Arthur “John” Evans, Jr. was born in Alassio, Italy. His parents had arranged to rendezvous there on a longer trip, and his mother went into labor. His mother’s age (45 at the time) and other complications led her to pass away in childbirth. “John Jr” was surprisingly healthy despite this. His father quickly hired a nurse.

His father had settled in Boar’s Hill, and bought an estate there, but he traveled with his father throughout his childhood.

More urbane and less “wiseass” than his father, John is almost embarrassed by the older man’s “romantic” views of the past. He makes a point to learn the native languages where he goes, unlike his father, who never bothered learning German despite traveling throughout Austria-Hungary extensively. He did learn Latin from his father, as well as Turkish and Greek in their travels. He learned Italian from his childhood nurse.

In 1914 John joined the British Armed Forces as an Officer, and served through The Great War. His skill with languages kept him from the worst duties on the front lines, mainly he served in communication and translation capacities. He came home shaken, but physically uninjured. To this day he dreads fog, as it reminds him of the gas clouds that drifted over the trenches. He suffered several close calls with poison gas, and lost many friends and colleagues.

John continues to try and help his father crack the “Linear A/Linear B” puzzle, though his focus is more on modern linguistics.