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He is also commemorated on the Memorial Tablet at Horsham Police Station, West Sussex |
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Ernest SQUIRES West Sussex Constabulary. Born at Aldingbourne and enlisted at Horsham. Serjeant SD/639* 11th Bn., Royal Sussex Regiment Killed in Action Sunday 3rd September 1916 Buried at Serre Road Cemetery No2, Somme, France Grave reference X.E.9 |
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*The SD prefix was a very distinctive army number. It indicated that the holder had volunteered for service in the Sussex Pals and stood for South Downs Battalions. The South Downers were also known as 'Lowthers Lambs' after Colonel Claude Lowther who had been instrumental in their formation and recruitment. |
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Serre Road Cemetery No 2, Somme, France The village of Serre is 11 km north east of Albert. In the spring of 1917 the battlefields of the Somme and Ancre were cleared by V Corps and a number of new cemeteries were made, three of which are now named from the Serre Road. This cemetery was begun in May 1917. There are now 7,126 Commonwealth burials of the First World War in the cemetery. The cemetery which was not completed until 1934 was designed by Sir Edward Lutyens. |
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Between the cemetery and the French Memorial Chapel is a small strip of land which is believed to be the site of a dugout in 'No Man's Land' which was described by Wilfred Owen both in a letter to his mother and in his poem The Sentry. |
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There we herded from the blast Of whizbangs; but one found our door at last, - Buffeting eyes and breath, snuffing the candles, And thud! Flump! Thud! Down the steep steps thumping And sploshing in the flood, deluging muck, The sentry's body; then his rifle, handles Of old Boche bombs, and mud in ruck and ruck. We dredged it up, for dead, until he whined 'O sir - my eyes, - I'm blind, - I'm blind, I'm blind. |
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The Men Index of Cemeteries & Memorials The West Sussex Men |