0:00:02 > 0:00:05World War I was a railway war.
0:00:06 > 0:00:08I'm going to find out
0:00:08 > 0:00:11how the railways helped to precipitate a mechanised war...
0:00:13 > 0:00:15..defined how it was fought,
0:00:15 > 0:00:19conveyed millions to the trenches
0:00:19 > 0:00:22and bore witness to its end.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24I've taken to historic tracks
0:00:24 > 0:00:27to rediscover the locomotives and wagons of the war
0:00:27 > 0:00:30that was supposed to end all war...
0:00:32 > 0:00:35..and to hear the stories of the gallant men and women
0:00:35 > 0:00:39who used them in life and in death.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00I've been travelling through Britain and northern Europe,
0:01:00 > 0:01:03discovering how the railways shaped the First World War
0:01:03 > 0:01:05from start to finish.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09- One shell, 400 casualties.- That's a good example
0:01:09 > 0:01:12of the destructive power these railway guns had.
0:01:12 > 0:01:13- Ready? Lift.- Whoo!
0:01:13 > 0:01:15I've learnt that in total war,
0:01:15 > 0:01:19victory depended on logistics as much as on military might.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23The depot here was feeding 1.2 million men daily.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25The railway was absolutely critical.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30And that Britain's home network made big changes to meet the challenge.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32In that first 24 hours,
0:01:32 > 0:01:35only one train was late and only by 15 minutes.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38- We'd settle for that now, wouldn't we?- We certainly would.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41Now, on the last leg of my war journey,
0:01:41 > 0:01:45I'm going to explore the aftermath of this horrendous conflict.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50For four years the railways had fed the front line
0:01:50 > 0:01:55with vast numbers of men and huge volumes of munitions and supplies.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59Despite sending men and equipment to France and Belgium,
0:01:59 > 0:02:02they'd also kept the trains running at home.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06Even when the armistice had been signed in a railway carriage,
0:02:06 > 0:02:08their work wasn't done.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11As Britain continued to mourn its dead,
0:02:11 > 0:02:15the railways played an important part in their remembrance.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22Today, I'll hear the stories of the railways' war heroes.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24What a privilege for the passengers
0:02:24 > 0:02:26to have two VCs working on the train. Extraordinary.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29Absolutely, but then they probably never knew.
0:02:29 > 0:02:34Encounter a historic railway wagon used to honour the fallen.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37It's a replica of the coffin of the Unknown Warrior.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39His remains were conveyed in this van.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41And hear how the railways helped to give birth
0:02:41 > 0:02:43to battlefield tourism.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45You've got the British Legion
0:02:45 > 0:02:50organising 11,000 people to come for a ceremony.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53I mean, that is in itself pretty much a military-scale operation.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57Today's remembrance journey begins in the heart of London
0:02:57 > 0:03:02and will take me to the rural home of the Kent and East Sussex Railway.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05Finally, I'll cross the Channel to Belgium
0:03:05 > 0:03:07tracing pilgrimages to Ypres,
0:03:07 > 0:03:10where thousands of British soldiers fought and died.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15LAST POST PLAYS
0:03:42 > 0:03:46Acts of remembrance are held in villages, towns and cities
0:03:46 > 0:03:49across the British Commonwealth.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53They were inaugurated by King George V in 1919,
0:03:53 > 0:03:56just a year after the slaughter of the Great War had ended.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00Even before the annual November ritual had commenced,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03a service was held at St Paul's Cathedral in London
0:04:03 > 0:04:06to the memory of those from railway companies
0:04:06 > 0:04:09whose service had cost them their lives.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Britain's proud pre-war railway industry
0:04:17 > 0:04:19had employed more than half a million men.
0:04:19 > 0:04:24Over 180,000 of them answered the call to serve in the Great War
0:04:24 > 0:04:29and by its end more than 18,000 of them had died.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33The railways were in mourning
0:04:33 > 0:04:37and they organised a singular tribute on a lavish scale.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43Railway Director and Territorial Army volunteer, Jeremy Higgins,
0:04:43 > 0:04:47knows the history.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49On May the 14th, 1919,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52an extraordinary service is held here in St Paul's.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55What was the scene like on that day? Who was here?
