Evan Stewart
Colonel Evan George Stewart DSO, OBE, ED, MA was born in 1892 in Bedford, England. He went with his parents to their mission station in Kucheng, Fukien Province, and was with them in 1895 when they were attacked by an insurgent group, the so-called Vegetarians, who were opposed to all foreigners. His parents were killed as were one of his brothers and one of his sisters. 

Stewart was educated in Dublin and at Wellington College. On leaving school in 1910, he went to Hong Kong to teach at St. Paul's College. He joined the Hong Kong Volunteers and was soon commissioned, thanks to his officer training at Wellington. He returned to Dublin in 1913 and volunteered for the Middlesex Regiment, seeing active service in France from 1915 to 1919.

He took over as Headmaster of St. Paul's College in 1930. When the Japanese invaded Hong Kong in 1941 he was a Major commanding the HKVDC No. 3 (Machine-Gun) Company. His actions were to result in an award of the Distinguished Service Order for which the citation noted that the successful evacuation of Stonecutters Island while under fire was greatly due to his powers of organisation and leadership; while at Wong Nei Chong Gap, although wounded early in the fighting, he continued to command his Company with a total disregard for his own safety. After the capture of Wong Nei Chong Gap by the Japanese, he organised the escape of the six survivors from the area and and finally found his own way back alone through enemy lines.

Stewart led the Hong Kong Regiment's contingent in the Coronation Procession in London in 1953. He was awarded the OBE in 1955.

Books by Evan Stewart
Hong Kong Volunteers in Battle

Related website
RHKR (The Volunteers) Association: www.rhkr.org