0:00:02 > 0:00:03BIRDS TWITTER
0:00:03 > 0:00:05Today on Songs Of Praise,
0:00:05 > 0:00:08we commemorate the many thousands of young men
0:00:08 > 0:00:10who lost their lives
0:00:10 > 0:00:14in one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War, 100 years ago.
0:00:14 > 0:00:19I'm in the Somme battlefields to remember the 1st of July 1916,
0:00:19 > 0:00:22the first day of the Battle of the Somme,
0:00:22 > 0:00:25and the worst day in the history of the British Army.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29More than 19,000 British soldiers were killed that day,
0:00:29 > 0:00:32with nearly 40,000 wounded or missing.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34I join James Bickersteth,
0:00:34 > 0:00:36retracing the steps of his great-great-uncles,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39the Rev Julian Bickersteth
0:00:39 > 0:00:42and Lt Morris Bickersteth, who fell in battle.
0:00:44 > 0:00:45So young.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48All these guys here. They were so young.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51And I'm with the Living History Group
0:00:51 > 0:00:53of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment,
0:00:53 > 0:00:56finding out what life and faith might have been like in the trenches.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08Those who served in the Somme were our grandparents
0:01:08 > 0:01:12and great-grandparents, our great- uncles and great-great-uncles,
0:01:12 > 0:01:15and it them we're remembering in our music today.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17We begin with a hymn
0:01:17 > 0:01:20that's also a prayer in difficult times.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06This Friday marks the centenary
0:03:06 > 0:03:09of the start of one of the worst battles of the First World War.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13For five long months,
0:03:13 > 0:03:15the British and French armies engaged the Germans
0:03:15 > 0:03:19in a brutal war of attrition, in the Battle of the Somme.
0:03:19 > 0:03:24After 141 days, they had still failed to break the German defences.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32Visitors to the Somme in northern France
0:03:32 > 0:03:36often speak of the peace and tranquillity of the landscape.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40And then, you look round and you see this.
0:03:40 > 0:03:41Memorials -
0:03:41 > 0:03:46rows and rows of gravestones that speak of the exact opposite.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53The Somme has become a place of pilgrimage
0:03:53 > 0:03:57for those remembering loved ones who fell in battle.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59James is here for the first time,
0:03:59 > 0:04:03in search of a great-great-uncle who shares his name.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05My full name is James Morris Bickersteth
0:04:05 > 0:04:08and I'm actually named after a descendant of mine
0:04:08 > 0:04:10- called Morris Bickersteth. - You look a bit like him.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13Thank you very much, he was a handsome chap,
0:04:13 > 0:04:14and an officer in the British Army.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17He led a battalion of men in the Battle of the Somme.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21- So you're trying to find out what happened to him out here in the Somme.- Indeed.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23I'm blessed with a wealth of information that exists
0:04:23 > 0:04:26in something called the Bickersteth Diaries,
0:04:26 > 0:04:30but it's always intrigued me as to the reality of his life,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33and the actual location that he led his men
0:04:33 > 0:04:36because there's only so much that you can learn through letters
0:04:36 > 0:04:38but there's nothing like actually following
0:04:38 > 0:04:41in the footsteps of somebody to better understand
0:04:41 > 0:04:42the life that they led.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48Three Bickersteth brothers served here at the Somme -
0:04:48 > 0:04:5028-year-old Burgon,
0:04:50 > 0:04:54Julian, a frontline chaplain who was 31,
0:04:54 > 0:04:55and Morris, just 25.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00Morris would have been on trench duty for several months
0:05:00 > 0:05:03before going over the top to fight.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07Battlefield expert Alan Reed
0:05:07 > 0:05:10guides us through an original 1st of July trench.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14100 years ago, this would have been
0:05:14 > 0:05:18a scene of horror, devastation, noise.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21The German shelling coming from behind us, German machinegun.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24Men trying to get to the front line,
0:05:24 > 0:05:26in this sort of communication trench.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29So, Morris would have been coming into a trench like this one
0:05:29 > 0:05:32on the way to the front line.
0:05:33 > 0:05:34The young lieutenant was in a battalion
0:05:34 > 0:05:37known as the Leeds Pals,
0:05:37 > 0:05:39part of the West Yorkshire Regiment.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42So, here, James, we've got some of the Leeds Pals
0:05:42 > 0:05:46when they were training in 1914, soon after they volunteered.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48And amongst these men, there's an officer...
