I was extremely interested in the article on the tidal wave along the South Coast on Saturday, July 22, 1929 (The Argus, August 30).

I was ten years old at the time and have vivid memories of that afternoon.

My sister had taken two of my school friends, my brother and me to the beach close to the West End Cafe in Hove. It was an extremely hot afternoon and the tide was some way out.

We were all having a paddle when the sky became as black as ink and we were in darkness, just like night.

A huge wave came right over us and we all made a human chain and pulled each other out.

When we eventually got to safety, we saw what seemed to be hundreds of people struggling in the water, with deckchairs, clothes, handbags and so on floating there.

To our dismay, we could not find my brother but, after a lot of searching, we found him in a very distressed state sitting on a groyne off the next beach.

All these memories came rushing back to me and I once again realised how very fortunate we all were to have survived such a disaster.

-Doreen Catten, Southwick