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Royal Sussex Regiment
Regular Battalions: - 1st Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
- 2nd Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
- 3rd Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
Territorial Force: - 4th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
- 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
- 6th (Cyclist) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
- 15th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
- 16th (Sussex Yeomanry) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
- 2/4th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
- 2/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
- 2/6th (Cyclist) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
- 3/4th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
- 3/6th (Cyclist) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
Kitchener's New Army: - 7th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
- 8th (Pioneers) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
- 10th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
- 12th (2nd South Down) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
- 13th (3rd South Down) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
- 14th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
- 17th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
- 51st Graduated Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
- 52nd Graduated Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
- 11th (1st South Down) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
- 9th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
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Want to know more about the Royal Sussex Regiment? There are:7916 items tagged 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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Did you know? We also have a section on World War Two. and a
Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.
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1206588 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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1206515 Pte. Charles Ernest Elworthy 2nd Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment (d.14th October 1915)  Charles Elworthy died 14th October 1915, aged 23 and is buried in the Noeux-les-Mines Communal Cemetery in France.
He was the son of the late Joseph and Elizabeth Elworthy. Native of Claygate, Surrey
Charles Ernest Elworthy was born (October 9th 1891) in Claygate, a small rural village in Surrey. He was the son of a farm labourer Joseph Elworthy and Elizabeth (nee Mutimer). One of six children, both his parents had died by the time he was 15 and he stayed in the village for a while working at the farm of one of his father's relatives: "Slough Farm" his job was delivering the milk. Two fields north of where he was staying lived a family called Scott, the family were just some of his many, many cousins in the village. He started "walking out" with one of them, Beatrice Alice Scott and eventually she was expecting a baby, sadly her mother would not let them marry because they were second cousins (although the law stated then (1909) that they could legally have done so).
Her exceedingly strict mother forced her daughter to leave the village and have the baby elsewhere... she also warned all of her other children to have no contact with her! Beatrice went up to London and bore a son Alfred Cecil Scott on Oct 4th 1909. Charles Ernest stayed in the Kingston area working but some time after 1911 he decided to move to Canada and ended up working in agriculture in Ontario, he attended Trinity Anglican Church near Aylmer and from there he came back to England to join up for the war. He joined up in Hammersmith - The Royal Sussex Regiment 2nd Bn. and trained in Woking, Surrey.
His service number was G/5349 and he was sent out to France on the 29th Sept 1915 and sent up to the front with a group of 392 men to join the battalion on October 4th. They were sent to Noeux-les-Mines. Two days later the battalion left Noeux-les-Mines and moved to Mazingarbe (near Loos) where they moved forward into the old German front line trenches. on October 7th. Between then and the 12th they dug towards the enemy, forming new trench systems as near as they could to the German front. They were under sniper fire from the Germans which caused casualties and deaths each day.
On the 13th October, 1915 they came under the orders of the G.O.C. 1st Bde. At 1pm the gas and smoke discharge took place and the attack over the top was scheduled for one hour later. The Battalion was ordered to send one company forward as a strong patrol to help the 1st Bde. capture the German front line trenches (Along the line of the road H13-A42 leading into Hulluch) and then a second company would be sent one half hour later to establish themselves in the German trenches immediately west of Hulluch. The remainder of the battalion, minus one company was to closely support this enterprise. A company was sent as strong patrol and C company sent as support, while B company was to support C. The 1st Brigade commenced their assault at 2pm and at 2.19 A company of the Royal Sussex advanced over the open ground. By 2.30 Lieutenant-Colonel E. F. Villiers D.S.O heard that the Camerons' attack had failed so C company was sent forward to try and take the German trenches. The telegraph lines had been cut by shell fire and so orderlies were sent running with messages for B company to advance and support C company.
In the end the 1st Bde. did not make any inroads on the German trenches and the remains of the B and C companies were brought back to the support line to await their next orders. At 5.30 the following morning they were sent out again to support the Northamptonshire regiment in another attack, but by the time they had started it was already become light and the action was called off. In the right hand column of the war Diary there is the notation for October 13th: Killed 9, OR Wounded 71, OR Missing 36, The Captains and Lieutenants are all named, as either missing or casualties but somewhere among the 116 "Other Ranks" lost that day was Charles Ernest Elworthy. He had turned 23 four days before he died.
