大象传媒

Following the successful stage adaptation of Michael Morpurgo鈥檚 book War Horse, Durham County Record Office has revealed they have a very similar real life story contained in a diary held by the archives.

Sergeant George Thompson from Sunderland enlisted in the 7th Battalion The Durham Light Infantry in 1910, and in 1928 he wrote an account of his wartime experiences for his young daughter.

Three generations of the Thompson family had worked at the Vaux Brewery in Sunderland where George probably worked with the dray horses. In April 1915 he went to France and drove limber wagons carrying rations and ammunition to the front line. His concern for his horses is evident throughout the diary; he even built a stable for one horse who was suffering from a skin condition to save it from being destroyed. Remarkably, one of the two horses he took to the front from Sunderland survived until the end of the war.

Location: Vaux Brewery, Sunderland SR5 1SU
Image shows one of the war horses, courtesy of the Trustees of the former DLI and Durham County Record Office
Report presented by Jo Lonsdale