0:00:02 > 0:00:04It would be hard for them to imagine me doing the job that I do today...
0:00:04 > 0:00:06'As a journalist and blind person,
0:00:06 > 0:00:09'I've experienced massive changes in technology
0:00:09 > 0:00:11'in the past two decades...'
0:00:12 > 0:00:14SPEECH SYNTHESISER ON COMPUTER
0:00:16 > 0:00:20..but the biggest shift in attitudes happened 100 years ago.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26Out of the horror and carnage of the First World War came advances
0:00:26 > 0:00:30that revolutionised the way in which blind people live and work.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35From Guide Dogs
0:00:35 > 0:00:37to talking books...
0:00:38 > 0:00:41..and new skills for independence.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46These pioneers left a legacy that is still with us today.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20The fields of Belgium and France...
0:01:21 > 0:01:25..where millions of soldiers fought for four long years
0:01:25 > 0:01:27in the stalemate of trench warfare.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33Many would never return.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47It was the biggest conflict the world has ever seen...
0:01:49 > 0:01:51..with new and devastating weapons.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59Hundreds of thousands of men survived to return home,
0:01:59 > 0:02:02but sustained terrible injuries.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23I want to find out why so many in this particular conflict
0:02:23 > 0:02:25lost their sight.
0:02:26 > 0:02:31Because it was a highly mechanised new type of industrial warfare,
0:02:31 > 0:02:35a lot of men had impaled injuries to their face.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39They had a lot of facial trauma which involved the eye, as well.
0:02:39 > 0:02:45There were...everything from wooden splinters to shells,
0:02:45 > 0:02:47to, quite frankly, human bone
0:02:47 > 0:02:51that actually penetrated men's face, head and body.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56It's very, very basic medical intervention.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00If you were bleeding, you had your bleeding arrested.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03If you were in shock and cold, you would be warmed up.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06If you were burnt, they would try to irrigate your eyes,
0:03:06 > 0:03:07irrigate the tissue,
0:03:07 > 0:03:13compression bandages applied, splints applied, morphine given.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16It was all very, very basic emergency care
0:03:16 > 0:03:19and then you were moved up the line to a base hospital
0:03:19 > 0:03:23until they decided either you could be returned to duty,
0:03:23 > 0:03:25or you would be sent back to Britain
0:03:25 > 0:03:28for longer-term treatment and therapy.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34But there was something worse than the guns -
0:03:34 > 0:03:35a silent killer.
0:03:37 > 0:03:38Gas.
0:03:41 > 0:03:47By 1915, the two sides were trapped in the insanity of trench warfare.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50Thousands losing their lives each day
0:03:50 > 0:03:54in return for a few feet of ground.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57The use of chemical weapons had been banned
0:03:57 > 0:04:00at the Hague Convention of 1899 -
0:04:00 > 0:04:03but the opposing armies needed a more effective weapon
0:04:03 > 0:04:05than artillery -
0:04:05 > 0:04:09one which delivered quickly and to devastating effect.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15During the First World War, we would actually have
0:04:15 > 0:04:18predominantly mustard and phosgene.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22Both of those chemical weapons could get into the membranes of your nose,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25and your eyes and your mouth - and in particularly into the lungs.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27If it gets deep into the lungs,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30it's going to then burn out the membranes of the lungs,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33which will then naturally be replaced by fluid.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37That fluid then starts to corrupt and to froth,
0:04:37 > 0:04:40and then you start to drown in your own bodily fluids
0:04:40 > 0:04:42from the lungs within.
0:04:42 > 0:04:43Of course the membranes of the eyes
0:04:43 > 0:04:45would then be burned with the phosgene,
0:04:45 > 0:04:47and that would cause the temporary
0:04:47 > 0:04:50and sometimes the permanent blindness, of course.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02Those returning home may have escaped the trenches...
0:05:02 > 0:05:04but faced new challenges ahead.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10It must have been very difficult to go home,
0:05:10 > 0:05:12because you don't know what you're going home to.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14You might be going home to a job
0:05:14 > 0:05:15that you might not be able to do any more
0:05:15 > 0:05:19and it's not just a physical trauma that people will be going through.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21It would be the psychological trauma -
0:05:21 > 0:05:25and would your friends and family accept you the way you were before?
