Browse the Rye’s Own World War archive for magazine pieces that combine contemporary reporting with memories and historical perspective. The selection ranges across “Rye Old Scholars”, “Trawler Margaret Blows Up – Six Killed”, “Anzac Day”, “Remembrance In The Park”, and “Battle of the Somme”, showing the breadth hidden behind the section heading. Together the articles retain the immediacy and individuality of a local magazine rather than reading like a formal reference book.
Life as it was lived 50 years ago in a small village near Rye as seen by R. D. Symons of Silton, Sasks., Canada I grew up in hearing of the slow, country speech of the people of Sussex.
Only occasionally have I heard it over the past fifty and more years, for most of the English immigrants to the prairies come from the industrial areas of the Midlands and North of England. Continue reading South Saxon
In the June 2003 edition of Rye’s Own. There was an article entitled “The Tiltman’s of Rye”, about the sacrifice of nine members of the “Tiltman” family, by Jo’ Kirkham, also a Further article by Eric Streeton about a Memorial Plaque for Walter Thomas Tiltman. All this prompted me to find out more about my families relations that I had vaguely heard of in my childhood. Continue reading The Great Sacrifice of a Rye Family
By Brian Lawes
Early in the War billeting troops was a contentious issue in Hastings. In a survey of rate payers it showed that of the replies received, only 2,024 ratepayers were in favour of the billeting of troops, six against, and six were neutral. Continue reading Billeting of Troops WW1
While Australian and New Zealand troops (ANZACS) are usually associated with the bravery and deaths suffered at Gallipoli, troops from the county of Sussex also fought and died in this terrible and, ultimately, fruitless campaign during WWl. Continue reading Anzac Day
I’m sure that readers will remember the two boards commemorating Rye Old Scholars who died as a result of fighting during WWI.The one on the left, from Rye Grammar School, has 24 names on it and the rather grander one, below right, from Rye County School has 97 names. This seems a huge number of young men lost from such a small town. Continue reading Rye Old Scholars
I had intended baking a new Herman-the-German Friendship cake yesterday. As many of you will know, I frequently make these delicious cakes and they have become a firm favourite amongst my friends and family, especially the grandchildren who love to help me, stirring the mixture and scraping out the bowl afterwards. Continue reading War & Peace – Herman
The people of Hastings could not have anticipated the scale of death and destruction, which would span almost six, long years in the borough’s history when the country went to war in 1939, a war which left in its wake 154 civilians dead and more than 14,000 properties damaged or destroyed. Continue reading Hastings a Front Line Town
With 2014 being the 100th anniversary of the beginning of The First World War and having recently watched the ‘The Great War’ boxed-set on DVD, I felt compelled to write something about civilized mans lowest moment in history. Continue reading Hastings & The Great War
By 11am on the 11 November 1918, when the armistice brought silence to the battlefields of France and Flanders, in excess of nine million souls lay dead, many never to be found and placed in a marked grave. Continue reading 100 Years have Passed Since The War To End All Wars Began
