PORTLAND’S connection with the Cenotaph in London, a soldier who was one of the first to go into action in a tank and a policeman who saw the devastation at Hiroshima are among the fascinating articles contained in a new publication.
They are to be found in the 2014 Dorset Year Book which takes its theme as the centenary of the beginning of the First World War.
Published by The Society of Dorset Men, it contains a varied selection of interesting articles, historic and topical, on the life and times of Dorset people, events, towns and villages, incorporating many interesting photographs and illustrations.
Some of the articles are connected with war and soldiers such as how the stone for the Whitehall Cenotaph originated in a long-gone Wakeham quarry, the story of Gunner Roy Reiffer who in 1916 climbed aboard one of the first tanks on the battlefield, and PC Bert Beavis who, before he joined the Dorset Constabulary, was in the Royal Navy and witnessed the first atomic bomb drop on Hiroshima.
The year book, the 105th to be published, is the first to be edited by Trevor Vacher-Dean of Weymouth, a former publican and policeman.
The book is sent free to all members but is available for £6 at local shops including Books Afloat in Weymouth, Waterstones in Dorchester and Bridport, Cards and Celebrations at Easton, and Dorchester Tourist Information Centre.
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