0:00:06 > 0:00:10In the early 1960s, the BBC broadcast a documentary series
0:00:10 > 0:00:13that was unparalleled in its ambition and scope.
0:00:15 > 0:00:19Over 26 episodes, the series told the story of a conflict that
0:00:19 > 0:00:23affected virtually every family in Britain and most of the world.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33Those who had lived through the Great War
0:00:33 > 0:00:35remembered it as vividly as ever.
0:00:35 > 0:00:41I've never seen so many dead man clumped together as what
0:00:41 > 0:00:44I saw then and I thought to myself, "All the world's dead.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49"They're all dead. They're all dead."
0:00:49 > 0:00:54The first idea that sort of flitted through my mind was,
0:00:54 > 0:00:57that the end of the world had come and this was the Day of Judgement.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06More than 250 eyewitnesses were filmed for the Great War series,
0:01:06 > 0:01:11but only a tiny fraction of the recorded interviews made it to air.
0:01:16 > 0:01:2050 years after they were filmed, this programme presents
0:01:20 > 0:01:23the very best of the original interview material.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26Most of it is shown here for the very first time,
0:01:26 > 0:01:29restored and digitised in high-definition.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38This is the closest we'll ever get to what it was
0:01:38 > 0:01:40really like for those who were there.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48Wasn't no sanity in the business at all.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51When the war was not very active,
0:01:51 > 0:01:55it was really rather fun to be in the front line.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01And I thought to myself, "Well, if this is death, it's not so bad."
0:02:03 > 0:02:08What was it? That we soldiers stabbed each other,
0:02:08 > 0:02:13strangled each other, went for each other like mad dogs.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42We was very happily married.
0:02:42 > 0:02:43Very, very happy.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46Because we was very much in love,
0:02:46 > 0:02:50and he thought the world of me and I thought the world of him.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55And then it came to be that the war started.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01Well, we had a friend over in Canada that had enlisted over there,
0:03:01 > 0:03:05and he came over here and he came one night and asked us
0:03:05 > 0:03:07would we go to the Palace?
0:03:07 > 0:03:10He'd booked seats for the Palace and would we go?
0:03:10 > 0:03:12We didn't know what was on, of course,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15and it was a great treat for us, so we went.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19When we got there, at the Palace, everything was lovely,
0:03:19 > 0:03:21and Vesta Tilley was recruiting,
0:03:21 > 0:03:24which we never knew till we got there.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26I wouldn't have gone if I'd have known, of course.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30Anyway, she was dressed on the stage, beautifully,
0:03:30 > 0:03:34a beautiful gown, in either silver or gold, I'm not quite sure,
0:03:34 > 0:03:35but it was an evening gown,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38and she also had a big Union Jack wrapped around her,
0:03:38 > 0:03:40and she introduced that song -
0:03:40 > 0:03:43We Don't Want To Lose You But We Think You Ought To Go.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46# We don't want to lose you
0:03:46 > 0:03:50# But we think you ought to go
0:03:50 > 0:03:54# For your King and your country
0:03:54 > 0:03:57# Both need you so... #
0:03:57 > 0:04:00I was walking down the Camden Town High Street
0:04:00 > 0:04:03when two young ladies approached me,
0:04:03 > 0:04:08and said to me, "Why aren't you in the Army with the boys?"
0:04:08 > 0:04:12So I said, "Well, I'm sorry, but I'm only 17."
0:04:12 > 0:04:15"Oh, we've heard that one before."
0:04:15 > 0:04:19She put her hand in her bag and pulled out a feather.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22I raised my hand, thinking she was going to strike me,
0:04:22 > 0:04:26when this feather was pushed up my nose.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30# Though we don't want to lose you... #
0:04:30 > 0:04:34We were sat at the front and she walked down and she hesitated
0:04:34 > 0:04:38a bit and she put her hand on my husband's shoulder and all the...
0:04:38 > 0:04:41all the place was full of this,
0:04:41 > 0:04:44boys following her down and they couldn't really
0:04:44 > 0:04:46get on the stage, not all of them couldn't,
0:04:46 > 0:04:48and he was with one of them.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50He got up, and he went with her.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53# We shall cheer you, thank you
0:04:53 > 0:04:58# Kiss you when you come back again... #
0:04:58 > 0:05:04A Sergeant came out of one of the shops and said to me,
0:05:04 > 0:05:05"Did she call you a coward?"
0:05:05 > 0:05:08I said, "Yes," and I felt very indignant at the time.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11He says, "Well, come across the roadway to the drill hall
0:05:11 > 0:05:15"and we'll soon prove that you're not a coward."
0:05:15 > 0:05:18And then the Sergeant said to me,
0:05:18 > 0:05:23"How old are you?" I said, "I'm 17." He said, "What did you say? 19?"
0:05:23 > 0:05:26He took my height and he says, "Now,"
0:05:26 > 0:05:31he says, "we'll go round to the doctor for a medical exam."
0:05:43 > 0:05:48I got round to the doctor and I was told to take all my clothes off,
0:05:48 > 0:05:51which embarrassed me very, very much.
0:05:51 > 0:05:56Any rate, I got back to the drill hall and there were six of us
0:05:56 > 0:06:01and the Sergeant called out "Mr Lang!" I walked forward
0:06:01 > 0:06:05and I thought, "Oh, that's good. I'm not in." And he says,
0:06:05 > 0:06:08"You're the only so-and-so that's passed out of this six,"
0:06:08 > 0:06:14and to my amazement, I found that I was being called Private SC Lang.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26I was terribly upset and I said I didn't want him to go
0:06:26 > 0:06:30and be a soldier, because I didn't want to lose him.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33I didn't want him to go at all.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35But he said, "We have to go."
0:06:35 > 0:06:38He said, "There has to be men to go and fight for the women,
0:06:38 > 0:06:41"otherwise," he said, "where should we be?"
0:07:01 > 0:07:08We were relieving men of the 28th Division and as they passed us,
0:07:08 > 0:07:11they would ask where we were from.
0:07:11 > 0:07:16And when we said we were from Somerset, they said,
0:07:16 > 0:07:19"You'll soon be glad to be back there again, mate."
0:07:21 > 0:07:26And when we would say, "What's it like up there?"
0:07:26 > 0:07:30The reply invariably came back, "Bloody awful, mate."
