The Great War Centenary 11th November 1918-2018
To mark the 100 years since the cessation of hostilities we have produced a database of over 2,700 service personnel who lost their lives in the conflict. Most of these were born and or lived in the Hastings & Rother Area. A significant number were connected only by having lost their fight for survival in the local hospitals which took them in from the battlefields; some thousands of miles from home.
Alexandra Park War Memorial, Hastings
The names have been collected from the many public memorials in the towns, villages and churches in Hastings, Bexhill, Battle, Rye and the surrounding communities. Their ages range from 15-58. They represent both men and women.
HRFHS Founder, Stan Tomlin, with Society members, undertook a collection of most of the names in 1998; the 80th Commemoration year. This formed the basis of the work which has added to that list and included a range of information about the individuals. For nearly all, the Database includes Regiment, Regimental Number and the date of death. Where possible, additional information of birthplace and address is also provided. The HRFHS would be pleased to help anyone seeking further details on a family member discovered in the lists.
The full publication is available here in Excel format. Apologies if you find difficulty in opening it but at the moment this is the only means we have. It is too large for PDF and as Compiler I can only work in this medium. Simply click: War Memorials WW1 Database
Commonwealth War Graves Section, Hastings Borough cemetery
Those service personnel who died in this area and the very few whose bodies were repatriated from the Front were buried in local cemeteries and graveyards. Some were brought “home” from elsewhere in the Country. Most are laid to rest in the Hastings Borough Cemetery and most of them are together in the Commonwealth War Graves (CWGC) Section. However, 91 were interred elsewhere. Our Database Supplement lists each individual and includes details of where to find the grave. Two options here – one is for Hastings Borough Cemetery and the other is for the other sites in the Rother Area:
WW1 Hgs B Cemetery Burials WW1 Rother Burials
Every month within this Feature we have provided a short biography of just one serviceman as it reaches the 100th year since his loss. Those and the many personal stories shared by HRFHS members will be gathered in an anthology. The full list of those killed in action or died of wounds is available by clicking: WWI Killed in Action HRFHS Area
PLEASE NOTE: all of these databases have been compiled in an exclusive format which is the (c) of HRFHS. Please feel free to use them for reference but permission MUST be obtained for any copy – partial or entire – in any form. Go to contacts if you need to
Hastings Museum & Art Gallery, Johns Place, Cambridge Road
RECOMMENDED
Many of the Canadian troops in WW1 were first generation immigrants from what was then a “young” Country. Canadians are very keen to learn more about their brave forebears who willingly crossed the Atlantic. Many were only recent immigrants from Britain not least from the Hastings and Rother area. This website could be a worthwhile start to find your own Canadian links: canadianukgravesww1.co.uk
Our War Memorials Database could not have been produced without the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website. It is easy to search … and FREE www.cwgc.org