World War One At Home

Centenary, in partnership with the Imperial War museums, more than 1000

stories will be told over the next two years. We have a selection from

the Western front in Belgium. We are just outside Mons in Belgium. This

military cemetery was the focal point of the commemoration ceremony

to mark the beginning of World War I. It was chosen because both Allied

and German soldiers were buried here. We will see how the war

affected not only the soldiers who fought and died on the Western front

but also their communities back at home. The BBC and the Imperial War

Museum have unearthed more than 1000 stories which connect the places of

today with the events of 100 years ago. Here is a taste of what is

coming up. Over the course of former years, millions would be mown down

by gunfire, billions of shots would be taken. It was a dubious honour,

one which no soldier might have chosen, but someone somewhere had

fired the first shot in battle of World War I.

The names of five brothers on one memorial are a stark reminder of the

horrifying impact of the First World War. They were not always welcome

but for the authorities, the mathematics was simple.

If women could do men's jobs, more men could go to war.

As they were handing over their horses or edition, they were

terribly emotional. There was a farmer who was patting his horse and

feeding its sugar before he was sent off and they never saw them again.

It is one of the greatest and the worse things of the war.

You could join up with your friends and family but they would all die

together, so the impact on communities was absolutely

atrocious. Many of the soldiers buried here

fell in the first days of the war, towards the end of August, 1914.

When Ernest Thomas left for war that month, he had no idea of the

historic role he would play. As a cavalryman, he trained to fight with

a sword and a lance. In fact, the command came to open fire and his

was the very first shot in that long and costly war. Sarah Smith has his

story. Over the course of four years,

millions would be mown down by gunfire, billions of shots would be

taken. It was a dubious honour, one which no soldier might have chosen,

but someone somewhere had fired the first shot in battle of World War

I. That man, it emerged, was Sergeant Ernest Thomas from

Brighton, pictured here with his family on wartime leave. In his

account, he says he was pretty quick and agile and he just jumped to it.

He saw a German on a horse and took aim and fired. Originally a drummer

in the Royal Irish Dragoon guards, his debt of four Belgium with the

British expeditionary forces in August, 1914. `` he set off for

Belgium. As part of a reconnaissance mission, they came across a German

soldiers. After what started as a sword fight, he was given the order

to fire. Whether the officer he hit was killed or wounded has never been

established. At the time, the sergeant would have had little idea

of the significance of that shot. Writing at the time, he said it had

felt like `` writing later, he said it had felt like a training

exercise. His great`grandson now has the sword that the sergeant would

have taken into battle. The rifle has been lost. When he was in Mons,

it would have been a continuation of that training. When the shot rang

out and the subsequent bullets were pinging across their ears,

everything became very real at that point. From the first shot to the

last, Sergeant Thomas would survive the war. He was demobbed six years

later and went on to wear a different uniform. This is Sergeant

Thomas dressed for his new role as commissionaire of the Duke of York

cinema in Brighton. His job was to keep the queues in order and decide

who came through the doors. His uniform was decorated with his war

medals. It was during these years he wrote about firing that first shot.

It felt like an ordinary action in peace time manoeuvres, he said,

until the bullets started whizzing around my head. The next day, the

Battle of Mons would begin, bringing thousands of casualties. There was

no doubt by then that war was under way.

One of the most moving aspects of the six invariant cemetery is the

way that British and German soldiers were buried together. `` of this

military cemetery. In some cases, they were buried side`by`side. A

whole generation of young men were lost in the war. At Barnard County

`` Barnard Castle in County Durham, one family in particular suffered

terribly. During the First World War, thousands of men left the

north`east, never to return. This is the story of one remarkable family.

Six brothers bought up in this part of Barbara Castle went off to war.

At the time, her mother said `` their mother said if she had more

sons, she would have sent them as well gladly. From the outset, they

would have looked at it as a big adventure, a chance to escape from

this monotonous lifestyle they were living here. Would happen next for

their mother and her husband must have been unbearable. In 1916, the

news came through that Robert Smith had been killed. Four of the other

siblings have this picture taken of them before they left for the front

line. George was the second to die. Frederick in 1917. John died a few

months later. Less than a few months before the end of the war, it was

confirmed Alfred had been killed. Robert Smith had lost five sons and

just wonder made out in France. Appeals were made to bring Wilfred

home. A letter from the local vicar 's wife was written to the Queen and

a response came through, which was published in the Teesdale Mercury.

This would have been the original article from 1918. Local and other

notes. I am commanded by the Queen to thank you for your letter of the

16th instant and to request you to be good enough to convey to Mr and

Mrs Smith of Bridge Gate Barnett Castle, an expression of Her Majesty

but is deep sympathy with them in the sad losses they have sustained

by the death of their five sons. Teesdale is probably one of the most

listened committees I have worked in and in 1919, people rallied around.

