[3][4][5] The volunteers drilled at the Market Hall in George Street and began rifle practice at Rock-a-Nore, where they shot at targets set at the base of the cliffs.

He found problems obtaining suitable officers: the local rural gentry were distrustful of military service and it was difficult to persuade busy professional men to take commissions.

Brookfield was elected MP for Rye in 1885, and became secretary of the influential Service Members' Committee in the House of Commons, helping to counter the antipathy of senior army officers towards the volunteers.

The Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888 proposed a more comprehensive Mobilisation Scheme for Volunteer units, which would assemble in their own brigades at key points in case of war.

[7] 5th (Cinque Ports) Bn assembled at Bordon Camp for its annual training on 26 July 1914, which included a four-day march to Salisbury, arriving on 3 August.

[45][46] In September the Home Counties Division began to send battalions to Gibraltar to relieve the Regular garrison for active service with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front.

The selected spot, in the moat, turned out to be in public view, so Langham had to move the execution hurriedly to the indoor miniature rifle range.

In early 1915 the battalion was selected to go to France to reinforce the regulars with the BEF, and on 18 February it travelled from the Tower to Southampton to embarked on the SS Pancras, landing at Boulogne under Lt-Col Langham next day.

On 10 March it was holding an exceptionally wet part of the front line, which was unsuitable for making an attack, so when the neighbouring formations launched the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, 1st Division's participation was limited to supporting rifle fire.

When the artillery bombardment entered its intense phase at 05.30 the leading battalions (including 2nd Sussex) clambered over their breastworks to establish themselves in No man's land about 80 yards (73 m) from the German defences.

As soon as they went 'over the top' the leading waves were hit by heavy machine gun fire: many were killed on their own ladders and parapets, but the others went forward at the double and formed a general line; the supporting battalions followed up.

[48][53] On 20 August 1915 1/5th Royal Sussex moved to Hébuterne on the Somme where it transferred to a TF formation, the 48th (South Midland) Division, to serve as its pioneer battalion.

The strongpoints were captured next day with the assistance of tanks, and the battalion spent the rest of the month on consolidation, after which it returned to work on Buffs Road.

On 17 January Lt-Col Langham was evacuated to hospital and Maj G. F. Eberle of the Royal Engineers took command, later being promoted to Lt-Col. At the end of the month it marched to Treviso and entrained for the GHQ training area round Trebaseleghe.

The 48th (SM) Division had been particularly hard-hit by the influenza epidemic (referred to as 'Mountain Fever' by the Royal Sussex), and its units came under heavy pressure before the positions were regained in a counter-attack.

[54][55][48][65] On 23 July the battalion arrived at Granezza, near Asiago, where it worked on excavating dugouts and gun positions, establishing water points, and road repair in the forward area, hampered by the constant need to 'stand to' in the alarm posts and night time shelling by the enemy.

48th (SM) Division attacked the Austrian Winterstellung (Winter position) on the morning of 1 November, and after breaking through it continued the pursuit down the gorge of the Val d'Assa.

But the following afternoon the enemy returned to the attack and 131st Bde was driven back; soon the Queen's could only raise a single composite company to join 5th Sussex in preventing further penetration.

[74][89][90] 44th (HC) Division came under War Office control on 3 April 1942, preparatory to overseas service, and on 29 May 1942 it embarked for Egypt, via Freetown, Cape Town and Aden.

At first it was in the Nile Delta defences in the rear, then on 14 August the division was called forward by Gen Montgomery and the following day assigned to XIII Corps under Lt-Gen Horrocks.

When the attack came in on 30 August (the Battle of Alam el Halfa), the Panzers spent hours attempting to break through in the darkness and early morning.

On 2 November, 5th (Cinque Ports) Bn with strong artillery support put in a successful attack on 'Snipe' as the Axis defences began to crumble.

[102] The battalion spent the rest of the war moving around Middle East Command: it arrived in Persia on 17 April 1943, returning to Iraq on 26 September.

The deployment was frustrating for the units, not only because there were surplus guns, but because Royal Air Force airfield commanders refused all permission to fire unless the places were actually being attacked.

While the rest of the brigade followed 21st Army Group's advance, 109th LAA Rgt was sent to Cherbourg Naval Base to reinforce 101 AA Bde, deployed to protect the port under US command.

For this operation it moved up to the assembly area on the night of 4/5 February giving cover for the medium and heavy guns of 9th Army Group Royal Artillery.

[117][118] 106th AA Brigade was freed of its bridge defence commitments in March in order to support XXX Corps for Operation Plunder, the assault crossing of the Rhine.

Together with 71st LAA, the regiment had to deal with Fighter-bomber attacks in the Uden–Weeze triangle where XXX Corps' major communication centres, artillery lines and dumps of engineering equipment.

Although the AA fire deterred many of the attacks, one bridge was briefly put out of action on 1 May, which did not prevent 21st Army Group breaking out of its bridgeheads and driving towards Hamburg.

[122] 109th (Royal Sussex) LAA Rgt began entering 'suspended animation' in British Army of the Rhine on 23 February 1946, and completed the process by 9 March.