A Collection of Medals for the Gallipoli Campaign

Three: Private L. Evans, Manchester Regiment, who was killed in action at Gallipoli during ‘futile and bloody’ attempts to capture a network of short trenches and strong points at Cape Helles on 7 August 1915

1914-15 Star (1602 Pte. L. Evans. Manch. R.); British War and Victory Medals (1602 Pte. L. Evans. Manch. R.) minor contact marks, good very fine (3) £140-£180

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Medals for the Gallipoli Campaign.

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Leonard Evans was born in Timperley, Lancashire, and attested for the 1/6th Battalion, Manchester Regiment following the outbreak of the Great War. Disembarked at Cape Helles on 5 May 1915, Evans and his comrades in the 6th Battalion were soon deployed in attempts to capture the heights of Krithia and the Battle of Krithia Vineyard - a diversionary attack designed to lure Turkish forces away from the site of the Allied landings at Suvla Bay. Commencing on 6 August 1915 under the leadership of Brigadier General H. E. Street, the deception succeeded in gaining a small patch of ground known as ‘The Vineyard’, but at a huge cost in men and resources; reported as missing in action on 7 August 1915 whilst engaged with “B” Company, Evans was later confirmed to have been killed. He has no known grave and is commemorated upon the Helles Memorial, Turkey.