233886 Cpl. William Henry Balcombe British Army 122nd Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery from:Southover, Lewes William Balcombe was my grandfather. He signed up to the territorials before the start of WW1 and served at Newhaven Fort in the Sussex Royal Garrison Artillery manning the 6" guns in the early part of the war.
One night there was a commotion in the harbour and he gave the order to fire a warning shot, the gun layer asked where to aim as they could not see anything, he ordered the breech to be opened and he put his ear to it as the gun was traversed, when the noise was loudest they loaded and fired and ended the noise in the harbour. The next morning they discovered a couple of drunks had stolen a rowing boat and tried to get across the harbour, one of them was in hospital with the rifle marks from the shell burnt across his buttocks!
William transferred to the 122nd Siege Battery RGA and served in France. I have a drawing he made of his gun at Riviere in July and August 1916 and know he continued to serve until the end of the war.
After the war he became a commercial artist living in Brighton, he died in 1963.
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