The 1st Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteers was a part-time unit of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

first raised from the

Cinque Ports The Confederation of Cinque Ports () is a historic group of coastal towns in south-east England – predominantly in Kent and Sussex, with one outlier ( Brightlingsea) in Essex. The name is Old French, meaning "five harbours", and alludes to t ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...

in 1859. It later became the 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion of the

Royal Sussex Regiment The Royal Sussex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1966. The regiment was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot a ...

. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, it served on the

Western front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...

as pioneers, seeing a great deal of action at

Aubers Ridge The Battle of Aubers (Battle of Aubers Ridge) was a British offensive on the Western Front on 9 May 1915 during the First World War. The battle was part of the British contribution to the Second Battle of Artois, a Franco-British offensive int ...

, the

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France *Somme, Queensland, Australia *Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), a ...

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality ...

, and in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, both the battalion and its duplicate served in the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second Wor ...

and were evacuated from Dunkirk. The 5th Battalion then fought at the

Second Battle of El Alamein The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa had prevented th ...

while its duplicate unit served as an anti-aircraft regiment in the campaign in North West Europe. Neither unit was reformed after the war.

Volunteer Force

An invasion scare in 1859 led to the emergence of the Volunteer Movement, and Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVCs) began to be organised throughout Great Britain. A number of these were formed in the

towns along the coast of

and

. The 1st Cinque Ports RVC, commanded by

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

the Hon George Waldegrave, was raised out of the Hastings Rifle Club, which in all but name was the successor of the old Cinque Ports Volunteers of about 1789.Beckett, Appendix VII.Frederick, pp. 210–1.Westlake, pp. 46–9, 233–6. The volunteers drilled at the Market Hall in George Street and began rifle practice at

Rock-a-Nore Rock-a-Nore is an urban area of Hastings, East Sussex, England, stretching from the Old Town area along Rock-a-Nore Road between the cliffs and the beach called The Stade. Its name was officially adopted in 1859 and derives from a former buil ...

, where they shot at targets set at the base of the cliffs. Later that year, Lady Waldegrave allowed them to set up a range shooting across Ecclesbourne Glen, which they used for many years until a new rifle range was opened in Warren Glen in May 1901. Most of the volunteers provided their own rifles and the corps funded its own uniforms. By the middle of 1859 it had reached 70 members, and was officially adopted on 17 December 1859.'The Volunteers in Hastings' at Drill Hall Project.
/ref> An Administrative Battalion to control the Cinque Ports RVCs was formed at

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

in late 1860 under the command of

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

the Hon Henry Hall Gage of the

Royal Sussex Light Infantry Militia The Royal Sussex Light Infantry Militia, later the 3rd Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment, was an auxiliary regiment raised in Sussex on the South Coast of England. From its formal creation in 1778 the regiment served in home defence in all of Brita ...

:''Army List'', various dates.5th (Cinque Ports) Bn at Regiments.org.
/ref> 1st Administrative Battalion, Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteer Corps * 1st (Hastings) Cinque Ports RVC, formed 17 December 1859 * 2nd (

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to the Census, there was a populati ...

) Cinque Ports RVC, formed as 2nd Kent RVC 18 September 1859; joined April 1860; transferred to 2nd Cinque Ports Admin Battalion December 1861 * 3rd ( Rye and

Tenterden Tenterden is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. It stands on the edge of the remnant forest the Weald, overlooking the valley of the River Rother. It was a member of the Cinque Ports Confederation. Its riverside today is ...

) Cinque Ports RVC, formed as 2nd Cinque Ports RVC with half-companies at Rye and Tenterden, 4 January 1860; renumbered when 2nd Kent RVC joined; Rye portion broke up by September 1861, with members joining either the 1st Cinque Ports RVC or the

1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers The 1st Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery from 1860 to 1956. Raised as coastal defence artillery, the unit later served as field artillery in Mesopotamia during World War I, and as anti-ai ...

, and HQ moved to Tenterden; transferred to 5th Kent Admin Bn December 1861 * 4th (

Hythe Hythe, from Anglo-Saxon ''hȳð'', may refer to a landing-place, port or haven, either as an element in a toponym, such as Rotherhithe in London, or to: Places Australia * Hythe, Tasmania Canada *Hythe, Alberta, a village in Canada England * ...

) Cinque Ports RVC, formed 13 February 1860 as the 1st Subdivision, numbered 4th RVC April 1860; transferred to 2nd Cinque Ports Admin Bn December 1861 * 5th (

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

) Cinque Ports RVC, formed on 30 March 1860 as a result of a public meeting at the Old King's Arms Assembly Rooms; transferred to 2nd Cinque Ports Admin Bn December 1861 * 6th (

Deal A deal, or deals may refer to: Places United States * Deal, New Jersey, a borough * Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * Deal Lake, New Jersey Elsewhere * Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia * Deal, Kent, a town in England * Deal, a ...

and

Walmer Walmer is a town in the district of Dover, Kent, in England. Located on the coast, the parish of Walmer is south-east of Sandwich, Kent. Largely residential, its coastline and castle attract many visitors. It has a population of 6,693 (2001), i ...

) Cinque Ports RVC, formed as 3rd Subdivision at Deal on 20 April 1860 under the command of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

Julius Backhouse, CB, formerly of the

Bengal Artillery The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company (EIC) until the Govern ...

; transferred to 2nd Cinque Ports Admin Bn December 1861 * 7th (

Margate Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significan ...

) Cinque Ports RVC, formed 22 March 1860; transferred to 2nd Cinque Ports Admin Bn December 1861 * 8th (

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maids ...

) Cinque Ports RVC, formed 30 July 1860; transferred to 2nd Cinque Ports Admin Bn December 1861 * 9th (Rye) Cinque Ports RVC, formed 12 December 1864 from Rye elements of 1st Cinque Ports RVC (''see 3rd Cinque Ports RVC''); absorbed into 1st Cinque Ports RVC 1876 * 2nd (

Cuckfield Cuckfield ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, on the southern slopes of the Weald. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester. Nearby tow ...

) Sussex RVC, formed 2 December 1859; transferred from 3rd Sussex Admin Bn 1863; transferred to 2nd Sussex Admin Bn 1870 * 4th (

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of t ...

) Sussex RVC, formed 25 January 1860; transferred from 3rd Sussex Admin Bn 1863 * 16th (

Battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and for ...

) Sussex RVC, formed 19 May 1860; transferred from 3rd Sussex Admin Bn 1861; absorbed into 4th Sussex RVC 1876 * 17th ( Etchingham) Sussex RVC, formed 4 June 1860; transferred from 5th Kent Admin Bn 1861; absorbed into 4th Sussex RVC 1876 * 19th (

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the l ...

) Sussex RVC, formed 6 October 1860; transferred from 3rd Sussex Admin Bn 1861; disbanded 1868 * 20th (

Uckfield Uckfield () is a town in the Wealden District of East Sussex in South East England. The town is on the River Uck, one of the tributaries of the River Ouse, on the southern edge of the Weald. Etymology 'Uckfield', first recorded in writing as ...

) Sussex RVC, formed 27 October 1870; absorbed into 1st Cinque Ports RVC 1876 The 2nd Administrative Battalion, Cinque Ports Rifle Volunteer Corps formed at Dover in December 1861 took over the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th (disbanded 1863), 7th, and 8th Cinque Ports RVCs, later joined by: * 10th (

New Romney New Romney is a market town in Kent, England, on the edge of Romney Marsh, an area of flat, rich agricultural land reclaimed from the sea after the harbour began to silt up. New Romney, one of the original Cinque Ports, was once a sea port, ...

) Cinque Ports RVC, formed 22 December 1864 However, the 2nd Admin Bn was broken up in 1874, its corps being either absorbed into the 5th Kent RVC or added to the 4th Kent Admin Bn. A drill hall was opened in Middle Street, Hastings, in 1861, to be used by the Cinque Ports Rifles and the

. A replacement building was erected on the same site in 1895.Hastings at Drill Hall Project.
/ref> Under the 'Localisation of the Forces' scheme introduced by the

Cardwell Reforms The Cardwell Reforms were a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874 with the support of Liberal prime minister William Ewart Gladstone. Gladstone paid little attention ...

of 1872, Volunteers were grouped into county brigades with their local Regular and

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

battalions. This was in Sub-District No 43 in South Eastern District for the Cinque Ports Battalion, grouped with the 35th (Royal Sussex) and 107th Regiments of Foot, the Royal Sussex Light Infantry Militia and the 1st and 2nd Sussex RVCs.

Royal Sussex Regiment

When the RVCs were consolidated in 1880, the 1st Admin Bn became the 1st Cinque Ports (Cinque Ports and Sussex) Rifle Volunteers. The

Childers Reforms The Childers Reforms of 1881 reorganised the infantry regiments of the British Army. The reforms were done by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers during 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell Reforms. The reorganisation wa ...

of 1881 took Cardwell's reforms further, the linked battalions becoming county regiments to which the Volunteers were formally affiliated. The 35th and 107th became the

on 1 July 1881, the 1st Cinque Ports becoming its third volunteer battalion (VB), but without changing its title. The 1st Cinque Ports now had the following organisation: * A Company at Hastings – from 1st Cinque Ports * B Company at Battle – from 1st Cinque Ports * C Company at

Ticehurst Ticehurst is both a village and a large civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The parish lies in the upper reaches of both the Bewl stream before it enters Bewl Water and in the upper reaches of the River Rother flowi ...

– from 1st Cinque Ports * D Company at Lewes – from 4th Sussex * E Company at Rye – formed 1885 * F Company at Hastings – formed 1887 * G Company at

Crowborough Crowborough is a town and civil parish in East Sussex, England, in the Weald at the edge of Ashdown Forest in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Royal Tunbridge Wells and 33 miles ( ...

