Profile

EVANS, Oswald Morgan
(Service number 30922)

Aliases Known as Ossie
First Rank Private Last Rank Private

Birth

Date 12/12/1896 Place of Birth Timaru

Enlistment Information

Date 23 August 1916 Age 19 years 8 months
Address at Enlistment Islington, Canterbury
Occupation Woolclasser
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Mrs Mary EVANS (mother), Islington, Canterbury
Religion Presbyterian
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Unit, Squadron, or Ship 20th Reinforcements, Canterbury Infantry Battalion, C Company
Date 7 December 1916
Transport Port Lyttelton
Embarked From Destination Plymouth, Devon, England
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With NZ Entrenching Battalion

Military Awards

Campaigns Western European
Service Medals British War Medal; Victory Medal
Military Awards

Award Circumstances and Date

No information

Prisoner of War Information

Date of Capture
Where Captured and by Whom
Actions Prior to Capture
PoW Serial Number
PoW Camps
Days Interned
Liberation Date

Discharge

Date 17 January 1919 Reason No longer physically fit for War Service on account of illness contracted on Active Service.

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Woolclasser

Death

Date 16 February 1966 Age 69 years
Place of Death Christchurch
Cause
Notices Press, 17 February 1966
Memorial or Cemetery Harewood Crematorium
Memorial Reference
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Oswald Morgan Evans, known as Ossie, was born on 12 December at Timaru, the twin son of Morgan and Mary Jane (née Wooltorton) Evans. Along with his twin and an older brother, Claude Davis Evans, he was educated at Waimataitai School and Timaru South School. Although Oswald and Bertie were to return to Waimataitai at the beginning of 1909, it didn’t happen. It was not until after the outbreak of war that the family moved to Islington.

Oswald enlisted on 23 May 1916 at Featherston. A wool-classer for the Christchurch Meat Company at Islington, Christchurch, single and Presbyterian, he named his mother as next-of-kin – Mrs Mary Evans, Islington, Canterbury. Private O. M. Evans embarked with the Canterbury Infantry Battalion of the 20th Reinforcements, leaving for Plymouth, England on 7 December 1916 per the “Port Lyttelton. His twin brother did likewise. Oswald Evans returned to New Zealand per the “Ulimaroa”, embarking at Plymouth on 7 November 1918. He was discharged on 17 January 1919, no longer physically fit for war service on account of illness contracted on Active Service and awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

Ossie remained in the Christchurch area, continuing as a wool-classer. He married Grace Barnes in 1920. Oswald Morgan Evans (Ossie) died at Christcurch on 16 February 1966, aged 69 years. He was cremated at the Harewood Crematorium. He was survived by his wife who died in 1992, two sons (Dave and Claude) and two daughters (Gwen and Grace).

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [20 July 2023]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [20 July 2023]; School Admission records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [20 July 2023]; Press, 17 February 1966 (Papers Past) [20 July 2023]

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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