SUSTAINABILITY

FEATURES
linked to the militar y use of the area
were also found. Amongst these
smaller items were but tons and
badges representing
commonwealth nations, as well as
units of the British Army. A small
number of spent car tridge cases
were also uncovered. From the
markings on these, it is possible to
ascer tain that the area was in use
prior to W WI and also during W WII.
A selection of American WWII
cartridge cases was also found. These
do not conclusively prove that
American soldiers were based here, as
the British Army also used American
weapons. However, prior to D-Day in
1944 large numbers of American
soldiers were known to have been
based at and trained on Salisbury Plain.
A variety of other artefacts were
discovered, including part of an
armoured vehicle periscope, the lid of
a coke stove, the key fob to a NAAFI
building and a selection of horse shoes
of varying sizes.
After the dig – the school children went
on to research the lives of the soldiers
from this conflict in the cemeteries that
surround the Plain, and also to write
about the horses that had been there.
Perhaps inspired by their finds, by
reading ‘War Horse’ or by meeting
serving and veteran soldiers they
designed their own trench scenes, wrote
moving poetry and in one case even
build a war horse. The team were able to
Julian examining the children’s findings © Harvey Mills
examine real artillery pieces from the
Great War and to sample the ‘delights’ of
recipes from this period.
The success of ‘War Horse’ also
transferred to a film and to the National
Theatre, and puppeteers trained by the
latter visited a number of the schools
involved in the MOD project to help
them write their own shadow puppet
stories based around their discoveries
and their studies of WWI.
There is no bet ter connection to the
War than being able to physically find
the traces lef t in the soil and being
able to imagine the stories relating to
an artefact. Through research,
fieldwork and presentations, the team
gained a better understanding of the
role of artiller y in the Great War, of the
role of horses, and recognised the
importance of commemoration.
Ever yone was able to gain a tangible
insight into the landscape and its
population at the star t of W WI
through objects lef t behind. Most
importantly perhaps, the project
highlighted how essential the Plain
has been to the militar y for a ver y
long time and how all communities
that live and work around this
wonderful area can come together
and remember.
Richard Osgood
Senior Archaeologist
Defence Infrastructure Organisation
Horse hospital findings © Harvey Mills
Children recreate their own War Horse shadow puppet stories © Harvey Mills
Sanctuary 44 • 2015
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