0:00:02 > 0:00:03BBC Four Collections -
0:00:03 > 0:00:07specially chosen programmes from the BBC archive.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09For this collection, Max Hastings has selected
0:00:09 > 0:00:11interviews with Great War veterans
0:00:12 > 0:00:13filmed in the 1960s.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16More programmes on this theme
0:00:16 > 0:00:17and other BBC Four Collections
0:00:17 > 0:00:19are available on BBC iPlayer.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52The German Army of the Kaiser
0:00:52 > 0:00:55consisted of 800,000 conscripts.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58There were hardly any professional soldiers.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03Amongst these 800,000 men,
0:01:03 > 0:01:05they had10,000 who were called
0:01:05 > 0:01:07One Year's Volunteers.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10That means mostly students
0:01:10 > 0:01:15and men with higher certification of education.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20The medical students had to serve
0:01:20 > 0:01:25only for half a year with the Infantry.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27And then, after they were qualified,
0:01:27 > 0:01:30thenext half year as doctors,
0:01:30 > 0:01:32as Medical Officers.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35In February, 1914,
0:01:35 > 0:01:41I, as amedicalstudent, received my call uppapers
0:01:41 > 0:01:45ordering me to report for military duty
0:01:45 > 0:01:49in a clean state and free of vermin
0:01:49 > 0:01:54at anInfantryRegiment in Freiburg in Baden.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57The 1st of April, I joined up
0:01:57 > 0:02:03and after approximately four months military training,
0:02:03 > 0:02:08I was a full soldier in my regiment.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13We had no idea of any impending war.
0:02:13 > 0:02:19We had no idea that a danger of war exists.
0:02:20 > 0:02:25We served in our blueand red uniforms,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28but, on the 1st of August, 1914,
0:02:29 > 0:02:32mobilisation orders came.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35We hadto put on our field grey uniforms
0:02:35 > 0:02:39and, at 2 o'clock in the morning,
0:02:40 > 0:02:43of the 4th August, 1914,
0:02:43 > 0:02:48wemarchedout of Fribourg with torches.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51Silent, without any music,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55without any singing. No enthusiasm.
0:02:55 > 0:03:00We were reallypacked down by our luggage
0:03:00 > 0:03:04and our kit which weighed, per man, 75 pounds.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08We crossed the Rhine
0:03:08 > 0:03:13over a verywobbly pontoon bridge into Elders.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15We marched, mostly at night,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18untilwe approached a huge forest
0:03:18 > 0:03:24in front of the Elders town of Mulhouse,
0:03:24 > 0:03:26or, as we called it, Muhlhausen.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32The focus of attention of the wholeworld
0:03:32 > 0:03:36was centred almost exclusively
0:03:36 > 0:03:40to the northern most part of the fighting line,
0:03:40 > 0:03:45namely to that part of theGerman Army
0:03:45 > 0:03:48which invaded Belgium.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52Nobody had any idea outside France
0:03:52 > 0:03:55and outside the French GeneralStaff,
0:03:55 > 0:03:58that the whole French Army, the First French Army,
0:03:58 > 0:04:02was poised tojump into Alsace,
0:04:03 > 0:04:07to cross theRhineand to go into Southern Germany.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12We came to this big forest.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Miles and miles of nothingbut forest
0:04:17 > 0:04:19with dense under wood.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21And there, a whole division,
0:04:21 > 0:04:24the 29thGerman Division, was hidden.
0:04:26 > 0:04:31A solitary French aeroplane came, didn't see a thing,
0:04:31 > 0:04:32and returned.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36The French Army, in the meantime,
0:04:36 > 0:04:39had entered Mulhouse,
0:04:39 > 0:04:40or Muhlhausen,
0:04:40 > 0:04:44and there they celebrated victory.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49They brought with them colouredposters
0:04:49 > 0:04:54which proclaimed that victory would be there...
0:04:54 > 0:04:57La gloire, laliberation d'Alsace...