0:05:25 > 0:05:29MUSIC: We All Went Marching Home Again by The Black Diamonds Band
0:05:38 > 0:05:40Coming back from France 100 years ago
0:05:40 > 0:05:43must have been really horrific for people.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45Really busy - not quite as busy as the traffic is today
0:05:45 > 0:05:48but nevertheless, the pavements will still be busy.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52The idea of having no guide dog or no white stick
0:05:52 > 0:05:54to find your way around would have been really difficult.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58I can't really imagine what it would have been like for these soldiers.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00The attitude to working with a disability
0:06:00 > 0:06:03would have been very different then compared with today.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16Before the First World War, 80% of blind people
0:06:16 > 0:06:19were not considered part of mainstream society.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23They were known as the outdoor blind.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28The indoor blind could live and work in institutions
0:06:28 > 0:06:31where they would handcraft practical items for sale.
0:06:34 > 0:06:39The blind asylum near Glasgow Cathedral was founded in 1804.
0:06:41 > 0:06:46On a pedestal there's a statue of Christ seated
0:06:46 > 0:06:51and he's placing his left hand over the eyes of a small boy,
0:06:51 > 0:06:56um...and the title of the statue
0:06:56 > 0:07:00was to the effect, Christ Restoring The Sight Of A Boy.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05Historian Iain Hutchison
0:07:05 > 0:07:08is an expert in the lives of disabled people in the past.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12What was it like, Iain, for visually impaired people,
0:07:12 > 0:07:16latter part of the 19th century leading up to the First World War?
0:07:17 > 0:07:22I would say it depends at what stage in their lives they were at,
0:07:22 > 0:07:26whether they were young people, older people, whatever.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28If people were in the prime of life,
0:07:28 > 0:07:31they were looking to be active.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33They were looking to be self-supporting
0:07:33 > 0:07:37and this is where the likes of the blind institutions came in
0:07:37 > 0:07:38as providers of work.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41And what kind of work did they do?
0:07:41 > 0:07:43It was very kind of stereotype work.
0:07:43 > 0:07:49It was handcraft work - so they were making things like ropes, canework,
0:07:49 > 0:07:53mattresses, this type of thing.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56The choice available to them was fairly limited.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59In terms of aspirations for blind people outside that,
0:07:59 > 0:08:01what were they like in terms of their life -
0:08:01 > 0:08:02married life, family life?
0:08:02 > 0:08:08Many blind people had to actually fight to live normal lives
0:08:08 > 0:08:11in terms of romance, marriage,
0:08:11 > 0:08:14bringing up families and so forth.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17That was probably more challenging -
0:08:17 > 0:08:20not just in terms of meeting people,
0:08:20 > 0:08:25but in terms of barriers that were sometimes put in their way
0:08:25 > 0:08:28because of outside perceptions.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32Should blind people marry and have children?
0:08:32 > 0:08:34There were people who thought not.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42These attitudes would change dramatically
0:08:42 > 0:08:45with thousands of blind soldiers returning from the front.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51St Dunstan's charity was founded in 1915 in London
0:08:51 > 0:08:55specifically to help them adjust to the new circumstances.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01These would be, on the whole, young men, often in their 20s,
0:09:01 > 0:09:03some even younger than that,
0:09:03 > 0:09:08who had been blinded in often very shocking circumstances.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11They would have had to adjust to that,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14and an absolute change in where they thought their life was going.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18They would not have seen themselves as career soldiers.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20They would have joined up to fight a war
0:09:20 > 0:09:24for what they would've thought was a very limited period of time
0:09:24 > 0:09:27and expecting, then, to go back into society.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35St Dunstan's was the brainchild of Sir Arthur Pearson,
0:09:35 > 0:09:39a successful businessman who had founded the Daily Express newspaper.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43He had poor vision from birth,
0:09:43 > 0:09:46and finally lost his sight through glaucoma.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50As president of the National Institute for the Blind,
0:09:50 > 0:09:53he wanted to help these newly blinded young men.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55When he went blind himself,
0:09:55 > 0:09:57he's reportedly said to have told his wife
0:09:57 > 0:10:01that "I'm not going to be A blind man, I will be THE blind man."
