Liverpool's Giant War

It's magic. Just pure magic.

The giants ` they're absolutely real

and I think they are real.

Really nice to commemorate the 100 years since the First World War.

EXPLOSIONS

When war broke out, we had this God, King and Country,

and we meant it.

I do thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for coming forward

and showing what is THE spirit of Liverpool.

CHEERING

It's a story of war, ideals, friends,

pals, in the true sense of the world.

Pals who worked, played and died together.

Once upon a time, there was a grandmother,

a little girl and her dog.

The old lady was very tired because she'd travelled a long, long way.

So she lay down and went to sleep.

The people of the city were very curious.

For days, they came to see her,

but she didn't stir.

She slept on and on,

dreaming of the story she would wake up to tell.

A true story ` a story that should never be forgotten.

The story of the Liverpool Pals

These are the men and they are the story.

100 years ago, they were Liverpool's Giants.

Timber clerk Arthur Seanor

was engaged to Florrie Ledson when he signed up.

Nearly 100 years later,

his love letters would have their own story to tell.

"My own darling Florrie.

"Before entering into the greatest battle the world has ever known,

"I thought I would leave a letter for you,

"requesting that it should be forwarded

"if I should be killed in action."

EXPLOSIONS

In 1914, Liverpool was thriving

Trade had brought prosperity and a new generation of bushnessmen

educated, optimistic and patriotic.

Their fathers owned shipping lines.

They were bankers, buyers and brokers.

And they were about to make a decision

that would change their livds.

More men were needed for the war.

And in Liverpool, the 17th Darl of Derby had his own recruitment drive.

He called for a battalion of Pals.

Friends from the same work place who would fight shoulder to shoulder

for the honour of Britain and the credit of Liverpool.

The response from Merseysidd was overwhelming.

Within a few days, over 3,000 men enlisted herd.

I think it's absolutely fantastic.

It's just mind blowing.

To commemorate the First World War, I think it's a brilliant idda.

The four battalions lived in makeshift camps across Mdrseyside

Hooton Racecourse, the abandoned Prescott Watch factory

Sefton Park and Knowsley were all transformed.

But it was here, at Lord Derby's home in Knowsley,

where the biggest transformation was taking place.

A whole military community was springing up

and the tranquil grounds were filled with the noise

of military men in the making and the shifting of mud.

SINGING

Learning to dig trenches was a major bugbear.

We did that shocking digging at Knowsley.

We did hate that job. My goodness!

There was quite a lot of controversy, wasn't there, `t the

time

about the men digging up the grounds for nothing. Well, that...

You never want to let the truth get in the way of a good story.

But, yes, it was inevitable that, when these men went out to France,

that they would be digging trenches, it would be important.

And outside of Knowsley hall here, the gardens used to be

a gradually sweeping terrace gently sloping down

and so what they did was they turned the garden

into a series of terraces and walls and terraces and walls.

And so, what my great grandfather, being an extremely honourable man,

did was he wrote to three dhfferent civil contractors and got them

all to quote for the work then he sent a cheque to the War Office,

not for the lowest, but the highest quote,

so he definitely didn't profit out of it.

I'm not sure he really wantdd his garden to end up like that.

But it's the way it happened. SHE LAUGHS

And furthermore, the men, while they were doing it,

they came up with a song about digging Derby's clay

and, er, in the end,

the men grumbled a bit about how much digging they had had to do

and so he made a further donation to benefit the men.

So it talks about a bob a day in the song.

SINGING

# ..for a bob a day! #

After months of training, and as a boost to moral,

Lord Kitchener himself inspected the Pals

from the steps at St George's Hall.

100,000 people crowded onto the plateau to show their stpport.

In seven months, their loved ones would be in France.

Left, right! Left, right!

Arthur Seanor was one of eight children.

The family owned Seanor Matchmakers and were rivals to Bryant and May.

A talented athlete, he was planning to marry his sweetheart Florrie

Peter, here we are in Christ Church, Bootle.

What's the significance of you bringing me here?

Well, this is the church where both my Uncle Reggie

and Uncle Arthur both sang as choirboys.

I see. So they would probably sit along here.

He captained the Liverpool Pals football team, actually.

Oh, did he? Yeah.

He was a very good slow bowler at the local cricket club.

Many years ago, I was speaking to one of the older members

who'd actually played in the same team as him in about 1912`1813.

And he said he remember him

as the slowest of slow bowlers he'd ever played with.

He said he threw the ball hhgher than anybody he'd ever seen.

So he must've been pretty accurate.

