DANIEL RADCLIFFE will bring the horror of the trenches to young viewers by starring in a television film that tells the tragic story of Rudyard Kipling’s son.

My Boy Jack, a feature-length ITV film, is a personal project for the Harry Potter star, 17, who yesterday urged his generation to remember the thousands of young men who sacrificed their lives in the First World War.

Kipling spent the last 20 years of his life in an obsessive, fruitless search for his only son John (Jack), who had gone missing during the Battle of Loos in 1915.

John, barely 18, suffered from poor sight and had got into the Army only through the influence of his father, a keen supporter of the venture. Jack was last seen struggling through the carnage, shot in the mouth and weeping. His body was never found. The film is based on a play written by David Haig, who takes the role of Rudyard Kipling.

The film, which will be screened next autumn, is designed to have contemporary resonances. Radcliffe said: “For many people my age, the First World War is just a topic in a history book. But I’ve always been fascinated by the subject and think it’s as relevant today as it ever was, with young men still sacrificing their lives in the name of war. I can’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like in the trenches, living among the stench of death.”

Through his father’s urging, Jack Kipling secured a commission in the Irish Guards. But the writer was forced into a bitter re-evaluation of his beliefs after his son’s death, writing: “If any question why we died/ Tell them, because our fathers lied.”

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