Bibliography - Clifford Norman Mewett
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Around Aldingbourne: 900 years of social history, by Cliff Mewett and Vivienne Salmon, published 2006 (pamphlet) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15615] & West Sussex Libraries

Bognor in the Great War, by Clifford Mewett, published 3 September 2014 (176 pp., Pen & Sword Military, ISBN-10: 1783462825 & ISBN-13: 9781783462827) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Bognor at the time of the Great War was a small seaside town, quiet in winter but full of visitors in the summer. At that time it was barely one hundred and thirty years old, developed from a hamlet by Sir Richard Hotham, a hatter, who wanted to create his own purpose built bathing resort, to attract the nobility to take the sea air and as a rival to other towns along the Sussex coast. rnrnIn 1911 the population of Bognor had grown to a little over eight thousand, of whom around eleven hundred men answered the call in 1914, around a third of whom never returned. The book tells their stories, not in alphabetical Roll of Honour order, but in real time as it happened. It also takes a close look at those who fought and returned to Bognor, albeit with some badly injured, facing the future carrying the scars of four years fighting. Also included are the local villages of Aldwick, North and South Bersted and Felpham.rnrnWartime life in Bognor has also been included, how the town coped from the influx of Belgian refugees in 1914, a look at the various voluntary organisations, recruitment, invasion fears, conscientious objectors, tribunals, lighting restrictions, Zeppelins, food shortages and the victory celebrations. rnrnQueen Victoria, who stayed at Bognor as a child, once referred to it in later life as 'dear little Bognor'. Some eighty years later 'dear little Bognor' flexed her muscles as her young men marched to war.

This is a good example of what can emerge from newspapers, in this case The Bognor Observer and the West Sussex Gazette. The opening includes the way in which horses were requisitioned in large numbers, their owners sad to see them go and in some instances struggling to make a living. Bognor's summer season struggled along and as in Brighton and Eastbourne the visitors and the resort's role as a centre for the injured were both accommodated. Illustrated with over thirty contemporary black and white photographs.

Bognor and the GPO, by Tom Gillespie and Cliff Mewett, published 31 May 2016 (124 pp., CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, ISBN-10: 1530834511 & ISBN-13: 9781530834518) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

The Post Office in Bognor has had a long and colourful history; from the days a postman walked from Chichester to deliver the mail to the 1960s and more modern times. Also included are the histories of the many Sub-Post Offices which served the town, many now long gone. Carefully researched by the authors and accompanied by many photographs, this publication will be of interest to those who enjoy local history as well as postal historians.