THE recent screening on television of Steven Spielberg's award-winning epic War Horse, has brought back poignant memories for a pensioner.

Ken Dunkeld, 83, of Lancaster, has precious black and white photographs showing his late father Samuel Thomas 'Tommy' Dunkeld who served in the mounted Westmoreland (correct) and Cumberland Yeomanry during the First World War, with his horse called Major.

And Mr Dunkeld’s nephew, Nigel Bottomley, of Kirkby Lonsdale, has also carried out research on his grandfather's time in the special regiment.

The yeomanry was a 'volunteer cavalry force drawn from men who worked the land'. Horses were used for cavalry, pulling guns, ambulances and other vehicles.

It is believed more than a million British horses died on the British side and only 62,000 ever returned - either being killed or dying in the war or slaughtered in France for meat.

Mr Bottomley, discovered his grandfather, who worked at the Barrow shipyard, enlisted at Ulverston on February 3, 1914. Then aged 23, he joined the regiment as a cavalry trooper.

His basic training included military skills and horsemanship. He formed a close friendship with three other local recruits – John Retallick from Ulverston, Sam Penny, believed to be from Cartmel, and Kirkby Lonsdale blacksmith, Jonty Wilson, who eventually became the regimental farrier.

The four men trained together in England prior to departure to France, arriving in July 1915 and joining the X1 Corps of Cavalry, said Mr Bottomley.

"I understand the Yeomanry was involved in a number of major battles including The Somme, Ypres, Passchendale as well as Cambari, Bapaume ,Amiens and the Hindenburg line," said Mr Bottomley.

In July 1916, the regiment was dismounted and Tommy and his colleagues transferred to infantry training to the 7th Westmoreland and Cumberland Yeomanry Battalion Border Regiment, and continued fighting the war.

In April 1918, he was in the Machine Gun Corps and was finally transferred to the Royal Fusiliers in April of 1918 before being demobbed on March 7, 1919. He died in December 1971, aged 83.

Mr Dunkeld said: "My father was very reserved and he didn't talk about the war that much - none of them did then. But I remember my father saying they were so hungry the horses were the first to get eaten - then anything they could get their hands on - dogs and cats.

"We saw the War Horse film on the television and I'm not sure how true the story was, but I know we have two real horsemen here in these photographs - Jonty Wilson and my Dad."

Spielberg's 2011 film is based on a heart-rending book about a Devon farm boy and how his beloved horse ended up at the Front.

Of this year's 100th anniversary since the start of the First World War, which cost nearly a million British lives, Mr Dunkeld junior said: "It has brought back memories - what they went through and was it really worth it."