0:00:02 > 0:00:05On this day, exactly 100 years ago - 3rd August, 1914 -
0:00:05 > 0:00:08Britain stood on the brink of conflict.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11Germany had already declared war on France and its troops
0:00:11 > 0:00:14were at the Belgian border. That evening, in London,
0:00:14 > 0:00:16the British Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey,
0:00:16 > 0:00:19summed up the mood of crisis...
0:00:19 > 0:00:22"The lamps are going out all over Europe," he said.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25"And we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime."
0:00:35 > 0:00:38This week on Songs of Praise,
0:00:38 > 0:00:40we mark the centenary of World War I, through the eyes
0:00:40 > 0:00:43of the young singers of Libera, as they tour the battlefields
0:00:43 > 0:00:47of the Somme and Flanders Fields. And we meet a father and son
0:00:47 > 0:00:51who have devoted their working lives to tending the graves of war dead.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03In his famous war poem, The Soldier, Rupert Brooke wrote,
0:01:03 > 0:01:08"There's some corner of a foreign field that is for ever England".
0:01:08 > 0:01:09He was, of course,
0:01:09 > 0:01:12contemplating the possibility of his own death far from home,
0:01:12 > 0:01:15but those words could also be used to describe
0:01:15 > 0:01:19St George's Memorial Church, here in the centre of Ypres in Belgium.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23It is an Anglican church built by the British as a meeting place
0:01:23 > 0:01:27for the steady stream of visiting relatives, old soldiers and pilgrims
0:01:27 > 0:01:30who have come here over the past century.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34It is where our congregation of French, Belgian and British choirs
0:01:34 > 0:01:38have gathered to sing some of the popular hymns of the period.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06The distinctive sound of Libera has endeared them to fans
0:04:06 > 0:04:10all over the world and they regularly top the classical charts.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14They are about to cross the Channel, on a tour of the battlefields
0:04:14 > 0:04:16and cemeteries of The Great War.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20'I'm really excited to go and see my great-great-uncle's grave,'
0:04:20 > 0:04:26as he was 21 when he died in the war. I think I am the first person
0:04:26 > 0:04:28in my family to go and visit his grave.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32# One, two three, four five, six seven, eight. #
0:04:32 > 0:04:34'My great-great-uncle, George, fought in the war'
0:04:34 > 0:04:39and he was only 19 years old, so he must have been absolutely terrified
0:04:39 > 0:04:44before he went. But what I'm hoping to see is where he died.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48I'm hoping to find my great-great-uncle, to see where
0:04:48 > 0:04:53he is remembered, on a big, big wall on a monument, and I am going to see
0:04:53 > 0:04:55if I can try and find his name.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01The boys are travelling in the footsteps of thousands of young men
0:05:01 > 0:05:05who left the mills, factories and farms of Britain to fight.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11# You are there
0:05:11 > 0:05:15# Whichever way I go
0:05:15 > 0:05:19# Keep me safely
0:05:19 > 0:05:23# Night and day
0:05:23 > 0:05:26# Always there
0:05:26 > 0:05:31# Whenever I'm alone
0:05:31 > 0:05:35# Hear me calling
0:05:35 > 0:05:38# Show the way
0:05:39 > 0:05:46# You are shelter from the storm
0:05:46 > 0:05:51# The shadows fade away
0:05:51 > 0:05:54# All cares pass away
0:05:54 > 0:06:02# Hosanna, day by day
0:06:02 > 0:06:06# Your love lightens up the sky
0:06:06 > 0:06:09# As it shines across the night
0:06:09 > 0:06:17# Ave, regina caelorum decora
0:06:17 > 0:06:25# Virgo gloriosa, ave
0:06:26 > 0:06:34# And when the end of day is come
0:06:34 > 0:06:38# Stay with me through the dark
0:06:38 > 0:06:42# And bring me home
0:06:43 > 0:06:48# Stay with me through the dark
0:06:48 > 0:06:55# And bring me home. #
0:07:03 > 0:07:07It's Libera's first stop on their visit to the battlefields
0:07:07 > 0:07:09of Belgium and France, the Thiepval Memorial,
0:07:09 > 0:07:15commemorating 72,000 men who fought on the Somme and whose bodies
0:07:15 > 0:07:16were never found.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21- Have a look at the flags at the top. - They're guided by battlefield expert
0:07:21 > 0:07:23Alan Reed.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27Behind the memorial would have been the German front line,
0:07:27 > 0:07:31so we are in no man's land. Do you know what no man's land is? Yep?
