THIS scene is believed to be an Air Raid Patrol (ARP) training exercise.
The picture was taken in Lewes in 1939 and shows the junction at the top of School Hill – the memorial is behind the police officer.
Note the gas mask in the bag round his neck.
Bomb damage in Rye in 1942
Another Argus archive picture shows a scene of devastation at the South Undercliff in Rye. While some think it may have been a gas explosion, the more likely theory is that it was Second World War bomb damage.
Local historians in Rye think it happened on September 16, 1942, when a bomb dropped on the rear of the Mermaid Inn, bounced and exploded, demolishing “Mr Brown’s butcher’s shop at Green Steps and damaging Strand House”.
Rye was heavily targeted by bombing raids and was also a convenient place for the enemy to dump unused bombs on the way home.
East Grinstead circa 1937
Our final picture is less dramatic but equally fascinating – it shows a bustling East Grinstead in about 1937.
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