53

(The following is taken directly from Mike Laslett’s (local historian) contribution to Rottingdean's ‘The Deans’ magazine, September 2023)

We wanted to know why the young Boy Scout Bertie was laid to rest at the tender age of fifteen.

The story is told in the press cutting (below) which can be summarised as follows:

Bertie Sandells had been in the St Aubyn’s Own Troop from its inception in 1911. In the picture below, of their 1911 annual camp, Bertie himself is unidentifiable, but we can identify his older sister (Mabel – indicated with an arrow) amongst the siblings and parents who visited the camp.

In 1913 Bertie went with them on their annual summer camp at Chailey only to fall ill. The Scoutmaster, John Leech, called a local doctor who diagnosed the boy with tonsilitis. He was taken home to his parents at 2 Neville Road but sadly he succumbed to diphtheria.

On the day of his funeral Rottingdean was in mourning. Everywhere in the village there prevailed an atmosphere of sorrow and sympathy. Flags were at half-mast and blinds in the houses were lowered. At the subsequent inquest Scoutmaster Leech was commended for his actions when the lad was first taken ill.

1911 was certainly a busy year for John Leech. Not only did he move from Hastings to take up an appointment as the village postman in Rottingdean at 15 shillings (75p) a week, but he took over the St Aubyn’s Own Scout Troop which had been formed the year before. He was to serve as village postman for over 40 years, retiring in 1952, at which time he would complete his ten-mile daily round with his Labrador cross ‘Gyp’.

_{Bertie Sandell's grave as it originally was}

_{Press cutting of Bertie's death}

_{The 1911 St Aubyn's Own Scout Troop}

_{Scouts at the 1911 camp}

_{Bertie's sister, Mabel!}

_{John Leech, Postman, with 'Gyp'}