Myths & Confusion WW1 Uncut

When you think about World War I, is this what you think of?

A British Tommy in a trench probably somewhere in France.

Much of what you know is not as it seems.

So, what do you think you know about World War I?

EXPLOSIONS

It was violent and it was vicious.

But it's got plenty of competitors for bloodiness.

It wasn't the bloodiest in terms of outright numbers killed.

And it wasn't the bloodiest in terms of proportion either.

At least for Britain.

An entire generation was affected.

But it wasn't wiped out.

89% of British soldiers survived the war.

But that's not to say World War I was in any way insignificant.

It was big.

There was fighting in Europe, Africa and Asia.

There are Commonwealth War Graves in 96 different countries

on every continent bar Antarctica.

This was a truly global conflict.

MUSIC: "Black Out Days" by Phantogram

So, what else do you know?

Not necessarily.

The privileged classes weren't protected from the slaughter.

In fact, a greater proportion of public schoolboys were killed

or injured than their working-class contemporaries.

MUSIC: "And The Boys" by Angus and Julia Stone

Eton alone lost 1,000 former pupils, 20% of those who served.

This was because one of the deadliest roles on the front line

was that of a junior officer.

They were first into the firing line as they led their men over the top.

It was said that during the fiercest fighting on the Somme, an ordinary

soldier could expect to last three months before becoming a casualty.

A junior officer, just six weeks.

And even if you were older and didn't serve as a junior officer yourself,

you could still be affected.

The war touched everyone.

Officers and privates, posh and poor alike.

Trenches were a central feature of the First World War.

There were trenches on every front in every terrain.

In the Italian Alps, there were even trenches dug into the ice.

But soldiers didn't live in them full-time.

British soldiers didn't even live in them the majority of the time.

Behind the lines, troops dug trenches and latrines,

trained and played sports.

Some even put on plays or wrote and published their own newspapers.

But this wasn't about fun and games. It was about morale.

The top brass knew that you couldn't keep men in conditions

like this continually and expect them to be an effective fighting force.

And so soldiers busied themselves whilst waiting for their turn.

All within hearing distance of the artillery.

Finally, what about one of the war's most enduring stories?

There's little evidence that it actually happened.

SHOUTING AND CHEERING

There was an unofficial truce in 1914

across large sections of the Western Front.

The guns stopped for one day.

In some places, up to a week.

And newspapers back home had a field day.

But the story of the football match is contentious.

Contemporary news reports revolve around hearsay.

Many did want to play, some tried to arrange a match,

but fighting resumed and got in the way.

If some battalions did manage to play,

it was the odd kickabout with a makeshift ball.

But that shouldn't diminish the true story of the Christmas truce.

What we know for definite is that many German

and British soldiers met in no-man's land,

swapped gifts and photos of their families, even cut each other's hair.

They sang carols and helped to bury each other's dead.

And, in many cases, it seemed to be the Germans who started it.

They lit their decorations on Christmas Eve

and called out to the British not to shoot.

Nothing on this scale was to happen the following year.

By then, both sides were under strict orders not to fraternise.

To answer any advances with lead.

The Germans sang Christmas carols again, but in many places

they were drowned out by the sound of British machine guns.

So, what do you know now about World War I?

World War I wasn't unique in its bloodiness.

It wasn't simply a protected upper-class

sending a generation of workers to their deaths.

Trenches weren't the sum total of a soldier's life.

And Christmas 1914 was much more than a football match.

If there even was a football match.

SHOUTING

Myths are incredibly powerful.

But they rarely reveal the full picture.

The truth is that history is never as straightforward

or as convenient as the myth would have us believe.

EXPLOSION

In World War I, the commanders faced a challenge on a scale that

no-one had ever faced before.

They had to coordinate vast numbers of men across a huge battlefield

with very primitive communications.

And I'm going to get a sense of that challenge today,

and my battlefield is London.

MUSIC: "London Calling" by The Clash

We set up a game with an army of volunteers.

Our base is HMS President.

This ship served in World War I, and is now moored on the Thames.

I have a team of 26.

But my team aren't allowed to use any modern communications.

Just like the armies of World War I.

The other team is led by fellow historian Suzannah Lipscomb.

OK, first up, let me learn everybody's names.

'She has a team of just eight, but her team have a huge advantage.

'They can use mobile phones.'

David...

