Eagle Squadron and Ace, Roy Evans

[juvatwad]

I recently picked up this group of items that belonged to Roy Evans, who flew with the Eagle Squadron and the 4th Fighter Group, and was a POW. Most of the grouping is ordinary stuff: Eagle Squadron reunion patches along with a cap, t-shirt, and mug, many professionally done duplicates of period photos, and extensive correspondence between Evans and the guy whom I presume put the stuff together in the 80's. There are also a couple of nice unit histories, one marked to Gen Spaatz's office, which Evans claims he stole.

 

The gems, though are his English style catepillar club pins, one in gold and one in sterling silver, as well as his late arrival winged boot. He also obtained a POW medal in the 1980's.

 

 

 

Here he is standing behing Gen Eaker:

 

[juvatwad]

Reunion stuff:

 

 

The POW medal:

 

 

[juvatwad]

Catepillar club pins and late arrival winged boot.

 

 

 

 

 

[cap_george]

Very nice, I hope you are going to do a write up. Cheers Captain Albert

[lritger]

You might be excited (and justifiably so!) about the pins and medals, but that color shot of the P-47D is worth it's weight in gold to me. I can't recall any color photos of 4th FG Thunderbolts, and I've been studying that group for well over 10 years now. Any chance of a bigger scan?

 

Wonderful find, congrats and thanks for sharing it with us!

 

Lynn

[Bluehawk]

That is quite a nice discovery.

 

I'll try to keep this thread in mind over time, to see if/when any more detail is added about Maj. Evans - with the idea that maybe one day I can start an AFTWS Remembrance for him honoring your research.

[juvatwad]

Okay, so here is his story as far as I've been able to piece it together to date:

 

Roy Evans was born in Carthage, MO, but spent his later youth in San Bernadino, CA. After high school graduation he worked as a fireman and earned his private and commercial pilot’s licenses in San Bernadino. He joined the RAF in June 1941, where he flew with 121 Squadron as one of the "American Eagles".

 

While with the RAF, he was injured in an aircraft accident from which he recovered uneventfully. He also flew in the Dieppe raid, and toward the end of his tour with the squadron, he was hit by flak and bailed out over the English Channel. He recorded no victories while with the RAF, but did give an account of combat with a German fighter in which Evans ran out of ammunition while in pursuit of the Luftwaffe fighter.

 

He was subsequently transferred to the 335th Fighter Squadron of the 4th Fighter group, where he participated in the mission that saw the first operational use of external drop tanks on the P-47 in the ETO on 28 July 1943. He became an ace while in the 4th FG, shooting down an Hs-126, two Me-109’s, and two Fw-190’s. His sixth kill came while he was deputy commander of the 359th FG flying P-51's, where he downed a Me-109 on 26 Nov 1944.

 

On 14 Feb 1945, Lt Col Evans was leading an escort to Dresden, when he was again hit by flak and forced to bail out. He was subsequently captured, but was “returned to military control” on 10 Apr. He reports that he weighed 220 lbs when he bailed out, and was down to 167lbs, when he was recovered. He retired as a full Colonel in 1947.

 

His awards were:

1939/45 Star

Aircrew Europe Star

War Medal 1939/45

Purple Heart (2)

European Campaign

American Campaign

Air Medal (12)

DFC (5)

Silver Star

POW

[juvatwad]

With the RAF, 121 Squadron:

 

 

 

Here is a photo of his P-47 with the new belly tank:

 

 

 

 

Evans with his P-51:

 

[juvatwad]

MIA letter:

 

 

 

Telegram notifying his parents of his repatriation:

 

 

Letter listing him as eligible for the catepillar club:

 

[juvatwad]

His 8th AF patch:

 

[juvatwad]

I've tried to give a larger scan of the 4th FG P-47 here, but this is as big as the site allows:

 

 

[Croix de Guerre]

Man this so flippin' cool! :thumbsup: What A Great Find! Any chance there is anything else of his out there? Have you found any family still alive?

[Tseuh]

Evans with his P-51:

 

 

Hello,

 

Wow ! Anti-g suit type G-2, nice pics !

 

The grouping is fantastic, congratulations. A real part of History.

I particularly like the Caterpillar club pin... :w00t:

 

Tim

[juvatwad]

What A Great Find! Any chance there is anything else of his out there?

 

I think one of his USAAF uniforms might have been sold a year or so ago. I have a vague memory of seeing it available. I didn't even know about this group at the time, so I didn't go for it. Oh well......

 

Ian

[Scarecrow]

A little embarrassed to say that I just came across this posting.  I would like to add to it.  I knew Roy fairly well,  we became correspondence friends. I purchased a single flight glove on Ebay many years ago.  The glove is marked "Maj. Roy Evans 335 FS, 4th Fighter Group".  A friend of mine called and said that he saw that I had won Maj. Evan's glove.  I said that I had but would probably never would know if it really was Roy's.  He told me, "sure you will" Roy is still alive and living in CA.  He gave me his address.  I wrote to Roy (he had no phone, no computer or typewriter).  He confirmed it was his glove and said that he had given it, during wartime, to a young woman admirer. He sent me the photo of him standing on his P-51's wing route.  He wrote on the back of the photo "The glove you have is the same one you see in this photo of me holding the rear view mirror".  This initial letter began what became a "pen pal" correspondence for several years, until Roy's passing. Thanks for looking.

[dhcoleterracina]

How great is that. To have an item identified by the vet is beyond rare. Very well done.