0:00:03 > 0:00:07- RUSSIAN WOMAN:- The great offensive was to be launched soon.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09No more laughter or singing -
0:00:09 > 0:00:14thousands upon thousands of us were there, just waiting to be killed.
0:00:14 > 0:00:19My companions were living and eating and drinking without pleasure,
0:00:19 > 0:00:21in a sort of dull fever.
0:00:21 > 0:00:26I breathed in that feeling, just as I breathed in the air itself.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28MAN CLEARS HIS THROAT
0:00:35 > 0:00:40Not a few of the men begged me to write a final letter for them home.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44These letters made a strange impression on me.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49Here I was, writing to other men's wives about the children, the crops,
0:00:49 > 0:00:55a cow's sore udder, a pregnant ewe. And almost invariably ending with...
0:00:55 > 0:00:58"If God please to kill me...
0:01:00 > 0:01:02"..pray for my soul."
0:01:05 > 0:01:06Spasiba.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32WHISTLE BLOWS
0:01:34 > 0:01:35SHE COUGHS
0:01:39 > 0:01:42Oh, what was five again?
0:01:42 > 0:01:45I think there is only one thing I dislike more than learning
0:01:45 > 0:01:46a new language...
0:01:46 > 0:01:47SHE COUGHS
0:01:47 > 0:01:50..and that is nursing a cold in my head.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56What do you think? Am I a complete idiot?
0:01:56 > 0:01:59Oh, don't worry, I can't memorise any of these Russian words either.
0:01:59 > 0:02:05I didn't mean the Russian. This journey - all of this?
0:02:05 > 0:02:08Is it not all idiotic?
0:02:08 > 0:02:10Well, it's a little late to worry about that now.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15Yes, it is too late. Far too late.
0:02:19 > 0:02:21I am Sarah Macnaughtan.
0:02:21 > 0:02:27Before the war, as a spinster, I lived a lonely but carefree life.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30But then, as the whole of Europe became embroiled
0:02:30 > 0:02:32in a conflagration
0:02:32 > 0:02:36the likes of which no living soul has witnessed before,
0:02:36 > 0:02:41I volunteered as a nurse and reported for duty on the front line.
0:02:41 > 0:02:46Here, I did my utmost to help the men, not just as a nurse,
0:02:46 > 0:02:51but with all the financial resources at my disposal.
0:02:51 > 0:02:58Now, after a year of bloody fighting, the entire conflict has
0:02:58 > 0:03:03descended into stalemate - nowhere is there a decisive victory.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09On the Eastern Front - in the Caucasus -
0:03:09 > 0:03:11the situation is even more dire.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15On both sides of the border,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18the majority of the population is Christian-Armenian.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23Now, the Muslim generals of the Ottoman Empire have ordered
0:03:23 > 0:03:27the deportation of the entire Armenian population
0:03:27 > 0:03:29in the most horrible and cruel way.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33Thousands flee to Russia.
0:03:35 > 0:03:40These desperate people urgently need our help and it is to them
0:03:40 > 0:03:42we travel now.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47Why are the Armenians so hated?
0:03:47 > 0:03:50And why are we all so oblivious to their fate?
0:03:50 > 0:03:53After all, they're Christians, just like us. Human beings like us!
0:03:55 > 0:03:59So much about this war is simply incomprehensible.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01You can't really ask me that, Sarah.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04The only thing I learned before the war was,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07whenever possible, never to ask awkward questions, and, ideally,
0:04:07 > 0:04:11never to show any sensibility towards all that is horrible.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14And yet now there is nothing but horror in the world.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18We're already doing what we can. We're going to help.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23Yes, help. I just wonder whom we're helping exactly.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32MAN SPEAKS GERMAN
0:04:58 > 0:05:03Home. That's all I could think of now.
0:05:05 > 0:05:06Going home.
0:05:13 > 0:05:14DOOR OPENS
0:05:14 > 0:05:16MEN SHOUT
0:05:20 > 0:05:22SHOUTING IN RUSSIAN
0:05:32 > 0:05:34My name is Karl Kasser.
0:05:34 > 0:05:39Actually, I'm not really a soldier at all, just a humble farmer
0:05:39 > 0:05:44who comes from the beautiful village of Kilb in Lower Austria.
0:05:44 > 0:05:49A year ago, I was wounded at the front in Russia and taken prisoner.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53We farmers make up the majority of the Habsburg Army.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58Back home, our fields lie neglected whilst we must go to war.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01Millions of us have already fallen,
0:06:01 > 0:06:05been crippled or have surrendered to the enemy.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08There are two million prisoners in Russia alone.
0:06:08 > 0:06:13Two million - it's a wonder there's anyone left to fight.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17Austrians, Czechs, Poles and Hungarians -
0:06:17 > 0:06:20all thrown together in this prison camp.
