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8th (Pioneers) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
8th (Service) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment was raised at Chichester in September 1914 as part of Kitchener's Second New Army and joined 54th Brigade, 18th (Eastern) Division. They moved to Colchester for training and on the 4th of February 1915 converted to be a Pioneer Battalion. In May they moved to Salisbury Plain for final training, proceeding to France, landing at Boulogne in late July and the division concentrated near Flesselles. In 1916 they were in action on The Somme in The Battle of Albert capturing their objectives near Montauban, The Battle of Bazentin Ridge including the capture of Trones Wood, The Battle of Delville Wood, The Battle of Thiepval Ridge, The Battle of the Ancre Heights playing a part in the capture of the Schwaben Redoubt and Regina Trench and The Battle of the Ancre. In 1917 they took part in the Operations on the Ancre including Miraumont and the capture of Irles, the fought during The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line and in The Third Battle of the Scarpe before moving to Flanders. They were in action in The Battle of Pilkem Ridge, The Battle of Langemarck and The First and Second Battle of Passchendaele. In 1918 they saw action during The Battle of St Quentin, The Battle of the Avre, The actions of Villers-Brettoneux, The Battle of Amiens and The Battle of Albert where the Division captured the Tara and Usna hills near La Boisselle and once again captured Trones Wood. They fought in The Second Battle of Bapaume, The Battle of Epehy, The Battle of the St Quentin Canal, The Battle of the Selle and The Battle of the Sambre. At the Armistice the Division was in XIII Corps Reserve near Le Cateau and demobilisation began on the 10th of December 1918.
Oct 1914 On the Move
Jan 1915 Specialist Training
4th February 1915 Reorganisation
20th July 1915 Clothing
21st July 1915 Maps
22nd July 1915 Orders Received
23rd July 1915 Ammunition
24th July 1915 On the Move
25th July 1915 On the Move
26th Jul 1915 On the Move 
26th July 1915 On the Move
27th July 1915 On the March
28th July 1915 Conference
29th July 1915 Route March
30th July 1915 Orders
31st July 1915 Orders
3rd Aug 1915 Instruction
5th Aug 1915 Orders
9th Aug 1915 Instruction
20th Aug 1915 Orders
20th of August 1915 Quiet Night
23rd of August 1915 Normal Situation
27th Aug 1915 Saps
17th Dec 1915 Trench Repairs
1st Jul 1916 Consolidation
10th Mar 1917 Pioneers at Work
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Cpl. George Turner 8th Btn. Welch Regiment George Turnerwas a painter and a member of the territorial Kent Garrison Artillery. A sparsity of work led him to join the Welch Regiment in Cardiff in March 1912. He served with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions.
He was wounded at Zillebeke, France on 25th of May 1915.
He later joined 8th (Pioneers) Battalion, Sussex Regiment on 16th of October 1915 until demobilization in 1919.
George served in India and France.
After assignment to the 8th Btn served in Gallipoli with the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force and Egyptian Expeditionary Force.
In 1921 he joined the 90-Day Emergency Service with 4th Buffs. Later in life George ran a green grocers shop in Sheerness, Kent.
He was one of my Grandfathers' older brothers.
My father remembers him in his later years.
All his military records and a family photos survived and are the basis for this information.
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Maj. Archibald Alderman Chase DSO MiD. 8th Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment (d.11th March 1917) Archibald Chase was born on 16th September 1884 in Jamalpur, Bengal son of William Hackett & Priscilla Jane Chase. He returned to England for education and boarded at Bedford Modern School. He attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He married Gladys Maude Waller on 28th March 1910 in Dehli, Bengal and they had two children, a son and daughter. Enlisted on 29th July 1904 with the Royal Engineers he was promoted to Lieutenant on 23rd March 1907, Captain on 30th October 1914, Battalion Major at Thiepval, France and on 11th January 1917 attached as Lieutenant Colonel Commanding Officer of the 8th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and mentioned in despatches three times. He died of his wounds on 11th of March 1917 age 32 years. Extract from letter of Brigadier General Ricahrd P. Lee "He fell mortally wounded by a shell at Irles about 5 pm on the 10th March 1917, when carrying out a reconnaissance with Colonel R.E.Henderson, Henderson was killed on the spot, and Chase succumbed the same evening, shortly after reaching hospital and so died a hero of heroes". He was buried on the 11th March 1917 in the Military Cemetery at Aveluy (where he still lies). He is remembered on the War Memorial, Eastbourne, Sussex. A pupil of Bedford Modern School 1892-1902, he is commemorated on the School War Memorial, which was unveiled in 1923 and in the Roll of Honour, published in The Eagle, December 1923. Information courtesy of www.roll-of-honour.com
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Pte. Ernest Alfred James 7th Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment (d.18th May 1918) Ernest James enlisted in mid-July 1915 into the 12th Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment at the age of 39.
He was wounded at the Battle of Boars Head on 30th of June 1916. He returned later firstly to the 8th Battalion and then the 9th.
On 5th of April 1918 on the Somme he was shot in the chest and captured as a POW. He was taken to a military hospital at Vallancienes, where he died of his wounds 18th May 1918.
He left a wife and 3 children. The youngest aged 6.
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Pte. Arthur Sean Patching 8th Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment Arthur Patching was a groom at a racing stables before he joined the 8th Btn. Royal Sussex Regiment.
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