AN exhibition in Chagford marking the centenary of the First World War will tell the tale of a soldier who fought for Britain in the conflict. 'A Soldier's Life and Art' tells the story of John Henry Francis Ludgate, who was a soldier in the First World War. John was born in the village of Winston, County Durham in 1896. Always passionate about art, he studied under Mary DC Monkhouse and harboured ambitions of becoming an art teacher. But before he got chance to forge the career he planned, fate intervened with the outbreak of the First World War. On July 10, 1915 at the age of 19, he was commissioned to join the Durham Light Infantry, and went to the Western Front to fight in the Battle of the Somme in 1916. The battle was one of the largest of the war, in which more than one million men were wounded or killed, making it one of humanity's bloodiest battles. John was in the 6th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry, who were fighting near the village of Warlencourt in north east France. Next to the road from Albert to Bapaume, which cuts across the Somme battlefield, stood a prehistoric mound, the Butte de Warlencourt. Standing more than 100 feet above the surrounding countryside, it became a position of great strength and of immense strategic value for the Germans, fortified with barbed wire and riddled with tunnels. On November 5, 1916 it was time to try and take the Butte. After the war, machine-gunner Harry Cruddace wrote his account of the assault on the landmark: 'At last the zero hour arrived and the officer's whistles sounded the advance. 'Immediately the first wave mounted the trench and made off in the direction of the enemy's trenches. They were met by terrific and annihilating fire and crumpled up like snow in the summer. 'The second wave was by this time on its way. I was in that wave. We had suffered terrible casualties when our Company Commander Lieutenant Ludgate was wounded and fell into a shell hole. He ordered me to proceed and engage the enemy machine-guns, a task almost impossible.' John had been hit in the right shoulder, either by a bullet or shrapnel. He fractured his scapula, and he was left with an exit wound near his spine. John's daughter Eleanor has organised the exhibition. She said: 'My father didn't speak about the war much, though he did recall the horror of lying in the ground, crawling through the mud, with dead bodies around him. 'His recovery took years. Because the discovery of penicillin was years after he sustained his injury, he couldn't lift his right arm for years afterwards. 'It meant he could not become an art teacher like he had always hoped.' After his potential career in art was dashed, John joined the civil service in 1919 and devoted the whole of his career to the problems of war pensioners of both the first and second world wars. He became under secretary to the Ministry of Pensions where he was in charge of the rehabilitation and welfare division responsible for the War Pensioners' Welfare Service including the Homecraft Service and care for war orphans, for which he was awarded the CBE in 1951. Despite his hardships, his passion for art always remained. He was instrumental in encouraging unemployed, severely disabled war pensioners in taking up arts and crafts, and held a yearly exhibition of their work at Thames House in London. The exhibition was regularly attended by the members of the Royal family. He retired to Devon in 1959, where he spent many happy years until his death in 1973. The exhibition looks at both John's war history, and his passion for art. A collection of John's memorabilia including his army uniform, sword, and trench maps will be on display alongside a collection of some of John's etchings, some of which will be for sale. A percentage of any sales will be given to Help for Heroes, which offers support to ex-servicemen. It is the first time many of John's artworks have been displayed in an exhibition. Eleanor Ludgate said: 'After his involvement in the war, my father led his life from then on to help others who had fought in the wars. 'I wish he could see this today, an exhibition telling his story, showing off his beautiful artworks, and raising money for ex-servicemen.'