THE DORSET GREAT WAR MEMORIAL TAKES SHAPE

A memorial to commemorate all those from the county of Dorset who fell in the First World War is now being created following a three-year campaign to raise funds. Dorset is one of the few counties without a First World War memorial in France.

The New Memorial Takes Shape

Secretary of the Dorset Great War Memorial committee and WFA branch member Roger Coleman MBE recently visited Stoneform, the small local Dorset company that has been commissioned to produce the memorial.
 
The memorial will take the form of an obelisk in four main parts. Standing at a total height of two metres, each block is made of Portland stone mined from Albion Quarry and weighs just over half a tonne. The photos show the stage where the obelisk has been shaped by sculptor Alex Evans and stone carver Zoe Cull and the areas marked out where the cap badge of the Dorsetshire Regiment and the Dorset County Council crest will be carved. One side of the base will depict selected Battle Honours of the Regiment.
 
The memorial is due to be completed in the next few weeks and in the coming months will be taken to France and fixed to a preformed concrete base close to the entrance of Lonsdale CWGC cemetery, Authuille, Somme. This marks the point where on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, the 32nd Division, which included the 1st Battalion, Dorset Regiment attacked the German lines and stormed the Leipzig Salient, but were compelled to retire later in the day. A large number of officers and men killed on that day are buried in the cemetery.
 
A ceremony to dedicate the memorial will be held on Saturday, 7 May, 2011.
 
Further progress reports and details of the commemoration ceremony will be posted here in due course.
 
The War Memorial Committee has raised £23,000 to pay for the monument but further funds will be required for ongoing maintenance and insurance costs. Anyone wishing to make a donation to the fund can send a cheque made payable to "The Dorset Memorial Fund" to The Keep Military Museum, 1 Bridport Road, Dorchester, DT1 1 RN.
 
Related articles:
 
www.thisisdorset.co.uk/westerngazette/County-honours-fallen-soldiers/article-2569343-detail/article.html