A Truleigh remarkable story

The reunion and exhibition were organised by Roy Taylor, who was stationed at Truleigh Hill in 1956 and 1957.

The radar operation camp was used between 1952 and 1958, during the Cold War, and was a temporary home for many soldiers on national service.

"I was writing a book," Mr Taylor told the Herald, "which is with a publisher at the moment and is about my national service. In the process of doing it, I tried to find out a lot about Truleigh Hill's history and there was nothing in libraries in Shoreham and Southwick.

"The only thing I found in the records office was an aerial photograph of the camp. So I put a letter in the Shoreham Herald, asking for information from people who are still in the area, and I got lots of responses."

The songwriter Jerry Lordan, who composed Apache for The Shadows, was one of the men who did their national service on Truleigh Hill.

One of the veterans was Gary Godfrey, who was stationed at the radar camp at Poling and then at Truleigh Hill, from 1950 to 1954.

Looking back, he said: "We were in digs in Old Fort Road. The people were very nice in Shoreham. All the girls were beautiful."

Mr Godfrey was stationed at Truleigh Hill with the actor Edward Judd, who starred in such movies as The Day the Earth Caught Fire and Hell Drivers, which was shot on the hill. Hell Drivers starred a young Sean Connery, Patrick McGoohan and Stanley Baker.

Mr Godfrey added that, after his national service, Mr Judd got his friend a few roles in films like The Sword and the Rose. "Everybody had to do national service," he said. "You had film stars. You had university professors. You had all sorts. They all had to do their time. It was a great leveller."

Jonathan Fryer, who flew in from Cyprus to be at the reunion, commented: "We enjoyed it. I don't think it did any of us any harm. We knew we had to do it, so we did not resent it."

Mr Fryer was stationed at Truleigh Hill in 1954-55. When he finished his national service, he became an actor and went on to star alongside the likes of Bill Kenwright and Tom Baker. The oldest veteran at the reunion was Joan Barnett, who served at an earlier camp on Truleigh Hill in 1943.

Mrs Barnett said a lorry used to pick up everyone from the Green Jacket pub, in Upper Shoreham Road, and take them up to the camp.

She said: "We made the most of it. It was all very hush-hush.

"It was the beginning of radar and a lot of the men who did their training in the RAF went on to work in television."