0:00:03 > 0:00:06For every war fought on foreign soil,
0:00:06 > 0:00:08there is a price to pay at home.
0:00:08 > 0:00:12This is Tyneside's story.
0:00:12 > 0:00:13Soldier or labourer,
0:00:13 > 0:00:17the people who lived along the Tyne were vital to the Great War.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20It would leave its mark on the local landscape
0:00:20 > 0:00:21and its people.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24Many made the ultimate sacrifice -
0:00:24 > 0:00:26some abroad, some on their own doorstep.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30A century on, their individual names remain -
0:00:30 > 0:00:34they're there for all of us to read.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38Yet there's little to tell you who they really were.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40I'm on Tyneside, where one remarkable project
0:00:40 > 0:00:42is trying to change that
0:00:42 > 0:00:45by documenting the lives of all those who fell.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48And the scars of war weren't just etched on the battlefield.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50I'll also be revealing stories
0:00:50 > 0:00:53of how the Great War shaped life here on the home front.
0:01:07 > 0:01:09War was never far away.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12In the early hours of December 31st 1916,
0:01:12 > 0:01:16an event just off the mouth of the Tyne would scupper any plans
0:01:16 > 0:01:18to raise a glass and see in the New Year.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20INDISTINCT
0:01:20 > 0:01:22What happened within sight of the piers
0:01:22 > 0:01:24would rock a tight-knit community.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26What is your heading now?
0:01:26 > 0:01:29Yet the rest of the British public would not be told of the event
0:01:29 > 0:01:30until the war was over.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33We will board on the port side.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36The fog on the Tyne is no match for today's pilots.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40Guiding ships safely into the river has always been hazardous
0:01:40 > 0:01:44but, 100 years ago, the pilots really were exposed to the elements
0:01:44 > 0:01:45and the enemy.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49The Protector was a pilot cutter
0:01:49 > 0:01:52that was used 100 years ago by the Tyne pilots.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54They stayed on board this larger vessel at sea
0:01:54 > 0:01:56and they went out from smaller vessels,
0:01:56 > 0:01:59whereas nowadays we just go on board the likes of this launch.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01Where are we off to?
0:02:01 > 0:02:04We're off to a position three cables on the old leading lights,
0:02:04 > 0:02:05outside the pier entrance.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08That is where the Protector is, or was, hit by the mine.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13All 19 crew perished when the ship was blown clean out of the water.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17Some families lost several generations.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22My great-grandfather and his grandson Ralph were lost on the Protector
0:02:22 > 0:02:24when she was blown up.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28In my case, it was Grandfather that was lost on the Protector and,
0:02:28 > 0:02:30unfortunately, he shouldn't have
0:02:30 > 0:02:33been aboard the cutter that day.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36He was standing in for someone else.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38The pilot cutter had its lights on all the time
0:02:38 > 0:02:40and had to be on station
0:02:40 > 0:02:4124 hours a day.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43And were the pilots happy about that?
0:02:43 > 0:02:45They raised it with the pilots' union,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48who complained to the Admiralty and the Government
0:02:48 > 0:02:51and said there were no risks attached to
0:02:51 > 0:02:53the pilot service being out with its lights on.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57Some people say it was torpedoed, some people say it was mined
0:02:57 > 0:02:59but, you know,
0:02:59 > 0:03:04no submarine commander would waste a torpedo on a vessel of that size.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07We'll never really know what happened.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09Only a few bits of wreckage were ever recovered.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13There'd also be no trace of the incident in newspapers.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15Censorship meant their deaths went unreported,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18as were the pilots' warnings to the Admiralty
0:03:18 > 0:03:20that they feared for their safety.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22One member of the Phillips family
0:03:22 > 0:03:25had not been on board the Protector that day.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28Three months later, he'd make a shocking discovery.
