Memorial for family lost in WWII accident

Dorothy Bevins, who is distantly related to the family, launched a crowdfunding campign to buy a grave plot and headstone for the family who were killed in the tragedy on Laughton Crescent, on the Ruffs Estate, in September 1940.

Alice and Albert Evans, 28, and their children Ronald, eight, Alice, six, and John, two, were later buried in a pauper’s grave in Hucknall Cemetery - the only civilian fatalities in Hucknall during World War Two.

The cash will go towards engraving the headstone, cemetery costs and licences, service sheets for the memorial service and a wreath.

Because the fee for the ‘exclusive rights burial’ was reduced, there is now a £214 surplus, which may be used towards a plaque to mark the tragedy. Although the house was detroyed, an Ashfield Homes property now stands on the site.

A memorial service takes place at Hucknall Cemetery Chapel on Sunday, September 25, at 4pm.