:00:11. > :00:22.This is the first statue in the UK dedicated to a black woman -
:00:23. > :00:24.it's of a nurse called Mary Seacole and was unveiled earlier today.
:00:25. > :00:34.This is the place in London where people
:00:35. > :00:35.who fought and helped in the
:00:36. > :00:39.For a long time, people have been arguing that
:00:40. > :00:49.a nurse called Mary Seacole should be remembered somewhere, too.
:00:50. > :00:51.Now she has been given a statue outside
:00:52. > :00:55.Children's author Malorie Blackman is one of the people who campaigned
:00:56. > :00:58.If anyone deserves a statue, it's Mary Seacole.
:00:59. > :01:02.She was a healer, businesswoman and traveller.
:01:03. > :01:09.It was really rare for a women in Victorian times.
:01:10. > :01:15.are not everyone is happy about it. Something I was statue should not be
:01:16. > :01:22.in front of a hospital because she is not a trained nurse. It also
:01:23. > :01:30.thinks she overshadows nightingale. Malorie Blackman thinks she is very
:01:31. > :01:33.important to British history. People like Mary Seacole, black Britons who
:01:34. > :01:38.have been written out of the history books. I think it is wonderful we
:01:39. > :01:42.are now beginning to realise their achievements. It also shows that
:01:43. > :01:47.people of colour are part and parcel of Britain's history and history
:01:48. > :01:52.belongs to everybody. Now there is a statue of her it is hoped that more
:01:53. > :01:57.people will remember the life and times of Mary Seacole.
:01:58. > :02:00.Tomorrow is the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme -
:02:01. > :02:03.one of the deadliest battles of World War One, where more
:02:04. > :02:05.than a million soldiers died or were wounded.
:02:06. > :02:07.Many of them were young men or teenagers.
:02:08. > :02:11.Sidney Lewis was just 12 years old when he signed up to fight.
:02:12. > :02:16.His son Colin told us his father's incredible story.
:02:17. > :02:20.When I was a boy, my father told me that he fought in World War I as
:02:21. > :02:27.I regret to say that I did not believe him.
:02:28. > :02:35.After all, he would only have been 12-years-old at the time.
:02:36. > :02:41.At just 12, my dad Sidney George Lewis decide that he did want
:02:42. > :02:53.Like many young lads, he must've got caught up
:02:54. > :02:55.in the excitement and idea of the adventure.
:02:56. > :02:57.That is what he was like, he always wanted to be
:02:58. > :03:02.But you had to be 18 and grown up to be in the Army.
:03:03. > :03:04.He ran away from home without telling any of his family
:03:05. > :03:06.and when he was asked by the recruitment
:03:07. > :03:11.It seems incredible now that a 12-year-old could end up in the
:03:12. > :03:21.So there he was, sent to France to fight for his country.
:03:22. > :03:32.It must have been a shock for this boy from London, suddenly
:03:33. > :03:43.I can't imagine the sort of things he must've seen.
:03:44. > :03:46.The fields weren't fields any more, they had turned
:03:47. > :03:50.everything to mud and the sky was black with smoke.
:03:51. > :04:05.He must have seen a lot of men, a lot of his friends die.
:04:06. > :04:08.To face all of that and keep going at such a young age, he
:04:09. > :04:14.must have been a very brave and very tough boy.
:04:15. > :04:20.Back home his mum, my grandmother, was worried.
:04:21. > :04:23.The newspapers were full of stories about tens of thousands of men dying
:04:24. > :04:29.She found his birth certificate and sent it straight off
:04:30. > :04:34.to the Army and demanded that he be sent home straightaway safely.
:04:35. > :04:44.But by now Sidney was right in the middle of
:04:45. > :04:53.the fighting one of the deadliest battles of the Somme.
:04:54. > :04:55.Fighting was so fierce that all but one of the
:04:56. > :04:58.trees were burnt to blank stumps and blown to bits by shells
:04:59. > :05:03.His mum must have been very worried about him out there
:05:04. > :05:19.Would the message to bring him back reach his superiors
:05:20. > :05:22.It would have been a race against time.
:05:23. > :05:25.Six weeks of fighting in one of the most
:05:26. > :05:27.dangerous battles of the entire war and Sidney
:05:28. > :05:29.was pulled back from the
:05:30. > :05:45.That letter which grandmother sent probably saved his life.
:05:46. > :05:53.At the age of 12 he joined in one of the
:05:54. > :06:02.deadliest world wars and a year later came back alive.
:06:03. > :06:10.For those of you who love some bling, check out this
:06:11. > :06:13.It failed to sell at auction after bids
:06:14. > :06:17.?8 million less than what it was expected to sell for.
:06:18. > :06:20.The Lesedi La Rona is the size of a tennis ball -
:06:21. > :06:23.and is believed to be more than two and a half billion years old.
:06:24. > :06:27.There will be much more to mark the anniverary of that battle