0:06:20 > 0:06:26Together, we suffer from hunger and disease, but for us the war is over.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30Perhaps at last we can now go home.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32SHOUTING IN RUSSIAN
0:06:32 > 0:06:34Transportation was organised.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38We thought this must surely mean that peace would come soon.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58WHISTLE BLOWS
0:06:58 > 0:07:00Thus, we were taken away.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05And all those we were leaving behind
0:07:05 > 0:07:08wished us luck on our journey back home.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11For we all believed that we were going to be
0:07:11 > 0:07:13exchanged for our enemies' prisoners.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16Everywhere was chaos.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21No country could possibly take care of so many prisoners.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25There was neither enough food nor clothes.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29There wasn't any evil intent - but many died miserably,
0:07:29 > 0:07:32and were only to be pitied, the poor fellows.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37But how much we who are still alive are looking forward
0:07:37 > 0:07:39to being home again.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45THEY SING IN GERMAN
0:07:59 > 0:08:01My wounds had pretty much healed.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05Only the bones in my hand remained a little unstable.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07I was glad I had healed so well.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45I didn't know who he was.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47We had beards, long hair,
0:08:47 > 0:08:50as we had nothing to shave or cut our hair with.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53We were almost unrecognisable.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08BODY THUDS
0:09:19 > 0:09:22We decided that we would no longer be separated.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26We told each other about our loved ones back home, which brought
0:09:26 > 0:09:32tears to our eyes since neither of us knew how things were back there.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40When we were taken prisoner, a soldier next to me sobbed,
0:09:40 > 0:09:42"What will my mother say?"
0:09:42 > 0:09:46We have stopped thinking about the future.
0:09:46 > 0:09:51Life is a pendulum that swings monotonously, stuck in the past.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55At home, they are celebrating the Cherry Blossom Festival.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59All I can see here are withered trees through the barbed wire.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04Home! I tried not to think of it.
0:10:04 > 0:10:09Things were bad enough as they were, but to think of home and all it meant
0:10:09 > 0:10:12made one feel absolutely hopeless.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17I am relieved to have news from home.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20Packages have arrived from my friends, thank God.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24They say that English hearts are beating somewhere behind these
0:10:24 > 0:10:25snow-capped mountains.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32The first postcard from home. Papa's glad that I'm out of danger.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35If only he knew what new dangers I face here.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38Hundreds of prisoners die daily in the dirt.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41There are no doctors, no medicine, no beds, no food.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49We must have come to the wrong place.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51SHE COUGHS
0:10:51 > 0:10:53'It was fearfully cold.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58'As a result, the Macnaughtan cough has been heard in the land.'
0:10:58 > 0:11:01SHE COUGHS
0:11:01 > 0:11:04There are no refugees here.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06And no war.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08SHE COUGHS
0:11:08 > 0:11:11You really must take better care of yourself, Sarah!
0:11:11 > 0:11:15There is no need for us here. We're leaving!
0:11:15 > 0:11:17Please be welcome! Mrs...?
0:11:17 > 0:11:22Miss Macnaughtan. And my dear friend, Lady Dorothy.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25It's a pleasure for me, my ladies!
0:11:25 > 0:11:28Um...Duchess Ignatjewna,
0:11:28 > 0:11:33the head nurse of the Saint Alexius Hospital here in Tiflis.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37Duchess Ignatjewna, we are certainly very pleased to find
0:11:37 > 0:11:40everything here in such a...spotless condition.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44But where are the wounded, the refugees?
0:11:44 > 0:11:47But we are very far from the front here.
0:11:47 > 0:11:52And what use have our funds then been in this evidently
0:11:52 > 0:11:53functionless hospital?
0:11:53 > 0:11:58Mrs Macnaughtan, how is that you say?
0:11:58 > 0:12:02We will cross that bridge when we reach it.
0:12:02 > 0:12:03SHE LAUGHS
0:12:03 > 0:12:06SHE SPEAKS RUSSIAN
0:12:08 > 0:12:10Perhaps you would like tea?
0:12:10 > 0:12:11SHE COUGHS
0:12:13 > 0:12:16TRAIN BRAKES SCREECH
0:12:17 > 0:12:19MEN SPEAK RUSSIAN OUTSIDE
0:12:21 > 0:12:22HE SPEAKS GERMAN
0:12:55 > 0:12:57MAN SPEAKS RUSSIAN
0:13:51 > 0:13:53The first wave!
0:13:53 > 0:13:56When the great offensive actually begins,
0:13:56 > 0:13:59there won't be any trumpets or flags or glory,
0:13:59 > 0:14:04just a crowd of useless peasants sent charging onto the enemy's guns.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09My name is Marina Yurlova.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12I am a Cossack, and at just 16 years old
0:14:12 > 0:14:16I have already been awarded the Saint George's Cross.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20For two years now, I have served in His Majesty
0:14:20 > 0:14:23Tsar Nicholas II's army
0:14:23 > 0:14:25on the Caucasian front.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28This summer, we are planning a decisive offensive
0:14:28 > 0:14:32against our arch-enemy - the Turks.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37The Ottoman Empire would have collapsed long ago under our
0:14:37 > 0:14:43powerful attacks, if the Germans had not always helped their allies.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45They send their best generals
0:14:45 > 0:14:48and their most advanced weapons to the front.
