THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com  created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

THE GREAT WAR YEARS IN FINDON

Copyright Valerie Martin 2000

First published in Along the Furlong in April 2002.

The days of the First World War were considered to be dangerous times for Findon. Although the community lay four miles inland, it was still within sight of the sea and invasion was a genuine fear.

Life continued as normal in Findon with everyday events. One notable occurrence was on 20TH JANUARY 1915 when a blaze started at William Ockenden's woodyard in Nepcote and spread destroying all the stored timber.

There were many Findon casualties during the war; one of these was Leonard Town, a quiet, well-conducted young man of the day who lived at 79 Westcourt Road in Worthing.  He worked as an up-and-coming apprentice jockey with a racehorse owner in Findon and had been in the job for five years.  The trainer thought he had great promise and had high hopes that he would turn out to be a successful professional jockey.  Leonard had ridden in races on several occasions and in 1913 partnered the mare, Lady Willoughby, to win the King's Cup, Jersey.   As a souvenir of this victory he was presented with an inscribed gold watch.  

Everything came to an end when Leonard left his Findon employment and signed up with the army to join the Middlesex Regiment.  Tragedy struck when he was killed at the age of 20 years and Findon lost a young rider. 

On 22ND FEBRUARY 1915 Germany began unrestricted submarine warfare in its effort to blockade England.

By MARCH 1915 many village shops had difficulty in recruiting employees, specially their errand boys, as many had gone to war.  It was suggested that girls could take their place — an unthinkable state of affairs before the conflict.

As thousands of men died on the front, life went on in Findon.  Many keeping the home fires burning had to cope with the return of crippled soldiers or the news that a loved one had fallen in action. 

News filtered through to the village of enemy activity in the English Channel. On THURSDAY 18th MARCH 1915, at 5.30 p.m., a steamboat named "Bluejacket" carrying a cargo of grain, had been sunk off Shoreham by a German U-boat. Some of the unfortunate crew were later escorted ashore further along the coast at Newhaven. By 1916 the attacks by German submarines had increased and Allied ships were being sunk faster than new ones could be built.  In nearby Worthing the fishermen were banned from sailing more than three miles out to sea.

In 1915 in nearby Worthing the magistrates fined a gentleman by the name of Elliott Sparkes of Marine Parade, £1 for showing a light in his home as this could be visible out at sea.

Back in 1915, the nearby Worthing residents were warned that they would face fines of up to £100 or six months in prison if they burnt household rubbish and the fire was not extinguished by sunset.   It was deemed that this would be visible during darkness out at sea and possibly mistaken as a signal or guide to the Germans.

The Findon Sheep Fair continued to be held on Nepcote Green in 1915 and again in 1916 with the usual amount of 7,000 sheep each year coming under the auctioneer's hammer. The war rumbled on and aircraft became an increasingly common sight overhead. 

In 1916 the Worthing Motor Omnibus Service curtailed its services to a minimum as petrol was scarce.  Popular charabanc rides out into the Findon countryside were suspended for the duration of the conflict.     

As the war entered its third year, the drain on Findon's manpower was so great that there were hardly any men left, only the infirm and boys too young to "join up".

On 1ST FEBRUARY 1917, the Germans announced that all ships on the High Seas from Allied ports would be sunk without warning. From that time, one out of every four merchant ships leaving the British Isles was doomed and never returned. By the end of the month, there was only six weeks' supply of grain in the country. Another loss like "Bluejacket" would be critical.

In APRIL 1917 the steamship "Eden" was torpedoed off Worthing pier.

Later in the summer, the Findon villagers heard two loud explosions one night. The mysterious blasts came from the sea. The next day there was speculation as to what had happened and rumours were rife. Two days later, on FRIDAY 8TH JUNE 1917, all was revealed, or very nearly. Two vessels had been sighted, one on the east side of Worthing Pier and one to the west. Both appeared to be badly damaged and to have been obviously torpedoed but were still floating. Photography was prohibited and I have been unable to unearth any further information.

Plenty of action was seen at home later in the war. Young city girls were shipped in and became "land girls". They all pulled together to undertake the heavy work of gathering in the harvests for the local downland village farms. 

The number of sheep penned at the Findon Sheep Fair of 1917 was disappointing and down on the previous year – the event only attracted 6,000 animals.

Continue if you would like to read about another Findonian during the First World War in  Richard Hollingdale Remembered.

 Back to Wartime Index

 Back to Main Index

THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — was launched by Valerie Martin in January 1999 and will grow to be a historical record of life in Findon, West Sussex, U.K.