Lest we forget
August 1, 2014
This August, the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, we are joining with communities across the National Park to remember the lives of people from the South Downs who lost their lives.
Linch War Memorial
Residents of Linch Parish in West Sussex turned out to celebrate the reinstatement of the Linch War Memorial on the corner of Linch Road and Fernhurst Road at a re-dedication service held on Sunday 27th July 2014.
The Memorial, originally dedicated in 1921 and designed by local architect B.C.G Shore, was destroyed by a falling tree during a ferocious storm in January. It has been carefully restored by Chichester Stoneworks and work on the Memorial was finally finished a few days before the re-dedication service. The costs of repairing the Memorial have been met by Linch Parish thanks to grants from the South Downs National Park Authority and the War Memorials Trust.
The re-dedication service was led by Canon Anthony Hulbert, former rector of St Luke’s Church in Linch and attended by John Pownall, Chairman of the Milland Branch of the Royal British Legion. Local Linch resident, Terry Crocker, whose Great Uncles George and Percy Terry were both killed in the First World War and whose names feature on the Memorial, laid a wreath in their memory and the memory of other Parish war heroes.
Steve Collins, Chair of Linch Parish, said:
“Everyone is delighted to see the Memorial sitting proudly on it’s plinth again in time for the First World War commemorations so that we, along with the rest of the Nation, can remember the contribution made by those who gave their lives. We are extremely grateful for the generosity of both the War Memorials Trust and the South Downs National Park Authority. Without their contributions, the restoration of the Memorial would not have been possible.’’
The Chattri
On the Downs just above Patcham stands an unusual monument of white marble. The Chattri, stands as a monument to the Indian soldiers who fought and died on the Western Front during World War I. Between 1914 and 1918, over 1.5 million Indian soldiers fought alongside British troops. Around 12,000 of those troops, who were wounded, found themselves being treated in and around Brighton. Fifty three Hindus and Sikhs were among the Indian soldiers who sadly lost their fight for life in Brighton and were cremated near Patcham.
The Chattri, which means umbrella in Hindi, was built above the cremation site and bears the inscription:
‘To the memory of all the Indian soldiers who gave their lives for their King-Emperor in the Great War, this monument, erected on the site of the funeral pyre where the Hindus and Sikhs who died in hospital at Brighton, passed through the fire, is in grateful admiration and brotherly affection dedicated.’
The monument stands not only in memory of the fallen soldiers, but as a reminder of the important role that this special landscape has played in British history.