William John George Evans

Five runners fell; he carried a message through deadly fire.

William John George Evans, known as George Evans, was born in London in 1876. He enlisted in the Scots Guards in March 1894. With the 1st Battalion during the Second Boer War, he served at Belmont and Modder River and in the Orange Free State. In 1901 he accompanied the royal tour of Australia. After leaving the Army in 1902, he worked for the Derby police and later for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

Evans re-enlisted in January 1915 with the 18th Battalion, Manchester Regiment, and became Company Sergeant-Major. He entered France that November. During the Somme fighting in July 1916, he showed bravery at Montauban and Trônes Wood, actions later acknowledged in his Victoria Cross citation.

At Guillemont on 30 July 1916, five runners had been killed trying to carry an important message. Evans volunteered, crossed about 700 yards under rifle and machine-gun fire, and delivered it. Though wounded, he returned to his company. He was captured some hours later and remained a prisoner in Germany until his exchange through the Netherlands in 1918.

His Victoria Cross was announced in the London Gazette on 27 January 1920 and presented by King George V at Buckingham Palace on 12 March 1920. He returned to child-protection work after the war. Evans died on 28 September 1937 and was buried with military honours at Elmers End Cemetery, Beckenham.