The Keep Military Museum in Dorchester will be hosting a special evening on the 11th of July 2025 from 18:30-21:00.

The event will be held at the Dorchester Army Reserve Centre and will include a drinks reception followed by a special talk on the Dorsetshire Regiment at Dunkirk. It will be hosted and presented by author and military historian Christopher Jary and battlefield guide and military historian Lt Col James Porter.

A Baptism of Blood – Hill 112, 10th July 1944

For the survivors of the previously unblooded 43rd Wessex Division, their attack on Hill 112 near Baron in Normandy became their yardstick of horror. In one day 130 Brigade saw the 4th Dorsets and 7th Hampshires devastated while the 5th Dorsets lost almost half their fighting strength. Other Wessex battalions – the 4th and 7th Somersets, the 4th and 5th Wiltshires and the 5th Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry – suffered a similar fate. The Division that attacked at 0500 that morning had consisted of mainly pre-war territorials who had served and trained together for years. After the one-day battle, the Division was never the same again.

This talk tells the story of the three battalions of 130 Brigade on this single day and uses the words of some of the survivors to describe their first and worst experience of war. It is based on Christopher Jary’s book, So Red a Road.

Places for this event will be strictly limited, so all tickets are sold on a first come, first served basis. All proceeds from the evening will go to support The Keep Military Museum, a registered charity devoted to the military history of the counties of Devon and Dorset.

The venue – the Dorchester Army Reserve Centre – is in Poundbury Road, Dorchester DT1 1TA. The Top O’Town car park is a couple of minutes’ walk away and free of charge from 6pm. The drinks reception will start at 6.30pm, followed by the talk at 7pm.

Our Speakers

Christopher Jary has written twelve books, including one about RAF Bomber Command and eight about the Hampshire, Devonshire and Dorsetshire Regiments. His 231 Malta Brigade Trilogy tells the story of the 2nd Devons, 1st Hampshires and 1st Dorsets in Malta, Sicily & Italy, and on D-Day. So Red a Road, tells the story of 130 Brigade (the 7th Hampshires and 4th & 5th Dorsets) from Normandy to Bremen and includes the Arnhem battle. His father, Sydney, fought as a subaltern in the 4th Somerset Light Infantry at Arnhem and won the Military Cross a month later.

James Porter was commissioned into The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, commanded 5 RRF and served for a total of 41 years, the last 8 as Commander Defence Training Estates South West. He delivers a large range of talks on military history subjects, is the founder of the Wessex Military History group and is a battlefield guide. The son of a distinguished Devon officer, Roly, who served in Malta and Sicily and won the Military Cross in Italy. James played a major part in producing Roy’s Boys, Christopher Jary’s book on Sicily.

Purchase Your Ticket here

Tickets cost £15 per person and includes the following:

· Admission to the talk on the Dorsetshire Regiment at Hill 112.

· Complimentary drink

Keep Friends and current museum volunteers enjoy a 10% discount on the ticket price.