0:04:57 > 0:05:01Which, by the way, was completelyGerman speaking
0:05:01 > 0:05:06and Germaninhabited part of the world.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10And they celebrated and got drunk.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14They didn't even care to put outsentries
0:05:14 > 0:05:17at approaches to thetown,
0:05:17 > 0:05:21and at 4 o'clock in the morning on the 10th of August,
0:05:21 > 0:05:27we left our hideout, we marched in single line
0:05:27 > 0:05:30throughvery high cornfields
0:05:30 > 0:05:34and withoutsaying a word, in complete silence,
0:05:34 > 0:05:37we entered the town of Mulhouse.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41There we found the French soldierspartly drunk,
0:05:41 > 0:05:43partly asleep,
0:05:43 > 0:05:46andonly comparatively small resistance
0:05:46 > 0:05:49was put up by Alpine troops.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54The French retreated in sucha haste
0:05:54 > 0:05:58that we actually had to run after them.
0:05:58 > 0:06:03At first, we found heaps of Frencharmy blankets
0:06:03 > 0:06:06which the soldiers had thrown away.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09Then we found French greatcoats.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12Then we found French knapsacks.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16Then we found French belts withammunition pouches
0:06:16 > 0:06:18full of cartridges.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21And finally, in barns, hidden,
0:06:21 > 0:06:24orsitting just on the roadside,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27the exhausted French soldiers,
0:06:27 > 0:06:29whowaited only to be taken prisoner.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34The French 7th Army Corps retreated
0:06:34 > 0:06:39till they came really under the muzzles of the big guns
0:06:39 > 0:06:41of the French quarters of Belfort.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46We took the French soldiers with us
0:06:46 > 0:06:49and then we came to aplacecalled Altkirch.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56Altkirch saw some action before,
0:06:56 > 0:06:59inso far as the French Army Corps
0:06:59 > 0:07:03attacked two German squadrons of Light Cavalry
0:07:03 > 0:07:05whichheld them up for ten hours.
0:07:07 > 0:07:14In Altkirch, we were stationed, we were billeted in a factory.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16We were fast asleep
0:07:16 > 0:07:21when, all of a sudden, a terrificinfantry fire started.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25We rushed out and we firedin the direction
0:07:25 > 0:07:27where the bullets came from.
0:07:27 > 0:07:32The reason for this firing was that the German sentry
0:07:32 > 0:07:37challengeda light, and as there was no reply,
0:07:37 > 0:07:39he fired at that light.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43The bullet hit a wall next to another German sentry,
0:07:43 > 0:07:47whothought that he was firedon, andhe fired back.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50And so two German companies
0:07:50 > 0:07:53fired at each other like mad.
0:07:53 > 0:07:59And the whole reason was that themidwife attending
0:07:59 > 0:08:02the birth of a baby moved about witha lamp in her hand.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08We were then entrained, 48 men incattle trucks,
0:08:08 > 0:08:1048 men or six horses
0:08:10 > 0:08:12was ridden on these cattle trucks,
0:08:12 > 0:08:16and we were taken to Strasbourg.
0:08:16 > 0:08:17And from there, into Lorraine,
0:08:17 > 0:08:21whereanother French Army had attacked.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24There we had to join battle,
0:08:24 > 0:08:27and here we counter attacked
0:08:27 > 0:08:29and had terrific losses.
0:08:31 > 0:08:38My battalion was on a field whichincluded a gravel pit,
0:08:38 > 0:08:42and in this gravel pit, we took our wounded
0:08:42 > 0:08:45and, later on, our dead comrades.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47And when night came,
0:08:47 > 0:08:52we retreated to the Rhine-Main canal
0:08:52 > 0:08:54under heavy artillery fire.
0:08:56 > 0:09:01Again, the French retreated, and again, we followed them.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03And on the field of battle,
0:09:03 > 0:09:06I approached a wounded Frenchsoldier,
0:09:06 > 0:09:09who spoke to me in fluentGerman
0:09:09 > 0:09:11asking for a drop of water.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13He was a student in Berlin.
