For County, For Country – HMS Dorsetshire and the sinking of Bismark

The event will be held at the Dorchester Army Reserve Centre and will include a drinks reception followed by a special talk on the HMS Dorsetshire and the sinking of Bismark. It will be hosted and presented by military historian Lt Col James Porter.

The subject of this talk is the County Class heavy cruiser HMS DORSETSHIRE, and will follow her career from the laying of her keel on 21 September 1927 to her loss in the Indian Ocean on 05 April 1942. However, the talk’s main focus will be on DORSETSHIRE’s role in the hunt for and the eventual sinking of the German battleship BISMARCK.

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 Speaker

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.