0:00:14 > 0:00:15PANTING
0:00:22 > 0:00:23"MACHINE-GUN FIRE"
0:00:29 > 0:00:31So, when you think about the First World War,
0:00:31 > 0:00:33you just think about trenches.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35You think about trench warfare, trench foot, digging trenches.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38Why were the trenches such a big part of World War I?
0:00:38 > 0:00:40'Michael Douglas, my old mate from The One Show.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44'Celebrity hairdresser and obsessed by World War I.'
0:00:44 > 0:00:46So, the Western Front, which stretches from the English Channel,
0:00:46 > 0:00:50right the way to the Alps, over 400 miles, trenches the whole way.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53Germans on one side, Allies on the other.
0:00:53 > 0:00:54And they had to dig those trenches
0:00:54 > 0:00:57because it was so dangerous to be above ground.
0:00:57 > 0:00:58Yeah, but surely it's dangerous
0:00:58 > 0:01:00to dig a trench in the middle of a battlefield.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03It's dangerous to dig a trench, but the most dangerous thing of all
0:01:03 > 0:01:05is to be standing in a field above the ground.
0:01:05 > 0:01:06And that's why they had to spend
0:01:06 > 0:01:08more than three years in those trenches.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10Very little movement. It was stalemate.
0:01:10 > 0:01:11But I still don't understand.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13When they stormed the beaches on D-day,
0:01:13 > 0:01:14they did that in a couple of days or something.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17Here, what, three years they're in trenches?
0:01:17 > 0:01:20A lot of people think, oh, God, they must have been so stupid,
0:01:20 > 0:01:21all those generals must have been idiots.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23In fact, it is extremely difficult,
0:01:23 > 0:01:26some of the cleverest people in the world working on this problem,
0:01:26 > 0:01:28and it took them years to sort out.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30They were stuck in the trenches, they were keeping their heads down
0:01:30 > 0:01:33and they just couldn't get across the field.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36And today, I've brought you here to explain why that is.
0:01:36 > 0:01:37Great. I can't wait.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45So, basically, this is a classic Western Front-style landscape.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49Look at this - rolling fields, not much cover, few little hedgerows.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51This is exactly the kind of place that, in 1914,
0:01:51 > 0:01:53the British and the Germans
0:01:53 > 0:01:55would have ended up facing each other across.
0:01:55 > 0:01:56So, here we are, we're the British.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58We wanted the soldiers to go across that field
0:01:58 > 0:02:00and kill or capture Germans, get rid of them,
0:02:01 > 0:02:02force them back to Germany, right?
0:02:02 > 0:02:03Sounds pretty easy.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06It took them more than three years to do that.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08Warfare is about going where you want,
0:02:08 > 0:02:10when you want, to do what you want,
0:02:10 > 0:02:14and I want you to go across that field and get to the other side.
0:02:14 > 0:02:15OK, and how do I go across?
0:02:15 > 0:02:18- Can I go across like that? - Yes, you can. You can try that.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20- Do a bit of that. - Yep.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22- Do a bit of that. - You can try that, if you want.
0:02:22 > 0:02:23- Have a gun, don't I? - Yeah.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26Have a gun. It's not going to be that hard.
0:02:26 > 0:02:27DOINK!
0:02:28 > 0:02:31'And just like 1914, there'll be someone out to stop him.'
0:02:44 > 0:02:46Just get across the other side of the field.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48- Should be easy. - No worries.
0:02:52 > 0:02:53Ah!
0:02:54 > 0:02:56Ow!
0:02:56 > 0:02:58DAN LAUGHS That was brilliant!
0:03:00 > 0:03:01Horrible, that.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03Well, but that accurately shows, I'm afraid,
0:03:03 > 0:03:05what would have happened to you in 1914.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07Every single German soldier's got a rifle.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10He can kill a man at 400 or 500 metres, no problem.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13He can shoot ten times a minute.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16And, above all, there are lots and lots of Germans.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18Millions of them in the German army.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21So, these hedgerows would have been crawling with German soldiers.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24So, it's not as easy crossing that field as you might think.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26- Yeah. - So, basically, go back out there,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29run around, crawl around, try shooting, do whatever you can.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31Let's see how close you can get.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39Ah!
0:03:39 > 0:03:43Ow! God, I don't know why he wants me to do this. Crikey.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45Ah! Oh!
0:03:45 > 0:03:48They're in the hands. The hands are the worst bit.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50- Ooh! - Ah!
0:03:51 > 0:03:53Ooh!
0:03:55 > 0:03:57Fair play to Michael, he is taking a lot of punishment.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01'Of course, if this was World War I, he'd have been cut to pieces by now.'
