Tracking history on the Dorset Trail
The Tank Museum at Bovington in Dorset compiled a list of some of the county’s historical sites called “The Dorset Military Trail”. We have embarked on the trail.
Lying in the southwest region of England is the county of Dorset. Covering an area of just over 1,000 square miles, Dorset is 20th in order of size out of the 48 counties which make up England. Bordered by Somerset to the north and Devon to the west, it has a wide and varied military history stretching back more than 2,000 years from the Romans, through the Middle Ages and both world wars. It has battlefields dating from the 17th century, castles, military museums and airfields from WWII. It is this rich history which makes Dorset the envy of larger counties which cannot match such a legacy.
A few years ago the world-renowned Tank Museum at Bovington in Dorset compiled a list of some of the county’s historical sites called “The Dorset Military Trail”. It featured the location of 17 sites, including the Tank Museum itself, associated with events which connect the county with both world wars. The format of the PDF meant it could be downloaded and stored on a range of electronic devices, including portable tablets, and can be accessed for easy navigation when touring. All this led me to my plan to visit all the sites listed.
John Norris
Studying the road maps, I saw that the number of locations and the distances between them meant it would be impossible to visit all of them in the course of a single weekend. I decided to divide the list into those sites in west Dorset and those in east Dorset. This meant preparing two separate itineraries, with each being split over the Saturday and Sunday — enough time to appreciate each site in turn. The first weekend I would spend exploring those in west Dorset, then complete the eastern half a week later.
As I considered the list of sites, I remembered that I had previously mentioned a couple in this column, such as the village of Tyneham, where the residents left their homes to make room for wartime training grounds. Fort Henry at Studland Bay was another I had featured last year during the countdown to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day. The Tank Museum at Bovington I is familiar to many vehicle owners as the location for the annual Tankfest Show. That still left me with 14 sites I had never before visited, so my journey would be one of discovery.
At this stage in the proceedings, my wife, who is also interested in military history, became curious about my plans. She looked at the Dorset Military Trail PDF and announced that she wanted to join me, saying she would do the driving while I directed the route. The first stop on our list was the 43rd Wessex Division Memorial at Wynyard’s Gap at Evershot, just off the main A37 road leading to Dorchester, a distance of 30 miles. We made good time and found a convenient parking space on a quiet stretch of the road and followed the sigh post to the memorial. The 43rd (Wessex) Division was a reconnaissance unit and often in the forefront of operations, including leading the ground advance during “Operation Market Garden”.
It turned out to be an almost exact copy of the unit’s memorial at Hill 112, just southwest of Caen in commemoration to its role during the Normandy Campaign. The unit is unique in having four such memorials, the reasons for which I will cover at a later date.
Job done and photographs taken, it was on to Dorchester, where a prisoner of war camp for Germans had been sited on the outskirts of the town during the First World War. Our destination was The Keep Museum to the Devon and Dorset Regiment with its fine history covering many campaigns and both world wars. The building itself dates back to 1879 and was originally the barracks for the Dorset Regiment before it amalgamated with the Devonshire Regiment. The exhibition is laid out over four floors and includes life-size displays and artifacts, some of which can be handled. It was a fascinating visit, as we studied the uniforms, medals, dioramas and read the personal accounts. We stayed longer than planned and then returned home.
The next day, Sunday, we rose bright and early to get on the road before all the weekend traffic built up. We drove straight to Weymouth, a distance of 50 miles, retracing most of our route from the previous day, and went directly to Nothe Fort, our first site of the day. It stands at the end of a spit jutting out into Weymouth Bay and was built between 1860 and 1872 by troops from the Corps of Royal Engineers to protect the nearby harbor installations. Today it is a military museum covering the 19th century, both world wars and the period of the “Cold War”, complete with a bunker in the event of a nuclear war.
Although no garrison at the site ever fired the guns in anger, the military architecture makes it a site of interest to military enthusiasts. We were able to wander through the display rooms where weapons are exhibited and include a re-created barrack room. On the upper levels are the heavy guns from WWII . Below ground level there are interactive displays and entry into the nuclear bunker is possible. Some of the guns from the 19th century are truly incredible and visiting the ammunition store for these really feels like you are stepping back in time. Fortifications like these, known as “Palmerstone Follies”, can be found at coastal locations around Britain and are always worth visiting.
Leaving the fort we hiked down to the seafront and walked along the esplanade to visit the war memorials that include one dedicated to the American forces who left from Weymouth for D-Day. Other memorials include the Merchant Navy, ANZACs from WWI after the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915, the town’s war memorial and a special tribute to the Korean War. I also came across a couple of memorials to the evacuees from the islands of Jersey and Alderney who escaped just before they fell under German occupation, but these are not included in the Dorset Trail list.
Back in the car we drove along the A354, which leads onto the peninsula of Portland, where the Royal Naval Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery is located. The cemetery contains 154 graves, including Allied men and women from both world wars along with several Germans. It is also here that Jack Mantle, the only naval recipient of the Victoria to be awarded in “home waters”, is buried. His citation explains the action and how:
“Leading Seaman Jack Mantle was in charge of the Starboard pom-pom [anti-aircraft gun] when Foylebank was attacked by enemy aircraft on July 4th, 1940. Early in the action his left leg was shattered by a bomb, but he stood fast at his gun and went on firing with hand-gear only; for the ship’s electric power had failed. Almost at once he was wounded again in many places. Between his bursts of fire he had time to reflect on the grievous injuries of which he was soon to die; but his great courage bore him up till the end of the fight, when he fell by the gun he had so valiantly served.”
It was a long and tiring weekend, but had proved to be two days of discovery and found things we had not expected.
{Editor’s note: Watch for Part 2 of this story, as John Norris covers the second half of his Dorset Trail adventure, coming soon in Military Trader & Vehicles magazine.}
Want more from John Norris? Here are a few more articles for your reading enjoyment.
