A memorial stone has been unveiled in Worthing commemorating the 100th anniversary of ‘The Day that Sussex Died’
Chatsmore Catholic High School and Caring Lady Funeral Directors have worked together to produce a memorial stone engraved with a piece from Laurence Binyon’s poem For The Fallen, a line from John Maxwell Edmonds’ Kohima Epitaph and a map of the Richebourg, France, where the Battle of the Boar’s Head, known locally as The Day that Sussex Died, took place.
The Battle of the Boar’s Head occurred on 30 June 1916 in Richebourg as a supposed diversionary plan before the Battle of the Somme. Unfortunately, German soldiers were aware of this plan, resulting in more than 300 soldiers from The Royal Sussex Regiment losing their lives and a further 1000 wounded or taken prisoner.
During a service at Beach House Park in Worthing, Major Tom Wye MBE praised the students’ efforts: “I was privileged to go into Chatsmore High School when the students were producing their works of art. I was impressed by their enthusiasm, ideas and knowledge of what they were doing.”
He joined Chatsmore students Joe Angioni (14) from Rustington, Alicia Dutton (13) from Littlehampton and Abby Smith (14) from Ferring to unveil the memorial.
Joe, Alicia and Abby visited Ypres earlier this year as part of the Legacy 110 project to further their knowledge and put meaning behind the project they were about to undertake.
Assistant head master Julian Morgan commented: “We chose this event, because the Battle of the Boar’s Head was relatively unknown but involved local families. It was eclipsed by the bloodiest day in military history [the Somme].
“It was a great shock to find out Nelson Carter, the only VC of the battle, had a great grandson [Chris Frampton] who works at the school.”
Chris laid one of the three wreaths alongside the memorial stone.
Chatsmore opened in 1950 so has no former students or staff who fought in either world war. The students wanted this to be their way of paying respects and remembering those who sadly lost their lives whilst serving their country.
