7th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment in 1940

I have over the last year been gathering as much information on the 7th bn Royal Sussex, as I can.The battalion suffered major losses in action in May 1940.
I had my grandads account ( who passed away last year ) and was fortunate to find an old newspaper article he had kept about a battalion visit to the memorial at Amiens which had a chaps name and address who organised reunions, after a quick call to directory services I was lucky to find, even after a good number of years this chap still lived there and visit was arranged. I came away from there with some detailed accounts also some company photo's and an invite to the next reunion.
What with this + the few newspaper cuttings and some pics my grandad had and futher information I recieved from the West Sussex records office I have a fair bit put together now.
Thanks to google I even found a picture of the troop ship that took them all to France.
I am at the moment trying to find out more about the barracks they were at in Brighton, I have the locations, sort of, but looking for some period photo's now.
If anyone has any information on the '7th' and likewise if I can give anybody any help, I would be happy to hear from them.

Barrie.

 

I have just found i the last few days that my Great Uncle fought with the 7th Battalion Royal Sussex during 1940. I don't know much and at present struggling to find any information about the regiment, and would be grateful for any you may be able to pass my way. Cheers

 

my great uncle was also in the 7th battalion, he died in france may 1940

 

my great uncle was also in the 7th battalion, he died in france may 1940

He died at the beginning of June 1940 in France.

 

Sorry images not up to much, haven't got a scanner & my camera is up the spout.
(Really annoying just before our holiday too!)

There goes my France Pic's.

 

Welcome to the site davel.
I posted some info on shelly's "hello" thread.
http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/user-introductions/11696-hello.html


BBC - WW2 People's War - 7th Battlion Royal Sussex Regiment May 1940


Cheers Owen, I had seen your posts on shelly's hello thread. I've read similar transcripts from the battle at Amiens and the pounding they took. I've also found my Great Uncles grave on the CWGC site. He seems to have made it through the May and died in early June. So bit confused in timelines as to what he was doing?
He is Private Richard George Meaney 6402513 7th Battalion RSR
If anyone can point in the right direction, I'd be most grateful
Cheers

 

Hello Davel,

I have his name recorded in the casualty list and the day he died .

I can post what details I have or if you prefer through a pm , I also have all company photo's so I might have a picture of him.........

Cheers.

 

My friends father Captain George Herbert Cook was in the 7th btn Royal Sussex Regiment and he got the Military cross in 1945, she does not know much about her father as her mother met him in Brighton in 1938 and she was born, but after that her mother took her to Australia, so she knows nothing about him, I have tried to find him but no luck, would you have any information on him please, I have some detail of his injuries, he lost an arm in 1940 and was a prisoner of war, he was lucky to have survived the war, you say in one of your messages above that you were looking for the camp in Brighton in 1938 of the 7 th btn, this is where her mother must have met him?
Would appreciate any information please as I also live in Australia.

 

G'day Trish (sorry, couldn't resist that!)
You may find it more rewarding to start a new thread for Captain George Herbert Cook, of 7th Sussex rather than add him to an existing thread.

I have had a quick look but can't find anything that specifically fits for you.
It sounds as if he was captured after being badly wounded in May 1940.
He must have been recommended for his actions during the retreat to Dunkirk to have been awarded the Military Cross in 1945 by which time his arm had been amputated.

Good luck with your search, you may also want to ask about the War Diary for 7th Sussex, entries in the London Gazette for his MC etc.
Would Oldham be your mothers maiden name, as that might help join the dots!
When did she emigrate?

EDIT: Doh! I see you have already done so!

 

Thanks I will do that, my friend immigrated 1953, I didn't till 1980 as I was a jenny wren, joined up in 1957 first draft was Plymouth!!!!!

 

Hello, the following is the recommendation for Capt. G.H. Cook 7th Royal Sussex.

T/Captain G.H. Cook (197137)

'' Near Amiens on 20 May 1940, Captain Cook commanding H.Q Coy 7 Royal Sussex Regiment, although suffering from shock as the result of bombing in a troop train on 18 May, showed outstanding gallantry in the defence of our exposed position against tank attack. His actions and example even after being twice wounded, definitely continued the ability of the Battalion (entirely unsupported) to hold up the enemy. (100 tanks under General Rommel)*, actually delaying them for nineteen hours.
(Recommended for Military Cross)
(was POW at Hospital du Valde Grace, Paris)

* It was most likely that it was General Heinz Guderian , rather than General Irwin Rommel.

Also there was an written account published in the Readers Digest some years ago of four American ambulance drivers for the Red Cross.
In this Capt. Cook was mentioned as it was one of these guys who found him on the 22nd May 1940, it reads....

''The morale of our few British continually amazed us. Never a whimper while they lay desperately wounded, without water or proper medicine, with guns firing and shells exploding almost within spitting distance of where they lay; and everywhere that unforgettable smell of gangrene. I remember one in particular: Captain Cook of the Royal Sussex. He had lain on the field for two days, and when I picked him up his right arm was so riddled with bullets that I was afraid it would drop off. Finally it came his turn in the operating room; but there were no stretchers to carry him upstairs. So he walked, with his good arm thrown over my shoulder. We passed a group of French soldiers complaining about all the things there were to complain of in our sad excuse for a hospital. Captain Cook gave them a withering look and said to me, in a clear voice: ''What are we expected to do _ sail our English fleet right up the bloody Seine to cheer these chaps up ?''

Captain Cook was the O/C of HQ Company, and was a friend of a chap I know who was the battalion medical orderly and spoke very highly of him.
The Battalion was billeted all over Brighton, in private houses as well as Dyke Road Barracks, I believe HQ Coy was at Highcroft Villas, long gone now, flats now stand in it's place.

The pictures are of HQ Coy and of the Battalion Band Captain Cook, I believe is in the centre of both.


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[sharedmedia=gallery:images:22733]

Hope this was helpful, regards Barrie.

 

Thank you Barrie for the information, it is very helpfull, I cannot see the picture properly is it possible to make it bigger?

 

Sending a copy of Captain Cook for you, does he look like the person you said in the photo

 

Hello Trish, yes the chap in the photo certainly has striking resemblance to the chap in the group pictures, the picture you have, I would say, was taken postwar. Do you have any other pictures of Capt.Cook or of his Regiment ?

I have attended a few of the Battalion reunions, the last of which was held this year. I made a phone call to someone who has attended many of these evenings and he can never recall a time that Capt. Cook had attended. But saying that I have a list from the first reunion back in 1981 and Capt. Cook is down as giving the second toast to 'The Regiment'. It also has his address at that time in Folkestone, Kent.

If you p.m me your email address I will gladly send you the address and a link to a picture that claims to be the said building, but I could not clarify that, although I fear it will not help in your search, but it may give your friend something even if it is to look at the building her father had lived at. I will also email you the Company pictures and an image from the cover of a book which has a picture of the 7th Royal Sussex marching through the streets of Brighton in 1940 and again Capt. Cook can be seen, the moustache is a give away.

Regards, Barrie.

 

Hi Barrie - what's the book called and who wrote it.

I'm sure someone else was on here recently asking about Capt Cook's MC and any other details on him ?

Cheers
Andy

 

Thank you Barrie for all the information, my friend will be very happy.
My email is - xxx

Trish