Jun 29, 2025 - Jun 30, 2025

Sussex by the Sea Memorial March 2025

'To Chichester from Rye, with Sussex in his heart and the sea by his side' To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and the 109th anniversary of the Battle of Boar’s Head (30 June 1916), “the Day Sussex Died”, British Army veteran Guy Radlett will conduct a loaded march of approximately 120 miles along the Sussex coast from Rye Harbour to Chichester Harbour. The challenge, taking place 29–30 June 2025, and supported by HM Lord-Lieutenant of East Sussex and the Royal Sussex Regimental Association, will include a moving tribute at Brighton’s AMEX Stadium. Calling on Sussex businesses large and small, the march aims to raise funds and awareness for Armed Forces and bereavement charities, including the Army Benevolent Fund, the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal, Veterans’ Growth and StrongMen. The first leg, approximately 55 miles long, ends near Brighton, where on the morning of 30 June at the AMEX stadium, a 1916 trench whistle will sound a tribute to the Royal Sussex Regiment’s fallen, Sussex’s wider contribution to the wars, and to Lance Corporal James “Jay” Brynin, a Sussex-born soldier and Seagulls fan killed in action in Afghanistan in 2013. The march will then continue through West Sussex, finishing at the end of the Sussex portion of the King Charles III England Coast Path with a pint of Harvey's and a fish and chips supper at Chichester Harbour. Supporters can join Guy for a mile or a hundred as he marches in memory of Sussex’s fallen and in support of today’s heroes — because he “wunt be druv,” not even by blisters, fatigue or dive-bombing seagulls along the Sunshine Coast and beyond! You may tell them all we stand or fall, for Sussex by the Sea! (Further information about the causes, the route and the history can be read below) The Causes: The Army Benevolent Fund (ABF) is a national charity supporting soldiers, former soldiers and their families for life. It provides financial aid, grants and funding to organisations that offer specialist services, aiming to ensure everyone in the Army family can avoid hardship and live with independence and dignity. The ABF supports a wide range of needs, including bereavement, injury, getting back to work and elderly care. The Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal raises crucial funds to support serving personnel, veterans and their families. It is a major fundraising campaign, typically held in November during the Remembrance period. The appeal serves a dual purpose: remembering those who made sacrifices and providing vital support to the Armed Forces community. Veterans’ Growth is a Sussex-based charity that provides horticultural therapy to veterans struggling with mental and physical health challenges, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The charity aims to support veterans by offering a green space where they can immerse themselves in nature and learn horticultural skills. This approach helps reduce stress, anxiety, depression and isolation while fostering social connections and potentially introducing a new skill or career path. Gardening can literally save lives. StrongMen, established by the father of James Brynin, is also based in Sussex and provides support to men following bereavement. Grief can cause severe emotional and physical health conditions which are often overlooked and even ignored, especially in men. The Route: After a few words of support from HM Lord-Lieutenant of East Sussex at the start point by the Martello Tower at Rye Harbour, Guy will set off at 07:00 hours and follow the King Charles III England Coast Path through towns such as Hastings, Bexhill, Eastbourne, Seaford and Newhaven before reaching the outskirts of Brighton. The first day’s route, approximately 55 miles long, will consist of a “speed march” from Rye to Hastings where Guy will be welcomed by the Hastings branch of the Royal Sussex Regimental Association. At Eastbourne, 26 miles into the first day, Guy will stop for lunch before he traverses the iconic Seven Sisters and Cuckmere Haven. The final stretch will follow the coast to Rottingdean and then to Woodingdean near Brighton. The day’s march is expected to take at least 17 hours. The second day will see Guy march a few miles from his overnight stay to the AMEX stadium where respects will be made on the 109th anniversary of the “Day Sussex Died”. The tribute, led by the blast of a 1916 trench whistle and followed by a two-minute silence and wreath laying, will be supported by the Royal Sussex Regimental Association and possibly serving members of the 3rd Battalion of the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment. After the service, Guy will pick up the coastal route through Brighton and Hove, passing through his birthtown of Shoreham-by-Sea, and on to East Head, West Wittering via Worthing, Littlehampton and Bognor Regis. The second day’s route, approximately 65 miles long, is scheduled to end in the village of Itchenor on the Manhood Peninsula at Chichester Harbour, before a hobble to the Crown and Anchor pub at Dell Quay to be greeted by the Royal Sussex Regimental Association for a hard-earned pint of Harvey’s Best and hopefully a fish and chip supper. Guy, in his 40th year, aims to complete the challenge in under 40 hours. The History: On 30 June 1916, the Southdowns Brigade, comprised of the 11th, 12th and 13th Southdowns Battalions of the Royal Sussex Regiment, conducted an attack at Richebourg-l'Avoué in Northern France. The action was an attempt to draw German attention away from the Somme Offensive scheduled to commence the following day. The attack, known as the Battle of Boar’s head, saw 366 officers and men of the Southdowns Brigade killed, along with over a 1,000 wounded or missing. Twelve sets of brothers were killed and a Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration awarded for the “most conspicuous bravery" in the face of the enemy, went posthumously to Company Sergeant Major Nelson Victor Carter, 28, of Eastbourne. The Battle of Boar’s Head is remembered as the “Day Sussex Died”. The following day, 1 July 1916 – the start of the Somme Offensive – would see more Sussex men fall on what remains the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army with 19,240 fatalities recorded. The Great War would rage on for another two years. Brighton and Hove Albion lost 9 former players and staff between 1914 and 1918, exchanging the blast of the referee’s whistle for that of the haunting sound of a trench whistle, possibly the last sound they heard. Eighty years ago, the Second World War ended. Victory in Europe was finally achieved on 8 May 1945. On 15 August 1945, victory over Japan brought the cataclysmic global conflict to a close. Sussex’s contribution to Britain’s survival and ultimate triumph during the war was key. Her beaches could have faced invasion as the population braced for the worse. Her skies saw intense aerial battles rage between the Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe. Before that, her ports, small boats, lifeboat crews and coastline assisted with the evacuation of the beleaguered British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk, where Royal Sussex Regiment personnel along with hundreds of thousands of their comrades awaited relief following intense rearguard actions fought in a stunning defeat of the British Army and its allies. Sussex was on the front line for much of the war in Western Europe, and whereas ships and boats sailed to rescue British, French, Belgian, Polish and Commonwealth Soldiers from Northern France in May and June 1940, four years later, Sussex became one of the largest military bases in the history of warfare, supporting the launch of Operation Neptune, the amphibious invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, returning Allied soldiers to the Continent. The Royal Sussex Regiment raised 14 battalions during the Second World War, its members fighting as close as France and as far off as Burma serving as part of the forgotten 14th Army. Lance Corporal James Brynin, an Intelligence Corps soldier attached to 14th Signal Regiment (Electronic Warfare), deployed to Task Force Helmand in August 2013 as an intelligence analyst working for a Light Electronic Warfare Team within the Brigade Reconnaissance Force (BRF) of 7th Armoured Brigade. In the early hours of Tuesday, 15 October, the BRF deployed from Camp Bastion into the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province to counter an imminent threat to both the Afghan population and the International Security Assistance Force. Towards the end of the operation Lance Corporal Brynin’s section became the target of enemy fire. Together with a sniper and machine gunner of the BRF, Lance Corporal Brynin returned fire, but while extracting from the area he received a fatal gunshot wound from friendly forces. He was 22 years old when he died. A Sussex boy, a Seagulls fan and a good friend who will be forever missed, Jay would have done this challenge without breaking a sweat, and more importantly, he would have done it for his friends –probably not stopping until he reached Dorset! We will remember them. Slava Ukraini!

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