Australian Troops in Weymouth

Did you know that during the years 1915/1919, over 120,000 Australian and New Zealand troops passed through Weymouth?  At the July Meeting of the Somerset and Dorset Family History Society, Alvin Hopper told the story of how this came to be.  Many of the troops fought in the Gallipolli Campaign of 1914.  Australia was too distant to take the injured and evacuated troops, so they were brought back to England to recover and recuperate.  Weymouth was the main destination and on 31^st May 1915 the first of many camps in the Weymouth area was opened at Montevideo House.  As the First World War progressed, and sadly the number of casualties, the number of  troops in the area increased, other camps were opened at Westham, Chickerell, Littlemoor and the Verne.   Many clues of the whereabouts of these camps remain – Australia Road, Adelaide Crescent, Melborne Road, to name but a few.  There were strong links with the Australians in Chickerell and a stained glass window can be seen in St.Mary’s Church there.  The troops were very welcome in the area and joined in many activities with the locals.  After the war a large contingent of war brides left Weymouth and District to start up a new life in Australia or New Zealand.

In Weymouth and Melcombe Regis Cemetary there are graves of those Anzacs who were never to return to their homelands and a memorial is still there, but the dedication is to Commonwealth troops and does not specifically mention Australia or New Zealand.  Alvin Hopper has spent much time in researching the subject with the help of Weymouth Library, who have 50 photographs of the period, and the Internet.  He has successfully campaigned for a more prominent and personal Memorial to be erected commemorating this important part of local history and during Veterans Week in 2005, a Memorial to those troops who graced Weymouth during the years of the First World War will be unveiled on Weymouth Esplanade.

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