Sunday 2nd September 2018 marked 100 years since the awarding of a Victoria Cross during the First World War to a soldier born in Haywards Heath. To acknowledge the occasion, a commemorative stone has been laid at the War Memorial on Muster Green, Haywards Heath.

Sgt. Arthur George Knight VC

Arthur George Knight was born in Haywards Heath, England on 26 June 1886, the son of Edward and Ellen Knight. He later moved with his parents to 1, Somerset Road, Redhill, attending the Redhill Technical and Trade School. He was an apprentice with a building firm there before emigrating to Canada in 1911 and obtaining work as a carpenter in Regina, Saskatchewan prior to the outbreak of war.

The First World War

Sgt. Knight enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) on 19th December 1914 and joined the 46th Battalion (Army No. 426402). Knight was sent overseas in 1915, joining the 10th Infantry Battalion (Alberta Regiment), CEF in France where he served for three years as part of the 1st Canadian Division. In November 1917 he received the Croix de Guerre from the Belgian government for his outstanding service.

On 10 August 2018 he was appointed to the rank of Acting Sergeant. It was on 2 September 1918, during the Second Battle of Arras around the Drocourt-Quéant Line, (part of the German trench system), that Sgt Knight faced action that ultimately led to the posthumous award of the Victoria Cross for his exemplary conduct that day.

Sgt. Knight died of his wounds the following day on 3 September 2018, and is buried at Dominion Cemetery in Hendecourt-les-Cagnicourt, Pas-de-Calais, France. The cemetery is roughly three kilometres northeast of the village. Plot I; Row F; Grave 15. (Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission)

Commemoration

  1. His Victoria Cross is on display at the Military Museums of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
  2. Two streets, Knight Crescent and Sussex Crescent in Coventry Place, Regina, Saskatchewan, are named in his honour.
  3. He is commemorated on p.443 of the First World War Book of Remembrance.

In Haywards Heath, Sgt. Knight's name appears on the Haywards Heath War Memorial, minus the post-nominal letters "VC" and "CdG."

In 2013 Mid Sussex District Council decided to name a residential road "Knight Close" in honour of Sgt. Knight.

In August 2014 Haywards Heath Town Council placed a marble memorial plaque to Sergeant Knight under the portico of the Town Hall entrance in Boltro Road. This was made possible by the Royal British Legion from funds left over from its restoration of the 'forgotten' Great War memorial in Western Road cemetery in February 2013.

In September 2018 Haywards Heath Town Council, in conjunction with Mid Sussex District Council placed a memorial stone at the War memorial in Haywards heath, to mark 100 years since the awarding of Sgt Knight’s Victoria Cross.

For further information please visit The Canadian Virtual War Memorial at http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/316391

Last updated: 21 August 2023