A BROOCH crafted from a North-East soldier’s thigh bone forms part of a new First World War exhibition.

The macabre piece of jewellery was made from the bone of Sergeant Thomas Kitching, who served with the 12th Batallion, Durham Light Infantry and had his left leg shattered at the Somme on July 7, 1916.

The brooch belonged to Sgt Kitching’s sweetheart, Lizzie Hunter, who he married in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, shortly after the war ended in 1918.

Little else is known about the piece.

It was donated to the Liddle Collection at Leeds University and is being exhibited until Saturday, December 20.

Student Timothy Forster, who helped put the exhibition, titled The Individual Remains: Untold Stories of the First World War, together, said: “The brooch is a bizarre and rather puzzling item that has prompted lots of questions.

“We’d love to find out more about it.

“We hope we have used these poignant personal items of people who lived through the First World War to present perspectives on the war that are sensitive to the experiences of individuals represented within the Liddle Collection.”

The exhibition is in the education room at The Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery, in the Parkinson Building, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds, and is open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm.

Entry is free. Call 0113-343-2778.