Sussex Photography

Sussex Photography Exploring forgotten history, hidden oddities, and timeless landscapes β€” mostly on foot. Photography, videography, and storytelling from East Sussex and beyond.

Exploring the forgotten corners of East Sussex.
πŸŽ₯ Reels of hidden history, oddities & ancient landmarks
πŸ“· Moody UK landscapes & countryside walks
Prints & high-res images available on request

15/09/2026

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At The Plough near Chailey stands a memorial to a wartime airfield that has almost disappeared from the Sussex landscape.

RAF Chailey was used by Allied fighter squadrons, including Polish airmen flying operations across the Channel.

The memorial remembers two Polish pilots in particular β€” MieczysΕ‚aw Adamek and Jan Kurowski β€” both lost during operations over France in May 1944.

Their story features in my new film, The Last Miles Home.

Read the full story and find all the memorial locations here:
https://suxxesphoto.com/wwii-bomber-memorials-east-sussex/

14/09/2026

For thousands of Bomber Command airmen, Beachy Head was one of the last familiar sights of England before they crossed the Channel towards occupied Europe.

For many, these white cliffs really were their last sight of home.

Today, the Beachy Head Bomber Command Memorial overlooks the same coastline, remembering the crews who flew into those dangerous wartime skies.

The memorial features in my new film, The Last Miles Home, exploring WWII aircrew memorials, crash sites and wartime airfields across East Sussex.

Read the full story and find all the locations here:
https://suxxesphoto.com/wwii-bomber-memorials-east-sussex/

Friday evening at Friston on the South Downs.I originally went there to film the wartime airfield memorial for my new Ea...
13/09/2026

Friday evening at Friston on the South Downs.

I originally went there to film the wartime airfield memorial for my new East Sussex WWII project and take a few reference photographs. The day had been dull and overcast, but as the weather began to change I could see a gap opening beneath the cloud to the west.

So I waited.

About an hour later the sun dropped underneath the cloud bank and the whole sky lit up, almost perfectly aligned with the memorial.

Friston once served as an RAF airfield and emergency landing ground for damaged aircraft returning from operations over Europe. That history now forms part of my new film, **The Last Miles Home**, which follows British, American and Polish airmen remembered across Beachy Head, Friston, Butts Brow, Ashdown Forest, Darwell and RAF Chailey.

Read the full story and find all the memorial locations here:
[https://suxxesphoto.com/wwii-bomber-memorials-east-sussex/]

The full film is now live on the channel.

12/09/2026

Some crews made it back across the Channel and over Sussex β€” but still never made it home.

My new short follows the story of Ruth-Less, the damaged American B-24 Liberator that crashed at Butts Brow while trying to reach Friston Airfield, before visiting some of the other WWII aircrew memorials hidden across the South Downs, Ashdown Forest and High Weald.

The full story brings together British, American and Polish airmen whose final journeys ended in the East Sussex landscape.

Explore the memorials, locations and full story here:
https://suxxesphoto.com/wwii-bomber-memorials-east-sussex/

The Last Miles Home β€” full film now available on the YT channel.

The Last Miles Home β€” my new film exploring WWII bomber crews, crash sites and memorials across East Sussex.From Beachy ...
12/09/2026

The Last Miles Home β€” my new film exploring WWII bomber crews, crash sites and memorials across East Sussex.

From Beachy Head and Friston Airfield to Butts Brow, Ashdown Forest, Darwell and RAF Chailey, these peaceful landscapes still hold the stories of British, American and Polish airmen who crossed back towards England but never completed their final journey home.

The film combines those human stories with the South Downs, High Weald and Ashdown Forest landscapes where their memorials still stand today.

Watch the full film here:
https://youtu.be/fQxxRQlrOkw?si=69P-wVzsBVljkZWp

07/09/2026

Friday evening on the South Downs, after the sun had finally dropped below the horizon, the sky kept getting better.

Looking south towards the Channel, the remaining cloud caught the last light and the colours deepened into intense reds and oranges across the western sky.

This was taken during a slow pan while walking back after sunset β€” one of those evenings where the best colour arrived just when you thought the show was over.

Friday evening on the South Downs, the day had been mostly dull and overcast, but while walking back towards the car I c...
06/09/2026

Friday evening on the South Downs, the day had been mostly dull and overcast, but while walking back towards the car I could see the weather beginning to change.

A high-pressure front was pushing in from the west, gradually clearing the cloud, and just before sunset the sun finally dropped beneath the remaining bank of cloud.

For a few minutes the whole western sky exploded into colour above Newhaven, with the last light catching the Downs in the foreground.

One of those evenings where it would have been very easy to head home too early.

05/09/2026

Percy Burton β€” the Hurricane pilot who appears to have rammed a German aircraft over Hailsham.

Flying Officer Percy Burton was just 23 years old when he was killed during the Battle of Britain.

On 27 September 1940, he pursued a German Messerschmitt one-ten for nearly forty miles across Sussex, often at very low level. Near Hailsham, his guns stopped firing.

Eyewitnesses believed Burton then deliberately rammed the German aircraft, bringing it down but fatally damaging his own Hurricane.

He crashed into an oak tree nearby.

More than 85 years later, that same tree still stands, with a memorial preserving the story of what happened here.

πŸ“ Full story, photographs and map locations for all four Battle of Britain memorials featured in the film:
https://suxxesphoto.com/battle-of-britain-memorials-east-sussex/

Four young RAF pilots. Four small memorials hidden across the peaceful East Sussex landscape.Percy Burton β€” HailshamAged...
05/09/2026

Four young RAF pilots. Four small memorials hidden across the peaceful East Sussex landscape.

Percy Burton β€” Hailsham
Aged 23. After pursuing a German Messerschmitt at very low level, Burton appears to have deliberately rammed it when his guns stopped firing. His Hurricane crashed into an oak tree that still stands beside his memorial today.

James Meaker β€” Brightling
Aged 21. Meaker bailed out after his Hurricane was hit, but his parachute failed to open. His tiny roadside memorial beside the B2096 is incredibly easy to drive past without ever noticing it.

Reginald Rimmer β€” Burwash
Also just 21. Rimmer was shot down over the High Weald on the same day as Burton and Meaker. His granite memorial now overlooks the quiet countryside where his final flight ended.

Peter Guerin Crofts β€” Dallington
Aged 22. Crofts was shot down the following afternoon. A small roadside cross marks where he fell β€” the original cross was placed there by his mother.

Today these places could hardly feel further removed from war, yet each memorial connects the modern High Weald with the Battle of Britain fought above it.

πŸ“ Full stories, photographs and map locations for all four memorials:
https://suxxesphoto.com/battle-of-britain-memorials-east-sussex/

03/09/2026

James Meaker β€” one of the easiest Battle of Britain memorials in East Sussex to miss.

Pilot Officer James Reginald Bryan Meaker was just 21 years old when he was killed on 27 September 1940.

Flying a Hurricane with 249 Squadron RAF, Meaker was hit while attacking a German bomber over Sussex. He managed to bale out, but his parachute failed to open.

Today, a tiny memorial beside the B2096 near Giffords Farm, Brightling marks where he fell.

The marker was not placed there until 1990, when aviation enthusiast Graham Alderson decided the site should not be forgotten.

It is a difficult memorial to visit β€” right beside a fast road, with nowhere safe to stop immediately nearby β€” and incredibly easy to drive straight past without ever knowing what happened there.

πŸ“ Full story, photographs and the mapped locations of all four memorials:
https://suxxesphoto.com/battle-of-britain-memorials-east-sussex/

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