Silver War Badge
Released from captivity by the Germans at the end of the War, Joseph came home to die at the age of 23 on 8th September 1919 in Kitchener’s Hospital at Brighton. He was buried with full military honours at Ringmer on Saturday 13th September in St. Mary’s Churchyard. The Reverend G.R. Leefe conducted a choral service and the hymn Peace Perfect Peace was sung at the grave-side. Three volleys rang out in tribute to a brave soldier and The Last Post was played by a solitary bugler. The Cricketer’s Flag was lowered to half mast for the afternoon and the interval in the match that day corresponded to the funeral service. His grieving mother Eliza from Rushy Green, Ringmer was chief mourner. John Crossingham, Joseph’s father, had already sadly passed away.
Joseph enlisted in the 2/5th Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment on 11th September 1914 with the number 2536. He transferred to the 7th Battalion when the call came through for more men to serve overseas. Having joined a Territorial Battalion he was not initially obliged to serve other than in his own unit which was then in the United Kingdom. Most of the men in the Territorial Army did, however, relinquish their rights and elect to fight at the Front when called upon.
As a private with number G/18076, Joseph Crossingham went to France to join the 7th Battalion in 1916 and he was entitled to the British War and Victory Medals. He also qualified for the Silver War Badge. This was given to Servicemen discharged from the forces due to injuries received or a severe illness. In the latter case this had to be of a nature which would have prevented any further active service. It was issued so that discharged soldiers, sailors and airmen could walk about safely in ‘mufti’ or plain clothes. There was otherwise a considerable risk of apparently fit young men, not in uniform, being given a white feather. This was the treatment meted out to some men when it was considered they had not, ‘done their bit’!
The 7th Royal Sussex saw plenty of action in France and Private Crossingham was in the thick of it. They fought on the Somme in 1916 though not on the notorious First Day. By November 1917 it was decided to launch a massive raid in the Cambrai area with the objective of destroying personnel and guns and general demoralisation of the foe. It was not intended to hold on to ground gained as G.H.Q. considered insufficient reserves of manpower were available for this. The battle, for such was its magnitude, was to test out the whole concept of the large scale use of tanks in warfare. The earlier attempts had largely failed owing to improper deployment over totally unsuitable ground. They had bogged down in the morass of Flanders and when stuck fast became easy targets for enemy gunners.
The attack commenced on 20th November 1917 after much secretive preparation. This was to be the first major attack by the British Army where the artillery barrage did not commence before zero hour and thus warn of the impending onslaught. Some 378 tanks and 1,009 artillery pieces were employed, and new techniques, especially by the Royal Artillery, were used. The role of the 7th Battalion, as part of the 12th Division, was to form the right wing in attack and defend that flank from retaliation. The advance was a resounding success and a huge salient appeared in the German lines. As it was originally never intended to hold on to the ground thus far gained no infantry reserves were available to exploit the break-through. A form of stalemate ensued where our forces could advance no more and on 30th November the Germans began to strike back. A retreat began on 3rd December and the British withdrew to lick their wounds.
The total British losses of killed, wounded and missing were put at 44,207 compared with around 50,000 equivalent German casualties. We had over 6,000 men taken prisoner during the Battle, many of whom were wounded. Among these was Private Joseph Crossingham. It is reported that as a Prisoner of War he ‘suffered terrible deprivations which undoubtedly hastened his death’.
Adapted from Valiant Hearts of Ringmer by Geoff Bridger: Ammonite Press, 1993