The original photograph used for this Now and Then was taken from the Hastings & St Leonards Pictorial Advertiser dated 12^th October, 1916. It was accompanied by the following text.

“In the morning there was a large muster of the Emmanuel Boy Scouts, who attended a church parade at Emmanuel Church. At the conclusion of the service, at which the Rev Sholto officiated, ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’ was very heartily sung, as well as the National Anthem. The Troop then formed up outside church under S. M. Rev C. E. Wheeler. The Emmanuel Boy Scouts received a new Troop Colour, presented by a Miss Fairweather. In making the presentation Miss Fairweather spoke very highly of the scouts, and made particular reference to their motto ‘be prepared’. A salute was smartly given and the scouts sang ‘God Save the King’ before marching back to headquarters, the new flag fluttering bravely in the wind.”

The two photographs used to create the image, and the final combined image are below. You can view the top image full size on my Flickr page by clicking on it.

This image is part of a continuing series of Then and Now images I’ve created for East Sussex Council’s World War 1 commemoration website. The website is focussed on the contribution that the men and women of East Sussex made towards the war effort.