Mayor to mark Littlehampton’s war heroes in Verdun

Councillor Jill Long, alongside members of the Littlehampton Twinning Association, will be travelling to Verdun, France, to commemorate all those from Littlehampton who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the nation’s freedom.

The trip, which will be taking place on September 26, will see the visitors uniting with the two other twinning associations in France and Germany at Verdun to commemorate the centenary of the First World War.

“It’s an honour to be doing this,” Mrs Long said. “For me, it’s the fact that these were the people who were prepared to put their lives on the line for our freedom.

“There’s a debt of gratitude that we owe those men, some who were so young,

“They had no idea what they were getting into and they never came back to us.”

Mrs Long, who will be accompanied by councillor Tony Squires and seven other twinning association members, will be laying a wreath at the national war cemetery in Verdun with all the names of the Littlehampton area’s residents who were killed during the conflict.

Mrs Long added: “Verdun is an important site in terms of the First World War.

“It just feels the right place for us to visit, stop and lay a wreath to all those from our communities who never came home from war.”