0:05:50 > 0:05:53- ..and it's him. It's Morris. - Wow.- As a lieutenant.
0:05:53 > 0:05:54He was just commissioned.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57So, that probably would be the men
0:05:57 > 0:06:00he was in charge of at the time.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02But come the day, on the 1st of July,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05he was Acting Captain in charge of 250 men.
0:06:05 > 0:06:06That's incredible.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08You must find this very moving.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10I do, it's incredibly powerful in fact -
0:06:10 > 0:06:14the first time that we walked down here I actually had goosebumps.
0:06:14 > 0:06:15I do struggle to try and imagine
0:06:15 > 0:06:18the horrors that people saw here and the suffering,
0:06:18 > 0:06:21but also the incredible acts of bravery that took place here.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23They were doing it for something that they believed in,
0:06:23 > 0:06:27they believed in it for their country and believed in it for God.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29Morris, at the time, came from a very religious family,
0:06:29 > 0:06:32his father was a reverend in Leeds.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35So, he put his faith into God, and if he was going to die...
0:06:35 > 0:06:37- So be it.- So be it.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41And also, the fact that they were waiting,
0:06:41 > 0:06:43not knowing when they were going to go over the top...
0:06:43 > 0:06:45For months and months, Alan.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48Yes, they would have been training before coming to the Western Front,
0:06:48 > 0:06:51but what they didn't know was what it would be like
0:06:51 > 0:06:52once they went over the top
0:06:52 > 0:06:55and into no man's land. That, they couldn't prepare for.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59The order was finally given,
0:06:59 > 0:07:02and the battle began on the 1st of July 1916.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08So, the path we're walking on now
0:07:08 > 0:07:11was the British front line, exactly where we are.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13So, Morris with his men
0:07:13 > 0:07:16would have gathered in the trenches on the left.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18And then at 7:30am
0:07:18 > 0:07:21he would have gathered his men to go over the top.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29And then when he goes into no man's land, about 10, 30 yards,
0:07:29 > 0:07:31he stops because of what's going on.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34He sees men dying, men dead.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36And as he's trying to gather his thoughts
0:07:36 > 0:07:40he's hit by shrapnel, by a piece of German shell.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42Behind his back, we've got a witness account of that.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44And he's killed instantly?
0:07:44 > 0:07:47No, soon after that, he gets a bullet right to the head
0:07:47 > 0:07:49and then he's killed instantly.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52James, what's it like for you to hear that and to stand here
0:07:52 > 0:07:53and to know actually
0:07:53 > 0:07:5630 yards in there
0:07:56 > 0:07:58was where Morris fell?
0:07:58 > 0:08:03I always wondered what his last moments were like, always wondered what the place was like
0:08:03 > 0:08:05that he gave his life.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08And to be here now is incredibly powerful for me,
0:08:08 > 0:08:09incredibly powerful.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12And there really is, I suppose, no better time
0:08:12 > 0:08:15for me to have come - for the first time, I'm ashamed to say -
0:08:15 > 0:08:17there's no better time for me to have come
0:08:17 > 0:08:18than the 100-year anniversary
0:08:18 > 0:08:20of the battle in which he gave his life.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24We'll rejoin James later in the programme,
0:08:24 > 0:08:27as he finally pays his respects to Morris.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01Although we do have these first-hand accounts from soldiers,
0:11:01 > 0:11:04it's impossible to recreate the true horror.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07But David Grant has been meeting one group
0:11:07 > 0:11:09who are trying to connect with the past.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15Let's make one thing clear.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17This is NOT the Somme.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21Only those who were there would truly have known.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27I'm with the Living History Group of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment,
0:11:27 > 0:11:30who are spending a very wet weekend in replica trenches,
0:11:30 > 0:11:33re-enacting life as a World War I soldier.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38Gas, gas, gas!
0:11:38 > 0:11:41Gas! Gas!