0:03:34 > 0:03:39By some common chance of fate, my grandfather found the body of
0:03:39 > 0:03:44his father, Robert Phillips, floating in the water off King Edward's Bay.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49He survived but he lost his father and lost his son.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52- That must have been devastating. - Yes, indeed.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57My grandmother was so upset that the photograph of the Protector
0:03:57 > 0:04:02was taken down and it was put behind an organ that they had,
0:04:02 > 0:04:06a pedal organ in the lounge, and it was hidden from view.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09She used to sit at the living room window
0:04:09 > 0:04:12from morning until night,
0:04:12 > 0:04:14waiting for Ralph to come home
0:04:14 > 0:04:15cos she was convinced,
0:04:15 > 0:04:19because there was no body, that he would come home,
0:04:19 > 0:04:21that the Germans had taken him prisoner.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25Sadly, it was never to be.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28The tragedy would be hard enough to bear in one household
0:04:28 > 0:04:32but the river pilots' community lived cheek-by-jowl.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36Robert Phillips lived in this street, at number 53.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40A few doors down, a fellow pilot, Charles Burn, at number 41.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43Next door to him, an assistant at number 43.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47And another crew member lived at 24.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49In the next street, there were another six homes
0:04:49 > 0:04:52where the men would not return on New Year's Eve.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59The single body that was recovered was given an official
0:04:59 > 0:05:03Commonwealth War Grave, as 70-year-old Robert was in service
0:05:03 > 0:05:05when he was killed by enemy action.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10It's in Tynemouth's main cemetery and is one of many on home soil -
0:05:10 > 0:05:13something that got a local resident wondering
0:05:13 > 0:05:16and led to a remarkable community project.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19For many years, I used to walk my daughter's dog around this cemetery
0:05:19 > 0:05:22and I became increasingly aware of the number of Commonwealth War Graves
0:05:22 > 0:05:25headstones, so I went to the local library and found -
0:05:25 > 0:05:30a shock, really - a list of 1,700 men whose deaths were attributed
0:05:30 > 0:05:32to the Great War.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35What we're trying to do is to give some life to these people.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37They're not just faceless names on headstones.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40These were people who had families, who were involved in the local
0:05:40 > 0:05:44community in numbers of interesting ways which we've uncovered.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46We're not telling the history of the war,
0:05:46 > 0:05:47we're telling the story of the men.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49Yes, we'll have a look and see what you've got.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53The Tynemouth Project is one of the biggest community groups of its kind
0:05:53 > 0:05:57and the public have been dropping by to add their own family knowledge.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00In many instances, it is the case of the faded photograph
0:06:00 > 0:06:04which has been lying in the back of a drawer for 50 or 60 years.
0:06:04 > 0:06:0770 volunteers are gathering the life stories of all those
0:06:07 > 0:06:11from Tynemouth who fell, whether abroad or at home,
0:06:11 > 0:06:13and, by pinpointing where they lived,
0:06:13 > 0:06:14they're building up a unique map
0:06:14 > 0:06:17of how the war played out in the borough.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19It just shows you the depth
0:06:19 > 0:06:23and how much devastation was brought to bear on individual streets
0:06:23 > 0:06:24and how much pain and suffering was
0:06:24 > 0:06:27there in the community and shared amongst everybody.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33This was a war like no other.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35It was fought on an industrial scale.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39The Army and Navy had an insatiable appetite for weapons.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41Workers on both banks of the Tyne
0:06:41 > 0:06:44were perfectly geared up to meet that challenge.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46We are at Smith's Dock,
0:06:46 > 0:06:51right at the heart of what was one of the largest areas of industrial
0:06:51 > 0:06:54production in the world during the First World War. About 20,000 men
0:06:54 > 0:06:59are working along the Tyne in the shipyards.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02Within a couple of years, that's doubled to more than 40,000
0:07:02 > 0:07:03and by the end of the war, 1918,
0:07:03 > 0:07:07over 60,000 men are engaged purely in shipbuilding on the Tyne.
0:07:07 > 0:07:12About a mile back, nothing but plants and factories and docks.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Nothing like this is done anywhere else in the country.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18About a third of Royal Naval vessels during the war
0:07:18 > 0:07:19were built where we are...
