0:00:03 > 0:00:07This programme contains some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.
0:00:12 > 0:00:16The generation of Welshmen who fought in the First World War
0:00:16 > 0:00:17is now long gone.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21The old soldiers have all passed away.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26What survives is their first-hand testimony,
0:00:26 > 0:00:29along with that of the women and children they left behind,
0:00:29 > 0:00:31recorded in interviews
0:00:31 > 0:00:34filmed over the last decades of the 20th century.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39I could go shopping and forgot to bring something,
0:00:39 > 0:00:43it only happened yesterday, but I don't forget
0:00:43 > 0:00:46what happened in World War I and the things that I saw.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53This is the story of The Great War, in the words of the Welsh men
0:00:53 > 0:00:56and women who lived through it.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00I'm trying to forget the First World War,
0:01:00 > 0:01:04and all I did and what happened.
0:01:04 > 0:01:09I'm sorry for those that I destroyed, but I had to do it.
0:01:09 > 0:01:10It was either them or me.
0:01:25 > 0:01:311914, and the people of Wales were enjoying their August Bank Holiday.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35I can remember that we were all very excited,
0:01:35 > 0:01:40because we were going on a Sunday school trip to Llandudno.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44But, unfortunately, in the middle of the morning, someone came up
0:01:44 > 0:01:48from the railway station to tell my father,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51who was the minister, and organising the trip, that there would be
0:01:51 > 0:01:56no excursions for anybody, because the war had broken out.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06The national mood was largely one of excitement.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08While there was no compulsory conscription, at first,
0:02:08 > 0:02:12young lads across Wales were encouraged to volunteer.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15Some of the most enthusiastic cheerleaders urging them on
0:02:15 > 0:02:17were men of the cloth.
0:02:17 > 0:02:22In North Wales, the most notable was Reverend John Williams Brynsiencyn,
0:02:22 > 0:02:25a staunch ally of Chancellor of the Exchequer,
0:02:25 > 0:02:27David Lloyd George.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16Everyone was expected to play their part in the war effort.
0:03:18 > 0:03:23Well, men who were working on the railways, or in the mines,
0:03:23 > 0:03:25after they finished work, they'd be going out
0:03:25 > 0:03:29and having a drink in the evening and so on.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32And, of course, they'd be of army age.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37The woman who didn't know them would shout and say,
0:03:37 > 0:03:42"Why don't you go to the Army? Go, go and fight for your country."
0:03:42 > 0:03:46You used to come in the pub to hide out of the way, sometimes.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50BOOTS MARCH
0:03:59 > 0:04:03The only young man that I can remember going to war
0:04:03 > 0:04:07was a young son of the caretaker's of the chapel,
0:04:07 > 0:04:10who lived in the house adjoining the chapel.
0:04:10 > 0:04:17I remember we were skating on a slide in the square in Llanllechid
0:04:17 > 0:04:20and he was skating with me
0:04:20 > 0:04:25and saying that "Tomorrow, I'm going to Wrexham to join up."
0:04:25 > 0:04:29And he went. He must've been about 18, 17.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33And he went the next day and he never came back.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46We wanted to fight the Germans.
0:04:47 > 0:04:52That was the main thing, to get at the Germans. I don't know why.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57And we went to war full of it, you know...
0:04:58 > 0:05:01..with no knowledge at all of what it would be like, or...
0:05:03 > 0:05:04..fighting of any sort.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14We all had the idea in our head
0:05:14 > 0:05:17that we was fighting a war to end all wars.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21And that's how we fought - too vigorously.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24I don't mean to say we weren't patriotic,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27but that was uppermost in our mind.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30And everyone had in mind the idea that
0:05:30 > 0:05:32we was fighting a war to end all wars.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42I was working in the colliery.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46And there were people joining up, you know, and I thought, "Oh, well."
0:05:46 > 0:05:52My brother-in-law, we discussed it. And we decided to join up.
0:05:52 > 0:05:57We thought, well, bit of a holiday, maybe. That's what we thought.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01We'll beat the Germans... in about six months.
0:06:01 > 0:06:02I said, "we thought."
0:06:04 > 0:06:08I'd gone down to the Drill Hall to enlist.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13We lived near the Drill Hall, and my mother heard of it,
0:06:13 > 0:06:18and she went down, and she told the instructor that I was under age.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21So, he wouldn't take me on.