0:07:31 > 0:07:37The British line would have been behind the cross, beyond the trees.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39- Your relative?- George Michie...
0:07:39 > 0:07:45Sam and Isaac are looking for the names of their great-great-uncles -
0:07:45 > 0:07:48George Michie, a Gordon Highlander, and Private Michael Kinane,
0:07:48 > 0:07:53of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Cabinets in the memorial walls
0:07:53 > 0:07:57contain an index of all the names and where to find them.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59You have got a number of books. You have to find the right letter.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02- Your letter is?- M.
0:08:02 > 0:08:08- J, K, L... So, this is probably it. - "Private Michael Kinane,
0:08:08 > 0:08:11"the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Dublin Fusiliers..."
0:08:11 > 0:08:13'We are going to have a look.'
0:08:13 > 0:08:17Somewhere on these panels. He could be anywhere
0:08:17 > 0:08:19and it's a huge building.
0:08:19 > 0:08:24"George Michie, Wallfield Crescent, Aberdeen.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27"Face 15b and 15c."
0:08:28 > 0:08:30Wait, where?
0:08:30 > 0:08:31- Yes.- Come on... Oh, yeah.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38I don't think I'll be able to put my finger on his name!
0:08:40 > 0:08:43- Oh, here he is.- Here we are, yep. George Michie.- Yep.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49'It is sad to hear one of your family members died,'
0:08:49 > 0:08:52but you, kind of, feel as if they are a hero
0:08:52 > 0:08:54for fighting for their country.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58'When I saw, you know,'
0:08:58 > 0:09:02I can't feel deep emotions for him. I can't feel upset,
0:09:02 > 0:09:06because I didn't know him, which does make me upset,
0:09:06 > 0:09:09because I would like to know my relatives, especially the relatives
0:09:09 > 0:09:13who have gone and fought for things that they thought were right,
0:09:13 > 0:09:14like Michael Kinane.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23You could have so many different emotions running through your head
0:09:23 > 0:09:25when you are being fired at by a German machine gun.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28You could be thinking, "Will God help me now?
0:09:28 > 0:09:32"Will He stop this? Will He make me safe?"
0:09:32 > 0:09:36But then, you have to think about it, He does. When you die,
0:09:36 > 0:09:40- you go to Heaven.- You definitely need God in that situation,
0:09:40 > 0:09:45to give you the courage to go to war and to help your country.
0:09:45 > 0:09:50And, like, if you, like, you know, George Michie probably really
0:09:50 > 0:09:53didn't want to kill anyone, but he would have to.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01Our battlefield guide Alan Reed has done more research
0:10:01 > 0:10:05into what happened to Sam's great-great-uncle George.
0:10:06 > 0:10:11Right, we are near the site where your great-great-uncle George
0:10:11 > 0:10:13- went into action.- Yeah.
0:10:13 > 0:10:18Now, that's High Wood and on the 23rd of July, at about 1:00...
0:10:18 > 0:10:20SOUND EFFECTS OF GUNSHOTS
0:10:20 > 0:10:22..the area was swept by machine-gun fire.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25There were about 328 casualties altogether.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29And his body was never recovered or identified.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33- But at least he's remembered on the Thiepval Memorial.- Yeah.
0:10:33 > 0:10:40Well, it makes me feel quite sad to see like cos you're in the site
0:10:40 > 0:10:47of where one of your relatives has died but I'm happy he's remembered.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50But the land has returned to agriculture,
0:10:50 > 0:10:54you can hear the birdsong, so we hope he's at peace somewhere.
0:10:54 > 0:10:55Yeah.