0:07:19 > 0:07:21Which is just mind-blowing when you think about it.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23..as well as ships for other navies.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26Yes, it's extraordinary, and particularly now as we stand in this
0:07:26 > 0:07:29deserted area about to be redeveloped, just how busy and
0:07:29 > 0:07:32bustling and intense the experience was for those who worked here.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35- So this really was part of the war machine.- It was.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38You can think of it almost as a river of war.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42It's importance was recognised with a string of royal visits.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44What the King would not have seen
0:07:44 > 0:07:47was the daily reality of keeping the yards going.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49Many of the men left to join up.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53Others had to fill their place to keep production on the Tyne going.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57The average age of the workforce would change...
0:07:58 > 0:08:01..and schoolchildren would be found outside the yard gates,
0:08:01 > 0:08:03ready to hand the adults the lunch.
0:08:05 > 0:08:06Further upriver,
0:08:06 > 0:08:10factories were making vast numbers of guns and munitions.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12It was a traditional Tyneside industry
0:08:12 > 0:08:15that the military knew it would depend on to secure victory.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21They've been making armaments on the banks of the Tyne in Newcastle
0:08:21 > 0:08:23ever since the mid 19th century.
0:08:23 > 0:08:24They still are to this day.
0:08:24 > 0:08:25But when the war broke out,
0:08:25 > 0:08:27companies like Armstrong Whitworth,
0:08:27 > 0:08:30as it was then known, went into overdrive,
0:08:30 > 0:08:33making everything from machine guns like this to aircraft.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35What they needed was manpower.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37But there weren't enough men to fight on the front
0:08:37 > 0:08:39and make the weapons.
0:08:41 > 0:08:46The answer - women, who took to the productions lines.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49In what would have been astounding images for the time,
0:08:49 > 0:08:52men lost their exclusive grip on heavy industrial work.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56At Armstrong Whitworth, women had a hand in all areas,
0:08:56 > 0:08:58from munitions to heavy guns.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01Women were getting dirty, they were getting hot and bothered
0:09:01 > 0:09:03and engaged in areas they wouldn't have seen before,
0:09:03 > 0:09:07I don't think, and doing these jobs as well as men, and realising
0:09:07 > 0:09:10that there were no essential differences between the sexes.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12Quite a profound change of attitude, I think.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14And that's why the struggle for women's emancipation,
0:09:14 > 0:09:16for the right to vote, goes on.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18It's a very bloody and unpleasant conflict before the war
0:09:18 > 0:09:21but by the war's end, 1918, they have the vote.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28With women part the workforce, production soared.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31So proud were they, Armstrong's documented their success
0:09:31 > 0:09:34in vast photographic catalogues.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37Yet some of the work they undertook was kept under wraps.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41Could planes be launched from a ship?
0:09:41 > 0:09:44This was the trial on the banks of the Tyne.
0:09:44 > 0:09:45The plane was just a dummy.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48What the Newcastle engineers needed to know was,
0:09:48 > 0:09:50could they generate enough speed?
0:09:50 > 0:09:53A rather brave test pilot tried it for real.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00Back at the Tynemouth Commemoration Project HQ in North Shields,
0:10:00 > 0:10:03they've uncovered an unusual story.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08A soldier whose war grave gives no hint about his death.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10He overstayed his leave by just a few days
0:10:10 > 0:10:14but couldn't face the harsh punishment that was meted out.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17Chris, there's quite an interesting one here.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19It was about a Cullercoats soldier
0:10:19 > 0:10:21having a very sad end.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24He came home on leave, had a few extra days
0:10:24 > 0:10:28and was arrested and he ended up in court at Whitley Bay.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30He was given 18 months' hard labour.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33- They really threw the book at him. - They did. They did.
0:10:33 > 0:10:38He ended up writing a letter home to his wife, saying that
0:10:38 > 0:10:39he was going to end it.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42She decided to meet him at the station before he was
0:10:42 > 0:10:45transported to York from Whitley Bay
0:10:45 > 0:10:48and try and talk him out of it.
