Biography

Vince Evans was born on September 6, 1920 in Texas, USA. He was a writer, known for Chain Lightning (1950), Battle Hymn (1957) and Conflict (1956). He died on April 20, 1980 in the USA.

Given his fame as a member of the Memphis Belle crew, it was ironic that his death would come in a plane. On April 23, 1980, he, his wife Margery and their 21 year old daughter, Venetia, were killed in a private plane crash just minutes from the Santa Ynez Valley airport. His son, Peter Duke Evans was not on the flight and lives in Oregon.

At the end of World War II, he began a career in acting and developed a close friendship with William Wyler, and with Ronald Reagan. He and his wife Margery moved to a 900-acre ranch south of Buellton, California in 1959. They raised cattle, grew alfalfa and operated a feed store. In 1965 he bought Pea Soup Andersen's in Buellton, a popular restaurant on the road to San Simeon. He helped make Buellton and the neighboring Danish village of Solvang popular tourist attractions, and went on to own the Danish Inn in Solvang.

Vincent B. Evans was the bombardier on the famous WWII B-17 bomber "Memphis Belle", which was the first bomber crew to complete 25 missions over enemy territory in the ETO.