:00:12. > :00:15.Good morning, I'm Ayshah with Thursday's Newsround.
:00:16. > :00:18.This nurse, called Mary Seacole, was seen as a hero during a war
:00:19. > :00:22.which happened almost over 200 years ago.
:00:23. > :00:25.It was called the Crimean War, and claimed the lives
:00:26. > :00:27.of 25,000 British soldiers. Today she's being given a statue.
:00:28. > :00:30.It'll be the first one in the UK dedicated to a black woman.
:00:31. > :00:45.This is the place in London where people who fought and helped in the
:00:46. > :00:50.Crimean War are remembered. Now, for a long time, people have been
:00:51. > :00:53.arguing that a nurse called Mary Seacole should be remembered
:00:54. > :00:57.somewhere as well. 12 years later, she has been given a statue. There
:00:58. > :01:01.will be outside Saint Thomas' Hospital, and stand at three metres
:01:02. > :01:04.tall. Children's author Malorie Blackman was one of the people who
:01:05. > :01:09.campaign for it. If anyone deserves a statue, it is
:01:10. > :01:13.Mary Seacole. She was way ahead of her time. She was a healer, a
:01:14. > :01:16.businesswoman, and a traveller, which was really rare for a woman in
:01:17. > :01:22.Victorian times. But not everyone is happy about it.
:01:23. > :01:26.Some people think are statue should not be in front of a hospital,
:01:27. > :01:30.because she was not a trained nurse. And others think it overshadows the
:01:31. > :01:33.achievements of another train nurse, called Florence and. But Malorie
:01:34. > :01:40.thinks Mary Seacole is really important to British history.
:01:41. > :01:43.People like Mary Seacole, black Britons to have been written out of
:01:44. > :01:46.the history books, I think it is wonderful that we are now beginning
:01:47. > :01:49.to acknowledge their achievements, and attacked Jewish shows that
:01:50. > :01:54.actually, people of colour are part and parcel of Britain's history, and
:01:55. > :01:57.that history belongs to everybody. Now there is a statue for her, it is
:01:58. > :01:58.hoped more people will get the chance to reflect and remember the
:01:59. > :02:00.life and times of Mary Seacole. Tomorrow is one hundred years
:02:01. > :02:03.since start of one of the deadliest It was a battle that
:02:04. > :02:06.would change the war, Martin's in France, and centres this
:02:07. > :02:20.report. Hello. I am at the Somme in northern
:02:21. > :02:23.France, and it would have been in trenches like these that the allies
:02:24. > :02:27.would have fought against the Germans here. You would not think a
:02:28. > :02:31.war that happened 100 years ago would have much of an effect on us
:02:32. > :02:34.today, but as I have found out, it has.
:02:35. > :02:40.Millions of soldiers from all over the globe fought on both sides
:02:41. > :02:45.during World War I. But it wasn't just the soldiers who
:02:46. > :02:48.were in battle. Inventors, scientists and engineers were called
:02:49. > :02:54.in, and their job was to do one thing - create machines that would
:02:55. > :03:00.win the war. Back then, the skies were quiet. Planes were a new
:03:01. > :03:05.invention. But when the war started, they became weapons. Pilots could
:03:06. > :03:08.spy on enemy targets, and the first bombs were dropped from the air.
:03:09. > :03:12.Bullets could be fired through propeller blades, and pretty soon,
:03:13. > :03:17.these guys were full of these deadly machines.
:03:18. > :03:24.And it was not just on land. It was war at sea. Germany came up with a
:03:25. > :03:28.deadly weapon, a boat that could travel underwater, a submarine armed
:03:29. > :03:31.with weapons, the U-boat. The British were too busy looking for
:03:32. > :03:37.enemies on the surface, and had no idea what was happening below.
:03:38. > :03:41.Thousands died in torpedo attacks, but the Brits came up with a
:03:42. > :03:46.solution, and underwater microphone that could detect any U-boat,
:03:47. > :03:51.stopping them in their tracks. This was to be Britain's ultimate secret
:03:52. > :03:55.weapon for fighting on the ground, the tank. These huge machines had
:03:56. > :04:01.caterpillar tracks that rolled easily across the mud and trenches,
:04:02. > :04:05.crushing everything in their path. Any bullets simply bounced off its
:04:06. > :04:10.armour. Back then, soldiers had only seen horses and guns. Imagine seeing
:04:11. > :04:15.one of these were the first time. World War I lasted over four years.
:04:16. > :04:18.During that time, the way the war was fought changed dramatically,
:04:19. > :04:24.thanks to some clever inventions, to defeat the enemy. The creators would
:04:25. > :04:26.probably have never guessed that they continue to shape the world 100
:04:27. > :04:31.years on. Tomorrow, I will be here it is a
:04:32. > :04:35.special ceremony, marking 100 years since the start of the battle of the
:04:36. > :04:41.Somme. If you guys want to know more about this, had to Newsround online,
:04:42. > :04:46.because we have some special reports and videos about World War I of the
:04:47. > :04:48.Somme. Activist Judy for now. -- and the battle of the Somme.
:04:49. > :04:52.I'll be back in about half an hour - with the incredible story
:04:53. > :04:56.of the 12-year-old boy who fought in World War One