Allegiance United Kingdom Died October 22, 1968 Service number 23006 | Name Roger Evans Rank Major-general Role Commanding officer | |
Born 9 January 1886 ( 1886-01-09 ) Commands held Aldershot Area1st Armoured Division5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards Battles/wars First World WarSecond World WarBattle of France Battles and wars World War I, Battle of France, World War II | ||
Major General Roger Evans (9 January 1886 – 22 October 1968) was a British Army officer who commanded the 1st Armoured Division during the early stages of the Second World War.
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Military career
Evans was born on 9 January 1886. He saw service in the First World War with the 7th Hussars and then on the General Staff.
After attending the Staff College, Camberley from 1920 to 1921, he became Commanding Officer of the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards in 1929, followed by attendance at the Imperial Defence College 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 Second World War 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 (MC) in 1918. His citation read:
For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. This officer led the leading squadron with consummate skill and dash over unknown and difficult country. At dusk he took up a position astride the enemy's line of retreat and succeeded in cutting off and capturing the main portion of the enemy's force, which desperately attempted to break through during the night.
From 1937 to 1947 he held the colonelcy of the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. In the 1941 King's Birthday Honours, he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).
He was appointed High Sheriff of Somersetshire in 1955.