I wonder whether those skills were instrumental in him

being recruited as a bombardier who would be used, I suppose,

to lob hand grenades. Yes.

But it's his letters to fiancee Florrie Ledson

that give an insight into the war.

"23rd June, 1916.

"My own darling Florrie

"I am afraid you will be thinking I am very pessimistic about things,

"but I am getting so many setbacks to my optimism lately."

Days later, Arthur would go over the top

in one of the bloodiest battles of the war.

"I loved you with all my heart, dearie

"and I am certain that you loved me."

MUSIC BEGINS

MUSIC BEGINS

# When the fields are white with daisies... #

Private Bill Wood had already seen his two brothers go to war.

I've got here the most wonderful picture

of the Pals at Knowsley... Yes. ..digging in.

And this cheeky chappie has jumped into the photo and, um,

jumped into the photograph... That's William.

..and made them laugh. That's William. And that's William.

Is that the sort of charactdr he was? He was very much a joker.

Very much pulling everybody's leg and that's the way he was.

He didn't really need to go, really.

He was exempt, as he was a farm manager,

but he felt his duty was to go.

# Down the lane that leads to happiness and love... #

Bill leaving for the front was agony for his mother Ruth.

When she cried, he said, "Don't turn to see me go, Mum."

And as he walked away from this house, he sang her this song.

# But I made this sacred promise with the parting kiss I gave

# When the fields are white with daisies

# I'll return. #

Bill Wood never returned.

He died on the first day of the Somme.

He was 27.

Ruth Wood had already lost two sons to the Great War.

Now she'd lost a third and last.

It was all too much to bear.

My grandfather lost his life in the First World War

and I think it's marvellous

and we should never forget people that fought for their country.

Heroic people.

If wasn't for people like them, we wouldn't be here, would we?

FANFARE PLAYS, SINGING

"We were back after 10 days of training

"and I don't know when we will be going into the lhne.

"I expect any time now."

"Account of battle. 1st of July 1916, for Montauban Village.

"Every fighting officer was hit by enemy bullets or shells."

It's hard to believe, Tony, that this is where it all h`ppened.

It all started. Yeah, that's right, Sue.

I mean, it looks benign tod`y, almost tranquil. Yeah.

It's very peaceful and it belies its history.

This is the killing fields of the 1st July, 1916, the Liverpool Pals.

Where we are now was the starting off position.

So here, where we're standing, this would've been a trench?

Yes, that's right, this would've been a trench,

because those flags show us the actual start off point.

So this would've been probably 8 to 10 feet.

They'd have had the ladders, the whistles would have gond.

And, as soon as the whistle went, they went over

and then, they were out in the open? In the open, yeah.

And they could just be pickdd off.

The other side of the field, over there were the wood is,

The other side of the field, over there where the wood is,

that's were close to 200 men of the 18th Battalion, they fell.

Just one machine gun position that hadn't been taken out caused mayhem.

Poor souls. And all that loss was horrendous.

Oh, it's just awful.

Despite the enormous loss of life,

the Liverpool and Manchester Pals were only two

of a handful of battalions who reached their objective that day

The capture of Montauban shone like a beacon.

In charge of the 18th Battalion that day ` Edward Henry Trotter.

An exceptional leader of men.

I make no apologies for saying this.

He was one of the most marvellous men, not only a soldier,

but one of the most marvellous men

I ever had the good fortune to work with or work under.

This was the main family house and...

they lived, as you can see, in some reasonable style.

I think there were 14 indoor servants in this house

and five gardeners looking after the grounds around

and even on the fringes of his military life was pretty smart.

The contrast between that and crawling around in the mud

on the Somme must have been considerable. Yes.

When many of his men died hdre, on the 1st July,

Colonel Trotter walked amongst their bodies openly weeping.

Seven days later, when a shell hit his trench,

his men, the ones who remained, wept openly for him.

MUSIC: "March 4, Pomp and Circumstance" by Elgar

Back home, people were beginning to feel uneasy

about the upbeat reporting of the war.

This film, from the battlefield, was shown in local picture houses.

It was a combination of fact and propaganda.

And the first chance for the relatives

to witness the cruelty of the war.

For hundreds of families, the worst was around the corner

The Battle of Guillemont would be the Pals' biggest loss of lhfe

and bad weather would play hts part.

The Germans used the fog by stepping out of their own trenches.

They took cover in the shell holes in front,

took the machine guns with them .. Oh, God.

..and when the Pals left their trench at 4:45 that morning

suddenly, the fog lifted,

and they were out in the opdn without any cover.

463 men lost their lives th`t day.

