Arthur Brown, William Reed and John Goldsmith were all members of the 11th, 12th, and 13th Southdown Battalions of the Royal Sussex Regiment. These had been raised by Lieutenant Colonel Claude Lowther of Herstmonceux Castle, the Member of Parliament for Eskdale, Cumberland. They were comprised mainly of Sussex men and affectionately known as Lowther’s Lambs. The battalion mascot was Peter, an orphaned Southdown lamb from Church Farm, Coombes in the Adur valley. The first taste of action of the Southdown Battalions was the Battle of the Boar’s Head at Richebourg L’Avoue, Pas de Calais, on 30th June 1916. This became known as The Day Sussex Died when the three battalions lost 17 officers and 349 other ranks and nearly three times that number were wounded.

SD/4950 Private Arthur William Brown, 11th (1st Southdown) Battalion, born in Westmeston, East Sussex, in 1883, Arthur was the eldest child of James Arthur Brown, a shepherd and farm labourer, and his wife Mary Ann (or Annie), née Small. The 1911 Census shows the family living at Perching Hill Cottages, Fulking when Arthur was a farm labourer. He enlisted in Brighton and was killed in action on 30th June 1916. He was buried in grave III.A.9 in St. Vaast Post Military Cemetery, Richebourg–L’Avoue, Nord, France. He is commemorated on the Edburton and Fulking War Memorial and the Roll of Honour in St Andrew’s Church, Edburton. He was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. … [Click here for the full article.]

Pat Nightingale & Ken Wilson-Wheeler
Beeding and Bramber Local History Society