0:07:41 > 0:07:44On the whole, we found it more depressing,
0:07:44 > 0:07:46and disillusioning rather than frightening,
0:07:46 > 0:07:49first trip in the line, and as we weren't,
0:07:49 > 0:07:52so much frightened of being killed or wounded
0:07:52 > 0:07:55as we were depressed by the conditions,
0:07:55 > 0:07:58as we'd thought we were going to fight a glorious war,
0:07:58 > 0:08:01and the reality was something entirely different.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13I can remember shortly after arriving in the front line
0:08:13 > 0:08:17in the morning there was the what they used to call the pom-pom,
0:08:17 > 0:08:19a German gun they used to bring up
0:08:19 > 0:08:23to their trenches with a view to popping them into our trenches.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25They used to go "pom" from their side,
0:08:25 > 0:08:27and arrive into ours with a "pom".
0:08:27 > 0:08:32And they used to enfilade us along, starting on the left-hand side,
0:08:32 > 0:08:35and coming along and on this particular morning,
0:08:35 > 0:08:37one reached right at the side of me,
0:08:37 > 0:08:39and the fellow who was on sentry there,
0:08:39 > 0:08:42or just watching the no-man's land to see there was no
0:08:42 > 0:08:45movement by the Germans, and this shell from the pom-pom arrived,
0:08:45 > 0:08:47and blew half his head off.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49That was my initiation into death.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51EXPLOSIONS
0:08:54 > 0:08:58You'd hear in the distance quite a mild pop
0:08:58 > 0:09:03as the gun fired five miles away and then, um,
0:09:03 > 0:09:07a humming sound as it approached you through the air,
0:09:07 > 0:09:11growing louder and louder until it was like the roar
0:09:11 > 0:09:13of an aeroplane coming in to land on the tarmac.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16EXPLOSIONS
0:09:16 > 0:09:19There comes the moment when a shell is right on top of you,
0:09:19 > 0:09:22and your nerve would break and you'd throw yourself down in the mud,
0:09:22 > 0:09:24and cringe in the mud till it was past.
0:09:24 > 0:09:30Some of the shells were passing over you probably three foot, four foot.
0:09:30 > 0:09:35And the air was an inferno and your mind, of course,
0:09:35 > 0:09:38was another inferno. You were completely...
0:09:38 > 0:09:41reason was completely... blast out of it.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00Our dugouts crumbled.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02They fell upon us,
0:10:02 > 0:10:06and we had to dig ourselves and our comrades out.
0:10:06 > 0:10:12Sometimes we found them suffocated, sometimes smashed to pulp.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19Soldiers in the bunkers became hysterical.
0:10:19 > 0:10:24They wanted to run out and fights developed to keep them
0:10:24 > 0:10:30in the comparative safety of our deep bunkers.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33Even the rats became hysterical.
0:10:33 > 0:10:38They came into our flimsy shelters to seek refuge
0:10:38 > 0:10:41from this terrific artillery fire.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04You were in a maze and you felt that at any time,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07if you relaxed control, you went haywire.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11And it was quite a common sight to see people
0:11:11 > 0:11:15that had relaxed control get up, and run around in circles like sheep
0:11:15 > 0:11:17and of course, they ran around for some time
0:11:17 > 0:11:21until they met shellfire, which finally finished them.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36There were ways in which you could maintain your self-control,
0:11:36 > 0:11:42and there is some strange connection between small physical actions...
0:11:42 > 0:11:47If you, um, hum little tune to yourself,
0:11:47 > 0:11:52and feel that you can quietly get through this tune before the
0:11:52 > 0:11:56next explosion, it gives you a sort of curious feeling of safety.
0:12:02 > 0:12:08Or you started drumming with your fingers on your knee,
0:12:08 > 0:12:15and have a quite irrational desire to complete this little ritual.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18These minute things
0:12:18 > 0:12:23protect you from the...
0:12:23 > 0:12:26nervous collapse, which may come at any moment.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37One had no sanity in the business at all,
0:12:37 > 0:12:40because you got into this position where the inferno
0:12:40 > 0:12:45was so blasting that you had no time to think,
0:12:45 > 0:12:47and you could feel as you lay down on the ground, you could
0:12:47 > 0:12:50literally feel your heart pounding against the ground,
0:12:50 > 0:12:53and that was the sort of condition you found yourself,
0:12:53 > 0:12:56and in the continuous bombardment, which lasted
0:12:56 > 0:13:00sometimes for hours, the emotional strain was absolutely terrific -
0:13:00 > 0:13:03until when you got the order to advance,
0:13:03 > 0:13:07it seemed that it was a sort of a... a release from that bondage.
0:13:27 > 0:13:32We stood there packed like sardines, unable to even stand up in comfort.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36Men were fast asleep on their feet.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39Others just stood staring into the cloudless sky.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42The laddie next to me checked his rifle,
0:13:42 > 0:13:44and his ammunition over and over again,
0:13:44 > 0:13:46but apparently, still not satisfied.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50Others just stood and stared, silent as the grave.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53Maybe looking forward.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55And we still had another hour to wait.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02I remember those lads standing there.
0:14:02 > 0:14:04Dead silent, couldn't make a noise.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08The fellow next to you, he was your best friend, you loved him.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10You perhaps didn't know him the day before.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15And then, an hour to go, they were the longest, those hours,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18and the shortest hours in life.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22I never dreamt that even borrowed time could go so slowly.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27I'd advanced before, many times. I wasn't afraid of the advance.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29I didn't like it, but I wasn't afraid of it.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36But I was afraid. I was afraid of myself.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40I wondered if I would live long enough to get out of the trench,
0:14:40 > 0:14:45and if I did, would I have enough puff left in me
0:14:45 > 0:14:49to cover that 400 yards or so in one mad rush?
0:14:49 > 0:14:53And if not, would I have enough courage left to rise again,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56and face that rain of lead?
0:14:56 > 0:14:58As soon as it was light,
0:14:58 > 0:15:00we were issued out with a big ration of rum.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03You could drink as much as you wanted of it.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06And we were told that we were to be prepared to receive orders
0:15:06 > 0:15:08to advance at any moment.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16Lieutenant Commander Parsons, my company commander,
0:15:16 > 0:15:20he had a most confident smile, turned round and said,
0:15:20 > 0:15:22"Five minutes to go, men.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24"Four minutes.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26"Three minutes.
0:15:26 > 0:15:27"Two minutes.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31"One minute to go, men. Ready? Come on, boys. Off we go."
