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12th (2nd South Down) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
12th (2nd South Down) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment was raised at Bexhill on the 3rd of November 1914 by Lieut-Col. Lowther, MP and Committee. After initial training close to home, they moved to Maidstone in July 1915 and were adopted by the War Office. They moved to Aldershot in September and then to Witley to join 116th Brigade, 39th Division in October. They proceeded to France, landed at Le Havre in March 1916, the division concentrating near Blaringhem and receiving five battalions from other divisions to replace those of 118th Brigade who had remained in England to complete their training. On the 30th June 1916 they were in action in an attack near Richebourg l'Avoue with the Sussex battalions suffered heavy casualties. They were in action during the Battles of the Somme, including, the fighting on the Ancre, The Battle of Thiepval Ridge, The Battle of the Ancre heights and the capture of Schwaben Reddoubt and Stuff Trench as well as The Battle of the Ancre. In 1917 they fought in The Battle of Pilkem Ridge, The Battle of Langemarck, The Battle of the Menin Road Ridge, The Battle of Polygon Wood and The Second Battle of Passchendaele. In early 1918 the army was reorganised and on the 8th of February the 12th Sussex were disbanded in France, with troops transferring to other units.
16th Oct 1915 The Derby Scheme
1st Dec 1915 Derby Scheme Armlets
11th Sep 1915 Last day of Derby Scheme Recruitment
10th Jan 1916 Group System Reopens
9th February 1916 Call Ups
27th Apr 1916 Reliefs 
28th Apr 1916 Gas
3rd Sep 1916 In Action
14th of April 1917 Relief Ordered
15th of April 1917 In Front Line
28th July 1917 Chinese Attack and trench relief
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| Want to know more about 12th (2nd South Down) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment? There are:5241 items tagged 12th (2nd South Down) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
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Those known to have served with12th (2nd South Down) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment during the Great War 1914-1918. - Allcroft Henry John. Pte.
- Carter VC Nelson Victor. CSM (d.30th June 1916)
- Casse Frederick.
- Chatterley Horace Victor. Pte. (d.25th Sep 1917)
- Francis Harry Herbert. Pte. (d.25th Sept 1917)
- Francis Harry Herbert. Pte. (d.25th Sept 1917)
- Francis Harry. Pte. (d.25th Sept 1917)
- Howard Harold A.. Pte. (d.18th Sep 1917)
- Howard Harold. Pte. (d.18th Sep 1917)
- Hutchinson Robert. Pte. (d.3rd Feb 1917)
- James Ernest Alfred. Pte. (d.18th May 1918)
- Oakley Thomas. Pte. (d.22nd October 1916)
- Pratt Ernest David. Pte.
- Richards Frank. Pte. (d.30th June 1916)
All names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please Add a Name to this List
Records of 12th (2nd South Down) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment from other sources.
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CSM Nelson Victor Carter VC 12th Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment (d.30th June 1916) Nelson Carter willed in action 30th June 1916, aged 29 and is buried in the Royal Irish Rifles Graveyard in France.
An extract from the London Gazette, No. 29740, dated 8th Sept., 1916, records the following:- "For most conspicuous bravery. During an attack he was in command of the fourth wave of the assault. Under intense shell and machine gun fire he penetrated, with a few men, into the enemy's second line and inflicted heavy casualties with bombs. When forced to retire to the enemy's first line, he captured a machine gun and shot the gunner with his revolver. Finally, after carrying several wounded men into safety, he was himself mortally wounded and died in a few minutes. His conduct throughout the day was magnificent."
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Pte. Robert Hutchinson 12th Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment (d.3rd Feb 1917) Robert Hutchinson born Southwark 1882. He was son of Henry March Hutchinson, mother was Eliza. He has no known grave and is remembered on the Menin Gate in Ypres.
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Pte. Thomas Oakley 12th Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment (d.22nd October 1916) Thomas Oakley is buried in Abbeville Communal Cemetery Extension.
