What can we do to show we care? That's the question being asked by millions of people in Britain today as the full horror of this week's atrocities in America are slowly revealed.

The initial reaction on Tuesday was shock as people saw the destruction of the World Trade Centre in New York and the attack on the Pentagon in Washington.

In those first few hours, no one had any idea of how many casualties there were or any details of the human sorrow involved.

But stories are now seeping out of frantic phone calls being made by those who knew they were doomed to their loved ones, minutes before they perished.

It is clear that although most of those who died were American, hundreds were British and many more from other countries, for the trade centre was a truly international building.

So almost every corner of the Western world, including this small part of England, is touched by tragedy.

We do not know how many victims there were but there were thousands and, long before their bodies are discovered in the rubble, it will be clear who they are by their silence since Tuesday morning.

Today's three-minute silence, being observed throughout this country and the whole of Europe, is an appropriate tribute. It is simple, dignified and uncontroversial.

Many people are flocking to sign the condolence books available all over Sussex and elsewhere as another way of signifying their grief.

Ecumenical church services are being planned in this country to show people of all faiths, including Muslims and Jews, are united in their sadness.

These killings were truly terrible acts committed by fanatics not representative of any of the great faiths and we would do well at this time to remember that.