MACHINE GUN FIRE, MEN SCREAM

I think the patriotic fervour of St Georges Hall

was a million miles away from the reality of this here. Yeah.

For the injured, there was no medical help.

And there was nobody to identify or bury the dead.

They just lay in No Man's Land decaying in the August sun

or they were blown to bits by further bombardments.

It was Liverpool's blackest day

A HYMN IS SUNG

"23rd of July, 1916.

"23rd of June, 1916.

"My own darling Florrie.

"We have had a very hard time of it recently

"and have not had a minute to ourselves.

"We celebrated the longest day of the year

"by starting out at 4.30am and marching until 8.30 at night."

HYMN CONTINUES

I'm extremely proud of the Pals I always have been.

The thing is their story seemed to have been forgotten in Lhverpool.

But the Giants bringing the spectacle to the streets,

the people coming out, they're getting the message.

The message is getting over.

The story and the heroics of the Liverpool Pals

is actually being told at long last.

Those who survived the war returned home to mixed forttnes

Elizabeth's father Tommy Milner was 19

when he was blinded by a shell burst at the Somme.

Treated at St Dunstan's Hospital, he was taught Braille and how to type.

Very few people knew he couldn't see

When you were growing up, as a little girl,

did you know your dad was blind

He just behaved, you know, like anybody else's dad.

You'd run up the road to medt him coming home from work.

He used to take himself into Liverpool

to work by himself on the trams

and I can remember waiting on the corner, running to meet him,

and walk back down with him, you know.

And bring things home from school. I remember once...

I remember this so vividly, I don't know why, but bringhng,

it must've been a picture, something I'd done at school,

and I said, "Look at this, Dad."

and he said, "Oh, isn't that lovely?"

and he sort of looked at it.

I'm looking at these beautiful cups here as well.

I know they're only a few of what you've got,

but can you tell us about them, Elizabeth?

Well, while he was at St Dunstan's, he became a rower,

he'd never rowed before, but he became very proficient

and very successful and won lots of regattas and things with his crew.

You're obviously very proud of your dad. Oh, yes!

He could do everything, really and truly.

He was one of the lucky ones. Another 358 men

who also worked at Liverpool's Cotton Exchange never came home.

# Good morning!

# Welcome to the thing called life

# Good morning!

# Don't you let it pass you by

# We laugh, we cry

# And then we dry our eyes

# We fall, we rise... #

I think it's wonderful that it has been portrayed in this way,

because it's brought attention to the story of the Pals

to people who hitherto wouldn't have known much about it.

One upon a time, there was a grandmother,

a little girl and a dog.

They came to this city with a story to tell

and the people came to listen.

Now they must go.

But their story will remain in Liverpool's hearts for ever.

On Sunday the 25th of June, 191 ,

Arthur Seanor wrote his last letter home.

"I asked God at early communion this morning to forgive me all my sins.

"I am sure that he will do, Florrie, so I am not afraid to die.

"In fact, I am proud to die a soldier."

Advance!

GUNFIRE

WHISTLES BLOW

Arthur Seanor's letters survived the war,

unlike Arthur and many others who didn't.

He was shot down by machine gun on the first day of the Somle.

It was his 28th birthday.

Arthur's body was never recovered from the battlefield.

His name is recorded here on the Thiepval Memorial,

along with 73,000 others who have no known grave.

13 years after Arthur's death,

Florrie Ledson would marry and have a daughter Beryl.

Well, she'd certainly have married him, if he'd lhved

There's no doubt about that. You know, he was her first love, really.

Her true love? I think so. Yes. I would say.

And then, I wouldn't have been here to tell the story.

No! Well, that's true. No, you wouldn't.

Yes, she must have often thought

what her life would be like if she'd married him.

But she was so close to his family that that was very...

That was rewarding in itself, I would think. Yes, yes.

Florrie Ledson received this letter after Arthur's death.

In it, a poem he'd written to the sweetheart he loved.

"I often think of the homeland and the future that's in store

"Of the bygone days, happy days

"And the good old days of yore

"Lord, take me back in safety over that narrow sea

"To Florrie, my darling Florrie who waits in patience for md

"This life has been hard and dreary our struggles will never be known

"But how sweet will sound that music of that old song Home Sweet Home."

They were a good lot of lads. No doubt about that.

Oh, what a strike!

That's an amazing save!

He's done it!

What an absolute treasure!

From the Premier League to the FA Cup,

Football League and the best women's football...

Unbelievable goal!

..there's more football than ever all across the BBC.

Oh, what a goal!

DRUMBEATS