0:14:52 > 0:14:54EXPLOSIONS
0:15:13 > 0:15:17ARTILLERY FIRE
0:15:17 > 0:15:19SOLDIERS ROAR
0:15:22 > 0:15:25GUNFIRE
0:15:27 > 0:15:30The German guns begin to fire,
0:15:30 > 0:15:34the air was filled with the bursting of gas shells, while we tried to
0:15:34 > 0:15:38cross this valley, that lay between us and the enemy like an open grave.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42HE SHOUTS IN RUSSIAN
0:15:46 > 0:15:49Dawn made a vile twilight among the heavy clouds of gas,
0:15:49 > 0:15:52through which we moved like ghosts,
0:15:52 > 0:15:56with round black windows for eyes, and white spots for faces.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04My mask seemed to put a screen between me
0:16:04 > 0:16:07and the world outside, a world through which I moved unhurt,
0:16:07 > 0:16:12watching the carnage around me with an almost complete indifference.
0:16:16 > 0:16:17Nobody looked human.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20Even when men fell dead,
0:16:20 > 0:16:24they fell like animals, with their masked faces turned upwards,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27and their bodies twisted sideways.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29I found nothing wrong with that.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31ARTILLERY FIRE
0:16:31 > 0:16:35Deafened and speechless, I moved on.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44MEN SPEAK ITALIAN
0:16:48 > 0:16:53The stretcher I was on was placed in a cold, dark room
0:16:53 > 0:16:57filled with soldiers also lying on stretchers for beds.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07The orderlies were so eager to leave that they did not take time
0:17:07 > 0:17:10even to bid me good night or good luck.
0:17:16 > 0:17:21We were alone. No-one was taking care of us.
0:17:24 > 0:17:29The silence grew ominous in the dark. My fever was getting worse.
0:17:33 > 0:17:40I am Vincenzo D'Aquila, 23 years old, and I volunteered for this war.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43How much I regret this frivolity today.
0:17:44 > 0:17:50I was born in Palermo, but I grew up in New York - in the New World,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53where my parents had brought me as a child.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56But I still yearn for the land of my birth.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00When Italy entered the war in the spring of 1915,
0:18:00 > 0:18:05on the side of France and Britain, I felt, like many Italian-Americans,
0:18:05 > 0:18:09compelled to serve for my distant homeland.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11We set out in our thousands -
0:18:11 > 0:18:14heads full of romantic ideals and naive conceptions of war.
0:18:16 > 0:18:22Then came the reality of trenches, all those senseless attacks -
0:18:22 > 0:18:24and the endless death.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27Hardly any of us is still alive.
0:18:42 > 0:18:43HE SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:18:55 > 0:18:58Immediately I knew that there was that something wrong.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06I realised that this was the hospital morgue
0:19:06 > 0:19:09and that the occupants on the stretchers were corpses.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15That was why the room was so cold and so quiet.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22The war should have been a walk in the park against the Austrians,
0:19:22 > 0:19:25weakened after fighting for such a long time.
0:19:26 > 0:19:27But it was no walk at all.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32In this hell of ice and snow,
0:19:32 > 0:19:37the cold and the mud caused as much death as the enemy's gunfire.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41Typhus is especially feared,
0:19:41 > 0:19:44and I'm infected, too.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49Once you're infected, delirium, and often death, can follow rapidly.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58HE SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:20:00 > 0:20:04All of a sudden, a whole platoon of doctors and nurses
0:20:04 > 0:20:08came on the run to investigate this strange resurrection from the dead.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS
0:20:23 > 0:20:27There was no medical help available.
0:20:27 > 0:20:28Nobody cared for us.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34Because of this, disease was rampant.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40Half of the men died of typhoid fever.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43And none of them has received a proper burial.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18HE SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:22:28 > 0:22:30'So far we have been waiting all this time -
0:22:30 > 0:22:33'for wounded soldiers, for refugees,
0:22:33 > 0:22:36'and for our cars.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38'They had left long before we did,
0:22:38 > 0:22:40'but they have not arrived yet.'
0:22:41 > 0:22:45If you carry on at that pace, you'll scrub right through the floorboards.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48You really ought to rest.
0:22:48 > 0:22:49SHE COUGHS
0:22:49 > 0:22:54But it's precisely this unending rest which I find maddening!
0:22:54 > 0:22:56SHE COUGHS
0:23:00 > 0:23:03'We are all depressed, I am afraid.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08'Whatever the Russians may have in store for us
0:23:08 > 0:23:12'in the way of useful work, nothing can exceed our current boredom.'
0:23:14 > 0:23:17Why is this Duchess knitting anyway?
0:23:19 > 0:23:22Those socks will never find their way to the front!
0:23:22 > 0:23:26We're leaving by train for Erivan!
0:23:26 > 0:23:31Yerevan? What by God's name do you expect to do there?