'We're going to compete in a strategic challenge.

'And we're about to be given our instructions.'

HORN BLOWS

Let's do it! Come on, team. Let's find out what's going on here.

OK, so there's the horn. Let's see what we've got...

Your task, find the targets wearing red with the following symbol.

Give each of them a playing card.

Diamonds. Nice.

Take those.

'So, somewhere in central London,

'there are people wearing these T-shirts.

'We have to find them and get the cards to them.'

I've no idea how we're going to do this. But let's have a think. Right.

This is London.

Um, the search area is pretty big.

From Waterloo down to Southwark

and right up here. almost to King's Cross it looks like.

So let's all spread out along here.

And simply push north, trying to stay broadly speaking in a line,

so we all get to this road at about the same point.

If one person sees someone in red, shout and hopefully visually,

because that's all we have.

We should have a code word. That's what they had in the First World War.

Just go boo-wop!

OK. Come on. Let's try.

- Team... - ALL: Boo-wop!

'Suzannah's team have no need

'for silly noises. They can just get out there and search.'

You've got the number. Keep in touch and I will send you instructions.

If I need you to do something specifically, I'll call you.

Feeling strong. We're going to win. OK.

Go. Right.

DAN: 'The battle is on.'

If everything goes wrong, which it probably will,

I'll see you back here at 11:45am.

At least they're not shooting at us, everyone.

It really is a little bit like World War I.

In fact, it's a bit like the first day of the Somme,

where you send out guys in long lines because that's the only way

that I can see of organising everyone, keeping everyone focused on

the task, because if you let everyone break up, you lose all control.

- Right... What are you doing here? - Because I'm in command.

You're just leaving that vacant, are you?

I believe in leading from the front.

- See you later. - Good luck!

MUSIC: "LDN" by Lily Allen

- Morning, team! - There he is.

So we will put the people who've got the playing cards

strategically to be, like, one person with no playing card...

Brilliant. She's in charge now. Perfect!

We've been playing this game now for about five minutes

and I've learned several very important lessons.

One is that every single plan you make completely collapses

the minute you try and implement it in the field.

We were meant to all be in a big line and start together,

that's just not happening. I can't see anyone else.

I've got no contact with the people with the cards.

The other thing I've learned is, if you're in a position

of leadership, which I am, I've completely isolated myself here.

I've got no cards, I've got no phone,

I've got no way of being in touch with anyone.

I've no idea how the rest of the team is doing.

It's 12 minutes past 11.

We're at Somerset House. I've got my card.

I'm completely separated from my team.

There's no communication and I can't check out all the sidestreets.

DAN: 'Whilst I'm attempting to lead from the front,

'Suzannah is coordinating her search teams from base.'

"We're walking along the Strand," says Lauren. OK, so she's here.

Queen Street, gone north, now heading east.

Laura's telling me she's going east of Blackfriars Bridge.

Laura, please head west.

'Predictably enough, I haven't found any targets.

'What about the rest of my team?'

Did you find any people?

- No! - Oh, my God!

- I think your plan sucks. - I know it sucks!

- Did you give any cards to anyone? - We lost one.

We lost a guy and we didn't give any cards.

We've lost someone? We've lost a member of the team.

We've handed out no cards.

We are way behind schedule

and I've got no idea what anyone else on the wider team is doing.

That's the situation.

We've got our first one. We've got a card. Brilliant.

That's Mel. Congratulations!

DAN: 'So, my first plan has ended in chaos.

'But at least I had told everyone to be back at the boat which

'might just give me a second chance.'

OK, everyone. How did we do?

- How many cards did we give away? - ALL: None!

None. Right. Plan B. Time for Plan B.

Gather round, everybody.

I'm going to stay here with some cards.

Each team can have an HQ somewhere.

I suggest here, so that they can signal me and I can signal them.

And then you just conduct mini-patrols like that.

If I need to find you, I will send a runner or I will come and find you.

No, we just need people out. We can't afford for me to have a runner there.

- I'll come and find you. - North-west over here.

North-west over there, north-east over here.

'My team are off, leaving me with nothing to do but wait...nervously.'

I'm here at headquarters in my big chateaux,

like the World War I generals. And it's pretty isolated.

But, at least here I am in visual contact with

a couple of the teams and they know where they can find me.

So that if they need more cards I've got them in my pocket.

