Seaford Camp

If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.

Want to know more about Seaford Camp?

There are:11 items tagged Seaford Camp available in our Library

These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.

Those known to have trained at
Seaford Camp
during the Great War 1914-1918.

Armstrong Christopher. 2nd Lt. (d.9th Apr 1916)
Bailey Charles. Pte.
Davidson Samuel. WO2.

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

The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.

1st of September 2024 marks 25 years since the launch of the Wartime Memories Project. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over this time.

Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the Great War? Our Library contains many many diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text.

Looking for help with Family History Research?
Please see Family History FAQ's

Please note: We are unable to provide individual research.

Can you help?
The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors.
If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web.
If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.

Announcements

18th Dec 2024
Please note we currently have a massive backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 265120 your submission is still in the queue, please do not resubmit.

Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to the Great War. If you have any unwanted photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted.

World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great battalion regiment artillery
Did you know? We also have a section on World War Two. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.

220506

2nd Lt. Christopher Armstrong 23rd (Sportsman's Battalion) Battalion Royal Fusiliers (d.9th Apr 1916)

Christopher was born on 10th October 1888 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire and was baptised on 21st December at St Mary's and All Saints Chesterfield. His father was Charles Armstrong, born in Little Paxton, a brewer and later owner of the Star Brewery, Cambridge. He was educated at the Perse School, Cambridge, and St Lawrence's School, Ramsgate. Christopher was admitted to Jesus College, Cambridge in October 1907. He excelled at athletics and won the following medals:
1907 Long Jump
1908: 100 yards race. Awarded The Langton Victor Ludorum Medal, Jesus College.
1909: Long jump and 1/4 mile race, run in 52 seconds.
1909: 2nd place 100 yards and Putting the shot.
1910: Long jump
After leaving Jesus, Christopher lived with his parents at The Grove, a beautiful regency house set in large grounds, and was studying to take over the Brewery. In 1914 Christopher enlisted as a Private in the Sportsmen's Battalion and was posted to Hornchurch. His nephew, John Vincent Armstrong, reported that he had bribed a doctor to pass him as fit even though he had poor eyesight. The 23rd (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers and 24th (Service) Battalion (2nd Sportsman's), better known as the Sportsmen's Battalions, were among the Pals battalions formed in the Great War.
Christopher was then commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers 14th Battalion attached to the 6th Loyal Northern Lancashire Regiment in 1915. On 13th October 1915 he was writing a letter to his sister Pearl, in South Camp, Seaford, Sussex, about to go on active service to Serbia, he thought. He was in 38 Brigade 13th Division. It would seem that in fact the Brigade went to Gallipoli. On the 14th November he sailed to Mudros on the SS Olympic from Liverpool. In February 1916 the Division began to move to Mesopotamia, to strengthen the force being assembled for the relief of the besieged garrison at Kut al Amara. By 27 March, the Division had assembled near Sheikh Sa'ad and came under orders of the Tigris Corps. It then took part in the attempts to relieve Kut. After these efforts failed and Kut fell.
This is Christopher's last letter, dated:29.3.16 "Dear Baba, lots of letters from you the other day many thanks and all that sort of thing. I don't write as often as I ought but as often as I can. As you will doubtless have heard we have done quite a large move lately. From Port Said to Kuweit where is this?,(sic) . From there transshipped and on to Basra, pronounced Busrh, from there to a river boat with a barge alongside each side squashed on board like sardines. There was not room for all the men to lie down at the same time so you can guess. Well we have endured this for 6 days or so and that was comfort to our present place. We went up the Tigris past Qurnah and Amarah and several places past that I suppose, I must not say to where exactly but probably if you have a map it will be 3 places further up and we are short of the firing line by 2-3 miles and from a town as far as it is from Cambridge to Ely 27 miles. In a few days about Wednesday we are in for shouting and sprinting and cold steel. We have had many tries to get forward but up to now have been very unsuccessful. Now it is our turn to have a cut at it and we shall see what will happen. I could tell you all about if I was allowed to. Perhaps next time I write I shall be able to tell you all about what it feels like and all that sort of thing lets hope I shall be able to. Always hope for the best. Well my dear cheers. I am Chris" Written on the back of this letter â€˜Chrisâ€™s last letter before Sarnaiâ€™.
Over 12,600 men were killed, wounded or missing from the 13th Western Division. Christopher went missing. He was found to have been killed in action on 9th April 1916 at Kut el Amara in modern Iraq. He led his platoon in the 1st line into some vacant Turkish trenches but it was an ambush; the trenches were bombed and very few men survived. His name is on the Roll of Honour in Jesus College, and Great St.Mary's Cambridge. He is buried in Amara War Cemetery in plot xviii.J 12. Amara is on the left bank of the Tigris 520 km from the sea between the left bank and the Chahaila Canal. He was reported 'missing' but not presumed dead and his family continued to hope for months afterwards. His nephew said that he was well loved and greatly missed.
Ruth Anderson

Add to this record.

220443

WO2. Samuel Davidson 16th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles

My great grandfather, Samuel Davidson, joined the Royal Irish Rifles in September 1914, at Brownlow House in Lurgan, Co Armagh. He was in the 16th Battalion which later was converted to the Pioneer Battalion for the 36th Ulster Division.
He trained at Brownlow House in Lurgan, and later at Seaford in Kent, before leaving for France in October 1915. He was wounded behind the ear by a shell fragment on the 1st July 1916 in Thepval Wood before the battle started. He was later gassed at Messines, and suffered the effects of this for the remainder of his life.
He survived the war and was not discharged until 1919. By this time he had been Company Quartermaster Sargent and was an acting WO2 and was either CSM or RQMS.
Geoff Davidson

Add to this record.

Recomended Reading.

Available at discounted prices.

Links

Kitchener’s Camps at Seaford
RESEARCH DEPARTMENT REPORT SERI EKitchener’s Camps at Seaford

Suggest a link

The Wartime Memories Project - Seaford Camp during the Great War -

Seaford Camp

Want to know more about Seaford Camp?

Those known to have trained at Seaford Campduring the Great War 1914-1918.

Can you help?

If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.

Announcements

Recomended Reading.

Links

The Wartime Memories Project
- Seaford Camp during the Great War -

Those known to have trained at
Seaford Camp
during the Great War 1914-1918.