West Sussex: Remembering 1914-18
208
West Sussex: Remembering 1914-18
208eBook
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Overview
The First World War claimed over 995,000 British lives, and its legacy continues to be remembered today. Great War Britain: West Sussex offers an intimate portrayal of the county and its people living in the shadow of the 'war to end all wars'. A beautifully illustrated and highly accessible volume, it describes local reaction to the outbreak of war; charts the experience of individuals who enlisted; the changing face of industry; the work of the many hospitals in the area; the effect of the conflict on local families; the women who defied convention to play a vital role on the home front; and concludes with a chapter dedicated to how the county and its people coped with the transition to life in peacetime once more. The Great War story of West Sussex is told through the testimony of those who were there and is vividly illustrated with evocative images from the archives of West Sussex County Council and local museums.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780750961271 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | The History Press |
| Publication date: | 08/04/2014 |
| Series: | Great War Britain |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 208 |
| File size: | 5 MB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Great War Britain: West Sussex Remembering 1914â"18
By Martin Hayes, Emma White
The History Press
Copyright © 2014 West Sussex County CouncilAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-7509-6127-1
CHAPTER 1
Mobilisation and Recruitment
By Dr John Godfrey
The British Army in 1914
Historically, Britain relied on the Royal Navy to maintain the security of the country and to defend its overseas interests, with the support of a small standing army of volunteers. However, largely as the result of the reforms instituted by Richard Haldane, the Liberal Secretary of State for War from 1905 to 1912, by 1914 the country was better prepared than it would otherwise have been to participate in a land war on the continent of Europe. In the summer of 1914, the British Army consisted of three distinct elements: the Regular Army, the Territorial Force and the Reserves. The Regular Army comprised some 250,000 men, the majority of whom were recruited and organised in county-based infantry regiments, each containing two battalions of approximately 1,000 men. One of these battalions would normally be deployed overseas, principally on colonial duties, and the other would be at home, available for deployment, including to Ireland, and providing drafts to reinforce the battalion overseas.
In Sussex, the 1st Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment (RSR) was deployed in India in 1914 and throughout the First World War, while the 2nd Battalion was accommodated at various locations in Sussex and beyond, in barracks and at camp. On the latter, Hugh Miller, in his account of the experiences of the regiment on the Western Front, writes that:
Bell-tented camps, set out in immaculately straight lines on grassy, dry, rolling tracts of the English countryside provided pleasant living quarters during that summer of 1914. Purpose-built rifle ranges and assault courses taxed the skill and fitness of the men, as did the long and frequent route marches, but there was no enemy, no true battleground terrain and no in-coming shells and bullets.
The Regular Army was supported by the Territorial Force of part-time soldiers who, while partly trained, were not available for immediate deployment and, crucially, were not required to serve overseas. The administration of the Territorial Force was in the hands of County Associations, led by local landowners and other notables, who were responsible for recruiting, training and equipping all of the Territorial units originating in a particular county or city. In Sussex, the president and chairman of the County Association was the Lord Lieutenant, the Duke of Norfolk, of Arundel Castle, who took a close interest in military matters generally and the organisation of the Territorial Force in particular: indeed, the Norfolk Commission (1904), which he chaired, led to the creation of the Territorial Force from the former auxiliary units. The 4th and 5th Battalions, RSR, were the county Territorial units, the 4th Battalion mainly recruiting in West Sussex and the 5th Battalion in East Sussex. The legislation creating the Territorial Force also established the Special Reserve, which was composed of men with no previous military experience who made themselves available for service in the Regular Army, in the event of mobilisation. In addition, men who had previously served in the Regular Army formed the General Reserve and were eligible to be recalled to the Colours in the event of a general mobilisation.
These elements (the Regular Army, the Territorial Army and the Reserves) formed the first two components of what Peter Simkins refers to as the 'four armies' that fought in the Great War, the others being Kitchener's 'New Armies' (which arose from the Secretary of State's successive calls for volunteers from August 1914 onwards) and the fourth 'army' of conscripts resulting from the introduction of compulsory military service in 1916. Simkins writes that, 'As the result of these initiatives, Britain's Army in the First World War became the largest in the nation's history. Between August 1914 and November 1918, 5,704,416 men passed through its ranks' and he describes this increase in the size of the army as, 'The product of a gigantic act of national improvisation which had considerable repercussions throughout British society'. The rest of this chapter examines, principally through a close study of relevant reports in local newspapers, the nature of these repercussions in West Sussex.