0:10:48 > 0:10:54But he was found by an officer, hanging by his belt.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56You do hear some stories which,
0:10:56 > 0:11:00when I'm inputting onto the database,
0:11:00 > 0:11:02do bring tears to your eyes.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04It is very emotional sometimes.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10There could be moments of light relief,
0:11:10 > 0:11:11even on the front line,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14if the war was going your way.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16Northumberland Fusiliers relish the chance
0:11:16 > 0:11:18to try on the enemy's helmets for size.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23But not everyone who joined up was posted abroad.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26Soldiers needed to be ready to defend home soil, too.
0:11:27 > 0:11:28The Tyne was a Class A port.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30In fact, it was classed the same as Portsmouth
0:11:30 > 0:11:33and Southampton as being important enough to defend to a higher level.
0:11:33 > 0:11:38There were two six-inch guns and a 9.2-inch gun here in Tynemouth.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41There were the same guns at Frenchman's Bay in South Shields.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43A further two six-inch guns on Spanish Battery below us.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46There were also submarine mines in the river mouth,
0:11:46 > 0:11:49which could be exploded to destroy a ship coming in.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51When the guns were fired on full charge,
0:11:51 > 0:11:53the concussion from them had a problem.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55It broke all the windows on the seafront at Tynemouth
0:11:55 > 0:11:58so they had to be careful that they fired them on half charge
0:11:58 > 0:12:00unless, of course, we were attacked.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03Beneath the guns, the weapons store,
0:12:03 > 0:12:06and, for the soldiers here, this was very dangerous work.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08The cartridges are highly explosive,
0:12:08 > 0:12:12volatile, so they had to wear special clothes
0:12:12 > 0:12:15that didn't create friction, canvas slippers,
0:12:15 > 0:12:18and the doors are lined with copper because, when they close,
0:12:18 > 0:12:21if there was just one spark the whole place would go up.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27The military were in charge and the civilians watched
0:12:27 > 0:12:30as the signs of the war scarred their landscape.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34Tynemouth was no longer the picture postcard seaside resort.
0:12:34 > 0:12:35Things were restricted.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38They dug a great many trenches along the coast,
0:12:38 > 0:12:41along the seafront at Tynemouth, right through to Whitley Bay.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43These trenches had barbed wire around them.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46So, again, restrictions would be in place on going down to the beach.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48All these things would have given you the great impression
0:12:48 > 0:12:51that there was a war on and it was affecting you at home.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55It's best seen from above.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57This intelligence photo shows just how intricate
0:12:57 > 0:12:59the system of trenches were.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02You won't find any trace of them today
0:13:02 > 0:13:05but a close inspection of the Tynemouth skyline reveals
0:13:05 > 0:13:09a discreet reminder of how real the threat of an attack was.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11Talk about a room with a view, Nick.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13It is amazing, isn't it?
0:13:13 > 0:13:14What was this?
0:13:14 > 0:13:17Well, it was originally built as an observation and control tower
0:13:17 > 0:13:19in the First World War
0:13:19 > 0:13:22to look for enemy activity and enemy ships.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25- But now it's your home. - It's my home. I live here.- Amazing.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28- It is an amazing place.- How did it actually get used, then?
0:13:28 > 0:13:30They took two turrets off a battleship,
0:13:30 > 0:13:34put one at Marsden, one at Seaton Sluice, and this is the centre point.
0:13:34 > 0:13:35They had a number of towers
0:13:35 > 0:13:38because, at the time, if you couldn't see your target
0:13:38 > 0:13:40because you had no radar, so it was all visual, and they worked it
0:13:40 > 0:13:43out by trigonometry in the towers, the distance to the target.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48Of course, the best views are right here at the very top.
0:13:48 > 0:13:49It's ironic. Although they
0:13:49 > 0:13:51started building in 1916 for the First World War,
0:13:51 > 0:13:54it wasn't finished until 1921 so it was never used during the war.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56- Really?- That's amazing.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58Despite those construction delays,
0:13:58 > 0:14:02the Germans were wary of approaching the Tyne directly.
0:14:02 > 0:14:04Zeppelins sneaked in further north.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08One attack, which killed 17 men at the Palmer's shipyard,
0:14:08 > 0:14:10was celebrated in enemy propaganda.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13But the real fear was an invasion force.