Back in Walthamstow, Beatrice Alice Scott heard from a friend in Claygate that he was missing in action and for a month she searched for him in the military convalescent centres around London until the tragic news of his death came through. Although Beatty had nothing but one faded picture of him as a young man she still had a round faced little boy who one day would start a family of his own.... and one day one of the grandchildren would ask "What did Great Granddaddy do in the War?
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1206190 Percy W. Reed Sussex Regiment Percy Reed was born in Wick Sussex in 1892, died 1928 of influenza, aged 36.
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1205999 Sgt. Harry Wells VC. 2nd Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment (d.25th Sep 1915) Harry Wells was killed in action on 25th September 1915 and is buried in the Dud Corner cemetery in France.
An extract from the London Gazette, No. 29371, dated 16th Nov., 1915, records the following:- "When his Platoon Officer had been killed he took command and led his men forward to within fifteen yards of the German wire. Nearly half the Platoon were killed or wounded, and the remainder were much shaken, but with the utmost coolness and bravery, Serjeant Wells rallied them and led them forward. Finally, when very few were left, he stood up and urged them forward once more, but while doing this he was killed. He gave a magnificent example of courage and determination."
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1205914 Reginald J. Reed Sussex Regiment Reg Reed was born in 1897 in Littlehampton, and died in 1977 aged 80.
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263175 A/Sgt. Charles Henry Mason 11th Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment Charles Mason joined up in August 1915 and went to France in March 1916. He survived the Battle of The Boars Head on 30th June 1916, but was injured twice in the Somme Battles of 1916. At the second injury, he was sent home.
He then returned to service and was sent on secondment to the King's African Rifles, arriving in Africa in November 1917 and returning home again in April 1919.
I have his dog tags and medals. He was my great-grandfather and I had the privilege of knowing him for a short while.
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262944 Cpl. George Turner 8th Btn. Welch Regiment George Turnerwas a painter and a member of the territorial Kent Garrison Artillery. A sparsity of work led him to join the Welch Regiment in Cardiff in March 1912. He served with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions.
He was wounded at Zillebeke, France on 25th of May 1915.
He later joined 8th (Pioneers) Battalion, Sussex Regiment on 16th of October 1915 until demobilization in 1919.
George served in India and France.
After assignment to the 8th Btn served in Gallipoli with the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force and Egyptian Expeditionary Force.
In 1921 he joined the 90-Day Emergency Service with 4th Buffs. Later in life George ran a green grocers shop in Sheerness, Kent.
He was one of my Grandfathers' older brothers.
My father remembers him in his later years.
All his military records and a family photos survived and are the basis for this information.
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262670 Pte. Arthur Albert Phillips 8th Btn. East Surrey Regiment (d.29th Nov 1916) Arthur Phillips originally joined the Royal Sussex Regiment but was transferred to the 8th Batt East Surrey Regiment after arriving in France in around July to September 1916.
He was severely wounded during the attack on Desire Trench in November 1916 and died of wounds at No.1 General Hospital and is buried in the Churchyard cemetery (Military Section) at Etretat, France.
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262321 A/Cpl Harry "Bluffer" Ide 11th (1st South Down) Battalion Sussex Regiment (d.24th September 1917) Harry "Bluffer" Ide was my father's grandfather, so my great grandfather. He died at the battle of Menin Ridge Road having been made acting corporal.
It is believed that he knew the poet Edmund Blunden, and that the "bluffer" referred to in the poem Pill Box is Harry Ide, although I cannot confirm this as fact.
I have an image of Harry that I will send via email.
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260438 Pte. Frederick William Earwaker 2nd Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment My grandfather Frederick Earwaker worked at Shippams in Chichester and joined up in 1916. He took part in the assault on High Wood, part of the Battle of the Somme, and was shot in the back on 9th September 1916. He was treated by a German first raider in a shell hole and under cover of darkness and walked to a trench dressing station.
