5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment

   5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment was a unit of the Territorial Force with its HQ in Middle Street, Hastings. They were attached to the Home Counties Division. They proceeded to France in early 1915 and on the 21st of February 1915 became attached to 2nd Brigade, 1st Division. They were in action during The Battle of Aubers and on the 20th of August 1915 they transferred as a Pioneer Battalion to 48th (South Midland) Division. In 1916 They were in action in the Battle of the Somme, suffering hevy casualties on the 1st of July in assaulting the Quadrilateral (Heidenkopf). They were also in action at The Battle of Bazentin Ridge, capturing Ovillers, The Battle of Pozieres Ridge, The Battle of the Ancre Heights and The Battle of the Ancre. In 1917 the Division occupied Peronne during the The German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line and were in action in the Third Battles of Ypres. On the 21st of November 1917 they entrained for Italy. In 1918 they were involved in The fighting on the Asiago Plateau and The Battle of the Vittoria Veneto in the Val d'Assa area. At the Armistice the Division had withdrawn and was at Granezza. Demobilisation began in early 1919.

25th Nov 1914 Funeral

6th Feb 1915 Instruction

16th February 1915 Inspection

18th February 1915 Travel to Ship for Embarkation

19th February 1915 Arrival Le Havre

20th February 1915 Entrained

21st Feb 1915 Training

21st February 1915 Arrival at Allouagne

26th February 1915 Orders to move

27th February 1915 Inspection

28th of February 1915 Move

2nd of March 1915 Change of Billets

10th of March 1915 Stand To

12th of March 1915 Les Facons

13th of March 1915 Hingette

14th of March 1915 On the March

15th of March 1915 Move

17th of March 1915 Friendly fire incident

18th Mar 1915 Reliefs Completed

18th of March 1915 Reliefs

19th of March 1915 Casualty

20th of March 1915 Reliefs

22nd of March 1915 Relief Completed

23rd Mar 1915 Reliefs

23rd March 1915 On the March

24th March 1915 Detachment

26th March 1915 Orders

27th Mar 1915 Reliefs

27th March 1915 Reliefs

28th March 1915 Trench Work

29th March 1915 Trench Work

30th March 1915 Reliefs

31st March 1915 Reliefs

7th Apr 1915 Instruction

28th Apr 1915 Reliefs Complete

9th May 1915 The Battle of Aubers Ridge: The Souther pincer  Richebourg L’Avoue. At 4.06am: sunrise and all very quiet on this front.
5.00am: British bombardment opens with field guns firing shrapnel at the German wire and howitzers firing High Explosive shells onto front line. German troops are seen peering above their parapet even while this shelling was going on.
5.30am: British bombardment intensifies, field guns switch to HE and also fire at breastworks. The lead battalions of the two assaulting Brigades of 1st Division go over the top to take up a position only 80 yards from German front. (2nd Brigade has 1/Northants and 2/Royal Sussex in front and 2/KRRC and 1/5th Royal Sussex in immediate support; 3rd Brigade has 2/Royal Munster Fusiliers and 2/Welsh in front, with 1/4th Royal Welsh Fusiliers in support). Heavy machine-gun fire cuts the attackers down even on their own ladders and parapet steps, but men continue to press forward as ordered. In the area of the Indian Corps, the lead battalions of the Dehra Dun Brigade of the Meerut Division (2/2nd Ghurkas, 1/4th and 1st Seaforth Highlanders) were so badly hit by enemy fire that no men got beyond their own parapet and the front-line and communications trenches were soon filled with dead and wounded men.
5.40am: British bombardment lifts off front lines and advances 600 yards; infantry assault begins. Despite the early losses and enemy fire the three Brigades attempted to advance across No Man's Land. They were met by intense crossfire from the German machine-guns, which could not be seen in their ground-level and strongly protected emplacements. Whole lines of men were seen to be hit. Few lanes had been cut in the wire and even where men reached it they were forced to bunch, forming good targets for the enemy gunners. The leading battalions suffered very significant losses, particularly among officers and junior leaders. Around 100 men on the Northants and Munsters got into the German front, but all were killed or captured. The advance of the supporting battalions suffered similarly, and by 6.00am the advance had halted, with hundreds of men pinned down in No Man's Land, unable to advance or fall back.
6.15am: A repeat of the initial bombardment is ordered, with the added difficulty of uncertain locations of the most advanced troops. 7.20am: Major-General Haking (CO, 1st Division) reports failure and asks if he should bring in his last Brigade (1st (Guards)). He offered his opinion that it would not be successful. 7.45am: A further one hour bombardment starts, ordered by Lieut-General Anderson (CO, Meerut Division). Its only impact is to encourage German artillery to reply, bringing heavy shelling down onto British front and support trenches. German fire continued until about 10.30am.