0:23:31 > 0:23:33But you yourself informed us
0:23:33 > 0:23:36that most of the Armenian refugees were there.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38Yes, but I am sorry.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41The trains are overflowing,
0:23:41 > 0:23:44we will not find space for the medical equipment.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47If we do, it will be stolen.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50But one million Armenian refugees
0:23:50 > 0:23:54have been slaughtered in cold blood by the Turks, around about here.
0:23:54 > 0:24:00There are the most awful massacres, with cruelties past all telling!
0:24:01 > 0:24:07Patience, my dear English friends need to have more patience.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15'For months I have been trying to be of some sort of help.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19'The best thing, I believe, would be to return to my old battalion.
0:24:19 > 0:24:20'I have been wondering whether,
0:24:20 > 0:24:24'if they go in and get cut up badly, there might be any chance
0:24:24 > 0:24:27'of success if I apply for a transfer to join them.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31'There might come a time during which they might not disdain
0:24:31 > 0:24:33'an old sergeant of their own.'
0:24:33 > 0:24:36I want the entire regiment to be mobilised by tomorrow evening.
0:24:36 > 0:24:37Yes, sir!
0:24:39 > 0:24:42Look at the old man they've sent us now.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44What on earth use can he be out here?
0:24:50 > 0:24:54'Simply because I'm 50, I have to live with the shirkers here
0:24:54 > 0:24:57'and not with the friends I love and honour.'
0:24:57 > 0:25:03Ah, my dear friend. Charles Edward Montague, is that right?
0:25:03 > 0:25:06- The renowned journalist? - Yes, sir, quite right,
0:25:06 > 0:25:10who's desperately been hoping to serve at the front, for months now.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13Ah, well, I have a really rather splendid assignment
0:25:13 > 0:25:16for you, Montague. At ease, follow me.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23I am Charles Edward Montague.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25At the age of 50,
0:25:25 > 0:25:27I am actually too old for active service at the front.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31But going back home, abandoning my friends here
0:25:31 > 0:25:33and leaving them to die at the front,
0:25:33 > 0:25:35that is simply unthinkable for me.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40Finally, after many months of twiddling my thumbs,
0:25:40 > 0:25:45I have been transferred to the Propaganda and Press Censorship department.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47It is part of military intelligence
0:25:47 > 0:25:50and its purpose is to ensure the continued support of
0:25:50 > 0:25:53people back home for the upcoming major offensives.
0:25:55 > 0:25:56As the war has dragged on,
0:25:56 > 0:26:00Parliament has to be persuaded again and again to send yet more
0:26:00 > 0:26:04weapons and soldiers to the front lines in Belgium and France.
0:26:05 > 0:26:10Here he is, a true war hero, our Montague,
0:26:10 > 0:26:14wounded on several occasions, always in the midst of the action.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17At your age, and still a sergeant, Mr Montague?
0:26:17 > 0:26:19Oh, he may seem like an ordinary sergeant,
0:26:19 > 0:26:22but I can assure you he's a man of real intelligence!
0:26:22 > 0:26:26And with this new assignment he will be promoted accordingly.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31Sir, if I may, what exactly is my new assignment?
0:26:31 > 0:26:33Given the forthcoming offensive...
0:26:33 > 0:26:36Now, now, Montague, it's a good thing we're amongst friends.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38The offensive is a state secret, you know.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40Everybody's talking about it.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43The "final push" to decide the war, sir.
0:26:43 > 0:26:48Precisely, and your assignment will be to lead Mr Collingridge
0:26:48 > 0:26:50here straight to the front to see our men.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53A tour, so to speak, of the reality of the war.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55You see, back at home we so rarely get
0:26:55 > 0:26:58a true picture of your experiences out here.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00Well, not the truest of realities, Montague.
0:27:00 > 0:27:01I believe we understand each other?
0:27:01 > 0:27:04In the end, I shall hold you personally responsible
0:27:04 > 0:27:06for the safety of our Honourable Member of Parliament.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09I'm certain you'll find quite the thrilling spot for us.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12'To my unspeakable horror, in his enthusiasm,
0:27:12 > 0:27:15'he had suddenly grasped my hand.'
0:27:15 > 0:27:19Cross here will discuss the rest of the details with you, Montague.
0:27:19 > 0:27:20As you wish, sir.
0:27:28 > 0:27:30SHE SPEAKS GERMAN
0:27:32 > 0:27:34It's so frustrating not to be a man.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38What use is it being a child during times of war,
0:27:38 > 0:27:42one needs to be a soldier. I would make a good soldier.
0:27:42 > 0:27:43IMITATES GUNFIRE
0:27:43 > 0:27:46This is my Albatros Doppeldecker.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49I, Leutnant von Yellenick, am flying higher and higher,
0:27:49 > 0:27:51circling, and under attack from enemy pilots.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53I usually win.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00But sometimes I jiggle so much that I fall down,
0:28:00 > 0:28:03along with the piled up benches.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08I am Elfriede Kuhr.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12I've just reached 15 and I live in the very east of our German Empire.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14At the beginning,
0:28:14 > 0:28:17we all thought that the war would be over by Christmas,
0:28:17 > 0:28:20but for nearly two years now I have been keeping a war diary.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25Before the war, my hometown of Schneidemuhl used to be
0:28:25 > 0:28:27such a dull place to live,
0:28:27 > 0:28:31but now it has become an important centre for our arms industry.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35Ever since 1915, young officers have trained to be pilots
0:28:35 > 0:28:38in the Flyer Replacement Unit right next to our school.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42The pilots are all young and very dashing.
