Newspaper reports from almost a century ago cast light on a fatal tsunami that struck the Sussex coast.

Beachgoers who were soaking up the summer sunshine on July 20 1929 were shocked and horrified when a wave almost five metres (16ft) high crashed on to the shore.

Reports from the time said hundreds of people paddling near the Palace Pier were swept up the beach by the tidal wave, with people sitting in deckchairs swamped by the sudden rush of water.

Bathers rushed in all directions to escape the freak wave, with some caught by water almost being carried out to sea, such was the strength of the tsunami as it receded.

One boatman stationed near the pier at the time told the Sussex Daily News: “People sitting in deckchairs at the shingle and sand edge were swamped and found water suddenly up to their waists and gradually creeping higher.

“There was a wild rush up the beach for the promenade. Then the wave receded and left everything dry.

“Another wave came up and we had a lively time getting people out of the water.

“When the second wave went back it sucked the sand bone dry. Chairs were washed out and then left on the sand.”

The tidal wave was reportedly greatest in intensity to the west of the West Pier, but the greatest danger was east of the Palace Pier, where hundreds of people were paddling along the beach.

The Argus: Brighton town centre in 1929, with St Peter's Church to the left of the pictureBrighton town centre in 1929, with St Peter's Church to the left of the picture (Image: Argus archive)

In a letter to The Argus in 2001, Southwick resident Doreen Catten recalled her memories of that day as a ten-year-old girl playing with her friends on the beach.

She said: “It was an extremely hot afternoon and the tide was some way out.

“We were all having a paddle when the sky became as black as ink and we were in darkness, just like night.

“A huge wave came right over us and we all made a human chain and pulled each other out.

“When we eventually got to safety, we saw what seemed to be hundreds of people struggling in the water, with deckchairs, clothes, handbags and so on floating there.

“To our dismay, we could not find my brother but, after a lot of searching, we found him in a very distressed state sitting on a groyne off the next beach.”

While Doreen’s brother was found safe and well, the wave brought tragedy to Hastings when disaster overtook a boat containing four people.

As the vessel returned from a fishing expedition, the 6m (20ft) high wave caused it to capsize with everyone thrown into the water.

Speaking to the Sussex Daily News, the fisherman of the boat said:  “We were off the harbour arm when suddenly as I was rowing I saw a great wave rising up about 50 or 60 yards astern.

“It was bearing down on us and rising as it came. I was paralysed for the moment and then I just managed to turn the boat end on to meet it so as not to catch the full force broadside, but it was on us like a flash.”

While the fisherman and two of the boat’s passengers survived the ordeal, Lilian Pollard, who had been visiting Hastings from Woking with her husband, drowned.

The wave also struck other parts of the South Coast, with waves up to 4m (12ft) rushing along the beach in Folkestone.

While tsunamis are usually triggered by large and sudden movements on the seabed, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or landslides, the tsunami that struck Brighton and Sussex was caused by the weather.

Known as a “meteotsunami”, the 1929 tidal wave was attributed to a line of thunderstorms off the coast. The storm generated a wave that moved towards the coast and was amplified as it rushed up the shore.