[John McGillivray]

The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada were in Eastbourne from the 9th of August, 1942 until the 14th of February, 1943.

Source “The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada 1919/1965” by R.H. Roy


(p128-131) “A few days after Lt-Col. Tait left, the Seaforths were advised that the 1st Canadian Infantry Division would be moving shortly to take over the positions formerly held by the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division in the Eastbourne sector. The move would be completed by 9 August, and for the battalion it meant occupying positions on the northern outskirts of Eastbourne, with "C" Company occupying Pevensey Castle. This castle was a famous historic landmark. The outer walls were built by the Romans and one of the fiercest battles fought there was when Aella and the South Saxons swarmed over its battlements in 491 A.D. and slaughtered all its inhabitants.31 About 500 years later William the Conqueror landed about a mile away. Ultimately he granted the fort to his half-brother who built a Norman castle inside the walls, subsequently reconstructed by King Edward I. Pevensey was only one of several historic sites in the Eastbourne area, but sprinkled among the castles and towers were several naval, military and air force installations which were performing the same but modern task of the old castle walls —that is, defending the South Coast.

“The Seaforths' duties in the new area were legion. They had to look after beachlights, spigot mortars, gasoline and oil dumps for creating in the sea a wall of flame in case of invasion, "roller-skating" anti-tank charges, Forgasse barrels hidden in road cuts, as well as to man observation posts and mount anti-aircraft machine-gun posts. In addition, the Pevensey Radar Station came within their charge, and should the enemy attempt any "commando" raids or airborne landings along the Eastbourne sector of the coast, the Seaforths would be involved immediately. Standing patrols of company strength were on the alert constantly, and elaborate precautions were taken within the Brigade Group to alert the Home Guard, coastal batteries and a variety of other units who shared the constant watch along the coast.

“The South Coast of England at this time was being hit fairly constantly by German "tip and run" raids. One or more aircraft would come whipping over the Channel at almost wavetop level to escape the British radar detection. Swooping in over the coast, they would strike at oil tanks, railway stations, barracks, troops or anything else which caught their eye after they had shot up or bombed their major target. On 4 August, when the Seaforths were still in the Brighton area, a Focke-Wolfe 190 had come over and machine-gunned the streets of the city. Some thirty machine-guns in the brigade had shot his tail off as he headed back for France. When the unit marched along the Downs on 8-9 August to Eastbourne,32 special precautions were taken by all the unit's Bren gunners to have half of their weapons at the alert along the line of march. The Seaforths had hardly settled in when more German planes flew in and bombed the area. The raid on Eastbourne on the night of 10-11 August was a particularly colourful affair which did considerable damage to the vehicles of the Edmonton Regiment and killed nine men from No. 9 Field Ambulance. This raid almost hit the unit's Pipe Band. It had returned from an engagement and had only just left the Eastbourne railway station when the station was demolished by incendiary bombs.

“These raids resulted in more stringent orders being issued regarding the digging of slit trenches, gathering more sand and water pails for use in the various billets, and especially manning additional anti-aircraft posts. The air force installations seemed especially attractive targets, but the city's gas and electric works drew enemy fire almost as frequently.33

