AN ARCHIVIST from Eynsham has found the programme from a horse show which featured Oxfordshire soldiers in war-torn France during the First World War.

Mike Cross, a researcher for the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Trust (SOFO), uncovered the programme, dating from September 1915, among a crate of Territorial Army documents.

He said: “The popular conception of the First World War is of trench warfare, but there was much more to the battlefield.

“Regiments were cycled through the front line, coming out to rest, recuperate, regenerate and train. And have fun.”

The four-page programme features a hand-drawn illustration of animals on the front, and 10 events in which soldiers serving with the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars competed, as well as a special event for local French children.

Mr Cross added: “Somebody has written all the results on the back of the front cover and there are eight or nine names of servicemen who would have been based at Banbury, Oxford or Henley.”

The programme can be seen at the Oxfordshire Museum, Woodstock, which is staging two exhibitions featuring two former county regiments, the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars.

One — called Part Time Defenders — 100 Years On — marks the centenary of the Territorial Army, from its inception in 1908 and depicting its role in the First and Second World Wars and 21st century conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The other exhibition — Bugles and Busbies — covers the two regiments’ history, from 1746 to the present day.

The SOFO Trust archives regimental memorabilia and prepares exhibitions and publications at its base in Caversfield, near Bicester.

Plans are afoot to build a permanent £4m home for the county’s regimental collections at the Oxfordshire Museum.