(1)  HOMEPAGE



INSTRUCTIONS

THIS IS THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE

OF THE

ROYAL SUSSEX REGIMENT

 The 35th Regiment of Foot

(Nicknamed "The Orange Lillies")

INSTRUCTIONS FOR YOUR WEBSITE ORIENTATION.... 

1.   CLICK ON THE 3 BARS AT THE TOP LEFT HAND CORNER OF THIS                                         PAGE, TO SEE "WHAT`s ON".

2.   THIS WILL OPEN THE MAIN MENU, SHOWING THE 40 LINKS.
3.   THESE LINKS, WILL TAKE YOU, TO THE PAGES OF YOUR CHOICE.
4.   JUST CHOOSE A SUBJECT OR THEME & CLICK ON THE PAGE, TO GO        THERE.

5.   BE SURE TO READ THE PAGES 4/4A/4B & 4C, FIRST ! 

 "HAPPY HUNTING !"

the bat 2022


4th February 2024 : 1630 hrs.

Hi All !

Contrary to popular belief...........

This website is still live,.....still active......still reporting........and will continue to do so. 

I will replace/revive the (Now missing) Page  "M`s " on the Nominal Roll & missing News items, as soon as I find a Copy.

(For the second time, we have been under Cyber attack from jealous individuals). 

                                                                                 KEEP MOVIN`, THE 35th of FOOT !

the bat



 

A POEM FROM "THE BAT" TO HIS VISITORS :

 

" The Young and Old

The Dead and Living

The Loud and Quiet

The Brave and Frightened

The Father and Son

The Short Service and Long

The Honest and Deceitful

The Loyal and Discredited

The Disgraced and Awarded

The Remembered and Forgotten

The Smart and Scruffy

The Genius and the Fool

The Sensible and Reckless

   The Gentle and Brutal

The Humble and Conceited

The Lover and the Kind 

Men of a Regiment

My brothers in Arms

 Many of you are still there

Many have already gone

Here is my Tribute,

to my Regiment,

and to you all,

I salute you  !

 

Devised & Written by "the bat"

Revised 2022.

 

 


"FOR ENGLAND AND SAINT GEORGE !"

The Royal Sussex Regiment.


THE HOMEPAGE

I extend a warm welcome to you all - from all around the world. Where ever & who ever, you may be. - I hope you enjoy looking through the site, with its hundreds of catalogued photographs covering over 100 years of Regimental life. There are many different pages to view, from the Battalion life, year for year, in timeline - (A sand-bucket, sometimes a handkerchief & a little of your time are needed !)

So.....go on, go in, visit them all, and enjoy exploring them. 

Look & read, laugh, cry and remember.   

Les "the bat" Deacon - Webmaster.

L-S.Deacon@t-online.de


HALT !

WHO GOES THERE ?

(ARE YOU AUTHORIZED ?)


"THE MEN OF A REGIMENT"

A   Pictorial & Historical, Regimental Story,

made up of Photos, Drawings & Written Articles

    Including a unique NOMINAL ROLL 

  of many, many of the men & boys (and Ladies !)

                     of the                  

               The Royal Sussex Regiment, the 35th Regiment of Foot,

               from 1701 to 1966, and  their successors

              The 3rd Bn. The Queens Regiment,

      from 1966 to 1992.

      "The Orange Lillies" 


                              Author & Webmaster

I am Les "the bat" Deacon, Aged 75,  born in Hampden Park, Eastbourne in Sussex.

I live in Mühldorf, a market-Town in Southern Bavaria, Germany.

I served from 1961 to 1973 - A total of 12 Years Service (9 with the Colours). 

My Army career began with the Army Apprentice School - Arborfield (Veh. Mech) 

Later followed by the Infantry Junior Leaders Battalion - Oswestry (Infantry), 

before joining my county regiment the Royal Sussex Regiment for 9 years.

Within the Royal Sussex Regiment, I served in "A" Company,

"SP" Company - Anti/Tank Pln, as Provost Sergeant & as a member of 14 Int.

I attained the rank of Sergeant, but decided to leave in 1973,

just as the Army started to become "Not that which I thought it used to be". 

I miss my Regiment sorely since, but I have never regretted that decision..

      I married a German national whilst serving in Lemgo, Germany in 1968,

 I have been a civilian expat in Germany, since my demob from Cyprus in `1973.

                         After studying Psychology at University in Hamburg & Munich,

                         I have enjoyed a successful self-employed career

     for over 25 years, teaching Communication, Personality-Development,

                  Adult-Counselling and Architecture & Design in 20 countries.

                        (I speak & write fluently in English, German & Italian).

I now enjoy my retirement in beautiful Southern Bavaria, near the Austrian Border, with my young wife                         

         two teenage kids. - I also have two grown-up kids from the previous marriage.

 For a decade I have done the Admin (Photos & Text) on our Regimental website with Bob "Jonah" Jones in Belize.

                     Bob Jones, the founder, sadly died of Lung Cancer in Belize in 2019.

            Bob`s old website was then reduced to "Blog, Waffle & Haggle" since the 2010`s,

                           so I decided to go it alone, and get back to "The Regiment" !

    I have since, specialised in digital-graphics, web-build, Regimental history and it`s research.  

                      My data-bases & large Regimental Archive are unique on the web.

                             ( Only a fraction of these resources are displayed online).

They are tended & continuously updated by myself & new items are posted daily on this website.  

    Most of all the resources that exist, are posted under their appropriate heading onsite,

The news & blog features are posted on our "The Orange Lily" Newspaper feature on Section 4.

 Although the "Nominal Roll" is of leading importance on this website, there are many other subjects to explore,      

               Especially the Current-News, Anecdotes & "What`s New" Pages, which are updated daily.

