By Victoria Evans, Searchroom Archivist For this year’s International Women’s Day, the theme is ‘Give to Gain’. Throughout the Second World War, the women of Britain and beyond sacrificed a lot, and some their lives, to ensure that our nation maintained its freedom from the impending threat of Nazi invasion. Additionally, the acts of brave…
Tag: Military History
The Auxiliary Territorial Service in West Sussex – Part One
By Victoria Evans, Searchroom Archivist As the archivist in charge of our social media at WSRO, I am always trawling through documents and photographs to share with our following. This led me to stumble across a comprehensive photographic collection (PH 28906-29041) of a woman’s service in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS). Her name was (Kathleen)…
Continue reading ➞ The Auxiliary Territorial Service in West Sussex – Part One
D-Day 80: Memories of local residents
By Matthew Jones, Assistant County Archivist Residents of towns and villages along the south coast of England would have been only too aware of the huge build-up of military personnel, vehicles and equipment as the preparations for D-Day gathered pace in early 1944. Bognor Regis: airborne assault glider being towed by an aircraft, 6 June…
D-Day: The West Sussex Story
By Alan Readman “Okay, we'll go!” With these words, spoken to his Chiefs of Staff at Southwick House, near Portsmouth, at 4.15 on the morning of 5 June 1944, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, set in motion the greatest armada the world had ever seen. The day following…


