Group Captain Charles Anthony Hugh EVANS (34152)
31 Squadron, Royal Air Force, attached to Allied Headquarters, Delhi

Date of birth: 5th April 1912
Date of death: 24th July 1942

Killed in action aged 30
Buried at Madras War Cemetery Plot 1 Row F Grave 11
Charles Anthony Hugh Evans was born at South Croydon on the 5th of April 1912 the son of Charles Oswald Evans, a publisher, and Eleanor Mary Louisa (nee Parker) Evans of 57, Blenheim Park Road, South Croydon in Surrey. He was christened at St Augustine's Church, South Croydon on the 9th of June 1912.

He was educated at Lancing College where he was in Sandersons House from September 1925 to July 1930. He gained his School Certificate in 1928. He was a Cadet Officer in the Officer Training Corps where he achieved Certificate A in 1929 and was a member of the Rugby XV in 1930. He was appointed as a House Captain in 1929 and as a Prefect and Head of House in July 1930.

On leaving School he went to work for H.G. Hawker Engineering.

He was commissioned as a Pilot Officer on probation in the Royal Air Force Reserve of Officers on the 14th of March 1932 and was confirmed in that rank on the 14th of March 1933, the same date that he was awarded his "Wings". He was promoted to Flying Officer on the 14th of September 1933. On the 16th of March 1934 he relinquished his rank in the Reserve on being granted a short service commission, from the same date, in the Royal Air Force with the rank of Acting Pilot Officer on probation being confirmed in that rank on the 6th of February 1935. He was promoted to Acting Flight Lieutenant on the 5th of October 1937 and was confirmed in that rank on the 2nd of March 1938.

He was married at Salisbury in 1939 to Eleanor Doris (nee Swain) Templeman of Broadstairs in Kent. Eleanor had a son from her previous marriage, Patrick Duncan Templeman OL, whom Hugh adopted. They also had a son together, Nicholas Hugh Swain Evans OL, born on the 4th of May 1939. At the time of his death she was living at Flat 2, Walton House, Broadstairs, Kent.

He served in Intelligence at the Air Ministry from 1938 and in France in 1940. He was promoted to Squadron Leader on the 1st of March 1940 and to Wing Commander on the 1st of September 1941. He was serving at the Allied Headquarters at Delhi, India during 1942.

On the 24th of July 1942 Hugh Evans was flying as a passenger in Douglas C32A AX768 which had taken off during a monsoon. With the cloud base at 800 feet, the pilot was unsure of his position and was following a road when the aircraft entered a valley and was soon enveloped in cloud. At 3.15am GMT it crashed into a hillside and burst into flames in the Nandi Forest near Bangalore.

The passengers and crew were: -
Flight Sergeant Harry Briggs (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner) (31 Squadron)
Flying Officer Terence Frederick James Crudden (2nd Pilot) (31 Squadron)
Flight Lieutenant Paul Gearey (Pilot) (31 Squadron)
Flight Sergeant Stewart John Miles (Observer) (31 Squadron)
Aircraftman 1st Class Cyril Percival Bird (Flight Mechanic/Engineer) (31 Squadron)
Aircraftman 2nd Class Dennis Edgar Barton Attwool (Flight Mechanic/Engineer) (31 Squadron)
Group Captain Charles Anthony Hugh Evans (Allied Headquarters, Delhi)
Sergeant William Brailsford Spencer (Clerk, Allied Headquarters, Delhi)
Brigadier Cecil Thomas Brown OBE (Royal Marines)
Lieutenant Ronald Scott McAlpine (Loyal North Lancashire Regiment)
Captain Howard Melvin Lammers USN (United States Navy Liaison Officer, Ceylon)

The passengers and crew were buried with full military honours at Hosur Road Cemetery, Bangalore at 4pm on the 25th of July 1942. An honour guard was provided by men of the Royal Artillery and of the United States Army Air Force. Their bodies were subsequently exhumed and moved to their present location.

His wife received the following telegram dated the 26th of July 1942: -

Sandersons House

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