0:04:55 > 0:04:58This place would have been packed, it would have been full
0:04:58 > 0:05:01of senior managers and dignitaries from the railway, families.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04- The king himself was here.- So the service of railwaymen
0:05:04 > 0:05:07was well and truly recognised when the war had come to an end.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10Amazingly, yes. Yeah, it was huge.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17The music was provided by an orchestra
0:05:17 > 0:05:19made up of railway employees,
0:05:19 > 0:05:24including women who had filled men's shoes during the war.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26They played a programme
0:05:26 > 0:05:31including Handel's Largo in G to a congregation of 4,000,
0:05:31 > 0:05:35each of whom was presented with an extraordinary Order of Service.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41"St Paul's Cathedral. Divine Service in memory of those railwaymen
0:05:41 > 0:05:45"who laid down their lives for their country in the Great War 1914-1918."
0:05:45 > 0:05:48And what is striking about it is whereas an order of service today
0:05:48 > 0:05:52is normally quite a thin thing, this is huge, it's a book,
0:05:52 > 0:05:54because it's got 18,000 names in it.
0:05:54 > 0:05:59- Correct.- It lists each man's railway grade and military rank.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02Jeremy has embarked on the daunting challenge
0:06:02 > 0:06:06of unearthing the personal histories of each and every one.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09What set you on this task of finding out about these people?
0:06:09 > 0:06:13I'd just come back from serving in Iraq, I spent six months in Iraq.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16My first day back at work, I was standing at Leamington Spa station,
0:06:16 > 0:06:21there's a really large memorial to the Great Western railwaymen who died.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25And it struck me that they were just a list of names, so I took one,
0:06:25 > 0:06:30took it home with me, researched it and found a story.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34And seven years on, I've now located 12,500 of those that died
0:06:34 > 0:06:37and it's become something of a passion, I think.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44Jeremy's research has uncovered railwaymen
0:06:44 > 0:06:46working in every theatre of war
0:06:46 > 0:06:49and all the services including the Royal Navy.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53One was amongst the earliest naval casualties.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56If you look down here there's a guy, George Coleman,
0:06:56 > 0:06:59Dining Car Attendant, Steward.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01- Steward on a ship?- He was a steward on a ship,
0:07:01 > 0:07:05he worked for the Midland Railway at St Pancras.
0:07:05 > 0:07:10He died on HMS Cressy on the 22nd of September 1914.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12So right at the start of the war.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14And Cressy was one of three ships,
0:07:14 > 0:07:17HMS Aboukir and Hogue were the other two,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20sunk within two hours in the North Sea by the same U-boat.
0:07:20 > 0:07:27- With what loss of life?- Well, there were 1,457 who lost their lives
0:07:27 > 0:07:30and over 35 railwaymen.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35The sinking of three ships by a single U-boat
0:07:35 > 0:07:40was a sign of the deadly role that submarines would play throughout the conflict.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43Another military technology that came of age
0:07:43 > 0:07:46during the First World War was air power.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48And men trained in the language of tracks and steam
0:07:48 > 0:07:52were amongst the first to excel in the skies.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56The railway had many technical-minded people
0:07:56 > 0:08:00and I think that they were attractive to the Air Force.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03So over 30 railwaymen died in the air.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07- And were any of those distinguished pilots?- Some of them, yes.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11One called Harold Day, he was a sub-lieutenant in the Navy.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13He was what we would describe today as an "ace".
0:08:13 > 0:08:16He shot down over 11 aircraft.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18Unfortunately, he was killed in an accident,
0:08:18 > 0:08:20his plane fell out of the sky and he was killed.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23The next day, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26I mean, that is a revelation to me.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30I imagined railwaymen doing what they had trained to do in peace time,
0:08:30 > 0:08:32working with machinery and so on,
0:08:32 > 0:08:34but the idea that they were also in the air,
0:08:34 > 0:08:35the idea that they were "air aces"
0:08:35 > 0:08:38this is something completely new to me.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41And you've discovered these biographies. Fantastic.