0:09:15 > 0:09:16We entered the village,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19the companyof approximately 200 men,
0:09:19 > 0:09:23and wewere just taking off our knapsacks
0:09:24 > 0:09:27and queuing up for the soup kitchen
0:09:27 > 0:09:29who wanted to give us some food,
0:09:29 > 0:09:32when a terrific firing started.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35From all sides we were fired at.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37The cook and his mate were killed.
0:09:37 > 0:09:43Quite a number of our soldiers werewounded and killed too.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47We stormed into the houses where thefiring came from,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50but allwe could find
0:09:50 > 0:09:55weresomeinnocentlooking peasants in blueblouses.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57But when we searched the houses,
0:09:57 > 0:10:01we found infantry rifles stillhot from firing.
0:10:02 > 0:10:08The patrol of 20 men heard the firing in the village,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11turned around, and all ofsudden theysaw
0:10:11 > 0:10:15approximately 30 cyclists coming
0:10:15 > 0:10:19out of the village and cyclinglike mad
0:10:19 > 0:10:21towards the next village.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25They stopped themand they found that each of them
0:10:25 > 0:10:27had an infantry rifle with them.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30Of course, they took them prisoners, andI saw it myself.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33They were marched off to be courtmartialled
0:10:33 > 0:10:35and most probably shot.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41After this incident with Franc-tireurs,
0:10:41 > 0:10:43as we used tocall them,
0:10:43 > 0:10:47the German high command gave orders to take hostages.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53We usually took the Mayor and the high ups
0:10:53 > 0:10:56in his village orlittle town
0:10:56 > 0:10:58and kept them
0:10:58 > 0:11:01until theField Security Police took over.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07We marched on and on and on.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10We never dared to take off our boots
0:11:11 > 0:11:14because our feet were so swollen
0:11:14 > 0:11:17that we didn't think it wouldbe possible
0:11:17 > 0:11:19to put them on again.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24And, in a small village,
0:11:24 > 0:11:30the Mayor came and asked our Company Commanders
0:11:30 > 0:11:34not to allowus to cut off the hands of the children.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38These were atrocity stories
0:11:38 > 0:11:40whichthey heard about the German Army.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44At first, we laughed about it,
0:11:44 > 0:11:50but, when we heard of other propaganda things said
0:11:50 > 0:11:53against theGerman Army, we became angry.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57There was, under the British blockade,
0:11:57 > 0:12:01not an ounce of fat in Germany.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05And so the order came thatevery horse
0:12:05 > 0:12:12and every animal had to beused for fat.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15Every ounce of fat had to be takenout
0:12:15 > 0:12:18and to be used mostly for soap.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23Immediately, when British,
0:12:23 > 0:12:27especiallyBritish papers, heard about it,
0:12:27 > 0:12:33they made out of these abattoirsor knackers yards,
0:12:33 > 0:12:36factories which extractedthe fat
0:12:36 > 0:12:41from fallen British and French soldiers
0:12:41 > 0:12:46and madeoutof this propaganda which we hated.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52We only went on and on and
0:12:52 > 0:12:56thenwe were entrained again in cattletrucks
0:12:56 > 0:13:00to bebroughtagainst the fortress of Antwerp.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Meanwhile, Antwerp had fallen,
0:13:03 > 0:13:08and we were marched through Valenciennes
0:13:08 > 0:13:11and Douai into the coaldistrict
0:13:11 > 0:13:15of the Pas des Calais.
0:13:15 > 0:13:21There we dug at first small trenches, slit trenches,
0:13:21 > 0:13:23each man for himself.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25Then we connected the trenches
0:13:25 > 0:13:29and then the whole trenchsystem
0:13:29 > 0:13:32from the North Sea totheAlps was formed.
