Royal Sussex Regiment - 12th (2nd South Downs) Battalion

Royal Sussex Regiment - 12th (2nd South Downs) Battalion

The 11th, 12th and 13th Battalions of the Royal Sussex Regiment, consisting of approximately 4,500 men, were known colloquially as “Lowther’s Lambs”. This was a reference to local MP Claude Lowther, who had taken personal responsibility for raising the battalions. The 12th and 13th Battalions, supported by the 11th, were sacrificed in a diversionary raid on the Boar’s Head salient at Richebourg on 30th June 1916 in an attempt to draw German attention away from the main Somme battle area further south. The Battle at Boar’s Head lasted less than five hours, but the Southdowns Brigade lost 17 officers and 349 other ranks. Over 1,000 men were wounded or taken prisoner, and the 13th Battalion was all but wiped out. June 30th 1916 was subsequently known as “The Day Sussex Died”. This community remembers the lives of men who served with the 12th Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment, whether they took part in the battle at Boar's Head or not, and includes all those who died, were wounded, or somehow survived relatively unscathed.

Created by: , Yvonne27542

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  • Born 1893

    British Army R/394352 Private Army Service Corps

    British Army SD/1332 Private Royal Sussex Regiment 12th (2nd South Downs) Battalion

  • Died 1916

    British Army SD/4853 Private Royal Sussex Regiment

  • British Army SD/1635 Private Royal Sussex Regiment 3rd Battalion

  • Profile picture for Cecil Alexander John Alfred Moncur

    Born 1894

    Died 1916

    British Army SD/2236 Private Royal Sussex Regiment

  • Born 1885

    Died 1916

    British Army SD/3040 Private Royal Sussex Regiment 12th Battalion

  • Profile picture for Reginald Buckwell

    Born 1893

    Died 1916

    British Army SD/1578 Private Royal Sussex Regiment 12th (2nd South Downs) Battalion

  • Profile picture for Iden Claud Murdoch Bishop

    Born 1892

    Died 1916

    British Army SD/1517 Serjeant Royal Sussex Regiment

  • Profile picture for Reginald Robert Mills

    Born 1894

    Died 1916

    British Army SD/2272 Private Royal Sussex Regiment

  • British Army 2303 Serjeant Royal Sussex Regiment

    British Army 103984 Second Lieutenant Tank Corps

  • Profile picture for Cyril Bartlett

    Born 1892

    Died 1917

    British Army 85 Private Australian Voluntary Hospital

    British Army Major Royal Sussex Regiment

  • British Army SD/3189 Private Royal Sussex Regiment

  • Profile picture for George Lade

    Born 1888

    Died 1939

    British Army 36179 Private Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Regiment

    British Army SD/1605 Private Royal Sussex Regiment 12th (2nd South Downs) Battalion

  • British Army 1320 Private Royal Sussex Regiment

    British Army 43412 Private Manchester Regiment

    British Army L/13149 Private East Kent Regiment

  • Born 1890

    Died 1917

    British Army 4420 Private Bedfordshire Regiment

    British Army G/14842 Private Royal Sussex Regiment

  • Profile picture for Ernest James Coppard

    Born 1887

    Died 1916

    British Army SD/2268 Private Royal Sussex Regiment

  • British Army SD/1403 Corporal Royal Sussex Regiment

    British Army G/20791 Corporal Royal Sussex Regiment

  • Profile picture for Bert Diggens

    Born 1895

    Died 1916

    British Army SD/1881 Private Royal Sussex Regiment

  • British Army SD/1397 Private Royal Sussex Regiment

    British Army 520017 Private Labour Corps

  • Born 1898

    Died 1916

    British Army Second Lieutenant Royal Sussex Regiment

  • British Army SD/1576 Private Royal Sussex Regiment

    British Army G/6323 Private Royal Sussex Regiment

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