A DEVASTATING and cautionary tale of five boys who died on Swanage Beach will be permanently remembered 70-years on from the tragic day thanks to a new plaque.

Robin Ardagh, Richard Birch, Jeremy Dennis, Davis North-Lewis and Jason Oliver were between 12 and 13 years old when their lives were claimed on May 13, 1955 after an unexploded Second World War land mine they found buried in the sand at Swanage Beach, which they originally thought could be a can of Spam, detonated.

Mines were placed on beaches in Britain during the Second World War as part of preparations for a potential Nazi invasion.

While efforts were made to disarm and dispose of the mines, not all were accounted for following the end of the war.

Swanage Beach was given the all clear by officials prior to the explosion.

The boys were part of Forres School and while a plaque exists at the site to commemorate the boys, there were concerns their story could be lost as the site was put up for sale last year following its closure.

Ex-Forres School pupil Seb Warner said he always remembered the harrowing tale and upon hearing that the boys’ memorial was at risk, he set about ensuring the boys’ legacy lives on in a prominent place after launching an online crowd funder.

READ MORE: Plaque to honour school boys who died in mine accident on Swanage Beach 70 years on

With support from Swanage Town Council and joined by 60 family members of the boys, former Forressians and even some of the school boys who are now in their 80s, a new plaque was installed at Purbeck View next to the existing war memorial on May 13.

Seb said that the project snowballed after first coming up with the idea.

“I started speaking to more and more of the old boys that were there at the time and the more I spoke to them, the more they spoke to each other and started to reconnect, which was lovely to be a part of.

“We had 60-plus old Forressians and family members in attendance on the day, which was great to see it being supported as well as it did.

“It was an emotional day, but what made it even more special was that the sister of Richard Birch and the two sisters of David North-Lewis – who are all in their 80s – came for the unveiling, with one of them flying from South Africa.

“A cousin of Jason Oliver was there, which was lovely, but sadly we weren’t able to track down any relative of Robin Ardagh or Jeremy Dennis.

Seb Warner thanked everyone for their donations to the memorial plaque Picture: Seb Warner

“We’re still working on that, and it would be fantastic if they could be told of the memorial.

“The families were very grateful that a more prominent memorial has been created and I hope it gave them further closure.

“It was a different era at the time – and there is no criticism of the school, as that’s how things were at the time – but a lot of these boys literally never spoke about the tragedy.

“Thanks must go to Swanage Town Council for allowing us to put the memorial in such a good location and to Haysoms Purbeck Stone who produced the memorial tablet.”

The new plaque reads: “In memory of the Forres School boys who were tragically killed on Swanage Beach by a World War II land mine 13th May 1955. Robin Ardagh, Richard Birch, Jeremy Dennis, David North-Lewis, Jason Oliver.”