183 men, women and children from East Grinstead died during the Second World War. Of these, 108 died in single, tragic incident when the Whitehall Cinema was bombed one wet Friday afternoon in 1943. The BBC News web site gives some vivid pictures of the destruction (including the one above) whilst a first-hand account is given on the East Grinstead Town Council web site. Sainsbury’s also have some interesting information in their Archive page

John Harrison has researched and compiled a comprehensive list of the 108 people killed in the tragic Whitehall cinema bombing in East Grinstead on July 9th 1943 and the 3 civilians killed in a V1 attack on 12th July 1944.

Likewise a similar list of the 72 East Grinstead Servicemen killed between 1939 and 1945 is listed on the Roll of Honour web site