There have been countless opportunities for people to do that

today and Teesdale is still a very united community. The Queen

forwarded the letter to the War office. Wilfred was sent home. Meet

his daughter and granddaughter who would walk with me to go to school

and come back or go to work or go to the pictures. That is how I would

like to remember dad. They all went to the war and all of them were

killed apart from my grandad but if he had not been pardoned, I suppose

you never know, he might have been next. And if it was not for the

people of the town and the local vicar and that, we certainly would

not be here today, would we? We have been unable to find any other

letters written by the Queen. Historians say the royal family

would not have wanted any intervention is written in black and

white. Wilfred's family laid the first brief here when it was

unveiled in 1993. The names of five brothers on one memorial highlight

the start impact of the First World War.

100 years ago, the vast majority of women stayed at home or went into

domestic service. But when their menfolk went off to war, they had to

fill the jobs left behind. From agriculture to admissions work to

the emergency services, many women found they started completely new

lives as part of the war effort. Sarah Smith has been looking at

women in work in wartime. In training for jobs which just months

earlier they could never have imagined, while in Dartford, they

prepared for firefighting and rescue, in the fields of Kent, city

girls struggled to get used to strange equipment. But it would not

take long before they would more than prove their worth. They were

not always welcome but for the authorities, the mathematics was

simple. If women could do men's jobs, more men could go to war. The

women faced great antagonism. The farmers believed women were

incapable of doing work on the land. And they faced antagonism from the

agricultural workers because wives, who felt that the women were

actually sending them into the trenches. Today, this place deals

mostly with cargoes of grain and materials for recycling, during the

war, a workforce of women cleaned uniforms, gas masks and weapons here

to ship back to the front. Among those having their photographs taken

among piles of munitions boxes, two sisters. Maud and Kitty Dowling. It

must have been rather a horrible job to be honest because in uniforms etc

they would have been covered in mud, blood and God knows what. The state

of the equipment they had to clean and repair gave them an insight into

the horrors of the front but they were banned from any sort of

communication with those fighting. In theory, at least. They use to

stitch little notes into the pockets of the uniforms. Good luck, Tommy,

come home safe! At Dover docks, women took over the unloading of

crucial supplies. Women like birther Eleonora, who rose to chief section

leader. She did something different, something new, and like so many

women who took on this traditionally male roles, I think personally that

what they did must certainly have been very influential with regards

to gaining women the vote and things like that. In 1918, a minority of

women would get the vote but most found their new status was short

lived. There was a tremendous amount of gratitude towards the women and

there were feeling is that it was the women who had certainly played

their part in helping to win the war, which was absolutely accurate,

but then as soon as the war ended, there was a campaign that was

started that women should go back to their pre` rolls and that they had

been let out of the cage for the duration. When needed, they had

adapted to new working lives. Adapting back would be much more

difficult. During the rush to volunteer for

military service, many men joined up with a group of friends or a group

of co`workers, and they were absorbed into what became known as

the Powells battalions. `` pals. We trace the Grimsby chums.

When war was declared Britain and the Heather Small army. The calls

for 100,000 men to join up. It was the birth of the Pals battalions. He

promised that if you joined up together, you would serve together.

The people who worked alongside each other on the docks in rims be joined

up together. Charlie had been doing voluntary work. It was a tragic

thing that obviously he was such a good leader that all his youngsters

joined up with him. This rare footage shows the men of

the 10th that `` 10th battalion of the Lincolnshire regiment. They

trained initially on the block spree estate, using makeshift uniforms.

They will invest it in having a challenge and doing their bit.

Though one had a clue what they were getting into. Richard's uncle was in

his early 20s and became a captain. He still has his will, we can end of

the `` Britain in the last hours before leaving to France in

January, 1916. We are going through terrible strife and I hope to be the

`` one of the fortunate ones that have returned. If I don't return,

you will know I tried to do my duties as a man. Over the next six

months they experienced real life in the trenches. Charles wrote in

June, so much rain in the trenches and everything so wet. If I give

satisfaction and pull out all right I hope to have a company which is my

ambition. It was to be his last letter. The allies plan to break

through enemy lines near the River Somme. The days are bombarded the

Germans with artillery fire. On July one, 7:30am, they were among a line

of infantrymen who went over the top. But the deep German trenches

has been largely untouched. The German machine gunners came out of

the dugouts. Troops like the grins `` Grimsby charms were an easy

target. Leading your men across and encouraging them to their own deaths

must have been an horrific situation. When they were

machine`guns, they were lying their wounded in the mud and filth, you

must have wondered, what have I done? About 840 Chums went over the

top that day and around half were killed or injured. But Peter Steele

has in the past spoken to some of those who survived. They said things

like, well, we just did it because you didn't want to let your mates

down. They were going over the top and you wanted to be with them.

Charles is remembered with his fellow soldiers in Grimsby minster.

They joined up together and were killed together. It wiped out a

whole echelon of society. In a small place like Grimsby, it must have

been absolutely devastating that all the young men of that generation

worldwide down. `` were wiped out. That experiment wasn't repeated. The

suffering in such tight communities was too much to bear.