0:14:14 > 0:14:19Blyth, just up the Northumberland coast, was a real weak spot.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23I've got here a classified document that was prepared less than a year
0:14:23 > 0:14:25before the outbreak of war.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28It warns that the Germans could invade here
0:14:28 > 0:14:31and march on the armaments factory on the Tyne,
0:14:31 > 0:14:32all within a day.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36Tyneside's Achilles heel would have to be covered.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40A lot of people that come down here think it's a water tank.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44- Right, but it's not.- No. Anything but.- Goodness.
0:14:46 > 0:14:47This is a little gem, isn't it?
0:14:47 > 0:14:51Yes, this is the battery observation post.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53I can see this used to rotate.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56Yes, the whole top of this would have rotated.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58In the sides here would have been smaller gear wheels
0:14:58 > 0:15:02and a winding mechanism to rotate the whole top.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04And from that door and that door
0:15:04 > 0:15:09was a Barr and Stroud split-image rangefinder.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11A prism in each end, you turn a dial in the middle
0:15:11 > 0:15:14and you could calculate the range out to the ship.
0:15:14 > 0:15:15So a fancy pair of binoculars.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18A big pair of binoculars with a rangefinder in.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22The only surviving example of this type of rangefinder tower
0:15:22 > 0:15:24in the whole of the world.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28The Blyth Battery wasn't complete until 1916 -
0:15:28 > 0:15:30well after the first Zeppelin attack.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33Yet it seems military engineers didn't have the vision
0:15:33 > 0:15:35to see them as a threat.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37So, Chris, this is the searchlight we have.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40It's typical of the type that would have been in here.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43- And that would have pointed out to sea.- Right.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45The windows that we have
0:15:45 > 0:15:48have all been blocked in from its use as a beach chalet.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52I think I've spotted a design flaw.
0:15:52 > 0:15:53It was shining this way, wasn't it?
0:15:53 > 0:15:56Yes, it could only shine out to sea.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00It had no capability of shining up in the air.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05The home defences were so stretched, anyone in uniform would do.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09Whitley Bay's Boy Scouts brigades were commandeered as makeshift
0:16:09 > 0:16:13coastguards, keeping watch for enemy ships or spies.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15Paranoia was rife.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18In Newcastle, Otto Nichol, a German-born butcher who'd
0:16:18 > 0:16:22spent most of his life here, was jailed for six months.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26A neighbour reported seeing homing pigeons flying out his back yard.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29Were they really carrying messages to the Fatherland?
0:16:29 > 0:16:31Hearsay was enough when at war.
0:16:34 > 0:16:39Answering the call to fight the Hun was, for many, a patriotic duty.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43As the new recruits marched off to join the front line, there was
0:16:43 > 0:16:46a lot of bravado from the men when the cameras were rolling.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50But wives or mothers would fear the worst as they walked alongside.
0:16:50 > 0:16:51Almost hidden from view,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54she grabs his hand what may be the last time.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00Yet some men would go to extraordinary lengths to join up.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04Joseph Foster was my grandfather.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06He shouldn't have been in the First World War. He was too old.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10He was 42 years of age and the cut-off age, apparently, was 39.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14Martha, his eldest child, she...
0:17:14 > 0:17:18He said to her, "Martha, there's my birth certificate.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20"Make me look ten years younger."
0:17:20 > 0:17:22Which she did. She altered it for him.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24He went to France in 1915
0:17:24 > 0:17:26and he was killed in 1916.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29And my aunt never forgave herself for having done it.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32You know, she said, "I signed my father's death warrant
0:17:32 > 0:17:34"by altering that birth certificate."
0:17:34 > 0:17:36No, she never forgive herself.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38And this was taken, what, a couple of years, then, before she...?
0:17:38 > 0:17:41Just before she actually forged the birth certificate.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44- And that's your mum. - That's my mother.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46And my grandmother was left with six children
0:17:46 > 0:17:51between the ages of 3 and 13.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53So, Martha, not only would she have the guilt,
0:17:53 > 0:17:55- she'd see the consequences. - Yes, yes.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58She was old enough to understand, I think, at that age.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01This is something which is very precious to me.
