TWO brothers are searching for family members of a Bridgend man, Cyril Evans, who died in 1945 near Antwerp at the age of 19.
Michael and Steven Hough’s father, Norman, fought alongside Cyril. Norman survived the war and died in 2012 aged 92. Recently, the brothers realised that there may be relatives of Cyril Evans in the area – and the brothers want them to know that he has not been forgotten.
Michael said: “My brother and I have just returned from Holland where we attended the 80th anniversary commemorations of the seaborne landing at Westkapelle – part of the battle for Walcheren in early November 1944.
“Seven nations took part and our late father was a member of Y Troop, 47 Royal Marine Commando, along with his friend Marine Cyril Evans, service number PLY/X 113855, of Bridgend.
“After successfully taking this island, which overlooked the sea approach to the important port of Antwerp, the troops of 47 RM Cdo were billeted in the small towns and villages for a few months before moving inland to confront the German 15th army at the River Maas. During an unsuccessful action on 13/14 January 1945 to capture a mid-river island at Kapelsche Veer, Marine Evans was unfortunately killed in action.
“During this trip and two previous ones, we have visited the memorial at Kapelsche Veer and the military cemetery at Bergen op Zoom to pay our respects at the grave (Plot 15A, Grave 4) of Cyril Evans. It must be mentioned that these sites are immaculately maintained by the CMWG Commission and regularly visited by overseas visitors and Dutch people. Indeed, on the day of our visit a coach party of local school students arrived with two teachers to each lay a single white rose.
“As we are now both in our 70s and our father died in 2012, we thought it was time to try and contact any family and relatives of Marine Evans to pass on what we know about their war time experiences. From notes and photographs left by our father, and some research of our own, we know that he was only 19 when he died, was the eldest child of Reginald and Elizabeth Diana Evans and possibly that several more siblings were born after 1925 – so hopefully there may still be nieces and nephews plus their children living in the area. Furthermore, our father left an address for his friend – 12, The Rhiw, Bridgend – but as far as we know he never had any contact with the family.
“If any of your readers know of the family and they wish to contact us, we would be more than pleased to share our father’s war time photos and our own more recent images of the places in Holland as mentioned above”.
Michael and Steven Hough, the sons of Marine Norman Hough, 47 RM Cmdo (1920-2012).
Contact details: 07774-181822. Email
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