0:11:03 > 0:11:11# We are the lost who lived and loved
0:11:11 > 0:11:18# We felt the dawn saw sunset glow
0:11:18 > 0:11:23# For now we lie
0:11:23 > 0:11:27# In row on row
0:11:27 > 0:11:31# In Flanders Fields
0:11:31 > 0:11:38# O lux beata
0:11:38 > 0:11:42# Lumina
0:11:42 > 0:11:47# Lumina
0:11:47 > 0:11:54# The larks fly high where guns destroyed
0:11:54 > 0:12:02# Now poppies grow and crosses show
0:12:02 > 0:12:06# Where now we lie
0:12:06 > 0:12:10# In Flanders Fields
0:12:10 > 0:12:15# In row on row
0:12:15 > 0:12:22# Time like an ever-rolling stream
0:12:22 > 0:12:29# Bears all its sons away
0:12:29 > 0:12:35# They fly forgotten
0:12:35 > 0:12:37# As a dream
0:12:37 > 0:12:40# In row on row
0:12:40 > 0:12:48# Dies at the break of day
0:12:53 > 0:13:00# O lux beata
0:13:00 > 0:13:05# Lumina
0:13:05 > 0:13:13# We are the lost. #
0:13:18 > 0:13:22The idea that everyone who died in the Great War should have a
0:13:22 > 0:13:26memorial came from a Bristol-born industrialist Sir Fabian Ware.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28As a result of his vision,
0:13:28 > 0:13:31the Commonwealth War Graves Commission today
0:13:31 > 0:13:33cares for cemeteries and memorials of both
0:13:33 > 0:13:39World Wars at 23,000 locations in more than 150 countries.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44Walter Sutherland was one of the many ex-soldiers employed
0:13:44 > 0:13:49after the war by the newly-formed Imperial War Graves Commission.
0:13:49 > 0:13:54His son George and his grandson Alex followed in his footsteps.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58When Walter started working here then just after the war,
0:13:58 > 0:14:00this looked very different. What was it like?
0:14:00 > 0:14:03Oh, yeah, well, all wooden crosses.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06No headstones, it was all wooden crosses.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10And they were still burying people when my father was here.
0:14:11 > 0:14:17Oh, and my father took a dead soldier into the mortuary
0:14:17 > 0:14:21and as he entered, he heard a groan
0:14:21 > 0:14:25and that chap was to be buried that morning and he was still alive.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28So, they took him out the mortuary, took him back into hospital
0:14:28 > 0:14:30and it saved him.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33- Gosh, he had a lucky escape. - Yes, yes.
0:14:33 > 0:14:39Over the years, you must both have seen some pretty moving sights.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41It's distressing sometimes too.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44Well, yes, certainly, you meet visitors.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47A typical example now is if you see these school buses
0:14:47 > 0:14:51and the children are 12-13 years old, or you see a pensioner
0:14:51 > 0:14:53and they walk around the cemetery,
0:14:53 > 0:14:57you will see people crying in actual fact
0:14:57 > 0:15:00and being so emotional about it.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05But then you feel it most when the family come along
0:15:05 > 0:15:10and you see them crying by the grave, then you feel it yourself.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14How important to you both has it been to work here through the years?
0:15:14 > 0:15:15Through the decades, in fact.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18I can remember when I was about six years old
0:15:18 > 0:15:21and listening a lot to all these visitors who were
0:15:21 > 0:15:23coming around and then I decided, well,
0:15:23 > 0:15:27this is going to be my career in the future, even at that age.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29I felt proud...
0:15:29 > 0:15:31to follow the steps of my father.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35I wanted nothing else, you know.
0:15:36 > 0:15:43It wasn't just working and be paid, it was in my heart. Yeah.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17Liam is one of the older members of Libera.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20Today, he's travelled to the Belgian city of Mons
0:18:20 > 0:18:22on a very personal journey.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27Being in a religious church setting when you're singing,
0:18:27 > 0:18:32there are times in Mass often where they give the congregation
0:18:32 > 0:18:38a chance to pray and during those moments, sometimes I do think
0:18:38 > 0:18:40about my great-grandfather Harry Connery
0:18:40 > 0:18:44and what he did in the war.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48He didn't die on the front
0:18:48 > 0:18:52but he suffered heavily afterwards from mustard gas poisoning
0:18:52 > 0:18:57and he died relatively young at the age of 40 in 1932,
0:18:57 > 0:18:59the year that my grandfather was born,
0:18:59 > 0:19:02so my grandfather never knew his father.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08Today, I've been looking around at Mons
0:19:08 > 0:19:11and it's weird to think that 100 years ago, my great-grandfather
0:19:11 > 0:19:14Harry could've been walking the same streets with other soldiers
0:19:14 > 0:19:16preparing to fight.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21I found out today that there's this statue of a monkey in the town
0:19:21 > 0:19:26square and people rub its head with their left hand for good luck.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30So, maybe my great-grandfather might have done that
0:19:30 > 0:19:32as he was going into battle.