0:10:01 > 0:10:04He was absolutely determined that losing his sight
0:10:04 > 0:10:06would not impair his ability to carry on living
0:10:06 > 0:10:08an entirely full life -
0:10:08 > 0:10:12and part of the thinking with the charity
0:10:12 > 0:10:15was that he wanted to imbue those values
0:10:15 > 0:10:17in the men that he was helping,
0:10:17 > 0:10:21but also he wanted to demonstrate to wider society
0:10:21 > 0:10:24that being blind didn't mean that you couldn't have a family,
0:10:24 > 0:10:26that you couldn't have a career,
0:10:26 > 0:10:28that you couldn't do a lot of things.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37His idea was to create a place where men could go to learn to be blind.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43A place to recuperate and start enjoying life again.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48Although things would never be the same
0:10:48 > 0:10:50after the trauma of losing your sight,
0:10:50 > 0:10:52the men could still experience
0:10:52 > 0:10:56some of the same pleasures and pastimes as everyone else.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01They also could prepare for the future.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04Part of what we did was actually train the men in new skills,
0:11:04 > 0:11:08a variety of skills, some of which had been traditional occupations
0:11:08 > 0:11:10for the blind, some of which much less so,
0:11:10 > 0:11:15such as poultry farming and massage, what we'd now call physiotherapy.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18So, there were a wide range, really, of occupations
0:11:18 > 0:11:22that the men were going into and they would have been, in that sense,
0:11:22 > 0:11:24visible to the wider sighted community,
0:11:24 > 0:11:27they would have seen... They would have worked with these people,
0:11:27 > 0:11:30in out-facing jobs. They would have seen them,
0:11:30 > 0:11:33some of them went on to be things like shopkeepers.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36So, they would have seen them around,
0:11:36 > 0:11:37and the thinking, really,
0:11:37 > 0:11:40was that that actually would help to change attitudes.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46Unlike the past, when options for blind people were limited
0:11:46 > 0:11:48to rope-making and mattress-stuffing,
0:11:48 > 0:11:52these veterans went into the full range of professions.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57There's a whole variety of people that went into...
0:11:57 > 0:11:58careers that people went into.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02We had blind veterans who became lawyers, who became academics,
0:12:02 > 0:12:04a whole range of occupations.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07And, for them, I think, a lot of it would have been
0:12:07 > 0:12:10the basic core training that we offered in the first instance.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14So, we taught Braille reading and writing, we taught typewriting.
0:12:14 > 0:12:15Those were seen, really, as core skills -
0:12:15 > 0:12:18but they were the stepping stones, in a lot of cases.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24St Dunstan's didn't just teach the skills needed
0:12:24 > 0:12:27for blind people to go into a wide range of jobs -
0:12:27 > 0:12:30they changed attitudes, and made it normal.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37'At the same time, the large numbers of blinded soldiers
0:12:37 > 0:12:39'returning to Germany led to the opening
0:12:39 > 0:12:41'of the first school for guide dogs.'
0:12:41 > 0:12:43All right, on you go. Good boy!
0:12:43 > 0:12:45- On you go. Is that us here? - That's us here.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48'I would certainly find it difficult to get around
0:12:48 > 0:12:51'without my guide dog, Renton.'
0:12:51 > 0:12:53Forward, Renton. On you go.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57'I might still have a more unusual job for a blind person,
0:12:57 > 0:13:01'but developments like guide dogs, as well as changes in attitudes,
0:13:01 > 0:13:05'have made it possible for blind and visually impaired people
0:13:05 > 0:13:07'to go into a huge variety of careers.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13'Mark Pemberton and I went to college together.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19'It's a few years ago now, but we've always kept in touch.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22'Mark has made a successful career as a piano tuner in London
0:13:22 > 0:13:25'and he's going to show me what's involved.'
0:13:26 > 0:13:29To finish off just taking it apart, you've got the fall -
0:13:29 > 0:13:33- F-A-L-L - which goes over the keys, and that..- Oh, right.
0:13:33 > 0:13:34..comes outwards...
0:13:34 > 0:13:38- Not much of the piano left by the time you're finished!- Uh-huh!
0:13:38 > 0:13:40Now I can start. Now, you can see all the strings in there,
0:13:40 > 0:13:42- if you can see. - Well, I can feel them.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44- Yup.- Right, you're going to show me how to do this?
0:13:44 > 0:13:47- Cos you know how musical I am. - Yes.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50- Not at all. - Yeah! Well, anyway...
0:13:50 > 0:13:53OK, hold the tuning lever fairly near the top.
0:13:53 > 0:13:54Now, where's the key? What key am I?
0:13:54 > 0:13:56You want the D, that one.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58You say that as if I know what a D is.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02That's it, now move the tuning lever to the right.
