February 1915

Volunteer Training Companies were set up for home defence and were open to men who, for various reasons, were not eligible for the regular armed forces. The men would wear a red brassard or arm band and would train in their own parishes. The company for the Cranleigh area was to be known as the Hurtwood Company and The Surrey Advertiser reported on 20th February that 191 men had been recruited under the command of Acting Voluntary Commander Maj. Gen. Sartorius. Maj. General Euston Henry Sartorius lived at Hurtwood House, Ewhurst and was holder of the Victoria Cross. He had retired from the army in 1905 and was aged 70 at the outbreak of the war.

Private Alfred James Tidy Killed in Action on the 14th February 1915

News came that Alfred Tidy, a private in the East Surrey Regiment had been posted as missing, presumed Killed in Action on the 14th February near Ypres. He was 46 and had worked as a bricklayer and lived with his wife, Ethel, at Montague Cottages.