The Royal Sussex Regiment in 1914 by Kathy Sykes
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The Royal Sussex Regiment in 1914 Kathy Sykes When war was declared on 4 August 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 organized in county-based infantry regiments, each containing two battalions of approximately 1,000 men. The Regular Army was supported by the Territorial Force of part-time soldiers who, while partly trained, were not available for immediate deployment and were not required to serve overseas. The administration of the Territorial Force was in the hands of County Associations, led by local landowners who were responsible for training & equipping all of the Territorial units. In Sussex this was the Lord Lieutenant, the Duke of Norfolk. The Reserves were created by legislation in 1908 and were composed of men with no previous military experience but who made themselves available for service in the Regular Army in the event of mobilization. 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 mobilization. In 1881, the 1st and 2nd battalions of The Royal Sussex Regiment were formed. The 1st Battalion had taken part in the Boer War of 1899 to 1902 and were based in Peshawar, India from the outset of World War 1. They were to remain there for the duration of the fighting. During the weeks prior to the outbreak of war, the 2nd Battalion was stationed in Woking, Surrey. Rumours of impending war in Europe were circulating and, due partly to this, the 2nd Battalion began active preparation. All men were medically examined to confirm their ‘fighting fitness’ - especially those specialist officers and NCOs who were likely to be transferred to train other units. Horses and transport wagons were also made ready. 1 In England, the plan of campaign, which included the dispatch of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to the continent was known as The War Book, which set out in detail who should do what and when in the event of war. Its plan for mobilizing Britain’s available army and transporting it to France in a relatively short space of time was wholly successful. On 4 August 1914, a telegram was sent by the War Office addressed to the Commanding Officer, 2nd Battalion The Royal Sussex Regiment, Battalion Headquarters, Inkerman Barracks, Woking Surrey: the message read “mobilise On 6 August, two batches of Reservists totaling 450 men arrived in Woking from Chichester.” By “every train there arrived in the city [of Chichester] parties of Reservists of the RSR & many others came by road. In groups they made their way to the Barracks & there they received their kit, preparatory to leaving to join the 2nd Battalion at Woking”. There they were absorbed into 2nd Battalion, RSR together with additional horses (several Reservists were declared unfit on arrival & some 163 pairs of boots were too small & had to be exchanged). On 13 August, 2nd Battalion RSR sailed for France and were urgently required at the front and on 14 August, the whole Battalion left Le Havre on a specially designed train made up of the same rolling stock so that every troop train comprised a carriage for officers, 40 box-cars for men or horses & flat trucks for guns or wagons. The battalion fought with distinction at the Battles of Marne & Ypres, earning the Royal Sussex the unofficial title ‘the Iron Regiment’ as an unsolicited testimonial by German prisoners captured on 1 November 1914 notes. This determination and stubbornness is described in a well known saying in the Sussex dialect: “We dunt mind bein’ led but we wunt be druv” (We don’t mind being led but we will not be driven). The 3rd Battalion, RSR were Reservists and based in Chichester. They were deployed to Dover at the outbreak of war on Sunday 9 August then to Newhaven. The battalion trained drafts for the overseas units of the Regiment The 4th Battalion, RSR was a Territorial unit raised with others during 1908. In 1914 the Battalion was attached to the Home Counties Division and was then transferred to 160th Brigade, 53rd Division at Cambridge on 24 April. They embarked in July 1915 for the Mediterranean. The Battalion landed in the Dardanelles and then moved to Egypt. Their period of service did not end until June 1918, by which time over 300 officers & men had lost their lives. The 5th Battalion RSR were another Territorial unit and were based in the Tower of London at the outbreak of war. The men had been predominantly enlisted in Hastings - one of England’s Cinque ports - and these volunteers had always known they were to be in readiness to be called to support and reinforce the units of the Regular Army if they had become engaged in any conflict. The 6th (Cyclist) Battalion RSR were initially employed as coastal defence at home and grew in size to form three battalions, all of which were sent to India. 2 The 7th Battalion RSR was formed by the authorities in Sussex after the new Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener of Khartoum, took formal charge of the War Office on 6 August 1914. His immediate plan was to expand the Regular Army by 100,000 men each of whom would be enlisted for three years or until the end of the War. Poster campaigns featured ‘A Call to Arms’ and ‘Your King and Country Needs You Urgently’. The poster for the formation of the 7th Special Service Battalion challenged: ‘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 between 19 and 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 Sussex. On 19 August 1914, the Chichester Observer reported that “Upwards of 1000 men are required for the new Battalion RSR (Kitcheners Army) & up to date only 120 men have enlisted. Recruits will be armed, clothed and equipped at the Barracks, Chichester & will receive preliminary training… if the war continues, this new Regiment will have every chance of seeing some fighting…” An additional incentive for men to enlist was the opportunity presented to men who lived or worked in the same place to volunteer together. The idea that ‘those who joined together fought together’ was an idea that was actively seized upon and fostered by Lord Kitchener and became known as the Pals Battalions On 2 September 1914 the Chichester Observer reported that: “Early in the morning about 30 employees from Messrs Shippams’ factory went to the Barracks in a body. Shippams’ had made them a generous offer of an allowance of ten shillings per week all the time they remained on active service. Most of them joined the 7th Battalion RSR… one or two failed to get accepted owing to their youth and they went away quite dejected because they could not go to the front.” In all, some 100 men left Shippams to join the forces during the course of the war and their progress was followed closely by the chairman, Mr. Ernest Shippam. He regularly corresponded with his employees by letter & sent a variety of comforts including cigarettes, notepaper, potted meats and socks. Often his men replied to him. Shippam also intervened with military authorities to secure leave arrangements for his former staff and offered access to specialist medical care beyond the army’s medical resources. The recruiting campaign was successful and by 10 September 1914, 2896 men had enlisted so far at the county depot in Chichester; 1850 of them having enlisted in county battalions. The 7th Battalion was full and it was decided to form an 8th Battalion which was quickly filled and a good start had been made on 9th Battalion 3 RSR… these battalions became what would become part of Kitchener’s “New Army.” Organisation & training continued for the 7th Battalion, of whom the vast majority were Sussex men. On 2 October, the battalion left Colchester by train for Territorial Camp near Folkestone. There remained a serious shortage of all types of equipment and in particular the number of usable rifles did not exceed 200 for any of the battalions, each of about 1,100 men in the whole Brigade. By 31 May 1915, the 7th Battalion RSR left Folkestone for Boulogne. The 8th Battalion RSR commenced as a purely infantry unit, and it was converted to a Pioneer Battalion within the 18th (Eastern) Division in February 1915. The battalion’s main role was to be one of support and hard physical work. Expertise was gained under the supervision of Royal Engineer Units, but they also had to be prepared to serve in an active fighting capacity should conditions demand. The 9th Battalion also raised during August 1914 and was formed at Chichester. By the end of that year it had been established in Portslade just west of Brighton. Training continued and, on 31 August 1915, the Battalion travelled to Southampton, setting sail for Le Havre soon afterwards. In the third week of August 1914, Lord Kitchener launched another campaign to recruit another 100,000 for the Regular Army and in Sussex the decision was made to form three further battalions which became the 11th, 12th & 13 Battalions RSR. They were formed with the support of Colonel Lowther, MP for Eskdale.