He eventually went to Rouen field hospital where he was operated on and thence via HMHS Asturias to Milton hospital in Portsmouth. By the 22nd November 1916 he was in Castle Hospital convalescing. He described the food as "first rate... rabbit pies, beefsteak, puddings etc. The nurses are very nice here, too". He appears to have left around January 1917, by which point he was at the eastern command unit at Shoreham. He never returned to the front but served out the war in the Labour Corps and the RAF in the UK. He returned to work at Shippams after the war and completed 50 years’ service. He died months short of retirement in 1961.
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257802 Pte. James Abbott 11th (1st South Down) Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment (d.31st July 1917) James Abbott served with the 11th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment in WW1. He was killed in action 31st of July 1917 aged 19 years on the 1st day of the 3rd Battle of Ypres.
James is buried Buffs Road Cemetery in Belgium. He is also remembered in St Peter's Memorial Book. His is the first name on Brighton's War Memorial 1914-1921.
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256309 Pte. Reginald Frederick Edward Elliott Royal Sussex Regiment Granddad Reg Elliott joined up in August 1915 at the age of 20. He went off to the front with the Royal Sussex Regiment and in October 1915 he was captured at the Battle of Loos.
He spent the rest of the war as a POW first at Munster II and then Dulmen Camp.
He was 50 on D-Day and died in 1949 aged 55. Sadly I never met him.
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255396 Pte. William Albert Hardy 7th Btn Royal Sussex Regiment (d.13th Oct 1918) William Hardy, served in the Hertfordshire Regiment and the 7th Royal Sussex Regiment. He was killed in Action on Sunday, 13th of October 1918. His effects and wage credit amount of 24/2s/9d, plus a War Gratuity of 19/10/- were all that went home.
He was first buried near Henin-Lietard, and later re-interred at Athies, near Arras, in Pont-du-Jour Military Cemetery.
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255134 Pte. George William Jackson 2nd Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment (d.7th Sep 1916) George Jackson was a miner who enlisted at Earlestown, Lancashire, and was assigned to the Royal Sussex Regiment. He was a volunteer in his early 40s and if he had waited to be conscripted in 1916 he would have been exempt on age grounds. He was badly wounded during the Battle of the Somme, and died in hospital at Rouen on 7th September 1916.
He is interred at St Sever military cemetery at Rouen.
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254659 Tom Ewart Medley 9th Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment Tom Medley served with the 9th Royal Sussex Regiment. I have found an army medal document showing him to be John Ewart Medley,
but a directory shows Tom Ewart with his army number at his correct address in Birmingham.
I found a shooting medal for excellence in the field, also with the correct army number.
There is also a photo of him in uniform in 1917.
Otherwise I know nothing about his deeds.
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254387 James Walters 11th Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment My Grandfather, James Walters enlisted in Hastings in September 1914.
He was wounded in action on the the 3rd or 4th of June 1916 in Cuinchy, recorded in Sussex Daily News on the 3rd of July 1916.
He was then wounded in action in March or April on the Somme. Recorded in the Sussex Daily News on the 3rd of June 1918.
He was wounded again when serving with the 16th Royal Sussex. Recorded in the Sussex Daily News of the 30th of November 1918. Although 16th Battalion diary does not record it. His next of kin was given as living at Hadlow Down Sussex.
He was in Roehampton Hospital in the war where he had his fingers amputated through injury.
He eventually lost the battle to live after the war due to shrapnel injuries and died of haemorrhage to the brain through injury.
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254134 Pte. Bernard Henry Ades 7th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment (d.3rd May 1917) Bernard Ades served with the 7th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment.
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254123 Owen Albert Monery 2nd Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment (d.1st June 1915) Owen Monery was killed in action and is buried at Cambrin.
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253865 Cpl. Roy Lower 11th Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment (d.1st Aug 1917) Roy Lower was a baker living in Eastbourne and joined up in 1914, and very sadly died in Belgium in 1917 aged 25. All it says on his death log is H/blow.
His name is on the Menin Gate as there is no known grave.
We are extremely proud to be related to him that he laid down his life for us. Sadly we are unable to locate a photograph of him.
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253845 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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