0:08:43 > 0:08:44Harold Day was by no means
0:08:44 > 0:08:47the only railwayman to be honoured for his valour.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51The railways had their fair share of heroes,
0:08:51 > 0:08:53including at least six recipients
0:08:53 > 0:08:57of the highest award for gallantry the Victoria Cross.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00Did any of the Victoria Cross winners survive the war?
0:09:00 > 0:09:05Yes, at least two. And they worked for the London and North Western Railway.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08One was a train driver, the other one was a guard,
0:09:08 > 0:09:11and they worked together on the same train on at least one occasion.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13What a privilege for the passengers
0:09:13 > 0:09:16to have two VCs working on the train. Extraordinary.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18Absolutely, but then they probably never knew.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22The London and North Western Railway
0:09:22 > 0:09:26named locomotives after these heroes in honour of their homecoming.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29They were just two of around two million men
0:09:29 > 0:09:33who had to be brought back from the Western Front after the cease-fire,
0:09:33 > 0:09:37a daunting task that fell to the railways.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41By the middle of 1919, with demobilisation in full swing,
0:09:41 > 0:09:45those who had survived were starting to look to the future.
0:09:45 > 0:09:50With the end of the war at last joy could be mixed with sorrow
0:09:50 > 0:09:53and as millions of men returned from their postings
0:09:53 > 0:10:00the railway stations were witness to emotional reunions between survivors and their families.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02In July 1919, when the temporary armistice
0:10:02 > 0:10:05had been converted into a lasting peace,
0:10:05 > 0:10:08the trains brought thousands to the capital
0:10:08 > 0:10:11to give thanks and to celebrate.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16The trigger for the Peace Day celebrations in London
0:10:16 > 0:10:20was the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24Its terms had been imposed on Germany by the victorious Allies,
0:10:24 > 0:10:28who hoped that it would prevent the cataclysm of the First World War
0:10:28 > 0:10:30ever being repeated.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33I'm hearing the story from historian, Heather Jones.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35Given that the war had begun
0:10:35 > 0:10:38with vast military mobilisations by railway,
0:10:38 > 0:10:41does the Treaty of Versailles touch upon the railways?
0:10:41 > 0:10:43It does indeed. After the armistice,
0:10:43 > 0:10:48Germany had already had to hand over 4,500 or so locomotives,
0:10:48 > 0:10:50117,000 freight trains.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52And after the Treaty of Versailles,
0:10:52 > 0:10:54it has to hand over almost two thirds of that again.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58So it really impacts on the German railway network.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02There had been doubts about whether Germany would sign up to this severe treaty,
0:11:02 > 0:11:05but on the 28th June it did.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09With peace now official, some wanted to revel in victory,
0:11:09 > 0:11:13while others believed that it was time to rise above wartime rivalries.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16Rather than a victory celebration
0:11:16 > 0:11:21a Peace Day was planned for the 19th of July, 1919.
0:11:21 > 0:11:26Did Peace Day attract crowds from around the country, presumably arriving by train?
0:11:26 > 0:11:32It did indeed. There are special trains laid on and people arrive into London very early in the morning.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35Some people arrive as early as half past four in the morning,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38and stake out their spots to get the best view of the parade.
0:11:38 > 0:11:39The crowds are six to ten people deep
0:11:39 > 0:11:44and they let children through to the front cos otherwise they would have no view of the parade at all.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47There's many troops from Allied countries in London at the time.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50The Belgians are camping in Kensington Gardens for example
0:11:50 > 0:11:53where over 50,000 meals are served to them over the course of the festivities.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57The celebrations included special events for children,
0:11:57 > 0:12:01musical entertainment and fireworks in Hyde Park.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03But the centrepiece was the Victory Parade,
0:12:03 > 0:12:06which passed along this very stretch of The Mall.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11They have a very long parade which takes in a large swathe of London,
0:12:11 > 0:12:15working class areas as well as middle class and upper class areas.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19And that's quite intentional, this is supposed to show a nation
0:12:19 > 0:12:23divided by class but united in relief and celebration at the end of the war.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25And it's a very sombre parade for part of it,
0:12:25 > 0:12:28because it passes by the Cenotaph,
0:12:28 > 0:12:32which was a temporary monument erected just for the Victory Parade,
0:12:32 > 0:12:36but which the public liked so much, this idea of the empty tomb,
0:12:36 > 0:12:41this very simple style, that it's created into a permanent memorial.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45We've got soldiers from the Allied forces marching up and down the Mall,
0:12:45 > 0:12:47but I suppose the sense of national bereavement
0:12:47 > 0:12:50must have been so intense that in some way the dead are present.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54Absolutely. There are very much mixed feelings among the crowd.
