Australian students travelled across the world to pay tribute to the Anzac soldiers buried in a Weymouth cemetery. 

As part of a European tour to First World War battlefields, a group of 55 students from Canberra visited Melcombe Regis Cemetery on Saturday to honour the 87 Anzac soldiers buried at the site. 

The pupils, together with 15 adults and a jazz band, were greeted by three groups of Weymouth residents who have forged strong ties and memories of the Australian soldiers. 

Phil Sherwood, a member of the Somerset and Dorset Family History Society, welcomed the touring students and gave them some background of those who were laid to rest in Westham. 

He said: "The day went really well. All the students were really interested in the Anzac graves and were and those who fought and sacrificed their lives in the war."

To mark the centenary of the First World War, the history society has been researching the lives of some of the 120,000 sick and injured Anzac troops who were sent to Weymouth camps from Gallipoli and later from the Western Front. 

Many soldiers married local girls and made lasting family ties between Australia and Dorset. 

The former mayor of Weymouth and Portland Les Ames, whose father fought with the Australians at Gallipoli, spoke to the young people about his past. 

Mr Sherwood said: "The students really enjoyed speaking to Les who is now 95. When he told them about his father they were all really keen to ask him questions about what it was like which was nice to see." 

The jazz band played a rendition of the Last Post as part of a commemoration service after which students laid a cross at each of the graves, maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. 

Also attending the service was the Weymouth and Portland Residents Association, who funded the memorial opposite the Prince Regent, and the Westham Community Group who have erected new information boards by the graveside. 

Students learnt how the town is interwoven with their own ancestry because of the camp which covered most of Westham during the war, evident in many of Weymouth’s street names. 

Group organsier Martin Fiechtner said: "Weymouth has done us proud and we hope to keep in touch. The students were amazed to see Weymouth’s contribution to remembering the Anzac efforts in the First World War.”

The students, aged between 14 and 16, visited Weymouth as part of a three week cultural trip which will see them perform at various sites in France and England.