When news of the Armistice reached Britain on 11 November 1918, newspapers in East Sussex reported on the joy and the solemn reflection of the county. With the end of hostilities agreed early in the morning of 11 November 1918 and planned to take effect at 11am in France, the fighting was about to draw […]
The first ever English Heritage approved Blue Plaques in Seaford town were unveiled on Tuesday 10 November. They commemorate the centenary of the formation of the British West Indies Regiment in 1915 by the War Office and King George 5th. A Blue Plaque was placed in Seaford Cemetery, Alfriston Road to remember the 19 Caribbean soldiers who are […]
Over the 2015 August Bank Holiday weekend the Sussex Yeomanry Mounted Skill-at-Arms Group (along with a number of other groups) was invited to join the Royal Army Logistic Corps’ Horses in War display at the Edenbridge & Oxted Show. The display comprised a number of elements, one of which was a ‘parade’ of WW1 horse-drawn […]
During the First World War, there were numerous attempts to get past the trenches on the Western Front. One of these led to the creation, in East Sussex, of possibly the first ever stealth aircraft. In the Spring of 1916 the War Office looked into the possibility of using a ‘stealth’ airship specially adapted for […]
During the First World War, the execution of the British nurse Edith Cavell by Germany proved to be one of the most controversial moments of the conflict. Born in 1865 near Norwich, Edith Cavell was the eldest of four children. Her father was a reverend and a vicar and the importance of charity played a key […]
John Kipling, son of Rudyard Kipling, was killed at the Battle of Loos in 1915. Born on the 17 August 1897, John was the only son of the famous British writer Rudyard Kipling and his wife Caroline “Carrie” Starr Balestier. John was born at the family’s residence in Rottingdean before they relocated to Batemans House, […]
On 1 July 1916, the British and French armies attacked the German lines around the River Somme. As that battle raged, an East Sussex filmmaker was in France to capture the footage and create one of the most important documentaries ever seen. During the First World War, the ability of the press to report on […]
On 4 August 1914 Britain declared war on Germany. One hundred years later to mark that occasion the East Sussex First World War Project was launched. We now look back on the first year of the project. The website for the East Sussex First World War Project was launched at 11am on 4th August 2014. […]
During the First World War, Royal Naval Airships from Polegate patrolled the coast of East Sussex. If you were living in Willingdon 100 years ago you would have witnessed great activity as Royal Naval personnel started arriving at the partially constructed Royal Naval Airship Station (RNAS). It covered 142 acres of somewhat marshy meadowland stretching, […]
During the First World War Royal Naval Airships were deployed at Polegate. After the war the buildings of this base began to find new and different uses. The Polegate Royal Naval Airship Station at Lower Willingdon was disbanded on 6 February 1920 and handed to the Disposal Board the following June. An auction of the […]
