THE FAMILIAR face of German dictator Adolf Hitler is now on show at the Keep Military Museum in Dorchester.

A small bust of the Nazi leader’s head that was found in a trench in Berlin has been given to the museum to display alongside its collection on the Devon and Dorset Regiment.

The bust was uncovered in 1986 when Devon and Dorset soldiers were based at the Brookes barracks in Berlin.

Curator at the Keep, Colin Parr, explained: “They were doing routine works with German contractors and as they took up some flagstones what became fairly visible was the outline of a trench.

“The quartermaster got the Pioneer Platoon to do some basic excavation and with three or four inches a lump of metal appeared which turned out to be a rifle.

“They also found ammunition and an anti-tank weapon and when they got to pretty much the bottom of the original trench one of the lad’s spade hit what he though was a rock and it turned out to be a bust of Adolf Hitler.

“The spade took a lump of the ear off.”

Mr Parr said he believed the trench formed part of German barracks that had been occupied by German troops during the Second World War and they had filled it in as the Allies advanced into Berlin.

Hitler’s head found a place behind the bar of the sergeant’s mess at the barracks, until the Devon and Dorset’s was disbanded in 2007 and replaced with the 1st Battalion the Rifles.

The bust was then stored away until it was recently decided it should go to the Keep.

The Keep already houses Hitler’s desk from the Chancellery in Berlin as well as a signed Christmas card from 1943, various books and a helmet belonging to his personal bodyguard.

The museum is now hoping to create an undamaged replica of the bust, so they can display it alongside the original and is looking to get local students involved in the process.

Mr Parr said: “It would be quite nice to get this featured alongside the Hitler desk.

“We wondered whether one of the colleges or universities in the county might be prepared to try and construct a replica with the ear restored and a little bit of the nose that’s broken off.

“The we could display them next to each other for the benefit of the public and school children that come round the museum.”

Anyone interested in helping to create the replica is asked to contact Claire Budd on 07854 173244 or by sending an email to claire@clairebudd.co.uk