Shropshire First World War Soldier's poignant 'war horse' memento on display in Shrewsbury for the first time
A century-old lock of hair, cut by a Shropshire soldier from his army horse, has gone on public display for the first time.
More than 40 years ago, Michael Morpurgo’s novel ‘War Horse’ brought the deep bonds between humans and animals under wartime stress to public attention.
Several decades earlier, in the 1950s, William Simpson, a Shropshire veteran of the First World War, donated to what is now the Shrewsbury-based Soldiers of Shropshire Museum, a lock of hair accompanied by a signed note reading: ‘Forelock of my troop horse killed 6 Oct 1915’.
William, who lived at Home Farm at Calverhall near Whitchurch, served in the Shropshire Yeomanry, which was stationed in East Anglia on home defence duties during 1915.
Dr Robert MacKinnon, Curator of the Soldiers of Shropshire Museum’s new exhibition ‘Love War Loss’ , which features William’s lock, said: "William’s horse may have been injured and euthanised or outright killed in an accident.
"In Victorian and Edwardian Britain, people often kept locks of hair as mementos of loved ones who had died, believing they symbolised enduring life. William did the same with his horse, cutting the forelock from its head, a tender, intimate place, to grieve and remember his horse."
Through other material William donated, Dr MacKinnon was able to learn that in William’s professional life in the army, he lived and breathed horses.
He said: "As a Farrier Sergeant, William was involved in meeting the diverse care needs of horses. Duties included trimming their hoofs, fitting their shoes, regularly inspecting their housing and physical condition, as well as meeting the majority of their veterinary needs."
There is also evidence to show William’s depth of care towards the welfare of the horses under his supervision.
At the war’s end he received congratulatory praise from a senior officer for the ‘excellent condition’ of the horses under his care, and his ‘zeal, energy and efficiency’.
The exhibition explores how the family, friends and sweethearts of Shropshire’s First World War soldiers grieved the war death of their loved one.
Poignant highlights include a timeworn soldier doll given to a young boy after the death of his father, Lance Corporal William Smith, and a cartoon by Much Wenlock’s Private George Harding, kept by his sister, showing him embracing his sweetheart, Ada.
A key focus of the exhibition is a lesser-seen side of First World War remembrance.
Dr MacKinnon said: "The exhibition looks beyond public and official monuments to the dead in stone in exploring the diversity, individuality and significance of home-based memorials. Within the home, loving ones could memorialise their dead close at hand and in personal and public ways not available elsewhere."
Although grounded in a military context, Dr MacKinnon said the exhibition "speaks to themes universal across conflicts, cultures, places, and time, the desire to hold on to something material of the dead, and to remember them in deeply personal ways".
‘Love War Loss’ runs until Easter 2026.
