David Elward WWII. Evan David Elward left the coal mines to join the RAF. He arrived at RAF Brize Norton just before the outbreak of WW11. As a sergeant, he was posted to the Far East and saw service in India and Burma. In 1941 , he married Bamptonian Vera Tanner after meeting at a dance in the Village Hall, organised by Mrs. Glenister, wife of the railway Station Master. After the war, David spent the rest of his life in Bampton, the village he loved. He had two daughters with Vera, Jean (Jones) and Janet (Newman).