0:04:02 > 0:04:05This area in front of me, as Michael is experiencing,
0:04:05 > 0:04:06would have been a killing zone.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09I mean, this is utterly pointless, doing this.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11I don't even know what I'm shooting at.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14And, I mean, I'm just making myself look more visible.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18He's standing out there in the open, trying to fire his rifle.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20- The fact is, he's a sitting duck. - Ah! Ah!
0:04:20 > 0:04:22As well as the rifle bullets,
0:04:22 > 0:04:24there would have been an absolute hail of machine-gun bullets.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26And then, on top of all that,
0:04:26 > 0:04:29- there would have been artillery. - Ah! Ah!
0:04:30 > 0:04:32He's coming back now, looking a bit dejected.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34It's pointless, this.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43Well, you were right. That was hard.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45Right, give me that. I told you that rifle wouldn't be much use.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47What's this?
0:04:47 > 0:04:48That is more useful than a rifle on the Western Front.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51That is an entrenching tool. It's basically a small spade.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53Because, as you've seen, you're not much use in the open.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56So, you've got to get underground, wait for nightfall,
0:04:56 > 0:04:57and that is why trench warfare begins.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00- So, go for it. Go on, get digging. - So cheeky, I tell you.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02You've got to get underground. You've got to dig yourself a hole.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04And, you know, the good thing is, Michael, earlier,
0:05:04 > 0:05:06when you were getting killed, I got a JCB and dug a trench,
0:05:06 > 0:05:08so don't worry about that. Come on, this way.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18I guess the most obvious thing to do is just wait till it's dark,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21because obviously they could see you out there in the light.
0:05:21 > 0:05:22So, do you want another go now?
0:05:22 > 0:05:24Yeah, well, it's going to be easier in the dark.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26Take the battle to the enemy, my friend.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30No, it's the nuns in the church. That's what I want to save. Yeah?
0:05:31 > 0:05:32OK.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42Ah! "MACHINE-GUN FIRE"
0:05:42 > 0:05:43MICHAEL GROANS
0:05:47 > 0:05:48I think he's coming back.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51DAN LAUGHS
0:05:53 > 0:05:55- Blimey O'Reilly. - Yeah.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57- It's wild out there, man. - I should have told you.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59Basically, both sides realised
0:05:59 > 0:06:02you could illuminate the battlefield quite well using those flares,
0:06:02 > 0:06:03so they could make it almost bright as day.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06So, attacking at night is also a big challenge.
0:06:06 > 0:06:07MICHAEL: I mean, I am one man.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11What if you take 10,000 men and send them across there? Surely.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14I mean, it's a bit harsh, but surely they'd break through, would they not?
0:06:14 > 0:06:15DAN: Yeah, you know, they tried that.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19Unfortunately, the methods of killing by World War I
0:06:19 > 0:06:22were so effective that you could almost have people bumper to bumper
0:06:22 > 0:06:23and you'd pretty much kill them all.
0:06:23 > 0:06:24MICHAEL: So, how else, then?
0:06:24 > 0:06:27I mean, presumably you could dig tunnels, could you? You could...
0:06:27 > 0:06:30Good point. There were thousands of guys digging tunnels from both sides.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32Unfortunately, the Germans realised that.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36You'd have these tunnels meeting each other, battles going on underground,
0:06:36 > 0:06:38people trying to blow up each other's tunnels. It's a complete nightmare.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40But, yeah, they tried, they absolutely did try that.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43Presumably they had planes and they could drop bombs.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45So, why don't you just fly in a load of planes,
0:06:45 > 0:06:47bomb all the German trenches, boom?
0:06:47 > 0:06:52DAN: Planes have only been flying for a few years. Just over a decade.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55They didn't have the capability of dropping bombs accurately on people.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57Now, I appreciate these trenches were quite wide,
0:06:57 > 0:07:00but why don't you just go round them and in on the back?
0:07:00 > 0:07:02DAN: Big problem with the Western Front
0:07:02 > 0:07:05is it's it a continuous belt of trenches like this
0:07:05 > 0:07:07for over 400 miles.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09The English Channel's at one end,
0:07:09 > 0:07:10so you can't send everyone swimming round the edge.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13And at the other end, neutral Switzerland.
0:07:13 > 0:07:14Very mountainous country and it's neutral,
0:07:14 > 0:07:16so you can't invade Switzerland.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18So, you've got no choice, you're penned in on the Western Front,
0:07:18 > 0:07:20you've got to go through the Germans.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23So, if we're 1914 now, the best place for us
0:07:23 > 0:07:25is just to sit tight for at least two years.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27- Yeah. - Shall we have a cup of tea, then?
0:07:27 > 0:07:29- Perfect. - Have you got Earl Grey in this?
