14 June 2013

Please note: this news article is in our archive. Articles were correct at time of publication, but should not be relied on for accuracy after the passage of time.

TUESDAY 9 July 2013 marks the 70^th Anniversary of bombs dropping on the Whitehall Cinema in London Road, East Grinstead.  108 victims lost their lives,  the largest number of civilian deaths from a single bombing during World War II.

The bells will ring from 5.00 and at 5.17 will convert to a single bell tolling for one minute. For the duration of the single bell tolling –  we would welcome everyone pausing and joining one minute silence in remembrance of those who lost their lives 70 years ago.

East Grinstead Town Council, the War Memorial Company, East Grinstead Society and the Parish Church of St Swithun’s are marking this with the following events:

9 July:

Wreath-laying and short service at the War Memorial at East Court at 4.40 pm, and at 5.15 pm a wreath-laying by the East Grinstead Society at the site of the old Whitehall Cinema, London Road, East Grinstead.

14 July:

A Civic Service including a commemoration, together with a Patronal Festival of St Swithun’s Parish Church at Church Lane, East Grinstead at 10.30 a.m. at which the Bishop of Chichester will preside and preach,  followed by a picnic lunch (bring your own picnic) in the Vicarage garden (Church, if wet).

As well as these tributes, the Town Council have dedicated the flower display in the high street to the bombings this summer.

The 108 white flowers in the beds surrounding the war memorial in the high street represent each victim. And there is a plaque to give a brief account of the bombings around the town during the war.