0:18:01 > 0:18:07A small piece of French silk which has been hand-painted.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09"Ne m'oubliez pas."
0:18:09 > 0:18:10"Don't forget me."
0:18:11 > 0:18:15How did they ever imagine they would be forgotten while they were away?
0:18:15 > 0:18:19In fact, many people would remember Joseph.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22As a younger man, he was a very keen amateur footballer.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25He played for Newcastle United A.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27And look at this. They were cup winners.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31- He was a bit of a celebrity. - Yes. Yes, he must have been.
0:18:31 > 0:18:32I suppose when you know you had
0:18:32 > 0:18:35a famous Magpie footballer in the family,
0:18:35 > 0:18:40but you actually know the fact that he broke all the rules to serve,
0:18:40 > 0:18:43I don't suppose you know which you're supposed to be more proud of.
0:18:43 > 0:18:44Well, that's difficult, yes.
0:18:49 > 0:18:54People were quick to accuse anyone who didn't volunteer of cowardice.
0:18:54 > 0:18:5620-year-old river pilot Ralph Phillips
0:18:56 > 0:18:59was instructed to remain on Tyneside.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01There's a tragic irony that
0:19:01 > 0:19:04if he hadn't been forced to stay on board the Protector
0:19:04 > 0:19:07he may yet have survived the war as a serving soldier.
0:19:07 > 0:19:08He wanted to serve.
0:19:08 > 0:19:13I think just going backwards and forwards to the pilot cutter
0:19:13 > 0:19:16didn't seem much to do
0:19:16 > 0:19:19with the war effort and maybe he felt
0:19:19 > 0:19:21no glory attached.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24He wrote to the pilotage committee
0:19:24 > 0:19:28and asked if he could join the Army and
0:19:28 > 0:19:31they sent this letter, which says that they
0:19:31 > 0:19:37applauded his patriotic fervour but he was doing a vital job.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41He was, in his way, serving his king and country by being a pilot.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45So he was issued with one of these,
0:19:45 > 0:19:47which is a certificate of exemption.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51- Ah, right, so this is your kind of get-out-of-war card.- Yes.
0:19:51 > 0:19:56When young ladies would come up to you and give you a white feather,
0:19:56 > 0:19:59you could show them that to say that you weren't a shirker.
0:19:59 > 0:20:04- So this basically said, "I'm not a coward and this proves it."- It does.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07- "This is why I'm not serving abroad."- Mm-hm.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10But didn't that happen to your dad?
0:20:10 > 0:20:13Yes, my father was home recuperating
0:20:13 > 0:20:17and a woman gave him a white feather when he was on a bus
0:20:17 > 0:20:20and my grandmother opened up his shirt
0:20:20 > 0:20:25and showed the bandages and told her that he had been severely wounded.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28That shows the pressure that men were under to be seen to be
0:20:28 > 0:20:29doing their bit, doesn't it?
0:20:29 > 0:20:31It was all jingoism.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33"Your country needs you. Enlist now."
0:20:33 > 0:20:36All these different slogans going about.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41Tyneside played a part in whipping up patriotism.
0:20:41 > 0:20:42Right at the heart of it,
0:20:42 > 0:20:46what is now just another fashionable address in Newcastle's Grey Street -
0:20:46 > 0:20:48Andrew Reid & Company.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51The print works produced many posters for the War Office,
0:20:51 > 0:20:55many aimed at bolstering recruitment and raising much-needed funds
0:20:55 > 0:20:57to provide more tanks and weapons.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03Marching bands rallied crowds to the cause on flag days,
0:21:03 > 0:21:07where lapel badges were sold in support of local regiments.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13But civic pride back home was little comfort to anyone
0:21:13 > 0:21:15not cut out for fighting.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17Now, what's your name?