“The Seaforths' opportunity came early on 26 August, early in the morning. At Battalion Headquarters Major Forin was dealing with a couple of defaulters. Over at Crumbles Range Lt. D. H. Strain was with "D" Company getting things lined up for rifle practice. Cpl. R. E. Bosley was near the transport shed close to St. Anthony's Hall, while in their billets Cpl. R. H. Brammer and Pte. F. Moore were painting Bren gun magazines. In brief, training was going on "as per syllabus" on the 26th when two German Focke-Wolfe 190's came skimming across the Channel at about 0900 hours. They were spotted by Pte. E. G. Johnstone who manned an anti-aircraft post on top of a factory. As they flew low over Eastbourne and close to his position, he emptied several magazines into the planes and could see them hitting home. At about the same moment Pte. F. L. Wood in another post fired at them as they came abreast the gas and electrical works, and he too, at a range of about 300 to 400 yards, could see his shots strike home. The planes both dropped bombs, but one, at this point, zoomed directly up in the air, flipped over and crashed just east of the gas plant. Meanwhile Sgt. N. C. Forsbeck and Cpl. Brammer, also members of the antiaircraft platoon, had raced outside their billets with Bren guns ready and loaded and were in time to blast away at the remaining aircraft. Cpl. Bosley, P. S. M. Metcalfe, Sgt, Buchanan, Cpl. Campbell, Lt. Strain and others who were in a position to see the rounds striking the plane all over its fuselage found themselves cheering madly at the Bren gunners' performance, and even though the second machine managed to circle back and head eastward over the Channel, the general opinion, spiced with hope, was that the pilot couldn't make it. Even if he did his plane, from all eye-witness accounts, must have been well and truly shot up. Meanwhile the downed plane was the object of souvenir hunters, and the swastikas on each wing soon became the prized possessions of the Seaforths.

“There was particular pleasure in shooting down one German plane and having grounds for considering another one a "probable", for exactly a week previously the Canadian forces had raided Dieppe. The Seaforths had seen the hundreds of planes shuttling back and forth overhead and, all during 19th August, those not on duty had listened for news over the B.B.C. and had bought up every newspaper they could lay their hands on. Many had hurriedly been sent on special anti-aircraft duties to guard against any German aircraft attempting to strike at the ships bringing back the 2nd Division's troops returning to the coast. The Medical Officer and his section had stood by in case any of the landing craft carrying wounded men put in near Eastbourne. It was an exciting day, one which sent spirits soaring. Later, however, when word of the losses suffered by the Canadians was released the mood changed, especially when it was known that Lt-Col. C. C. I. Merritt, formerly a Seaforth company commander, was reported lost while leading his battalion, the South Saskatchewan Regiment, in battle. It was not until several weeks later that Merritt was reported a prisoner of war, and everyone in the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada was doubly pleased when it was announced he had been awarded the Victoria Cross.

“In a sense, therefore, the two planes shot up by the Seaforths a week after the event did release some of the frustration which many felt as the warm summer of 1942 came to a close. Nevertheless, the battalion would not have to wait much longer. Dieppe did teach some lessons—or, more properly, it brought home some old ones. These were to be taken to heart when the next major assault would be made on Hitler's "Festung Europa", and the Seaforths were to be in the fore of that assault.”

31 The Seaforths, using grappling irons, used to climb up the high inner walls as part of their battle drill training.

32 Incidentally camping overnight on the same site occupied for a while by the 72nd Bn., C.E.F. before it went to France.

33 A humourous incident occurred on 14 August when two enemy planes came over at noon to bomb the radar station. Having dropped their bombs they circled low over "C" Company when the troops were queued up for lunch. "The troops," wrote the war diarist, "could think of nothing more offensive to do than to wave their mess-tins at them. One of the pilots waved back. . . ." (W.D., Seaforths Highlanders of Canada, 14 August 1942.) During their stay at Eastbourne the battalion was billetted in houses for the most part.

(p137)” The great majority of these changes, which took place over an eight-month period, occurred after Hoffmeister took command, but at the time he arrived the Seaforths were still in the Pevensey-Eastbourne area and were getting somewhat fed up with routine training. Battle-drill kept the men in trim, and learning street or house-to-house fighting among the blitzed houses of Eastbourne was something of a fillip. The laying and lifting of mine fields, scaling cliffs or the walls of Pevensey Castle, platoon and company night exercises, and the usual mixture of schemes with and without tanks kept Seaforths of all ranks occupied and alert, but what might be termed the post-Dieppe restlessness was hard to shake off. Three years was a long time to wait, and although the Seaforths were by no means a blood-thirsty lot, the feeling of being out of it was wide-spread. During the Summer and Fall German forces had been pushing east….”