0:28:43 > 0:28:44They are our heroes.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48We all harbour a secret passion for them.
0:28:53 > 0:28:55SHE SPEAKS GERMAN
0:29:18 > 0:29:20'I was struck dumb,
0:29:20 > 0:29:24'I couldn't reply, I just stared at him stupidly.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27'I must have looked so unimaginably foolish.'
0:29:55 > 0:29:58So many men everywhere,
0:29:58 > 0:30:01it has never been easier to get boyfriends,
0:30:01 > 0:30:05even when you are only a 15-year-old schoolgirl.
0:30:05 > 0:30:08Many of my classmates have a soldier friend already.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11So, after lessons, we secretly meet up for love fests,
0:30:11 > 0:30:15although, of course, in reality, it is all about kissing.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19One girl sometimes asks me to play the piano loudly,
0:30:19 > 0:30:21so that no-one can hear the laughter.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24But now I have a real date too.
0:30:24 > 0:30:26How exciting!
0:30:33 > 0:30:34THEY SPEAK GERMAN
0:31:33 > 0:31:35'Who could die so readily!
0:31:35 > 0:31:38'He should taste what life has to offer.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42'And besides, he has blue eyes and soft blond hair,
0:31:42 > 0:31:44'And he also talked about his mother.'
0:31:59 > 0:32:02Listen, Montague, I have a feeling this is somehow staged.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04I think you may be right, sir.
0:32:04 > 0:32:07Show me what life is really like out here - the front,
0:32:07 > 0:32:09after all, that's what I was promised!
0:32:09 > 0:32:11I'm glad to hear you're so concerned with
0:32:11 > 0:32:13the fate of the ordinary soldier, sir.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22But it won't hurt to have a cup of tea first, wouldn't you say?
0:32:25 > 0:32:29'I feel a kind of grudge against the mere sightseer
0:32:29 > 0:32:32'who comes out to see the war as a sort of show,
0:32:32 > 0:32:37'accompanied by all sorts of luxury and petting.'
0:32:39 > 0:32:41None for me, thank you.
0:32:41 > 0:32:45Tell me, does the barbed wire not get in the way during an attack?
0:32:45 > 0:32:47I think someone should inform the War Office.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51'I think we all feel in our hearts that the sightseer's only chance
0:32:51 > 0:32:55'of saving his soul alive is that he should get a taste
0:32:55 > 0:32:57'even for a few minutes
0:32:57 > 0:33:01'of the kind of thing that our soldiers are bearing all day.'
0:33:01 > 0:33:03When you're ready, sir.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08'War hath no fury like a non-combatant.'
0:33:11 > 0:33:14GRAMOPHONE PLAYS "Pack Up Your Troubles"
0:33:17 > 0:33:23'The hospital here in Russia, I believe, cost England £100,000.
0:33:23 > 0:33:27'The staff consists of nurses and doctors, dressers, etc.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29'All fully paid.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33'The expenses of those in charge of it are met out of the funds.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36'They live in good hotels,
0:33:36 > 0:33:39'and even have "entertaining allowances"
0:33:39 > 0:33:40'for entertaining their friends.'
0:33:40 > 0:33:43Ah, Miss Macnaughtan. Celebrate a little with us.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47- Life must go on.- I don't have anything to celebrate here.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50Maybe you do. Concerning your ambulance car.
0:33:50 > 0:33:55The cars have arrived? Dorothy, our cars!
0:33:55 > 0:33:57I have good news and bad news.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01The first vehicle has reached Petrograd.
0:34:01 > 0:34:03That's wonderful news!
0:34:03 > 0:34:07However, my dear friend, Grand Duchess Irina,
0:34:07 > 0:34:09requires it at this time.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12'Everything is promised, nothing is done.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15'The only hope of getting a move on is by bribery,
0:34:15 > 0:34:18'and one may bribe the wrong people till one finds one's way about.'
0:34:18 > 0:34:21Perhaps her highness could co-ordinate with us,
0:34:21 > 0:34:24if she prefers to sponsor another hospital?
0:34:24 > 0:34:26After all, we have paid for it all!
0:34:26 > 0:34:30Her highness does not currently possess any other means
0:34:30 > 0:34:33of attending the opera. The season has just begun.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36I despair of this country!
0:34:38 > 0:34:41If the Russians were not our allies, I should feel inclined to say that
0:34:41 > 0:34:45nothing would do them so much good as a year or two of German conquest.
0:34:56 > 0:35:00I was on my way through the no-man's-land.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02I had to stop, where was the English line?
