Steward Kai Bech Nielsen died 27/11/43

Saturday 27th November 1943

Steward Kai Bech Nielsen (57) [COPENHAGEN WESTERN CEMETERY]

CWGC list the above sailor as dying on this date from S.S. Avance (London). As far as I can see this ship was a former Danish flagged vessel, that was taken into MoWT service in May 1940. The curiosity is that he is buried in Denmark, which obviously could not have occurred in November 1943. So I believe to explain this, is that he died in the UK in 1943 and his body was repatriated to Denmark after the end of the war. Any ideas if this is correct?

Regards,

Steve

 

Steve,

Was he initially buried @ Colchester or Harwich? It appears there is a family of Bech-Neilsen thereabouts.

The boat was not sunk, it foundered in 1949. From: https://wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?176243 NT as being sunk by a U-Boat.

 

According to Find my past he died Newcastle upon Tyne, 4th quarter 1943.

 

Found another Kai Bech Nielson died at sea 1947 on Avance.

 

Cheers,

It would indeed seem that his body was repatriated to Denmark after the war.

Yes as far as I can see the ex Danish flagged Avance (933grt) survived the war without any sort of enemy related damage.

The ex Avance that is listed by wrecksite.eu is the previous Danish Avance (1300grt), which was sold to a Norwegian company in 1925 and confusingly renamed Avance I. That ship had lucky escape after being hit by a '500lb' bomb which failed to explode after being attacked by a German aircraft off Seaham Harbour on 20th July 1941.

D/S Avance I - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

Regards,

Steve

 

I believe he died of natural causes. A large number of Danish war sailors were cremated and brought home to Denmark after World War II.

Kai Bech Nielsen was born 4 Sep 1886 in Odense, Denmark.

Note the misspelling of his first name on the headstone.

Copenhagen Western Cemetery. Sec. 24 Grave 169.

The grave is looked after and decorated in the weeks before Christmas every year.

According my informations, he and his wife have no children.

Awards:

1939-1945 Star
War Medal 1939 - 1945

Regards,

Finn

https://i.ibb.co/594BwDR/Kai-Bech-Nielsen-Private-Photo.jpg

 

Hi Steve, you correctly note the vessel as the former Danish flagged vessel that came into the British Registry in May of 1940 but we should be clear that that is a different ship than those listed in some of the other posts in the thread which are not same ship.

AVANCE was built as a cargo vessel under yard No 131 by Laxevaags Msk. & Jrnskb., Bergen, Norway for A/S Tizona (K. Andersen & Co A/S), Frederikstad, Norway
Launched under the name TIZONA. Tonnage 1.592 gross, 930 net, dim. 246.2 x 37.9 x 15.8ft. One 3-cyl. triple expansion steam eng. 137 nhp. December 1920 delivered to owners.
1929 Sold to Dampskslsk Activ A/S (H.G. Rasmussen, Mgr.) Korsør, Denmark. Renamed AVANCE.

09 April 1940 when war broke out between Germany and Denmark the AVANCE was in port at Methil, U.K., taken over by the British Authorities.
1940 Transferred to Ministry of Shipping/M.O.W.T managed by Wm. Cory & Son, Ltd, London and registered under official number, 167461. She was returned to owners in 1945.

The ship seems to have been operating in the Gravesend and London area between the 23 and 29 November so it looks like he wasn't aboard at the time of his death.

It seems his death was not recorded in the Deaths at Sea Register for 1943 but was noted in the DAS Index for 1947 which is noted by 51 highland in post #4 but that was obviously not the year of his actual death as we know it was November 1943. The DAS Index has MPB next to his name which seems to be an indication of an award of pension and for that reason he appears to have been commemorated by the CWGC. I have seen quite a few of those similarities while working with Billy McGee on MN deaths where no indication of an actual attack on a vessel was the cause of death. So the ship AVANCE may or may not be the actual ship that he was aboard when he sustained any injury or health issue that was directly or indirectly the cause of his death in 1943.

As ever with these things, a check of the narrative section of the Ship's Official Logbook/Crew Agreement may help. For 1943 it is held at TNA Kew in piece BT 381/2599

Kai Bech Nielsen died from heart failure in Newcastle General Hospital on 27 November 1943.

Regards
Hugh

 

Hi Hugh,

Thanks for that, I'll add the logbook to my TNA list and hopefully it will answer the question.

Regards,

Steve

 

S/S AVANCE took part in the Battle of Normandy in 1944, sailing supplies to the French coast. St. Vaast is mentioned as destiny.

I will link some photos of the ship during the operations.

S/S AVANCE

Dannebrog hejst om bord på S/S AVANCE

Kanonskytte om bord på S/S AVANCE

På vej mod Normandiet, 1944

Sømand under Dannebrog 1944

Sømand under Dannebrog 1944

S/S AVANCE i St. Vaast havn

Losning af S/S AVANCE 1944

S/S AVANCE i St. Vaast havn

https://billedarkiv.mfs.dk/fotoweb/archives/5001-Museet-for-Søfarts-billedarkiv/mfs/Arkiv-37/000042146.jpg.info#c=/fotoweb/archives/5001-Museet-for-S%C3%B8farts-billedarkiv/?q=avance

https://billedarkiv.mfs.dk/fotoweb/archives/5001-Museet-for-Søfarts-billedarkiv/mfs/Arkiv-118/000033580.jpg.info#c=/fotoweb/archives/5001-Museet-for-S%C3%B8farts-billedarkiv/?q=avance

Første styrmand om bord på S/S AVANCE

-------------------------

D a n i s h list of vessels - see Avance:

https://drive.reindex.net/MFS/101/1939.pdf

https://drive.reindex.net/MFS/101/1946.pdf

Regards

Finn

 

He is noted in the crew list for Avance as signing off on 15th November 1943 in Seaham. So it would appear that this was his final ship before his death.

Regards,

Steve

 

His death, heart failure, albeit on land and away from his last ship must have been deemed as due to increased war risk while aboard AVANCE on the Normandy run. He appears to have been awarded a pension which would also be convincing evidence for CWGC commemoration.

Section 5 of the Pension (Mercantile Marine) Act 1942 states:

" 5. For the removal of doubt it is hereby declared that the expression " physical injury ", in the principal Act and in this Act, and in the Personal Injuries (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1939, includes tuberculosis and any other organic disease, and the aggravation thereof. "

As we know there have been many instances of seamen dying ashore post war and many of those deaths were attributable to their increased war risk and aggravation of other organic diseases. Some of those seamen are commemorated, others sadly are not. If the RGSS of the day did not classify the death as war-attributable and report it accordingly, the man simply never reached CWGC regardless of whether he met the eligibility criteria in principle. At least, Kai Bech Nielsen is correctly remembered as a war casualty by the CWGC.

Hugh