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
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
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
Born 1893
Died 1916
British Army SD/1578 Private Royal Sussex Regiment 12th (2nd South Downs) Battalion
Born 1892
Died 1916
British Army SD/1517 Serjeant Royal Sussex Regiment
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
Born 1892
Died 1917
British Army 85 Private Australian Voluntary Hospital
British Army Major Royal Sussex Regiment
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
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
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