0:11:43 > 0:11:45Of course, this is just a re-enactment
0:11:45 > 0:11:48but it gives you some idea what it might have been like.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55The trenches at Park Hall Farm in Shropshire
0:11:55 > 0:11:58were opened to the public only last year,
0:11:58 > 0:12:00and this re-enactment is one of those
0:12:00 > 0:12:02held across the country by the group.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04Their leader, Sean Featherstone,
0:12:04 > 0:12:08hopes the event will educate both visitors and volunteers.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11I hope they see the human aspect
0:12:11 > 0:12:14so they can see what the soldiers on both sides endured.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16The smells and the sound...
0:12:16 > 0:12:18You're in a hole in the ground -
0:12:18 > 0:12:20it's muddy, it can get cold.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22It's not glamorous.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25I do this in memory of my great-uncle
0:12:25 > 0:12:30and my great-grandfather who served in the First World War,
0:12:30 > 0:12:33to try to understand something about what THEY went through.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35Let's get a bearing. Get the range...
0:12:35 > 0:12:39This brings to life what most men, and women,
0:12:39 > 0:12:41actually died for in the actual war.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45One member motivated by family history is Lee Bond,
0:12:45 > 0:12:49who plays the part of the chaplain, or padre.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51My grandfather was captured on the Burma railway,
0:12:51 > 0:12:53worked alongside the padre,
0:12:53 > 0:12:55and that gave him faith to be able to get through
0:12:55 > 0:12:57some of the darkest times.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59And as my thanks to God
0:12:59 > 0:13:03and my Christian beliefs that he gives me,
0:13:03 > 0:13:06I'm inspired to take that role of the padre on.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10The padres would pray with the lads in the trenches
0:13:10 > 0:13:12when they went round.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14They were armed with their faith.
0:13:14 > 0:13:20Over 5,000 chaplains served during the Great War. 168 lost their lives.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23The padre would actually go over the top with the boys
0:13:23 > 0:13:27- when the charges went against the enemy.- Unarmed?- Unarmed.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30All he would carry would be his walking stick, and his Bible.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34Padres actually received Victoria Crosses on more than one occasion.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40Nowadays we have soldiers come back and they can go to therapy.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44And they can go and sit and talk to psychologists.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46There was no such thing in those days.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48Help us to think wisely,
0:13:48 > 0:13:51to speak rightly, to resolve bravely...
0:13:51 > 0:13:56Faith was a very, very important and integral part to life on the front.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00A shepherd wouldn't leave his flock -
0:14:00 > 0:14:01a padre wouldn't leave his men.
0:14:02 > 0:14:07Has doing this re-enactment had any impact on your own faith?
0:14:07 > 0:14:08It's made it stronger.
0:14:08 > 0:14:13Even though we're carrying out a re-enactment of the true events,
0:14:13 > 0:14:16there's guys that are within our unit that say
0:14:16 > 0:14:18they can't understand the horrors of the world
0:14:18 > 0:14:20and how God would let something like this happen.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22And what I've tried to get through to them is
0:14:22 > 0:14:26that they can take faith in each other -
0:14:26 > 0:14:29and they ARE part of a church whether they know it or not.
0:14:30 > 0:14:31The true church is the people,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34and each person is a building block,
0:14:34 > 0:14:36and the mortar that binds us all is our faith in each other
0:14:36 > 0:14:39and our love for each other, and it makes my faith stronger
0:14:39 > 0:14:42because I get to see an element of people that is good.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44And that makes all the difference in the world.
0:16:50 > 0:16:55As a stark reminder of the thousands upon thousands of lives
0:16:55 > 0:16:58lost during the Great War,
0:16:58 > 0:17:01there are cemeteries and memorials scattered across the Somme region.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04Hundreds of them. Each immaculately maintained
0:17:04 > 0:17:07as a tribute to those who rest in peace.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13Earlier, we learnt the fate of the young Morris Bickersteth,
0:20:13 > 0:20:17who was killed on the very first day of fighting in the Somme.
0:20:18 > 0:20:19By the end of the battle,
0:20:19 > 0:20:23there were more than one million casualties on all sides.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26Morris's great-great-nephew,
0:20:26 > 0:20:27who shares his middle name,
0:20:27 > 0:20:30is here to see his ancestor's final resting place,
0:20:30 > 0:20:32for the first time.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34So, how many men are buried here?
