Description
Object description
A large collection of papers relating to his career as a Guardsman, later Sergeant, in 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, 1978 - 2003, with service in the UK, the Falkland Islands (1982), Germany, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, The Gulf (1991), Belize (1995), and Germany, including 26 incredibly detailed ms daily diaries covering the periods 1977 - 1980, 1982, 1986, 1989 - 2003, starting in 1977 with details of his home life in Blaenau Ffestiniog, prior to joining the Junior Leader's Battalion Welsh Guards aged 16 (1977 - 1980), a detailed diary of daily life while on deployment with Welsh Guards in the Falklands War (147pp, May - July 1982), stationed in Germany and his first tour of Northern Ireland (1986), often with good details of patrols and operations, attachment to the 1st Battalion Scots Guards in Germany, and another tour of Northern Ireland (1989), and in Germany, including taking part in the Top Gun competition, and Northern Ireland again in 1990, as well as talking about the build up to the Gulf War, his service during Operation Granby in the Gulf War in Kuwait (January - March 1991), a tour of West Belfast, operation banner, during which time he was shot at while on patrol, and mortar attacks (April - October 1992), returning to Germany, news of the events in the former Yugoslavia, a military tour to Belize (1995), news of the peace process in Northern Ireland and the situation in Bosnia, low morale in his Battalion, a tour of Canada (1996), another six-month tour of Northern Ireland and news of the death of Princess Diana (1997), but also details of meeting his future wife, Nicole, news of more trouble in the Middle East, another tour of Belize, a trip to Australia to meet his future in-laws, and leaves in Mexico and Spain (1998), news of NATO intervention in Kosovo, a military tour of the United States of America, travelling to Australia to get married, the birth of his first child (1999), life as a new parent, daily work at home, trips to Australia (2000), planning his retirement from the Army to move to Australia, a military tour to Canada, during which time the September 11 attacks on New York happened (2001), a six-month deployment to Bosnia, a fire-fighters' strike in the UK (2002), and the last diary detailing his last year as a member of the Welsh Guards before retiring to Australia, his promotion to Sergeant, and his opinions on the American war in Iraq, which he refers to as Gulf War II (2003), with throughout details of his daily life, duties, promotion or lack of, thoughts on world events, news and sports stories, friends and family, and the minutiae of military life on deployment and at home, coupled with his independent and uncensored opinions. Together with: a large amount of correspondence including 33 letters written by Tracey Evans and his brother Gwyn to their parents during the Falklands War, as well as 62 letters written to them by friends and family, and other letters written to their family; newspaper cuttings containing articles about Mrs Jean Evans relating to her sons in the Falklands; Welsh Guards Regimental Magazine for 1982; editions of the 5 Infantry Brigade newsletter (May 1982); editions of 'The Leek' newsletter (May - July 1982); a word-processed memoir by Evans about his Falklands experiences based on his diary entries (96pp); 52 letters written by T V Evans to his parents, relating to the Gulf War, and his deployment with 1st Battalion Scots Guards (January - March 1991); 24 letters written to T V Evans by family, and 6 news cuttings, relating to the Gulf War; 13 letters written to soldiers in the Gulf by schoolchildren in Caernarfon and Argyll, and others, during the Gulf War; 22 letters (76pp) to Tracy Evans from girlfriend, Nicole Bessemer, including letters sent while he was in Northern Ireland and Belize (March 1997 - April 1999); 9 letters (17pp) sent to him from his siblings (1997-1998); correspondence between Tracy and his now wife Nicole Evans before and on deployment in Bosnia (September 2001 - August 2002); two leaflets in Serbian about Operation Harvest, an SFOR operation with the Welsh Guards to gather weapons; a Holy Bible given to him by his mother, Jean, prior to his going to the Gulf (1990); 4 letters relating to Romanian children T V Evans sponsored (1999 - 2002); and an autograph book belonging to a Mrs E E Pritchard (dated 1911 - 1921) which Evans found abandoned on a dump near his home in 1977 and which inspired him to keep a diary.