0:15:38 > 0:15:43Then, five minutes to go and then zero hour and all hell lets loose.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49There was our barrage, the Germans' barrage, and over the top we go.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02I asked God to help me as I scrambled over the top
0:16:02 > 0:16:04into that withering fire.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08Many, many men were killed as soon as they showed their heads,
0:16:08 > 0:16:10and fell back into the trench.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13Poor old Lieutenant Commander Parsons only got a few yards.
0:16:24 > 0:16:29As soon as you get over the top, fear has left you and it's terror.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36You don't...look, you see.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39You don't hear, you listen.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45Your nose is filled with fumes and death.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47You taste the top of your mouth.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51Your weapon and you are one.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56A hunter - you're back to the jungle.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58The veneer of civilisation's dropped away.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08The first two or three hundred yards,
0:17:08 > 0:17:11there wasn't a great deal of machine-gun or any kind of fire,
0:17:11 > 0:17:15but all of a sudden, they opened on us with terrific machine-gun fire.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21GUNSHOTS
0:17:25 > 0:17:29I felt someone had kicked me in the chest and down I went.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34Later on, I found myself crawling about on the bottom of the trench
0:17:34 > 0:17:36trying to find my rifle.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39My face was stiff and I could only see out of one eye.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41I eventually got to my rifle
0:17:41 > 0:17:45and I realised that all my equipment had been torn to shreds.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48Apparently a machine-gun sweep had caught me,
0:17:48 > 0:17:51and blew the lot up and down I went.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03The shells were falling left, right and centre.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07On my left, there was one of our platoons - got a direct hit.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12The next shell was to the back and I said,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15"Here goes. It's ours next."
0:18:15 > 0:18:20I was looking out in front and to this day yet,
0:18:20 > 0:18:26I can remember seeing a 9.2 falling in front of me,
0:18:26 > 0:18:30about...say about 20 yards.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33I saw the end of that shell going into the ground,
0:18:33 > 0:18:37and I just thought, "We've had it."
0:18:37 > 0:18:39But after a pause,
0:18:39 > 0:18:46all eyes were turned around and all we heard was a dud!
0:18:46 > 0:18:50EXPLOSION
0:18:50 > 0:18:53MACHINE-GUN FIRE
0:18:59 > 0:19:04We all stopped and lay down, trying to get what shelter
0:19:04 > 0:19:08we could from the tremendous rifle fire which was coming over.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13And then a Sergeant just in front of me jumped up and said,
0:19:13 > 0:19:16"Come on, then. Be British." We jumped up and followed him,
0:19:16 > 0:19:21and he ran about six yards and he went down.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24Well, we ran on about another 20 yards towards the German trenches.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27The German trenches were literally packed.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31They were standing about four deep, firing machine guns, rifles,
0:19:31 > 0:19:37straight at us and, er, they were gradually picking us off,
0:19:37 > 0:19:42and, er, there was only myself and one other chap that weren't hit.
0:19:54 > 0:19:59As we withdrew over the ground that had been captured that day,
0:19:59 > 0:20:01the sight was incredible.
0:20:01 > 0:20:06It was just like a flock of sheep lying asleep in a field,
0:20:06 > 0:20:09and it became evident that the regimental stretcher bearers,
0:20:09 > 0:20:11who one time had been bandsmen,
0:20:11 > 0:20:16had been unable to cope with such a huge number of casualties.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20Quite a number of the men were still alive and they were crying out,
0:20:20 > 0:20:25and begging for water. They plucked at our legs as we went by.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28One hefty chap did grab me around both legs and held me,
0:20:28 > 0:20:33and I was going to take the cork out of my water bottle to give him
0:20:33 > 0:20:36a drink and I was immediately prodded on by...behind
0:20:36 > 0:20:40by someone saying, "Get on, get on. We're going to lose touch with the
0:20:40 > 0:20:42"column in front. We could get lost."
0:20:42 > 0:20:44Er, in the years that have passed,
0:20:44 > 0:20:47that man's pleadings have haunted me.
0:21:01 > 0:21:06We had no sooner withdrawn ourselves from this shambles,
0:21:06 > 0:21:10and got together what we could than we began to build up
0:21:10 > 0:21:12the regiment again and get ready for the next time,
0:21:12 > 0:21:16and it seems to me extremely difficult to explain.
0:21:16 > 0:21:22Now, um, I had lost both my officers and all my sergeants,
0:21:22 > 0:21:27and two thirds of my men and, um,
0:21:27 > 0:21:31here I was - I was 20-years-old,
0:21:31 > 0:21:36a young acting captain and I had to begin to form a new company.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40Well, to begin with, I was in a state of complete physical,
0:21:40 > 0:21:44and mental frustration and I think for a few days after the battle,
0:21:44 > 0:21:48I was very near having a nervous breakdown.
0:21:48 > 0:21:54But when one is young, physical rest very quickly puts that right,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57and in quite a few days I was almost as good as ever.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59This seems to be very strange.
0:21:59 > 0:22:04Um, we got a draft of a hundred very good men up from the base
0:22:04 > 0:22:07then we started all over again and had a new company,
0:22:07 > 0:22:10and at the end of the month, we were ready to do it again.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14And this seems to me the strangest thing of all when I look back on it.
0:22:35 > 0:22:40During the time that he was away, I was very, very lonely,
0:22:40 > 0:22:43as I didn't make friends very easily,
0:22:43 > 0:22:47and all the thoughts I had was for my husband,
0:22:47 > 0:22:51and, er, it was, times was very, very hard
0:22:51 > 0:22:53and I only had 12/six a week,
0:22:53 > 0:22:57and therefore, I couldn't go out and spend like anyone else.
0:22:58 > 0:23:03And I used to stick at night, and try to do a bit of reading
0:23:03 > 0:23:08or a bit of sewing with my hands to pass the time away like that.
0:23:08 > 0:23:13But it was very, very hard and at times, would wonder,
0:23:13 > 0:23:16wonder what he was doing and if he was thinking about me
0:23:16 > 0:23:20and wondering how he was going on. And when I just...
0:23:20 > 0:23:24when I should see him again and all things like that.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28# Keep the home fires burning
0:23:28 > 0:23:33# While your hearts are yearning
0:23:33 > 0:23:38# Though your lads are far away they dream... #
0:23:38 > 0:23:45My father and my brother were at the front and later my youngest brother.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49And my mother worried very much and her only means of knowing
0:23:49 > 0:23:54whether they were alive was reading the casualty lists.
