A UNIQUE piece of Dorset's second world war history has been discovered at Dorchester's Thomas Hardye School.

The World War Two mission board had been in storage at the school for many years and it is thought it was possibly taken there by an "old boy" after the war. It is now going to take pride of place at the Keep Military Museum in Dorchester.

The board is from RAF Warmwell and dates back to the middle part of WW11 and records the missions flown by the RAF’s 263 Squadron.

It lists 734 sorties flown by the squadron between September 1942 and November 1943 against a diverse range of targets including coastal gun batteries, railways, shipping an enemy aircraft.

Keep Military Museums's curator, Chris Copson said: "We are immensely pleased to have this superb artefact

"The 263 Squadron was operating "Whirlibombers” – the bomber version of the Yeovil manufactured Westland Whirlwind, a fearsome ground attack aircraft mounting four 20mm cannon in its nose as well as carrying two 250 lb bombs.

"Whirlwind was an amazing aircraft; as fast as a single engine fighter, but packing a huge punch. It is the equivalent of something like the A10 Warthog today.

“This is an example of an RAF squadron carrying the fight into occupied France a long time before D Day. The Whirlibombers were superbly designed for this sort of operation; very fast and heavily armed. The local nickname for them was the “Crikey”, the exclamation made by most people on seeing them for the first time.

The board was presented to the Keep by the school's headteacher Mike Foley. It will form part of a new Dorset at War gallery at The Keep, due to open in the spring.