0:12:54 > 0:12:55Many people are jubilant and cheer,
0:12:55 > 0:12:58particularly when they see their own regiment passing.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00There are people dancing in Oxford Street.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04And it's very understandable, this is the generation who thought they wouldn't survive the war.
0:13:04 > 0:13:09They're young, they're suddenly free of this great burden of the war.
0:13:09 > 0:13:10But for those who've lost someone,
0:13:10 > 0:13:14they feel this is really dancing on the graves of their loved ones.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17A poem by Alfred Noyes really sums this up.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21He wrote, "Oh, how the dead grin by the wall
0:13:21 > 0:13:24"Watching the fun of the victory ball".
0:13:24 > 0:13:26Oh. Bitter stuff.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Most of the thousands of war dead were buried where they fell,
0:13:31 > 0:13:36but a few celebrated figures were repatriated after the armistice.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41I'm now on my way to the East Sussex countryside,
0:13:41 > 0:13:45on the trail of a humble railway vehicle elevated to greatness
0:13:45 > 0:13:47by its role in their story.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52Here at the Kent and East Sussex Heritage Railway,
0:13:52 > 0:13:58Passenger Luggage Van 132 has recently been restored.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00- Good afternoon. - ALL: Good afternoon, sir.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03- Brian, hello.- Hello
0:14:03 > 0:14:06Brian Janes has researched the van's remarkable history.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10Now this is, what, the coffin of the Unknown Warrior?
0:14:10 > 0:14:13Yes, it's a replica of the coffin of the Unknown Warrior,
0:14:13 > 0:14:17who was conveyed in it, whose remains were conveyed in this van.
0:14:17 > 0:14:22The ironwork was produced by the grandson of the original maker.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26And the Unknown Warrior travelled in this vehicle when?
0:14:26 > 0:14:28How long after the end of the First World War was that?
0:14:28 > 0:14:31It was in November 1920.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33It was to coincide with the opening
0:14:33 > 0:14:36of the permanent Cenotaph in Whitehall.
0:14:37 > 0:14:42The Unknown Warrior was one of the war's many unidentified victims.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45His body was brought from France by boat
0:14:45 > 0:14:50then travelled by rail to London to be buried in Westminster Abbey.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53He wasn't the first hero to travel in this wagon.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56As a newly-built prototype in May 1919,
0:14:56 > 0:15:01it was selected to transport the remains of nurse Edith Cavell,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04shot by the Germans for helping British prisoners of war
0:15:04 > 0:15:07to escape from occupied Belgium.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09Then in July of that year,
0:15:09 > 0:15:15it brought home another civilian, Ship's Captain Charles Algernon Fryatt of the Great Eastern Railway.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21Now, explain to me, how could a railwayman be a ship's captain?
0:15:21 > 0:15:25Most of the railways ran connecting steamer services to the continent.
0:15:25 > 0:15:30And the Great Eastern Railway who employed Captain Fryatt
0:15:30 > 0:15:33ran a service from Harwich to Holland.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38And he was a captain of one of those cross-Channel steamers.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42When the First World War broke out Holland was still neutral,
0:15:42 > 0:15:46so the service was maintained from England to Holland.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50As Britain and Germany vied for command of the seas,
0:15:50 > 0:15:55Captain Fryatt found his ferry menaced from beneath the waves.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00He had several brushes with U-boats who were trying to intercept him.
