A rededication service was held at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Bedford House Cemetery in Belgium to honor Corporal of Horse Charles Edward Dean, who lost his life during World War I. The service, organized by the MOD’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC), also known as the ‘War Detectives,’ aimed to reunite Dean’s mortal remains with his name, ensuring his sacrifice is not forgotten.
Charles Edward Dean was born in 1877 in Wiltshire to James Albert Dean and his wife Fanny. He grew up with six siblings and joined the Household Cavalry in 1900, signing up for 12 years of long service with the Life Guards. Dean was promoted to Corporal by the time he married Ada Josephine Taylor in Rotherhithe in 1908. The couple had four children together and moved to Windsor.
As a regular soldier, Dean was quickly put into action after the outbreak of war in 1914. The first detachment of the 2nd Life Guards, where Dean served, sailed for Belgium on October 6, 1914. By May 1915, the Life Guards were in the Ieper (Ypres) area, digging trenches and receiving instruction on how to use gas masks.
On the night of May 12-13, 1915, Dean’s unit was tasked with relieving The Buffs from the trenches near Potijze. Unfortunately, 35 men of the 2nd Life Guards lost their lives on those two days, including Dean. Half of these men still have no known grave to this day.
Dean’s body was discovered in July 1921 by teams searching for field graves. Although his resting place was not marked, it was near Crump Farm, between Potijze and Verlorenhoek. The team documenting the discovery could not identify him by name, so they recorded him as an unknown Serjeant Major of the 2nd Life Guards.
In 2020, a researcher submitted a case to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, claiming to have identified the unknown ‘Sergeant Major.’ The researcher correctly pointed out that the rank of Serjeant Major does not exist in the Household Cavalry but that the same insignia can be attributed to the rank of Corporal of Horse. Research showed that only one man of this rank was missing in the area at the time, leading to the identification of Charles Edward Dean.
The rededication service was supported by serving soldiers of the Household Cavalry, and the service was conducted by Reverend Tom Sander, Chaplain to The Household Cavalry. The headstone was replaced by the CWGC, and Director Xavier Puppinck expressed gratitude to the researcher and all those involved in confirming Dean’s previously unmarked grave.