0:23:55 > 0:24:01And we children used to gather round and listen and watch,
0:24:01 > 0:24:04and look over her shoulder even, while she read them,
0:24:04 > 0:24:08and the tension was felt by us all. Were they alive?
0:24:08 > 0:24:10Were they still with us?
0:24:10 > 0:24:14And even when my mother would put the newspaper down,
0:24:14 > 0:24:18none of us really knew, really knew, what my mother had read.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22We didn't know what was happening at that very minute.
0:24:22 > 0:24:28When I got home to my parents - my father was a soldier himself,
0:24:28 > 0:24:30he didn't ask any questions -
0:24:30 > 0:24:34but mother used to ask all kinds of questions.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38"Why has the got to be a war?" And, "What are you doing there?"
0:24:38 > 0:24:41And, "Can you have your bath regularly?"
0:24:41 > 0:24:44And all those questions which a mother would ask
0:24:44 > 0:24:48and I couldn't give any answers, so the answers I gave were very
0:24:48 > 0:24:51short and not very satisfactory for mother.
0:24:51 > 0:24:56When my father and my brothers, uncles, relatives,
0:24:56 > 0:25:00different sorts and friends, when they came home on leave,
0:25:00 > 0:25:02as they frequently did,
0:25:02 > 0:25:06and they were either staying in our house or visiting our house,
0:25:06 > 0:25:12I noticed a strange lack of ability to communicate with us,
0:25:12 > 0:25:15to tell us what it was really like.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20I think they would perhaps make a joke that you'd feel
0:25:20 > 0:25:23sounded hollow, there was nothing to laugh about.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27# And when they asked us
0:25:27 > 0:25:30# How dangerous it was
0:25:30 > 0:25:33# Oh, we'll never tell them... #
0:25:33 > 0:25:37This world of the trenches was entirely a man's world.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41Women had no part in it.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43And when one went on leave,
0:25:43 > 0:25:45what one did was to escape out of the man's world
0:25:45 > 0:25:48into the woman's world.
0:25:48 > 0:25:53And one found that however pleased one was to see one's girlfriend,
0:25:53 > 0:25:56and I am speaking only of the light emotions of a boy,
0:25:56 > 0:26:01not of the deeper feelings of a happily-married man,
0:26:01 > 0:26:04erm...one could never
0:26:04 > 0:26:08somehow quite get through, however nice and sympathetic they were.
0:26:08 > 0:26:15The girl didn't quite say the right thing and one was curiously upset,
0:26:15 > 0:26:21annoyed by attempts of well-meaning people to sympathise which
0:26:21 > 0:26:25only reflected the fact that they didn't really understand at all.
0:26:25 > 0:26:26MUSIC: "When They Asked Us"
0:26:26 > 0:26:28# Oh, we'll never tell them
0:26:28 > 0:26:32# No, we'll never tell them
0:26:32 > 0:26:34# There was a front
0:26:34 > 0:26:40# But damned if we knew where. #
0:26:40 > 0:26:42There was a loud knocking on the door,
0:26:42 > 0:26:44such a big knocking on the door.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48And this voice shouted, "Open the door, the Jerries are here!"
0:26:48 > 0:26:50You see...
0:26:50 > 0:26:55And so my mother said, "Oh, it's Percy, I can tell his voice."
0:26:55 > 0:26:59And in he came, you know, all mucky and what have you,
0:26:59 > 0:27:01right from France.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13He only got six days' leave, and he had two days' travelling out
0:27:13 > 0:27:19of that had to be taken off the six days, so he didn't have very long.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22And he said, "Now," he says, "Now, Kitty," - he called me Kitty -
0:27:22 > 0:27:26he says, "Now, Kitty, what would you like for a present?
0:27:26 > 0:27:29"I'm going to buy you a present while I'm home."
0:27:29 > 0:27:31I said, "Oh, I don't know,"
0:27:31 > 0:27:34I said, but I'm afraid I was rather vain in those days and I was
0:27:34 > 0:27:39a rather attractive girl and I said, "You know, I've seen a beautiful hat
0:27:39 > 0:27:43"down the street, oh, it is a lovely hat," I said, "I would like it."
0:27:43 > 0:27:45And it was in a shop window,
0:27:45 > 0:27:48and I'd looked at this hat several times, and it was a lovely hat.
0:27:48 > 0:27:49And I'd have loved it.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52But it was such a terrible dear hat.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55And he said, "Well, come on, we'll go down and have a look at it."
0:27:55 > 0:27:57And I'll never forget that hat.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00It was white felt and it turned up all around,
0:28:00 > 0:28:02and with me being dark, and
0:28:02 > 0:28:05it had a big mauve feather all the way in the brim,
0:28:05 > 0:28:08and it hung over - oh, it was gorgeous.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15We got dressed up after I got this hat - he bought it me.
0:28:15 > 0:28:17And I took him to the works,
0:28:17 > 0:28:21Noblett's Leather Works, where I worked, and I introduced him
0:28:21 > 0:28:24to Mr Noblett himself, and they all shook hands with him.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28And how pleased and proud I was when he went in the leather works.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30And everybody could see him.
0:28:38 > 0:28:41A girl, I remember, she said -
0:28:41 > 0:28:44"Why don't you stay on a little longer?
0:28:44 > 0:28:46"They can very well do without you there".
0:28:46 > 0:28:51And I said, "Don't you know that there is something like duty?"
0:28:51 > 0:28:54"Oh, duty! That's not...
0:28:54 > 0:28:57"There are so many people who never went to war,
0:28:57 > 0:29:00"why have you got to go to war?"
0:29:00 > 0:29:03They were restless at home, they didn't want to stay, they wanted to
0:29:03 > 0:29:05get back to the front...
0:29:06 > 0:29:09They always would express a desire to finish.
0:29:09 > 0:29:14In the end, I only had the wish to go back.
0:29:14 > 0:29:19It was as if I were going home to my soldiers.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30He went back about the Thursday night,
0:29:30 > 0:29:32I should think, no longer than that.
0:29:32 > 0:29:34I didn't go with him to the tram,
0:29:34 > 0:29:37because there was trams those days, you know,
0:29:37 > 0:29:39there was no buses, there was trams.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41I didn't go with him to the tram
0:29:41 > 0:29:44but one of my brothers went with him...
