Biography of Evan "Snow" Williams
Summary A biography of Evan "Snow" Williams, service no. 639543, one of six biographies of Canterbury veterans of World War II by Kim Newth.
Too young to enlist for overseas service when war was declared, Evan Williams instead chose to join the Home Guard in 1941. Guided by seasoned World War One veterans, the 16-year-old learned fast and was soon to discover an innate talent for command. By 1945 he was training other men to fight and the following year left for Japan to serve with ‘J Force’, the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2 NZEF) as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan.
- View the Biography of Evan "Snow" Williams as PDF [1.22 MB]
- Listen to the interview with Evan "Snow" Williams, part 1 [28.6 MB]
- Listen to the interview with Evan "Snow" Williams, part 2 [22.4 MB]
- Listen to the interview with Evan "Snow" Williams, part 3 [15.8 MB]
- Listen to the interview with Evan "Snow" Williams, part 4 [41.2 MB]
- Listen to the interview with Evan "Snow" Williams, part 5 [41.3 MB]
- Collection location Digital collection; private collection.
Publication information Published
Additional information
Kim Newth applied for and received the Canterbury History Foundation: 2014 Canterbury Community Historian Award after seeing the photographic record created by the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photographers for their nationwide WWII Veterans Portrait Project. These portraits were gifted to the RSA and form an archive of images for veterans, families, communities and New Zealand's generations to come. With the award Kim Newth was able to add biographies to some of the portraits, to uncover stories behind the faces. Christchurch members of NZIPP helped put Kim in touch with some of the veterans they photographed.
The collection includes the biographies written by Kim Newth, interview files, and some images.
Related pages
Biographies
- View biography of James (Jim) Roland Calder. Service No: C5464 RNVR NZD.
- View biography of Jack Marshall, DFC. Service No: NZ391865.
- View biography of Francis Noel Smith. Service No: C5472.
- View biography of Evan "Snow" Williams. Service No: 639543.
- View biography of Owen William Wilson. 2NZEF Service No: 442436.
- View biography of Kenneth Raymond Wright. Service No: 445257.
Source
This material has been supplied to Christchurch City Libraries by Kim Newth.
Rights statement
Biographies, interviews and images supplied to Christchurch City Libraries.
This material has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research). Material may be available for reuse.
Reproduction
This material has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. Please contact Christchurch City Libraries if you have any questions relating to the use of this material. It is the responsibility of the user to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.
