Sussex Archaeological Collections: Relating to the history and antiquities of the counties of East and West Sussex
Sussex Archaeological Society, 2000. (updated 2022) https://doi.org/10.5284/1000334. How to cite using this DOI
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- ADS Collection: 285
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000334
- How to cite using this DOI
Landscapes of War and Peace
Sussex, the South Downs and the Western Front 1914-18
By JOHN GODFREY
This article explores how and to what extent an attachment to the localities and landscapes of the county of Sussex (and in particular the chalk landscapes of the South Downs) motivated and sustained soldiers of the Royal Sussex Regiment fighting on the Western Front during the First World War. It discusses the significance of locality and landscape as creations of the mind, and explores the origins and significance of the concept of 'the South Country' in the development of notions of England and Englishness in the years immediately before the First World War. The relevant history of the Royal Sussex Regiment is discussed, and 12 soldiers who fought with the Regiment on the Western Front, and whose letters, diaries or memoirs survive, are introduced. The article comments on the nature of these records and their reliability for historical research purposes. It analyses how, and to what extent, these men were motivated in their decisions to enlist in the Regiment and then to endure the conditions of 20th-century warfare by thoughts of their homes in Sussex and the localities and landscapes with which they were familiar in their civilian lives, and the significance of these motivating factors compared with others, such as patriotism, comradeship and ambition. The article concludes that considerations of locality and landscape were material in motivating these 12 soldiers to enlist and to endure, although other factors are probably equally important in understanding their motivations.
