World War One At Home

experiences will be told over the next two years.

Festival, quarter the million people enjoying a mixture of art and music

and reminders of the shipping heritage of Liverpool, and this

festival has given the Merseyside Maritime Museum and opportunity to

mark the anniversary of the First World War, this echoes the

camouflage used by shipping at a time when German submarines were

threatening Britain's supply lines, and at the heart of this is the

World War I BBC road show, which has been set up in partnership with the

Imperial War Museum, and the team have come up with thousands of

stories, linking places where we live with what happened a century

ago. Here is a taste of what is coming up. Zeppelins overhead and

everywhere was in darkness, in factories and shops. Although many

patients were treated well, some disturbing stories are now being

uncovered, and in this film, Major Arthur Hurst of the Royal medical

corps produced footage to prove that shell`shocked could be cured. This

is a very exciting discovery for us, this factory has a very important

part to play in the war effort. As part of the commemorations, I have

been asked to put the boots back on and to play in a special match,

exactly as it would have been in 1914.

The Mersey ferries travelling backwards and forwards to the

Wirral, almost as famous as Liverpool itself, nearly 100 years

ago the ferries and their crews made naval history when they sailed into

the heart of enemy territory. This is the day when the ferries went to

war. The Mersey ferries, as much a part of Liverpool as football,

scouts, and the bird. They have been taking passengers across for many

years, and they had a spectacular moment of fame when the iris and the

daffodil gave up the mundane commuter routine to become warriors,

and one night in April 1918 they sailed out of the Mersey and into

naval history. These little ships, along with many of their regular

crew, had been drafted in to take centre stage in one of the most

audacious operations of the First World War, a raid on Zeebrugge. The

plan was to block Seabrook Harbor, an important naval base, by

deliberately sinking three British ships in the entrance, and if the

ships were to get through, the German guns along the mile long

jetty had to be taken on, and the job of the ships was to land

hundreds of assault troops. They were tubby little ferry boats and

they could glide over the German minefields which had been laid out

at Zeebrugge. They were practically unsinkable, and as we can see on

this modern fairy, they were high`density passenger carrying

ships and they could cram many Royal Marines on board. The idea was to

get them there, but they were terribly exposed, and the iris was

shelled and a bomb went through the deck and there was terrible carnage,

and the daffodil suffered a huge shells through the injury and ``

through the engine room. They suffered badly. They limped back

across the Channel and the newsreel cameras recorded their triumphant

return to the Mersey, civic dignitaries queueing up to see the

shrapnel damage and the bullet holes. When these little ships, the

babies against the Goliath of the German Imperial Navy, went over and

did their bit in Seabrook `` Seabrook they were welcomed back,

and then they were restored and put back into public service. Their

glorious past could not save them from the breakers yard, but they and

today they still bear that title, a living memorial to the ships, and

their crews, who for a fewer hours of the coast of Belgium, swapped the

humdrum for the heroic `` but they have the Royal prefix added, and

today they still bear that title. Did you know that the First World

War saw the first aerial bombardment, German zeppelins,

carrying the front line into British communities? One raid in Sheffield

killed 29 people and left a trail of destruction across the city, as we

now report. As these zeppelins were overhead and everywhere was in

darkness, the workshops, factories, shops, everywhere, it all went dead.

Vivid recollections from a Sheffield resident who look to the skies one

September night in 1916, looming above the clouds, 500 predator,

preparing to release its explosives, piloted by a German

captain, Martin Dietrich, the Zeppelin dropped its bonds,

demolishing homes and killing 29 people including ten children, and

many of the innocent victims were families asleep in bed. The Zeppelin

was the ultimate weapon at the start of the First World War, it could fly

higher and faster and further than anything else. People were very

worried about this. People climbing up the Gas lamps and turning them

out, some people have seen an airship go over. I was looking

through the back window and I could see a dark object, it made a very

peculiar blooming noise. I was fighting force `` I was frightened.

