LETTER: Remember the Capitol Theatre

By The Newsroom
Published 8th Jul 2017, 13:00 BST
Updated 18th Jul 2017, 08:45 BST
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I was so pleased to hear that there is a proposal to have a Blue Plaque installed on the wall next to Marks and Spencer's store in swan walk, Horsham, in remembrance of the Capitol theatre which used to stand on this site.

It was still there when I moved to Horsham 42 years ago.

This and several other ‘Blue Flash’ theatres in Sussex were initiated by Major Rupert Middleton to give employment to returning ex-servicemen after the First World War who found there were few jobs available.

A lot of these men had been tradesmen in their civilian life prior to 1914 when jobs were plentiful so their employment building these theatres was a godsend, especially as they were all Sussex Regiment veterans.

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It is hard nowadays to imagine how hard life for them was in 1918 - no benefits system and very little compensation for wartime injuries. Apparently, the distribution of food was very disorganised during that war (it improved during WWII) so a war veteran’s homecoming was placing him a hopeless position.

Maj Middleton created the Blue Flash Company using the blue flash from the Sussex Regiment’s insignia.