A BEST-SELLING author from Dorchester has dedicated the latest edition of his novel to the county town’s rugby club.

Damien Lewis, a former Thomas Hardye pupil, has re-released his Second World War book ‘Judy’ to be sold in the USA after its success in Britain.

The latest edition of the novel, which focuses on the famous escapades of Judy the Dog during the Second World War, was re-released earlier this month and Mr Lewis dedicated the novel to Dorchester Rugby Football Club as his two sons play for the team.

Just before the preface, a picture of the club’s crest is accompanied by the message: “Dedicated to the members, coaches, players and gladiators of Dorchester Rugby Football Club, Dorset, England.”

Mr Lewis said: “My two sons play for the club in the under-10s and under-11s.

“It is an absolutely fantastic club, a real family club that coach the players brilliantly.

“They have recently played in two cups and came up against some top clubs such as Bath and the London Irish and Dorchester performed brilliantly. These are clubs that have hundreds of members, immense budgets ex-professionals coaching the children and still Dorchester took them all the way – the other teams can’t believe it.

“I can’t praise the club highly enough, the commitment and support from everyone at Dorchester is superb and it’s an exceptional club from top to bottom.

“That’s the reason I dedicated it to them, and hopefully I will be able to donate some money from the sales of the book as well.”

Judy, an English Pointer, was a mascot on the HMS Gnat and HMS Grasshopper during the war and became the ship’s mascot and hearing device, as she would often detect the sound of oncoming planes and was able to alert the crew.

After HMS Grasshopper sunk off Singapore, Judy was shipwrecked with the crew on a nearby island before the crew were captured as prisoners of war by the Japanese.

The British Army then convinced their captors to give Judy an identification number so that she would not be killed and treated like a normal prisoner and she spent the remainder of the war scavenging food for the prisoners. Judy was awarded the Dickin medal – introduced to recognise the acts of animals during war – after the war finished.

Peter Grassby, chairman of Dorchester Rugby Club, thanked Mr Lewis for the dedication.

He said: “It is a lovely idea from him to dedicate the book to us and it’s a huge honour for the club.

“It will continue to help promote the club to a far wider audience and that can only be a good thing so everyone at the club would like to say thank you to Mr Lewis for doing this.

“It’s not often that Dorchester Rugby Club will be seen or read about in the USA, so it might surprise them slightly”