NEWSPAPER cuttings from a century ago tell how hundreds of brave soldiers left Sussex for military training.

The Argus from September 15, 1914, reads: “Four hundred recruits for the 9th Service Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment, which is being formed by Mr Claude Lowther, MP of Herstmonceux, departed from Eastbourne by special train at 4.30 yesterday afternoon for Cooden, where they will undergo training.

“The men assembled at the Ordance Yard and were played to the railway station by the St George’s Cadet Bugle Band.”

While troops in the UK were embarking on the railway for their training, soldiers abroad found themselves in a rather precarious position.

Under the headline ‘Remarkable Incidents’, one story read: “During the fighting on the 10th, part of our Second Army Corps advancing north found itself marching parallel to another infantry force, but some little distance away.

“At first it was thought that this was another British unit. After some time however, it was discovered that it was a body of Germans retreating. Measures were promptly taken to head off the enemy, who were surrounded and trapped in a sunken road, where over 400 men surrendered.”

On the seas, British forces were also seeing success.

‘German cruiser sunk by submarine in the North Sea’, read the headline.

The story said: “It is officially announced in Berlin that the light cruiser ‘Stella’ has been sunk by a British submarine in the North Sea. The majority of crew were saved.”