0:19:34 > 0:19:39The fact that he was 17 when he joined the army and he was
0:19:39 > 0:19:44younger than me when he did that, it's quite incredible, really.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47My parents would tell you that sometimes
0:19:47 > 0:19:51I'm very difficult in the mornings and hard to get up and get out of bed
0:19:51 > 0:19:54and stuff and to think that people my age were doing way more than
0:19:54 > 0:19:58that 100 years ago, having to get up on the front in a muddy trench,
0:19:58 > 0:20:00risking their lives,
0:20:00 > 0:20:04I don't know if I would ever be able to do what they did.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06It's incredible.
0:20:11 > 0:20:16- I wouldn't last... - Wouldn't last a day.- Yeah.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18It'd just be so traumatic.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21This is kind of crazy almost.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25At Sanctuary Wood, the original trenches have been preserved.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28A Canadian, trying to catch up with his sleep, opened up his eyes
0:20:28 > 0:20:29and what did he see?
0:20:29 > 0:20:30A huge rat trying to eat him.
0:20:30 > 0:20:36- Em, are there rats here now? - Probably not.- Probably(!)
0:20:36 > 0:20:38You are safe, they are well-fed.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43I've got pictures of my great-uncles cos all four of them
0:20:43 > 0:20:46went into the war and all four of them came back.
0:20:46 > 0:20:51I don't want to see what's in here. I'm just going to close my eyes.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53Ben, just hold on to me...
0:20:53 > 0:20:55This is my great-uncle Neil's diary.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59There was a gas attack but he was very lucky to survive.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01That's actually only a mile from here.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04And he was lucky because the wind blew the gas the other way.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08It was really horrible, he had to bury five men in that night,
0:21:08 > 0:21:09all suffering from gas.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12Yeah, there would have been a ledge or something,
0:21:12 > 0:21:14something you could stand on so...
0:21:14 > 0:21:16No, the sandbags would be up to...
0:21:16 > 0:21:21People would just rely on God almost to help them
0:21:21 > 0:21:24and sometimes their prayers wouldn't be answered
0:21:24 > 0:21:29and sometimes they would, like my great-uncles'.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31- And my great-uncle. - And your great-uncle.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43# For all who needs comfort
0:21:43 > 0:21:47# For all those who mourn
0:21:47 > 0:21:55# All those whom we cherished will be reborn
0:21:57 > 0:22:03# All those whom we love but see no more
0:22:03 > 0:22:11# They are not perished, but gone before
0:22:13 > 0:22:19# And lie in the tender arms of He
0:22:19 > 0:22:25# Who died for us all to set us free
0:22:25 > 0:22:34# From hatred and anger and cruel tyranny
0:22:34 > 0:22:41# May they rest in peace
0:22:42 > 0:22:49# And rise in glory
0:22:53 > 0:23:00# Lord give me wisdom to comprehend
0:23:00 > 0:23:07# Why I survive and not my friend
0:23:07 > 0:23:15# And teach me compassion so I may live
0:23:15 > 0:23:22# All my enemies to forgive
0:23:22 > 0:23:29# All suffering and sorrow will be no more
0:23:29 > 0:23:37# They'll vanish like shadows at heaven's door
0:23:39 > 0:23:45# All anguish and grieving will one day be healed
0:23:45 > 0:23:53# When all of God's purpose will be revealed
0:23:55 > 0:24:02# Though now for a season lost from sight
0:24:02 > 0:24:08# The innocent slain in the blindness of right
0:24:08 > 0:24:15# Are now in the warmth of God's glorious light
0:24:17 > 0:24:24# Where they rest in peace
0:24:26 > 0:24:34# And rise in glory. #
0:24:44 > 0:24:48Ciaran's great-great-uncle was in the Royal Flying Corps.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51He died six days after the Armistice
0:24:51 > 0:24:54and Ciaran is the first of his family to come here.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57Corporal Stanley.
