6th Dorsetshire Reg.

In 1918 they fought in the Battles of St Quentin, Bapaume, Amiens, Albert, Havrincourt, Epehy and Cambrai before taking part in the British pursuit of the German Army to the Selle.  They then fought in the Battles of the Selle and the Sambre.  The Armistice found the Division south east of Maubeuge. On 6th December they moved back close to Amiens and went to billets around Hallencourt. After the Armistice the 6th Battalion were redeployed to Frucourt.  Most of the men were demobbed over the coming months while the remnants of the Battalion eventually reached Dorchester on 26th May 1919, where the 6th were disbanded.

Their long war cost the 6th Dorsets one thousand lives – more than the entire strength of the Battalion.  Nearly half of these losses were incurred in 1918 with exceptionally high losses in the final advances of the last three months of the conflict.

The 6th Battalion was raised on 6th September 1914 at Dorchester.  In the fortnight that followed prior to the move to Wareham over 1,000 men joined with three hundred from the County of Dorset, the majority of whom joined D Company.  

The Battalion formed part of the 17th Northern Division, whose battalions – mainly from northern regiments – undertook their training in and around the hills, heaths, and pine woods surrounding Bovington in Dorset. Although the Division had been initially selected for Home Defense duties, this decision was reversed and they proceeded to active service in France, landing at Boulogne on 14th July 1915, concentrating near St Omer. They moved into the Southern Ypres salient and, after their initial trench familiarization, went into the line in that area.

In the spring of 1916 they saw action at the Bluff, south east of Ypres on the Comines Canal, before moving south to the Somme.  Here they fought in the Battle of Albert, in which the Division captured Fricourt, and in the battle at Delville Wood.
In 1917 they moved to Arras and saw action in The First and Second Battles of the Scarpe and The Capture of Roeux.  In late summer they returned to Flanders and fought in The First and Second Battles of Passchendaele.

BATEMAN, H E, Private, '20703', 6th Bn. Dorsetshire Regiment
CHURCHES, A T, Private, '42946', 6th Bn. Dorsetshire Regiment
COOKSLEY, A, Private, '43024', 6th Bn. Dorsetshire Regiment
DAWSON, L, Private, '41330', 6th Bn. Dorsetshire Regiment
DURBIN, S L, Lance Serjeant, '20195', 6th Bn. Dorsetshire Regiment
HUNT, L, Private, '19834', 6th Bn. Dorsetshire Regiment
PACKER, H, Private, '30857', 6th Bn. Dorsetshire Regiment
POOK, W, Private, '43047', 6th Bn. Dorsetshire Regiment
VERRALL, H F, Serjeant, '40595', 6th Bn. Dorsetshire Regiment