This huge tank attracted crowds to the Brunswick Lawns in the summer of 1918 not long before the end of the First World War.

Nicknamed Egbert, it would occasionally amble across the grass and surmount a pile of sandbags to show what it could do.

The tank remained there for three days in July and its presence raised money during War Weapons Week from a town that had already been amazingly generous.

More than £2.5 million passed through the accounts of Hove War Savings Committee and much more was given to the Government by rich people using their banks.

After the war was over, Hove was given its own tank to mark its generosity and the lumbering machine arrived directly from France in September 1919.

Called Hova, it was taken to Hove Park from the railway depot in Sackville Road and was handed over by Captain W F Farrar who had served in her.

But the novelty wore off after a while and the tank became a sad, rusty old relic which was removed for scrap in 1937.

A more permanent reminder was the elegant war memorial in Grand Avenue designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens whose most famous work is probably the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London.

Sir George Frampton, who also designed the statue of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, sculpted the figure of St George on the top.

The memorial was unveiled in 1921 by Lord Leconfield, Lord Lieutenant of Sussex. Floral tributes were placed on the base.

At the actual end of the war, bells were sounded in Hove town hall and a message from the Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, was displayed outside.

A large crowd gathered and was entertained during the afternoon by the antics of two brave airmen who performed spectacular aerobatics.

All the churches opened their doors in the evening but there was no lively celebration or drunkenness in the streets.

When the peace treaty was signed in 1919, 1,500 ex-servicemen assembled on the seafront and marched to the town hall.

An afternoon of sport had been arranged at the Goldstone football ground, home of Brighton and Hove Albion, but unfortunately rain spoilt the event.

Two weeks later, schoolchildren had better luck with their celebrations at Hove Recreation Ground.

Mothers, widows and children of men who had died in the war were given tea at Hove Town Hall and after they attended a service at All Saints Church.

Portslade also had a memorial, in Trafalgar Road from 1930, but traffic disrupted services there and in 1954 it was moved to peaceful Easthill Park.

The mood was so different from that prevailing at the start of the war in 1914. Few families had escaped mourning a member in the enormous death and destruction of this conflict.

All the information has been taken from Hove and Portslade in the Great War by former librarian Judy Middleton.

The book is published by Pen and Sword at £12, 99 it is available at Tesco (Hove and Portslade) Waterstone’s and City Books.

Looking back

The north side of Western Road, Brighton’s main shopping street, was rebuilt between the wars as the street was widened.

Several sections were rebuilt in Art Deco style, among them this handsome six-storey block towards the western end.

Shops on the ground floor included International Stores. It looks tiny now but in the 1930 was one of the largest food outlets in the country.

The redevelopment helped council finances as Brighton owned the property on this side of the road.

There is a marked absence of traffic including buses in this picture but there are plenty of pedestrians.