Sentinel was honoured to attend the memorial service of Major General Sir Philip Ward at Chichester Cathedral, a truly wondrous setting to celebrate a full life.

Sir Philip, a former Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex, had strong Worthing connections and was a great supporter of Gifford House, the Queen Alexandra Hospital Home for Disabled Ex-servicemen in Boundary Road.

Among those from Worthing attending were former Worthing MP Sir Terence Higgins, Worthing West MP Peter Bottomley, Mayor Eric Mardell, former Mayor Herbie Golds and Conservative borough councillor Brian Lynn.

On a glorious spring day they, and about 1,000 other guests and dignitaries, were greeted at the entrance to the cathedral by two Welsh Guardsmen in scarlet tunics.

Lord Guthrie, representing the Prince of Wales, told the assembled throng how Sir Philip had been commissioned in the Welsh Guards at the age of 19 and commanded a Cromwell tank during the Normandy campaign.

Sir Philip was wounded in France and lived for the rest of his life with a piece of shrapnel in the back, which, he told friends, was a reflection of the way he was going when he was hit.

This sparked a ripple of laughter around the auditorium, as did the anecdote about him cultivating a "green oasis", in the blazing Aden desert, using soldiers in detention.

Lord Guthrie said Sir Philip was respected and admired by all who came into contact with him.

He was calm, charming and had impeccable manners.

He never lost the ability to laugh at himself but those who incurred his displeasure certainly knew about it.

He was intolerant of bad manners and unkindness and would not accept second best.

Sir Philip was, by all accounts, equally at home in the company of a private soldier as he was with royalty.

Lord Guthrie concluded his address with the words: "He was the most civilised of men."

Sentinel popped his head around the corner to watch the dress rehearsal for The Show at the Assembly Hall and was astonished at the number of children on the stage at the same time.

Their various school pullovers created a kaleidoscope of colour, from aquamarine and red to grey and blue, an impressive sight indeed.

Dame Sheila Wallis, former head of Davison School, took the microphone and gave the youngsters a pep talk that was moving and authoritative at the same time.

By midweek there were no tickets left for the Friday and Saturday night performances, which was a magnificent achievement in anybody's book.

Sentinel has, on a number of occasions, parked in the NCP car park in Union Place but it can sometimes take 20 minutes to exit the site, courtesy of an unbelievably inefficient ticket and payment system.

However, he is assured the skeleton peering from the upstairs window of Northbrook College opposite was not a driver who expired while waiting to leave.

While enjoying a coffee at Beales' cafe, Sentinel overheard an elderly woman stating: "I have voted Labour all my life but I will never vote for them again."

Sadly, her vote won't count for much in Worthing, where people supporting Labour are as rare as turkeys voting for Christmas.

You see the odd red rosette during election counts at the Assembly Hall but they are usually swamped by Tory blue and Lib Dem yellow.

The Labour Party has a rather unimposing hall in Lyndhurst Road, East Worthing, but it is hardly a hotbed of political activity, which is a shame.

Local politics would be so much more enjoyable if we had a strong Worthing Labour contingent tearing itself apart over the Iraq crisis.

Tim Loughton and Peter Bottomley must be rubbing their hands with glee at the sight of their socialist colleagues fighting among themselves.

With Labour failing on asylum, pensions, council tax, crime and, arguably, the NHS and education, it can surely be only a matter of time before the Tories, themselves a shambles at national level, gain power at the polls, without lifting a finger.

If that happens, Sentinel predicts a meteoric rise for Mr Loughton, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, to a junior Cabinet post.

And from there, who knows?

Sentinel was deeply saddened to learn young vandals had once again been on the rampage in Broadwater Cemetery, smashing graves and vases.

It is imperative the police catch these excuses for human beings and drag them through the youth court, which should, in turn, lift reporting restrictions so we can name and shame the culprits.

But what is the betting that the chairman of the Bench turns down the Press application, on the grounds that it might upset the little darlings and their parent(s)?

On a brighter note, the vandal-smashed memorial stone at Durrington Cemetery dedicated to Jack Cowtan, a victim of Dunkirk in 1940, has been repaired.

Sentinel does not know who carried out the restoration work but he would like to record his sincere appreciation.