military_branch jack easton 
Hampshire (; abbreviated Hants , archaically known as the County of Southampton ) is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom . The county town of Hampshire is Winchester , the former capital city of England . Hampshire is the most populous ceremonial county in the United Kingdom ( excluding the metropolitan counties ) with almost half of the county ' s population living within the South Hampshire conurbation which includes the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth . The larger South Hampshire metropolitan area has a population of 1 , 547 , 000 . Hampshire is notable for housing the birthplaces of the ___MASK95___ , British Army , and Royal Air Force . It is bordered by Dorset to the west , Wiltshire to the north - west , Berkshire to the north , Surrey to the north - east , and West Sussex to the east . The southern boundary is the coastline of the English Channel and the Solent , facing the Isle of Wight . Sussex ( abbreviated Sx ), from the Old English " Sþsaxe " ( South Saxons ), is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex . It is bounded to the west by Hampshire , north by Surrey , north - east by Kent , south by the English Channel , and divided for local government into West Sussex and East Sussex and the city of Brighton and Hove . Brighton and Hove was created as a unitary authority in 1997 , and granted City status in 2000 . Until then , Chichester was Sussex ' s only city . Jack Maynard Cholmondeley Easton GC ( 28 May 1906 -- 29 November 1994 ) of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve was awarded the George Cross for his gallantry in defusing a bomb which had fallen on Hoxton , in the East End of London , during the Blitz on 17 October 1940 . Notice of his award appeared in the London Gazette on 23 January 1941 . Later in the war he skippered armed trawlers and minesweepers . Born on 28 May 1906 he was educated at Pangbourne College and was a solicitor by profession . He died on 29 November 1994 in Chichester in Sussex .