– formed 1890 * H Company at Ore – formed 1890 * I Company at Hastings – formed 1900 * K Company at Ore – formed 1900 *

Eastbourne College Eastbourne College is a co-educational independent school in the British public school tradition, for day and boarding pupils aged 13–18, in the town of Eastbourne on the south coast of England. The College's headmaster is Tom Lawson. Ove ...

Cadet Corps – formed 1896 Arthur Montagu Brookfield Vanity Fair 29 September 1898

Arthur Montagu Brookfield Arthur Montagu Brookfield, KGStJ (18 March 1853 – 3 March 1940) was a British Army officer, diplomat, author and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1903. Biography Brookfield was the son of Rev. William Henr ...

, a former lieutenant in the

13th Hussars The 13th Hussars (previously the 13th Light Dragoons) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army established in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War and the First World War but then amalgamated ...

, took over as commanding officer (CO) with the rank of lieutenant-colonel on 13 September 1884. He found problems obtaining suitable officers: the local rural gentry were distrustful of military service and it was difficult to persuade busy professional men to take commissions. Brookfield was elected MP for Rye in 1885, and became secretary of the influential Service Members' Committee in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

, helping to counter the antipathy of senior army officers towards the volunteers. While Cardwell's sub-districts were later referred to as 'brigades', they were purely administrative organisations and the Volunteers were excluded from the 'mobilisation' part of the scheme. The

Stanhope Memorandum The Stanhope Memorandum was a document written by Edward Stanhope, the Secretary of State for War of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, on 8 December 1888. It set out the overall strategic aims of the British Empire, and the way the B ...

of December 1888 proposed a more comprehensive Mobilisation Scheme for Volunteer units, which would assemble in their own brigades at key points in case of war. In peacetime these brigades provided a structure for collective training. Under this scheme the 1st Cinque Ports formed part of the Dover Brigade, later entitled the South Eastern Brigade, before the Royal Sussex VBs formed their own Sussex Brigade at the end of the 1890s. This became the Sussex and Kent Brigade in the early 1900s.

Second Boer War

After

Black Week Black Week refers to the week of 10–17 December 1899 during the Second Boer War, when the British Army suffered three devastating defeats by the Boer Republics at the battles of Stormberg, Magersfontein and Colenso. In total, 2,776 British ...

in December 1899, the Volunteers were invited to send active service units to assist the Regulars in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the So ...

. The

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

decided that one company 116 strong could be recruited from the volunteer battalions of any infantry regiment that had a regular battalion serving in South Africa. The Royal Sussex's VBs accordingly raised a service company that joined the 1st Battalion and earned the volunteer battalions their first

Battle honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military t ...

: South Africa 1900–02. The 1st Cinque Ports Rifles contingent left Hastings in February 1900, and a second contingent in February 1901. Meanwhile, the 1st Cinque Ports' CO, Lt-Col Arthur Brookfield, commanded the 14th Battalion of the

Imperial Yeomanry The Imperial Yeomanry was a volunteer mounted force of the British Army that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Created on 2 January 1900, the force was initially recruited from the middle classes and traditional yeomanry sources, but s ...

in South Africa. It is possible that some of his volunteers joined the 69th (Sussex) Company of this battalion, which was sponsored by the

Sussex Yeomanry The Sussex Yeomanry is a yeomanry regiment of the British Army dating from 1794. It was initially formed when there was a threat of French invasion during the Napoleonic Wars. After being reformed in the Second Boer War, it served in the First Wo ...

. Brookfield retired from the command of the Cinque Ports battalion in 1903 when he joined the

Consular service Consular assistance is help and advice provided by the diplomatic agents of a country to citizens of that country who are living or traveling overseas. The diplomats may be honorary consuls, or members of the country's diplomatic service. Such ...

, and was replaced by Brevet

Charles Cafe, a retired regular officer.

Territorial Force

When the

Volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

were subsumed into the new

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry ...

(TF) under the

Haldane Reforms The Haldane Reforms were a series of far-ranging reforms of the British Army made from 1906 to 1912, and named after the Secretary of State for War, Richard Burdon Haldane. They were the first major reforms since the "Childers Reforms" of the e ...

of 1908, the battalion became the 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment:Conrad, ''1914''.
/ref>
/ref> Drill Hall, Down Road, Bexhill (2)

* HQ at Drill Hall, Middle Street, Hastings * A Company at Hastings * B Company at Drill Hall, North TradeRoad, Battle, with detachments at Dallington, Robertsbridge,

Sedlescombe Sedlescombe is a village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The village is on the B2244 road, about north of Hastings. The parish includes the hamlet of Kent Street, which is on the A21 road. The parish is i ...

and

Staplecross Staplecross is a village in the civil parish of Ewhurst and the Rother district of East Sussex, England. Staplecross is the largest settlement in Ewhurst parish, and is on a southern ridge of the valley of the River Rother which flows throu ...

Sussex Drill Stations at Drill Hall Project.
/ref> * C Company at

Wadhurst Wadhurst is a market town in East Sussex, England. It is the centre of the civil parish of Wadhurst, which also includes the hamlets of Cousley Wood and Tidebrook. Wadhurst is twinned with Aubers in France. Situation Wadhurst is situated ...

, with detachments at Pashley Road,

Burwash Burwash, archaically known as Burghersh, is a rural village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. Situated in the High Weald of Sussex some 15 miles (24 km) inland from the port of Hastings, it is located five ...

Flimwell Flimwell is a village in the civil parish of Ticehurst, in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. It is located close to the border with Kent at the junction of the A21 road with the A268 and the B2087. The village is situated in an A ...

Frant Frant is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England, on the Kentish border about three miles (5 km) south of Royal Tunbridge Wells. When the iron industry was at its height, much of the village was owned b ...

and Hurst Green * D Company at Market Street, Lewes, with detachments at Glynde and Stanmer * E Company at Volunteers' Armoury, Cinque Ports Street, Rye; moved to Drill Hall, Windmill Lane, in 1912, with detachments at

Icklesham Icklesham is a village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The village is located about six miles (10 km) east of Hastings, on the main A259 Hastings to Rye road. The surrounding countryside is a made up of fi ...

Northiam Northiam is a village and civil parish in the Rother district, in East Sussex, England, 13 miles (21 km) north of Hastings in the valley of the River Rother. The A28 road to Canterbury and Hastings passes through it. Governance Northiam ...

and Peasmarsh * F Company at Framfield Road, Uckfield, with detachments at

Buxted Buxted is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex in England. The parish is situated on the Weald, north of Uckfield; the settlements of Five Ash Down, Heron's Ghyll and High Hurstwood are included within its boundarie ...

East Hoathly {{GeoGroup Populated places in East Sussex East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and S ...

, Hadlow Down, Heathfield,

Newick Newick is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is located on the A272 road east of Haywards Heath. The parish church, St. Mary's, dates mainly from the Victorian era, but still has a N ...

and Nutley * G Company at Drill Hall, Fermor Road,

, with detachments at Blackham,

Groombridge Groombridge is a village of about 1,600 people. It straddles the border between Kent and East Sussex, in England. The nearest large town is Royal Tunbridge Wells, about away by road. The main part of the village ("New Groombridge") lies in t ...

Hartfield Hartfield is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. The parish also includes the settlements of Colemans Hatch, Hammerwood and Holtye, all lying on the northern edge of Ashdown Forest. Geography The main ...

, Mayfield and

Rotherfield Rotherfield is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. It is one of the largest parishes in East Sussex. There are three villages in the parish: Rotherfield, Mark Cross and Eridge. The River Rother, which ...

* H Company at Grove Road, Ore, with Left Half at the Drill Hall at Down Road,

Bexhill-on-Sea Bexhill-on-Sea (often shortened to Bexhill) is a seaside town and civil parish situated in the county of East Sussex in South East England. An ancient town and part of the local government district of Rother, Bexhill is home to a number of ar ...

, shared with 6th Sussex Battery, Royal Field Artillery and D Squadron,

, and a detachment at Westfield * Eastbourne College Cadet Corps joined the Junior Division of the

Officers' Training Corps The Officers' Training Corps (OTC), more fully called the University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), are military leadership training units operated by the British Army. Their focus is to develop the leadership abilities of their members whilst ...

The two TF battalions of the Royal Sussex (4th and 5th) were not included in the

Home Counties Division The Home Counties Division was an infantry division of the Territorial Force, part of the British Army, that was raised in 1908. As the name suggests, the division recruited in the Home Counties, particularly Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex. ...

, but were attached to it as 'Army Troops'.James, pp. 77–8.Royal Sussex at Long, Long Trail.
/ref> Before the

, the CO was Lt-Col Frederick George Langham, VD, of the Hastings solicitors Young Coles & Langdon.Langham, ''Square Toes''.
/ref> He had been commissioned into the battalion on 13 March 1886, promoted to captain on 3 January 1891 and major on 4 November 1896. He was appointed Honorary Lt-Col on 28 July 1906, and promoted to Lt-Col in command in succession to Col Cafe on 21 October 1911. His younger brother Edward Hennah Langham was also commissioned into the battalion on 11 March 1896 and his son Cecil Richard on 19 August 1910. The Rev William Streatfeild, later Bishop of Lewes, was one of the battalion's

chaplains A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intel ...

, with the rank of Chaplain 4th Class (TF).

First World War

Mobilisation

5th (Cinque Ports) Bn assembled at

Bordon Camp Bordon and Longmoor Military Camps are British Army training camps close to the A3 and A325 roads in and around the settlements of Bordon, Longmoor, Liss and Liphook in Hampshire, England. The main street of the Longmoor part of the camp is bu ...

for its annual training on 26 July 1914, which included a four-day march to

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

, arriving on 3 August. Next day war was declared and the battalion returned to Hastings to mobilise before proceeding to its war station at

Dover Castle Dover Castle is a medieval castle in Dover, Kent, England and is Grade I listed. It was founded in the 11th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history. Some sources say it is th ...

