Henry Peerless was a Brighton based timber merchant who liked to travel round the UK between 1891 and 1920 by motor car. An entry in his diary for 15th July 1916 reads as follows:

“Feeling much refreshed, we get going again and pave our way to Shaftesbury. From thence we shape a course for Salisbury. On the way we ran into a huge camp. I think there were at least twelve camps in one long line – thousands of soldiers were about – we drew up, and I asked some soldiers the name of the place - as far as I can understand, they said it was Sutton Mandeville, Fovant Camps.

“On our right hand side, behind the camps, was a range of hills, and we were attracted by a series of regimental crests on the side of these hills, most beautifully executed in, I think, white chalk. They varied considerably in size, and it is difficult to judge at a distance what their dimensions might be, but some were of enormous proportions and must have been quite a big job to execute. They were works of art, and produced a fine effect, and I imagine will be preserved in the future as a memento of the Great War.”

That is the objective of the Fovant Badges Society, Mr Peerless!

(By permission of Edward Fenton, author of ‘Great Diaries from Around the World’ , Day Books)