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Sailors from Royal Navy frigate HMS Iron Duke have been paying tribute to a Navy mechanic who died in a tragic diving accident in the British Virgin Islands 50 years ago.  The rededication service of Engineering Mechanic 1st Class Dennis Henry Spicer's headstone
[Picture: LA (Phot) Jay Allen] Engineering Mechanic 1st Class Dennis Henry Spicer, late of HMS Delight (a Daring Class Destroyer), died on 27 February 1958 aged 22 as a result of a tragic diving accident whilst on shore leave.
Iron Duke was approached by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in co-operation with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to assist in a rededication ceremony after the original headstone had become worn down and damaged. So while paying a visit to the Islands the ship's company thought it would be an ideal opportunity to reinforce the well known naval phrase - 'Once Navy, always Navy.' The ship's Chaplain Revd James Tabor RN conducted the service in the presence of Iron Duke's Captain Commander Mark Newland RN and three members of the ship's company to rededicate Mr Spicer's new headstone. Commander Newland said: "It means a great deal for me to attend and be part of a very poignant moment, not only for my self and my ships company but for Mr Spicer's family. The Navy has a great tradition of looking after its own, even after they have left the Naval service. "It's comforting to know wherever you go in the world the Navy and the camaraderie that it instils in its people links all sailors everywhere, past and present." During her time in the Carribbean, HMS Iron Duke has already completed a busy and turbulent five months on patrol and has conducted humanitarian and disaster relief operations in the wake of Hurricanes Ike and Gustav to the Islands of Turks and Caicos and the Cayman Islands. News Source: http://www.mod.uk |