0:29:44 > 0:29:45and a friend of his.
0:29:45 > 0:29:49And he told his friend, it seems, afterwards he told me,
0:29:49 > 0:29:52He said, "I'm afraid I shall never come back again."
0:29:52 > 0:29:58Anyway, he went. And then I found out that I was pregnant.
0:30:21 > 0:30:26In the trenches, on the ground, one had the comradeship of men,
0:30:26 > 0:30:28all about one.
0:30:28 > 0:30:30One knew they were there, at a moment,
0:30:30 > 0:30:32ready to support one.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36They were a moral support, as well as a physical support.
0:30:36 > 0:30:41In the air, things were different. We were far more individualistic.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44Spiritually and emotionally, we were shut in,
0:30:44 > 0:30:47we were self-contained individuals.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50We did not have the feeling of a community spirit that we had
0:30:50 > 0:30:55known on the ground and everything had to be thought,
0:30:55 > 0:30:58and actioned on the part of the one individual.
0:30:58 > 0:31:02He was entirely and inseparably alone.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08You had to fight as if there was nothing but you and your guns.
0:31:08 > 0:31:12You had nobody at your side, nobody who was cheering with you,
0:31:12 > 0:31:15nobody who would look after you if you were hit, you were alone,
0:31:15 > 0:31:18you know, and you fought alone and died alone.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22There was, undoubtedly, a sense of chivalry in the air.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25We did not feel that we were shooting at men.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27We did not want to kill men.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30We were really trying to shoot down the machines.
0:31:30 > 0:31:33Our enemies were not the men in the machines.
0:31:33 > 0:31:35Our enemies were the machines themselves.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43The whole squadron would enter the fight in good formation,
0:31:43 > 0:31:46but within half a minute the whole formation had gone to hell.
0:31:46 > 0:31:48MACHINE-GUN FIRE
0:31:50 > 0:31:53There was nothing left except just chaps wheeling and zooming
0:31:53 > 0:31:55and diving and on each other's tails perhaps.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58Or four in a row even, you know, a German going down, one of our
0:31:58 > 0:32:02chaps on his tail, another German on his tail, another Hun behind that.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05I mean...extraordinary glimpses one got of people approaching
0:32:05 > 0:32:07head on, firing at each other as they came
0:32:07 > 0:32:10and then just at the last moment turning and slipping away.
0:32:10 > 0:32:12MACHINE-GUN FIRE
0:32:16 > 0:32:20We flew like goldfish in a bowl, in all directions,
0:32:20 > 0:32:24swimming around the sky, sometimes standing on our tails, sometimes
0:32:24 > 0:32:29with our heads right down, sometimes over on our backs, sometimes
0:32:29 > 0:32:31at right angles to the ground.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39Of course, the dog-fight wasn't the only way of bringing down Huns,
0:32:39 > 0:32:42and in fact, probably, the great aces of the war brought down more
0:32:42 > 0:32:45Huns in other means than they did in actual dog-fights,
0:32:45 > 0:32:49which was after all a dangerous operation, so to speak!
0:32:49 > 0:32:51The favourite method was to stalk.
0:32:51 > 0:32:53You would wander up and down the lines,
0:32:53 > 0:32:56looking for a likely chap who was too preoccupied doing artillery
0:32:56 > 0:32:59observation or photography to notice there was anybody else about
0:32:59 > 0:33:02and you would be very cunning you would perhaps go a mile or two away
0:33:02 > 0:33:06and stalk him slowly, coming up just under his tail where he couldn't see,
0:33:06 > 0:33:08you see, there's a certain angle below the tail plane at which
0:33:08 > 0:33:11you can stalk a man and he would not know you were there at all.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15And then having got up close to that position or just within range,
0:33:15 > 0:33:17then if your guns were well synchronised
0:33:17 > 0:33:21and you held the machine steady, you were on for a certain kill.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26MACHINE-GUN FIRE
0:33:36 > 0:33:40I felt my machine lurch, and I turned and looked over at
0:33:40 > 0:33:43my pilot and found that he had slumped on his controls.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47And the next thing I remember was having a sledgehammer blow
0:33:47 > 0:33:49on my head,
0:33:49 > 0:33:53and I put my hand to my helmet and I found it all jagged and torn,
0:33:53 > 0:33:55and a certain amount of blood...
0:33:57 > 0:33:59And then I had a blackout...
0:34:01 > 0:34:03And I fell through the air,
0:34:03 > 0:34:07I think like a falling leaf or a wounded or injured bird.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10And I think it was the upward rush of air
0:34:10 > 0:34:13that brought me to my senses...
0:34:14 > 0:34:17..and by the grace of God, I had the presence of mind to
0:34:17 > 0:34:20pull on the joystick to break the fall...
0:34:20 > 0:34:24and the machine staggered,
0:34:24 > 0:34:27and stalled and fell on some trees.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31And then I lost consciousness again.
0:34:31 > 0:34:33And when I did wake up,
0:34:33 > 0:34:35I found that I was lying in a little French church,
0:34:35 > 0:34:38just behind the lines, on a little straw,
0:34:38 > 0:34:40with many other wounded German prisoners.
0:34:50 > 0:34:56The air was boiling with the turmoil of the shells flying through it.
0:34:56 > 0:35:01We were thrown about, the aircraft rocking from side to side,
0:35:01 > 0:35:03being thrown up and down.
0:35:03 > 0:35:09Below us was mud, filth, smashed trenches, broken wire,
0:35:09 > 0:35:12broken machine-gun posts,
0:35:12 > 0:35:15broken limbers, rubbish, wreckage of aeroplanes,
0:35:15 > 0:35:19bits of men, and then in the midst of it all, when we were flying
0:35:19 > 0:35:23at 400 feet, I spotted a German machine-gun post and went down.
0:35:23 > 0:35:25My companion came behind me
0:35:25 > 0:35:30and as we dived we fired four machine guns straight into the post.