0:14:03 > 0:14:04Play it.
0:14:04 > 0:14:05NOTE PLAYS
0:14:05 > 0:14:06- OK...- It's not moving.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09- It is.- Now back down again to the left.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12- NOTE MODULATES - Well, you're getting there.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14Keep going.
0:14:14 > 0:14:15Now to the right.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19- Can you hear that getting better? - Yeah, I can.
0:14:19 > 0:14:20This is the art of piano tuning.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23- That's it there.- Yes. There's no such thing as perfection.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25Have I got a new career? Would you say that was in tune?
0:14:25 > 0:14:28Yeah, you were a bit lucky that it went into tune this quickly.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30I... That was skill!
0:14:31 > 0:14:33But you get the drift.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36I suppose piano tuning is a bit of an obvious one.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38Did it worry you that it's a bit of a stereotypical job?
0:14:38 > 0:14:40I think, yes.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43I think it was a bit, "Oh, well, piano tuning, that's so-so,"
0:14:43 > 0:14:46Sort of like, "That's so traditional,"
0:14:46 > 0:14:50and I might have been a bit sort of high-browed about that,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54but once I started, I realised that it was quite a demanding job,
0:14:54 > 0:14:59and there was quite a failure rate from the course, it wasn't easy.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01So, it was challenging, and I liked that
0:15:01 > 0:15:04because, as you know, I'm a bit of a perfectionist,
0:15:04 > 0:15:07so I think that side of the job suits me well.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11But the challenges faced by the soldiers returning 100 years ago
0:15:11 > 0:15:12would have been huge.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19At the age of 26,
0:15:19 > 0:15:22Private Robert Steele from Cumnock in Ayrshire
0:15:22 > 0:15:26left the pits to join the Ayrshire Yeomanry in 1914.
0:15:28 > 0:15:29They had the horses.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31They worked with horses on the farms,
0:15:31 > 0:15:35and The War Office wanted as many horses as they could get,
0:15:35 > 0:15:40so it was the yeomanry he went into, and his horse went with him.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46Horses were important for transporting weapons and goods.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52After fighting at Gallipoli, in Egypt and in Palestine,
0:15:52 > 0:15:57in 1918 Robert Steele found himself at Ypres on the Western Front.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00Can you tell me, Mona, how did he lose his sight?
0:16:00 > 0:16:02Well, it was the mustard gas.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05He was only... There were two out of the whole company lived -
0:16:05 > 0:16:09the rest of them all died with the attack with the mustard gas.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13And as a result, his lungs were pitted with the gas.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15But it didn't just affect his lungs, did it?
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Oh, his eyes. He lost his sight.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21I can't imagine how horrific it must have been in these trenches, Mona.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23Did he speak about it much when he came back?
0:16:23 > 0:16:26He didn't, he very seldom spoke about the trenches,
0:16:26 > 0:16:29he said it was horrific, there was rats eating the bodies.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31He talked about his uniform,
0:16:31 > 0:16:34they had to use matches to go along the seams of the uniform
0:16:34 > 0:16:36to kill the lice.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40How bitter was he about losing his vision?
0:16:40 > 0:16:43He wasn't - he was an amazing man,
0:16:43 > 0:16:46because he had so... an unfortunate life.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48He lost a daughter when she was five and a half,
0:16:48 > 0:16:52my brother was lost at sea when he was 19,
0:16:52 > 0:16:55and he never, ever said, "Why me?"
0:16:55 > 0:16:56And your mum died.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59My mum died in 1937, before I was five,
0:16:59 > 0:17:02and he never, ever felt sorry...
0:17:02 > 0:17:05He always said, there's somebody worse off than me.
0:17:05 > 0:17:11He just seemed that determined to do things as positively as he could.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14He must have had some huge internal reserves
0:17:14 > 0:17:18that allowed him to carry on in spite of that,
0:17:18 > 0:17:22and find ways to manage his life without being bitter,
0:17:22 > 0:17:24because he wasn't bitter.
0:17:26 > 0:17:27Per head of population,
0:17:27 > 0:17:31Scotland sent more men to the Front than any other part of the UK...
