Description

The Keep Military Museum in Dorchester will be hosting a special evening on Friday the 27th of September 2024 to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem.

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, Devonshire Regiment and Dorset Yeomanry (94th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery) at Arnhem. It will be hosted and presented by author and military historian Christopher Jary and battlefield guide and military historian Lt Col James Porter.

The 1st, 4th and 5th Dorsets, 2nd Devons and the Dorset Yeomanry (94th Field Artillery) together played a massive part in Operation Market Garden. The talk will concentrate on our county regiments’ role in Montgomery’s masterplan to end the war by 1944 and the heroic and important role individual officers and soldiers in our regiments played.

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.

Tickets cost £15 per person and includes the following:

· Admission to the talk on the Devonshire Regiment, Dorsetshire Regiment and Dorset Yeomanry (94 Field Artillery) at the Battle of Arnhem

· Admission to The Keep Military Museum during the day (10:00 to 16:30)

· Complimentary drink

buy you tickets here!

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