor. To further his ambition to become a policeman, he enlisted in the

Irish Guards The Irish Guards (IG), is one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army and is part of the Guards Division. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish infantry regiments in the British Army. The regiment has parti ...

in 1936. In May 1940, he was wounded and taken prisoner in Bolougne and spent the remainder of the war in prison camps in

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located ...

. He returned to England in May 1945 and upon demobilisation, joined the

Kent County Constabulary Kent Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the and approximately 1.8 million inhabitants of Kent, a county in the south east of England. History On 14 January 1857, a 222-strong 'Kent County Constabulary' was formed u ...

. Evans was a friend of

James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...

and his wife Audrey Callaghan, Baroness Callaghan of Cardiff, whom he had met when Callaghan was Parliamentary Adviser to the Police Federation from 1955 to 1960. They worked together during that time on negotiations for an increase in police pay. Whilst still a police constable Arthur was Secretary of the Police Federation from 1956 to 1967 and it was in this capacity that he was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) on 1 January 1967. In an article dated 19 August 1966, Police Federation Secretary Arthur Evans complained that, because of the old anti-gun tradition, "you could count on the fingers of one hand police trained in the use of firearms." Evans was also responsible for policemen finally being allowed to buy their own homes. Up until then, they were at the mercy of the Chief Constables and being moved around the country. In May 1967, Evans organised and headed up the British contingent at The World Congress of Police Officers in Niagara Falls, Canada. He later returned to police work in Sevenoaks, Dover, Whitstable and Herne Bay, his last position being as an Inspector in 1970. He later became the chief of administration at Ashford Police Station (

Ashford, Kent Ashford is a town in the county of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Great Stour at the southern or Escarpment, scarp edge of the North Downs, about southeast of central London and northwest of Folkestone by road. In the ...

), a position he held until 1981. He was married to his wife Freda for 62 years, and they had three daughters, Gillian, Kathryn and Vivienne, five grandchildren and three great grandchildren. He retired aged 65, and spent much of his time gardening, bowling and cooking in his Kent home, and in later years caring for Freda. Freda who had Alzheimer's for many years, died peacefully on 2 June 2016. Evans died of natural causes on 18 March 2011. He left a request for some of the profit from ''Sojourn in Silesia'' to go to the

British Red Cross The British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with more ...

References

External links

Lamsdorf Remembered

Letters from Stalag VIIIB Blog

Lamsdorf website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Arthur Charles 1916 births 2011 deaths British Army personnel of World War II British World War II prisoners of war Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Irish Guards soldiers Imprisonment and detention World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Military personnel from Cheshire