.Waghorn.
/ref> TF units and formations were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service, and on 15 August 1914, the

issued instructions to separate those men who had signed up for Home Service only, and form these into reserve units. On 31 August, the formation of a reserve or 2nd Line unit was authorised for each 1st Line unit where 60 per cent or more of the men had volunteered for Overseas Service. The titles of these 2nd Line units would be the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix. In this way duplicate battalions, brigades and divisions were created, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas. Later 3rd Line units were formed to train reinforcements for the others. In September the Home Counties Division began to send battalions to

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibr ...

to relieve the Regular garrison for active service with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...

. Then at the end of October the whole division went to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

to replace the Regulars. However the attached Royal Sussex battalions remained in England.

1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion

After mobilisation the battalion adopted the four-company organisation that was standard in the regulars: * A (Hastings) and E (Rye) became A Company * B (Battle) and F (Uckfield) became B Company * C (Ticehurst) and D (Lewes) became C Company * G (Crowborough) and H (Ore) became D Company Later in 1914 the battalion was posted for duty at the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

, where Lt-Col Langham had to arrange the execution by firing squad of the German spy

Carl Hans Lody Carl Hans Lody, alias Charles A. Inglis (20 January 1877 – 6 November 1914; name occasionally given as Karl Hans Lody), was a reserve officer of the Imperial German Navy who spied in the United Kingdom in the first few months of the First Wo ...

on 6 November. The selected spot, in the moat, turned out to be in public view, so Langham had to move the execution hurriedly to the indoor miniature rifle range. The firing party was from 3rd Bn

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

. In early 1915 the battalion was selected to go to France to reinforce the regulars with the BEF, and on 18 February it travelled from the Tower to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

to embarked on the SS ''Pancras'', landing at Boulogne under Lt-Col Langham next day.Royal Sussex War Diaries at West Sussex Council 1/5th Bn War Diary 1915–19 at West Sussex Council.
/ref> On 21 February it joined 2nd Brigade (in which 2nd Bn Sussex was serving) in 1st Division.Becke, Pt 1, pp. 33–9.1st Division at Long, Long Trail.
/ref> This formation had been badly cut up in the battles of 1914 and was still weak in numbers. On 10 March it was holding an exceptionally wet part of the front line, which was unsuitable for making an attack, so when the neighbouring formations launched the

Battle of Neuve Chapelle The Battle of Neuve Chapelle (10–13 March 1915) took place in the First World War in the Artois region of France. The attack was intended to cause a rupture in the German lines, which would then be exploited with a rush to the Aubers Ridge a ...

, 1st Division's participation was limited to supporting rifle fire. 1/5th Sussex began sending working parties to the front and on 18 March it took over a section of frontline trenches near

Festubert Festubert is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. The village was on the Western Front during the First World War and was largely destroyed in the May 1915 Battle of Festubert. Geography A farming v ...

from 2nd Royal Sussex. For the next few weeks it alternated with its regular battalion, working on improving trenches while in the line and suffering a trickle of casualties from the low-level

Trench warfare Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising Trench#Military engineering, military trenches, in which troops are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artille ...

. The battalion was bombed by German mortars on 29 April, and came under heavy bombardment on 1 May, suffering a number of casualties.

Aubers Ridge

1st Division was chosen to deliver the attack at the

Battle of Aubers Ridge The Battle of Aubers (Battle of Aubers Ridge) was a British offensive on the Western Front on 9 May 1915 during the First World War. The battle was part of the British contribution to the Second Battle of Artois, a Franco-British offensive in ...

on 9 May; 1/5th Battalion was in support for 2nd Bde's assault. When the artillery bombardment entered its intense phase at 05.30 the leading battalions (including 2nd Sussex) clambered over their breastworks to establish themselves in

No man's land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...

about from the German defences. As soon as they went 'over the top' the leading waves were hit by heavy machine gun fire: many were killed on their own ladders and

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

s, but the others went forward at the double and formed a general line; the supporting battalions followed up. When the guns lifted at 05.40, the leading waves dashed forwards, but were met by devastating machine gun and rifle fire. The bombardment had failed to suppress the defenders, cut the

barbed wire A close-up view of a barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is ...

or make gaps in the German parapets. None of the assaulting wave got beyond the German parapet, and the 1/5th Sussex, following up, 'merely fell victims to German machine gun fire'. A renewed bombardment was begun at 06.15, but a second attempt to attack at 07.00 failed in the same way. For 1st Division the battle was over by 07.20; 1/5th Sussex had lost 11 officers and 191 other ranks (ORs) out of about 600 who went into action. After Aubers, 1st Division moved to the

Cuinchy Cuinchy is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography A farming village some east of Béthune and southwest of Lille, at the junction of the D166 and the D166E3 roads, by the banks of the Cana ...

– Givenchy sector, which it defended while the next attack (the

Battle of Festubert The Battle of Festubert (15–25 May 1915) was an attack by the British army in the Artois region of France on the western front during World War I. The offensive formed part of a series of attacks by the French Tenth Army and the British ...

) was carried out nearby. During August the battalion was engaged in building a new camp at 'Garden City'.

Somme

On 20 August 1915 1/5th Royal Sussex moved to

Hébuterne Hébuterne () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography A farming village situated southwest of Arras, at the junction of the D27 and the D28 roads. History Formerly within the ancient co ...

on the

where it transferred to a TF formation, the

48th (South Midland) Division The 48th (South Midland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army. Part of the Territorial Force (TF) and raised in 1908, the division was originally called the South Midland Division, and was redesignated as the 48th (South Midland ...

, to serve as its pioneer battalion. The role of divisional pioneers was to provide working parties to assist the divisional

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is head ...

(RE) in tasks ranging from trench digging and wiring, to roadmaking and consolidating captured positions, while remaining fighting soldiers.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 77–83.48th Division at Long, Long Trail.
/ref> In 1916 the CO's son, Capt Cecil Langham, formed the divisional Scout and Sniper Section, known as 'Langham's Scouts', with personnel drawn from the 1/5th Sussex. The Somme was a quiet sector until the Spring of 1916, when preparations began for the 'Big Push' (the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place be ...

), involving huge amounts of engineering work, creating supply dumps and making roads, cable trenches, dugouts and shelters, sometimes under shellfire. Most of 48th (SM) Division was out of the line in corps reserve for the

First day on the Somme The first day on the Somme, 1 July 1916, was the beginning of the Battle of Albert the name given by the British to the first two weeks of the 141 days of the Battle of the Somme () in the First World War. Nine corps of the French Sixth ...

(1 July) – the first time the battalion had been concentrated in one place for 11 months – but was ordered to repeat 29th Division's failed attack next day. Two brigades prepared to attack, each with two battalions in line, and one company of 1/5th Royal Sussex to accompany each battalion. However, the attack was cancelled, and instead 1/5th Royal Sussex were set to help 29th Division's pioneers dig a new front line trench in No man's land, in front of the existing British front line and only 125–150 yards (114–137 m) from the German line; this was completed under heavy fire by 15 July. During the

Battle of Bazentin Ridge The Battle of Bazentin Ridge was part of the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front in France, during the First World War. On 14 July, the British Fourth Army (General Henry Rawlinson) made a dawn attack against the German 2nd Army (Gener ...

48th (SM) Division was ordered to follow up 32nd Division's attack at Ovillers on 15 July. While B Company and half of C Company dug communication trenches at Crucifix Corner (including a tunnel that ended only from the German front line), the rest of the battalion paraded with tools to consolidate gains made by 143rd (Warwickshire) Bde on Usna Hill. The division pushed forward over succeeding days and attacked again during the

Battle of Pozières The Battle of Pozières (23 July – 3 September 1916) took place in northern France around the village of Pozières, during the Battle of the Somme. The costly fighting ended with the British in possession of the plateau north and east of the ...

on 23 July, while the 1/5th Bn worked on communication trenches. The division was relieved on 28 July and the battalion went by bus to rest in

Domqueur Domqueur () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Domqueur is situated on the D46 and D108 junction, some north-east of Abbeville. It is surrounded by the communes Gorenflos, Maison-Roland and ...

. After rest 1/5th Royal Sussex received training in bridging techniques and then went to work on trenches and dugouts at Ovillers ahead of the arrival of the rest of the division on 12 August. The

was still raging when the division took over the captured 'Skyline Trench'. Here it was heavily attacked and lost part of the trench, but recaptured it on 14/15 August. The shell-battered trench was difficult to consolidate, and the line consisted of a succession of posts. 1/5th Royal Sussex suffered severely from shelling while digging communication trenches. It supplied Lewis gun teams to cover 144th (Gloucester & Worcester) Bde's attack on 21 August, dealing effectively with a counterattack. The division attacked again on 27 August. It was finally relieved next day, in mud and rain, and after rest 1/5th Bn's pioneers worked on tramways and light railways behind the lines. 48th (SM) Division had been transferred north to the Ancre sector, where 1/5th Bn rejoined it on 30 September.

Péronne

Low level fighting continued on the Ancre heights through the winter. 5th Royal Sussex constructed tracks and hutted camps – including its own 'Cinque Ports Camp' at Bazentin-le-Grand Wood. On 28 January 1917 the battalion moved by train with 144th Bde to relieve French troops at Cerisy-sur-Somme in front of Péronne. It worked on duckboarding communication trenches and maintaining observation posts (OPs) and signal lines. On 14 March the Germans began their retreat to the

Hindenburg Line The Hindenburg Line (German: , Siegfried Position) was a German defensive position built during the winter of 1916–1917 on the Western Front during the First World War. The line ran from Arras to Laffaux, near Soissons on the Aisne. In 1916 ...

