Sailor despatched by East European is the one who did not attend (8)
I believe the answer is:
absentee
'sailor despatched by east european is the one who did not attend' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'sailor despatched by east european' is the wordplay.
'sailor' becomes 'ab' (abbreviation for able seaman).
'despatched' becomes 'sent' (I've seen this before).
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'east' becomes 'e' (synonyms).
'european' becomes 'e' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'ab'+'sent'+'e'+'e'='ABSENTEE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for absentee that I've seen before include "One is not present when required" , "One failing to attend" , "Someone not present" , "One away from work, etc" , "to be called in? No!" .)