0:17:33 > 0:17:34..and, as a result,
0:17:34 > 0:17:38suffered disproportionately high numbers of casualties.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41I think there's something partly within the, kind of,
0:17:41 > 0:17:43the Scottish mind-set,
0:17:43 > 0:17:48that does not approve or allow for people to be abandoned,
0:17:48 > 0:17:51particularly when they have given service to their country.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54There was St Dunstan's down in England,
0:17:54 > 0:17:56but I think there was a general consensus
0:17:56 > 0:17:59that our war blind needed to be returned to Scotland.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02It was their home, that's where they needed to be,
0:18:02 > 0:18:06and that we were wanting to look after our own men and women.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14Scottish War Blinded in Edinburgh
0:18:14 > 0:18:17was set up in the same year as St Dunstan's in London,
0:18:17 > 0:18:21and provided support near to home for those north of the border.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24It was all about...
0:18:24 > 0:18:29find a way that the service people with injuries can earn a living
0:18:29 > 0:18:34and have pride in being a self-standing member
0:18:34 > 0:18:35of the community.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37To get them back on the rails again,
0:18:37 > 0:18:39having come back extremely discouraged
0:18:39 > 0:18:41and believing there was no future for them.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45- I'll introduce you.- OK, OK.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50Just on your left here, can I introduce you to Phil?
0:18:50 > 0:18:52Phil, this is Ian.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56'The profile of those helped by the charity has changed.'
0:18:56 > 0:18:59This is Harry. Harry Hogg.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01'They're now mainly older veterans,
0:19:01 > 0:19:05'many who have not necessarily lost their sight in active service,
0:19:05 > 0:19:07'but later in life.
0:19:07 > 0:19:12'The emphasis is on camaraderie, recreation and experiences.'
0:19:12 > 0:19:15Mostly, I do a lot of painting here, artwork -
0:19:15 > 0:19:18but we also go paragliding,
0:19:18 > 0:19:22we go powerboat racing and white-water rafting.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25How important is it, do you think, for you guys who are ex-forces
0:19:25 > 0:19:28to get that kind of buzz doing these kinds of things?
0:19:28 > 0:19:31- Do you think it's important? - Well, it has changed my life.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36Many of the veterans enjoy painting,
0:19:36 > 0:19:38something that might seem a surprising activity
0:19:38 > 0:19:40for those who have lost their sight.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44Why painting? Why do you like it?
0:19:44 > 0:19:46I was diagnosed with PTSD,
0:19:46 > 0:19:51- and I find it's more of a therapy, and I love doing it.- Right.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53Quite relaxing, eh?
0:19:53 > 0:19:56I could never paint until I went to Blind Veterans
0:19:56 > 0:19:57for a week's course,
0:19:57 > 0:20:00and he says, "There's a picture, there's a canvas, get on with it."
0:20:00 > 0:20:01I finished it, and he says,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04"Well, which college did you go and learn it at?"
0:20:04 > 0:20:05I never painted before in my life!
0:20:05 > 0:20:07How much sight have you got?
0:20:07 > 0:20:08- Sight as such?- Uh-huh.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10Well, I'm standing right in front of you
0:20:10 > 0:20:12and I can't see your face at all.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14I don't even know what my grandkids look like.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16If I look at my fingers, it's a just a blur.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19So, once I've got my magnifier in front of me,
0:20:19 > 0:20:23then I've got a space in one eye I look through and it's only tiny.
0:20:23 > 0:20:25I call it painting through a keyhole.
0:20:25 > 0:20:26When I used to do it, I used to describe it
0:20:26 > 0:20:29as a bit like painting a jigsaw puzzle one piece at a time.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31- Is that what it's like? - Yeah, that's it -
0:20:31 > 0:20:33- and I do a lot of feeling work. - Uh-huh.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36Cos when I start saying, "I'm going to paint this,"
0:20:36 > 0:20:39I throw the colours in, and I started using my fingers.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41And then you can blend it in.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45When you're using your fingers, there's a lot of motion involved.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48- Mm-hm.- And even a lot of the bigger pieces I've done,
0:20:48 > 0:20:51like I did one of a young child,
0:20:51 > 0:20:55and when I was blending in the shades and that, I started crying.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57- Oh, right!- It was quite scary, you know,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00it was just so therapeutic, you know?
0:21:03 > 0:21:07Young soldiers do still lose their sight.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09In 2006, Simon Brown was a corporal
0:21:09 > 0:21:13in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers,
0:21:13 > 0:21:15on tour in Iraq.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18I was tasked to go and recover a vehicle.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20When we got there we were under heavy fire.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22I got the vehicle out with the six people on board,
0:21:22 > 0:21:25and effectively completed the mission.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28But on the extraction I was shot by a sniper.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31So the bullet came in my...