- I've taken one down. - You've got one?

Near Charing Cross station.

Nice work, man. Put it here. That's awesome.

There you go. I've got that. That's my only card.

- OK, I'm going to make it count. - OK, good luck. See you in a bit.

I'd love to say that was part of the planning,

but that was just a happy accident.

He just happened to bump into one.

MUSIC: "London Calling" by The Clash

'But my luck doesn't last long.

'I'm about to receive some very bad news.'

I've got some new orders for you, Sir.

New orders? What do you mean? New orders? That's a disaster.

You can't change the mission.

New... Oh, my goodness.

New information.

The targets are now wearing blue and have the following symbol.

That is a complete disaster.

First thing to do, summon back that team with the red flag.

'Foolishly, I didn't keep back any messengers. But I do have a flag.

'Visual signals were used in World War I.

'Though they had a tendency to draw enemy fire.'

I can't believe it.

'As for changes of plan, they're a feature of any battle.'

In the First World War, of course,

people were dying on a titanic scale because of changes

and confusions exactly like this.

You might have given the artillery a signal

and a time to attack one particular target,

a piece of information could come in saying, "Well, that target's

"now occupied by friendly forces," so you're shelling your own guys.

Right, I'm going to have to leave them a note

and I'm going to have to find that group over there.

'No such problem for Suzannah.

'Just a few texts and her team is up-to-date.'

MUSIC: "Out of Control" by The Chemical Brothers

Hello, Nicky? So, we're looking for people in blue now.

You got that message? Yeah. OK, great. Thanks. Bye.

'Fortunately, my eastern squad has left someone at the meeting point

'just where they're supposed to be.

'I've wasted valuable time,

'but at least some of my team now have the right information.'

So it turns out that were supposed to be looking for blue pigeons.

Of which I've seen two earlier and thought, "Ooh, that's a little odd!"

I'm not going to blame our fearless leader, but it doesn't look good.

'If I can just get the message to the north-west squad,

'I might still have a chance.'

How's it going? You're on a bike, right?

- And you're with this team up here? - Yeah.

You are going to single-handedly save this entire thing

if you deliver that message successfully.

- OK. - Thank you!

We might be able to save the situation,

and the reason we might save it is because luckily one or two people

have stuck to what they were told to do.

Now, that might seem ridiculous to them out there,

but there's a reason for it.

As the commander, I need to know that there is someone

at that crossroads and at that crossroads there.

First World War generals have taken a lot of criticism for rigidity.

They would make these plans and then force people to stick to them,

even when circumstances and the facts change.

But what this demonstrates is you need that rigidity,

otherwise you've got nothing. Otherwise it's total anarchy.

'Suzannah, on the other hand, can be flexible.

'Moving resources to where they're needed.'

These guys are slightly marooned over here, but I've asked them to head

west because this is where we found everybody so far, in a certain area.

Ooh, hold on a second. David!

DAN: 'Her strategy is soon paying off.'

Fantastic! Well done.

Well done. That's brilliant.

OK, goodbye.

And another!

Congratulations!

She's just found another one!

DAN: 'And because she can let the rest of her team know about

'every success, morale is high...

'Unlike my team.'

We haven't found anybody and we've had enough.

These are our "had enough" faces.

Targets found, zero.

Time, 1:38.

Mood, dejected.

I'm lost, my team's missing,

I put this failure down to leadership at the highest level.

I've learnt a huge amount about what not to do.

And I think that's what the generals spent the first two years

doing as well. World War I came at pretty much the worst possible time

it could come at in history.

The size of the battlefield and the scale and the range

of the killing weapons had massively expanded, but the generals' ability

to control events was the same it had been 1,000 years earlier.

And by the end of the First World War or into the Second World War,

the technology of communication

had caught up with the technology of killing.

So generals are able to actively control a battle,

even though they're miles away from it.

And that process has accelerated to the present day where now

President Obama can be in the White House, watching helmet cams

of real-time special forces guys going and getting Osama Bin Laden.

That's how much it's changed.

Hi, team. Hey! Well done.

DAN: 'It's 2pm. Time is up

'and everyone has gathered back at base for the final score.'

So I now have the official results,

that the number of cards received by Dan's team...

..was one.

DAN: That's woeful.

However, the total number of cards given out by Suzannah's team

was seven.

I hereby declare the team with communications the winner.