0:06:21 > 0:06:26So, it went on a bit longer, couple months longer,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29until the beginning of 15, and...
0:06:31 > 0:06:32..my mother and I had a bit of a tiff.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36I said, "I'm going to join the Army, don't call me in the morning."
0:06:43 > 0:06:47273,000 Welshmen took part in the war.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51Welsh soldiers were initially accommodated in seaside resorts,
0:06:51 > 0:06:53like Rhyl and Llandudno, before being sent
0:06:53 > 0:06:57to the South of England, from where they would cross the Channel.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02A very curious incident happened at Southampton,
0:07:02 > 0:07:06the evening before we embarked on active service.
0:07:06 > 0:07:11I remember three of us, three bosom pals, going to a phrenologist.
0:07:13 > 0:07:14A renowned phrenologist at that.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18And I remember spending the last ten shillings of English money
0:07:18 > 0:07:20that I had in my possession.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24So, I asked him, "How long is this war going to last?"
0:07:24 > 0:07:26I was under the impression six months.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30He said, "Oh, my dear man.
0:07:30 > 0:07:31"It's 1914.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36"I'll speak to you, probably, 1919," he said like that.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38Well, that rocked my sails terrible.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42He said, "Have you got another thing that you'd like to ask?"
0:07:42 > 0:07:47I said, "Yes. After being through it all, are we going to return?"
0:07:49 > 0:07:51And he hesitated a little and said,
0:07:51 > 0:07:55"The first tour, they will not return.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58"But you will return," he said.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02"You'll go to a hospital and you'll go through the tribulations of war,
0:08:02 > 0:08:04"but you'll come back safely."
0:08:04 > 0:08:08Well, I was the only one that came back out of three.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15I was billeted in empty houses in Broadstairs.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18And there were six of us in one room.
0:08:18 > 0:08:24We left there on a Thursday night...
0:08:24 > 0:08:25for Dover.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29And we went out to France. Sunday, we were in the trenches.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37Ordinary Welsh lads were about to experience a conflict
0:08:37 > 0:08:39unlike any in history.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42While previous wars had hinged on rapid movement,
0:08:42 > 0:08:47the First World War quickly became a static engagement.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50Both sides dug into entrenched positions along a front line
0:08:50 > 0:08:54that stretched from Belgium down to Switzerland.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57The battlefield was hundreds of miles long,
0:08:57 > 0:09:01but often just a few hundred yards wide.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04The conditions were terrible.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07All you could see lying about you was...
0:09:07 > 0:09:10..was shot-up guns and...
0:09:11 > 0:09:16..and empty...ammunition boxes,
0:09:16 > 0:09:18and dead horses, and...
0:09:20 > 0:09:21..dead...
0:09:23 > 0:09:25..dead soldiers.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32Hundreds...hundreds of dead...
0:09:32 > 0:09:33dead soldiers.
0:09:36 > 0:09:41Four of the boys that were with me in that room on the Thursday,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43were killed on the Sunday.
0:09:51 > 0:09:52Ifan Gruffydd,
0:09:52 > 0:09:56who hailed from a village called Paradwys - Paradise - in Anglesey,
0:09:56 > 0:09:59recalled the hell of living in the constant shadow of death.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02Snipers weren't the only enemy that Welsh soldiers faced.
0:11:03 > 0:11:09At night-time, you'd wake up at some time in the night...
0:11:11 > 0:11:14..a rat nibbling at your lobes.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16It was always the ears.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22Well, there were rats as big as rabbits, you know.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25They were terrific.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29And, of course, the dead bodies and everything they had, the rats.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32They had everything.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35And there was enormous rats.
0:11:35 > 0:11:41A sergeant had the lobe of his ear...
0:11:43 > 0:11:45..half bitten off, clean.
0:12:35 > 0:12:42Very, very slovenly and ugly. There were no meals, nothing regular.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44Everything was odd chance.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48And we were never instructed
0:12:48 > 0:12:51on what to do or how to do it.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53We had to find out everything ourselves.
0:12:55 > 0:13:00Surviving on meagre rations, soldiers valued the food parcels
0:13:00 > 0:13:03they received from their families back home.