0:35:02 > 0:35:04Where was the German?
0:35:04 > 0:35:07I was lost, and had no idea what to do.
0:35:10 > 0:35:12Suddenly, I heard whispers.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15Are they English, are they German?
0:35:15 > 0:35:19If they are English, I could get another medal for a daring assault.
0:35:19 > 0:35:23If they're Germans, I could be shot down by my own men
0:35:23 > 0:35:25if I were to jump up.
0:35:27 > 0:35:32My name is Ernst Junger and I am 21 years old.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36I volunteered for military service. It wasn't so much that
0:35:36 > 0:35:40I was inspired by the nationalist hysteria, but more that
0:35:40 > 0:35:43I simply wanted to escape the school that I hated so much.
0:35:45 > 0:35:47I like this war, in a strange kind of way.
0:35:49 > 0:35:53I was sent to the front in France, as a simple soldier.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56Today I'm a Leutnant,
0:35:56 > 0:35:58a Prussian officer.
0:35:58 > 0:36:00I'd call that career progress,
0:36:00 > 0:36:03even if it's mainly the result of our high attrition rate.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06Nobody dies faster than the young Leutnants
0:36:06 > 0:36:08who lead their men into battle,
0:36:08 > 0:36:10or defend the trenches against enemy attack.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15MEN ROAR
0:36:20 > 0:36:21THEY LAUGH
0:36:33 > 0:36:38My men were sure that I was wounded, and decided to go look for me,
0:36:38 > 0:36:40in spite of enemy fire.
0:36:52 > 0:36:54EXPLOSIONS
0:36:55 > 0:36:58Artillery incoming!
0:37:01 > 0:37:05Come now, sir, we mustn't miss our men's great offensive.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08I don't see a periscope anywhere here, Montague.
0:37:08 > 0:37:09Oh, we don't need a periscope.
0:37:09 > 0:37:11Follow me.
0:37:12 > 0:37:13Is this in any way safe?
0:37:13 > 0:37:14Let's find out!
0:37:18 > 0:37:20Come along, sir!
0:37:36 > 0:37:40'Miles and miles of our front begin to dance with smoke
0:37:40 > 0:37:43'and twinkling and shimmering flashes.
0:37:43 > 0:37:47'You cannot conceive the completeness of destruction.
0:37:49 > 0:37:51'And yet, shellfire
0:37:51 > 0:37:53'gives me a mental stimulus
0:37:53 > 0:37:54'that nothing else does.'
0:37:59 > 0:38:00Are you trying to get us killed?
0:38:02 > 0:38:06'Sometimes I think it would be a fine thing to be killed in this war.'
0:38:06 > 0:38:09You're mad, Montague! Come back down here now!
0:38:12 > 0:38:15'Alas, I do believe I could make quite a decent subsistence
0:38:15 > 0:38:18'after the war by taking millionaire Americans
0:38:18 > 0:38:20'round the battlefield for the rest of my life.'
0:38:40 > 0:38:42HE SPEAKS GERMAN
0:38:54 > 0:38:59'Of course, I could quite gladly have let Leutnant Waldecker kiss me.
0:38:59 > 0:39:02'Very gladly.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04'I was such a silly goose.'
0:39:05 > 0:39:07What exactly were you thinking during this mission, Montague?!
0:39:07 > 0:39:09I could have you court-martialled.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12Surely one goes to the theatre to see the play,
0:39:12 > 0:39:14not to enjoy the intervals between the acts.
0:39:14 > 0:39:16But not within reach of enemy guns!
0:39:16 > 0:39:19Last week, I read in a respectable London newspaper...
0:39:19 > 0:39:20I could have been killed!
0:39:20 > 0:39:22..that the British people as a whole
0:39:22 > 0:39:24would give their lives to secure a victory.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28Pull yourself together, the man has connections at the War Office,
0:39:28 > 0:39:30and he could cause us some serious trouble!
0:39:30 > 0:39:33Mr Collingridge, sir, you are living proof of it!
0:39:33 > 0:39:35I'm honoured to have met you.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40Bravo.
0:39:45 > 0:39:47HE CRIES OUT IN GERMAN
0:40:34 > 0:40:37'We had been on this train for nearly two months now.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40'Buying our food was difficult.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43'My hand was still in a sling.'
0:40:44 > 0:40:46HE SPEAKS GERMAN
0:41:00 > 0:41:05I had eight kronen hidden in a small pouch hanging from around my neck.
0:41:05 > 0:41:07It was soaked with blood.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10The Russians must have thought it was something sacred
0:41:10 > 0:41:12for they never tried to take it.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16One night, I suddenly needed to do something.
0:42:17 > 0:42:21It was as if the Holy Spirit had taken possession of me,
0:42:21 > 0:42:22lit me on fire.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27I was exalted. God was in me!
0:42:29 > 0:42:32I went to the sick, laid my hands on them
0:42:32 > 0:42:35and stared them straight in the eyes.
0:42:36 > 0:42:38HE SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:43:30 > 0:43:34The barrage has grown to a fever pitch.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36The ground is shaking, the sky is like a witch's cauldron.
