Addition to "My father the hero"

I am one of the sons of Dr Philip Evans (who died in 1984) so I was very interested to read Gwyneth Harvey's contribution about her father, Idris Evans. My father did not often describe this incident but, when he did, he was full of praise for what Idris Evans had done.

This is what I have learned from various sources about the incident. On 22nd February 1943 the Canadian corvette HMCS Weyburn, after refuelling at Gibraltar and while joining the U.K.-bound section of a convoy, hit a mine (laid by U-118 on 1st February) 4 miles West of Cape Spartel at the Western entrance to the Straits of Gibraltar. HMS Wivern, which was part of the escort for the U.S.-bound section of the convoy, came to her assistance. When all of the crew of Weyburn were either in the sea or transferred to Wivern, Weyburn sank very quickly in a few seconds at 1056. The primers on Weyburn's depth charges had been removed with the exception of two which were inaccessible because of damage. When Weyburn sank, these two depth charges detonated causing significant damage to Wivern. 8 RCN crew (including the commanding officer, T.M.W.Golby) and 1 RN crew, some of them in the sea, were lost. The Wivern, with 68 members of Weyburn's crew, was towed to Gibraltar.

My father was awarded the George Medal, not the George Cross. The citation read that "Enduring great pain, and with both his ankles broken, Surgeon-Lieutenant Evans continued to tend the wounded for many hours".

It is said that the field of 66 mines laid by U-118 in an Allied safe lane was one of the most fertile of the war. As well as the Weyburn, 3 British freighters were sunk and a Norwegian tanker and a Spanish freighter were damaged. U-118 became a tanker providing fuel for 9 U-boats. It was itself sunk in June 1943.

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