Councillor leads poppy project to remember the fallen
A councillor and Army veteran has stuffed hundreds of envelopes with poppy crosses in an effort to remember those who died in the First World War.
Major Tom Wye, who served in the Royal Engineers for 37 years, will deliver them to houses in Worthing where the fallen used to live.
Each envelope contains a poppy cross with the casualty’s name on it, along with a biography of the soldier, to be displayed in the recipient’s window.
“There are 26 envelopes for Cranworth Road alone, for example,” said Major Wye, 76.
“People walking along will be hit with the sacrifice people in that one road made.”
Major Wye has also been posting biographies of those who served in the Great War on Facebook for the past four years, 100 years after their deaths.
The councillor has experience of leading remembrance projects. In 1998, upon returning from the Army, he led an effort to locate and clean every war grave in Broadwater Cemetery.
“It was in such a state that you couldn’t find them.” he said: “I was absolutely disgusted.”
Major Wye then founded the Friends of Broadwater Cemetery group, which is heavily involved in his current project:
“I knew we had some good researchers so I suggested off the cuff at a meeting that we researched every man on the war memorial.
“It took 10 of us four years, but we had a 97% success rate and produced it in book form for Worthing Library.”
26 soldiers from Cranworth Road alone died in World War One — a small symbol of the sacrifice Worthing made in those years. Here are their lives:
Rifleman William Clark
Born in 1890, William later moved to 1 Cranworth Road with his family. Serving in Egypt with the Rifle Brigade from 1911. He was sent to France when the war started, fighting until he was fatally wounded in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle on March 22 1915.
Guardsman Stanley Henry Haylor
Born in 1894, Stanley grew up at 53 Cranworth Road, later moving to number 21. In 1914 he joined the Scots Guards and fought in some of WW1’s early battles, but was captured in 1915. He died in a prisoner of war camp in Poznań, Poland, on March 31 1915.
Private George Fuller
Born in Lewes in 1896, George moved to 34 Cranworth Road with his mother and two sisters, working as a fish seller. He enlisted with the Royal Sussex Regiment in 1914, serving in France until he died at Richebourg-l’Avoué on May 9 1915.
Private Sidney George Nicholls
Born in 1897, Sidney lived with his wife, Ada, and three children at 84 Cranworth Road before the war. After enlisting with the Royal Sussex Regiment, he was killed in action at Richebourg-l’Avoué on May 9 1915.
Private Walter Message
Born in South East London in 1895, Walter moved to Worthing with his family in 1911, eventually settling at 40 Cranworth Road. He enlisted with the Royal Sussex Regiment, fighting until he died from his wounds on May 10 1915.
Private William John Thomas Coles
Born in Kensington in 1897, William moved to 60 Cranworth Road with his family shortly before the war, where his father, George, had a general store. He joined the Royal Sussex Regiment in 1914, serving until his death in the failed Battle of Loos on September 25 1915.
Private William Rufus Roberts
Born in 1891, William lived in a number of places until the Roberts family moved to 75 Cranworth Road in 1915. He joined the Royal Sussex Regiment when the war began, fighting until he died in the Battle of Loos on September 25 1915.
Private Peter Horace Lewis
Horace, as he was known, was born in 1889 and grew up at 4 Cranworth Road. He served in France with the Royal Sussex Regiment, dying on May 16 1916 when he was shot in the head while on sentry duty.
Private Frederick James Cawte
Born in 1892, Frederick grew up in Cranworth Road. He joined the Royal Sussex Regiment and fought until he died in the Battle of the Boar’s Head in Richebourg-l’Avoué on June 30 1916 — known as ‘The Day Sussex Died’ due to the hundreds of Sussex Regiment soldiers killed.
Private George Henry Azzopardi
Born in 1890 in Marylebone to a Turkish-British father and an Australian mother, George grew up at 74 Cranworth Road. He enlisted in the Royal Sussex Regiment, fighting until he died in the Battle of the Boar’s Head in Richebourg-l’Avoué on June 30 1916.
Corporal Edward Wady
Born in 1891, Edward moved to 38 Cranworth Road with his wife, Ethel, and son. He served with the Royal Sussex Regiment in France in 1915 before being sent home with trench foot. He then returned in 1916, fighting and dying at the bloody Battle of the Somme on July 7 1916.
Private Charles Oliver Gilbert
Born in Keymer in 1891, Charles moved with his family to 101 Cranworth Road in 1901. He joined the Royal Sussex Regiment in 1914 and went to France in 1916, fighting until his death in the Battle of the Somme on September 3 1916.