                       I wish you all, a "Good Browse", happy hunting and please come again soon.

                                                                Les "the bat" Deacon           

                   "Nothing Succeeds, like Sussex" - Keep Movin` the 35th !

                                                  revised : Bavaria - Jan. 2022

                        Ex 23868882 Sgt. Leslie A. Deacon - 1st Bn. Royal Sussex Regiment 1961-1973                  


Here with my good friend, BOB  LOOKER (Sussex), in Continuation Training on the ranges at  St.Andrews Bks., Malta 1964. - We had just arrived in the Regiment after continuation training, as we are both "Ex-Boys". - Basic training was done in St. Andrews Barracks, Malta in "D" (Trg.) Company under Major Hyde. - Later we were posted permanent to "A" Company under Major Stephenson in Tahuna, Libya. - We flew there together, in a DC3 "Dakota". - By 1965, we were both, already on active service in Aden.


RULES of ENGAGEMENT

Although I have no issues with challenging the "official" viewpoint, I do not wish to bring the wrath of the authorities down upon this website.  - I also wish to avoid attracting those with extremist views, personal agendas, spite campaigns, jealousy or pulling Rank/Position, etc,

FOR THEY ARE NOT WELCOME HERE !

 

Any visitor or member who feels that a posted message is objectionable or another user is behaving inappropriately, or against the etiquette/traditions of the Regiment,

is encouraged to contact me immediately by email.

I have the ability to remove or edit objectionable messages and will do so, immediately if it is determined that removal is necessary. - Any minor spats that can occasionally occur, as in any family or unit, should be reconciled by personal E-mail, rather than continued on the message-board.

 

 Common sense and a respect for all visitors, members & webmaster alike is all that’s needed.

1. You agree, through your use of the site, that you will not use it to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, threatening,

invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise vocative of any law.

If you cannot type something nice about a topic, it probably isn’t worth posting it in the first place.
2. Debate and discussion is ok, but insulting posts, personal attacks, rudeness or random inflammatory posts will not be tolerated.

Politics and Religion are allowed, but are highly inadvisable for public military domains,

and should be avoided.

Rules revised & effective wef: 21st October 2023.

The New Privacy Laws are now in place, we must adjust the site content accordingly - (July 2018)

The Webmaster


HOW TO USE THE "NOMINAL ROLL" PAGES 
The ALPHABETICAL MENU 
for the names within the Nominal Roll, can be reached, on the
MAIN MENU,
once the three horizontal bars are clicked for entry.

The photos are sorted from left to right alphabetically.

One single letter is displayed per page, except XYZ

Browse the thumbnails for a face or click on one, to enlarge or open the slide-show.

A click on the slide-show brings you back to sitemap.

A click outside the slide-show photo, returns you to the collection.

A mouse-hover over a thumbnail, will give you a name for orientation.

 

This collection does not profess to be complete and probably never will be !

There are now over 10.000 faces, so take your time !

THERE IS A SEARCH BOX at the top of this page.

If your profile is not shown here, or those of a relative and it should be,

don`  t hesitate to let me know; per Email, Skype, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.

YOUR FEEDBACK IS OF EXTREME  IMPORTANCE TO THE WEBMASTER !

(It is is even difficult to work the website without It ! )

I am happy to receive any feedback or questions, that you may have,

(PERHAPS YOU MAY ALSO HAVE SOME GEMS OF YOUR OWN THAT WE COULD POST)

Info, photos, etc, -- concerning this project. - It is the only one of it`s kind on the worldwide web.

No other Regiment has this depth of coverage, but it`s service requires a little assistance from us all !)

My Email : L-S.Deacon@t-online.de .............best regards - Leslie Deacon - Webmaster. 

STILL SERVING THE REGIMENT -- IN YOUR NAME

(Revised SEPT 2025)



PLEASE VISIT SECTION 12,

"The Anonymous Ones"

for  over 1000 unnamed soldiers

of the Royal Sussex Regiment, who found their death in battle,

but were  never found or never identified.

I have collected & catalogued them.

Maybe, somebody will recognise someone, one day ?

They remain anonymous to date. 

Sadly, all that remains for us, of their tremendous hardships, suffering, fright, skills, or sometimes, maybe even valour,

.....is an unnamed Photograph.

Spare a moment to look, a moment for them, for they gave all for us !

Les



A brilliant drawing of a rifleman of the Heavy Company,

35th Regiment of Foot, in battle - 1766



An

unknown

(...and very young !)

Royal Sussex soldier. - 1914.

 

"A child - so wasted and so white,
He told a lie to get his way,
To march, a man with men, and fight,
While other boys are still at play.
A gallant lie your heart will say."


            from "Pluck" by Eva Dobell.


"THE CLERK"

 

“ Eventually, All things decline

Everything falters,

dies and ends,

Towers cave in,

walls collapse

Roses wither, horses stumble

Cloth grows old, men expire

Iron rusts and timber rots away

Nothing made by hand will survive.

At last, I understand the truth

That all must die,

both clerk and lay,

And the fame of men now dead

Will quickly be forgotten

Unless the clerk takes up his pen

& brings their deeds to life again” 

  (Wace, ‘Roman de Rou’, c.1170) 



A MODERN REGIMENTAL TIMELINE

from 1944 to DISBANDMENT

(FOR YOUR QUICK REFERENCE)



WEBSITE VISITOR STATISTIC

FOR APRIL/MARCH 2023

(for 30 days)


Archived as part of the British Library Archive at :


Also within the US National Archive at the :



NOTE - The digital artwork & graphic of "the bat"(Leslie Albert Deacon),

is copyrighted privately

Please do not copy without permission....Thanks


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