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Pte. Harry Herbert Francis 12th Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment (d.25th Sept 1917) Harry Francis is my great uncle who was my maternal grandfather's bother. They lived in Bruton, Somerset and as far as I am aware he was killed at Polygon Wood and his name is remembered at Tyne Cot. He died at the age of 19.
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Pte. Ernest Alfred James 7th Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment (d.18th May 1918) Ernest James enlisted in mid-July 1915 into the 12th Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment at the age of 39.
He was wounded at the Battle of Boars Head on 30th of June 1916. He returned later firstly to the 8th Battalion and then the 9th.
On 5th of April 1918 on the Somme he was shot in the chest and captured as a POW. He was taken to a military hospital at Vallancienes, where he died of his wounds 18th May 1918.
He left a wife and 3 children. The youngest aged 6.
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Pte. Frank Richards 12th Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment (d.30th June 1916) Frank Richards was my uncle, my father's younger brother. He was born in 1895. He was a conductor working for the London and North West Railway when he joined, in November 1914, the 2nd of the three Southdowns Battalions that were raised by Col Claude Lowther of Herstmonceux Castle, East Sussex.
These battalions later became the 11th, 12th and 13th Battalions, Royal Sussex Regiment.
After training all three Battalions were sent to France in early 1916.
On 30th June 1916 they were involved in a diversionary attack at Richebourg where heavy losses were sustained, which included my Uncle Frank. He has no known grave and is remembered on the Loos Memorial.
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Pte. Harold Howard 12th Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment (d.18th Sep 1917) Harold Howard, who was 19 at the time of his death, is interred in the Perth Cemetery (China Wall). He was the son of Mrs Emma Howard of 5 Charlotte Square, Margate, Kent.
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Pte. Harold A. Howard 12th Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment (d.18th Sep 1917) Harold Howard served with the 12th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment and died on 18th September 1917.
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Pte. Henry John Allcroft 16th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment My father, Henry John Allcroft, served with the Royal Sussex Regiment during World War 1. He was born in Chelsea, Middlesex on the 31st of May 1898 he enlisted on 11th May 1916 having falsified his age. He was exactly 17 years 11 months when he joined up. In 1917 he travelled to Egypt where the 16th Battalion was forming and there he joined at Mersa Matru. He took part in the Battle for Gaza and other battles on the advance on Jerusalem. In 1918 the Battalion embarked for transfer to the Western Front in France arriving at Marseilles, travelling by train the length of France to arrive on the Flanders battlefields. Harry Allcroft was involved in the push forward that took place during late August and early September of 1918 across a front stretching to the north of Peronne. On 3rd September 1918 he was wounded during actions at or around Brunn Trench near the Canal du Nord by the village of Haut Allaines. He was wounded by shell blast which caused him to be quite deaf in his left ear and only partially sighted in his left eye. He also carried scarring to his left shoulder.
Harry went on, after the War, to qualify as an architect and became Clerk of Works for Trowbridge in Wiltshire. He married and had three children, two girls and one boy. Harry died in 1952. The boy he had remains very proud of him. Alistair Henry George Allcroft
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Pte. Horace Victor Chatterley 12th Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment (d.25th Sep 1917) Horace was my uncle. He joined the Royal Warwickshire in 1917. I have photo of him in uniform at home and at training camp. He was at Southampton on the 3rd September 1917 awaiting embarkation, I have a lettercard from him describing the port and all the ships. Apparently he was a good rifleman, due to his childhood upbringing by his father who used to teach him to shoot rabbits. He was killed at Dumbarton Lakes on 25 September 1917, he was shot by a German sniper, and is buried at Hooge Crater cemetery. His gravestone gives him as serving in the Royal Sussex Regiment. I have his Captain's daily log extract (12th battalion Royal Sussex) for the days leading to his death and the operations the battalion was undertaking.
I would like to know more about his enlistment and his service number whilst he was with the Warwicks and why he was transfered.
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