0:13:03 > 0:13:07My mother used to save from the rations and make a cake,
0:13:07 > 0:13:09and send a parcel to my father,
0:13:09 > 0:13:11which needed a lot of careful packing,
0:13:11 > 0:13:14because it had to be put in linen,
0:13:14 > 0:13:16because it had to go a long way.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20And I can remember seeing her writing his name, and rank,
0:13:20 > 0:13:22and number in bold letters on the parcel.
0:13:29 > 0:13:35The comradeship between the men was excellent.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39For instance, if anybody had a parcel...
0:13:41 > 0:13:47..and a parcel with something to eat, the parcel would be opened
0:13:47 > 0:13:50immediately and shared out, as far as it would go.
0:13:51 > 0:13:57I used to do the same with cigarettes. Or tobacco. Share.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02As well as food and cigarettes,
0:14:02 > 0:14:06soldiers in the trenches were given a daily ration of rum.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09The real purpose of rum, from my experience,
0:14:09 > 0:14:13was in the night to keep the chill out of your tummy,
0:14:13 > 0:14:19stop you getting chill in your tummy, and...
0:14:19 > 0:14:21One episode...
0:14:22 > 0:14:29..I remember was that the colonel and his pal stole a jar of rum.
0:14:31 > 0:14:36And they drank so much of it that they regurgitated and they died.
0:14:37 > 0:14:42I always remember seeing them. They were like marble. White.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45It could be cruel stuff.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03The first shock of people being killed only lasts
0:15:03 > 0:15:06for about three or four days.
0:15:08 > 0:15:13You could get used to the filth of your body.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17Not having a clean change for months on end.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22And you can even get used to that.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27And you can even get used to hunger.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33And, definitely, you could get used to seeing people
0:15:33 > 0:15:35being killed round about you.
0:15:46 > 0:15:47MACHINE GUN FIRE
0:15:49 > 0:15:51One of my pals,
0:15:51 > 0:15:56he caught a burst of machine gun bullets
0:15:56 > 0:15:58in the tummy.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01Of course, he was killed.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05And I can well remember
0:16:05 > 0:16:08seeing he'd got webbing equipment.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12And he was badly wounded.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16I gave him a drink of water, and as he was drinking the water,
0:16:16 > 0:16:20you could see the water coming out...
0:16:20 > 0:16:22through his intestines.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36Donovan from Cardiff
0:16:36 > 0:16:37was cut across here,
0:16:37 > 0:16:39his inside was out.
0:16:39 > 0:16:40And he'd just...
0:16:41 > 0:16:43..seen his 20th birthday,
0:16:43 > 0:16:46and the last words I heard him say,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49"If my mother could see me now..."
0:16:49 > 0:16:53And then I turned around, I shouted, "Brewster!
0:16:53 > 0:16:56"Brewster," I said, "Come here."
0:16:56 > 0:16:59And, of course, mortification had set in.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03And I think he died in a very, very short time.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10Most casualties at the front were not killed or wounded by bullets,
0:17:10 > 0:17:14but by the devastating explosive power of mortars and shells.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25Well, now, then, this particular night,
0:17:25 > 0:17:29we were laid down in this hut, sitting down in our battle order.
0:17:29 > 0:17:34And two shells were dropped outside that hut.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39I think there were about 28 killed in that hut.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44And the order was that everybody get out -
0:17:44 > 0:17:47the sergeant and the officer, all out.
0:17:47 > 0:17:52And I happened to be by one or two of my friends
0:17:52 > 0:17:53who were with me in Broadstairs -
0:17:53 > 0:17:58a fellow called Frank Mellor and another one called Alf Haslock.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03Alf Haslock was killed without a murmur.
0:18:03 > 0:18:09But Frank Mellor was badly wounded - I don't know where,
0:18:09 > 0:18:11because it was in the dark.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14And when I was ordered out, Frank Mellor was hanging onto me,
0:18:14 > 0:18:17"You're not going to leave me here."
0:18:17 > 0:18:19And I HAD to leave him there.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21I had to...
0:18:21 > 0:18:23I had to leave him there.
0:18:23 > 0:18:24And he must have died there.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28That affected me very much indeed.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33Losing those two fellows affected me -
0:18:33 > 0:18:36in fact, it affected me all my life.
0:18:38 > 0:18:39SHELL WHISTLES
0:18:49 > 0:18:51We had a very bad shelling.
0:18:51 > 0:18:57And sometimes we'd chance carrying a Red Cross flag.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00You'd go out with a couple of sandbags
0:19:00 > 0:19:04and you'd pick up and arm here, a heart there,
0:19:04 > 0:19:06a head there...
