Honiton boy, 12, discovers local newspaper printed during World War One tucked away under the stairs
Jake White, 12, and his sister Roxy, eight, show off their finds from under the stairs of their home in Honiton. Photo: Callum Lawton - Credit: Archant
An old newspaper front page printed while the world was in the midst of war has been found tucked away in a Honiton home.
The front page of an October 15, 1915, edition of the Express and Echo found in Honiton by Jake White. - Credit: Archant
The page, from an October 1915 edition of the Express and Echo, was discovered by 12-year-old Jake White when he was rooting around under the stairs of his home, a 16th century cottage in High Street.
The Honiton Community College student said: “I was trying to get a dog lead from under the stairs when I looked up and saw a scrap of old paper.
“I thought it was a random newspaper - then I looked at the date.”
The newspaper is in remarkably good condition - and shouts headlines reflecting the time of its print run, which was more than a year after World War One started.
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Headlines such as ‘20 AEROPLANES BOMBARD GERMAN RAILWAY STATION AT BAZANCOURT’ and ‘BRAVO! BRITISH SUBMARINE SINKS GERMAN DESTROYER AND PUTS TO FLIGHT AN ENEMY CRUISER AND ANOTHER DESTROYER’ adorn the front page.
An old hemmed piece of black fabric - resembling a torn-off trouser leg - and some old wax paper was also found scrunched up into the crevice Jake fished the old newspaper from.
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His mum, Kate, said: “It’s an amazing find - I can imagine a workman having lunch and reading the paper, before shoving it up there and getting on with his work.”
The White family intend to frame the newspaper page.
