AS THE people who remember both World Wars dwindle in number, it is left to the younger generations to keep their flame alive.

And Bere Regis Scout troop is doing all it can to make sure no one ever forgets the memories and sacrifices of the men who went to fight in the First World War and never came home.

The dead from their catchment area include 32 from Bere Regis, 18 from Winterbourne Kingston and eight from Briantspuddle and Affpuddle and the Remember Them project ensures that their names will live on in the hearts and memories of villagers and their families.

Three years ago representatives of the troop travelled to Belgium to take part in the Remembrance Day ceremonies at the Menin Gate in Ypres Salient.

Last month, a further 30 Scouts plus leaders crossed the Channel for a five-day visit to Belgium. Once again, the trip included a Remembrance Day ceremony at the Menin Gate, which bears the names of 54,389 men from United Kingdom and Commonwealth Forces who fell at Ypres Salient before August 1917 and who have no known grave.

The party laid wreaths and poppy crosses at Tyne Cot, the largest war grave cemetery on the Western Front, and Hills 60 and 62 which were bitterly fought over. It was on Hill 60 that Affpuddle man Arthur Lucas was killed on May 1, 1915, in the first gas attack on British forces.

They also toured the Canadian War Memorial on Vimy Ridge, the Newfoundland Memorial Park and preserved trenches at Beaumont Hamel, as well as Thiepval Ridge where they laid a wreath for the men of the Dorsetshire Regiment.

On a happier note, they took the opportunity to invest three Explorer Scouts and the troop’s new Assistant Scout Leader, Simon.

The trip took almost a year to plan and research. The Scouts also raised £10,000 to finance it, through sales and grants.

As well as providing the villages of Bere Regis, Winterbourne Kingston and Affpuddle/Briantspuddle with a lasting memorial to their lost fighters, the Remember Them project has also brought home to the Scouts the full impact of war on families and communities.

Teri, one of their number said: “The trip made us all think more about the war and the people who fought in it.

“I didn’t really think much about it before I went. Every Remembrance Day we go to church and they read the names of the people who went to war and didn’t come back. They used to be just a bunch of names and didn’t feel like real people but after doing the research and finding their names on the memorial, finding out about their lives, where they lived and went to school, they have become real.”

Other comments from the youngsters included: ‘The visit was really shocking and emotional’, ‘It was scary just seeing them, all the people who had died’, ‘One grave was of a 14-year-old and that really brought it home to us because that’s the same age as some of the Scouts,’ ‘One Scout had a grandfather whose name is on the memorial at Tyne Cot and we found his gravestone and laid a wreath on it’.

‘We laid a wreath on the grave of a soldier from Australia because no one visits him from home. We also laid one on a grave of a man lying next to Fred Davis, who came from our village, because no one knows who the other man is. Although as the guide there said, Fred might know because they have been lying side by side for so long.’ The Scouts were very proud to have taken part in the remembrance day parade at Menin Gate and remarked on the hundreds of thousands of poppy petals dropped from on high – one for every British and Commonwealth soldier lost.

One of their leaders, Mike Whitfield, was also impressed by the way the local fire brigade bugles The Last Post every day at the site.

He said: “I asked them how long they were going to keep playing it and they said ‘for ever’.”

The Scouts will present their findings to the people of Bere Regis and the surrounding villages at a special evening sometime early next year.