No. 39700, 23rd Battery, 40nd Brigade Royal Field Artillery who died on 19th April 1917 aged 32.

Evan is buried at the Faubourg D’Amiens Cemetery, Arras.

Evan was born in Hasketon 1885, son of George and Althea Crane.

He is presumed to have died during the Battle of Arras.

Before the war he had been working as an insurance agent, but had probably enlisted in the Army (Royal field Artillery) before the start of the war and was a member of the original British Expeditionary Force in August 1914.

Personal details

Parents were George Crane [B.Grundisburgh 1847] and Althea Thirza Crane [B. Hasketon, 1852].  George was an agricultural labourer. In the 1911 census they were living in Pomona House, Hasketon.

Evan married Kathleen Mary Warnock [B. Dundalk, Ireland] in 1908, and by 1911 they were living at No 19 Third Avenue, Dovercourt, Essex where Evan was an “Insurance Asst supt”. They had three children, Daniel Patrick George Crane born in Woodbridge district in 1910, Kathleen Maud Crane, born in Tendring district 1911 and Cecil Alfred Crane born in 1913 in Erphingham district.

He probably enlisted as a full time soldier in the Army before 1914 (see his War Service).

War service.

Medal Roll index card states he entered France on 19th August 1914 and was thus eligible for the Victory, British and 14 Star medals. 

This early date of entry to France, 10th August 1914, indicates he was part of the British Expeditionary Force and therefore must have enlisted in the army prior to the beginning of WW1.

At present information about the activities of individual brigades of the the Royal Field Artillery is limited.  The date of 19th April 1917 and his final resting place indicates he was probably killed during the Battle of Arras, which ran from 9th April to 16th May 1917.  His wife Mary Catherine is listed as next of kin in the Army Register of soldiers’ effects.

The 40th Brigade of the RFA was equipped with 4.5inch howitzers as shown in the photograph below, which was taken during the Battle of Arras. This wooded location is only a few hundred yards from the site of the Arras Memorial.