0:16:00 > 0:16:05On the first occasion, he managed to outrun a U-boat at 16 knots,
0:16:05 > 0:16:07which was very fast for that boat.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10On the second occasion, a U-boat tried to stop him
0:16:10 > 0:16:14and he turned the boat towards the U-boat and attempted to ram it.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16The U-boat escaped
0:16:17 > 0:16:22In Britain Fryatt's courage was celebrated, but the Germans wanted revenge.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25About 15 months later,
0:16:25 > 0:16:30they actually ambushed the Brussels and captured Captain Fryatt.
0:16:30 > 0:16:32He was taken as a prisoner.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35They decided then that he was a guerrilla,
0:16:35 > 0:16:39somebody who was fighting war outside uniform,
0:16:39 > 0:16:44and they took him to Ostend and he was tried and summarily shot.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46That seems absolutely outrageous,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49cos as I understand it when they were trying to apprehend his ship,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52he simply used the ship to try and resist,
0:16:52 > 0:16:57- to attack the U-boat with his civilian unarmed vessel.- Yes.
0:16:57 > 0:16:58That's indeed the case, yes.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02But the rules of war at that time were confused
0:17:02 > 0:17:05and U-boats in particular caused many problems.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10At home, Fryatt's killing caused outrage,
0:17:10 > 0:17:13and after the war his body was repatriated
0:17:13 > 0:17:17and his heroism honoured at a special ceremony at St Paul's.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23His remains were taken by special train to Antwerp
0:17:23 > 0:17:26where they were loaded on to a British destroyer.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29And at Dover the remains were transferred to this van
0:17:29 > 0:17:32and came to Charing Cross in London
0:17:32 > 0:17:37where the formal ceremony to St Paul's commenced.
0:17:37 > 0:17:38What a way of marking him out
0:17:38 > 0:17:41to bring him in this van and then to St Paul's Cathedral.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45Oh, indeed, yes. It was a real mark of respect
0:17:45 > 0:17:48and he was extremely well thought of.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50One of the tragedies of Captain Fryatt
0:17:50 > 0:17:52is that he was slowly forgotten.
0:17:52 > 0:17:57By the Second World War, probably very few people knew of him,
0:17:57 > 0:18:02but we hope to keep his memory alive with this exhibit.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10When van number 132
0:18:10 > 0:18:13made its solemn journey from Dover to London carrying Captain Fryatt,
0:18:13 > 0:18:17it travelled on the lines of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway,
0:18:17 > 0:18:20among the hardest-working tracks of the war.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26Today the quickest route from the capital to the continent is via the Eurostar,
0:18:26 > 0:18:29but a century ago the Folkestone sea crossing
0:18:29 > 0:18:31was the preferred way to reach the front.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37Over the course of the war, the South Eastern and Chatham
0:18:37 > 0:18:40carried some ten million servicemen and civilian volunteers
0:18:40 > 0:18:43to and from the port.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46I'm now following in their footsteps,
0:18:46 > 0:18:50en route to Belgium where the well-worn rail routes to the front
0:18:50 > 0:18:53lived on after the end of the fighting.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58When the guns had fallen silent the bereaved set forth
0:18:58 > 0:19:01to visit the places where their loved ones had died.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04Early pilgrims were people of means,
0:19:04 > 0:19:07who could pick their way through the shattered landscape.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09But as the vast cemeteries were constructed,
0:19:09 > 0:19:14the trains carried grieving masses to corners of foreign fields.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17These early railway tours
0:19:17 > 0:19:22set the tone for the battlefield visits that continue to this day.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25To unearth the story, I've come to Ypres,
0:19:25 > 0:19:28described in a 1922 Bradshaw's Guide
0:19:28 > 0:19:33as "a melancholy monument to the terrible havoc of war."
0:19:33 > 0:19:36Under British control for the duration of the conflict,
0:19:36 > 0:19:40Ypres had witnessed five major battles.
0:19:40 > 0:19:45After the troops left the locals began to restore their city brick by brick,
0:19:45 > 0:19:48but it would take until the 1960s
0:19:48 > 0:19:52to finish rebuilding the iconic medieval cloth hall.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54A decade after the armistice,
0:19:54 > 0:20:01this battle-ravaged town played host to a railway pilgrimage on an epic scale.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04I'm hearing the story from Pam and Ken Linge,
0:20:04 > 0:20:08a couple with a shared passion for the social history of the war.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11- Hello, Pam.- Hi.- Hello, Ken. - How you doing?
