DR ANDREW Murrison MP joined serving Australian soldiers and locals to work the Australian Badge carved into the chalk hillside at Lamb Down, Codford, for its annual clean.

The 175x150 ft hill figure was cut out at the behest of the Australian Brigade Commander in 1916 as a trophy of arms, depicting the badge of the Australian Imperial Force in World War 1. He could see the hill from his HQ at Stockton House when the ANZAC troops were in the Wylye Valley. Codford was a New Zealand Command Depot; the Australian Command Depot was at Sutton Veny.

The hill was nicknamed The Pimple locally but the troops called the location Misery Hill having had to march up and down in full kit and do physical training on the exposed site. Next year will mark the centenary of the Codford Badge, also known in the past as The Rising Sun.

Parish Council chairman Colin Beagley and a member of the Codford Badge Committee explained “The chalk was supplied and graded by Mark Farwell Plant Hire from Stourpaine Bushes Farm near Blandford. We used about seven tonnes of chalk and sprinkled a thin layer on the badge to highlight it. "Henry Collins of Manor Farm should be thanked for letting us use his machinery so we could get the chalk to the badge; he is storing the balance of the chalk on the farm for future use.

"I counted 50 people on the badge helping during the morning and we had 58 for lunch in the village hall afterwards.”

Colin’s wife Dominique has organised a buffet lunch for the workers, with ham, chicken drumsticks and cheese and villagers donated a wide selection of salads and desserts.