Why was JFK in Sussex just months before his death?

With a church, a war memorial and a community hall, Forest Row in East Sussex is a charming village similar to many others in England.

But on 30 June 1963, its residents welcomed an extraordinary guest just four months before he was assassinated.

President John F Kennedy and his wife, Jackie, roared into Forest Row with a full motorcade and were greeted by hundreds of people waiting anxiously to meet them.

But it was not by mistake that one of the world's most powerful men was in rural Sussex. He was there for talks at the home of then prime minister Harold Macmillan, who lived five miles away, and Forest Row was the nearest place with a Catholic church.

Kennedy was the first Catholic president of the United States and was visiting on a Sunday.

The US president and his wife Jackie "looked like absolute heroes, they were superstars", said Forest Row resident Tony Lewin, who remembers being stunned by the visit as a young boy.

"There were guards on motorbikes and all kinds of exciting things. They went into the church quite quickly and came out after an hour or so."

Mr Lewin continued: "Then the car pulled out of the drive, stopped in the middle of the road and the president got out. I think the security guards were a bit worried.

"He spoke to people in the crowds, one woman gave him some flowers, all the mums were swooning. He was there for 10 minutes, just chatting away. Then they got back into their car and drove off and that was it."

Kennedy's visit came at the height of the Cold War and lasted just 48 hours. It would be his last visit to the UK.

He was assassinated in Dallas, Texas six months later.

"I remember when I heard about it," said Mr Lewin.

"I'd come from a friend's birthday party in Tunbridge Wells, I came back down the drive and my brother said 'Kennedy's been shot'. I said 'don't joke'.

"Nobody believed it, even a kid wouldn't believe it, because this guy was immortal."

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