(

Operation Alberich Operation Alberich (german: Unternehmen Alberich) was the code name of a German military operation in France during the First World War. Two salients had been formed during the Battle of the Somme in 1916 between Arras and Saint-Quentin and ...

) and the divisional engineers had to bridge the

River Somme The Somme ( , , ) is a river in Picardy, northern France. The river is in length, from its source in the high ground of the former at Fonsomme near Saint-Quentin, to the Bay of the Somme, in the English Channel. It lies in the geologica ...

before it could occupy Péronne while the pioneers worked on billets and advancing the roads and light railway towards the new front line. 48th (SM) Division was relieved on 3 May, but the pioneers remained working in the front line until 11 May when they went back to Péronne. The divisional scouts were relieved on 7 May after three months' continuous work in the division's OPs. At the end of the month 5th Royal Sussex moved out to garrison the division's reserve line on the

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the ...

road. At the end of the month it was rejoined by two officers and 87 ORs who had been doing duty with

III Corps 3rd Corps, Third Corps, III Corps, or 3rd Army Corps may refer to: France * 3rd Army Corps (France) * III Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * III Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of t ...

' light railway companies, bringing it almost back to full strength (39 officers and 10140 ORs). On the night of 7/ June No 1 Platoon quickly consolidated an enemy post captured by the 1/1st Buckinghamshire Battalion, completing the task before dawn, and next day completed the work left unfinished by the infantry. 5th Royal Sussex spent the rest of the month completing the defences in front of the Hindenburg Line.

Ypres

The battalion was relieved on 3 July as 48th (SM) Division moved north to join XVIII Corps in the

Ypres Salient The Ypres Salient around Ypres in Belgium was the scene of several battles and an extremely important part of the Western front during the First World War. Ypres district Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee. ...

, where Fifth Army was preparing for the Third Ypres Offensive. The pioneers worked on light railways and in the Canal Bank sector, with the battalion having about 100 men sent to hospital with

gas poisoning Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide ( chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists o ...

. 48th (SM) Division was not engaged in the first phase of the offensive (the

Battle of Pilckem Ridge The Battle of Pilckem Ridge (31 July – 2 August 1917) was the opening attack of the Third Battle of Ypres in the First World War. The British Fifth Army, supported by the Second Army on the southern flank and the French (First Army) on the n ...

) on 31 July, but D Company of 5th Royal Sussex worked to open up 'Boundary Road' and 'Buffs Road' to allow the heavy artillery to move up. The division moved into the front line on 6 August to attack on 16 August on the resumption of the offensive (the Battle of Langemarck). The attacking brigade had hard fighting to capture a strongpoint in St Juien, and only got about beyond the Steenbee stream. Five platoons of 5th Royal Sussex had been sent up under Capt Langham to consolidate captured strongpoints but could do little, and Langham (the CO's son) was along those killed. The strongpoints were captured next day with the assistance of tanks, and the battalion spent the rest of the month on consolidation, after which it returned to work on Buffs Road. Chateauwood

During September the battalion continued working on the roads, which were collapsing under the effects of the bad weather continuous fighting, and worked on one of the battlefield's notorious duckboard tracks. Casualties, particularly among C Company, were serious – on 12 October the battalion lost 4 ORs killed, 18 wounded, 47 horses killed and 18 wounded by one shell landing at 'Siege Camp'. Meanwhile, the infantry of 48th (SM) Division had been fighting the Battles of Broodseinde (4 October) and Poelcappelle (9 October). 5th Royal Sussex was finally relieved from its duties on 7 November and moved south to the

Vimy Vimy ( or ; ; Dutch: ''Wimi'') is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Located east of Vimy is the Canadian National Vimy Memorial dedicated to the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the Canadian soldiers wh ...

area.

Italy

On 10 November 1917 the 48th (SM) Division received orders to move to the Italian Front, where the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in W ...

forces were threatening to break through after the

Battle of Caporetto The Battle of Caporetto (also known as the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo, the Battle of Kobarid or the Battle of Karfreit) was a battle on the Italian front of World War I. The battle was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Central ...

, and on 29 November 5th Royal Sussex detrained at

Legnago Legnago () is a town and '' comune'' in the Province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy, with population (2012) of 25,439. It is located on the Adige river, about from Verona. Its fertile land produces crops of rice, other cereals, sugar, and ...

on the

Adige The Adige (; german: Etsch ; vec, Àdexe ; rm, Adisch ; lld, Adesc; la, Athesis; grc, Ἄθεσις, Áthesis, or , ''Átagis'') is the second-longest river in Italy, after the Po. It rises near the Reschen Pass in the Vinschgau in the pro ...

. It was then constantly on the move until 11 December when it reached Schiavon. By now the situation had been stabilised, so the division did not immediately go into the line, and 5th Royal Sussex spent December in training round Rubbio. In January 1918 it was digging cable trenches and building camps around Marostica and the Valle San Floriana. On 17 January Lt-Col Langham was evacuated to hospital and Maj G. F. Eberle of the Royal Engineers took command, later being promoted to Lt-Col. At the end of the month it marched to

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and '' comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Vene ...

and entrained for the GHQ training area round Trebaseleghe. Later detachments moved out to

5th Division In military terms, 5th Division may refer to: Infantry divisions *5th Division (Australia) * 5th Division (People's Republic of China) * 5th Division (Colombia) * Finnish 5th Division (Continuation War) *5th Light Cavalry Division (France) * 5th M ...

's are to work on OPs for the heavy artillery, then moved to work in 7th Division's area. On 1 March the rest of 48th (SM) Division arrived to relieve 7th Division in the front line of the Montello sector on the Piave Front, and held the line until 16 March. On 1 April it moved westward into reserve for the middle sector of the

Asiago Plateau Asiago (; Venetian: ''Axiago'', Cimbrian: ''Slege'', German: ''Schlägen'' ) is a minor township (population roughly 6,500) in the surrounding plateau region (the ''Altopiano di Asiago'' or '' Altopiano dei Sette Comuni'', Asiago plateau) in ...

Front, where 5th Royal Sussex moved into 23rd Division's area to work on mountain roads before 48th (SM) Division took over the front on 23 April. The three British divisions then alternated in the line during the Spring. On 15 June the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...

made what proved to be its last attack, known to the British participants as the

Battle of Asiago The Battle of Asiago (Battle of the Plateaux) or the Südtirol Offensive (in Italian: Battaglia degli Altipiani), nicknamed ''Strafexpedition'' ("Punitive expedition") by the Italians, was a major counteroffensive launched by the Austro-Hungari ...

. The 48th (SM) Division had been particularly hard-hit by the influenza epidemic (referred to as 'Mountain Fever' by the Royal Sussex), and its units came under heavy pressure before the positions were regained in a counter-attack. 5th Royal Sussex spent the day 'standing-to' in the Red Line until some fire, but was not required. After the battle it returned to erecting

and preparing heavy artillery positions and working under 7th and 23rd Divisions until mid-July. Rovine della facciata del Forte Vezzena

On 23 July the battalion arrived at Granezza, near

Asiago Asiago (; Venetian: ''Axiago'', Cimbrian: ''Slege'', German: ''Schlägen'' ) is a minor township (population roughly 6,500) in the surrounding plateau region (the ''Altopiano di Asiago'' or '' Altopiano dei Sette Comuni'', Asiago plateau) in th ...

, where it worked on excavating dugouts and gun positions, establishing water points, and road repair in the forward area, hampered by the constant need to 'stand to' in the alarm posts and night time shelling by the enemy. At the end of August a detachment of 6 officers and 80 Ors was specially trained as guides for the forthcoming Allied offensive. This offensive, the

Battle of Vittorio Veneto The Battle of Vittorio Veneto was fought from 24 October to 3 November 1918 (with an armistice taking effect 24 hours later) near Vittorio Veneto on the Italian Front during World War I. After having thoroughly defeated Austro-Hungarian troop ...

, was launched on 24 October. Defeated on the Piave, the Austrians abandoned their positions on the Asiago Plateau on 29/30 October, and the 48th (SM) Division began a pursuit. 5th Royal Sussex sent forward special working parties that night to work on the roads leading from the British front line to Asiago, and this work was continued by relays of working parties. 48th (SM) Division attacked the Austrian ''Winterstellung'' (Winter position) on the morning of 1 November, and after breaking through it continued the pursuit down the gorge of the Val d'Assa. The pioneers repaired the road behind the advance, and provided patrols to deal with Austrian prisoners who had not yet been disarmed. C Company secured Fort Vezzena with only a few stray rifle shots fired. By 15:00 on 4 November, when the

Armistice of Villa Giusti The Armistice of Villa Giusti or Padua ended warfare between Italy and Austria-Hungary on the Italian Front during World War I. The armistice was signed on 3 November 1918 in the Villa Giusti, outside Padua in the Veneto, Northern Italy, a ...

came into force, the division had pushed forward into the

Trentino Trentino ( lld, Trentin), officially the Autonomous Province of Trento, is an autonomous province of Italy, in the country's far north. The Trentino and South Tyrol constitute the region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, an autonomous region ...

. After the conclusion of hostilities 5th Royal Sussex was engaged in clearing the battlefields, then the division was withdrawn to Italy for the winter. 5th Royal Sussex was billeted in

Costa di Rovigo Costa di Rovigo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Rovigo in the Italian region Veneto, located about southwest of Venice and about southwest of Rovigo. Costa di Rovigo borders the following municipalities: Arquà Polesine, Frat ...

, assisting in repairing flood damage in January 1919. Demobilisation of 48th (SM) Division began in 1919 and was complete by 31 March. The

cadre Cadre may refer to: *Cadre (military), a group of officers or NCOs around whom a unit is formed, or a training staff *Cadre (politics) In political contexts a cadre (, , ) consists of a person recognized as a capable militant within a political ...

of the battalion returned to the UK in 1919 and was disembodied on 12 May.

