Bognor in the Great War

Clifford Mewett

sen, 2014 · Pen and Sword

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Bognor at the time of the Great War was a small seaside town, quiet in winter but full of visitors in the summer. At that time it was barely one hundred and thirty years old, developed from a hamlet by Sir Richard Hotham, a hatter, who wanted to create his own purpose built bathing resort, to attract the nobility to take the sea air and as a rival to other towns along the Sussex coast. rnrnIn 1911 the population of Bognor had grown to a little over eight thousand, of whom around eleven hundred men answered the call in 1914, around a third of whom never returned. The book tells their stories, not in alphabetical Roll of Honour order, but in real time as it happened. It also takes a close look at those who fought and returned to Bognor, albeit with some badly injured, facing the future carrying the scars of four years fighting. Also included are the local villages of Aldwick, North and South Bersted and Felpham.rnrnWartime life in Bognor has also been included, how the town coped from the influx of Belgian refugees in 1914, a look at the various voluntary organisations, recruitment, invasion fears, conscientious objectors, tribunals, lighting restrictions, Zeppelins, food shortages and the victory celebrations. rnrnQueen Victoria, who stayed at Bognor as a child, once referred to it in later life as 'dear little Bognor'. Some eighty years later 'dear little Bognor' flexed her muscles as her young men marched to war.As seen in the Bognor Regis Observer.

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Cliff Mewett has lived on the Sussex Coast all his life. He was born in Hastings in 1946, where he attended Hastings Grammar School, before embarking on a career split between the Prudential and the Post Office. On leaving school he spent three years in the Queens Regiment, TAVR before being commissioned into the RAF VR (T). He married Marion in 1973 and they have two daughters. Apart from local history his other interest revolves round a collection of British motorcycles and a classic MG.