In late November the British armour was soundly defeated at Sidi Rezegh and Rommel's tanks advanced rapidly towards the border.
Evans skilfully led Silver Group (his battalion expanded with the addition of armoured reconnaissance and artillery units) during 7 Brigade's successful breakout.
[16] In October 1943 Evans became Brigadier on the General Staff or BGS at IV Corps at Imphal[13] where the newly arrived army commander, William Slim was preparing for a decisive encounter with the Japanese.
On the day of his arrival the Japanese launched their Ha-Go offensive resulting in loss of contact with 7th Indian Infantry Division's commander, Frank Messervy.
[17] Evans was ordered to hand over command of his brigade and make his way to 7th Indian Division's Admin Box at Sinzweya, take control and hold the position against attacks.
He quickly armed and organised the cooks, drivers and other support troops which were joined by the two units following from his brigade and some time later two squadrons of tanks and some further artillery and infantry.
Slim and his commanders had developed tactics to counter Japanese infiltration and encirclement techniques by holding on to forward positions and tasking reserve formations to advance to relieve them.
By mid-September the division had fought its way in appalling monsoon conditions, over 120 miles (190 km) down the road towards Tiddim to cross the Manipur River when Evans contracted typhoid and was evacuated to India.
[22] In June the division was moved to the Sittang valley to rejoin IV Corps to become the southern end of the Allied barrier formed to prevent a break-out by the remnants of the Japanese 28th Army.
[1] In early July the division fought a fierce four-day battle on the Sittang as Japanese forces attempted to distract attention from their planned breakout further north.
[37] Reverting to major-general,[38] he became Assistant Chief of Staff (Organisation and Training) Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe from March 1952[39] to April 1953[40] and then, once again as a temporary lieutenant-general, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command from May 1953[41] to May 1957.