2/5th and 3/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalions

The 2/5th Battalion was formed at Hastings on 16 November 1914 and the 3/5th on 26 June 1915. The 2nd Home Counties Division had no requirement for the 2/5th Bn. On 7 September 1915 the 3/5th absorbed the 2/5th and six days later was itself redesignated as the 2/5th Bn. The combined battalion continued to provide reinforcement drafts for the 1/5th Bn on the Western Front. On 8 April 1916 it was redesignated the 5th (Reserve) Bn, and on 1 September it was absorbed into the 4th (Reserve) Bn at

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

. After the 3rd Line TF battalions were formed in May 1915 the remaining Home Service and unfit men were separated to form brigades of Coast Defence Battalions (termed Provisional Battalions from June 1915). The men from the 4th and 5th Royal Sussex were formed into 72nd Provisional Battalion. The Military Service Act 1916 swept away the Home/Foreign service distinction, and all TF soldiers became liable for overseas service, if medically fit. Part of these units' role was now physical conditioning to render men fit for drafting overseas. The Provisional Brigades thus became anomalous, and on 1 January 1917 the remaining battalions became numbered battalions of their parent units. 72nd Provisional Bn had disappeared, probably absorbed into 70th Provisional Bn originally formed from the men of 5th and 6th Bns,

East Surrey Regiment The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th ...

, which became 15th Battalion, Royal Sussex. 70th Provisional Bn had been at

Burnham-on-Sea Burnham-on-Sea is a seaside town in Somerset, England, at the mouth of the River Parrett, upon Bridgwater Bay. Burnham was a small fishing village until the late 18th century when it began to grow because of its popularity as a seaside resort. ...

as part of 8th Provisional Bde when that brigade was expanded into 72nd Division in November 1916. The battalion joined 215th Bde. The division moved from

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

to Eastern England, and 15th Sussex was stationed at

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst t ...

by January 1917 and

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

by May. Early in 1918, 72nd Division began to be broken up: 15th Sussex moved to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

where it was disbanded (sources give dates between 28 March and 19 August 1918).

Interwar

Royal Sussex Regiment emblem, Drill Hall, Down Road, Bexhill

The TF was reconstituted on 7 February 1920 and the 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion was reformed at Hastings. The following year the TF was reorganised as the Territorial Army (TA). The battalion was now in 133rd (Kent and Sussex) Brigade in the TA's

44th (Home Counties) Division The Home Counties Division was an infantry division of the Territorial Force, part of the British Army, that was raised in 1908. As the name suggests, the division recruited in the Home Counties, particularly Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex. ...

. In the 1920s the Temple Grove School and

Mayfield College Mayfield College is a defunct Roman Catholic boys' boarding school founded as thin 1865–1866 by the American-born Dowager Duchess of Leeds one mile from Mayfield, East Sussex. The main building and attached chapel were built in the Gothic sty ...

cadet corps were affiliated to the battalion. The Middle Street Drill Hall was sold in 1933 and later demolished. By the outbreak of the

, the battalion's drill hall was at

Bulverhythe Bulverhythe, also known as West St Leonards and Bo Peep, is a suburb of Hastings, East Sussex, England with its Esplanade and 15 ft thick sea wall. Bulverhythe is translated as "Burghers' landing place". It used to be under a small headland ...

, a suburb of Hastings. After the

Munich Crisis The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It provided "cession to Ger ...

the TA was rapidly doubled in size, with most units forming duplicates. This time the duplicate of the 5th Bn, formed at Hastings on 20 July 1939, was designated 7th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Royal Sussex. (There had been a previous 7th (Service) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment, in 1914–19; this was a

Kitchener's Army The New Army, often referred to as Kitchener's Army or, disparagingly, as Kitchener's Mob, was an (initially) all-volunteer portion of the British Army formed in the United Kingdom from 1914 onwards following the outbreak of hostilities in the Fi ...

unit that served in the original

12th (Eastern) Division The 12th (Eastern) Division was an infantry division raised by the British Army during the First World War from men volunteering for Kitchener's New Armies. The division saw service in the trenches of the Western Front from June 1915 to the ...

.) 7th (Cinque Ports) Battalion was commanded by Lt-Col R. Gethen, with headquarters at

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

Second World War

Mobilisation

The TA was mobilised on 1 September 1939. and when war was declared on 3 September the 44th (Home Counties) Division was in the process of organising its duplicate formation, the

: 7th Royal Sussex was assigned to 37th Brigade, the duplicate of 133rd. The two formations began their separate existence on 7 October 1939.Joslen, pp. 71–2, 319.Joslen, pp. 56, 286.

5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion

The battalion was initially employed guarding vulnerable points in Sussex. It then moved to Dorset to carry out training for deployment overseas. The HQ Wing seems to have been sent to

Cattistock Cattistock is a village and civil parish in west Dorset, England, sited in the upper reaches of the Frome Valley, northwest of the county town Dorchester. The Dorset poet William Barnes called it "elbow-streeted Cattstock", a comment on the l ...

, with the other companies at Toller, Melbury and

Evershot Evershot is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southwest England, situated approximately south of Yeovil in Somerset. It is the second highest village in the county at above sea-level. Evershot parish encompasses part of ...

. On 7 October 133rd Bde re-assembled, and on 20 December the 4th and 5th Bns Royal Sussex were joined in the brigade by the regular 2nd Bn.

Battle of France

On 3 April 1940, the battalion left Cattistock for

and was then shipped to

Cherbourg Naval Base Cherbourg Naval Base is a naval base in Cherbourg Harbour, Cherbourg, Manche department, Normandy. The town has been a base of the French Navy since the opening of the military port in 1813. History Early works Cherbourg had been a stronghold ...

on the night of the 8/9 April on board SS ''Amsterdam''. The battalion's embarkation strength was 29 officers and 690 ORs. During the night of 9/10 April the battalion was moved on to Vivoin, and did some final training. It then moved to Belleuse, and then after two days marched to St. Pol, with the HQ being set up at Conteville, Somme, with the other companies at

Eps, Pas-de-Calais Eps is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography A farming village situated northwest of Arras at the junction of the D70 and D71 roads. Places of interest * The church of St. Martin, datin ...

and Hestrus. When the German offensive in the west opened on 10 May, the BEF advanced into Belgium to the

River Dyle The Dyle (french: Dyle ; nl, Dijle ) is a river in central Belgium, left tributary of the Rupel. It is long. It flows through the Belgian provinces of Walloon Brabant, Flemish Brabant and Antwerp. Its source is in Houtain-le-Val, near Nivelles ...

in accordance with 'Plan D'. 44th (HC) Division moved up to the River Escaut in reserve.Ellis, ''France & Flanders'', Chapter III.
/ref> On 11 May the 5th Sussex went to

Lillers Lillers (; vls, Lillaar) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography A small farming and light industrial town situated some 15 km northwest of Béthune and 40 km west of Lille, at ...

to perform

Line of Communication A line of communication (or communications) is the route that connects an operating military unit with its supply base. Supplies and reinforcements are transported along the line of communication. Therefore, a secure and open line of communicat ...

(LoC) guard duties. It then moved on to Vichtrat Peteghem (Belgium) by motor transport to take up defensive duties. After arrival they were told to march back 17 miles into France, then after marching all night were ordered to turn round again and head straight back to where they had come from, so marched 35 miles in 24 hours. The

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

having broken through the

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

to the east, forcing the BEF to withdraw again, the whole force was now back across the Escaut. On 20 May the 5th Sussex went to

Wortegem Wortegem is a village and seat of the municipality of Wortegem-Petegem in the Belgian province of East Flanders. It is located about east of Kortrijk. Geography Wortegem is located in a hilly part of Flanders and varies in height from to . Th ...

to take up defensive positions covering the Escaut, with trenches on the forward slopes.Ellis, ''France & Flanders'', Chapter IV.
/ref> Combat for 5th Bn began on 20 May when it came under shell and mortar fire. 44th (HC) Division was holding the most dangerous sector of the line, and despite its efforts the Germans established bridgeheads across the Escaut at dawn. That night the Germans had reached Petegem a mile across the river: an early-morning counter-attack by 131st Bde (1/5th and 1/6th Queen's and 2nd Buffs) cleared them out. But the following afternoon the enemy returned to the attack and 131st Bde was driven back; soon the Queen's could only raise a single composite company to join 5th Sussex in preventing further penetration.Ellis, ''France & Flanders'', Chapter VI.
/ref> The attack was renewed on 22 May and there was bitter fighting on 44th (HC) Division's front. Although it was badly chewed up, there had been no breakthrough: it was the deep penetration further east that forced the BEF to withdraw. 5th Sussex retreated to

Courtrai Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It is the capital and large ...

, and then next day to the hospital for incurables at St Andre (near

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the No ...

), where 160 casualties were reported. Here the BEF was defending the 'Canal Line', with 44th (HC) Division in GHQ reserve.5th Sussex War Diary 24–31 May 1940 at the Orange Lilies.
/ref>
/ref> On 24 May the battalion was sent to

Vieux-Berquin Vieux-Berquin (; nl, Oud-Berkijn) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic. The c ...

, and next day to Strazeele where it encountered German tanks and took heavy fire. On the 25/26 the battalion moved on to Rouge Croix, taking a defensive position where 44th (HC) Division was covering Hazebrouck. On 26 May the decision was made to evacuate the BEF through

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.

