Story:
Walter Lane was born in Donhead St. Mary, Wiltshire, on 17 Jul 1894 the son of James Lane and Emily Eliza Lane (nee Smart).  By 1901 the family had moved to 31 Melbury Abbas, Shaftesbury, Dorset.   Walter had enlisted on 19 Feb 1912 with the Territorial Reserves (Service No. 1552).  He was mobilized with the regular forces on 30 Apr 1913 and served with the 1st Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment as a Private (Service No. 9539).  He was posted to France and Flanders at the outbreak of hostilities and was reported wounded and missing on 13 Oct 1914.  It was later learned he had become a POW and had been sent to Germany.  The family records indicate that he was ultimately put to work in a salt mine.  Following the armistice he rejoined his unit on 27 Nov 1918.  He was finally discharged on 4 Mar 1919 being no longer physically fit for military service and was awarded a pension due gun shot wounds sustained in 1914 to the right leg, thigh, chest and hand.  He also received the Silver War Badge No. B160851.  He was also awarded the Victory and British War Medals as well as the 1914 Star.  He married Rose Anna Burden at St. James Church, Shaftesbury, Dorset, on 29 Sep 1920.   The 1921 Census shows him living at 3 Melbury Abbas, Shaftesbury, working as a Farm Labourer at Parham Farm, Melbury Abbas.   By the time of the 1939 Register he was living at Cann Common, Shaftesbury, Dorset, working as a Cowman and General Farmworker.  He died locally in 1967.

Story:
Claude Dibben was born at Twyford, Shaftesbury, Dorset, 17 Jan 1894 the son of Alfred Dibben and Sarah Ann Dibben (nee Rideout).  He lived most of his early life at Twyford.  He had enlisted with the Army Service Corps as a Driver (Service No. T4/044451).   He had served in France and Flanders and on his discharge on 10 Mar 1919 was awarded the Victory and British War Medals as well as the 1915 Star.   By the 1921 Census he was living with his parents at Horder's Farm, Melbury Abbas, Shaftesbury, Dorset, assisting his father on the farm.  He later married Emily Stone at Melbury Abbas, Shaftesbury, Dorset, during the same year and they went on to have two children.  By the time of the 1939 Register he was living at Allens Farm, Melbury Abbas, Shaftesbury, Dorset, described as a Dairy Farmer.  His death was reported in the area in 1976.  Of his two brothers, Charles Dibben served and survived but Frank Dibben died during the conflict.

Story:
Albert George Guppy was born at Chetnole, Sherborne, Dorset, on 30 Sep 1881 and baptised there on 20 Nov 1881 the son of John Guppy and Mercy Ann Guppy (nee Dewland).  He lived his early life in Leigh, Dorset, where he met and married Lily Brake on 6 Jun 1905.  They went on to have seven children.  He came to live in Melbury Abbas, Shaftesbury, Dorset, just prior to the outbreak of WW1.  He had enlisted on 22 Jun 1909 with the Territorial Unit and served with the 1/1st Battalion of the Dorset (Queen's Own) Yeomanry as a Private (Service No. 1179) later transferring to the Corps of Hussars (Service No. 230482).  He served in Egypt and Salonica for most of his service and on his discharge on 23 Mar 1919 was awarded the Victory and British War Medals as well as the 1915 Star.   The 1921 census shows him living in 7 Higher Blandford Road, Cann, Shaftesbury,  working as  Smallholder,   The 1939 Register shows him still living there but now described as a Thatcher.  He died at the Odstock Hospital, Salisbury, Wiltshire, on 13 Dec 1949 and was buried at The New Yard, Melbury Abbas,  on 17 Dec 1949. NB. His eldest son, Reginald Albert Guppy, born in 1906, served in WW2 in the Royal Navy and became a prisoner of the Japanese and he died in their custody on 8 Aug 1942.  

Story:
John Wareham was born in Iwerne Minster, Shaftesbury, Dorset, on 21 Sep 1896 the son of William Wareham and Anna Maria Wareham (nee Coombes).  He lived all his life apart, from Military Service, in Iwerne Minster.   He enlisted with the Somerset Light Infantry as a Private (Service No. 37127).  It is known he was with the 12th Battalion but not the theatre of war he served in. On his discharge on 16 Mar 1919 he was awarded the Victory and British War Medals.  By the 1921 Census he was living with his parents in Dunns Lane, Iwerne Minster, working as a Road Man for the Dorset County Council.    He married Edith Maud Lewis in Todber, Dorset, on 5 Aug 1922.  By the time of the 1939 Register he was living at Preston Cottage, Iwerne Minster, Dorset, working as a Road Foreman as well acting as a Civil Defence Decontamination Officer.   His death was recorded in the North Dorset, Dorset, Registry in 1985 and he was buried at St. Mary's Church, Iwerne Minster, on 16 Jan 1985.  His brothers, Harry James Wareham and Charles William Wareham, also served in the conflict.