G. Bentley writes- I met David Evans in 1961 when I was appointed Senior House Officer and latterly registrar to the famous Sheffield Royal Infirmary/Sheffield Children’s accident and orthopaedic unit. Headed by Sir Frank Holdsworth and Mr John Sharrard, he was responsible then for the casualty department, which serviced the majority of serious injuries in what was the centre of the UK steel industry and a largely mining area. David, a Welshman by birth, studied medicine at Swansea Technical College and Westminster Hospital, followed by four months as a ship’s surgeon, and two years with the rank of major in the Royal Army Medical Corps as a national serviceman. His reputation in the Sheffield Hospitals as an all-round Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgeon came from all those grateful trainees who had worked for him and all his peers. He was a quietly-spoken but authoritative young man whom I never saw angry. He appeared to glide about the hospital, and especially in the operating theatre, where he was universally respected by medical and nursing colleagues and all ancillaries for his quiet self-confidence and his supreme operative skills, as well as the way he treated all his patients, many of whom were *plain-speaking* south Yorkshire miners and steelmakers, who constituted 80% of the local population. David was not the most demonstrative of surgeons, compared with Holdsworth and Sharrard, but dealt with vast bulk of the trauma and general orthopaedics specializing in spinal disorders within the unit. He demonstrated how good he was by his teaching and his clinical results rather than by self-advertisement. He published relatively few papers but each had a strong message and new information. His presentations were always immaculately planned and delivered and contained many novel ideas and methods. He was appointed a full consultant after four years as Senior Registrar and his career blossomed. He was invited to lecture abroad frequently because of the unusual quality of his lectures. Moreover, he and his delightful wife Gill were always graceful and interesting guests. On one later trip to the Canadian Orthopaedic Association (COA), he revealed his considerable thespian abilities at a fancy dress ball, which invited all guests to dress as *gangsters and floosies*. David, wearing pink high heels with a dramatic western floosie dress and made up as a striking lady by Gill and my wife Ann, was stunning. Gill, dressed in a smart tuxedo, passed perfectly for a wild west gangster. Our host, the president of the COA, kept saying *where is David* until he was informed that the particularly dazzling lady among the guests was indeed David. His interests were several, which included becoming a Derbyshire sheep farmer after retirement, trout fishing in Derbyshire, and golf. He always seemed to be attracted by the *cutting-edge* of Trauma and Orthopaedics, especially in spinal trauma. I shall never forget watching him manipulate a dislocated cervical spine, which reduced with a loud click/clunk, which made my hair stand on end. His operative ability in all areas of spinal deformity and injuries was outstanding. He never seemed to be fazed by any problem. Despite his prowess he was unbelievably patient with trainees and used to chuckle when a junior did something very well. Alternatively, the odd mistake was treated with a generous constructive approach devoid of unnecessary blame. Sheffield Infirmary was the outstanding provincial city teaching hospital in the UK. David Evans was the firm foundation from which both were able to make and develop their ideas on treatments and progressive teaching and research which was the foundation of the UK system of rotating registrar posts, now internationally recognized and copied. David’s organizational qualities combined with his extensive experience were recognized locally by the British Orthopaedic Association (BOA); he was a wise head as treasurer of the BOA and was a long-standing member of the editorial board of *The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery Br*, where he served from 1979 until 1993. He was elected to the presidency of the BOA at a fairly late time in his career, so the BOA and musculoskeletal trauma generally benefitted maximally from his seniority and thoughtful, analytical, and humble approach. Working with David was a unique privilege of my life. We are all indebted to him and Gill. He was a quiet genius who freely contributed his very personal intellect, natural surgical talent, humanity and humour, which were quite exceptional. Bentley G. Obituary: David Evans (1925 to 2020). *Bone Joint S.* 2021; 103-B(7):1325.