0:21:31 > 0:21:34left cheek between the corner of my nose, corner of my eye,
0:21:34 > 0:21:36outside corner of my eye,
0:21:36 > 0:21:38came out my right cheek between the bottom of my nose,
0:21:38 > 0:21:40and the bottom of my ear.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44It was when I woke up three weeks later in Selly Oak
0:21:44 > 0:21:46and they explained to me what had actually happened,
0:21:46 > 0:21:50that the true meaning of the injuries sort of dawned on me.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52And...that initial...
0:21:54 > 0:21:57..thought that you were going to be blind, I cannot...
0:21:57 > 0:21:59Cos my sight - I didn't have much sight, Simon,
0:21:59 > 0:22:02but what little sight I had faded over a period of time.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05It's like somebody just throwing a big switch for you, isn't it?
0:22:05 > 0:22:06Quite traumatic.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09It is, but I'm sure it's the same thing - when someone says,
0:22:09 > 0:22:11"You've lost your sight", you don't hear that,
0:22:11 > 0:22:13you hear, "Your life's over."
0:22:14 > 0:22:17Simon has a small amount of vision remaining in his right eye,
0:22:17 > 0:22:20which allows him to use some forms of technology.
0:22:22 > 0:22:27When I started looking into things and realising what was out there,
0:22:27 > 0:22:30it really changed my opinion of where it was,
0:22:30 > 0:22:32and what opportunities might be available to me.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35I never thought I'd be back in work,
0:22:35 > 0:22:39but I was able to start looking at the next stage of my life.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41Learning how to use a computer,
0:22:41 > 0:22:44learning about mobility skills with the white cane,
0:22:44 > 0:22:49understanding what technologies were, and what was useful to me.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52When you came back, you were fortunate, in a sense,
0:22:52 > 0:22:55that we've got far more technology now.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58Being blind today is not the same as being blind 100 years ago, is it?
0:22:58 > 0:23:01I don't think being blind today is the same as it was 25 years ago,
0:23:01 > 0:23:03to be honest!
0:23:03 > 0:23:08I feel very fortunate that there is not only the technology,
0:23:08 > 0:23:11the opportunities, the support from government
0:23:11 > 0:23:14with the disability acts and things like that,
0:23:14 > 0:23:18but also the awareness of society of it.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20SPEECH SYNTHESISER ON PHONE
0:23:20 > 0:23:24Technology has certainly changed my life.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27I would find it very difficult to survive these days
0:23:27 > 0:23:28without my smartphone.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30There are quite a few apps that I like particularly.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32- 'Light Detector.' - Light Detector lets me know
0:23:32 > 0:23:35when a light's left on in the house, or anywhere, for that matter.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38- 'Money Reader.'- Money Reader lets me identify currency via the camera.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41- 'Recogniser.'- Recogniser, that's a tag where I can photograph something
0:23:41 > 0:23:43and it'll tell me exactly what it is.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46- 'Colour It.'- That'll let me know what colour I'm wearing.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49And these are the kind of apps that I just adore.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51But the one thing I really like...
0:23:51 > 0:23:54'Periscope, ScotRail, TweetList, Voice Dream...'
