'Profoundly important' - New war memorial unveiled in Crawley station to commemorate all the servicemen who left the town to go to war
A new plaque to commemorate all the servicemen that left Crawley station to go to war has been unveiled.
A similar plaque was also being unveiled in Horsham and they were organised by Crawley & Horsham Armed Forces Veterans Breakfast club in conjunction with The Southeast Communities Rail Partnership, who helped engage with the rail network teams.
Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex, Lady Emma Barnard, unveiled the plaque on Friday, November 7 in front of veterans, including 101-year-old George Durrant and local dignitaries including Crawley Mayor Councillor Sharmila Sivarajah and MP Peter Lamb.
Denise Reekie from Crawley & Horsham Armed Forces Veterans Breakfast club spoke before the unveiling to explain why the plaque had been placed at the station.
"In 1913, the Crawley Territorial Smoking Concert was held in the railway assembly rooms, now The Railway pub. The Territorials were dressed in their highly colourful regalia. The local menfolk were invited in, a military band would be played, and the locals would be enticed to join up.
"From these events, the peacetime Territorials grew. At a 1913 event, Sir John Luscombe gave a toast to congratulate Sea Company, 4th Battalion, the Royal Sussex Regiment, for being recruited to full strength. In 1914, at the commencement of World War I, Crawley was very much thrown into doing its bit.
"The local community gathered in assembly rooms.In Crawley, these meetings were held in the George Assembly Rooms, and in the Lower Square, as well as the Ifield Cricket Club. Once the volunteers signed up after a short period of training, they marched to Crawley Railway Station, which in 1914 was next to The Railway pub, 200 metres towards Horsham, and boarded trains heading to the front. Crawley provided soldiers of Sea Company, 4th Battalion, the Royal Sussex Regiment, which is one of the forebears of the Queen's Regiment, and subsequently the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment.
"During World War I, 1914 to 1980, Sea Company, 4th Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment, landed at Gallipoli. They were evacuated to Palestine, seeing service in Gaza and Jerusalem, Egypt, and then in May 1980, arrived in France until the end of the war. This memorial does not only cover World War I, as World War I is a turning point in our military history,and notwithstanding the conscription in World War II and National Service up to 1960, the British Armed Forces are all volunteers.
"Since then, the town's servicemen and servicewomen have served their crown and country in many other conflicts to this day. We, as Crawley and Horsham Armed Forces and Veterans Breakfast Club, have veterans today who have served our country in conflicts. From George Durrant, our 101-year-old Burma Star veteran, plus some who have served in the Korean War, Israel, Cyprus, Aden, Borneo, Malaya, Northern Ireland, the Falkland Islands, Gulf War I, Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
"Within the club, we have three members who wear the Elizabeth Cross, as they are the next of kin who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. Two of them are here today, Colin Edgar, a veteran himself, whose brother Christopher was killed on 14 September 1969, the first British soldier to die in Northern Ireland.
"Carol Summers, whose son Marine Scott Summers was tragically killed in Afghanistan on 21 February 2007.We also have Peter Hay, again a veteran, whose father was killed in Cyprus in 1964 in the Enoch uprising. Peter and Anne are currently visiting his father's grave in Cyprus. This memorial is dedicated to the servicemen of World War I and all the servicemen and women of the town past and present."
Mrs Reekie also thanked Crawley Council for gifting them the soldier silhouettes for the plaque, the artwork designers Paul Reynolds and Mark Thurgood, Bell Signs, who have produced the memorials and supported them for the last two months with the graphics, Rowena Tyler from the Southeast Communities Rail Partnership, who helped engage with the rail network teams and Dave, who is the Crawley station manager, who helped choose and prepare the location and erect the memorial.
On unveiling the plaque, Lady Emma Barnard said: “I think this is a very moving and very profound moment. It's at a very appropriate time of course we are in Remembrance Week. I would like to remember the people who have departed from this station and also all the people who were their loved ones, are their loved ones.
"Friends, family, those who have supported them, gone through the sadness of finding possibly that their loved one never came back. And I think it's very important to include within that military family all those people who support, who do so much. And it's such a joy to be here this morning. Well done for doing this. I think these sorts of things are profoundly important.”
War veteran Mr Durrant said: “It’s lovely, it’s beautiful. I am very pleased with it. It’s very important [to remember them] because they gave up their lives to make the country better for you. They must never be forgotten.”