0:13:35 > 0:13:40In front of our trenches near LaBassee
0:13:40 > 0:13:43was a brickworks.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47The Frenchused to put their bricks together
0:13:47 > 0:13:51ashigh as houses, and on top of these houses,
0:13:51 > 0:13:54there were machine guns
0:13:54 > 0:13:57whichprevented us from going near them.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03One day, we got the order toattackthese brickworks
0:14:03 > 0:14:04and to take them.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10The only possible means to take them
0:14:10 > 0:14:15was by a surprise attack in fulldaylight,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18and we got orders to do so.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23We cut zigzag lines
0:14:23 > 0:14:26through our barbed wire entanglements
0:14:26 > 0:14:30and, at noon, we went over the top.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34We ran approximately a hundred yards
0:14:34 > 0:14:36when we came under machinegun fire
0:14:36 > 0:14:40whichwasso terrific that the losses were
0:14:40 > 0:14:45so staggering and we gotorders tolie down
0:14:45 > 0:14:47and to seek shelter.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49Nobody dared to lift his headbecause,
0:14:49 > 0:14:53the very momentthe machine gunners saw anymovement,
0:14:53 > 0:14:55they let fly.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59And then the Britishartillery opened up.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02And the corpses and thehats
0:15:02 > 0:15:05and the armsand the legs flew about
0:15:05 > 0:15:07and we were cut to pieces.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12All of a sudden, theenemyfire ceased.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18Complete silence came over the battlefield,
0:15:18 > 0:15:22and oneof the chaps in my shell holeaskedme,
0:15:22 > 0:15:25"I wonder what they're up to?"
0:15:25 > 0:15:28Another one answered, "Perhaps they are getting tea."
0:15:28 > 0:15:30The third one says,
0:15:30 > 0:15:33"Don't be a fool. Doyou see what I see?"
0:15:35 > 0:15:38And we looked over the brim of our shell hole,
0:15:38 > 0:15:41and there, between the brick heaps,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44out there came a British soldier
0:15:45 > 0:15:48with a Red Cross flag which he waved,
0:15:48 > 0:15:51and he was followed by stretcher bearers
0:15:51 > 0:15:56who came slowly towards us and collected our wounded.
0:15:56 > 0:16:01We got up, still completely dumb from fear of death,
0:16:01 > 0:16:05and helped them to bring our wounded
0:16:05 > 0:16:07into our trenches.
0:16:07 > 0:16:12One hour later, a British Army doctor came out,
0:16:12 > 0:16:15again with a Red Cross flag,
0:16:15 > 0:16:19and he arranged a truce for twohours
0:16:19 > 0:16:24to let uscollect our dead ones.
0:16:25 > 0:16:30I never forgot this generosity of the British,
0:16:30 > 0:16:32which, I must say,
0:16:33 > 0:16:37took place shortly before Christmas, 1914.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44Near La Bassee, in the slit trenches, we lay,
0:16:44 > 0:16:50and, in front of us, wehad the French trenches,
0:16:50 > 0:16:52dug in, dug out...
0:16:52 > 0:16:55Wereally didn't know anymore what was
0:16:55 > 0:16:58the first trench, the front trench
0:16:58 > 0:17:01and what were the reserve trenches.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05One day, we got orders tostorma French position.
0:17:07 > 0:17:14We got in and my comrades fell rightand left of me.
0:17:14 > 0:17:20But then I wasconfronted by a French Corporal.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23He with his bayonet at the ready,
0:17:23 > 0:17:25and I with my bayonet at the ready.
0:17:26 > 0:17:31For a moment, I felt the fearof death,
0:17:31 > 0:17:35And, in a fraction ofa second,
0:17:35 > 0:17:38I realised that he wasaftermy life
0:17:38 > 0:17:41exactly as I was after his.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44I was quicker than he was.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48I tossed his rifle away
0:17:48 > 0:17:52and I ran mybayonet through his chest.
0:17:52 > 0:17:58He fell,put his hand on the place wereI hadhit him,
0:17:58 > 0:18:00and then I thrust again.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04Blood came out of his mouth and he died.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09I felt physically ill.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11I nearly vomited.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14My knees were shaking
0:18:14 > 0:18:18and I was, quitefrankly, ashamed of myself.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24My comrades - I was a corporal there, then -
0:18:24 > 0:18:29were absolutelyundisturbed by what had happened.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33One of them boasted that he hadkilled a poilu
0:18:33 > 0:18:36with the butt ofhis rifle.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39Another one had strangleda captain,
0:18:39 > 0:18:40a French captain.
