Early Years
Clement Trill was born in Brighton in 1887, the fourth son of Henry Trill, a printer born in Brighton, and his wife Elizabeth, who was from Suffolk. The couple eventually had nine children (5 sons and 4 daughters, one of whom, Maud died in infancy). The family were clearly well-to-do as the 1881 Census shows that while living at an address in Clermont Road, near Preston Park in Brighton, the family had a servant, Elvey Eager. By 1891 they had moved to Duke Street in the town, and their domestic servant was one Sarah Noakes.
The family were living in Newick by 1894 when Clement’s brother, Charles was born, but it is uncertain how long they stayed in the village and by the time of the 1901 census the family had moved to Cuckfield, but still had Sarah as their live-in servant. Clement does not appear to have attended the village school.
By 1911 Henry had died, but the Trills were still living in Duke Street. Frederick, Clement, Gertrude, Florence, Charles and Sarah were still living with their mother. Florence and Charles were at school despite the fact that they were 18 and 16 respectively. Gertrude and Clement were both working as stationers, and Frederick was working as a printer. Sarah Noakes was still living with the family as a ‘General Domestic Servant’.
Cuckfield
Joining up
Clement’s regimental number suggests he enlisted in ‘Lowther’s Lambs’ in November 1914.
Claude Lowther was a Conservative Politician and owner and resident of Herstmonceux Castle in 1914. At the outbreak of war he raised ‘The Southdowns’; the 11th, 12th, and 13th Battalions of the Royal Sussex Regiment.
Lowther was a recognised and respected figure in the community and was able to receive permission from Kitchener to raise his battalions. Whilst Lowther temporarily held the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, like many others who had raised battalions in this manner, he did not lead them to France himself. He returned to Herstmonceux Castle once his work was completed.
The battalions he had raised bore the unofficial title of ‘Lowther’s Lambs’, men of the Southdowns who had joined up together to fight together and became part of the wider Royal Sussex Regiment.
Clement joined the 13thBattalion, but clearly his mind was not entirely on soldiering and SD2803 Private Trill married Miss Violet Davis the following year. He sailed for France in March 1916 with rest of the battalion.
Attack at Boar's Head
The War Diaries of the 12th and 13th show that both formations had been in and out of the front line since their arrival on the continent in March. By the 29th June 1916, both battalions were in the Ferme de Bois/Richebourg area awaiting the attack, following a period of practice for it behind the lines. The detailed orders for the plan of the attack show that the intention of the action was to capture both front and support lines in the area of the Boar’s Head. To this end the 12th and 13th Battalions were to capture these positions and hold them, forming a new front line, the 12th on the right, and the 13th on the left of the assault. The 11thBattalion, Royal Sussex Regiment was in reserve, making the attack a very local affair.
Following a short bombardment, the Sussex men attacked at 3.05am on the morning of 30th June 1916. The War Diary of the 12th Battalion is short and to-the-point:
‘Battalion attacked enemy front and support lines and succeeded in entering same. The support line was occupied for about ½ an hour, and the front line for 4 hours. The withdrawal was necessitated by the supply of bombs and ammunition giving out and the heavy enemy barrage on out front line and communication trenches preventing reinforcements being sent forward.’
By 10.00am the battalion had been relieved and was marching to billets at Les Lobes. A figure entered in the margin of the 12th Battalion’s War Diary shows that the casualty figure for the day was 412 men killed, wounded or missing. Privates Sydney Brooks and Charles Hodges were among them. Sydney’s brother William survived the attack.
The War Diary of the 13th Battalion gives a more detailed account of the events of the day, but in essence the 13th Battalion’s experience was clearly much like that of their comrades in the 12th Battalion. They managed to occupy limited parts of the German front and support line but were forced back owing to fears that they would be cut off. The only extra detail of significance is the effect of a smoke screen designed to mask the advance, which drifted into the attacking formation causing great confusion, especially in the darkness of early morning.
The battalion was relieved at 1.30pm and marched to billets in Vielle Chapelle. The War Diary does not give complete casualty figures, but Paul Reed, (a leading authority on the Royal Sussex Regiment during the Great War) gives a total figure of nearly 1,100 men killed wounded or missing from the three Battalions (a company from the 11th Battalion had gone forward as a carrying party and had been almost completely wiped out). Hence casualties in the 13th battalion were even higher than those in the 12th
Commemorating Clement Trill
Clement Trill is buried in Merville Communal Cemetery, which houses the remains of 1,268 Commonwealth servicemen. There are also 12 French war graves. An Extension was added in August 1916 and subsequently enlarged after the armistice when the Extension became the final resting place of Commonwealth soldiers from a number of smaller battlefield cemeteries in the area. The Extension contains the remains of nearly a thousand soldiers of various nationalities as well as 92 burials from the Second World War. The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.
The personal inscription on Private Clement Trill’s grave reads ‘IN EVER LOVING MEMORY FROM HIS WIFE AND LITTLE SON’; in a heart-rending postscript Violet gave birth to a baby boy who she named Clement shortly after her husband was killed. Violet never remarried and died in Hove in 1956.
The Victory and British War Medal
Clement Trill was awarded the Victory Medal and the British War Medal. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry for Clement shows his widow Violet was living at No. 40, Marlborough Place, Brighton.
