Huge crowds remember Sussex's war dead

Four fire engines pulled up alongside Brighton war memorial where onlookers stoically ignored several downpours yesterday and even a dog wore a poppy in his fur.

Around 40 wreaths were laid - 10 more than usual - by prominent people such as city mayor Carol Theobald, MPs Des Turner and David Lepper and representatives from the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force.

There was even a wreath filled with pink flowers which paid homage to the gay and lesbian victims of the war.

It read: "In memory of all those lesbian and gay men in British and allied forces who were imprisoned, suffered and died in concentration camps - because they were gay."

Unexpectedly, a weeping mother gatecrashed the parade to add a wreath for her dead son - who died in a car crash.

Chantelle Lecluse, tagged onto the end of the queue with the wreath dedicated to her son Andre, who served with the French army in Remy but lived in Brighton and died in 2005 in a road accident at the age of 33. The wreath included a picture of him in a soldier's uniform. Organisers said she was not part of the official line-up of the parade.

Organiser Tony Sullivan, from the Royal British Legion, said there were normally only 30 or so wreaths and far fewer onlookers.

He said: "I am delighted with the turnout. It is great to have so many people here.

"There are more people here today than I have seen in years which is great.

"It is especially good to see so many come from the younger generation and understand what today is all about.

"But the most important thing is the people there - the ones marching and remembering and the ones we owe our gratitude to."

It was a similar success story in Worthing where around 2,500 people attended the service at the town's war memorial in Chapel Road.

It was generally regarded as the biggest turnout in years, with the public standing ten deep in places, undeterred by bouts of heavy rain.

Major Darrell Thomas, chaplain to the Mayor of Worthing Heather Mercer and officer in charge of the town's Salvation Army, read the sermon and thanked soldiers past and present for their sacrifices.

In Rye a British solider who saw his twin brother die in Iraq on their 24th birthday today saw his name listed on a war memorial in their home town.

Corporal Will Rigby was joined by family members at a civic remembrance service at St Mary's Church which was attended by more than 500 people.

Big crowds also joined a service at Hove's war memorial in Grand Avenue at 2.30pm.

The record-breaking support comes after General Sir Richard Dannatt, head of the Army, recently complained about the lack of public appreciation for Britain's military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

World War Two veteran Major John Hughes, 86, of Brighton, said it seemed that people attending the event were growing rather than decreasing.

He said: "We come here every year and there are more people here than I have seen for a long time regardless of the perfect armistice day weather.

"We lost a lot of colleagues in the war so it is nice to see."

His friend Dr Tony Atcherley, 82, a D-Day veteran said: "It might be to do with the fact there is a war on at the moment "It is important for us because we have got loads to remember. It is also important to remember what happened to try to put an end to war.

"At least people are against war much more these days. It was considered a normal kind of thing in my youth whereas people don't think it is such a good thing now. The new way of thinking all started with Vietnam and then Iraq - there's lots of opposition now and I for one would hope it stops happening."

Judy Law, of Saltdean, said the effects of war devastated so many lives that the least we can do is pay homage. She said her 96-year-old mother-in-law lost her husband during the second world war and had never recovered.

She said: "He was the love of her life and she just never remarried. She has been missing him ever since.

"She was too upset to actually come down here today so is watching it on the telly instead."

Ten-year-old Poppy Gomez, of Albion Hill, Brighton, said she was putting in her cross for more than one reason. She said: "This is for my great-grandfather who died in the war and for my friend Josh who died of cancer this year."

Her grandmother Jan Martin, of King's Road, Brighton, said it was a cathartic exercise for the youngsters to confront their loss in this way. She said: "They have had a tough year and it seems to be helping them to be dealing with it this way.

"It doesn't just have to be about war although it is important for us all to remember what happened and think about how different it could all have been if those men hadn't given up their lives.

"We have brought the children down each year since they were in their prams and would never miss it."

At least a dozen soldiers on parade at Worthing, and others in the crowd, wore Iraq and Afghanistan campaign medals.

They included L/Cpl Rob Bradley, 42, from Sompting, near Worthing, who has served in Afghanistan in 2003 and did a seven-month tour of Iraq last year.

He said public perception of returning soldiers was now changing for the better, but some still had stories to tell of shabby treatment on coming home.

Also in the procession was Alan Dienst, seven, of Coleridge Crescent, Worthing, who was wearing the campaign medals of his late grandfather, John Cass, who served in North Africa and Italy during the Second World War.

Equally poignant was a small cross in the garden of remembrance stating: "Pte Robert Howard, 28/5/40, Ox and Bucks (Light Infantry), with the inscription: "To my dad from your little sweetheart."

Another cross paid tribute to Alfred John Dell, who fell at the Battle of Mons in 1914.

Worthing soldier Chris Lovett, of the Parachute Regiment, who was killed in action 25 years ago during the Falklands War, was also remembered.

Ron Battell, 81, of Barrington Road, Worthing, proudly viewed the newly inscribed name of his cousin, Private Alexander Lomax, 21, on the memorial.

Pte Lomax, of Market Street, Worthing, died when the SS Lancastria troop ship was sunk by German bombers off St Nazaire on June 17, 1940.

An estimated 5,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen fleeing the advancing German army lost their lives in Britain's worst maritime disaster.

Mr Battell, who served in the Royal Engineers during the Second World War, was unsure why Pte Lomax's name had been left off, but contacted the town hall which employed a stonemason to add his name last week.

A wreath of poppies laid against the memorial remembered Raymond Steed, who at 14 was the youngest Merchant Navy seaman to die in the 1939-45 conflict.