0:20:34 > 0:20:38It is about 300. This is what we call a battlefield cemetery.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45In fact, we have now entered Queen's Cemetery
0:20:45 > 0:20:47and this is where Morris is buried.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50He is buried just by the Cross of Sacrifice.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58It is a strange mix of emotions.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00When I first arrived here, I felt
0:21:00 > 0:21:04'relieved that I had finally come because I felt so guilty
0:21:04 > 0:21:07'that I hadn't been here sooner. But then, it brings up so many
0:21:07 > 0:21:08'other emotions'
0:21:08 > 0:21:09of...
0:21:11 > 0:21:14So young. All these guys here are so young.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19It's so sad.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21But, at the same time,
0:21:21 > 0:21:24he was also devoutly Christian
0:21:24 > 0:21:27and, eh, I think that saw him through right to the end.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31His belief took him through, right to the end.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34I mean, I doubt very much that,
0:21:34 > 0:21:35in my life,
0:21:35 > 0:21:41I will EVER be able to exhibit bravery and selflessness
0:21:41 > 0:21:46in the way that he did, in the way that all of these guys did.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51James has a copy of a letter that Morris intended his parents
0:21:51 > 0:21:54to receive, if he didn't make it home.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59'I just wanted to tell you that I do not fear death,
0:21:59 > 0:22:02'except in so far as everyone must fear it.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05'Death, to my mind, is simply a gateway through which one passes
0:22:05 > 0:22:08'into life. I mean, real life.'
0:22:08 > 0:22:12And, James, this arrived just after he had actually died,
0:22:12 > 0:22:16- just after the family had heard the news of his death?- Absolutely.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20I think that this probably brought a huge amount of comfort to them...
0:22:20 > 0:22:22- Yes.- ..and really helped with the grieving process.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26They were as devoted to the Christian faith as Morris was
0:22:26 > 0:22:29and I'm sure that receiving this letter really helped to heal
0:22:29 > 0:22:32what must have been terrible wounds caused by the loss
0:22:32 > 0:22:36- of their son.- They must have felt he was talking to them.- Indeed.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38I think they probably did.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41# For all who needs comfort
0:22:41 > 0:22:45# For all those who mourn
0:22:45 > 0:22:48# All those whom we cherished
0:22:48 > 0:22:54# Will be reborn
0:22:55 > 0:22:58# All those whom we love
0:22:58 > 0:23:01# But see no more
0:23:01 > 0:23:04# They are not perished
0:23:04 > 0:23:10# But gone before
0:23:12 > 0:23:17- CHOIR: - # And lie in the tender arms of He
0:23:17 > 0:23:20# Who died for us all
0:23:20 > 0:23:23# To set us free
0:23:23 > 0:23:28# From hatred and anger
0:23:28 > 0:23:32# And cruel tyranny
0:23:32 > 0:23:35# May they rest
0:23:35 > 0:23:38# In peace
0:23:41 > 0:23:47# And rise in glory
0:23:52 > 0:23:57# Lord, give me wisdom to comprehend
0:23:57 > 0:24:05# Why I survive and not my friend
0:24:05 > 0:24:09# And teach me compassion
0:24:09 > 0:24:13# So I may live
0:24:13 > 0:24:19# All my enemies to forgive
0:24:19 > 0:24:23# All suffering and sorrow
0:24:23 > 0:24:27# Will be no more
0:24:27 > 0:24:31# They'll vanish like shadows
0:24:31 > 0:24:36# At Heaven's door
0:24:37 > 0:24:40# All anguish and grieving
0:24:40 > 0:24:44# Will one day be healed
0:24:44 > 0:24:47# When all of God's purpose
0:24:47 > 0:24:54# Will be revealed
0:24:54 > 0:24:57# Though, now, for a season
0:24:57 > 0:24:59# Lost from sight
0:24:59 > 0:25:03# The innocent slain
0:25:03 > 0:25:05# In the blindness of right
0:25:05 > 0:25:09# Are now in the warmth
0:25:09 > 0:25:13# Of God's glorious light
0:25:15 > 0:25:22# Where they rest in peace
0:25:24 > 0:25:32# And rise in glory. #
0:25:40 > 0:25:42The death of young Morris Bickersteth
0:25:42 > 0:25:46sent shockwaves through the family and deeply affected
0:25:46 > 0:25:49his elder brother Julian, who was serving on the front line
0:25:49 > 0:25:51as a chaplain.