0:23:54 > 0:23:57..is my talking book one,
0:23:57 > 0:24:00which means I can listen to a talking book just about anywhere -
0:24:00 > 0:24:03and that's one of the things that came out of the First World War
0:24:03 > 0:24:06that made a huge difference to people who were blind.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12- MAN IN BOOTH:- He reached over for the Gieves & Hawkes suit and shirt
0:24:12 > 0:24:14that was hanging in the suit carrier,
0:24:14 > 0:24:16which, in turn, was hanging on the towel rail radiator.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20Servicemen blinded in the First World War
0:24:20 > 0:24:23were just excluded from the experience of reading.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28The man who changed all that was the inventor of talking books,
0:24:28 > 0:24:30Ian Fraser.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34He lost his sight in 1916 at the Battle of the Somme
0:24:34 > 0:24:36when he was hit by a sniper.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42That single gunshot robbed him of one his greatest passions -
0:24:42 > 0:24:44reading.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47He tried to learn Braille at St Dunstan's,
0:24:47 > 0:24:49but found it frustratingly slow.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52Ian Fraser was incredibly passionate
0:24:52 > 0:24:56about responding to some of those problems
0:24:56 > 0:25:01and had the dream to provide talking books.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03- ARCHIVE:- In Regent's Park stands a small building
0:25:03 > 0:25:05dedicated to the service of those
0:25:05 > 0:25:08for whom the beauty of flowers and trees
0:25:08 > 0:25:09can only be an idea or a memory.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13Inside this building, a recording engineer transfers onto wax
0:25:13 > 0:25:14beauty of another kind,
0:25:14 > 0:25:17for blind folk to share with their more fortunate fellows.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20This waxen disc will become almost like a pair of eyes
0:25:20 > 0:25:23to thousands who live in darkness.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27Well, this is one of the very early talking book machines,
0:25:27 > 0:25:29and it was a record, as you can see,
0:25:29 > 0:25:32and it must have been incredible to use one of these things -
0:25:32 > 0:25:35but for a lot of soldiers this must have been fantastic,
0:25:35 > 0:25:38to sit down and be able to listen to a book,
0:25:38 > 0:25:40maybe for the first time in years.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44Old Goriot by Honore de Balzac.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46Recorded for the Talking Book Library
0:25:46 > 0:25:48for the sole use of the blind,
0:25:48 > 0:25:49read by Joseph Macleod.
0:25:51 > 0:25:56"Madame Vauquer, nee de Conflans, is an elderly person..."
0:25:56 > 0:25:58For me personally, doing the job I do,
0:25:58 > 0:26:02and spending a lot of time in hotels, talking books are fantastic.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06It means that you can get the same cultural references
0:26:06 > 0:26:10as everybody else, and not to feel missed out and that,
0:26:10 > 0:26:11I think is really important.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15And so, the blind are able to see with a mind's eye.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19'Old Goriot by Honore de Balzac...'
0:26:19 > 0:26:21It's a relatively small number of years ago, we thought CDs
0:26:21 > 0:26:24were the absolute state-of-the-art,
0:26:24 > 0:26:28whereas now that's evolved into delivery mechanisms
0:26:28 > 0:26:31like USB memory sticks and digital downloads,
0:26:31 > 0:26:37on to the whole plethora of mainstream devices -
0:26:37 > 0:26:40be that PC, be that tablet, be that smartphone.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43So, I think there have been changes and innovations
0:26:43 > 0:26:47in just about every aspect of the service.
0:26:47 > 0:26:52And I think, even today, servicemen blinded in modern day conflicts
0:26:52 > 0:26:56benefit from the consequences and the products
0:26:56 > 0:26:58of some of that initial innovation.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02Today, talking books are more popular than ever,
0:27:02 > 0:27:06and their use has spread far beyond the visually impaired community.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14I'm currently in one of the studios at BBC in Glasgow.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17Now, they've made two studios accessible here,
0:27:17 > 0:27:18and this is the larger one.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21They've got a few bits of Braille over here behind me,
0:27:21 > 0:27:24on the switches, which lets me know what the most important switches are
0:27:24 > 0:27:27that I need to know. They've created what they call snapshots,
0:27:27 > 0:27:29which means I hit a couple of buttons
0:27:29 > 0:27:32and it comes up with my settings that's most accessible for me -
0:27:32 > 0:27:36and, plus, we have a computerised voice which comes into my headphones
0:27:36 > 0:27:40which indicates, when I'm editing or when I'm recording,
0:27:40 > 0:27:42what's happening on the computer screen.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45SPEECH SYNTHESISER
0:27:45 > 0:27:47'..OK button. Title is Highlander.'
0:27:48 > 0:27:52It's a long way from learning to type at St Dunstan's...
0:27:52 > 0:27:54AUDIO PLAYS AT HIGH SPEED
0:27:54 > 0:27:59..but those first steps paved the way for how I do my job today.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04'Ian Hamilton for Reporting Scotland on Rum.'
0:28:04 > 0:28:07When you think back to the First World War, and the guys coming back,
0:28:07 > 0:28:10they could never possibly imagine this.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13We must remember, then they came back from the First World War,
0:28:13 > 0:28:14there wasn't even any radio.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17I mean, there were typewriters, but very difficult to use -
0:28:17 > 0:28:18but for them to come and see...
0:28:18 > 0:28:21I must seem like an alien in so many ways,
0:28:21 > 0:28:23with so much technology.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26They would see me as some sort of creature from a faraway planet.