The Mobilisation of the Regular Army, the Territorials and the Reserves
The immediate and pressing military task facing the British Government on the declaration of war with Germany on 4 August 1914 was to quickly mobilise and deploy to northern France a British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to support the Belgian and French armies in resisting the German advance towards Paris. Bruce Gudmundsson describes the process of mobilisation as:
... an extraordinary smooth one. Within a week the lion's share of this gargantuan exercise in administration and logistics had been completed, and many elements of the Expeditionary Force were already embarked on the ships that would take them to the Continent. Soon thereafter the great task was complete, and the Special Reserve took up its principal wartime duty of training the men ... needed to keep the Expeditionary Force up to strength.
Members of the 2nd Battalion, RSR, embarked for France on 12 August 1914. They were engaged in the mobile campaigning which preceded the entrenchment of the opposing armies and fought with distinction at the Battle of the Marne and later at the First Battle of Ypres, earning for the Royal Sussex the epithet 'the Iron Regiment'. The mobilisation of the Regular Army proceeded in Sussex in parallel with the 'embodiment' of the Territorial Force. In Worthing, Captain H.E. Matthews, head of H (Worthing) Company, 4th Battalion, RSR, was reported on 19 August as having appealed for former members of H Company under the age of 35 to re-join their unit. Within a week of war being declared, Territorials in Chichester 'complied with the order to mobilise by assembling at the old depot in East Row, and at half past three they marched to the railway station, there to entrain for duty at Newhaven'. Their special train picked up the remainder of the 4th Battalion, including contingents from Bognor, Eastergate, Arundel and Littlehampton en route, and 'on arrival at Newhaven, some of the men were quartered in the workhouse'. Keith Grieves refers to 'the well-defined sense of territoriality' which characterised both the 4th Battalion, based in Horsham, and the 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, which had its headquarters in Hastings and relished its historic title.
Reservists mustered in Chichester, Arundel and Littlehampton.
All day Wednesday Chichester was the scene of great animation. By every train there arrived in the city parties of Reservists of the Royal Sussex Regiment and many others came by road. In groups they made their way to the Barracks, and there they received their kit, preparatory to leaving to join the 2nd Battalion at Woking.
Arundel Reservists assembled at the Town Hall in Maltravers Street. 'Major Maxwell, their commander, expressed his full satisfaction with the apparent enthusiasm and fitness of the men.' The following day, seventy Littlehampton Reservists assembled at the drill hall. The Littlehampton Observer commented that, 'The men are keen on serving their country ... and, to judge from the records and appearance of many of them, they would prove quite good enough to keep the Germans under'.
With the mobilisation of the Regular Army, the Territorials and the Reserves in Sussex and the dispatch of a contingent of the RSR with the BEF to France, the first phase of the mobilisation of the army in Sussex was completed within weeks of the declaration of war. Attention now turned, nationally and locally, to the need to rapidly expand the number of recruits. This task fell to the new Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener of Khartoum, who took formal charge of the War Office on 6 August 1914 and immediately unveiled his radical expansion plans.
Kitchener's 'New Armies' in Sussex
Gudmundsson recounts that, 'The next morning, he [Kitchener] made public, in the form of announcements to the press, newspaper advertisements and posters, his intention to expand the Regular Army by 100,000 men, each of whom would be enlisted 'for a period of three years or until the war is concluded'. The response by the authorities in Sussex was to form a new service battalion of the county regiment, which was to become the 7th (Service) Battalion, RSR. The national recruitment campaign, which featured the famous image of Kitchener, with bristling moustache and pointing finger, was complemented locally by the publication, in poster form and in local newspapers, of 'A Call to Arms!!', telling men that 'Your King and your Country need you urgently' and that a new regular battalion was being added to the county regiment. The poster challenged readers: 'Will you come forward or must recruits be obtained outside the County? We are confident you will help to uphold the honor [sic] of the County of Sussex.' Men aged 19–30 were invited to enlist for the duration of the war and the addresses were given of ten recruiting offices in barracks and drill halls across West Sussex.