Margaret Smith witnessed the horror, writing to her aunt. There

was a terrific crash, high explosive shells and they shipped the Earth,

and then pale lights like lightning with terrible crashes after each

one, they lit up the sky, they were incendiary bombs. 36 crashed down,

the first hit a cemetery, the final resting place for most of its

victims, searching among thousands of headstones, we found the grave of

Elizabeth Bellamy, it was reported that the roof caved in and she was

walking across the bedroom to protect her child. The seventh bomb

killed seven members of these same family and this is the grave of the

Tylers. They had five children, and their youngest was just two years of

age. They were ordinarily Sheffield people, they were working in the

factories, and some of them had attempted to join up, but they were

decided to be more important at home and so they stayed at home to do

their bit, but the ball came to them. In 1916 the great Wall

descended on Sheffield in a violent and terrifying way, the Zeppelin

returned safely to Germany `` the great war. People here are busy

tracking down their own family members and there are many

discoveries to be made. The artists are very excited about a piece of

the ditch which has been found in a garden shed in Derbyshire `` the

archivist at the Imperial War Ms aim very excited. `` a piece of

footage. Faces of women doing dangerous work, called into the

factories to help reduce the shells which were needed to win the war and

many would die within a year of this film being shot, when a huge blast

tore apart the building where the explosives were being mixed, 139

people died and hundreds more were injured, and very few could be

identified. The newly discovered film shows women working with

explosives. One of the most important films I have seen in many

years. This is a major find. The film was discovered when the BBC

tracked down the family of one of the victims of the 1918 explosion.

Gertrude died, leaving behind for children, and somehow the film ended

up with her family for almost a sense the `` four children. The

story is that this was found in a jumble sale and then my auntie put

it in the loft, my cousin was talking about this and I said I

thought it might be a nitrate film and we had to be careful because it

might be inflammable. He then put that any shared. `` put that in his

shed. And here it is, rescued from the garden shed, nitrate film is

very dangerous, a fire cannot be extinguished. It was taken to the

Imperial War Museum at Duxford, X months later Peter Kirsten was able

to see what the experts have so far salvaged `` six months later. There

is a bit of war damage. I thought you would never be able to pull it

apart. There is also the negative and overtime it is planned to

restore it by combining the two, the film has been partly damaged by

rainwater. Meanwhile, technology has been used to copy it, so that it can

be seen. This is a very exciting discovery for us, very rarely do we

have discoveries like this. This factory had a very important part to

play in the war effort. The family hope that they might be able to find

Gertrude in the restored footage. We might find her, she's very

distinctive, she might be there somewhere. The war poet Wilfred Owen

spent his early years over there, in Birkenhead, and today there is a

special exhibition during this festival, he spent time at a

hospital in Southampton, suffering from cell shock `` shell shock. Back

then the government was putting doctors under pressure to show that

shell shock was something that could be cured, and one went to extremes

to show faked footage. The Royal Victoria Hospital was the major

hospital for victims of the First World War, they were brought by

train in their hundreds from Southampton docks, among the wounded

was one of the leading war poets, Wilfred Owen. Although many of the

patients were treated well, some disturbing stories are now being

uncovered. In this film, Major Arthur Hurst of the Royal medical

Corps, produced footage to prove that shell shock could be cured.

Worried by the numbers of people coming home with mental health

problems, this, says Professor Edgar Jones, was a government propaganda

exercise. It shows a sergeant in a state of invalidity, he is bent

double and walking with sticks, and it says that it is September 1917,

but in the next scene he has shown to be almost cured two months later.

If we look very carefully at the background, we can see the same

group of nurses, the same column of smoke coming from the chimney.

Arthur Hurst has ordered him to recreate his illness and to

demonstrate the effectiveness of his treatment, this is a faked scene.

