Soldier’s belongings inspire special play

PUPILS have used the keepsakes of a Tyneside First World War soldier to bring his story alive.

The archive built up by North Shields signaller Thomas Baker Brown, from North Shields, was donated to Newcastle University’s library in 2014 by his family.

The collection consists of a significant amount of memorabilia gathered both during and after the war.

Items include comics such as The Bystander, which was published during the war, Thomas’s ration books, maps of France, Germany and Austria showing the position of trenches, and his handwritten notes for a book on his experiences as a soldier.

There are also the letters written by Thomas to his family while he underwent his training in York, and then his experiences serving in France, including daily routines and conditions in the trenches.

Also included is the correspondence between Thomas’s father and various official bodies after his son was reported missing, and cards sent home by Thomas from a prisoner of war camp in Germany. The collection also includes objects ranging from matchboxes and a German cap to poppy seeds from the Western front.

There is also his request for his family to send him items from home, including a Sommerville’s Asiatic body belt, which was advertised as making it “impossible for vermin to exist on the body or to lodge in clothing”.

Library staff have been working with children from Carville Primary School in Wallsend and Star of the Sea Primary in Whitley Bay to bring the life of Thomas, who received an award for gallantry, to the stage as a play at Whitley Bay Playhouse.

As part of the project, pupils met Newcastle University historian Martin Farr and worked with historical re-enactment society Time Bandits and the Cap-a-Pie theatre company.

In a separate project, the library worked with comic artist Terry Wiley, Lydia Wysocki from Applied Comics Etc and students from four secondary schools.

They explored Thomas’s archive to help them understand the story of a “typical Tommy’” from their local area.

The comics from the archive were used to help students understand how historians use archives, and also to produce a comic of their own about Thomas.

Thomas served in the 21st Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers, alongside his brother George.

He received the Military Medal for his bravery as a “runner”, carrying messages from one outpost to another while under heavy fire at Arras in France.

After being captured in 1918, he was sent to work in a coal mine.