World War I

Brighton largely unaffected by the conflict

Reproduced with permission from the Encyclopaedia of Brighton by Tim Carder, 1990

Please note that this text is an extract from a reference work written in 1990.  As a result, some of the content may not reflect recent research, changes and events.

a) FIRST WORLD WAR: Although the U.K. entered the Great War on 4 August 1914, the summer season at Brighton continued in full swing and it was not until the first casualties arrived in the town about a month later that the reality of the conflict hit the inhabitants. The Royal Pavilion estate, the Poor Law Institution and several schools were then given over to the military for use as hospitals, and the town was also filled by many Londoners who left the city to avoid possible zeppelin raids. Women played a major part in keeping the town running while the men were at the front, but Brighton was largely unaffected otherwise and the holiday seasons continued relatively normally. On 7 October 1922 Earl Beatty unveiled the Brighton War Memorial in Old Steine. It bears the names of 2,597 men and 3 women of the town who fell in the Great War. {3,115}

Any numerical cross-references in the text above refer to resources in the Sources and Bibliography section of the Encyclopaedia of Brighton by Tim Carder.