Content description
A large collection of papers relating to his career as a Guardsman, later Sergeant, in 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, 1978 - 2003, with service in the UK, the Falkland Islands (1982), Germany, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, The Gulf (1991), Belize (1995), and Germany, including 26 incredibly detailed ms daily diaries covering the periods 1977 - 1980, 1982, 1986, 1989 - 2003, starting in 1977 with details of his home life in Blaenau Ffestiniog, prior to joining the Junior Leader's Battalion Welsh Guards aged 16 (1977 - 1980), a detailed diary of daily life while on deployment with Welsh Guards in the Falklands War (147pp, May - July 1982), stationed in Germany and his first tour of Northern Ireland (1986), often with good details of patrols and operations, attachment to the 1st Battalion Scots Guards in Germany, and another tour of Northern Ireland (1989), and in Germany, including taking part in the Top Gun competition, and Northern Ireland again in 1990, as well as talking about the build up to the Gulf War, his service during Operation Granby in the Gulf War in Kuwait (January - March 1991), a tour of West Belfast, operation banner, during which time he was shot at while on patrol, and mortar attacks (April - October 1992), returning to Germany, news of the events in the former Yugoslavia, a military tour to Belize (1995), news of the peace process in Northern Ireland and the situation in Bosnia, low morale in his Battalion, a tour of Canada (1996), another six-month tour of Northern Ireland and news of the death of Princess Diana (1997), but also details of meeting his future wife, Nicole, news of more trouble in the Middle East, another tour of Belize, a trip to Australia to meet his future in-laws, and leaves in Mexico and Spain (1998), news of NATO intervention in Kosovo, a military tour of the United States of America, travelling to Australia to get married, the birth of his first child (1999), life as a new parent, daily work at home, trips to Australia (2000), planning his retirement from the Army to move to Australia, a military tour to Canada, during which time the September 11 attacks on New York happened (2001), a six-month deployment to Bosnia, a fire-fighters' strike in the UK (2002), and the last diary detailing his last year as a member of the Welsh Guards before retiring to Australia, his promotion to Sergeant, and his opinions on the American war in Iraq, which he refers to as Gulf War II (2003), with throughout details of his daily life, duties, promotion or lack of, thoughts on world events, news and sports stories, friends and family, and the minutiae of military life on deployment and at home, coupled with his independent and uncensored opinions. Together with: a large amount of correspondence including 33 letters written by Tracey Evans and his brother Gwyn to their parents during the Falklands War, as well as 62 letters written to them by friends and family, and other letters written to their family; newspaper cuttings containing articles about Mrs Jean Evans relating to her sons in the Falklands; Welsh Guards Regimental Magazine for 1982; editions of the 5 Infantry Brigade newsletter (May 1982); editions of 'The Leek' newsletter (May - July 1982); a word-processed memoir by Evans about his Falklands experiences based on his diary entries (96pp); 52 letters written by T V Evans to his parents, relating to the Gulf War, and his deployment with 1st Battalion Scots Guards (January - March 1991); 24 letters written to T V Evans by family, and 6 news cuttings, relating to the Gulf War; 13 letters written to soldiers in the Gulf by schoolchildren in Caernarfon and Argyll, and others, during the Gulf War; 22 letters (76pp) to Tracy Evans from girlfriend, Nicole Bessemer, including letters sent while he was in Northern Ireland and Belize (March 1997 - April 1999); 9 letters (17pp) sent to him from his siblings (1997-1998); correspondence between Tracy and his now wife Nicole Evans before and on deployment in Bosnia (September 2001 - August 2002); two leaflets in Serbian about Operation Harvest, an SFOR operation with the Welsh Guards to gather weapons; a Holy Bible given to him by his mother, Jean, prior to his going to the Gulf (1990); 4 letters relating to Romanian children T V Evans sponsored (1999 - 2002); and an autograph book belonging to a Mrs E E Pritchard (dated 1911 - 1921) which Evans found abandoned on a dump near his home in 1977 and which inspired him to keep a diary.
History note
Cataloguer SJO