0:35:30 > 0:35:32MACHINE-GUN FIRE
0:35:32 > 0:35:35We saw the Germans throw themselves on the ground.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37We dived at them, sprayed them,
0:35:37 > 0:35:42and I felt that never at any time had I passed through such
0:35:42 > 0:35:47an extraordinary experience and as we came out of it, I felt that
0:35:47 > 0:35:51we had escaped from one of the most evil things that I had ever seen
0:35:51 > 0:35:55at any time in any of the flying that occurred to me during that war.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24MUSIC: "Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit-Bag" by George Henry Powell
0:36:24 > 0:36:26# Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag
0:36:26 > 0:36:30# And smile, smile, smile
0:36:30 > 0:36:34# While you've a Lucifer to light your fag
0:36:34 > 0:36:38# Smile, boys, that's the style... #
0:36:38 > 0:36:41When the war was not very active it was really rather fun
0:36:41 > 0:36:43to be in the front line.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47It was not very exacting and indeed, it was not very dangerous.
0:36:47 > 0:36:52One was having a sort of out-of-door camping holiday with the boys,
0:36:52 > 0:36:56with a slight spice of danger, to make it interesting.
0:36:56 > 0:36:58WHISTLING TO THE TUNE OF "Pack Up Your Troubles..."
0:37:11 > 0:37:14We were billeted in Armentieres most of the summer,
0:37:14 > 0:37:18a very pleasant summer. It was a quiet sector of the line...
0:37:18 > 0:37:20and of an evening, if we were
0:37:20 > 0:37:24not on duty in the trenches, we used to go out into the town and
0:37:24 > 0:37:28go to the nearest estaminet, which is the equivalent of the English local.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31And behind the bar would be "Madame",
0:37:31 > 0:37:36and we hoped one or two of her daughters, very attractive, and when
0:37:36 > 0:37:41we'd had our suppers, the omelettes were cleared away and the coffees were disposed of,
0:37:41 > 0:37:45and other drinks put round, we used to sing the popular...
0:37:45 > 0:37:49the popular song at the time of course was
0:37:49 > 0:37:52Mademoiselle From Armentieres, with its six or eight verses.
0:37:52 > 0:37:54MUSIC: "Mademoiselle From Armentieres"
0:37:54 > 0:37:57# Mademoiselle from Armentieres parlez-vous
0:37:57 > 0:38:01# Mademoiselle from Armentieres parlez-vous
0:38:01 > 0:38:03# You didn't have to know her long
0:38:03 > 0:38:05# To find the reason why men went wrong
0:38:05 > 0:38:07# Inky-pinky parlez-vous... #
0:38:07 > 0:38:10The girls used to ask us to translate them afterwards,
0:38:10 > 0:38:11but we couldn't very well
0:38:11 > 0:38:16do that, they weren't suitable for translation, the verses weren't.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18# I had more fun with Mademoiselle
0:38:18 > 0:38:20# Beneath the sheets with Mademoiselle
0:38:20 > 0:38:22# Inky-pinky parlez-vous... #
0:38:24 > 0:38:30Towards evening, we suddenly heard singing in the trenches.
0:38:30 > 0:38:35Not a shot was fired anywhere, neither from the Russians
0:38:35 > 0:38:40nor on the part of the Austrians and suddenly that singing...
0:38:43 > 0:38:47HYMN SINGING
0:38:52 > 0:38:55And soon after that,
0:38:55 > 0:38:59our soldiers started singing too,
0:38:59 > 0:39:05and to my greatest surprise those boys, who used to sing
0:39:05 > 0:39:11all kinds of songs EXCEPT hymns, started to sing Easter hymns.
0:39:22 > 0:39:23About 11 o'clock...
0:39:25 > 0:39:30..I saw a Christmas tree going up on the German trenches,
0:39:30 > 0:39:35and there was a light... and we stood still and watched this,
0:39:35 > 0:39:39and we talked and then a German voice began to sing a song -
0:39:39 > 0:39:41Heilige Nacht.
0:39:45 > 0:39:47And...
0:39:47 > 0:39:50after that, somebody said, "Come over, Tommy, come over."
0:39:50 > 0:39:54Some of us went over at once and very soon we were exchanging gifts.
0:39:54 > 0:39:57The whole of no-man's-land as far as we could see
0:39:57 > 0:39:59was grey and khaki, there they were
0:39:59 > 0:40:04smoking and talking, shaking hands, exchanging names
0:40:04 > 0:40:07and addresses for after the war to write to one another.
0:40:17 > 0:40:21One of my advanced posts
0:40:21 > 0:40:24reported that the Russians had thrown something
0:40:24 > 0:40:28into their hole, their dugout...
0:40:29 > 0:40:32and I said, "Well, what is it, what was it?"
0:40:32 > 0:40:37and they said, "We don't know, we don't know whether we can touch it".
0:40:37 > 0:40:38"Well, of course, you've got to touch it,
0:40:38 > 0:40:41"if it's hand grenades you've got to throw it out,
0:40:41 > 0:40:44"but have a look and report again."
0:40:44 > 0:40:47And one minute later they reported.
0:40:47 > 0:40:52It was Easter eggs, real Easter eggs, gaudily painted,
0:40:52 > 0:40:55which the Russians had rolled slowly into their hole.
0:40:57 > 0:41:02A few minutes later, a few Russians came along and said,
0:41:02 > 0:41:05"Got any vodka for us?
0:41:05 > 0:41:09"Or any...any cigarettes?"
0:41:09 > 0:41:12Well, the boys had a few cigarettes but they had no vodka.
0:41:15 > 0:41:22That kind of Armistice lasted all Easter Sunday.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25HYMN SINGING
0:41:33 > 0:41:36The Germans started burying their dead, which had frozen out,
0:41:36 > 0:41:40and we picked up ours and we buried them,
0:41:40 > 0:41:44and little crosses of ration-box wood
0:41:44 > 0:41:48were nailed together, quite small ones, and in indelible pencil,
0:41:48 > 0:41:52they would put - the Germans - "Fur Vaterland und Freiheit".
0:41:54 > 0:41:59"For Fatherland and Freedom". And I said to a German, "Excuse me,
0:41:59 > 0:42:03"but how can you be fighting for freedom?
0:42:04 > 0:42:09"You started the war, and we are fighting for freedom."
0:42:09 > 0:42:14And he said "Excuse me English comrade, kamerad,
0:42:14 > 0:42:18"but we are fighting for freedom for our country."
0:42:19 > 0:42:25And I said, "You also put here rests in God 'ein unbekannter Held'.
0:42:25 > 0:42:28"Here rests in God an unknown hero."
0:42:28 > 0:42:29" 'In God!' "
0:42:29 > 0:42:33"Oh, yes, God is on our side". But I said, "He is on our side".
0:42:33 > 0:42:36"Well, English comrade, do not let us quarrel on Christmas Day."