0:43:36 > 0:43:39There are hundreds of heavy batteries -
0:43:39 > 0:43:42countless shells crisscross above us.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44My ears are about to burst.
0:43:44 > 0:43:47MAN WAILS
0:43:47 > 0:43:49I'm not afraid to die,
0:43:49 > 0:43:52but if I have to die, then at least let it be in a fight,
0:43:52 > 0:43:57man to man. Not like an insect accidentally stepped on by a boot.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00MEN CRY OUT
0:44:11 > 0:44:14When will the next shell come and bury me?
0:44:14 > 0:44:15Bury me alive?
0:44:16 > 0:44:18It was a stomach-churning wait.
0:44:23 > 0:44:25Dear Lord, please save me.
0:44:25 > 0:44:28If only I could daydream and not think about death,
0:44:28 > 0:44:33but wretched thoughts keep running around inside my head.
0:44:35 > 0:44:38I can no longer think, I am no longer alive,
0:44:38 > 0:44:41I can no longer write, I can no longer read.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44I no longer believe in anything!
0:44:46 > 0:44:49I dread being asleep more than awake,
0:44:49 > 0:44:53as my dreams are so frightful.
0:44:57 > 0:44:58I lay and trembled.
0:44:58 > 0:45:02All fear of shells and explosions had left me.
0:45:02 > 0:45:05I watched them as calmly as one would watch
0:45:05 > 0:45:09an apple fall off a tree, with tears pouring down my face.
0:45:15 > 0:45:18SHE COUGHS
0:45:25 > 0:45:30I felt no pain, except a dull ache in my right arm.
0:45:30 > 0:45:34Turning my head, I could see the chevron on my left shoulder...
0:45:35 > 0:45:38..the rest of me was buried in the earth.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47SHE SOBS
0:45:55 > 0:45:59How long had I lain there unconscious?
0:45:59 > 0:46:01Two or three hours, perhaps?
0:46:01 > 0:46:04It was very quiet,
0:46:04 > 0:46:08only the distant roar of guns told me that the advance had swept on.
0:46:16 > 0:46:18And I was completely alone.
0:46:20 > 0:46:22HE SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:47:01 > 0:47:03Written on the transfer paper was,
0:47:03 > 0:47:06"Corporal Vincenzo D'Aquila,
0:47:06 > 0:47:08"committed for observation and confinement
0:47:08 > 0:47:11"in the Civil Provincial Mental Institution of Udine.
0:47:11 > 0:47:15"His ranting about peace make him a danger to himself and to others."
0:47:21 > 0:47:24WOLVES HOWL
0:47:31 > 0:47:35A dismal answer came to me across the darkness.
0:47:36 > 0:47:38It was the howling of wolves,
0:47:38 > 0:47:41hunting along the edges of the night.
0:47:42 > 0:47:44They seemed to be coming nearer,
0:47:44 > 0:47:47and I could do nothing but scrabble at the earth
0:47:47 > 0:47:51in the hope of covering up my face so that they would not find me.
0:47:54 > 0:47:58Gradually the fear disappeared,
0:47:58 > 0:48:02and gave way to a drowsiness that was the beginning of death.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06My eyes told me without surprise
0:48:06 > 0:48:10that some stars had clambered down from the sky
0:48:10 > 0:48:14and were bobbing up and down at the edge of my hole.
0:48:14 > 0:48:16HE SPEAKS RUSSIAN
0:48:18 > 0:48:21The stars had voices.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38'And so, my journey continued alone.
0:48:40 > 0:48:45'In Yerevan, a city of 30,000 inhabitants,
0:48:45 > 0:48:49'there are as many as 17,000 Armenian refugees.
0:48:56 > 0:48:59'Since the war broke out I think I have seen
0:48:59 > 0:49:02'the actual breaking of a wave of anguish
0:49:02 > 0:49:03'which has swept over the world.
0:49:05 > 0:49:08'I often wonder if I can feel much more,
0:49:08 > 0:49:12'but these human beings I now see for myself,
0:49:12 > 0:49:16'pitiful remnants of a massacre -
0:49:16 > 0:49:18'only old women and children, mind you...
0:49:19 > 0:49:21'..all the men are killed.'
0:49:26 > 0:49:28That morning we saw a terrible sight.
0:49:28 > 0:49:32By the side of the road lay the bodies of many girls.
0:49:32 > 0:49:36They had been beheaded or their stomachs slashed open.
0:49:36 > 0:49:40Some were still alive, and had been left, naked, to die.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45Every girl was nailed alive to a cross.
0:49:45 > 0:49:49Nails had been driven through their hands and feet.
0:49:49 > 0:49:52Only their brown hair, blowing in the wind,
0:49:52 > 0:49:54covered their bodies.
0:49:54 > 0:49:58Other men had their hands tied behind their back
0:49:58 > 0:50:01and were rolled down steep cliffs.
0:50:01 > 0:50:03Women were waiting below with knives.