8.00am: First reports reach Haig, but they underestimate losses and problems. Haig also hears of early French successes in Vimy attack; he resolves to renew the effort in the Southern attack, with noon being the new zero hour. This was subsequently moved when it was learned from I Corps how long it would take to bring supporting units up to replace those that had suffered in the initial attacks. The new attack at 2.40pm would again be preceded by a 40 minute bombardment. The various movements of relief forces were achieved only with much confusion and further losses under renewed enemy shellfire. The time was again moved, to 4.00pm. In the meantime, the German infantry in the Bois de Biez area was reinforced.
3.20pm: Bombardment repeated and seen to be a little more successful, blowing gaps in the wire and in the enemy front-line. 3.45pm: Bareilly Brigade, moving up to relieve the Dehra Dun, loses more than 200 men due to enemy shelling. 3.57pm: The leading companies of the 1/Black Watch of 1st (Guards) Brigade, brought in to replace the shattered 2nd Brigade, went over the top despite the 1/Cameron Highlanders being late to arrive and moved at the double across No Man's Land. Some reached the German breastwork just as the bombardment lifted; most were however killed or captured in the German firing trench although a small party reached the second position. The two lead companies of the Camerons, coming up on the left of the Black Watch a few minutes later, suffered heavy machine-gun casualties in crossing between the front lines. At approximately the same time, the two fresh battalions of the 3rd Brigade, the 1/Gloucestershire and 1/South Wales Borderers began to advance but were cut down without reaching the enemy. Meerut Division orders Bareilly Brigade to advance, even though it is clear that conditions are unchanged: few men even reached a small ditch 20 yards in front of their own front line, and the Brigade suffered more than 1000 casualties within minutes.
4.35pm: 1st Division orders another 10 minutes shelling but it is seen to have no effect. 4.40pm: Large explosion at German ammunition dump in Herlies, hit by a long-range British heavy shell. Smoke clouds drifting towards British lines caused a gas alarm. Br-Gen. Southey (CO, Bareilly Brigade) reports that further attempts to advance would be useless. 5.00pm: General Haig, hearing of the continued failure of the Southern attack, orders 2nd Division to relieve 1st Division with a view to a bayonet attack at dusk, 8.00pm.

9th May 1915 Territorials under fire

9th May 1915 Attack Made

20th May 1915 Into the Trenches

24th May 1915 Reliefs

28th May 1915 Reliefs

29th May 1915 Reliefs

1st of June 1915 Cuinchy

4th of June 1915 La Beuvriere

6th of June 1915 Inspection by GOC and training

16th of June 1915 Moved to Le Quesnoy

19th of June 1915 On the Move

24th of June 1915 On the Move

26th of June 1915 Allouvagne

27th of June 1915 Verquigneul

1st July 1915 Verquignieul

7th Jul 1915 Reliefs Completed

7th Jul 1915 Reliefs

7th July 1915 CAMBRIN

10th Jul 1915 Reliefs

13th July 1915 Verquin

19th July 1915 Vermelles

21st July 1915 Vermelles Curly Crescent

22nd July 1915 Vermelles Curly Crescent

25th Jul 1915 Reliefs

25th July 1915 Labourse

27th July 1915 Labourse

31st July 1915 Garden City

1st August 1915 Garden City

6th August 1915 Move

8th August 1915 Cambrin

12th Aug 1915 Reliefs

12th August 1915 Reliefs

17th August 1915 Working Parties

18th August 1915 Fouqereuil

19th August 1915 Fouqereuil

20th August 1915 Doullens

21st August 1915 Sarton

21st August 1915 Louvencourt

22nd August 1915 Louvencourt

25th Aug 1915 Reinforcements

25th August 1915 Louvencourt

29th August 1915 Sailly-au-Bois

1st September 1915 Sailly-au-Bois

7th Sep 1915 Aeroplane duels

19th of September 1915 Sailly-au-Bois

21st of September 1915 Sailly-au-Bois

24th Sep 1915 Retaken Thirteen Times

24th of September 1915 Sailly-au-Bois

30th of September 1915 Sailly-au-Bois

1st of October 1915 Forts

8th of October 1915 Sailly-au-Bois

15th Oct 1915 Making Rings

16th Oct 1915 The Derby Scheme

17th of October 1915 Sailly-au-Bois

31st of October 1915 Sailly-au-Bois

6th of November 1915 Sailly-au-Bois

8th of November 1915 Sailly-au-Bois

15th of November 1915 Sailly-au-Bois

22nd of November 1915 Sailly-au-Bois

26th of November 1915 Sailly-au-Bois

1st Dec 1915 Derby Scheme Armlets

5th of December 1915 Sailly-au-Bois

7th of December 1915 Sailly-au-Bois

8th of December 1915 Sailly-au-Bois

11th Sep 1915 Last day of Derby Scheme Recruitment

10th Jan 1916 Group System Reopens

9th February 1916 Call Ups

17th Mar 1916 Nothing like Variety

19th Apr 1917 Working Parties

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There are:5335 items tagged 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment available in our Library

