Dorset Brochure Final(4) - Flipbook - Page 10
LOCAL INTEREST
The Dorsets' Headquarters and training
depot was in Dorchester. The Keep, the
original entrance and guardroom, is
now the Military Museum of Devon and
Dorset.
The Dorsets' motto, Primus in Indis (First
in India), was awarded during service with
the East India Company in 1754.
On Christmas Eve 1801, the 54th
Regiment of Foot put down a mutiny by
elements of the Gibraltar Garrison. The
mutineers aimed to kill the governor, the
Duke of Kent, the future father of Queen
Victoria. But for the 54th, Victoria might
never have been born and history would
be very different!
In November 1857, the 54th Regiment
was on board the SS Sarah Sands in the
Indian Ocean when the ship caught fire.
The Regiment became nationally famous
for fighting the fire and saving the ship.
During the Malabar Campaign in India
in 1921, four soldiers from 2 DORSETS,
Private Frederick Chant from Sherborne,
Sergeant William Hand from Salisbury,
Private Thomas Miller from Weymouth,
and Private Henry Troake from Wellington
won the “Empire Medal for Gallantry”,
which was later changed to the George
Cross.
In the First World War, battalions of
The Dorsets fought in France, Belgium,
Gallipoli (Turkey), Mesopotamia (Iraq) and
Palestine (Jordan, Israel and Palestine
today). 1 DORSETS suffered huge
casualties on Hill 60 during the first gas
attack in May 1915 and again on the first
day of The Somme on 1 July 1916.
During the Second World War, in May
1940, Lt Col Stephenson, compass in
hand, personally led 285 battle weary
survivors of 2 DORSETS to the beaches
of Dunkirk for evacuation. 1 DORSETS
served in Malta during the siege and took
part in three assault Landings in Sicily,
Italy and were some of the first infantry
ashore on D-Day. In September 1944,
The Dorsets were the only regiment not
to arrive by air to win the battle honour
“Arnhem 1944”. 4th Dorsets were in
the relief force and crossed the River
Nederrijn by boat to help evacuate the
remnants of the 1st Airborne Division.
The Dorset Regiment amalgamated with
The Devonshire Regiment in 1958 to form
The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment.
Between 1958 and 2007, The Devon and
Dorsets served with distinction in Cyprus,
British Guyana, Malta, Germany, Northern
Ireland, Bosnia and Iraq.
The Devon and Dorsets had the
freedoms of ten towns in Dorset:
Blandford, Bridport, Christchurch,
Dorchester, Gillingham, Lyme Regis,
Poole, Shaftesbury, Sherborne and
Weymouth. The Rifles have been
granted the Freedoms of Bournemouth
and Wimborne.
The Dorset Regiment's march was
the traditional Irish tune The Maid of
Glenconnel. It was incorporated into the
Devon and Dorsets' Regimental March,
along with The Devonshire Regiment's
marches, Widecombe Fair and We Lived
and Loved Together.
In 2007, the Devon and Dorsets and
three other regiments formed The Rifles.
The Dorset Regiment's and some of
The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment's
old Colours hang in the Lady Chapel in
Sherborne Abbey.
A carved RIFLES cap badge was placed
in the Lady Chapel in 2020 as Dorset’s
County Regiment.
