The Real War Horse

Things you never knew about the hit show and soon-to-be-released film

Featured January 12 Words by Sarah Warwick
The Real War Horse

Steven Spielberg's take on the hit West End show about a young boy who follows his horse to the trenches of World War I comes out on 13 January, but what's the truth behind the phenomenally successful story?

1 At the outbreak of war in 1914, more than 140,000 horses were purchased for the British Army in only 12 days.
2 Up to eight million horses died during World War I. A monument to them can be found at Brook Gate, Park Lane.
3 Michael Morpurgo wrote War Horse after meeting WWI veterans in his local pub in Iddesleigh, Devon.
4 Since its 2007 premiere, more than 1.5 million people worldwide have seen the theatrical adaptation.
5 The play uses 18 puppets, including two horses, a goose and two swallows.
6 The War Horse: Fact & Fiction exhibition at the National Army Museum features a sculpture of a horse in No Man's Land that was made from 250kg of wire.
7 Spielberg's film was shot in secret, under the codename "Dartmoor".