Story:
Victor Douglas Tucker was born in Shaftesbury, Dorset, on 16th January 1888 and baptised at St. James' Church on 12th February 1888, the son of Gideon Tucker and Mary Elizabeth Tucker (née Foot).  He grew up in the family home at 25 St. James Street in Shaftesbury. It is recorded in family records that he enlisted with the Dorset Volunteers in 1905 later transferring to the 1st/4th Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment in a Territorial capacity.  He married Martha Annie Woodrow at the Independent Chapel, Shaftesbury, on 25th April 1909 and they went on to have four children. 

He re-enlisted at the outbreak of the war and joined the Machine Gun Corps (Motors Unit) as a Private (Service No. 57580).  He served in France and Flanders where, at one of the Battles of the Somme serving with the 32nd Reserve Company, he received gunshot wounds to the right leg and left hand.  He was eventually discharged on 17th February 1919 and was awarded a grant of £70 in lieu of pension. He was also awarded the Victory and British War medals.   By the time of the 1939 Register he was living at 24 Salisbury Street, Shaftesbury, Dorset, and was described as a Master Tailor.  He died at the Harrison Hospital, Charminster, Dorset, on 2nd January 1961 and was later interred at the Congregational Independent Chapel, Mustons Lane, Shaftesbury, on 5th January 1961.  The family records also refer to his membership of the Shaftesbury Town Band for over 52 years.

Two of Victor's brothers also served in the war: Sidney Wilfred (b.1894) with the Dorsetshire Regiment and George Farley (b.1890) with the Somerset Light Infantry.

Story:
Charles Whitmarsh was born in Melbury Abbas, Shaftesbury, Dorset, on 12th April 1877, the son of Ambrose John Whitmarsh and Maria Whitmarsh (née Lane).  He lived his early life in Melbury Abbas.  He had served in the Army from 1896 until his discharge on 13th March 1906.   He married Huldah Amelia Hacker at St. James' Church, Shaftesbury, Dorset, on 23rd October 1906 and moved to Watchet, Somerset.  They went on to have four children.  Charles re-enlisted on 21st December 1914 as a Private with the 1st Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment (Service Nos. 4320 & 8790).  While serving in France & Flanders he was transferred to the Machine Gun Corps (Service No. 3/16372); soon after he received a gunshot wound which left him physically unfit for further duty.  He was discharged on 2nd April 1918 and eventually awarded the Victory and British War medals as well as the 1915 Star.   He died in Bath, Somerset, on 29th September 1920.  His brother, Sidney Whitmarsh, also served in the conflict and survived, eventually dying in 1936.