0:20:11 > 0:20:16Very good I'm most interested in these post-war pilgrimages.
0:20:16 > 0:20:21- When do they get going?- For the masses, I think in the early '20s.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25In 1923, the St Barnabas hostels started,
0:20:25 > 0:20:28and that was a charitable organisation
0:20:28 > 0:20:32where the poor could actually come and visit
0:20:32 > 0:20:34the graves of their relatives.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38And that continued up to 1927,
0:20:38 > 0:20:41which was the final one which brought 700 people.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45- And after 1927 it all moved up a gear?- It did.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48By 1928 you've got the British Legion
0:20:48 > 0:20:54organising 11,000 people to come here for a ceremony.
0:20:54 > 0:20:59- 11,000 people. This was an operation on a military scale in itself.- Yes.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03Who were these people? Some of them, I guess, were ex-servicemen, others were bereaved?
0:21:03 > 0:21:06Yeah, old soldiers enjoyed the camaraderie,
0:21:06 > 0:21:10cos it was back to the time when they'd been with all their friends.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14The wives and mothers had a sense of closure
0:21:14 > 0:21:16to be able to visit the graves.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21Even at the time this was dubbed "An Epic Pilgrimage"
0:21:21 > 0:21:23and to organise it the staff of the Legion
0:21:23 > 0:21:25put their faith in the railways.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30Mobilising the pilgrims posed similar challenges
0:21:30 > 0:21:32to those faced 14 years before,
0:21:32 > 0:21:36when the British Expeditionary Force had been brought to the battlefield.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40They had first of all to get everybody ticketed, everybody organised
0:21:40 > 0:21:44from all of the areas within the UK,
0:21:44 > 0:21:46from Ireland, from Scotland,
0:21:46 > 0:21:51putting on special trains in the UK to get them down to the ports.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54And then once they're in France and in Belgium,
0:21:54 > 0:21:58they then organised 21 special trains
0:21:58 > 0:22:02and roughly parties of 500 people.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04Each were given a train,
0:22:04 > 0:22:07that train went with them throughout their visit.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10Over three days, the touring trains
0:22:10 > 0:22:12carried the pilgrims around the battlefields,
0:22:12 > 0:22:17where they visited reconstructed trenches and newly-built cemeteries.
0:22:17 > 0:22:22Arranging food and accommodation for such huge numbers was no mean feat.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27You've got all those 11,000 people billeted,
0:22:27 > 0:22:31either with local families or in schools or colleges.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34Each of the people that was coming got this book beforehand
0:22:34 > 0:22:36and it explained about the instructions
0:22:36 > 0:22:40and where they were going and all of the things they had to have with them.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43The book offered advice on everything
0:22:43 > 0:22:46from foreign currency to suitable footwear,
0:22:46 > 0:22:50even warning British pilgrims not to be disappointed
0:22:50 > 0:22:54if their continental hosts offered coffee instead of tea.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58The grand finale of the event was a ceremony at Ypres,
0:22:58 > 0:23:01the toughest challenge for the local railways.
0:23:01 > 0:23:06You've got 11,000 people being trained into the station
0:23:06 > 0:23:09and then you had to marshal them around Ypres.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12There was a service at the Menin Gate
0:23:12 > 0:23:16and then each of the groups processed through the town.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18So from the material that you've got here,
0:23:18 > 0:23:21what do you know about people's reactions to being on the pilgrimage?
0:23:21 > 0:23:24After the pilgrimage, they produced a souvenir book
0:23:24 > 0:23:28called The Story of an Epic Pilgrimage. It had anecdotes
0:23:28 > 0:23:31and sort of stories from each of the groups.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34One of the pilgrims from the northwest wrote,
0:23:34 > 0:23:38"I couldn't help thinking of the days when you had to cross this same place
0:23:38 > 0:23:42"on your hands and knees with shells dropping continually,
0:23:42 > 0:23:45"when Ypres was surely worse than Hell itself.