0:21:17 > 0:21:18William Hunter.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21Future Private William Hunter.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26I've got your number.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29The Hunters had a terrible war.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32In North Shields, William's brother had gone AWOL
0:21:32 > 0:21:34and their mother was charged with harbouring him.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37She escaped a six-months' prison sentence, but William wouldn't be
0:21:37 > 0:21:42shown any leniency when he went missing from the front line.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45He's kind of entered into my consciousness, William Hunter,
0:21:45 > 0:21:47and I got much more emotional when writing this play.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50Is it inevitable when he gets over there, into France,
0:21:50 > 0:21:51he's going to go AWOL?
0:21:51 > 0:21:54He doesn't seem to have much respect for authority.
0:21:54 > 0:21:55He goes off with a French girl,
0:21:55 > 0:21:57he's captured, he deserts again,
0:21:57 > 0:22:00he's captured again, he's sentenced, he's shot.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02Oi, you, lad.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04Aye, you.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08- You look like you might be first-class material.- Me?
0:22:08 > 0:22:11You look like a big, strong Shields lad.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13This is the only professional play being
0:22:13 > 0:22:15commissioned in the region about the First World War.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18We are also using various young actors who are about the same age
0:22:18 > 0:22:20as he was when he was shot.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22I think this'll bring home to people, you know,
0:22:22 > 0:22:26these are just youngsters and they're lined up and they're shot.
0:22:26 > 0:22:31The play Death At Dawn came out of the Tynemouth Project case files,
0:22:31 > 0:22:33which reveal William Hunter kept his court martial
0:22:33 > 0:22:36secret from his own mother.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39"We haven't heard from you for over three weeks.
0:22:39 > 0:22:40"Why haven't you written?"
0:22:40 > 0:22:43She's very worried about this.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46"I'm collecting Woodbines for you to send out a parcel.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49"A neighbour has given you a khaki scarf."
0:22:49 > 0:22:52So everything seemed normal. We don't think they knew.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55They got the famous telegram at home,
0:22:55 > 0:22:58saying that Private Hunter had died of wounds.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00What they didn't say was that those wounds
0:23:00 > 0:23:02were inflicted by the British,
0:23:02 > 0:23:03not by the Germans.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08As the war dragged on, casualties mounted.
0:23:08 > 0:23:10The military needed beds for the wounded
0:23:10 > 0:23:14and, on Tyneside, any large building was requisitioned.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18Students would have to find somewhere new to attend lectures.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21Professors, blackboards and desks
0:23:21 > 0:23:25would be replaced by patients, matrons and beds.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30The college we now know as Newcastle University was
0:23:30 > 0:23:33turned into the first Northern General Hospital.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36The tightly pulled sheets of pristine beds couldn't hide
0:23:36 > 0:23:40the reality of war and how many soldiers had lost their limbs.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43Lessons were still being learnt here.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46New surgical techniques to treat war wounds
0:23:46 > 0:23:49would ultimately benefit the whole population.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51It wasn't just students who were put out.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55Even the destitute at the workhouse on Newcastle's West Road
0:23:55 > 0:23:59were displaced and sent to other Northern towns.
0:23:59 > 0:24:00For those in the know,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03the Army's growing demands for medical facilities
0:24:03 > 0:24:05were raising eyebrows.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08Here, they asked for 500 extra beds
0:24:08 > 0:24:12to treat an unspoken consequence of active service -
0:24:12 > 0:24:13venereal disease.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19Growing losses on the Continent would cast a terrible shadow
0:24:19 > 0:24:21over the streets back home in Tynemouth.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24The community project has pulled together addresses and dates
0:24:24 > 0:24:28to reveal the impact of one of the war's bloodiest campaigns.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32When things really got bad was the first day of the Battle of the Somme
0:24:32 > 0:24:34and the period thereafter.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37Here, you show the impact on our small town here.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41- And it's impossible to ignore that there's been fatalities.- Goodness.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44I don't know how you begin to deal with this.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46Maybe some collective mourning helps
0:24:46 > 0:24:47or assists in some way.
0:24:47 > 0:24:48Clearly, there's a lot of pain here.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51To me, this is the first time I've really seen
0:24:51 > 0:24:54the impact of the war, actually...
