R Ellis

Place of birth: Aberystwyth ?

Service: Masseuse, VAD, 1919 -

Notes: Miss R Ellis was working as a masseuse at Red Cross Hospital Aberystwyth, which was closed down in 1919. Temporary arrangements were made to enable her to continue working with disabled ex-servicemen in the Infirmary.

Reference: WaW0420

Newspaper report

Report of the working arrangements made for Miss Ellis. Cambrian News 25 April 1919.

Alice Evans

Place of birth: Carmarthen

Service: Nurse, VAD, 1914 - 1919

Notes: Initially a volunteer at the Red Cross Hospital in Carmarthen, in 1917 Alice became a paid nurse at Netley Military Hospital, Southampton. In September 1918 she was posted to work at the National Explosives Factory at Pembrey.

Reference: WaW0353

Red Cross record card.

Red Cross Record card for Alice Evans.

Red Cross record card (reverse)

Red Cross Record card for Alice Evans, showing her service at NEF Pembrey.

Annie M Evans

Service: Worker, QMAAC

Reference: WaW0073

Annie M Evans

Place of birth: Cwmdare c.1872

Service: Nurse, SWH, 1915 - 1916

Notes: Formerly matron of Blackburn Fever Hospital, Annie Evans joined the Scottish Women's Hospital at Valjevo in Serbia in 1915. She and the unit in which she served were taken as prisoners of war by the Austrians on 10th November 1915. After months of badgering by Dr Alice Hutchinson, head of the unit, she and 32 others were repatriated to Britain.

Sources: http://scottishwomenshospitals.co.uk/women/

Reference: WaW0111

Catherine (Katie) Evans

Place of birth: Holyhead

Service: Nurse, VAD

Death: 1914/10/16, Holyhead, Peritonitis

Notes: Katie was the second of seven surviving daughters of Hugh Evans, a marine engineer, and his wife Elizabeth (twin girls died in infancy). Her Red Cross record has not survived, but it is likely that she served at the Holyhead Red Cross Hospital. She died aged 34. On the day after the funeral her sister Pollie Williams [qv] volunteered for the VAD. Many thanks to Aled L Jones and Barry Hillier.

Reference: WaW0251

Catherine Jane (Kit) Evans (Grainger)

Place of birth: Llanasa, Flintshire

Service: Agricultural worker, Womens Land Army

Death: 1969, Cause not known

Notes: Catherine, born 1896, was one of 10 children – 6 sisters and 3 brothers. At 15, in 1911, she was working at the Afon Goch Inn, Trelogan. In 1917 she joined the WLA, and seems to have been posted to the Machynlleth area. There she met and married Pte G V Grainger of the South Lancashire Regiment in 1918. Thanks to Sue Hickman.

Reference: WaW0448

Photograph

Photograph of Catherine Evans in WLA uniform with four of her sisters, left to right Harriet, Rebecca, Sarah and Miriam

Photograph

Photograph of Catherine and her future husband George Grainger.

Elsie Janet Evans

Place of birth: Swansea

Service: Nurse, Civilian Hospital Reserve, 1914/08/16 -

Notes: Formerly a nurse in Cardiff, Elsie volunteered for France at the outbreak of War. She was one of the first nurses during the War to be decorated with the Royal Red Cross ‘for indomitable bravery and devotion’ whilst under a week’s heavy fire at a hospital in Loos. She was presented with her medal by the King at Buckingham Palace on 20th May 1916.

Sources: Cambrian Daily Leader 26 May / Mai 1916

Reference: WaW0154

Newspaper Account

Newspaper account of the presentation of Elsie Evans’s Royal Red Cross at Buckingham Palace 20th May 1916.

Emily Evans

Service: Street vendor of patent medicines

Notes: Emily Evans of Pembroke Dock was fined £7 for selling potatoes at above the fixed price of 1¾ d per pound. Two witnesses claimed to have been charged 6d and 5½ d per pound. Mrs Evans refused to tell the police where she had purchased the potatoes.

Reference: WaW0304

Newspaper report

Report of charge against Emily Evans for profiteering. Cambria Daily Leader 14th May 1917.

F May Evans

Place of birth: Burry Port

Service: Munitions worker

Notes: May Evans was awarded the Medal of the Order of the British Empire ‘For courage in assisting to put out a fire in an explosives factory [Pembrey] at considerable danger to her life’.

Reference: WaW0242

Newspaper report

Report of May Evans’s award, Cambrian Daily Leader 16th January 1918rnrn

May Evans

May Evans MOBE

Edinburgh Gazette

Edinburgh Gazette 10th January 1918, giving the name of May Evans.

Gladys May Evans

Place of birth: Margam/Port Talbot ?

Service: Gardener, Womens Land Army

Death: 1952, Cause not known

Notes: Gladys, born 1898, worked in the gardens of St Fagan’s Castle. The castle itself was a war hospital, and the gardens supplied the kitchens. There are several photographs of Gladys; perhaps they were for publicity purposes.

Reference: WaW0449

Gladys May Evans

Gladys May Evans in WLA uniform, possibly taken in St Fagans Castle. The badge represents ‘two months approved service’.

Gladys May Evans

A slightly less formal portrait of Gladys.

Gladys May Evans

Gladys wearing a WLA armband.

Gladys May Evans

Gladys in wet weather gear.