A long, hard 18 months of planning, researching, writing and rehearsing has paid off.

St Osmund's Middle School's impressive production of a First World War tribute was finally staged in the Thomas Hardye School theatre.

The play, When the Men Marched Away, explored what it was like living in Dorchester in 1914 and how the town was affected by the war.

The play began in the prosperous town of Dorchester with backdrops of the Sheep Market, Channon’s Carriage and Motor Dealers, Gould’s Draper’s Store, the Military Keep and Corn Exchange.

As war was declared, many young recruits rushed to join the army and the play followed their life of their time in the trenches.

Later the audience witnessed how the town changed with the Prisoner of War Camp in Dorchester and stories from a Colliton House, a Voluntary Aid Detachment Hospital. The cast of more 100 acted their parts with great enthusiasm and the original songs, again written by the students themselves, brought the scenes to life.

Replica rifles and uniforms were loaned from Bovington Tank Museum.

Local historians Chris Copson from the Military Keep Museum and Brian Bates, who has written several books about Dorchester in the Great War, helped the pupils and staff on much of the detail surrounding various characters.

Mr Bates said: "After researching and writing about the characters I grew to know them quite intimately, but the depiction of the play brought them even closer. I must admit I did have a chill going down my spine on more than one occasion.”

The stories of the various families were all the more poignant, as some of the character’s relatives were present in the audience.

Copies of the souvenir programme, along with photographs and a history of Dorchester 1914-18 are still available from St Osmund's Middle School and the Tourist Information Centre.