01/08/2014 Newsround

Good morning. I'm Ricky, coming to you live from Belgium with a very

special Newsround as the world prepares to remember 100 years since

the start of World War I. Over the last week, I have travelled through

France and Belgium, where many soldiers lost their lives, to bring

you some of their stories. This morning, we have come to wayward in

the town of Ypres. You can see maybe some of the World War I trenches,

which remind you of what the British troops went through a hundred years

ago. But it was not just men who fought in the war, many were the

boys, like Horace. The 40-year-old was just a teenager and too young to

join the British Army, but that did not stop him ending up here and

fighting in the biggest war the world had ever seen. We are now at

war with Germany. When the war started, thousands of men from all

over the country were needed to join the army. In Leeds, trams covered in

lights and flags with signs saying the country calls made their way

through the streets. They recruited almost a thousand men from around

here. Some were factory workers, shoe makers or bus drivers, and one

was just 14. Horace looked older than he was, because at just 13,

after leaving school, he became a lack Smith's assist, and extremely

physical job. He later trained the become a painter and decorator, and

he even sang in the choir at his local church. Horace lived on this

tiny street in Leeds. When the war began, he decided to follow in his

father's footsteps by doing his bit for King and country. And he did it

by lying about his age. He wanted it that much that he had to lie. He did

not know anything about the war. He did not have any life experience. It

makes me feel shocked because if I were 14, I would not want to miss my

life. Ordinary men, neighbours, workmates and family members were

encouraged to sign up together. The Army knew that their friendships and

closed ones would give them strength and see them through on the

battlefields. These men were mates, and that was why they were called

the Powers' battalion. There were lots of different of backgrounds of

people who joined the Leeds pals. Horace came from an ordinary

background. He would have to have convinced the officer from the Army

who was gritting him that he was older than he was. You had to be 18

or older to fight for your country, but back then, it was very difficult

to prove your age, and the Army needed men. Leeds was a very

industrial city, so the work there was was hard, physical work, often

in factories. It was not well paid. So for a lot of teenage lad, I can

see why the army might have seemed a better option. After two years of

training, it was time for Horace to join the war, leaving his home and

family behind. I have come to the Somme in France to continue

Horace's journey. It is not far from here that he would have found

himself light-years away from the ordinary life he was used to in

Leeds. Horace was now a soldier, and preparing to go into battle. It

would have been a combination of terror, excitement and anticipation

and nervous dread. There was always the belief that it will never to

happen to me, and there was the realisation that not everybody will

make it. You give imagine that someone as young as Horace would

have felt very far from home. But was why letters from loved ones were

very important. His sister Flory wrote to him often. In this letter,

she begged him to come home. Dear Horace, tell them how old you are. I

am sure they will send you back if they know you are only 16. But

Horace never got the letter. He died, along with 20,000 other men,

and the first day of the bloodiest battle in the world. The letter was

returned unopened, stating that Horace had been killed in action.

The Battle of the Somme was disastrous for the Leeds pals.

Nearly 250 of them were killed on the 1st of July, including Horace.

We followed Horace's story all the way from Leeds to here in France.

This is where he is laid to rest, alongside his pals, the people he

fought with. 100 years after the First World War, these war

cemeteries are a stark reminder of what happened and the huge loss of

life. The teenager was eager to fight for his country that he lied

about his age, and he was not the only one. Eager soldiers often

fought alongside adults. For many of them, it was the last thing they

did. They never returned home. There is a range of programmes on

CBBC remembering World War I. I leave you with a taster of what you

can expect from Newsround over the next few days. See ya.

This is what life would have been like for the soldiers in the

trenches. It would have been wet, muddy, and endless network of

corridors that were built and propped up with these corrugated

sheets of metal. Hospitals like this were so

important during World War I, not just for the soldiers, but they have

a lasting impact on the whole society.

How do you go to the toilet without a toilet? Wonderful things called

buckets. So nope reversing. None at all. Even

animals played their part.