East Grinstead

Sidney Godley was the first Private to be awarded the Victoria Cross in the First World War.
Early life
Sidney Frank Godley (1889-1957) was born at North End Imberhorne Lane), East Grinstead, West Sussex. His family had lived in the East Grinstead and Felbridge area for generations; the Godleys can be traced back to East Grinstead […]

Lord Kitchener was appointed Secretary for War in August 1914. His main task was to persuade men to join the British Army. At a meeting on the 19th August it was suggested by Sir Henry Rawlinson that men would be more willing to enlist if they knew they would serve with people they knew. Lord […]

In February 1919 a German machine-gun was sent to East Grinstead in recognition of the town’s success in raising War Loans on behalf of the British government. At a meeting of the East Grinstead Urban Council, Joseph Rice and Alfred Burt complained that the town deserved something that could be placed on public exhibition in […]

After men joined the army they were sent to local army camps to be turned into soldiers. As experienced officers were needed in France to organise the war against the Germans, elderly people were bought out of retirement to train the men. These men were often over the age of sixty. One sixty five year […]

When war was declared in August 1914, there were only 750,000 men in the British Army. Lord Kitchener, Britain’s War Minister, decided that the the British Army needed another 500,000 men. By the end of August over 300,000 men had answered the call in army recruitment centres in Britain’s main towns and cities.
The first recruitment […]