Royal Sussex Regiment
The Royal Sussex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1966.
World War 1
The 1st Battalion, which formed part of the 1st (Peshawar) Brigade in the 1st (Peshawar) Division, was one of the few infantry battalions that remained in India throughout the whole war, being stationed at Peshawar. It served in the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919.
The 2nd Battalion landed in France as part of 2nd Brigade in the 1st Division in August 1914 and fought through the war on the Western Front. It took part in the Battle of Mons in August 1914, the Battle of the Marne in September 1914, the Battle of the Aisne in September 1914 and the First Battle of Ypres in November 1914 as well as the Battle of Aubers Ridge in May 1915. During the Battle of Loos in September 1915 Sergeant Harry Wells was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, when the battalion took part in an attack. The battalion took part in the Battle of the Somme in Autumn 1916, the British pursuit to the Hindenburg Line in Spring 1917, the Battle of Passchendaele in October 1917, the Battle of the Lys in April 1918 and the Second Battle of Arras in August 1918.
The 1/4th Battalion joined 160th Brigade in 53rd (Welsh) Division and landed at Suvla Bay in August 1915. After the Gallipoli campaign it was evacuated to Egypt and later served in Palestine, where it saw action at the battles of Gaza and Jerusalem. It moved to France in May 1918 for service on the Western Front in 34th Division.
The 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion landed in France as Army Troops in early 1915, seeing action from the Battle of Aubers Ridge with 1st Division in May 1915. It later joined 48th (South Midland) Division as divisional pioneers, seeing action at the Somme and Ypres before moving to Italy in November 1917.
The 1/6th (Cyclist) Battalion remained on coast defence duties in England and Ireland for the whole war, but the 2/6th was converted to infantry and saw action with 16th Indian Division in Waziristan in 1917–19.
The 7th (Service) Battalion was formed in September 1914 by men volunteering for Lord Kitchener's New Armies and landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 36th Brigade in the 12th (Eastern) Division in June 1915 for service on the Western Front.
The 8th (Service) Battalion (Pioneers) landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 54th Brigade in the 18th (Eastern) Division in July 1915 also for service on the Western Front.
The 9th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 73rd Brigade in the 24th Division in September 1915 also for service on the Western Front.
The 11th, 12th and 13th (Southdowns) Battalions were all raised in late 1914 as part of the 116th Brigade of the 39th Division. All three battalions landed at Le Havre, France in March 1916 for service on the Western Front. All three battalions took part in the Battle of the Boar's Head in June 1916. After a bombardment of the German trenches the 12th and 13th Battalions went over the top (most for the first time) and, under heavy fire, attacked the enemy trenches, bombing and bayoneting their way in. The 11th Battalion supplied carrying parties. They succeeded in taking the German front line trench, holding it for some four hours, and even briefly took the second line trench for about half an hour, beating off repeated counterattacks, and only withdrew from the shortage of ammunition and mounting casualties. In regimental history this is known as The Day Sussex Died.