0:18:40 > 0:18:46A third one had hit somebody overthe head with his spade.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49And they were ordinary men like me.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52One of them was a tram conductor,
0:18:52 > 0:18:55another one acommercial traveller,
0:18:55 > 0:18:59two were students, the rest were farm workers.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02Ordinary people who never would havethought
0:19:02 > 0:19:04to do any harm to anyone.
0:19:04 > 0:19:10How did it come about that they wereso cruel?
0:19:11 > 0:19:15I remembered then that we weretold
0:19:15 > 0:19:20that the good soldier kills without thinking
0:19:20 > 0:19:23of his adversary as ahuman being.
0:19:24 > 0:19:29The very moment he sees in hima fellow man,
0:19:29 > 0:19:31he is not a good soldier anymore.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36But I had, in front of me,
0:19:36 > 0:19:40the...deadman,
0:19:40 > 0:19:43the dead French soldier...
0:19:43 > 0:19:47and how I would have liked himto have raised his hand.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49I would have shaken his hand
0:19:49 > 0:19:52and wewould have been the best of friends.
0:19:52 > 0:19:58Because he was nothing, like me, but a poor boy
0:19:58 > 0:20:00who had to fight,
0:20:00 > 0:20:04who had to go in with the most cruelweapons
0:20:04 > 0:20:06against a man
0:20:06 > 0:20:09who hadnothing against him personally,
0:20:09 > 0:20:14who only wore the uniform of another nation,
0:20:14 > 0:20:16who spoke another language,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19but aman who had a father and mother
0:20:19 > 0:20:21and a family, perhaps,
0:20:21 > 0:20:24and so I felt.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29I woke up at night sometimes drenched in sweat
0:20:29 > 0:20:36because I saw the eyes of my fallenadversary,
0:20:36 > 0:20:38of the enemy,
0:20:38 > 0:20:41and I tried to convince myself,
0:20:41 > 0:20:43whatwould have happened to me
0:20:43 > 0:20:46if I wouldn't have been quicker thanhe?
0:20:46 > 0:20:49What wouldhave happened to me
0:20:49 > 0:20:52if I wouldn't have thrust my bayonet first into his belly?
0:20:54 > 0:21:01What was it that we soldiers
0:21:01 > 0:21:02stabbed each other,
0:21:02 > 0:21:04strangled each other,
0:21:04 > 0:21:08went for each other like mad dogs?
0:21:08 > 0:21:10What was it that we,
0:21:10 > 0:21:14who hadnothing against them personally,
0:21:14 > 0:21:18fought with them to the very end and death?
0:21:19 > 0:21:22We were civilised people, after all.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26But I felt that the culturewe boasted
0:21:26 > 0:21:31so much about is only a very thinlacquer
0:21:31 > 0:21:35which chipped off thevery moment
0:21:35 > 0:21:40we come in contact with cruel things like real war.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44To fire at each other from adistance,
0:21:44 > 0:21:48to drop bombs, is somethingimpersonal.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52But to see each other's white in the eyes
0:21:52 > 0:21:55and then to run with a bayonet against a man,
0:21:55 > 0:21:59itwas against my conception
0:21:59 > 0:22:02and against my inner feeling.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05- Anything else? - That was beautiful. Cut.
0:22:10 > 0:22:16In June, 1915, I was wounded.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19A shell exploded behind me
0:22:19 > 0:22:22andI caught several shell splinters,
0:22:22 > 0:22:25one of them which penetrated my pelvis.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30I was brought back toa field hospital
0:22:30 > 0:22:34and later to a base hospital in St Quentin,
0:22:34 > 0:22:39where they found that I was otherwise all right,
0:22:39 > 0:22:41apart from bruises and so on.