0:24:54 > 0:24:56so strongly displayed. It's amazing.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58There's an impact of one man dying abroad
0:24:58 > 0:25:02but this is showing the story of the wife and the six kids,
0:25:02 > 0:25:05the wife and the three children, you know, the mums, the dads,
0:25:05 > 0:25:08the brothers or sisters, all having to carry this burden.
0:25:12 > 0:25:13On the first day of the Somme,
0:25:13 > 0:25:18Major James Knott wrote a letter to his parents on Tyneside.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22His brother had already been killed in action, and he wrote,
0:25:22 > 0:25:24"Momentous events are looming up
0:25:24 > 0:25:27"and I have a premonition I may not return to you."
0:25:29 > 0:25:31His dead brother, Basil, had appeared to him in a dream,
0:25:31 > 0:25:33which he took to be a warning.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35And he was right.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37He was killed in action that very same day.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43In his letter, James instructs his parents to destroy his medals.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45In fact, he tells them to get rid of anything
0:25:45 > 0:25:47that would remind them of their boys,
0:25:47 > 0:25:49which is what makes one of the windows here
0:25:49 > 0:25:51all the more remarkable.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55This is the church of St James and St Basil,
0:25:55 > 0:25:57in Fenham, in the middle of Newcastle.
0:25:57 > 0:26:02It's named after two sons who died in the First World War
0:26:02 > 0:26:04but it's not just the window.
0:26:04 > 0:26:10The whole building is based around these two huge aisles
0:26:10 > 0:26:14and each of them are of equal size and we have two altars.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18Everything we have, we have two of, because of the two sons.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20Sir James Knott was a Northeast
0:26:20 > 0:26:22businessman, industrialist, ship-owner
0:26:22 > 0:26:25and he'd built the business up with his sons
0:26:25 > 0:26:26and on the death of his sons
0:26:26 > 0:26:28he was totally distraught.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31He went against the wishes expressed in the son's letter
0:26:31 > 0:26:35and went on to sell the business and give all the money away.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39His sons are immortalised in the Knotts Flats in North Shields -
0:26:39 > 0:26:42a pioneering monument of social housing.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44HE SINGS
0:26:44 > 0:26:47And 100 years on, youngsters enjoy music at a youth centre
0:26:47 > 0:26:50because of grants the trust is still handing out to this day.
0:26:52 > 0:26:53THEY CHEER
0:26:55 > 0:26:59When the armistice was declared, any celebrations would soon be
0:26:59 > 0:27:03tempered as the number of war dead kept on rising.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05They were dying of their wounds,
0:27:05 > 0:27:07they were dying of complications associated with gas.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11We can't find one safe place to live on this map.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13I think people look at any one of those streets there and think,
0:27:13 > 0:27:15"What would happen if that was my street?
0:27:15 > 0:27:19"You know, that would be three of my pals, my next-door neighbour."
0:27:19 > 0:27:22They went to school together, played football together, grew up together.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25They all knew each other. They could see their faces.
0:27:26 > 0:27:31The principal object of our exercise was to give life to these men,
0:27:31 > 0:27:35a biography of people who passed away now 100 years ago.
0:27:35 > 0:27:36We're telling a story which,
0:27:36 > 0:27:39if it isn't told now, could be lost in 20 or 30 years' time.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44Many of the relatives coming to us are very elderly themselves
0:27:44 > 0:27:47and if it's not recorded now it'll probably never be recorded.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51Those who lived and worked along the River Tyne
0:27:51 > 0:27:53played a huge part in the Great War.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56The conflict left its mark overseas,
0:27:56 > 0:27:59but emotional and physical scars
0:27:59 > 0:28:01were also etched into the landscape back home.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06The First World War could claim a life in foreign fields,
0:28:06 > 0:28:09out at sea, or on your own doorstep.
0:28:09 > 0:28:14And each death equally deeply felt on the home front.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17Echoes of that past can be found in all our family trees.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20You only have to look back a generation or two.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23And when mere names become stories,
0:28:23 > 0:28:26a century-old Great War doesn't seem that long ago.