0:43:03 > 0:43:08As the war progressed and stunt followed stunt,
0:43:08 > 0:43:13it required that we should live in animal conditions
0:43:13 > 0:43:16and in doing so
0:43:16 > 0:43:18it was inevitable that we developed
0:43:18 > 0:43:21the animal characteristic of killing.
0:43:21 > 0:43:26And apart from the short feeling of nervousness as you knew that
0:43:26 > 0:43:30you were moving up to carry out another operation, there was
0:43:30 > 0:43:35the feeling of exultation that once again you were going to be able to,
0:43:35 > 0:43:41to extract retribution from the fellows that had killed your mates.
0:43:44 > 0:43:48I was confronted by a French corporal...
0:43:49 > 0:43:53..he with his bayonet at the ready and I with my bayonet at the ready.
0:43:55 > 0:43:57For a moment...
0:43:57 > 0:44:00I felt the fear of death.
0:44:00 > 0:44:03And in a fraction of a second...
0:44:03 > 0:44:07I realised that he was after my life
0:44:07 > 0:44:09exactly as I was after his.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13I was quicker than he was.
0:44:13 > 0:44:20I tossed his rifle away and I ran my bayonet through his chest.
0:44:20 > 0:44:22He fell...
0:44:22 > 0:44:26put his hand on the place where I had hit him,
0:44:26 > 0:44:28and then I thrust again.
0:44:28 > 0:44:32Blood came out of his mouth and he died.
0:44:41 > 0:44:47I suddenly felt physically ill, I nearly vomited.
0:44:47 > 0:44:53My knees were shaking and I was, quite frankly, ashamed of myself.
0:44:55 > 0:44:57My comrades
0:44:57 > 0:45:01were absolutely undisturbed by what had happened.
0:45:01 > 0:45:05One of them boasted that he had killed a French soldier
0:45:05 > 0:45:10with the butt of his rifle, another one had strangled a captain,
0:45:10 > 0:45:14a third one had hit somebody over the head
0:45:14 > 0:45:16with his spade...
0:45:16 > 0:45:20but I had in front of me...
0:45:20 > 0:45:24the dead man,
0:45:24 > 0:45:27the dead French soldier,
0:45:27 > 0:45:31and how would I have liked him to have raised his hand.
0:45:31 > 0:45:35I would have shaken his hand and we would have been the best of friends.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47What was it, that we soldiers...
0:45:50 > 0:45:52..stabbed each other,
0:45:52 > 0:45:57strangled each other, went for each other like mad dogs?
0:45:57 > 0:46:03What was it that we, who had nothing against them personally,
0:46:03 > 0:46:08fought with them to the very end and death?
0:46:08 > 0:46:11We were civilised people after all!
0:46:26 > 0:46:32One evening I was warned that I had to go on a firing party,
0:46:32 > 0:46:34six of us,
0:46:34 > 0:46:38to shoot four men of another battalion who had
0:46:38 > 0:46:40been accused of desertion.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43Well, I was very worried about it because...
0:46:44 > 0:46:47..I didn't think it was right
0:46:47 > 0:46:53in the first place that Englishmen should be shooting other Englishmen.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55I thought we were in France to fight the Germans.
0:47:02 > 0:47:07I thought that I knew why these men had deserted, if they had deserted,
0:47:07 > 0:47:14because I understood their feelings and what would make them desert.
0:47:14 > 0:47:18The fact that they had probably been in trenches for
0:47:18 > 0:47:21two or three months without a break...
0:47:21 > 0:47:24absolutely broke their nerve.
0:47:33 > 0:47:35When you hadn't had sleep for several nights,
0:47:35 > 0:47:39and when you hadn't had rest, and sometimes hardly a meal,
0:47:39 > 0:47:44it did get you and you reached a point where there was no beyond.
0:47:44 > 0:47:48You just could not go any further.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51And that's the point I'd reached.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54I was tired of all the carnage, of all the sacrifice
0:47:54 > 0:47:59we had there just to gain about 25 yards.
0:47:59 > 0:48:03And then I began to think of those poor devils who had been
0:48:03 > 0:48:07punished for self-inflicted wounds, some had even been shot,
0:48:07 > 0:48:10and I began to wonder how I could get out of it.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18An old soldier in our battalion told me
0:48:18 > 0:48:23it was one thing in the Army which you could refuse.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25So, I straightaway went back to the Sergeant and said, "I'm sorry,
0:48:25 > 0:48:29"I'm not doing this." And I heard no more about it.
0:48:39 > 0:48:42I think one reason why I felt so strong about it
0:48:42 > 0:48:45was the fact that a week before,
0:48:45 > 0:48:49a boy in our own battalion had been shot for desertion.
0:48:49 > 0:48:54Well, I knew that boy, and I knew that he'd absolutely
0:48:54 > 0:48:57lost his nerve, he couldn't have gone back into the line.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00And he was shot.
0:49:00 > 0:49:02And the tragedy of that
0:49:02 > 0:49:07was that a few weeks later in our local paper,
0:49:07 > 0:49:09I saw that
0:49:09 > 0:49:14his father had joined up to avenge his son's death on the Germans.
0:49:20 > 0:49:25In the distance I heard the rattle of harness.
0:49:25 > 0:49:29I didn't hear much of the wheels but I knew there were
0:49:29 > 0:49:31ammunition wagons coming up
0:49:31 > 0:49:35and I thought to myself, "Well, here's a way out,
0:49:35 > 0:49:38"when they get level with me I'll ease out
0:49:38 > 0:49:41"and put my leg under the wheel.
0:49:41 > 0:49:45"I should be bound to get away and I can plead it was an accident."
0:49:45 > 0:49:50Well, I waited and the sound of the harness got nearer and nearer.
0:49:50 > 0:49:54Eventually, I saw the leading horses' heads in front of me
0:49:54 > 0:49:57and I thought, "This is it,"
0:49:57 > 0:50:00and I began to ease my way out and eventually the
0:50:00 > 0:50:03first wagon reached me and, do you know,
0:50:03 > 0:50:07I never even had the guts to do that.
0:50:07 > 0:50:12I found myself wishing to do it, but hadn't got the guts to do it.
0:50:45 > 0:50:49After the Germans had stopped shelling a little while,
0:50:49 > 0:50:52we heard one of their big ones coming over.
0:50:52 > 0:50:54My pal shouted and threw himself down.
