Cecil Hugh Silvester Evans
Cecil Hugh Silvester Evans (1889-1951)
1952 Obituary [1]
"Colonel CECIL HUGH SILVESTER EVANS, O.B.E. (Mil.), T.D., was born in 1889 and educated at St. Paul's School and City and Guilds of London Engineering College. In 1909 he was appointed an assistant in the testing department of Siemens Brothers, Ltd., Woolwich, and two years later became a chief assistant on the experimental staff. In this capacity he was closely concerned with the design and manufacture of cables. After acting as chief technical assistant to the Morgan Crucible Company, Ltd., Battersea, he enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1914 and later was granted a commission in the Royal Engineers (T.A.), with promotion to the rank of captain in 1916.
During 1918 and 1919 he was employed on the inspection of plant and machinery in Great Britain and promoted to lieutenant colonel. After this he was appointed officer in charge of the war department searchlight experimental establishment, with responsibility for all production and the organization of the department. From 1922 to 1938 he was superintendent of research in the Air Defence Experimental Establishment at Biggin Hill, and during this period as technical representative for the War Office visited several countries on the Continent to study the products of engineering firms. He was honorary general secretary of the International Illuminations Congress from 1928 to 1932 and chairman of the British National Committee on Automobile Lighting.
In 1940 he was appointed commandant of the Radar Research and Development Establishment, Ministry of Supply, with the rank of colonel on the General Staff. During 1945 he was employed on a special mission to Nigeria and the Gold Coast on behalf of the Ministry of Supply, with the local rank of brigadier. In the same year he was demobilized and appointed superintendent of technical administration. Colonel Evans's final position was that of senior principal scientific officer and assistant director of technical and personnel administration in the Ministry of Supply. He was elected an Associate Member of the Institution in 1922 and transferred to Membership in 1938. He was also a member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and a Fellow of the Physical Society. His death occurred at Malvern on 19th April 1951.