Editing Dorking (section)

===Dorking in the World Wars===
In late 1914, Dorking became a [[garrison]] town.<ref>{{cite news |last=Edwards |first=Mark |date=11 June 2015 |title=First World War photos show Dorking as garrison town |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/nostalgia/first-world-war-photos-show-9435872 |work=Get Surrey |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=8 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808092818/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/nostalgia/first-world-war-photos-show-9435872 |url-status=live}}</ref> Empty houses were requisitioned and from January 1915 around 4000 troops were accommodated including those from the [[London Scottish (regiment)|London Scottish regiment]], the [[Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles|Civil Service Rifles]] and the [[Queen's Westminsters|Queen's Westminster Rifles]].<ref name=Atherton_2014_pp94-95/> Training took place in the fields to the west and north west of the town.<ref name="Atherton_2014_pp104–110">{{harvnb|Atherton|2014|pp=104–110}}</ref> Many local residents were recruited to the [[Surrey Yeomanry]], which (until mid-1915) was stationed at Deepdene House and at the Public Hall in West Street.<ref name=Atherton_2014_p24>{{harvnb|Atherton|2014|p=24}}</ref><ref name=Atherton_2014_pp94-95>{{harvnb|Atherton|2014|pp=94–95}}</ref> Although he was aged over 40 at the start of the war, the composer [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]] enlisted in the [[Royal Army Medical Corps]], one unit of which was based in the town.<ref name="Atherton_2014_pp104–110"/>

Of the many soldiers from Dorking who died during [[World War I]], the youngest was [[Valentine Strudwick]]. He was born in Falkland Road on 14 February 1900 and was educated at St Paul's School. He [[military service|enlisted]] in 1915 after concealing his true age and joined the [[Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own)]]. A year later, in January 1916 at the age of 15 years 11 months, he was killed in action at [[Boezinge]], near [[Ypres]]. He is buried at [[Essex Farm Cemetery]] in [[Belgium]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Watkins |first=James |date=22 January 2016 |title=Valentine Joe Strudwick: Dorking remembers one of the youngest WW1 casualties 100 years on |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/valentine-joe-strudwick-dorking-remembers-10770251 |work=Get Surrey |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=4 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804201935/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/valentine-joe-strudwick-dorking-remembers-10770251 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/private-valentine-joe-strudwick/ |title=Private Valentine Joe Strudwick |last=Chambers |first=Erica |date=18 January 2021 |publisher=Dorking Museum |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=25 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925204306/https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/private-valentine-joe-strudwick/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:A veteran sergeant in the Dorking Home Guard cleans his Tommy gun at the dining room table, before going on parade, 1 December 1940. H5850.jpg|thumb|right|A veteran sergeant in the Dorking [[Home Guard (United Kingdom)|Home Guard]] cleaning a
[[Thompson submachine gun|Tommy gun]] (December 1940)<ref>{{cite archive |item-url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205195183 |item=The Home Guard: Seated at the dining table with his wife, a Sergeant of the Dorking Home Guard in Surrey, England gives his Tommy gun a final polish before leaving home to go on parade |last=Puttnam |first=Len A |type=photograph |item-id=H 5850 |collection=War Office Second World War official collection |date=1 December 1940 |institution=Imperial War Museum |location=London}}</ref>]]
Empty houses in the town also provided billets for soldiers during [[World War II]] and over 3000 school children were [[evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II|evacuated]] to the Dorking area in September 1939. A local refugee committee (led by Vaughan Williams and the novelist [[E. M. Forster]]) was established to find accommodation for refugees fleeing Nazi persecution and also to support long-resident [[German nationality law|German]] and [[Czech nationality law|Czech nationals]] in applications to [[Home Office]] [[Tribunals in the United Kingdom|tribunals]] to remain at liberty in the UK.<ref name=Jackson_1991_p98-99>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=98–99}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/evacuees-and-refugees/ |title=Evacuees and Refugees |last=Chambers |first=Erica |date=16 July 2020 |publisher=Dorking Museum |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=28 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128053222/https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/evacuees-and-refugees/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

At the start of the war, the fortified [[GHQ Line|GHQ Line B]] was constructed directly to the north of Dorking. This defensive line ran along the North Downs from [[Farnham]] via Guildford, before following the River Mole to [[Horley]]. The banks of the Mole were fortified with [[anti-tank obstacles]], [[pillbox (military)|pillboxes]] and [[coastal artillery|gun emplacements]] and an [[anti-tank trench|anti-tank ditch]] was dug from west to east across Bradley Farm (now Denbies Wine Estate). The town itself was a Class "A" nodal point and from August 1940 the 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade (part of the [[VII Corps (United Kingdom)|VII Corps]]) was assigned to its defence.<ref name=Aspects_2004_pp246-248>{{harvnb|Cotton|Crocker|Graham|2004|pp=246–248}}</ref><ref name=DA12>{{cite web |url=http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue//adsdata/arch-455-1/dissemination/pdf/Text_Reports/DA12_TEXT_-_DORKING_GAP.pdf |title=Defence Area 12: Dorking Gap |author=Foot W |year=2009 |work=Defence Areas: a national study of Second World War anti-invasion landscapes in England |publisher=English Heritage |access-date=11 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811042351/http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue//adsdata/arch-455-1/dissemination/pdf/Text_Reports/DA12_TEXT_-_DORKING_GAP.pdf |archive-date=11 August 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> Pippbrook House (the then offices of the Dorking UDC) became a mobilisation centre and housed an [[Air Raid Precautions in the United Kingdom|ARP]] post as well as the local branch of the [[Royal Voluntary Service|Women's Voluntary Service]].<ref name=Raine_Pippbrook/>

Over the course of the war, 77 [[bomb|high-explosive bombs]] and 60 [[Incendiary device|incendiaries]] were dropped by the ''[[Luftwaffe]]'', however only one incident (in October 1940) resulted in fatalities in the town.<ref name=Jackson_1991_p98-99/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/wartime-incidents/ |title=Wartime incidents |last=Chambers |first=Erica |date=19 July 2020 |publisher=Dorking Museum |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=28 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128043430/https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/wartime-incidents/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

After the war, at least two [[Covenanter tank]]s were buried at Bradley Farm. The first was excavated and restored in 1977 and is now on display at [[The Tank Museum]] at [[Bovington Camp|Bovington]] in [[Dorset]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tank-photographs.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/a13-cruiser-mkIII-mkV-covenanter-tank-bovington.html |title=The Covenanter A13 Mk.III Cruiser Mark V tank |last=Moore |first=Craig |publisher=tank-hunter.com |access-date=17 January 2021 |archive-date=20 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200720032715/http://tank-photographs.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/a13-cruiser-mkIII-mkV-covenanter-tank-bovington.html |url-status=live}}</ref> A second was excavated in 2017 for the archaeology programme ''WW2 Treasure Hunters'', presented by the musician [[Suggs (singer)|Suggs]] on the TV channel [[History (European TV channel)|HISTORY]]. The tank was displayed at the vineyard for six months, before being removed for restoration.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ballinger |first=Chris |date=5 December 2017 |title=Second World War tank discovered at Dorking vineyard taken away to be fully restored |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/second-world-war-tank-discovered-13997831 |work=Get Surrey |access-date=11 January 2021 |archive-date=14 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114105805/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/second-world-war-tank-discovered-13997831 |url-status=live}}</ref>