Can you help
All I know about this photo is that my late father-in-law Brian Hutchinson (4th right middle row) and his late brother, Trevor Hutchinson (5th from right on back row) were in the No1 Battery, Preston Barracks.
The photo was taken 1954/1955. My question is what exactly was No 1 Battery, what regiment/battalion. Apparently No 1 Battery was the last to fire 3.7 inch guns from Newhaven Fort.
I would be very grateful if anyone can help me find out a little more information.
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It’s not a great deal of help Zillah but I remember around that time (1954/5) my father was working in one of the barracks buildings and took me on a visit to the gatehouse where there was a high angle (anti-aircraft) gun set in a gun pit. Some of the soldiers demonstrated its workings, those guys could well have included your relatives. As a young boy then it was very exciting to be able to sit in the aimers seat while they went through the firing procedures. I do know that when they were off duty they would go across the Lewes Road to The Ship Inn for a few beers. That pub also features on this website so it may be worth leaving an enquiry on that page: http://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/page_id__10798.aspx The Newhaven Fort has its own website so an enquiry through them may also produce results: http://newhavenfort.org.uk/
Hi Zillah. To start with, they belong to the Royal Artillery, although from the photo there appear to be a couple of REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) soldiers attached. More specifically I believe they are members of 411 Coast Regiment R.A. (Sussex) (TA) which had its HQ in Brighton. The unit was formed in 1947 when the Territorial Army was reconstituted after the war. When coastal artillery was disbanded in 1956, they became part of 6th (Sussex Coastal Artillery) Unit Travel Control Security (Army). Quite a mouthful!
If you search for ‘Territorial’ in the search box on this site you will bring up one contributor’s 3 part story of his days in this unit at Preston Barracks.
Hope that helps.
My late Father-in-Law Arthur Bentley was stationed there in the late 30s. He was in the Royal Horse Artillery. He was later partially blinded at the mass evacuation of troops from France in ’41. He was totally blinded by a shell explosion, but later regained the use of one eye which served him well when he worked post WWll at the Shoreham gas Works, then as a conductor for BH & District buses and finally as a caretaker of a nursing home in Portslade. I married his daughter Diana in Hove in 1967 and we now live in Norfolk.
My Father did his national service at Preston barracks in the 50’s one of only 8 .He was a Londoner and if he hadn’t done his national service in Brighton he would never have met my mother.
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