0:19:06 > 0:19:09a torso somewhere else. God knows what.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11That's what you had to do.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13Those are the horrible things that...
0:19:13 > 0:19:15I don't want to talk about.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26As Welsh soldiers tried to come to terms
0:19:26 > 0:19:29with the horrific deaths of their friends,
0:19:29 > 0:19:32their commanding officers were doing all they could
0:19:32 > 0:19:36to prepare them for the reality of inflicting death upon the enemy.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41Well, our major said,
0:19:41 > 0:19:44"You go! You go!
0:19:44 > 0:19:46"And kill them.
0:19:46 > 0:19:52"Get them in the heart, in the belly, in the groin.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54"Make sure! It's your enemy!
0:19:54 > 0:19:56"Make sure of it.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00"It's your enemy. Make sure of it.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02"It's your enemy.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04"And come back," he said.
0:20:04 > 0:20:05"Come back."
0:20:18 > 0:20:20You must remember,
0:20:20 > 0:20:23if you went into a trench and...
0:20:23 > 0:20:28took a few prisoners, perhaps - and wounded a few...
0:20:29 > 0:20:34..you daren't move on and leave a half German there...
0:20:37 > 0:20:38..and get shot in the back.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44With enough life in him to draw his Luger and shoot you.
0:20:44 > 0:20:45You had to fill him.
0:20:49 > 0:20:50That's war.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58They were shouting, "Mercy! Kamerad!"
0:20:58 > 0:21:04One of our blokes had a Mills' bomb, pulled the pin out
0:21:04 > 0:21:08threw it down, bump-bump-bump down the steps,
0:21:08 > 0:21:10exploded,
0:21:10 > 0:21:13and silence. It killed every one of 'em.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19Every one of the Germans there that were in that dugout then was killed.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26I'd got to kill. I'd got to kill.
0:21:26 > 0:21:32One officer's behind us, "If you won't do it, we'll get it ourself."
0:21:32 > 0:21:35And I'd got to kill here - I don't know how many,
0:21:35 > 0:21:38lots and lots and lots, solid for three hours.
0:21:38 > 0:21:39Yes, I did.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43I killed a lot. I'd got to do it.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46I'd got to be a murderer.
0:21:46 > 0:21:47BIRDS SING
0:21:55 > 0:21:57One battle above all
0:21:57 > 0:22:00has come to symbolise the bravery and sacrifice of Welsh soldiers
0:22:00 > 0:22:03in the First World War.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07It came in 1916, when, after two years of deadlock,
0:22:07 > 0:22:09the Allies planned to break through the enemy lines,
0:22:09 > 0:22:11with a major offensive in the Somme.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16The job of attacking German troops dug in at Mametz Wood
0:22:16 > 0:22:20was given to the soldiers of the 38th Welsh Division.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24They'd been marching for days to reach the battlefield.
0:22:25 > 0:22:26Being a signaller,
0:22:26 > 0:22:31I had a little bit of knowledge of possibly where we were going.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34You have to, you acquire that knowledge.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37So, I didn't know about the Somme, but we were going south.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41We were singing the old war songs, you know?
0:22:42 > 0:22:46Long Way To Tipperary, and...
0:22:46 > 0:22:47similar, like that.
0:22:50 > 0:22:52Oh, it were agony.
0:22:52 > 0:22:56And when we'd have our ten minutes fall out every hour,
0:22:56 > 0:23:00when you start to march again, everybody'd be...
0:23:01 > 0:23:05..trotting, you know, to get their feet back into trim again.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09And they shot us straight into Mametz from there.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12We was dog tired going in. It was a shambles.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17The Welsh Division was composed almost entirely
0:23:17 > 0:23:18of inexperienced soldiers,
0:23:18 > 0:23:21who'd volunteered following the outbreak of war.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23At Mametz,
0:23:23 > 0:23:25they got ready to face the crack troops
0:23:25 > 0:23:27of the Prussian Lehr Regiment.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31Your battle order was haversack on the back,
0:23:31 > 0:23:34holding iron rations,
0:23:34 > 0:23:40one dressing and a cape - the waterproof cape,
0:23:40 > 0:23:45or you could use it as a bivouac or a groundsheet,
0:23:45 > 0:23:49or it was eventually a coffin, if you wanted it.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55The soldiers of the Welsh Division were told by their officers
0:23:55 > 0:23:57that, in order to reach Mametz wood,
0:23:57 > 0:24:02they would have to advance uphill, over 1,000 yards of open ground.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06He gave us a bit of a lecture.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10He went along telling us, "Whatever happens, don't stop -
0:24:10 > 0:24:12even if it's your brother, don't stop for him."