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Those known to have served with
5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
during the Great War 1914-1918.

Broadhead Frank. (d.18th Aug 1918)
Cox George Leonard. Pte. (d.9th May 1915)
Farrier Thomas Frederic. Pte. (d.17th May 1915)
Preston Percival Howard. Pte.
Sands William. Cpl.

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Pte. Percival Howard Preston 5th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment

Battle of the Somme Poziers Bridge was where my grand-father Percy Preston was captured in WWI. He was born in 1883, the eldest of nine children. I have a postcard copy of a water colour depicting the family cottage with its idyllic surroundings. The Cotswold village of Bourton-on-the-Water had on its outskirts the river Windrush in which cool waters he loved to paddle. Depicted also, is a lone fisherman casting his rod by the old curved bridge, all this enclosed and encircled by a range of tall, graceful, trees of various shades of leaf.
He left school, aged fourteen, and was trained as a master tailor under the watchful eye of my grandfather. No doubt he rode his much loved racing bike everywhere, including to the local Drill Hall where he finally completed twelve years in the TF Territorial Force as one of the Originals in the 5th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment, formed April 1st, 1908.
Early into 1916 he was fed as a replacement into France, leaving behind a pregnant wife and young daughter my mother was born on 4th September, 1916. Between 23rd and 27th of July 1916, he was captured on the barbed wire while fighting in the Battle of the Somme at the Battle of Poziers Bridge, and was a POW in Germany for two and a half years.
In 1918 he returned home to Bexhill, in Sussex, and my mother was told he was her new daddy whereupon, studying his pale face and gaunt appearance, she stated, I don't like you. He was in stark contrast to the fresh pink faced officer with very white teeth who fed her chocolate. She recalled his trembling fingers holding his tape measure when fitting his children's new school uniforms and the Sunday dinner thrown into the garden, where the family cat enjoyed the surprise and my mother was glad it wasn't wasted. In 1939, the family's tiny radio gave the news were at war with Germany, whereupon he burst into tears and rushed upstairs.
On leaving the South Coast and setting up a small shop in Stroud, Gloucestershire, he suffered from agoraphobia and would venture timidly next door where the local barber gave him a shave and haircut. Aged 81 years and clad in his best smart Sunday suit, he returned home one day after his usual stroll. With the 18 year old tabby cat purring on his lap, and his trusty bike in the hall, he died of a heart attack while sharing a cup of tea with his beloved wife.
Sarah Ross

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Pte. Thomas Frederic Farrier 5th Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment (d.17th May 1915)

Thomas Frederic Farrier was my great uncle. He was originally a staff sergeant in the Blacklands Company of the Hastings Church Lads' Brigade before he enlisted into the Royal Sussex Regiment as a private around September 1914. He went to the Tower of London with the regiment around November 1914, whereby the regiment took over the guarding of the Tower from the esteemed Guards Division, who had already left to fight in France at the beginning of the war.
Thomas Frederic Farrier had two brothers serving in the armed forces, who also lost their lives. A further brother also served in the army, losing an arm in the battle of the Somme.
Thomas lost his life, with two fellow soldiers on 17th May 1915, whilst guarding a number of captured German troops in a commandeered tobacco factory in Bethune, Northern France. A shell hit the building, killing Thomas and his two comrades, whilst ironically no prisoners were killed. I have visited his grave, and those of his two comrades, a number of times now and always feel an immense sense of pride when I stand before it.
Mike Farrier

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Cpl. William Sands 5th Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment

William Sands in France WW1 Stretcher Bearer 5th Royal Sussex Regiment

William Sands served in France in WW1 as a Stretcher Bearer and band member of the 5th Royal Sussex Regiment
Christopher Ashenden

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5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
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5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment

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Those known to have served with5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regimentduring the Great War 1914-1918.

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If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.

Announcements

Recomended Reading.

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The Wartime Memories Project
- 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment during the Great War -

Those known to have served with
5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
during the Great War 1914-1918.