( Operation Dynamo). Next day the battalion came under heavy fire from

dive bomber A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact through ...

s and shells as 44th (HC) Division was attacked by German

Panzer This article deals with the tanks (german: panzer) serving in the German Army (''Deutsches Heer'') throughout history, such as the World War I tanks of the Imperial German Army, the interwar and World War II tanks of the Nazi German Wehrma ...

divisions. The division fought on doggedly until ordered to withdraw, by which time the enemy's advanced columns had penetrated between its widely-spread units. With its flanks 'in the air' after neighbouring French formations retreated during the night of 28/29 May, the divisional commander decided to withdraw while a rearguard of divisional artillery and engineers held

Mont des Cats Mont des Cats is a small hill (alt. 164m) near the town of Godewaersvelde, France. Located in the Nord department, its Flemish name is Katsberg. The hill is seat of the Mont des Cats abbey, famous for its cheese produced by monks since 1890. At ...

. The 5th Sussex retreated via

Poperinghe Poperinge (; french: Poperinghe, ； vls, Poperienge) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders, Flemish Region, and has a history going back to medieval times. The municipality comprises the town of Poperinge pr ...

, to

Bray Dunes Bray-Dunes (; vls, Bray-Duunn) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is situated on the Belgian border, with Adinkerke being the closest Belgian town. It is the northernmost commune and the northernmost point in all of Fr ...

from where they were eventually evacuated, landing in England on 1 June.Ellis, ''France & Flanders'', Chapter IX.
/ref>
/ref>
/ref>

Home defence

On return to England 44th (HC) Division rejoined Southern Command, but before the end of June went to

I Corps I Corps, 1st Corps, or First Corps may refer to: France * 1st Army Corps (France) * I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * I Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Ar ...

in Northern Command while reorganisation and re-equipment continued. In November 1940 44th (HC) Division was transferred to

XII Corps 12th Corps, Twelfth Corps, or XII Corps may refer to: * 12th Army Corps (France) * XII Corps (Grande Armée), a corps of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XII (1st Royal Saxon) Corps, a unit of the Imperial German Army * XII (Ro ...

in invasion-threatened South East England where it remained until early April 1942. Once the imminent danger of invasion had passed, training for offensive action began. For much of this training period 44th (HC) Division was commanded by Maj-Gen

Brian Horrocks Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Gwynne Horrocks, (7 September 1895 – 4 January 1985) was a British Army officer, chiefly remembered as the commander of XXX Corps in Operation Market Garden and other operations during the Second World W ...

, in South-Eastern Command under Lt-Gen

Bernard Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence an ...

, the two commanders under whom it would fight in the desert.Collier, ''Defence of the UK'', Maps 17, 20 & 27. 44th (HC) Division came under

control on 3 April 1942, preparatory to overseas service, and on 29 May 1942 it embarked for Egypt, via

Freetown Freetown is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educ ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

and

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 peopl ...

Alam el Halfa

The division arrived at

Suez Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same bou ...

in Egypt on 24 July, shortly after Eighth Army had retreated to the

El Alamein El Alamein ( ar, العلمين, translit=al-ʿAlamayn, lit=the two flags, ) is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Arab's Gulf, Mediterranean Sea, it lies west of Alexandria and northwest of Cairo. , it had ...

position. At first it was in the

Nile Delta The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to ...

defences in the rear, then on 14 August the division was called forward by Gen Montgomery and the following day assigned to XIII Corps under Lt-Gen Horrocks. The division was positioned with 133rd Bde on the vital Alam Halfa ridge, where Gen

Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...

was expected to attack the El Alamein line, and its positions were protected by minefields and artillery, with armour on its flanks to counter-attack. When the attack came in on 30 August (the

Battle of Alam el Halfa The Battle of Alam el Halfa took place between 30 August and 5 September 1942 south of El Alamein during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. '' Panzerarmee Afrika'' (''Generalfeldmarschall'' Erwin Rommel), attempted an envelopme ...

), the Panzers spent hours attempting to break through in the darkness and early morning. Over the next two days the Panzers made repeated attacks but 44th (HC) Division held its position and the Panzers suffered heavy casualties. By 3 September the division was counter-attacking. After Alam Halfa, 133rd Bde with 5th Sussex was detached from 44th (HC) Division on 8 September and joined first 8th Armoured Division briefly, and then, from 29 September, 10th Armoured Division, which was lacking a Lorried Infantry Brigade. Shortage of equipment meant that the conversion to 'lorried infantry' was only just completed in time for the

Alamein

This battle was launched with Operation Lightfoot on the night of 23/24 October. 10th Armoured Division lay up some 13–16 miles behind the starting line until after dark, when it advanced to the 'Springbok Track' and topped up with fuel. After the infantry divisions had advanced, it was the turn of the armoured divisions to pass through gaps made by the

sapper A sapper, also called a pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparin ...

s in the enemy's minefields. 10th Armoured Division started promptly at 02.00 and its armour reached the Miteirya Ridge (the objective codenamed 'Oxalic') but could not get beyond that to its second objective ('Pierson'). 133rd Lorried Bde had still not left Springbok by dawn. The following night, the division prepared to advance from 'Oxalic' to 'Pierson', with 133rd Bde acting as a pivot on Miteirya Ridge. Mines, air attacks and enemy gunfire slowed the advance from the congested minefield gaps. 'Lightfoot' had failed to break through: there followed what Montgomery termed the 'Dogfight' part of the battle. On 27 October, 1st Armoured Division failed again to break through, and the corps commander sent 133rd Bde up to reinforce 1st Armoured's 7th Motor Brigade holding the 'Snipe' and 'Woodcock' positions. Ground reconnaissance was impossible in daylight, and 133rd Bde HQ could not locate 7th Motor Bde's positions; after dark it was found that neither 'Snipe' nor 'Woodcock' was in British hands. 133rd Brigade therefore set off to capture them, with only a simple artillery fireplan in view of the confused situation. The attack was launched at 22.30; 4th Royal Sussex had its reserve company destroyed trying deal with heavy fire from the left. The rest of the battalion dug in, but at dawn was found to be isolated and was overrun by the enemy. The second phase of the offensive, Operation Supercharge, was launched on the night of 1/2 November. 133rd Bde attacked alongside the New Zealand 28th Maori Battalion, securing objectives that covered the flanks of the main attack. On 2 November, 5th (Cinque Ports) Bn with strong artillery support put in a successful attack on 'Snipe' as the Axis defences began to crumble. 133rd Brigade advanced through the 'February' minefield on 3 November, but got held up on the 'Avon' minefield until 5 November. However, by now the enemy was withdrawing. After the battle 133rd Bde was left behind to collect prisoners while Eighth Army pursued the beaten enemy westwards.

4th/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion

133rd Bde was broken up on 31 December 1942, and on New Year's Day 1943 and 5th (Cinque Ports) Bn was combined with the survivors of 4th Royal Sussex as a single unit: 4th/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion. This became a permanent amalgamation.4/5th Royal Sussex at Regiments.org.
/ref> The battalion was sent from Egypt to

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, and on arrival on 1 February it came under the command of

27th Indian Infantry Brigade The 27th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in March 1941, at Secundarabad in India and assigned to the 6th Indian Infantry Division. The brigade was used as Line of ...

6th Indian Division The 6th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II, created on 1 March 1941 in Secunderabad. On 11 September 1941 it was shipped to the Iraq and later Iran. During 1942 and 1943 it was part of the Tenth Arm ...

.Joslen, p. 542. This formed part of Tenth Army, protecting the vital oilfields and lines of communication to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. The battalion spent the rest of the war moving around

Middle East Command Middle East Command, later Middle East Land Forces, was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was to command British land forces and co-ordinate with the relevant naval and air commands to ...

: it arrived in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

on 17 April 1943, returning to Iraq on 26 September. It then moved to Palestine on 28 March 1944, back to Persia on 24 May, and finally returned to Iraq on 16 April 1945. After the war the battalion passed into suspended animation on 15 June 1946.

7th (Cinque Ports) Battalion

During the

Phoney War The Phoney War (french: Drôle de guerre; german: Sitzkrieg) was an eight-month period at the start of World War II, during which there was only one limited military land operation on the Western Front, when French troops invaded Germa ...

the 12th (E) Division was in Eastern Command, training and undertaking coast defence duties. However, the BEF required additional labour units, and the partly-trained infantry battalions (without the divisional artillery, ''etc'') were sent to France, joining the BEF

Lines of Communication A line of communication (or communications) is the route that connects an operating military unit with its supply base. Supplies and reinforcements are transported along the line of communication. Therefore, a secure and open line of communicati ...

(LoC) on 22 April 1940. The men were employed in building bases, airfields, raids and railways.

Battle of France

On 17 May the threat to the BEF's LoC was obvious, and the 2nd Line TA divisions working on labour projects were concentrated for possible action, 12th (E) Division gathering around

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

. 37th Brigade, with only the 6th and 7th Sussex present, arrived at Amiens by train and was caught by a ''

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

''bombing raid that destroyed one of the trains. The troops were extricated and the two battalions moved out south of Amiens, with little more than their rifles to halt the German '' Panzers''. On 20 May the 1st Panzer Division broke through at Albert and drove on to Amiens. Here the 7th (Cinque Ports) Battalion fought to a finish and was destroyed.Ellis, ''France & Flanders'', Chapter IV.
/ref>

Home Defence

12th (Eastern) Division had been effectively destroyed during the Battle of France, and was not reformed after the survivors were evacuated. However, the 7th (Cinque Ports) Battalion was rebuilt, in what was now 37th (Independent) Brigade, operating directly under

II Corps 2nd Corps, Second Corps, or II Corps may refer to: France * 2nd Army Corps (France) * II Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * II Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nor ...

. In February 1941 the brigade transferred to

XI Corps 11 Corps, 11th Corps, Eleventh Corps, or XI Corps may refer to: * 11th Army Corps (France) * XI Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XI Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army * XI ...

