A CAPTURED German revolver with a remarkable history has been discovered languishing in a museum's archives.

The weapon was taken from a German officer on the Western Front by a man who went on to become one of Britain's foremost writers and a renowned pacifist.

The 7.65-calibre gun, produced by Becker and Hollander of Suhl, between 1915 and 1918, was given to The Green Howards Museum, in Richmond, after the death of Sir Herbert Read 40 years ago.

It is still in its leather holster and even has the name of the original owner inked on the inside - "Ltn Luedholz".

Sir Herbert was born near Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, in 1893 and served as a Second Lieutenant in The Green Howards during the First World War, during which he was awarded the Military Cross and the Distinguished Service Order.

Noted for his poetry, he became a champion of modern art and literature and one of the most famous and influential critics.

Knighted in 1953, he died in 1968 at Stonegrave, near Helmsley, North Yorkshire, and was buried at St Gregory's Minster, Kirkdale, North Yorkshire.

His diary entry for a trench raid on August 1, 1917, read: "Two Boche were getting very near me... so I get up and run to them pointing my revolver and shouting Hande hoch' (hands up)... they fired on me - and missed.

"I replied with my revolver and my sergeant with his gun. One was hit and shrieked out. Then I was on the other fellow who was now properly scared and fell flat into a shellhole."

The captive turned out to have been a teacher who was awarded the Iron Cross at Verdun, in France. The two found a common interest in music and became friends.

"C'est la guerre (it's the war),and what a damnable irony of existence...

at any rate a curious revelation of our common humanity,"

wrote Sir Herbert, adding: "I've got a beautiful automatic revolver as a souvenir."

The museum is now hoping to put the weapon on display.

Curator David Tetlow said: "Sir Herbert Read was one of our most distinguished former officers, and we are pleased to have this pistol in our collection, especially as we have reminiscences of its capture in his published work."