WWI memorial event planned for Eastbourne

The refurbished gravestone of Harlequin, the foxhound mascot of the ninth battalion in the Border Regiment, will be formally unveiled on Wednesday, May 25.

Eastbourne mayor Pat Rodoham will unveil the gravestone at Compton Croquet Club, The Saffrons, as a part of an event to commemorate the men of the regiment and others who were billeted in Eastbourne during WWI.

The unveiling will be done alongside representatives of the British Legion, the Croquet Club, the Chatsworth Settlement Trustees – representing the Duke of Devonshire – and Cumbria’s Museum of Military Life.

The museum said it arranged the gravestone’s repairs and funded them via a public appeal.

A spokesperson from Cumbria’s Museum of Military Life said Harlequin was a gift from the North Durham Foxhounds.

They added, “The battalion had been raised in Carlisle as part of Kitchener’s ‘new army’ in September 1914 and included men from County Durham as well as Cumbria.

“By the end of 1914 they were billeted on The Saffrons sports ground, Eastbourne.

“They went to the Western Front in September, before going to Salonica (also known as Thessaloniki, Greece) in November 1915.”

Museum manager Jules Wooding said, “Harlequin was a gift of the North Durham Foxhounds and [was] presented to the battalion by the wife of Lieutenant-Colonel Browne at the same time as she presented the battalion with a silver bugle.

“The bugle has been safeguarded by the regiment and the museum for over 100 years.

“We want to make sure his grave is equally treasured.”

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