Many Thanks to all who have Served! Many Thanks to Steve who keeps them alive every day on this list! Joanne MAYS BECKER Sleepy Hollow, New York "Every man dies three times: the first time is when the heart stops beating; the second time is when the body is consigned to the grave; and the third and final time is when the man's name is spoken for the last time." Author Unknown World War I Arthur John FRIEND (b 1884 Herstmonceux, Sussex -1963 Bexhill Hospital but of Herstmonceux, aged 79), Private 5th & 11th Battalions Bedford Regiment, Later Pioneer 347589 Royal Engineers & Pioneer, discharged 17/5/19, my Great Uncle Ernest William FRIEND (1886 Herstmonceux Sussex- 1948 Herstmonceux, aged 62), Private 23678, 10th & 2nd Battalions Royal Warwickshire Regiment, My Great Uncle Lewis Charles FRIEND (1891 Herstmonceux Sussex- 1921 Walsall Staffordshire,died aged 30) Private Lowther's Lambs, Royal Sussex, 11th Battalion. Enlisted 9 Sept 1915. Survived the War and discharged to Reserve 20 March 1919. Died of pneumonia related to having been gassed. My Great Uncle. Julius Frederick FRIEND (1898 Herstmonceux Sussex- 1982 Farnham, aged 83) "Private 26224 31st Training Reserve Battalion,Later Private 119797 Machine Gun Corps during WWI. He made the Army his Career, retiring after WWII a Major in the Royal Engineers. My Great Uncle. Gilbert BLACKMAN NOAKES (1899 Herstmonceux Sussex- 1960 Herstmonceux, aged 60). He tried to enlist by falsifying his age but his parents found out in time. After his birthday, he became a Private in The Bedforshire Regiment. At Ypres he was badly gassed and medically unfit for service in France. He was transferred to the Royal Engineers and sent to Egypt. My Grandmother's cousin. George Gaius VENESS (1890 Herstmonceux Sussex- 22 May 1916 aged 26 in France of wounds) Private in the 11th Battalion Royal Sussex. He enlisted with his friend Lewis Charles FRIEND (see above). He was engaged to Mary Louisa BLACKMAN NOAKES, sister of Gilbert (see above). Robert Charles VENESS (1894 Herstmonceux Sussex- 30 June 1916 in France, aged 21 ) Lance Corporal, 13th Battalion Royal Sussex. Brother of George Gaius VENESS (above). Albert Edward HOOK (1886 Brighton Sussex- 21 November 1918 Aden, Yemen, aged 32), Private Hampshire Regiment, 1st/7th Bn. My Grandmother's cousin. Jack Bruce HOOK (1891 Herstmonceux SSX- 1969 Eastbourne but of Hailsham). Corporal Royal Engineers. Lieutenant, Royal Garrison Artillery. He reenlisted in WWII. My Grandmother's cousin. Harriet Alice nee BAKER HOOK (1869 Herstmonceux SSX- 1918 Herstmonceux, aged 49) A member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment, she worked at the Red Cross Hospital in Hailsham and died in the influenza epidemic months before the return of her son Jack Bruce HOOK (above) from France. Robert HONEYSETT (1892 Herstmonceux SSX- 3 September 1916 the Somme, aged 24), Lance Corporal 11th Btn Royal Sussex. Friend and cousin of Lewis Charles FRIEND (above). William Thomas RANSOM (1892 Catsfield SSX- 1982 Herstmonceux, aged 89), Private 11th Btn. Royal Sussex. Friend of Lewis Charles FRIEND and great grandfather of my first cousin's husband. World War II Lewis Frederick MAYS ( 1925 Herstmonceux Sussex England - 2001 Hove Sussex, aged 75), Able Seaman in the Royal Navy aboard HMS NELSON '43-'45, my father Harry MAYS (1921 Herstmonceux Sussex- 1999 Hailsham, aged 78), Royal Airforce, my Uncle Henry Thomas Sea MAYS (1875 Kensington Middlesex- 1941 at Sea, aged 65). A Captain in the Merchant Navy, he wanted to be at sea, and accepted a post as second mate aboard the EMPIRE MOAT, part of the Convoy OG 74. In September 1941 The EMPIRE MOAT was torpedoed and her crew rescued by the WALMER CASTLE, a rescue ship. The following day, laden with those rescued from three ships, she was bombed and Grandpa was one of thirteen officers who went down with her. Albert Edward HOOK (1915 Lyndhurst Hants- 1945 Palenbang, Sumatra, one day shy of his 30th birthday). Lance Serjeant Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. Captured in 1942, he died in a Japanese P.O.W. Camp seven days following Japan's surrender. My father's cousin. Bernard George RANSOM (1921 Hailsham Sussex- 26 March 1942 aboard HMS JAGUAR) Able Seaman Royal Navy. Participated in the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940. Was one of 193 men who went down with HMS JAGUARr when she was hit by U-652. Friend of my Uncle Harry and Great Uncle of Harry's daughter's husband.