"It was a heartfelt plea from a schoolgirl to a military chief to spare her beloved pony from the First World War. And now the note from Freda Hewlett to Lord Kitchener is to become the centrepiece of an exhibition revealing the true stories behind Steven Spielberg’s new Hollywood blockbuster War Horse. The patriotic letter – signed off ‘your little Britishers’ – shows how Freda’s family wrote from their farmhouse in Haigh, Wigan, begging the Secretary of State for War not to enlist their pony Betty to the cavalry. The letter, handwritten on August 11, 1914 on paper headed with the family address – The Cottage, Haigh, Wigan – reads: “Dear good Lord Kitchener, We are writing for our pony which we are very afraid may be taken for your army! “Please spare her! Daddy says she is going to be a mother early next year and is 17 years old – it would break our hearts to let her go. “We have given two others and three of our family are now fighting for you in the Navy. Mother and all will do anything for you but do do please let us keep old Betty. Your troubled little Britishers, P.L. and Freda Hewlett.” A real war horse: A young Wigan girl's heart-felt plea to Lord Kitchener to save her pony from First World War | Manchester Evening News - menmedia.co.uk
