Weymouth, Dorset: Anzacs in Weymouth

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In June 1915; 200 Anzac soldiers arrived at an army camp near the village of Chickerell in Weymouth. These wounded soldiers were the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps - and most of them were survivors of the disastrous Gallipoli campaign. They’d come to Weymouth to convalesce, and by the end of the war over 105,000 had stayed and recuperated in the area. The Anzacs were welcomed by local people almost as soon as they arrived. The womenfolk of Chickerell organised a huge strawberries and cream tea, and it wasn’t long before the wounded troops began attending church services on Sunday mornings and then spending the rest of the day with local families. The young women of Weymouth found the Australians particularly appealing, as they were generally bigger, fitter and much better paid than British troops. Fifty weddings eventually followed as a result of this “fraternising with the locals”. Eighty-six Anzacs were never to see their homeland again and are buried in Weymouth and Melcombe Regis cemeteries. Weymouth observes Anzac Day on the 25 April every year with a service at the Anzac memorial along the esplanade. Location: Weymouth, Dorset Image shows Australian Imperial Forces on Weymouth Beach, courtesy of New South Wales State Library