, but it was still guarding the Norfolk coast. At the end of 1941 the battalion was selected to be retrained in the light anti-aircraft (LAA) role equipped with

Bofors 40 mm gun Bofors 40 mm gun is a name or designation given to two models of 40 mm calibre anti-aircraft guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors: *Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun - developed in the 1930s, widely used in World War II and into the 1990s ...

s. It left 37th Bde on 19 November, and on 1 January 1942 it transferred to the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

(RA) as 109th (Royal Sussex) LAA Regiment, comprising Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) and 357, 358 and 339 LAA

Batteries Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

.Frederick, p. 837.Litchfield, p. 235.109 LAA Rgt at RA 1939–45.
/ref>

109th (Royal Sussex) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment

The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939-45 H16771

The new regiment was originally part of

Anti-Aircraft Command Anti-Aircraft Command (AA Command, or "Ack-Ack Command") was a British Army command of the Second World War that controlled the Territorial Army anti-aircraft artillery and searchlight formations and units defending the United Kingdom. Origin ...

, but left in February before it was allocated to a brigade. Instead it joined the field force as the AA regiment in I Corps District. By early 1943 the regiment was in GHQ Reserve, organised as a mobile unit: * RHQ * 357, 358, 359 LAA Btys * 109 LAA Rgt Signal Section,

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield commun ...

* 1561 LAA Rgt Platoon,

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and do ...

* 109 LAA Rgt Workshop Section,

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is a corps of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's Professional Engineers". History Prior to REME's for ...

By the summer of 1943 the regiment had been assigned to

21st Army Group The 21st Army Group was a British headquarters formation formed during the Second World War. It controlled two field armies and other supporting units, consisting primarily of the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army. Established in ...

training for the planned Allied invasion of Normandy (

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

North West Europe

Operation Overlord was launched on

D Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, 6 June 1944. 109th LAA Regiment formed part of 106 AA Bde, which began arriving in Normandy on D + 4. It had been intended that the brigade would be deployed to protect 12 airfields, but because the beachhead was still so shallow the usable airfields were well within the cover of the existing AA defences. Eventually, eight airfields were active, four having one Heavy AA (HAA) battery and two LAA

Troop A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Tr ...

s, the others having two LAA troops only. The deployment was frustrating for the units, not only because there were surplus guns, but because

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

airfield commanders refused all permission to fire unless the places were actually being attacked. With the breakout from the Normandy beachhead in late August, 106th AA Bde was freed from its commitments to RAF airfields. While the rest of the brigade followed 21st Army Group's advance, 109th LAA Rgt was sent to

to reinforce 101 AA Bde, deployed to protect the port under US command. The regiment arrived on 25 August and remained there when 5

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious warfare, amphibious light infantry and also one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighti ...

AA Bde took over on 4 September.Routledge, Table LII, pp. 330–2. The British AA cover for Cherbourg was finally withdrawn on 5 October and on 19 October the regiment arrived at Mook Bridge on the

River Maas The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has ...

, which had been captured during

Operation Market Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allied military operation during the Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a salient into German territory with a bridgehead over the River Rhine, ...

and was an important link in XXX Corps' supply lines. At Mook the regiment relieved 71st LAA Rgt and came under command of 106 AA Bde once more. It continued with 106 AA Bde protecting river and canal crossings in XXX Corps' area through the winter months. and remained with XXX Corps during the operations in the

Reichswald A or imperial forest was an area of historic woodland which existed in the Holy Roman Empire and was under direct imperial control, protection and usage. may refer to: * , a nature reserve near Nuremberg ** , a section of the Nuremberg , which ...

in February 1945 (

Operation Veritable Operation Veritable (also known as the Battle of the Reichswald) was the northern part of an Allied pincer movement that took place between 8 February and 11 March 1945 during the final stages of the Second World War. The operation was conduc ...

). For this operation it moved up to the assembly area on the night of 4/5 February giving cover for the medium and heavy guns of 9th Army Group Royal Artillery. 106th AA Brigade was freed of its bridge defence commitments in March in order to support XXX Corps for

Operation Plunder Operation Plunder was a military operation to cross the Rhine on the night of 23 March 1945, launched by the 21st Army Group under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. The crossing of the river was at Rees, Wesel, and south of the river Li ...

, the assault crossing of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

. Together with 71st LAA, the regiment had to deal with

Fighter-bomber A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, ...

attacks in the

Uden Uden () is a town and former municipality in the province of North Brabant, Netherlands. Since 2022 it has been part of the new municipality of Maashorst. History Uden was first recorded around 1190 as "Uthen". However, earlier settlements h ...

– Weeze triangle where XXX Corps' major communication centres, artillery lines and dumps of engineering equipment. The regiments replied to these day and night attacks with high-power concentrations of fire and radar-controlled barrages. They also had to cope with a few 'snap' attacks by single aircraft at low level. Immediately after the Rhine crossing had been launched on the night of 23/24 March, 71st and 109th LAA moved up to cover the bridging operations. Scattered attacks by the ''

'' began after nightfall on 24/25 March. 106th AA Brigade reported 20+

Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a German World War II ''Luftwaffe'' twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called '' Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") that would be too fast ...

s operating that night, often in medium- and low-level divebombing attacks. Some were illuminated by the searchlights (SLs) and were engaged by 109th and 71st LAA Rgts, with 343rd LAA Bty claiming two destroyed. The following night the attacks were repeated by 30+ JU 88s at medium height, some of the attacks directed against the SLs supporting the crossings. The AA S/Ls were effective at picking up the attackers and a number were destroyed by the guns, while others were forced to take evasive action. The next night saw a similar level of activity, but thereafter 21st Army Group's advance pushed deeper into Germany and the last significant ''Luftwaffe'' activity over the Rhine was on the night of 27/28 March. The regiment was transferred to 100 AA Bde for the crossing of the

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

, followed by the crossing of the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...

(Operation Enterprise) on 29 April, with 109th covering field gun and marshalling areas under the Commander, RA, of

VIII Corps 8th Corps, Eighth Corps, or VIII Corps may refer to: * VIII Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars *VIII Army Corps (German Confederation) * VIII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army ...

. This led to a hot AA battle against last-ditch efforts by the ''Luftwaffe'', 100 AA Bde engaging about 60

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

and

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (" Shrike") is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, ...

single-engined fighters delivering bomb and machine gun attacks. Although the AA fire deterred many of the attacks, one bridge was briefly put out of action on 1 May, which did not prevent 21st Army Group breaking out of its bridgeheads and driving towards

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

. As Germany collapsed, the AA guns were ordered to cease fire on 4 May, and hostilities ended with the

German surrender at Lüneburg Heath On 4 May 1945, at 18:30 British Double Summer Time, at Lüneburg Heath, south of Hamburg, Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery accepted the unconditional surrender of the German forces in the Netherlands, northwest Germany including all ...

on 7 May. Postwar, 100 AA Bde was employed as occupation troops in Hamburg. 109th (Royal Sussex) LAA Rgt began entering 'suspended animation' in

British Army of the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility located ...

on 23 February 1946, and completed the process by 9 March.

Postwar

After the TA was reconstituted on 1 January 1947, the 4th/5th (Cinque Ports) Bn, Royal Sussex, was reformed as a single unit at

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Ho ...

and the 5th Bn did not regain its independence. 109th (Royal Sussex) LAA Rgt was disbanded. The TA was reduced into the

Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve The Army Reserve is the active-duty volunteer reserve force of the British Army. It is separate from the Regular Reserve whose members are ex-Regular personnel who retain a statutory liability for service. The Army Reserve was known as the Ter ...

(TAVR) on 1 April 1967, when the 4th/5th (Cinque Ports) Bn was broken up to form two subunits, one of which was C (Cinque Ports) Company in 5th (Volunteer) Bn,

Queen's Regiment The Queen's Regiment (QUEENS) was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1966 through the amalgamation of the four regiments of the Home Counties Brigade. Then, until 1971 the regiment remained one of the largest regiments in the ar ...

, at

St Leonards-on-Sea St Leonards-on-Sea (commonly known as St Leonards) is a town and seaside resort in the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. It has been part of the borough since the late 19th century and lies to the west of central Hastings. The origi ...

, Hastings.Frederick, pp. 344–6.5th (V) Bn, Queen's at Regiments.org.
/ref>
/ref> The TAVR was reduced further on 1 April 1969, the TAVR III elements being reduced to cadres: 9th Queen's became a cadre under 5th Queen's, with some personnel at Eastbourne forming a platoon of C (Cinque Ports) Company. (Another platoon was formed in Sussex in June 1970, at Crawley, from elements of 8th (West Kent) Bn, Queen's.) This company continued until 1 July 1999 when the 5th (V) Bn was merged into 3rd (V) Bn

Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (or PWRR, also known as 'The Tigers') is the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, second in the line infantry order of precedence to the Royal Regiment of Scotland and part of the Q ...

and the Cinque Ports company at Hastings was disbanded.

Heritage and ceremonial

Honorary Colonels

The following served as Honorary Colonel of the unit: *

Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville, (11 May 181531 March 1891), styled Lord Leveson until 1846, was a British Liberal statesman and diplomat from the Leveson-Gower family. He is best remembered for his service as Secreta ...

, KG,

Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is a ceremonial official in the United Kingdom. The post dates from at least the 12th century, when the title was Keeper of the Coast, but may be older. The Lord Warden was originally in charge of the Cin ...

, appointed (to 1st Admin Bn) 9 April 1866, died 31 March 1891 *

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times for a total of over thirteen ...

, KG, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, appointed 25 December 1895, died 22 August 1903 * George, Prince of Wales, appointed 4 October 1906; succeeded as

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

6 May 1910 *

William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp, (20 February 1872 – 14 November 1938), styled Viscount Elmley until 1891, was a British Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician. He was Governor of New South Wales between 1899 and 1901, a member of the Libera ...

, KG, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, appointed 3 January 1914 *

Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon (12 September 1866 – 12 August 1941), was a British Liberal politician and administrator who served as Governor General of Canada, the 13th since Canadian Confederation, and as Viceroy an ...

, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, appointed 18 July 1936, died 12 August 1941 *

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, appointed 14 November 1941; continued with 4th/5th Bn

Uniforms & Insignia

When first formed, many of the RVCs adopted 'Volunteer' grey uniforms instead of the Regulars' scarlet. The 1st (Hastings) Cinque Ports RVC appears to have worn grey with red

facings A facing colour is a common tailoring technique for European military uniforms where the visible inside lining of a standard military jacket, coat or tunic is of a different colour to that of the garment itself.René Chartrand, William Younghusb ...

. Later the 1st Cinque Ports battalion wore grey with blue facings, only adopting the scarlet uniform with blue facings of the Royal Sussex in 1899. It was also allowed to bear the

Coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

of the Cinque Ports on its appointments. As pioneers 1915–18, the men of 1/5th Bn wore a brass badge on each collar in the form of a crossed rifle and pick. As an established TA unit, the 7th Bn was allowed to retain its Royal Sussex cap badge and buttons when it transferred to the Royal Artillery in 1942.

Memorials

There is a brass plaque in

St Peter's Church, Brighton St Peter's Church is a church in Brighton in the English city of Brighton and Hove. It is near the centre of the city, on an island between two major roads, the A23 London Road and A270 Lewes Road. Built from 1824–28 to a design by Sir Charles ...

, to the seven men of 1st VB, Royal Sussex, who died on service in the Second Boer War. The Royal Sussex Regiment's main Boer War memorial stands in

Regency Square, Brighton Regency Square is a large early 19th-century residential development on the seafront in Brighton, part of the British city of Brighton and Hove. Conceived by speculative developer Joshua Hanson as Brighton underwent its rapid transformation int ...

; it lists 160 names, including the casualties of the Volunteer Service Companies The Royal Sussex Regiment's Memorial Chapel (St George's Chapel) in

Chichester Cathedral Chichester Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in West Sussex, England. It was founded as a cathedral in 1075, when the seat of ...

lists the regiment's First World War dead on a series of panels by battalion, with a memorial book for those of WWII. There are additional First World War memorials, to the men of the Cinque Ports at

Lympne Lympne (), formerly also Lymne, is a village on the former shallow-gradient sea cliffs above the expansive agricultural plain of Romney Marsh in Kent. The settlement forms an L shape stretching from Port Lympne Zoo via Lympne Castle facing Lymp ...

, Kent, and to the men of the Cinque Ports and the towns of Rye and Winchelsea at St Thomas the Martyr Church,

Winchelsea Winchelsea () is a small town in the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex, within the historic county of Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. The ...

. A memorial to E Company, 5th (Cinque Ports) Bn, originally in the Drill Hall at Rye, is now in the Ypres Tower Museum. The memorial to the 7th (Cinque Ports) Bn and the men who died in the stand at Amiens in 1940 comprises a set of memorial gates in the Lady Chapel of St Nicholas of Myra Church in Brighton.IWM WMR Ref 56703.
/ref>

Footnotes

Notes

References

* Anon, ''British Army of the Rhine Battlefield Tour: Operation Veritable'', Germany: BAOR, 1947/Uckfield: Naval and Military Press, 2021, ISBN 978-1-78331-813-1. * Maj A.F. Becke,''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 1: The Regular British Divisions'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1934/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-847347-38-X. * Maj A.F. Becke,''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2a: The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions (42–56)'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1935/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-847347-39-8. * Maj A.F. Becke,''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2b: The 2nd-Line Territorial Force Divisions (57th–69th), with the Home-Service Divisions (71st–73rd) and 74th and 75th Divisions,'' London: HM Stationery Office, 1937/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-847347-39-8. * Ian F.W. Beckett, ''Riflemen Form: A Study of the Rifle Volunteer Movement 1859–1908'', Aldershot: Ogilby Trusts, 1982, ISBN 0 85936 271 X. *

Basil Collier John Basil Collier (1908–1983) was a British writer of books of military history, particularly military aviation, World War II and military and political strategy. Collier became a full-time professional writer in 1932. Before the war he was a ...

of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The Defence of the United Kingdom''
London: HM Stationery Office, 1957/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2004, ISBN 978-1-84574-055-9. * Col John K. Dunlop, ''The Development of the British Army 1899–1914'', London: Methuen, 1938. * Brig-Gen Sir James E. Edmonds and Capt G.C. Wynne, ''History of the Great War: Military Operations, France and Belgium, 1915'', Vol I, London: Macmillan, 1927/Imperial War Museum & Battery Press, 1995, ISBN 1-870423-87-9/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84574-718-3. * Brig-Gen Sir James E. Edmonds, ''History of the Great War: Military Operations, France and Belgium, 1915'', Vol II, London: Macmillan, 1928/Imperial War Museum & Battery Press, 1995, ISBN 0-89839-219-5/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84574-719-0. * Brig-Gen Sir James E. Edmonds, ''History of the Great War: Military Operations, France and Belgium, 1916'', Vol I, London: Macmillan,1932/Woking: Shearer, 1986, ISBN 0-946998-02-7. * Brig-Gen Sir James E. Edmonds, ''History of the Great War: Military Operations, France and Belgium 1917'', Vol II, ''Messines and Third Ypres (Passchendaele)'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1948/Uckfield: Imperial War Museum and Naval and Military Press, 2009, ISBN 978-1-845747-23-7. * Brig-Gen Sir James E. Edmonds & Maj-Gen H.R. Davies, ''History of the Great War: Military Operations, Italy 1915–1919'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1949/Imperial War Museum, 1992, ISBN 978-0-901627742. * Maj L.F. Ellis
''History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The War in France and Flanders 1939–1940'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1954/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2004, 978-1-85457-056-6.
* Capt

Cyril Falls Cyril Bentham Falls CBE (2 March 1888 – 23 April 1971) was a 20th Century British military historian, journalist, and academic, noted for his works on the First World War. Early life Falls was born in Dublin, Ireland, on 2 March 1888, the elde ...

, ''History of the Great War: Military Operations, France and Belgium 1917'', Vol I, ''The German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line and the Battle of Arras'', London: Macmillan, 1940/London: Imperial War Museum & Battery Press/Uckfield: Naval and Military Press, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84574722-0. * J.B.M. Frederick, ''Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978'', Vol I, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN 1-85117-007-3. * J.B.M. Frederick, ''Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978'', Vol II, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN 1-85117-009-X. * Brig E.A. James, ''British Regiments 1914–18'', London: Samson Books, 1978/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2001, ISBN 978-1-84342-197-9. *
Christopher Langdon, ''Square Toes and Formal: Sketches of Some of the People and Places Who Have Been Associated with Young Coles & Langdon over the Past 175 Years''
Durham: Roundtuit, 2006, ISBN 1-904499-08-2. * Norman E.H. Litchfield, ''The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges)'', Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1992, ISBN 0-9508205-2-0. * Capt Wilfred Miles, ''History of the Great War: Military Operations, France and Belgium 1916'', Vol II, ''2nd July 1916 to the End of the Battles of the Somme'', London: Macmillan, 1938/Imperial War Museum & Battery Press, 1992, ISBN 0-89839-169-5. * Col L.F. Morling, ''Sussex Sappers: A History of the Sussex Volunteer and Territorial Army Royal Engineer Units from 1890 to 1967'', Seaford: 208th Field Co, RE/Christians–W.J. Offord, 1972. * Maj-Gen

I.S.O. Playfair Major-General Ian Stanley Ord Playfair, (10 April 1894 – 21 March 1972) was a British Army officer. Military career Born the son of Colonel F.H.G. Playfair of the Hampshire Regiment and educated at Cheltenham College, Playfair joined the Roy ...

& Brig C.J.C. Molony, ''History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The Mediterranean and Middle East'', Vol IV: ''The Destruction of the Axis forces in Africa'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1966/Uckfield, Naval & Military Press, 2004, ISBN 1-845740-68-8. * Brig N.W. Routledge, ''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914–55'', London: Royal Artillery Institution/Brassey's, 1994, ISBN 1-85753-099-3 * Edward M. Spiers, ''The Army and Society 1815–1914'', London: Longmans, 1980, ISBN 0-582-48565-7.
Anna Waghorn, ''Captain Eric Charles Fazan and the Battle of Aubers Ridge'', at Orange Lilies.
* War Office, ''Instructions Issued by The War Office During August 1914'', London: HM Stationery Office. * War Office, ''Army Council Instructions Issued During January 1916'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1916. * War Office, ''Army Council Instructions Issued During December 1916'', London: HM Stationery Office, * War Office, ''Titles and Designations of Formations and Units of the Territorial Army'', London: War Office, 7 November 1927. * Ray Westlake, ''Tracing the Rifle Volunteers'', Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2010, ISBN 978-1-84884-211-3.

External sources

British Army units from 1945 on

Chris Baker, ''The Long, Long Trail''

Commonwealth War Graves Commission records

Les Deacon, ''The Orange Lillies – The Royal Sussex Regiment''

Imperial War Museum, War Memorials Register

Orders of Battle at Patriot Files

Paul Reed, 'Old Front Battlefields of World War I'

* ttps://ra39-45.co.uk Royal Artillery 1939–45.
Royal Sussex War Diaries at West Sussex Council

Volunteer Force

Royal Sussex Regiment

Second Boer War

Territorial Force

First World War

Mobilisation

1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion

Aubers Ridge

Somme

Péronne

Ypres

Italy

2/5th and 3/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalions

Interwar

Second World War

Mobilisation

5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion

Battle of France

Home defence

Alam el Halfa

Alamein

4th/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion

7th (Cinque Ports) Battalion

Battle of France

Home Defence

109th (Royal Sussex) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment

North West Europe

Postwar

Heritage and ceremonial

Honorary Colonels

Uniforms & Insignia

Memorials

Footnotes

Notes

References

External sources

Further reading