0:22:41 > 0:22:46And then, in a few weeks time, I was ready for duty.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50I was just expecting my commission
0:22:50 > 0:22:53as an Infantry Officer,
0:22:53 > 0:22:57whichwe called in those days anexpressticket to eternity,
0:22:58 > 0:23:03because the life of a Subaltern in the trenches
0:23:03 > 0:23:08was notcounted by months,
0:23:08 > 0:23:10but by days or weeks.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14They found out that I was a medical student
0:23:14 > 0:23:19and so I was transferred to theMedical Corps
0:23:19 > 0:23:23and was commissioned with therank
0:23:23 > 0:23:25of a Second Lieutenant,
0:23:25 > 0:23:27or as you would call it in the British Army,
0:23:27 > 0:23:29a Probationer Surgeon.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31As such...
0:23:31 > 0:23:33- May I just stop? - Yes. Please cut.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44For seven days and nights,
0:23:44 > 0:23:47we were under incessant bombardment.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52Day and night,the shells, heavy and light ones,
0:23:52 > 0:23:54came upon us,
0:23:54 > 0:23:57our dugouts crumbled.
0:23:57 > 0:24:02They fell upon us
0:24:02 > 0:24:06and we had to digourselves and our comrades out.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09Sometimes we found them suffocated,
0:24:09 > 0:24:11sometimes smashed to pulp.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16Seven days and seven nights.
0:24:16 > 0:24:22Soldiers in the bunkers becamehysterical.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25They wanted to run out
0:24:25 > 0:24:28and fights developed to keep them
0:24:28 > 0:24:33in the comparative safety of our deep bunkers.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36Even the rats became hysterical.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39They came into our flimsy shelters
0:24:39 > 0:24:44to seek refuge from this terrific artillery fire.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48Seven days and seven nights.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52We hadnothing to eat, nothing to drink,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55but constantly fire,
0:24:55 > 0:24:57shell after shell burst upon us.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03And then the British Army went over the top.
0:25:04 > 0:25:11The very moment we felt that theBritish artillery fire
0:25:11 > 0:25:15wasdirected against the reservepositions,
0:25:15 > 0:25:19German machine gunners
0:25:19 > 0:25:24crawledout of the bunkers, reddened eyes,
0:25:24 > 0:25:29sunken eyes, dirty, full of blood
0:25:29 > 0:25:31from the blood of their fallen comrades,
0:25:31 > 0:25:35and opened up terrific fire.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39The British Army had horrible loses,
0:25:39 > 0:25:43and they'd estimated that theylost within
0:25:43 > 0:25:47the first ten minutes of theBattleof the Somme.
0:25:47 > 0:25:4914,000 dead.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53Our regiment lost approximately
0:25:53 > 0:25:5675% of its men,
0:25:56 > 0:26:00and, after ten days in the front line, wewere withdrawn.
0:26:10 > 0:26:15Ten minutes before the French attackwas due,
0:26:15 > 0:26:19the German batteries opened up
0:26:19 > 0:26:21and the fire wasso tremendous
0:26:21 > 0:26:25that hardly any Frenchsoldiers went over the top.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32After a while, the Germanssentpatrols
0:26:32 > 0:26:36to find out whathappened.
0:26:36 > 0:26:42Andthere theyfoundthe French trenches deserted,
0:26:42 > 0:26:47except for the wounded and the dead.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50Full of dead.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53And the French were supposed tohavelost,
0:26:53 > 0:26:55in one day,
0:26:55 > 0:26:58100,000 casualties.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07A week or so before the beginning
0:27:08 > 0:27:11of the German offensive in Flanders,
0:27:11 > 0:27:14in April, 1918,
0:27:14 > 0:27:20I was attached to Infantry Assault Battalion,
0:27:20 > 0:27:24and my orders were to establish
0:27:24 > 0:27:28and advance a first aid post.
