Charles Evans:
Charles Evans was born in Liverpool on 19 October 1918, the only child of Robert Charles Evans, a solicitor, and his wife Edith, née Lloyd Williams, a farmer's daughter. He was brought up largely by his mother in North Wales as his father was unfortunately killed in the closing stages of the first world war, and did not learn to speak English until he was six years old. Three of his uncles and four of his cousins were also members of the medical profession. Evans was educated initially at Rhewl then at Kingsland Grange preparatory school, whence he obtained a scholarship to Shrewsbury Public School. Subsequently he entered University College Oxford as a Kitchener scholar and after gaining his BA in 1936 commenced his clinical studies at the Radcliffe Infirmary, where he was impressed by the teachings of Sir Hugh Cairns and Joe Pennybacker in the neurosurgical department. He qualified BM BCh in 1942 and after a period as house physician in the Nuffield Professorial Unit returned to Liverpool as house surgeon to the Northern Hospital.
Evans served in the RAMC from 1943 to 1946 mainly in South East Asia as a regimental medical officer in the 20th Indian Division and was mentioned in despatches. Almost since childhood he had evinced an interest in the hills and mountains and by the time he went up to Oxford in 1939 had already climbed extensively in Wales, Ireland and Scotland and experienced his first Alpine season. He was thus at an early age a talented and courageous rock climber and sustained a severe fracture of the skull during an attempt to rescue a fellow climber in Tryfan in 1942. Whilst in India he learnt Hindi, visited the Himalayas and climbed Mount Kinabulu in Borneo. Following his return to the UK Evans recommenced his training by becoming surgical registrar at the Royal Southern Hospital in Liverpool, where he was especially influenced by the teaching of J B Oldham, a well-known Liverpool surgeon. Evans gained his FRCS in 1949, and, having decided on a career in neurosurgery, was appointed senior registrar to the neurosurgical centre in Liverpool. His professional competence must have been highly regarded as it was said that he subsequently spent as much time in Nepal as he did in the operating theatres of Merseyside. Nevertheless he became a Hunterian Professor of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1953.
Evans' first Himalayan expedition was with H W Tilman to Annapurna in 1950, and although he reached an altitude of 24,000 feet the attempt failed because of bad weather; similar fates befell attempts at Kulu in 1951 and Cho Oyu with Eric Shipton in 1952. This latter expedition was regarded as preliminary training for the projected attempt on Everest in 1953 for which Shipton had already been appointed leader, with Evans as his deputy leader. However, Shipton was subsequently deposed by what Evans considered unworthy tactics and therefore tendered his resignation but was persuaded by both Shipton and the new leader, Sir John Hunt, to withdraw it, which he consented to do. With Tom Bourdillon, Evans reached the South Peak of Everest on 26 May 1953, at 28,750 feet the highest summit ever attained but they were forced to turn back because of failure of the oxygen supply. It is probable that this frozen valve prevented Evans and Bourdillon from making the first successful ascent of Mount Everest. Their altitude record was surpassed three days later when the main summit, 300 feet higher, was reached by Hillary and Tenzing on 29 May. Despite this disappointment Evans' reputation among the climbing community remained paramount and his qualities of integrity, persistence and dedication to the task in hand coupled with outstanding leadership were universally recognised. These were all very evident during his subsequent successful climbs in Nepal, including the supposed reconnaissance of the world's third highest peak, Kanchenjunga, in 1955, a climb generally recognised to be more difficult that Everest. The reconnaissance in fact resulted in a successful ascent of the mountain but, as was typical of him, Evans had given strict instructions that the last five feet should not be climbed since the peak was regarded as holy ground and he had promised the ruler of Sikkim that it would not be violated. He was associated with other Himalayan expeditions between 1951 and 1957 but as a result his professional career progress had been seriously impaired so Evans decided to abandon neurosurgery and returned for a short period to general surgery.
In 1957 he married Denise Morin, also a very accomplished climber, but their climbing partnership was tragically short because Evans developed multiple sclerosis which deteriorated so rapidly that within five years he was confined to a wheelchair. In 1958 he gave up surgery completely, having decided to follow an administrative career for which his talents were well suited and he was appointed Principal of the University College of North Wales in Bangor. This was a great success and under his stewardship the College's size increased threefold, and established an international reputation in the fields of oceanography, marine biology, electronics and forestry.
Evans was awarded the Founder's medal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1955, an honorary DSc of the University of Wales in 1956 and was knighted for his services in 1969. He was president of the Alpine Club from 1967 to 1970 and published several articles and books describing his experiences, including Eye on Everest in 1955 and Kanchenjunga - the untrodden peak in 1956. Despite progressive disabilities due to his illness, he bore these affronts with patience and forbearance. One of his biographers said of him 'the dignity of his acceptance and the calm depth and recall of his mind with the animation of his face, even when every limb had ceased to function, alerted you to the presence of wisdom and made you glad for once to be part of the human race'. There can be few, if any, better eulogies than that.
Charles Evans died on 5 December 1995, aged 77.
Author: Royal College of Surgeons of England
Topic: ROG Euro final week (Read 822 times)
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