0:24:12 > 0:24:17Because they were anticipating so much casualties that...
0:24:17 > 0:24:20everybody would be required when we got to the wood.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24You know, not to stop to look to anybody.
0:24:24 > 0:24:30So they was expecting quite a few casualties.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32We were going to go over the top
0:24:32 > 0:24:35and the officer was walking up and down the trench there,
0:24:35 > 0:24:39and, of course, he was boozed up with rum,
0:24:39 > 0:24:41and he was saying, "Ten minutes...
0:24:43 > 0:24:44"Nine minutes...
0:24:44 > 0:24:46"Eight minutes..."
0:24:46 > 0:24:50When the order came, about quarter to five,
0:24:50 > 0:24:53"Number one wave - over!"
0:24:53 > 0:24:58It was synchronised, along with the NCOs responsible,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01and over I went in the first wave.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06Advancing over open ground,
0:25:06 > 0:25:10the Welsh soldiers were easy targets for German machine-gunners
0:25:10 > 0:25:13positioned ahead and to the right of them.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15Oh, they allowed us to come -
0:25:15 > 0:25:16it was very clever of them...
0:25:16 > 0:25:18well, I wouldn't say clever -
0:25:18 > 0:25:19it's what WE would have done.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21They let us come, say...
0:25:21 > 0:25:23about quarter of a mile, say.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25About that. Before they started peppering us.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29And by God, they didn't half pepper us, too.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36I remember one man,
0:25:36 > 0:25:40he was an old rugby international forward.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43Sergeant - Company Sergeant Major Dick Thomas.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45From Mountain Ash.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49He was a company sergeant major in the Cardiff City Battalion.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51And he was a big, huge man.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55Lying down in front of me, not far in front of me,
0:25:55 > 0:25:57and he got up on his knees -
0:25:57 > 0:26:00and two hands, you know, and knees on the ground,
0:26:00 > 0:26:04And went down, head down to the ground,
0:26:04 > 0:26:05killed like that.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08Just in front of me.
0:26:08 > 0:26:09And I hid behind him all day.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20It took four attempts over two days, with heavy casualties,
0:26:20 > 0:26:24before Welsh soldiers finally reached Mametz Wood.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28Once there, they faced the task of attacking German troops
0:26:28 > 0:26:31dug in deep among the ruined trees.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35I went through into the wood, up to the edge of the wood.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38And when I looked into the wood,
0:26:38 > 0:26:40it was all demolished.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43Branches down, trunks stripped,
0:26:43 > 0:26:47trunks lying down, stumps on the ground.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50But the undergrowth was terrific.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54The undergrowth was terrific, it was a devil of a job to get through.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02Five of the seven battalions attacking the woods
0:27:02 > 0:27:05had lost commanding officers,
0:27:05 > 0:27:07which only complicated the already-difficult task
0:27:07 > 0:27:10of clearing the wood of enemy troops.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14They wouldn't stand and fight,
0:27:14 > 0:27:18they'd retreat and they'd hold, and we'd hold a bit,
0:27:18 > 0:27:21then the officers would say to attack,
0:27:21 > 0:27:23then you'd shove 'em back a bit further.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26Oh, I can't describe it -
0:27:26 > 0:27:29you know...I don't WANT to describe it, anyhow.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42Five days after the Allies had started their attack,
0:27:42 > 0:27:46Mametz Wood was finally taken.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49Almost 4,000 soldiers of the Welsh Division
0:27:49 > 0:27:52were wounded, missing or dead.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57In nearby High Wood,
0:27:57 > 0:28:03the Royal Welch Fusiliers sustained another 249 casualties.
0:28:04 > 0:28:10The wood itself was littered with dead bodies of both sides.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15And wounded.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19It was a terrible battle.
0:28:22 > 0:28:28And it's... I will remember that as long as I live.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34Because I lost a lot of my friends.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55The war was still only at its halfway point.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59More than two years of bloodshed still lay ahead.