0:27:30 > 0:27:35We went over the top against Portuguese divisions.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39They didn't offer much resistance,
0:27:40 > 0:27:42and we took themprisoner,
0:27:42 > 0:27:45or they ran away faster than we could even run.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50Near Merville,
0:27:50 > 0:27:56I came to a Britishfield hospital,
0:27:56 > 0:27:59completely intact,
0:27:59 > 0:28:04and there Isaw, forthe first time since years,
0:28:04 > 0:28:09theabundance of material,
0:28:09 > 0:28:13of equipmentwhich we didn't know anymore about.
0:28:14 > 0:28:21Amongst other things, I found casesfull of surgical gloves.
0:28:23 > 0:28:28The German doctors had to operatewith their bare fingers.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33They had to go into the purulent
0:28:33 > 0:28:36andcontaminated wounds with their barehands,
0:28:36 > 0:28:40and the only thing to wash ourhands with
0:28:40 > 0:28:42was a kind of sand soap.
0:28:43 > 0:28:47Two parts of sand, one part of soap.
0:28:48 > 0:28:53And here I found actually thousands of pairs
0:28:53 > 0:28:54of rubber gloves.
0:28:56 > 0:29:02I went out to catch some ammunitioncarts,
0:29:02 > 0:29:05which came back empty from the firing line
0:29:05 > 0:29:09and to hand them these cases
0:29:09 > 0:29:11to bring them back to therear.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16I returned in a few minutes time,
0:29:16 > 0:29:21and there I found a whole batch of German soldiers
0:29:21 > 0:29:24playingwith these rubber gloves.
0:29:24 > 0:29:28They blew air into them and let them fly as balloons.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33On the barrack square of Freiburg,
0:29:33 > 0:29:36where I wasan Officer Cadet,
0:29:36 > 0:29:39I learnt toshoutcommands,
0:29:39 > 0:29:43and this came togood use for me
0:29:43 > 0:29:45because I ordered them out,
0:29:45 > 0:29:48and so I saved the rubber gloves.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52Amongst other things, I found bandages.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54Real bandages.
0:29:56 > 0:29:58You know that the German Army
0:29:58 > 0:30:02and the German doctors didn'thave any bandages?
0:30:02 > 0:30:06What we used was scrap paper
0:30:06 > 0:30:09to windround the wounds of the soldiers.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11And one can imagine howlong that lasted.
0:30:13 > 0:30:17They just dissolved as quickly as many of the greatcoats
0:30:17 > 0:30:19our soldiers had to wear,
0:30:20 > 0:30:23whichweremade out of paper fabric.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26We didn't have any cottonwool anymore.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30The only thing we had was a kindof cellulose
0:30:30 > 0:30:33and this we put onthe wounds
0:30:33 > 0:30:36because we didn't have evengauze.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38Or this little bit of gauze we had
0:30:38 > 0:30:41which was soaked inbloodand puss
0:30:41 > 0:30:44had to be washed again andagain,
0:30:44 > 0:30:46sterilised again and again
0:30:46 > 0:30:50until it freely fell to pieces.
0:30:50 > 0:30:55Such was the shortage at the end of the war.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59At the beginning of the war, the German Army,
0:30:59 > 0:31:01like the British Army,
0:31:01 > 0:31:05didn't haveany anti-tetanus antitoxin.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08And when we marched throughthe villages,
0:31:08 > 0:31:12we found, infront of field hospitals,
0:31:12 > 0:31:16thick layers ofstraw, knee deep,
0:31:16 > 0:31:18and we hadto go through that.
0:31:18 > 0:31:24And theselayers of straw were used
0:31:24 > 0:31:29to reducethe vibration caused bythepassingof guns
0:31:29 > 0:31:32and heavy ammunition carts.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35These vibrations in turn brought about
0:31:35 > 0:31:42the dreadfulconvulsions of the soldiersinfected with tetanus.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45And mind you, statistic showed
0:31:45 > 0:31:49that 1% of everysoldier in France,
0:31:49 > 0:31:51in thoseearly daysof the war,
0:31:51 > 0:31:56wasinfectedwith tetanus and died of tetanus.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00- All right? - Remarkably good.
0:32:00 > 0:32:01Good.