BATTLEFIELD experts Tonie and Valmai Holt are helping the Imperial War Museum stage a major exhibition about the mysterious death of Rudyard Kipling’s teenage son, John, in the First World War.

The Holts, from Woodnesborough, near Sandwich, will be special guests at the opening of the show on Monday, November 5.

It comes just a few days before the screening of a film about the tragic story.

On November 11, the 89th anniversary of the Armistice that ended the war, ITV is broadcasting My Boy Jack, by David Haig.

It stars Harry Potter actor Daniel Radliffe, who at 18 is the same age as John was when he was killed at the Battle of Loos on September 27, 1915. David Haig plays his father.

The death devastated Rudyard and his wife Carrie, and the writer/poet spent years trying to find out what happened to his missing son, but to no avail.

Then a few years ago, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission thought it had enough evidence to confirm a grave as that of the young Kipling and erected an engraved headstone.

However, Tonie and Valmai Holt launched an investigation into a theory they regarded as unsound.

Their book, also entitled My Boy Jack? but with the added question mark, cast doubt on the commission’s findings. The Ministry of Defence is still examining claim and counterclaim.

When they heard of the November 11 film, the Holts sent a copy of their book to Daniel Radcliffe who read it on his way to Japan where he was celebrating the release there of his latest Harry Potter movie.

Major Holt says: “John was probably blown up by a shell. He’s probably in bits somewhere out there.”

To mark the IWM exhibition, a new edition of the Holts’ book is being published on November 5.