0:25:51 > 0:25:52Across the border, in Belgium,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55is Poperinge, a town that soldiers like Julian
0:25:55 > 0:25:58sought out, away from the bloodshed.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05Just off the main square is Talbot House,
0:26:05 > 0:26:09described at the time as an oasis in a world gone crazy.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12The soldiers came here to forget about the war.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16They came here away from the fighting that was going on.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18- So, they came here for peace. - It's an incredible space.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21- It must have been a welcome contrast from the trenches.- Absolutely.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25And we know that Julian was here in August, 1917.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27Wow. Wow, that's fantastic.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35Such a wonderful place of recuperation, this.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39And people like Julian must have so needed this.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41Absolutely, it was a very special place and
0:26:41 > 0:26:45Julian being a frontline chaplain would have seen the horrors of war,
0:26:45 > 0:26:48tending after the wounded, reading the last rites.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51And also, on top of that, losing his brother, Morris.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55And, indeed, he actually... Julian puts his emotions onto
0:26:55 > 0:26:57paper here, in one of these letters, he says,
0:26:57 > 0:27:00"I have seen sights and heard sounds the last few days
0:27:00 > 0:27:02"which will live with me to my dying day
0:27:02 > 0:27:05"and have filled me with an agony of sympathy
0:27:05 > 0:27:07"for those suffering indescribable things.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10"I have been surrounded for three days with nothing but blood,
0:27:10 > 0:27:12"blood, blood.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14"Yet, rising out of this sea of misery and pain,
0:27:14 > 0:27:19- "human nature, the spirit of man has won the day."- Mm.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22I'm amazed that Julian was able to see the good in
0:27:22 > 0:27:25what must have been a horrific scenario.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27And as the war progressed, like many people,
0:27:27 > 0:27:31he began to doubt the war itself, but one ting that he never lost
0:27:31 > 0:27:34was his faith in Christianity, which is amazing.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39And this house would have strengthened
0:27:39 > 0:27:42the Reverend Julian Bickersteth's resolve,
0:27:42 > 0:27:44because of what can be found in the loft.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51Ah...
0:27:51 > 0:27:53It is stunning up here.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57What is it, Jan, how did it come...?
0:27:57 > 0:28:00Well, it was actually a place of recreation for the troops,
0:28:00 > 0:28:03catering for body, hearts and minds, but also for the soul.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07And it was a way of soldiers to just realise
0:28:07 > 0:28:10that they were not a cog in a machine of war,
0:28:10 > 0:28:12but a person of flesh and blood
0:28:12 > 0:28:15with their own interests, their hearts, their minds, their spirits.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18- That's what it meant to them. - And we know that, Julian,
0:28:18 > 0:28:21your relative did come here and attend at least one service here,
0:28:21 > 0:28:25- is that right?- Yes, that's right. So, I believe in August 1917,
0:28:25 > 0:28:28during the battle of Passchendaele, he came along here with
0:28:28 > 0:28:31a number of confirmation candidates to a service.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35When you think of Julian here, a man who spent all his time really
0:28:35 > 0:28:40trying to minister to other people, do you sense here him finding
0:28:40 > 0:28:42something for himself?
0:28:42 > 0:28:47It probably meant that Julian was able to keep his sanity
0:28:47 > 0:28:51and to continue his work in the trenches.
0:31:23 > 0:31:25It's been a real privilege to come to Belgium and France,
0:31:25 > 0:31:29and to get to know, just a little, these young men from
0:31:29 > 0:31:31another time, who gave so much.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33Of course, that war
0:31:33 > 0:31:36wasn't the war to end all wars, far from it.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39Next week, it's Battle of Britain Memorial Day,
0:31:39 > 0:31:42and Pam remembers the dark days of World War II,
0:31:42 > 0:31:46and the Spitfire pilot who was just 18 years old when he saw action
0:31:46 > 0:31:48for the first time.
0:31:48 > 0:31:50But until then, our closing hymn today
0:31:50 > 0:31:53is one often sung at Remembrance services,
0:31:53 > 0:31:55and it seems fitting to sing it now.
0:31:55 > 0:31:57Goodbye.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16Subtitles by Ericsson