Local newspapers across the county featured the recruitment campaign and, in editorial coverage, expressed strong support for the new initiative. On 19 August 1914, the Chichester Observer reported that:
Upwards of 1000 men are required for the [new] Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment (Kitchener's Army), and up to date only 120 men have been enlisted for it. Sussex men, aged 19 to 30 are urged to enlist. Recruits will be armed, clothed and equipped at the Barracks, Chichester, and will receive preliminary training ... If the war continues, this new Regiment will have every chance of seeing some fighting ... The Duke of Norfolk, as Lord Lieutenant, has sent an appeal to the Mayor of Chichester for every effort to be made to secure recruits for Kitchener's Army.
On 26 August, the Littlehampton Observer reported that an appeal had been made by Major W.L. Osborn, later to be colonel of the RSR, for Sussex men to come forward without delay to join the 7th Battalion.
The local newspapers began publishing the numbers of men who had signed up in the various towns and villages, encouraging competition between them, applauding those who were doing well and highlighting others where the numbers were considered to be disappointing. Thus, Worthing was congratulated on producing 365 recruits by mid-August, while the Littlehampton Observer reported that, 'The response to Lord Kitchener's appeal has not been so good in the country as in town districts, on account of the harvest, but this is now nearing completion'. A feature of the recruitment campaign was the opportunity presented to men who lived or worked in the same place to volunteer together. Thus, on 2 September, the Chichester Observer reported that:
Early in the morning about 30 employees from Messrs. Shippams' factory went to the barracks in a body. The firm had made them a generous offer of an allowance of 10s a week all the time they remained on active service. Most of them joined the 7th Battalion, which is being trained at Colchester.
In all, some 100 men left Shippams to join the forces during the course of the war and their progress was carefully followed by the chairman, Mr Ernest Shippam. The men's letters to him are preserved in the West Sussex Record Office (WSRO) and provide valuable evidence of their experiences of war, the strength they drew from their contact with workmates at the front, and their hopes of eventually resuming 'normal' life at home.
The appeal for recruits was successful: the West Sussex Gazette reported on 10 September that 2,896 men had enlisted so far at the county depot in Chichester, 1,850 of whom had enlisted in county battalions. The 7th Battalion was full on the previous Friday and it had been decided to form an 8th and a 9th Battalion: there were enough men available to fill the 8th Battalion and a good start had been made on the 9th. The success of the recruitment campaign was influenced by a series of well-attended public meetings held across West Sussex. They were organised by local honorary recruiting officers and patronised by notable citizens. In the towns, the leading figures were usually the majors or chairmen of Urban District Councils (UDCs), and in rural areas, the traditional landed gentry tended to take the lead, encouraged by the Lord Lieutenant and other members of the West Sussex-based aristocracy, such as the Duke of Richmond and Lord Leconfield. Often, there was a guest speaker, perhaps a Member of Parliament, not necessarily connected with West Sussex, or a military figure. Such meetings were reported at Worthing, Littlehampton, Storrington, Chichester, Bognor, Cowfold, Bu rgess Hill, Horsham, Faygate, Pulborough, East Grinstead, and Crawley. The themes developed by the speakers at these meetings included: Germany is the aggressor; might is not right; poor France and Belgium; German atrocities; it could happen here; the country is united; the Empire is behind us; our cause is just; England expects. Women were urged to shun 'shirkers' and 'idlers' who failed to volunteer, with Captain Matthews telling a Worthing audience that, 'He would like to hear the expression more freely used "No gun, no girl!".'
The meetings were routinely combined with parades, flags, bands and the singing of patriotic songs, concluding with the National Anthem.
