Papers of Maj Patrick Hutchinson Evans (1913-1994)

Introduction

• Biographical history
• Provenance
• Scope and content
• Arrangement
• Conditions of access and use
• Related material

Brief List

• 1 Diaries covering service in Haifa, Palestine, Cairo, Egypt and West Macedonia, Greece, 1943-1944

• 2/1 Reports compiled by Evans, commander sub-area Vitsi, codenamed FERTILISER, West Macedonia, Greece, 1944

• 2/2 Papers relating to reconnaissance, commando and demolition operations, Allied Military Mission, West Macedonia, Greece, 1943-1944

• 3 Papers relating to signals and wireless/telegraphy traffic, sub-area Vitsi, codenamed FERTILISER, West Macedonia, Greece, 1944

• 4/1 Correspondence between Lt Col Arthur Edmonds, Officer Commanding Area 1, West Macedonia, Greece, and Capt Patrick Hutchinson Evans, Officer Commanding Vitsi sub-area, 1944

• 4/2 Correspondence between Evans and allied Greek, British and American personnel, Allied Military Mission, West Macedonia, Greece, 1944

• 5 Papers relating to policies and procedures, technical training, finances, logistics and supplies for Vitsi sub-area, Allied Military Mission, West Macedonia, Greece, 1944

• 6 Papers, in Greek, relating to Greek partisan forces, West Macedonia, Greece, 1943-1944

• 7 Captured German papers relating to operations, Vitsi sub-area, West Macedonia, Greece, and German propaganda, 1944

• 8 Papers relating to the publication of books and articles on Special Operations Executive (SOE) operations in West Macedonia, Greece, 1943-1944 by Maj Patrick Hutchinson Evans and Lt Col Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond, [1944-1993]

Papers of Maj Patrick Hutchinson Evans (1913-1994)

INTRODUCTION

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

Patrick Hutchinson Evans was born on 1 December 1913. During World War Two he enrolled in 50 Royal Tank Regt and undertook intelligence training in Great Britain. In 1943 he completed Special Operations Executive (SOE) training at Haifa, Palestine, and at General Headquarters, Middle East, Cairo, Egypt. In the autumn of 1943 Evans volunteered for service in Force 133 in occupied Greece, and was parachuted behind enemy lines on 6 September 1943. At Pendalophos (Pentalophon), he joined the Allied Military Mission, West Macedonia, as a Lieutenant.

From 15 September 1943 to 21 March 1944, Evans was attached to the Area 1 Headquarters, Allied Military Mission, Pendalophos (Pentalophon), codenamed BOODLE. There he ran a commando and demolition course for Ethnikos Laikos Apeleftherotikos Stratos (ELAS) partisans and provided aid to Greek civilians whose property had been destroyed during the power struggles between ELAS and Ellinikos Dimokratikos Ethnikos Stratos (EDES). Between February and March 1944, Evans supervised the construction of a landing strip near Grevena. In March (now promoted to Captain), Evans established and commanded the Vitsi sub-area station, codenamed FERTILISER, where he organised combined operations between Allied Military Mission units, units from the Raiding Support Regiment, and battalions from the 28 Regt, 9 ELAS Div, later known as the 'Vitsi Detachment'. From Mar-Oct 1944 he assisted in the planning and execution of Operation NOAH'S ARK, harassment operations by Allied and Greek forces during the German withdrawal from Greece, 1944, and in the suppression of Slav independence movements in West Macedonia. Evans was withdrawn from Greece on 23 December 1944 and served in the Royal Artillery Regt, 1946-1947. He was attempting to write an account of his experiences in the Balkans when he died suddenly in 1994.

PROVENANCE

The papers were placed in the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives on 23 November 1993 by Evans though Professor (late Lt Col) Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The collection principally concerns the work of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in West Macedonia, Greece, 1943-1945. Evans's diaries and personal notebooks document his services as an SOE operative in Haifa, Palestine, his time as an instructor at the Allied Military Mission Commando School at Pendalophos (Pentalophon), and his command of the Vitsi sub-area. These are supported by a rich series of official and unofficial reports by Evans; papers relating to reconnaissance, commando and demolition operations in West Macedonia; signals and wireless/telegraphy traffic in the Vitsi sub-area; correspondence between Evans and allied British, American and Greek personnel; and, papers relating to technical training, financial accounts and supplies for Evan's force. There is substantial material in Greek relating to combined operations between Greek (Ethnikos Laikos Apeleftherotikos Stratos (ELAS) partisans, British and American units and Greek operatives and includes propaganda leaflets concerning the German occupation of the peninsula as well as the factious nature of Greek partisan movements. Finally, the collection includes captured German papers and personal correspondence, and documents of German forces, notably 1 Mountain Div, including a divisional order on the psychological state of German forces of occupation.

ARRANGEMENT

Papers are arranged by document type and language, as above, and chronologically within sections.

CONDITIONS OF ACCESS AND USE

Access

Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.

Copyright

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, attention of the Director of Archive Services.

Language

English, Greek and German

Transliteration of the Greek material in this collection is based primarily on the modern Greek demotic form rather than the pure katharevusa form. Translation was based on the conversion of Greek words into phonetic symbols and then into the nearest English equivalent. It should also be noted that, over time, modern Greek vocabulary has been supplemented by several strata of loan words; in the case of West Macedonia, these have include influences from Armenia, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria.

RELATED MATERIAL

Related units of description

The Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives holds several collections relating to SOE operations in the Balkans, most notably the papers of Lt Col Count J A Dobrski (Ref: GB99 KCLMA Dobrski); Brig Godfrey Pennington Hobbs; Brig Edmund Charles Wolf Myers; Maj Philip Frederick Nind (Ref: GB99 KCLMA Nind); Maj Ronald R Prentice and Capt H Arthur Wickstead; and Col (Hon) Christopher Montague Woodhouse.

Associated material

The Public Record Office, Kew, holds a substantial collection of material relating to SOE operations, most notably Political Warfare Executive correspondence (Ref: FO 898/25-28); papers relating to SOE activities, Middle East, Cairo, 1940-42 (Ref: FO 898/113-114); Quarterly Reports of Special Operations Executive, Oct 1943-Dec 1945 (Ref: PREM 3/408/1); Confidential Papers of Col William J Donovan, 1940-41 (Ref: PREM 4/25/5); and, Special Operations Executive: Balkan Files (Ref: HS 5).

Related publications

The collection was consulted by Professor (late Lt Col) Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond for the publication of 'The Allied Military Mission in Northwest Macedonia', Balkan Studies (Volume 32, 1993) and The Allied Military Mission and the Resistance in West Macedonia (Institute for Balkan Studies, Thessaloniki, 1993).

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