0:24:58 > 0:25:03Died of pneumonia, 17th of November, 1918.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05Aged 21.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09'When I walked into this cemetery, the rows,
0:25:09 > 0:25:13'they're all so tightly squashed together.'
0:25:14 > 0:25:21As I walked along, I was looking at all the names and you think,
0:25:21 > 0:25:24"That person fought in the war and died.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27"And then so did that person."
0:25:29 > 0:25:33He was my great-great-uncle.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37I couldn't describe him, I couldn't say what he looked like
0:25:37 > 0:25:40but I still know he's Stanley Bradbury
0:25:40 > 0:25:43and Bradbury is my name.
0:25:43 > 0:25:49And that still means he's part of my family
0:25:49 > 0:25:51and he's connected to me.
0:25:54 > 0:26:01I was praying that he didn't die painfully and apart from in
0:26:01 > 0:26:04the war that he had a good life
0:26:04 > 0:26:09and that he...was a good person.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30# Good night, my angel
0:26:30 > 0:26:35# Time to close your eyes
0:26:35 > 0:26:42# And save these questions for another day
0:26:42 > 0:26:48# I think I know what you've been asking me
0:26:49 > 0:26:56# I think you know what I've been trying to say
0:26:56 > 0:27:02# I promised I would never leave you
0:27:02 > 0:27:09# And you should always know
0:27:09 > 0:27:12# Wherever you may go
0:27:12 > 0:27:16# No matter where you are
0:27:16 > 0:27:23# I never will be far away
0:27:23 > 0:27:25# Good night, my angel
0:27:25 > 0:27:30# Now it's time to sleep
0:27:30 > 0:27:37# And still so many things I want to say
0:27:37 > 0:27:44# Remember all the songs you sang for me
0:27:44 > 0:27:50# When we went sailing on an emerald bay
0:27:50 > 0:27:57# And like a boat out on the ocean
0:27:57 > 0:28:02# I'm rocking you to sleep
0:28:04 > 0:28:07# The water's dark and deep
0:28:07 > 0:28:10# Inside an ancient heart
0:28:10 > 0:28:16# You'll always be a part of me
0:28:43 > 0:28:46# Good night, my angel
0:28:46 > 0:28:50# Now it's time to dream
0:28:50 > 0:28:57# And dream how wonderful your life will be
0:28:57 > 0:29:01# Some day your child may cry
0:29:01 > 0:29:05# And if you sing this lullaby
0:29:05 > 0:29:07# Then in your heart
0:29:07 > 0:29:16# There will always be a part of me
0:29:18 > 0:29:23# Ahhh-ahhh ahhh ahhhhh ahh-ahhh
0:29:23 > 0:29:26# Ahhh ahhhhhh ahhh
0:29:26 > 0:29:30# Some day we'll all be gone
0:29:30 > 0:29:34# But lullabies go on and on
0:29:34 > 0:29:38# They never die
0:29:38 > 0:29:42# That's how you and I
0:29:42 > 0:29:47# Will be. #
0:30:01 > 0:30:04God grant to the living, grace,
0:30:04 > 0:30:06to the departed, rest,
0:30:06 > 0:30:08to the Church and all humankind
0:30:08 > 0:30:12peace, concord and life everlasting.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14The blessing of God Almighty,
0:30:14 > 0:30:16the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
0:30:16 > 0:30:20be with you and all those whom you love
0:30:20 > 0:30:24- this day and for ever more. Amen. CONGREGATION:- Amen.
0:30:29 > 0:30:33Tomorrow marks the start of four years of centenary commemorations
0:30:33 > 0:30:34of World War I.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37No-one who took part in that conflict is alive today,
0:30:37 > 0:30:40but that's not to say that we should just forget and move on.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43These are our grandparents and great-grandparents,
0:30:43 > 0:30:46great-uncles and great-great-uncles.
0:30:46 > 0:30:48They're part of us.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51And they lie here as a silent but powerful witness
0:30:51 > 0:30:54to the misery and desolation that follows
0:30:54 > 0:30:57when we learn to hate rather than love.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33Next week, Claire and I go in search of sacred gardens.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37While I head to Kew to explore their new faith trail,
0:33:37 > 0:33:40Claire finds out about Westminster Abbey's secret gardens.
0:33:40 > 0:33:44Plus music and hymns inspired by Creation.