While all this activity was going on in Sussex, and throughout the country, Kitchener decided to launch a campaign to recruit another 100,000 men for the Regular Army. An announcement to this effect was made in the third week of August 1914. In Sussex, the decision was made to create three further battalions of the county regiment, which became the 11th, 12th and 13th Battalions. While the first round of recruiting had been directed by influential landowners, such as the Duke of Norfolk, the second wave was organised by a relative newcomer to the county, Colonel Claude Lowther, the owner of Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex. Ably assisted by Colonel Harman Grisewood of Bognor and the Hon. Neville Lytton of Crawley Down, Lowther set about creating a new fighting unit which became known collectively as the Southdown Brigade, or more familiarly, 'Lowther's Lambs', reflecting the Southdown name and the fact that the new battalions acquired a lamb called Peter as their brigade mascot. The brigade also had its own marching song, 'Lowther's Own', which was sung at a patriotic smoking concert at the Lambs Hotel, Eastbourne.
The West Sussex Gazette reported on 10 September 1914 that:
Lord Kitchener has authorised Mr. Claude Lowther MP to raise a corps of Sussex men for Kitchener's army. The corps will be composed of companies of men from the principal Sussex districts and will work, train, serve and fight together as a regular infantry unit. The Battalion will train at Cooden, near Bexhill.
The report quotes Colonel Lowther as saying that, 'Lord Kitchener recognises that men often prefer to serve side by side with friends and relatives rather than to be drafted into different regiments to serve with strangers'. Potential recruits in West Sussex were invited to contact Mr Grisewood at The Den, Bognor. Grisewood appeared on the stage at the Pier Theatre, Bognor, later that week to appeal for volunteers during the interval. He was enthusiastically applauded when he said he would like to see a large number of recruits from Chichester, Littlehampton and Arundel, 'who would be linked up so as to serve side by side with their neighbours'. A day or two later, the Hon. Neville Lytton made an appeal for volunteers at a public meeting at Horsham and, according to the press report, 'several men gave in their names'. Grieves writes that Lowther 'embraced the "Pals" principle of joining, training, fighting (and dying) together' and that, 'the battalions of "Lowther's Lambs" or Southdowners drew on associational landscape forms without endorsing customary social hierarchies and moral control'. The Southdown Brigade had much in common with the 'Pals' battalions raised in some of the cities of northern England and is a good example of attachment to landscape and locality influencing the motivation of soldiers to enlist and then endure the conditions of modern warfare.
As batches of recruits, to both the service battalions and the Southdown Brigade, left their home towns for training prior to deployment, they were seen off by local people with bands and flags. Although the demand for recruits was apparently insatiable, as 1914 drew to a close, local papers in Sussex expressed some satisfaction in the number of men who had come forward to join the forces. Several papers published 'Rolls of Honour', recording the names and units of local men who had answered their country's call. That for East Grinstead, for example, listed the names of 327 men, 91 per cent of whom had joined the army, 7 per cent the Royal Navy and just 2 per cent the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). However, as the nature of mechanised warfare and the fact that the war would not be over by Christmas became clear, the government was forced to consider for how long the country could rely on voluntary recruitment and when, not if, the introduction of conscription would have to be contemplated.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Great War Britain: West Sussex Remembering 1914â"18 by Martin Hayes, Emma White. Copyright © 2014 West Sussex County Council. Excerpted by permission of The History Press.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Title,Preface,
Foreword by Professor Gary Sheffield,
Introduction,
Authors,
Acknowledgements,
Abbreviations,
Prelude to War,
1. Mobilisation and Recruitment By Dr John Godfrey,
2. The Royal Sussex Regiment By Alan Readman,
3. Sussex Goes Khaki: Billeting and Military Installations By Martin Mace,
4. Invasion Threats and Countermeasures By Martin Dale and Tim Stanton,
5. The Home Front: Civilians at War By Martin Hayes,
6. The Local Economy and Civilian Morale By Martin Hayes,
7. Women at War By Justin Burns,
8. Treatment of the Sick and Wounded By Katherine Slay,
9. The Role of the Churches By Dr Caroline Adams,
10. Agriculture and Food By Professor Brian Short,
11. Peace Celebrations and War Memorials By Professor Keith Grieves,
12. Those Left Behind – and Those Who Returned By Emma White,
Postscript,
Notes,
Further Research,
Bibliography,
Copyright,