FROM delivering bread by horse in Kidlington to riding a horse into battle, 28-year-old baker Thomas Franklin was, by his own admission, an 'old timer' when he joined the Queen's Own Oxford-shire Hussars in November 1914.

His son, Peter Franklin, 81, from Kidlington, said: "He could ride a horse and shoot rabbits, so training-wise he was already halfway there.

"He and his fellow Hussars got the rest of their training in the grounds of Christ Church, in Oxford, and then they were off to France and the horrors of the trenches."

Private Franklin was the oldest of five children and like many of his young comrades joined up having been told it would all be over by Christmas.

"He was away for three-and-a-half years," said his son, "With only the occasional weekend back at home on leave."

But while he was not with his family in body, Private Franklin made sure he kept them abreast of his movements.

"He kept a diary all the time he was away," said his son.

"The trenches where he worked as a stretcher bearer read like street names."

While Thomas was keen to chart his movements, he left out some of his heroics. His son said: "It was years later before I discovered that he once ran out into no man's land to rescue a dying man.

"I also learned from a book on his regiment that he and another man captured a German cook who had got lost in the fog one night."

Thomas was wounded by shrapnel when the unit was shelled in May 1917. His son added: "He said he looked around and saw dead man and horses everywhere, but he only realised he was injured when he felt blood trickle down his leg."

That piece of shrapnel, which is only the size of a thumbnail, is among an impressive collection of the soldier's wartime possessions, now part of the collection held at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Trust Museum, in Caversfield, near Bicester.

His son said: "When dad came home he went back to the bakery for a while, before taking up farming. Like many of the young men who fought, he rarely talked about what happened out there — I think they just wanted to forget.

"I wish I had asked more, but I didn't and when they’re gone it’s too late to find out. Even when I went off to fight in the Second World War, he only had one piece of advice for me: "Always march with your left foot first."