5/122 Corporal Oliver Evans, MM, 7/1/1881-16/1/1959.

Oliver Evans was working as a coach and wagon builder in Dunedin when he volunteered for the Army. Perhaps his knowledge with transport is what led him to be selected for the Army Service Corps, in which he served as a driver.

Mr Joseph Evans, of Richardson street, St. Kilda, has received advice that his son, Corporal Oliver Evans, has been awarded the Military Medal for gallantry on the field. Corporal Evans underwent an operation at his own expense to enable him to qualify for active service, and left with the Second Reinforcements. After spending some time in Egypt, he was transferred to France, where he has been ever since, excepting for two furloughs spent in England. Sapper Thomas Evans, brother of the recipient of the medal, is with the New Zealand Engineers, and was gassed recently.   -Otago Daily Times, 22/12/1917.

Oliver was detached in August, 1918, to serve with the Otago Infantry Regiment, and it can be assumed that it was with them that he was injured - a gunshot wound in his right forearm and hand.  It was during the period of the war not long after the end of the Germans' Spring Offensive and the beginning of the advance towards Germany.  The day after he was wounded, the Otagos were relievd by an American unit - likely the first time they had met soldiers from across the Atlantic.

Personal

Corporal Oliver Evans, M.M., is returning in the Corinthic. His period of military service covers four and a-half years, a portion of which was spent in Egypt. Last August, when the New Zealand Division was actively engaged, Corporal Evans, who had just been recommended for a commission, was wounded while in the Somme trenches. From there his transference to one of the English hospitals across the Channel was followed by gradual recovery.   -Evening Star, 19/4/1919.

In 1920, Oliver's marble is the first one drawn in a redrawn ballot for farming sections in the Glenn Settlement - to the south of the Waitaki Highway not far from the location of Awamoko.  This is the last reliable mention in New Zealand newspapers of him.  As he was not present with the deposit for the land he was not able to buy it.  His burial records, however, show his occupation as "farmer."

Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin.  DCC photo.