Private Ernest Alfred Jones
Born in 1897, Ernest grew up at 43 Cranworth Road, later moving to number 30. He joined the Royal Sussex Regiment at the war’s outbreak, serving until he died in an attack on October 21 1916.
Private Bernard Comber
Born in Portslade in 1891, Bernard lodged at 22 Cranworth Road while working as a milkman. He enlisted with the Royal Sussex Regiment, landing in France in 1916. He died of wounds suffered in the Battle of Arras on April 10 1917.
Company Sergeant Major Charles Henry Lawson
Born in 1882, Charles grew up at 32 Cranworth Road. He joined the Royal Sussex Regiment in 1899, fighting in the Boer War before later serving in India. In 1914 he became a company sergeant major, serving in France until he died near Messines on June 15 1917.
Lance Corporal George Edward Rich
Born in 1897, George grew up at 69 Cranworth Road. He joined the Royal Sussex Regiment in 1914 serving in the Dardanelles and Egypt until he was hospitalised with enteric fever. He transferred to the East Kent Regiment, fighting in France until he died on June 25 1917.
Private Joseph Allen Smith
Born in 1892, Joseph grew up at 40 Cranworth Road. He joined the Royal Sussex Regiment in 1914 but was found to be unfit. He joined the Regiment successfully later on, serving until he was killed by artillery near Poperinge on July 20 1917.
Private Arthur Potter
Born in 1885, Arthur lived in Sompting before boarding at 95 Cranworth Road. He joined the Royal Sussex Regiment in 1916, fighting until he died in an attack in the Third Battle of Ypres on September 27 1917.
Trooper Frederick Henry Kimber
Born in Littlehampton in 1879, Frederick left home for 58 Cranworth Road, later moving to number 56 with his wife, Emma. He joined the Household Cavalry in 1915, but was retrained as an infantryman, fighting and dying in the Battle of Passchendaele on October 12 1917.
Private Ernest William Wickings
Born in 1900, Charles moved to 32 Cranworth Road with his family. Enlisting at the age of 15 with the Machine Gun Corps, he died on November 1 1917 when he was hit in the head with a piece of shell. His battalion lieutenant wrote in a letter home that he was “as brave as a lion”.
Private Edwin John Saunders
Born in 1889 in Bermondsey, London, Edwin moved to 97 Cranworth Road with his wife, Rosa, in 1911. He joined the Royal Fusiliers, involved in some of the heaviest fighting of the war, until he died of wounds near Poperinge, Belgium, on March 31 1918.
Rifleman Albert Ernest Page
Born in 1899, Albert grew up at 84 Cranworth Road. He joined the Rifle Brigade and landed in France during the later stages of the war, fighting in the Battle of St. Quentin. He was killed in action on April 23 1918.
Private Charles Chipper
Born in 1895, Charles grew up at 47 Cranworth Road. In February 1914 he joined the Corps of Hussars, but was discharged a month later. He later joined the Royal Sussex Regiment during the war, fighting and dying at the Second Battle of the Marne on July 23 1918.
Private Edward Coleman
Born in Bootle, Merseyside, in 1897, Edward moved in to 29 Cranworth Road in 1911 with his wife, Gertrude. He served in the Army Veterinary Corps, Royal West Kent Regiment, and the London Regiment, eventually dying of his wounds on August 31 1918.
Rifleman Albert Edward Wells
Born in 1891, Albert later moved with his family to 54 Cranworth Road, working as a laundry engineer. During the war, he joined the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, serving until he died of his wounds on September 30 1918.
Private Percival White
Born in Somerton, Somerset, in 1885, Percival grew up in Boxgrove before moving with the family to 11 Cranworth Road. He joined the Army Service Corps before transferring to the Royal Berkshire Regiment, fighting until he was killed in action on October 23 1918.
Private Albert Sydney Farrell
Born in Mayfield, Sussex, in 1899, Albert and his parents eventually moved to 97 Cranworth Road. Albert was conscripted in 1917 to the Suffolk Regiment but remained in England. After falling ill in late 1918, he died at Sheerness Military Hospital on December 3 1918.
Gunner Henry Joseph Dell
Born in 1888, Henry later moved to 22 Cranworth Road with his family. He joined the Royal Marine Artillery in 1916 and was based in Portsmouth during the war. He fell ill in 1919 and died on 13 February 1919.
Driver Frank Herbert Saunders
Born in 1897, Frank grew up at 20 Cranworth Road, later moving to number seven. He joined the Royal Field Artillery in 1913 as a driver, serving during the war, then remaining in Germany after it. He died of pneumonia on April 4 1919 in Düren, Germany.