Most of you will know the story of Warhorse which highlighted the

plight of animals in the frontline. We want to tell you about another

horse, commandeered by the army from a village in Shropshire. The whole

village said an emotional goodbye. We have the story of Beauty.

Like memories, the black and white Foti of this horse is fading. Beauty

was snapped in this village in Shropshire, a moment in time before

the gunfire began. It's a story that has been handed down to Ann Lewis

who lives there. Beauty used to deliver the groceries. He went

around, a big circle. Then the First World War intervened. The beginning

`` the beginning of August, 1914, they had about 20,000 horses and

they needed more. There were calls coming up to volunteer horses, in

the same way as men. But if horses weren't brought forward they could

requisition them. Historians believed the film Warhorse captures

the emotional heartbreak around the country, as horses were offered up

or commandeered around the country. I swear we will be together again!

Wherever you are, I will find you and bring you home at smack you do

get these images and recollections `` recollections of people as they

hand their horses over. There was a farmer standing there, patting his

horses, feeding the sugar because he didn't know if he would see them

again and mostly they didn't. Beauty was also taken to war. There wasn't

a dry eye when Beauty went on the train to war. They were taken to

remount depot is to make sure they were free of disease and get them

trained up, because they would encounter things they would have

never seen before. Gunfire, helping to in charge, learning life in the

army, the same way human recruits would have to do.

The impact was felt at home and the outbreak of the war `` and at the

outbreak of the ball 800,000 horses would used on the LAN. The bigger

breaks stayed behind to keep the home front ticking over but as food

shortages increased more help was needed. The women's land Army was

formed in 1915 to help on the land. But they still didn't think that was

enough, so mechanisation does seem to speed up tractors and of course

war brings about technological advances and that would be on the

home front as well. We can only imagine what the atmosphere must

have been like the Dave Beauty went to war. Men, women and children

coming along to give the horse on final pat. It was goodbye because

Beauty didn't survive the war. She was one of 1.2 million horses

commandeered the Army. Just 65,000 made it home. Ann Lewis's father

served. He didn't talk very much because I think he had a grim time

in the wall. To see his horses being damaged and killed as well, I think

it was not a nice time. I once said to him, why didn't you go to the

Armistice service in minster Lee? He said, I don't have to go to the war

memorial to remember the war. We can only guess at what Beauty in deal

with us at least now, 100 years on, the story of Mr Li's warhorse has

come home. `` in 1914, one kernel from Sussex

decided to raise his own battalion of local men to go to war. ``

colonel. Thousands joined up and they were keen to train and fight

together but their decision had devastating consequences for the

towns and villages they left behind. Sarah Smith has that story.

This castle, rebuilt from ruin by a colonel who hosted fabulous parties

here. But in 1914, his attention turned to war. He was a hero of the

Boardwalk, was put up for a Victoria Cross. `` Bor War. He joined

Parliament in 1900 and doesn't do a lot but it seems in 1914 war breaks

out and he becomes very active. This would be his legacy. He called on

the men of Sussex to sign up for a south downs battalion. Within two

days, more than 1000 had volunteered. Farm workers,

railwaymen, sports teams all joined up together. Peter the sheep allowed

to roam the castle became their mascot and they became known as the

lambs. The general feeling was it was jolly. Everybody said it would

be over before Christmas. I think that was the general feeling. 3000

men from Sussex joined Lowther's Lambs, enough not for the single

intended battalion but for three. One of them this football star,

another a railway worker, Frank Richards. We were a lot more

community minded and of course the interest in joining up to go to

fight with your pals, with the people you knew, to workmates, made

it a lot more secure perhaps for many of them. Two years they

trained. But as plans were put into place for what would become the

war's most infamous slaughter, they were sent to France. The Lowther's

Lambs were to be given their own mission, meant as a diversionary

tactic for what was to come. They were sent over the top, the day

before the Battle of the Somme was due to begin. The tactic didn't

work. All these men climbed out of their trenches and went through

these designated lanes to get to the German trenches. But of course

because of the shellfire, it's all jumbled up and they couldn't get

through the wire. So the German machine gunners just said, thank you

very much and knocked them all down. 365 men were killed or reported

missing. 1000 more were injured. Nelson Carter was shot dead after

time and again going to no`man's`land to rescue injured

comrades. He was awarded the Victoria is cross. Another lost a

leg. Frank Richards went missing, his body never found. It became

known as the day Sussex died. `` Victoria Cross. It was a very hard

day, especially for the towns and villages across the south coast of

Sussex. There wasn't hardly a town or village where a family didn't

lose somebody. It's one of the greatest things and one of the worst

things of the war, the fact you can join up with your friends and

Powles, with family members, but it meant they are all dying together.

`` pals. The survivors would go on to the Battle of the Somme and then

Passchendaele. Only a handful would ever come home.

Sarah Smith with the story of Lowther's Lambs, ending today's

programme. If you want to know more, you can go to our website below.

From the military cemetery in Belgium, goodbye.

For most of us this weekend is a bank holiday weekend. It's not

looking bad. Especially Saturday and Sunday, where