{"id":82027,"date":"2017-06-29T09:31:00","date_gmt":"2017-06-29T09:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=1a3dc1fd7562a3924c61cf72b57cfa37"},"modified":"2017-06-29T09:31:00","modified_gmt":"2017-06-29T09:31:00","slug":"news-story-grave-of-brave-sussex-born-ww1-sailor-finally-rededicated-almost-a-century-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=82027","title":{"rendered":"News story: Grave of brave Sussex born WW1 sailor finally rededicated almost a century later"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cross referencing research was key in identifying the final resting place of Able Seaman (AB<\/abbr>) Reginald Cecil Evenden. The 23 year old died along with 53 comrades as their warship, HMS<\/abbr> Recruit, was sunk during World War 1 on 9 August 1917.<\/p>\n

Almost a century after AB<\/abbr> Evenden\u2019s body was washed up on a beach in Blokhus, Denmark, a rededication service was held on 28 June 2017 at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC<\/abbr>) Hune Churchyard, northern Jutland, Denmark.<\/p>\n

The service, which was a fitting tribute to the sacrifice made by AB<\/abbr> Evenden, was organised by the MOD<\/abbr>\u2019s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC<\/abbr>), part of Defence Business Services, and was conducted by the Reverend Richard Rowe, Royal Navy.<\/p>\n

For almost 100 years AB<\/abbr> Evenden has had no known grave as he was buried in a local cemetery to where his body was found as an \u2018Unknown British Seaman of the Royal Navy\u2019.<\/p>\n

Due to research conducted by a member of the Danish public, which was investigated and verified by JCCC<\/abbr>, it is now known that his body was washed up on Blokhus Strand beach on 5 September 1917. He was not identified at the time due to being in the sea for nearly a month. However, with cross referencing local church records, it was possible to link the body to HMS<\/abbr> Recruit.<\/p>\n

The church records indicated that he was buried in Hune Parish churchyard by the parish priest on 9 September 1917. The records state that he was an English sailor and that on his wedding ring finger he was wearing a gold ring with the letters \u2018R.C.E\u2019 engraved on the outside. Inside the ring was another inscription \u2018Dear Mother died 10 June 1915\u2019.<\/p>\n

It has now been confirmed that no other ships sank in that area of the North Sea in August or September 1917. The positioning of HMS<\/abbr> Recruit when it sank is consistent with where AB<\/abbr> Evenden\u2019s body was found and of the casualties from HMS<\/abbr> Recruit; no one else had the initials \u2018R.C.E\u2019. It has also been confirmed that his mother did pass away on 10 June 1915.<\/p>\n

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\"(left<\/div>
(left to right) Henrik Kleis, Hon Consul representing the British Ambassador to Denmark; and Flight Lieutenant Ben Wallis, representing HM Armed Forces and Chief of Defence Staff, Crown Copyright, All rights reserved<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Louise Dorr, JCCC<\/abbr> said:<\/p>\n

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It is thanks to 2 members of the Danish public who drew our attention to the church records in Hune that we have been able to identify this grave as that of Reginald Evenden.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a great honour to have his family with us today as we pay tribute to him for his sacrifice and rededicate the headstone that now bears his name with honour.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n
\"Members<\/div>
Members of Reginald Evenden’s family, Crown Copyright, All rights reserved<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reverend Richard Rowe, said:<\/p>\n

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It has been my duty and privilege to have been involved in the rededication and naming of a headstone as the mortal remains of an \u2018unknown sailor\u2019 were identified and named. As a Royal Navy Chaplain it was fitting to reclaim 1 of our own, to support his family and thank the local community for the dignity and care they have taken, and continue to take, over many years.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Almost 100 years after he died, AB<\/abbr> Evenden\u2019s grave has been rededicated and a new headstone bearing his name has been provided by the CWGC<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Able Seaman Reginal Cecil Evenden finally laid to rest almost a century after his death.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82027"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=82027"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82071,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82027\/revisions\/82071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=82027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=82027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=82027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}