0:07:29 > 0:07:32- Did they have Earl Grey in 1914? - I think so.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35- Oh! - Is that tea or is that...?
0:07:35 > 0:07:36It's a cup of hot mud!
0:07:36 > 0:07:38We've only got one cup. You'll have to give me some of that.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41We've only got two years to wait.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43It's all quiet on the Western Front.
0:07:47 > 0:07:48SHELL WHISTLES
0:07:48 > 0:07:50EXPLOSION
0:07:56 > 0:08:00Bombs, shells, bullets, gas, tanks.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02It's the variety of weaponry
0:08:02 > 0:08:05that made the battlefields of the First World War
0:08:05 > 0:08:06such a murderous place.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09But there was one other weapon system of sorts
0:08:09 > 0:08:13that had an absolutely massive impact on the fighting,
0:08:13 > 0:08:14and that was wire.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19'Barbed wire was first used in the Wild West
0:08:19 > 0:08:21'as a cheap way to control livestock.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25'There were over 400 patents registered
0:08:25 > 0:08:27'and it wasn't long before military bigwigs
0:08:27 > 0:08:30'saw how cattle were hemmed in by the razor-sharp fencing
0:08:30 > 0:08:32'and introduced it to the battlefield.'
0:08:34 > 0:08:37If it could be used to corral cows in the Wild West
0:08:37 > 0:08:40then it could be used to corral men on the Western Front as well.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44The great thing about wire was, it's an amazing system,
0:08:44 > 0:08:47because it completely stops the enemy going where you don't want them,
0:08:47 > 0:08:50because it's virtually impassable for humans.
0:08:50 > 0:08:51Rip their flesh to bits.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55Also, even more destructively,
0:08:55 > 0:08:59you can use it to channel the enemy into attacking into little corridors,
0:08:59 > 0:09:01where you can set up a machine gun
0:09:01 > 0:09:03and turn it into an absolute corridor of death.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07'No soldier wants to be on a night-time wiring party.
0:09:07 > 0:09:08'Creeping out into no man's land
0:09:08 > 0:09:10'to set up barbed-wire traps was dangerous enough,
0:09:10 > 0:09:14'but if you bumped into your enemy doing the same trick,
0:09:14 > 0:09:17'the noise could wake up machine gunners back in the trenches.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19'Bad news all round.'
0:09:21 > 0:09:24They used huge numbers of different kinds of wire traps,
0:09:24 > 0:09:26and manuals were produced.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28In fact, Taff Gillingham's got a manual there.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34- How are we doing? - Well, it's not impenetrable yet.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39'Happy days if you happen to be making barbed wire in 1914.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43'Millions of miles of the stuff would be needed to line the Western Front.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47'In World War I, mass warfare went hand in hand with mass production.'
0:09:50 > 0:09:53So, this style of barbed wire entanglement
0:09:53 > 0:09:56is pretty much the style that was used at the beginning of the war.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58It's a bit like an agricultural fence back home.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01It would have slowed people down, tricky to get through.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03Ow!
0:10:03 > 0:10:06A nasty obstacle. Oh, I just punctured my welly. Dammit!
0:10:13 > 0:10:14The British pretty quickly realised
0:10:14 > 0:10:17that the trouble with these big fences of barbed wire
0:10:17 > 0:10:19is that it might stop the Germans getting at them,
0:10:19 > 0:10:20but it stopped them getting at the Germans.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22So, they invented this idea.
0:10:22 > 0:10:23They built it just near their own trenches,
0:10:23 > 0:10:25so if the Germans did attack,
0:10:25 > 0:10:26they'd still be slowed down trying to get through.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28But it meant that if the British attacked,
0:10:28 > 0:10:30they could release some smoke
0:10:30 > 0:10:33and they could advance through their own barbed wire
0:10:33 > 0:10:34and out into no man's land.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38By 1917, the Germans had decided
0:10:38 > 0:10:41pretty much to go on the defensive on the Western Front.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44That meant they didn't have to worry about their troops going forward,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47which is why they would use barbed wire like this.
0:10:49 > 0:10:54Huge mounds of it piled up in no man's land,
0:10:54 > 0:10:58designed to stop the Allies getting through and attacking their line.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01This was brutally effective.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04Every time I'm confronted with barbed wire,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07I'm always amazed that something that looks so scrawny
0:11:07 > 0:11:09and insubstantial can have such a huge impact.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12I mean, I look at this and I think I should be able to get through this.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15I can see through it. And yet it's practically impenetrable.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17It's like being confronted with a huge granite wall.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20It's amazing that this thing that was mass-produced,
0:11:20 > 0:11:22it was low-fi, it was cheap,
0:11:22 > 0:11:26had a huge impact on the way the First World War was fought.