Accidents

The 1911 census showed that the population of Newhaven was 6,665, of which 404 were living in Denton. There were 1,366 households in the district. When war broke out, Newhaven came under naval and military control and the harbour became one of the major supply ports to the Western Front requiring, on average, 2,500 dock workers daily to manage the work. The Garrison number increased to around 4,000, with about 2,000 men living at first under canvas and then in Army huts in a number of camps around the town.

With all these additional people in the town, it’s not surprising that accidents happened. The pages to the left give a flavour of how the war affected the people in Newhaven, those who lived here, those who worked here and those who were posted here to train for war and defend the town. The stories have been taken from the East Sussex News and from Newhaven Museum‘s archive. The photographs are also from Newhaven Museum’s collection unless otherwise stated.