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This page will give you the opportunity to discover the themes behind A Medal for Leroy. Research some of the issues which the author raises by exploring this page. Read an extract from the book, watch the video and look at the photo gallery.
Click here to read the opening passage from the book.
Where is the Somme? Find out by clicking on the map below.
"It had happened somewhere in this field, definitely this field - we knew that much from the maps. We knew Leroy had run on ahead of the others that he was leading the attack. But where exactly had it happened?"
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A Medal for Leroy and the true story of Walter Tull
Michael Morpurgo often uses true stories to stimulate his writing. A Medal for Leroy is based on the life of Walter Tull, the first serving black officer in the British army, who died in March 1918 at the Battle of the Somme. One of Morpurgo's intentions in writing the story was to highlight the fact that to this day Walter Tull has not been awarded a Military Cross for his bravery during World War 1, due to the fact that he was black. Click on the photo gallery below and view the video, Crossing the White Line, to compare the lives of Leroy and Walter. Crossing the White Line
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