0:23:45 > 0:23:50"What a change that day with the bands playing, flags flying
0:23:50 > 0:23:52"and all the houses rebuilt.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54"I could see in my mind's eye
0:23:54 > 0:23:58"the phantom army that had marched that way never to return."
0:23:59 > 0:24:01Very poignant.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12The early post-war pilgrimages by railway
0:24:12 > 0:24:17brought first the old comrades of those who'd been slain and their mothers and their widows,
0:24:17 > 0:24:20and then their sons and daughters.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23And today, by an almost uninterrupted continuum,
0:24:23 > 0:24:27those graves are visited by the great-grandchildren.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34Even while the fighting still raged on the Western Front,
0:24:34 > 0:24:38the task of collecting and commemorating the fallen had begun.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41The first cemeteries opened in 1921,
0:24:41 > 0:24:44and a decade later there were over 900,
0:24:44 > 0:24:48all characterized by the distinctively simple headstones
0:24:48 > 0:24:51chosen by the Imperial War Graves Commission.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55Every year, hundreds of thousands of tourists
0:24:55 > 0:24:57come to pay their respects,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00including many British schoolchildren.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02Is there anyone here today
0:25:02 > 0:25:06who's come to visit the grave of an ancestor or a relative?
0:25:07 > 0:25:12- What's your name?- Georgie Sells.- And who is it who's buried here?
0:25:12 > 0:25:16- Rifleman Frank Madley.- And what's his relation to you?
0:25:16 > 0:25:20- He's my great-great-uncle.- What do you know about his story?
0:25:20 > 0:25:22He was killed near Mousetrap Farm.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27And his best friend was hurt in the same shell that hit him.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30And his best friend went home to tell his family.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32And his only sister answered the door
0:25:32 > 0:25:35and they got married after they met.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37That's an extraordinary story, isn't it?
0:25:37 > 0:25:40Have you honoured an ancestor while you've been here?
0:25:40 > 0:25:45Well, I saw his grave, the Earl of Faversham, yesterday.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49- And what do you know about him? - He was my great-grandfather, on my mum's side.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51There's a story that he was buried with his dog,
0:25:51 > 0:25:56but he wasn't, actually, his dog was looked after by the Prime Minister
0:25:56 > 0:26:00who was a good friend of his and the dog was very sad apparently.
0:26:00 > 0:26:06So what was it like for you when you came along to pay tribute to the Earl of Faversham?
0:26:06 > 0:26:08It was nice, very touching.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12I liked feeling that he was right in front of me.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18These children are lucky to be able to visit their ancestors' graves,
0:26:18 > 0:26:22more than 180,000 British and Commonwealth servicemen
0:26:22 > 0:26:25lie in unnamed graves.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28The bodies of thousands more were never found.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30To mark their sacrifice,
0:26:30 > 0:26:34the Imperial War Graves Commission built memorials to the missing,
0:26:34 > 0:26:39and the first was the Menin Gate, unveiled in Ypres in 1927.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41LAST POST PLAYS
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield,
0:26:51 > 0:26:56it's inscribed with the names of more than 55,000 men.
0:27:02 > 0:27:08And every evening at eight, the Last Post is sounded in their honour.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26World War I was marked by terrible tragedy,
0:27:26 > 0:27:30but also witnessed acts of extraordinary heroism.
0:27:30 > 0:27:32Disasters on the battlefield
0:27:32 > 0:27:36were matched by almost inconceivable feats of organisation.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41Through it all ran the tracks of the railways,
0:27:41 > 0:27:46which defined the wartime experiences of servicemen and civilians alike.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53The youngsters who visit war monuments today
0:27:53 > 0:27:57have joined a line of pilgrims that stretches back nearly a century.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02My whole journey has focused on railwaymen and women,
0:28:02 > 0:28:05perhaps forgotten, whose routines at home
0:28:05 > 0:28:09and whose gallantry abroad were vital to the war effort.
0:28:09 > 0:28:14But to me as a train enthusiast, it's distasteful that the railways
0:28:14 > 0:28:19were the conveyor belt that carried men by the thousand to the slaughter.
0:28:19 > 0:28:25By some perversion the train became an essential component of mechanized war.