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Letters
Harold Evans, was an Officer on HMS Voltaire Hi Mac, I'm just amazed at the information you make available on your site---a very fitting tribute to " all those who went down to the sea in ships and did business in great waters " My father, Harold Evans, was an Officer on HMS Voltaire from the outbreak of War. I believe he was the Officer on watch when the battle with the Thor started. He spoke very little of this but said he spent many hours in the water and was luck to have survived. He spent the rest of the war in POW Camp Marlag and Milag Nord. I have all his letters that he wrote from camp plus Christmas cards. I have shown them to the Imperial War Museum in London and they have made many copies. He shared a bunk with Johnnie Sutton from Leicester and I have managed to meet him and through him was introduced to Honor Dugdale nee Blackburn. Capt. Blackburn was in command of the Voltaire. Honor married a fellow POW--the first RN Prisoner I believe.( nicknamed Duggie ) It would be wonderful if any one remembered my Dad--he was older than most of the lads, being 35 when he volunteered. He was a Master Printer and was involved in the forging of papers for escape purposes. He also was in the group that facilitated the escape of men through the construction of the Dummy--Albert RN He was often called Dai as he was Welsh from Aberystwyth. He was badly affected by his wartime experiences and carried many emotional scars--he died aged just 61 I was 5 when he went to war and ten when he returned --I didn't know this strange man & he didn't recognise me! I also have many photos of his time in camp. I have only recently learned to use a computer and would need help to e-mail these to you if you are interested Many thanks for listening to my ramblings--there is so much to say--perhaps another day. Best wishes, Audrie Evans ( I didn't change my name on marrying another Evans!! )
Thank you for your message, and your kind words about AHOY. I am delighted to hear from you. Mac's Web Log is a joint effort, my good friend Terry Kearns in Atlanta Georgia, acts as my web master, and turns all my research and writing into a cogent site that shows itself to anyone who by chance or design logs on. Without his skills, the site would not happen. By means of the Voltaire Pages, we try to bring together those relatives and those interested in the loss of the ship, and the crew's subsequent imprisonment in German WW2 prison camps for Navy and Merchant Navy personnel. I have been suprised at the interest generated by my first talking about the fight between Voltaire and Thor. It is wonderful that you have material from your Father when he was imprisoned, if you care to share some of that with me, we, with your approval will publish it on AHOY, so others interested might share it too. We will put this message of yours up too, and anyone who recalls your Father will I am sure comment, and I can pass on your address if asked, if that is fine with you. I would love to have the photos from the POW camp, so that they too may get a wider audience, if (you) are able to scan them, they could be added to an E-Mail at about 3 at a time, or alternately, you could take them to a photographic shop like a Kodak outlet, ask them to put the photos onto a CD, and mail it to me, I would be happy to defray any costs involved. I can take them off the disc, and E-Mail them to Terry and up they would go to appear in the Voltaire Pages. Sorry to learn your Father died relatively young at 61, I will be 83 next month, and am grateful for having a wonderful and interesting life, by contrast, I went to war as a 17 year old in August of 1939, and was fortunate to survive a number of traumas over the 6 years of war, to come thru emotionally intact. Individual experiences effect different people in different ways. Audrie, do not worry about rambling, I am happy to hear from you just as soon as you are ready, and as often as you wish. One of my joys that emanate from AHOY, is my contact with people around the world, you will find I can be a good listener. I say again, thanks for contacting me, I look forward to a long and fruitful association. Best wishes to you and yours for 2005, and way beyond. Mac. Gregory.
I assume that anyone wanting to get in touch with me will do so via E-mail? I give full permission for my E-mail address to be added to this message & hope that I will find out more about my Dad Best Wishes Audrie Evans
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