Tributes to Queen Mother

Books of condolence were made available for residents to sign at Arun Civic Centre, Littlehampton, and at Littlehampton Town Council's Manor House offices.

Nick Gibb, MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, paid his own tribute, saying: "The Queen Mother represented for many people, and particularly retired people in Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, the spirit of Britain, and they will never forget the vital role she played during the Second World War.

"She was an inspiration and a pillar of everything good about this country, and her death will be a huge loss to Britain."

Among the Queen Mother's visits to West Sussex was one to Arundel in 1954, when she presented new colours to the 1st Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment.

She told the Battalion: "Sussex is proud of you, and of those who came before you, on the way you have upheld a fine tradition. For your bearing has but repeated the pattern of a glorious history woven through the centuries.

"For 250 years, men have gone forth from these chalk hills of Sussex in the service of their sovereign. Here, today, we remember them with honour."

A crowd estimated at 12,000 lined the castle cricket ground, which served as a parade ground for the occasion. More than 300 men of the Sussex Home Guard, and Territorial Army reservists lined the arena.

Among the Home Guard members was Robert Claude Pettit, a Rustington shoe repairer. The Queen Mother asked him where he came from and, according to the Gazette report of the time, "then gave him one of her famous smiles".

Mr Pettit told the reporter: "I didn't know whether I should, but I smiled back. I was very surprised when she stopped and spoke to me. I think I shall remember that incident for the rest of my life.

"The Queen Mother is a most gracious person there is no doubt about that."