Dorset Ancestors Rotating Header Image

Book Review

Dorset’s Great War dead remembered

There cannot be a community in the country that was not deeply affected by the catastrophe that was the First World War. As the county town, Dorchester of course had to endure and suffer its share of bereaved relatives, empty living-room chairs, a generation lost, as the country took stock of the aftermath following the armistice.

Now, author Brian Bates has written a definitive gazette documenting those four momentous years in words and a wealth of illustrations. Dorchester Remembers the Great War is organised into eleven chapters which, following a foreword by Leslie Phillips MBE, is headed by a brief overview of Edwardian Dorchester and an account of how the war came to Dorchester.

For each of the four years of the war there follow accounts organised into two sections: the Battle Front sets the scene with an account of the events, strategies and developments across each theatre of the war for the given year.
Roll of Honour then deals with the backgrounds and obituary accounts of key troops of the Dorset regiments to fall in action. The book then concludes with chapters on a post-war roll of honour and remembrance and two appendices.   

As an example of one of the citations, there is that of Pte Frank Adams of the 3rd Btn the Dorsetshire Regiment (p.54) who enrolled with the Dorsets on 31st August 1914, even though he was only 5’ 2” and weighed under 8 stone. He also lied about his age, stating he was 19. Yet the appaling irony is that Adams was not killed by the enemy; he died after accidently being shot dead by a comrade. Frank’s father had to inform the coroner that Frank had turned 16 sixteen a month before his death. Considerably maturer was 30-year-old Rifleman Fred Piddden (p.131) who died from wounds sustained during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

Brian Bates, a resident of Dorchester since 1969, has maintained a particular passion for the history of Dorchester ever since writing a thesis on the county town’s economy as it was in the 17th century, a subject on which he lectures from time to time. He particularly focuses on the common man and the community he is a part of.

Bates has previously published a transcription of the diary of William Whiteway, a 17th century Dorchester merchant as well as three biographies of military figures. He lives with his wife Doreen and two daughters.

Dorchester Remembers the Great War comes as a paperback in a six-and-three-quarter by ten inch format and is half-an-inch thick. It is published by the Roving Press at £12.99.
ISBN 978-1-906651-16-9

 A photo of the book cover is in the gallery.

Comments are closed.