More than 100,000 officers were `` soldiers were treated at this

hospital, but now very little remains, as it was largely

demolished in the 1960s. 100 years on, stories of individuals who

passed through the hospital still remain to be told. As the war

progressed, volunteers were running short, and conscription was

introduced, and that meant all men aged between 18 and 41 were called

up for service on the Western front. Some of them refused to go, they

were known as conscientious objectors, or colleges, and they

could be subjected to harsh punishment. David

principled young man. The pressure to sign up for the great War was

irresistible for most By 1916, Britain had lost half

a million soldiers and volunteers The military service act was passed,

requiring every fit young man to I have come to Cheltenham, to meet

the family of a man who refused He was prepared to die

for his cause? His father and two

brothers joined up, but he decided He did not want to have

anything to do with it. Jack was

a brilliant mathematician, a teacher and nothing but firm father who did

everything by numbers. His peaceful life at a public school

came to an abrupt end On religious and moral grounds,

he supported the anti`war movement. While most pacifists would get

non`combat roles, Jack refused to He felt if sufficient

number of people said that war was wrong, even if they had to give up

everything to do that, later, in future years, more and more

people would not take part in war. He was among

the few hard`core who refused and They were not allowed to execute him

in Britain and the army moved him to France, where he was sentenced to

death for refusing to obey an order. Mercifully, it was changed to

physical discipline that seems They were given field

punishment, where they had to be crucified, tied to barbed wire,

with chains, ropes, with their arms They had to stand

like that for two hours every day. After the war,

public opinion turned and thousands signed the peace pledge promising

never to fight again. He joined the Home Guard

because he thought fighting Hitler was justified,

although his rifle was not loaded. Jack went on to live a long

and principled life The athletic abilities

of these sea cadets have been Sport also played a crucial role

in the First World War. Sports clubs provided thousands

of young men prepared to fight, and Josh Lucy, the Rugby World Cup

winner, followed those stories. 100 years after the First World War,

this rugby club in south`west London is unveiling

a memorial to the fallen. As part of the commemorations,

I have been asked to put the boots back on to play in a special match

as it would have been in 1914. In August that year,

Britain declared war on Germany and the government asked

for volunteers to fight. Rosslyn Park players step

forward with vigour. Rugby was quick to

volunteer and 90% of the guys in Rosslyn Park volunteered

in August or September. The reason

so many signed up goes back to They understood they were privileged

but with that came responsibility. They knew that when the country was

in peril, they had to do their bit and that often meant leading from

the front, getting up in the line Bravery, gallantry and heroics,

these were words associated with His family have this business

in London. His family have

the letters he wrote home. He grew up

with three brothers. The family was large with

16 children altogether. They were brought up

at a house called Ivy Lodge. This example,

hope you are keeping well. I posted my watch the other day

and asked him to have This is

the last letter he wrote. Without players such as Jack

from clubs like Rosslyn Park volunteering, the outcome for

Britain could have been different. Rugby and warfare share

a common language. At the end of the day you have to

remember that injury time The whole team does not get to go

home for a beer after the game. Appropriate we should

have aircraft in the sky. The last story we will tell

you is about a pilot. Captain Oscar Greg from Devon was

shot down by the notorious Red Baron and spent the rest of his war as a

prisoner, ending his days on a farm. Justin went to meet two people he

knew in later life, including There is nothing to

compare with the joys of flying. To express the joy

of life to the fullest extent, He was pioneering, a flying fanatic,

and the war gave him One can perform antics

utterly impossible on the ground and amongst scenery of the most

breathtaking and majestic beauty. Part of Oscar's role

in the early war years was to photograph cloud formations to help

other pilots. This album is a collection

of photographs from 1916. As well as a prolific photographer,

he was an avid writer and the Imperial War Museum in London

has a collection of his letters. This was the diary he wrote

in the run`up to He writes about the moment they came

under attack, saying there was another burst of fire,

putting the engine out of action He goes on to say,

I have no pain in my foot, only a What strikes me is how polite they

remain throughout this ordeal. He turns to his observer

after crash landing and asks I told him I got one in the foot and

was dammed sorry to bring him here. At which point he asked

if they were in Germany and was not It turns out they were shot down

by the notorious Red Baron. At which point he asked if they were

in Hunland and was not Oscar later discovered a picture showing

his aircraft number on display He was held until the end of the war

but escaped in 1918, determined to He lived out his days in this Devon

farmhouse, the home now of Children said it was

like the house of Miss Haversham As he grew older, Oscar became

frustrated with his failing health. I think he felt he did not

want to be a nuisance. And one who left a rich

legacy for the pilots of the future. The cumuli are

the most interesting of all clouds. Memories of

Captain Oscar Greg bringing Just a few stories out

of the hundreds we are gathering and if you want to see them,

they are on the website. We have more information coming in

all the time, so watch this space. # Though your lads are far away,

they dream of home. # There's a silver lining,

through the dark clouds shining. Hello. Low pressure is with us once

again today. It is this weather system you can see behind me. It has

given quite