LANCE CORPORAL FREDERICK ELPHICK
MACHINE GUN CORPS
8TH AUGUST 1917 AGE 20
BURIED: DOZINGHEM MILITARY CEMETERY, POPERINGE, BELGIUM
As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live
2 Corinthians 6:9
Unknown and yet well known, dying and behold we live
Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, Westminster Abbey
As unknown yet well known
As dying, behold he liveth
Personal inscription Lance Corporal F Elphick
The changes are subtle but they are there: in Corinthians, St Paul informs his fellow Christians that although they may be of insignificant parentage, 'unknown', their conduct has made them well known, and that whilst they are in constant danger of being put to death, whilst it's constantly reported that they have been put to death, they are still alive.
On the tomb of the unknown warrior the reference to unknown is literal - the man underneath this marble slab is totally unknown, yet, because he is Britain's unknown warrior, buried with full ceremonial in Westminster Abbey on 11 November 1920, he is well known. And by his death, by the fact that the unknown warrior sacrificed his life for us, we are all able to live.'
As unknown yet well known' in Elphick's inscription probably has the same meaning as in Corinthians, Elphick was a 'domestic garden boy' in the 1911 census, and a gardener when he joined up in November 1915, an unknown. But his death has made him well known: the death reported in the newspaper, his name carved onto the East Grinstead war memorial. But the very last three words of Elphick's inscription - 'behold he liveth' - refer to the resurrection. Just as the strangers at Jesus' tomb told the women, 'He is not here, he has risen', so Elphick's mother is expressing her belief in the resurrection - 'behold he liveth'.
Elphick's parents' lived at The Lodge, Barton St Mary, East Ginstead. This raises interesting possibilities. Elphick joined up in November 1915, giving his occupation as 'gardener'. Barton St Mary was a house designed by Edwin Lutyens in 1907, the gardens designed by Gertrude Jeykll; it looks as though Elphick could have been the gardener here.