0:50:55 > 0:51:01I was too damned tired even to fall down, I stood there...
0:51:01 > 0:51:05Next, I had a terrific pain in the back and the chest
0:51:05 > 0:51:09and I found myself face downwards in the mud.
0:51:10 > 0:51:15My pal came to me, he tried to lift me up and I said to him,
0:51:15 > 0:51:19"Don't touch me, leave me, I've had enough, just leave me."
0:51:20 > 0:51:25Next thing, I found myself sinking down in the mud
0:51:25 > 0:51:29and this time I didn't worry about the mud.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32I didn't hate it any more, it seemed like a protective blanket
0:51:32 > 0:51:35covering me, and I thought to myself,
0:51:35 > 0:51:38"Well, if this is death, it's not so bad."
0:51:50 > 0:51:52I heard the postman come.
0:51:52 > 0:51:55And I knew it would be a letter for me.
0:51:55 > 0:51:59So, I ran down in my nightdress and opened the door
0:51:59 > 0:52:01and snatched the letter off the postman.
0:52:01 > 0:52:05And I ran in and shut the door, in my nightdress and my bare feet,
0:52:05 > 0:52:07and I opened the letter.
0:52:07 > 0:52:14And it was from his Sergeant and it just said, "Dear Mrs Morter, I'm
0:52:14 > 0:52:18"very sorry to tell you of the death of your husband."
0:52:18 > 0:52:20Well, that was as far as I could read.
0:52:20 > 0:52:23You see, I couldn't read anything else.
0:52:23 > 0:52:28So... I didn't know for a few minutes what happened but I ran out,
0:52:28 > 0:52:31I ran out of the house as I was, with my bare feet,
0:52:31 > 0:52:35and I banged on the next door, the next door neighbour's.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38It was a Mr and Mrs Hirst.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41And they let me in and, "Whatever's the to-do?" she said.
0:52:41 > 0:52:44I said, "Will you read this letter, Mrs Hirst?
0:52:44 > 0:52:48"Read this letter." And she said, "Oh," she said, "you poor child."
0:52:57 > 0:53:02I found myself being bumped about, and I realised that
0:53:02 > 0:53:06I was on a stretcher, and I thought, "Poor devils,
0:53:06 > 0:53:10"those stretcher bearers, I wouldn't be a stretcher bearer for anything."
0:53:10 > 0:53:13And then something else happened.
0:53:13 > 0:53:15I suddenly realised that I wasn't dead.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19I realised that I was alive.
0:53:20 > 0:53:24I realised that if these wounds didn't prove fatal,
0:53:24 > 0:53:28that I should get back to my parents, to my sister, to the
0:53:28 > 0:53:31girl that I was going to marry.
0:53:31 > 0:53:32The girl that had sent me
0:53:32 > 0:53:36a letter every day, practically, from the beginning of the war.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40And then I must have had that sleep that I
0:53:40 > 0:53:44so badly needed for I didn't recollect any more,
0:53:44 > 0:53:50until I found myself in a bed with white sheets, and I heard
0:53:50 > 0:53:55the lovely, wonderful voices of our nurses -
0:53:55 > 0:53:58English, Scotch and Irish.
0:53:58 > 0:54:02And I think then I completely broke down.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08I thought, "Well, perhaps it's just an error?"
0:54:08 > 0:54:11I wasn't sure what had happened, I thought,
0:54:11 > 0:54:13"Perhaps, it's just an error?"
0:54:13 > 0:54:17But later on, I wrote to the Sergeant, I wrote
0:54:17 > 0:54:20and answered his letter.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23I found out later on, I had another letter to say, that the man
0:54:23 > 0:54:27who'd sent me word had also been killed.
0:54:27 > 0:54:31Next, the padre was sitting beside the bedside.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34He was trying to comfort me, he told me that I'd had an operation.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37And he told me that he
0:54:37 > 0:54:40had some relatives out there that had been out there right
0:54:40 > 0:54:45from the beginning and by God's grace, they hadn't had a scratch.
0:54:45 > 0:54:49He said, "They've been lucky, haven't they?"
0:54:49 > 0:54:52I thought to myself, "Lucky?
0:54:52 > 0:54:54"Poor devils!"
0:55:05 > 0:55:10After I found that it was officially known he had been killed,
0:55:10 > 0:55:13I used to pass me time away trying to make little
0:55:13 > 0:55:15baby clothes for my baby,
0:55:15 > 0:55:20and eventually the baby became to be born.
0:55:20 > 0:55:26It was born at home, but I don't remember it being born at all.
0:55:26 > 0:55:28I had a very bad time.
0:55:28 > 0:55:32I had two doctors and I don't remember the baby being born.
0:55:32 > 0:55:36And I felt I didn't want to live, I'd no wish to live at all,
0:55:36 > 0:55:40because the world had come to an end then for me
0:55:40 > 0:55:41because I'd lost all that I'd loved.
0:56:19 > 0:56:21And an old lady came along,
0:56:21 > 0:56:25and she called across and said, "Kaiser finish."
0:56:27 > 0:56:29Well, it really didn't mean a thing to us.
0:56:29 > 0:56:33Because the war had gone on so long and it seemed one couldn't accept
0:56:33 > 0:56:35the fact that the war would ever finish.
0:56:44 > 0:56:48I was sitting at a table with a major in the Scots Greys.
0:56:48 > 0:56:53And he had a large old-fashioned hunting watch which he
0:56:53 > 0:56:57put on the table, and he watched the minutes going round.
0:57:02 > 0:57:0711 o'clock came and I remember he shut his watch up and said,
0:57:07 > 0:57:10"I wonder what we are all going to do next?"
0:57:10 > 0:57:12And that was very much the feeling of everyone.
0:57:12 > 0:57:14What was one going to do next?
0:57:15 > 0:57:20To some of us it was the end of four years, to some three years,
0:57:20 > 0:57:21to some less.
0:57:21 > 0:57:25To some of us, it was practically the only life we'd known.
0:57:40 > 0:57:44No more Verey lights going up with their greenish, wavering flare.
0:57:47 > 0:57:50No lilies of the dead in the night.
0:57:50 > 0:57:54No flash of Howitzers on the horizon.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57No droning of the shells.
0:57:58 > 0:58:01No machine guns. No patrols going out.
0:58:03 > 0:58:04Just nothing.
0:58:05 > 0:58:07Silence.