Further research

Local repositories

The Royal Sussex Regiment

The Royal Sussex Regiment archive held at West Sussex Record Office, is one of the best surviving County regiment collections in Britain. Of particular note for 1914-18 are nominal rolls (lists of men serving), casualty lists, diaries, letters and service papers of servicemen, battalion war diaries, battalion orders and group and individual photographs.

Please note: All surviving RSR battalion war diaries have been digitised for this project.

For more detail on the archive, see the printed catalogue 'Records of the Royal Sussex Regiment: A Catalogue' by A.E. Readman at West Sussex Record Office and West Sussex Libraries. See also the Record Office on-line catalogue.

Library Service

The Library Service has many thousands of books for loan or reference on the Great War on numerous topics including battles, day-by-day accounts, memoirs, research guides and social history.

Newspapers

All surviving local newspapers 1914-18 can be viewed, on keyword searchable DVDs, at Worthing Library, Crawley Library and West Sussex Record Office. The following libraries have a local newspaper for 1914-18 on DVD, also keyword searchable, relevant to their area (see supporting documents):

• Bognor Regis
• Burgess Hill
• East Grinstead
• Horsham
• Littlehampton.

The Library Service also gives its members access to a vast range of on-line resources, including detailed information on the Great War and family history information on those who fought.

See particularly these products via our eLibrary service:

• The Ancestry website, a vast range of military and family history records, is available on library computers at Crawley, Worthing, East Grinstead or Horsham for library users with a subscription to the public access computers.
  
  
• The Illustrated London News, a vivid pictorial view of the Great War, searchable by keyword, is available free on library computers or at home by using your library card number.
  
  
• The London Gazette, with details of military promotions and gallantry medals, searchable by keyword, is available free on all library computers.
  
  
• The Times Digital Archive 1785 to 2006, a detailed record of the Great War, searchable by keyword, is available free on library computers or at home by using your library card number.
  
  
• The Dictionary of National Biography has details of over 58,000 people, including senior figures in the Government and Armed Forces, during 1914-18.
  
  
• Who Was Who has biographical details on over 90,000 prominent people, including many associated with the Great War.
  
  
• The John Johnson Collection has over 200 items of printed ephemera 1914-18, mainly adverts.
  
  
• The Schools Library Service offers a wide variety of services to schools including project loans of books, school visits, consultancy and training.
  
  
• Museums in West Sussex hold objects and photographs related to the War and most local towns, and some villages, have museums.

National repositories

The National Archives holds British Government and military records for the Great War and have a dedicated Great War Portal. Research guides and some records can also be viewed online.

The Imperial War Museum holds images, objects and personal papers from the First World War to the present day. There is a special Centenary website listing events, news and projects, including Lives of the First World War where you can contribute information about family members and others you have researched.

Other websites

Supporting documents

• Booklist (PDF, 76KB)
• Newspapers included in the people index (PDF, 44KB)
• Newspapers included in the events index (PDF, 48KB)
• WW1 Local newspapers in West Sussex (PDF, 51KB)
• Websites and research guides (PDF, 80KB)