01/08/2014 Newsround

I'm Ricky, coming to you live from Belgium with

It wasn't just men who fought in World War I, many were only boys

like 14-year-old Horace and whether teenager was too young to join the

British Army, but he still ended up fighting in the biggest war the

world had ever seen. We are now at war with Germany.

Hundreds of thousands of men from all over the country were needed to

join the army. In Leeds, trams covered in flags and signs saying

the country calls. They recruited almost 1000 men from around here,

some factory makers or -- factory workers. One was just 14 years old.

Horace looked older than he was because at just 13 he became a

blacksmith's assistant, an extremely physical job. He trained to become a

painter and a decorator and even sang in the choir here at his local

church. Horace lived on this tiny little

street in Leeds. When the war began, he decided to follow his father 's

footsteps by doing his bit for King and country and he did it by lying

about his age. You wanted it that much that he had to live. He didn't

know anything about the war. It makes me feel shocked. I would not

want to miss my life if I was 14. Ordinary men, neighbours, workmates

and family members were encouraged to sign up together. The Army knew

their friendships and close bonds would give them strength and see

them through on the battlefield. These men were friends and that is

why they were called the Powells' battalion. There were many different

backgrounds. Horace came from an ordinary background. He would have

had to have convinced the officer from the Army that he was older than

he was. You had to be 18 or over 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 cities of the work there once was hard and

physical, often in factories and it was not that well paid. For a lot of

teenage lads, I can see where the Army may have seemed like a better

option. -- see how the Army. After two years of training, it is time

for Horace to join the war, leaving his home and family behind. I have

come to the Somme in France to continue his journey. It is not that

far from here that he would have found himself liked weirs from his

ordinary life. -- like years. He was a soldier and

preparing to go into battle. It would have been a combination of

terror and an excitement and nervous dread. There was always the belief

that it will never happen to you and the realisation that not everyone

will make it through. You can imagine someone as young as Horace

would have felt far away from home and that is why letters from loved

ones were important. His sister wrote to him often. In this letter,

she begs him to come home. My dear Horace, tell them how old

you are, I am sure they will send you back. But Horace never got the

letter and he died along with 20,000 other men on the first day of the

bloodiest battle of the war. The letter was returned unopened stating

that Horace had been killed in action. The Battle of the Somme was

pretty disastrous and we know that 250 of the battalion was killed on

the 1st of July, including Horace. We followed his story from Leeds to

here in France and this is where he was laid to rest. 100 years on,

after the First World War, these war cemeteries are a stark reminder of

what happened and have a huge loss of life. The teenager was so eager

to fight for his country that he lied about his age. He was not the

only one. 250,000 underage soldiers often fought alongside adults. For

many, it was the last thing they did, they never returned home.

We will have many more extraordinary stories over the next few days.

Goodbye.