0:50:03 > 0:50:05They stabbed those who had been rolled down
0:50:05 > 0:50:07until they were dead.
0:50:08 > 0:50:11The soldiers picked up the women like sacks,
0:50:11 > 0:50:15set their skirts on fire and threw them down the cliff.
0:50:15 > 0:50:16There were screams everywhere.
0:50:18 > 0:50:19I jumped off quickly.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22Bleeding and trembling I crept away
0:50:22 > 0:50:25and lost consciousness.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28The hillside was covered with half-naked
0:50:28 > 0:50:30and still bleeding bodies.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33Fathers, brothers, sons and grandsons
0:50:33 > 0:50:35lay as they fell from the bullets.
0:50:35 > 0:50:40Flocks of vultures were picking the eyes out of the dead and dying.
0:50:48 > 0:50:51Why is nobody helping?
0:50:53 > 0:50:56Why is nobody doing anything?
0:51:07 > 0:51:09HE SPEAKS GERMAN
0:52:34 > 0:52:37SHE SPEAKS GERMAN
0:53:03 > 0:53:06'I pictured his face,
0:53:06 > 0:53:09'his bright eyes, his cheeky laugh,
0:53:09 > 0:53:11'blond strands of hair under his slanted cap.
0:53:11 > 0:53:15'It's all been shattered, burst apart,
0:53:15 > 0:53:16'blood-smeared,
0:53:16 > 0:53:18'his skull in pieces?'
0:53:55 > 0:54:01This area used to have meadows and forests and fields of wheat.
0:54:02 > 0:54:04Now nothing remains.
0:54:05 > 0:54:06Nothing at all.
0:54:16 > 0:54:20Not a blade of grass anywhere,
0:54:20 > 0:54:21not one single blade.
0:54:23 > 0:54:26Every square millimetre of ground had been churned up again
0:54:26 > 0:54:30and again, the trees uprooted,
0:54:30 > 0:54:33destroyed and ground to mulch.
0:54:33 > 0:54:35The houses blown away,
0:54:35 > 0:54:37rocks ground to dust,
0:54:37 > 0:54:39mountains flattened.
0:54:39 > 0:54:43In short, everything was now desert.
0:54:53 > 0:54:56The lists of our losses have come in.
0:55:10 > 0:55:14It won't be easy to explain this defeat to the readers back at home.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17Well, you are a journalist, Montague.
0:55:17 > 0:55:20There cannot and simply will not be a defeat.
0:55:20 > 0:55:21Understood?
0:55:21 > 0:55:23A journalist informs the public, sir.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26He does not lie to his readers.
0:55:26 > 0:55:29Well then, it's time you became a war correspondent.
0:55:29 > 0:55:30The truth?
0:55:30 > 0:55:32Should we all just give up and go home?
0:55:32 > 0:55:34Try to be reasonable, Montague.
0:55:34 > 0:55:38Moreover, General Headquarters is still firmly convinced
0:55:38 > 0:55:40that victory is imminent.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50'On the very first day, the offensive has already cost the lives
0:55:50 > 0:55:52'of 20,000 of our men.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56'Nevertheless, there has not been any breakthrough
0:55:56 > 0:55:58'of the German lines at any point.
0:56:00 > 0:56:02'The number of dead and injured is so high
0:56:02 > 0:56:05'that we no longer allow the lists of our losses to be published.
0:56:07 > 0:56:09'And the death continues.
0:56:09 > 0:56:11'Day after day.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19'Of my old battalion only two officers
0:56:19 > 0:56:22'and some 80 men are left.
0:56:24 > 0:56:28'Not to be with them feels somewhat like a betrayal on my part -
0:56:28 > 0:56:31'to be alive while they perish.
0:56:33 > 0:56:35'If we, outside the trenches,
0:56:35 > 0:56:38'bore what men in the trenches do,
0:56:38 > 0:56:41'the war would be over at once.'
0:56:58 > 0:56:59'I bought a rose.
0:56:59 > 0:57:02'Roses are very expensive now.
0:57:02 > 0:57:04'I used the last of my money.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07'But it's all I can do for Werner Waldecker now.
0:57:09 > 0:57:14'I ask you, God, do you really resurrect every dead soldier,
0:57:14 > 0:57:16'so that they are not lost,
0:57:16 > 0:57:22'every dead Englishman, Frenchman, Russian, Slav, Turk
0:57:22 > 0:57:24'and, of course, German?'
0:57:31 > 0:57:35'My own losses are almost stupefying
0:57:35 > 0:57:39'and something dead within myself looks with sightless eyes on death.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44'With groping hands I touch it sometimes...
0:57:46 > 0:57:48'..and then I know I am dead also.
0:57:53 > 0:57:56'I should like to have "left the party" -
0:57:56 > 0:58:00'quitted the feast of life when all was gay and amusing.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03'I would have been sorry to come away...
0:58:05 > 0:58:07'..but it would have been far better than
0:58:07 > 0:58:10'being left till all the lights are out.'
0:58:10 > 0:58:11TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS