1 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:09,840 SOFT MILITARY DRUMBEAT 2 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:17,520 It was August 4th, 1914. 3 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:19,960 The clock was ticking to catastrophe. 4 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:25,760 The deadline was midnight, Central European Time - 5 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:27,200 11 o'clock in London. 6 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:30,920 Britain and Germany were on the brink of war. 7 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:38,560 German troops were on the march throughout Europe 8 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:40,520 and had invaded Belgium. 9 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:43,960 The British government had warned 10 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:48,080 that if Germany didn't back down by 11, it was war. 11 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:50,160 CLOCK TICKS 12 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:01,960 The Cabinet, and the nation, held its breath. 13 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:07,640 From Germany, silence. 14 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:13,480 TICKING ECHOES 15 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:19,040 Then, the sound of the apocalypse. 16 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:22,840 BELL TOLLS 17 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:24,120 Doom! 18 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:27,800 Doom! 19 00:01:28,960 --> 00:01:30,040 Doom! 20 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:33,720 "The big clock," wrote Chancellor David Lloyd George, 21 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:37,800 "echoes in our ears like the hammer of destiny." 22 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:46,720 There was now no going back. 23 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:50,800 At 11:20, British forces were sent the fateful telegram 24 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:55,920 which read simply, "War. Germany. Act." 25 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:05,680 So Britain joined the bloodiest conflict the human race had ever known. 26 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:10,880 Ten million soldiers killed. 27 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:16,120 Every one of them somebody's father or son. 28 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:23,440 But this war wasn't just fought on foreign fields. 29 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:26,360 It affected every area of life at home. 30 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:32,760 No-one - grandparent or child, blacksmith or aristocrat, 31 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:35,120 Boy Scout or schoolgirl - 32 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:37,080 no-one escaped. 33 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:43,080 This is the epic story of how that conflict changed their lives 34 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:45,760 and forged the country we know today. 35 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:55,760 In 1914, Britain faced its biggest threat for nearly 1,000 years. 36 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:59,040 This was a land gripped by fear of invasion. 37 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:05,320 Horrified at the sight of badly wounded men returning home. 38 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:10,440 Civilians were murdered by shells from ships at sea. 39 00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:15,680 Schoolchildren slaughtered in the first air raids. 40 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:21,360 The technology made possible by science 41 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,120 was now used for mass killing. 42 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,800 This would be the first truly modern war. 43 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:35,400 A total war, pitting the resources 44 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:39,200 and resolve of entire populations against each other. 45 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:42,920 A war that would visit new terrors on British households, 46 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:46,520 a war that would turn the country upside down. 47 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:20,680 BIRDSONG 48 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:37,000 Two days before Britain went to war, an unlikely visitor 49 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:39,200 turned up at London Zoo. 50 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:46,600 He spent an hour in the birdhouse trying to calm his troubled mind. 51 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:53,800 It was the Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, a man who loved birds. 52 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:57,080 But today he was sick with worry. 53 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:00,560 The war he'd tried so tirelessly to prevent 54 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,560 was now getting closer by the moment. 55 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:07,720 And those around him were beginning to fall apart. 56 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:09,280 BIRD CALLS 57 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:15,360 The German ambassador, Prince Lichnowsky, was crazed with anxiety, 58 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:18,120 such a nervous wreck that one afternoon 59 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:22,160 he received a visiting dignitary in his pyjamas. 60 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:25,080 The British Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith, 61 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:28,040 wept as two of his Cabinet resigned, 62 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:30,120 both of them also crying. 63 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:37,560 Gaunt with stress, Grey himself would burst into tears twice - 64 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:41,560 in Cabinet, and in front of the startled American ambassador. 65 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:45,800 What WAS going on? 66 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:49,640 This was Britain in 1914, the land of the stiff upper lip, 67 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:53,960 where men, let alone leaders of men, simply didn't cry. 68 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:56,760 It wasn't that they were pacifists, far from it. 69 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:00,400 But Britain hadn't fought a war in Europe for a century, 70 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:02,920 and they were appalled by the prospect 71 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:06,920 of something on such a large scale and so close to home. 72 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,720 The Germans had an army of over two-million soldiers 73 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:20,960 and detailed war plans for the conquest of Europe. 74 00:06:23,840 --> 00:06:27,960 When Grey and his colleagues looked into the future, 75 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:30,080 they caught a glimpse of Armageddon. 76 00:06:39,840 --> 00:06:41,920 That Bank Holiday weekend, 77 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:45,080 the British people had tried to make the most of the sun. 78 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,960 It was looking increasingly as if war on the Continent was inevitable. 79 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:54,240 But perhaps Britain could stand apart. 80 00:06:55,840 --> 00:06:59,240 The men of the British navy were massed, just in case, 81 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:01,120 in 180 warships, 82 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:03,160 the pride of the empire. 83 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:07,960 The British Army, small by continental standards, 84 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,560 but well-trained and used to winning, adjusted to the possibility 85 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:16,200 of fighting in Europe for the first time in generations. 86 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:23,600 And across Britain, 100,000 people demonstrated for peace. 87 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:30,480 In Trafalgar Square, the Labour MP Keir Hardie told the crowds, 88 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:33,400 "YOU have no quarrel with Germany!" 89 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:42,720 As the deadline approached on August 4th, thousands drifted towards 90 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:46,960 Buckingham Palace, hoping to catch a sight of their king, George V. 91 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:52,440 Silence fell upon the crowd. 92 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:58,280 Now and again, there was a surge of cheering 93 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:01,040 and a chorus of the National Anthem. 94 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:03,320 CHEERING 95 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:06,040 NATIONAL ANTHEM PLAYS 96 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:08,800 They stayed on long after nightfall. 97 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:15,680 They reckon there were about 10,000 people here that night. 98 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:18,720 But they weren't baying for German blood. 99 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:23,640 It's often claimed the British were naively enthusiastic about war. 100 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:27,680 They weren't. There WAS a general sense of excitement 101 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:29,800 once war had been declared, 102 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:31,560 but there was anxiety too. 103 00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:38,680 The Emperor of Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm, 104 00:08:38,680 --> 00:08:41,160 aimed to dominate all of Europe 105 00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:43,480 by invading both France and Russia. 106 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:47,880 He also had his eyes on a chunk of the British Empire. 107 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:49,600 SOLDIERS CHANT 108 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:53,280 With a huge army primed for a lightning campaign, 109 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:55,840 the Germans would be a fearsome enemy, 110 00:08:55,840 --> 00:09:00,160 which could only be stopped by even more fearsome force. 111 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:04,880 BOMBS WHISTLE AND EXPLODE 112 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:09,480 The much smaller British Army 113 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:13,280 began to embark for the Continent on August 7th. 114 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:16,040 Many expected a quick victory. 115 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:20,320 "We had great hopes," recalled one Irish soldier. 116 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:22,840 "A dose of that rapid fire of ours, 117 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:27,240 "followed by an Irish bayonet charge, would soon fix things." 118 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:38,400 Most people seem to have accepted that the war had to be fought - 119 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:43,400 to honour treaties, to defend the Empire, to protect Britain. 120 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:46,280 And what else were they supposed to do? 121 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:50,760 To sit by and watch as Germany amassed an empire 122 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:53,440 that ran from somewhere deep in Russia 123 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:56,040 to the shores of the English Channel? 124 00:09:56,040 --> 00:10:00,040 MARCHING BAND PLAYS 125 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:04,320 Now war had broken out, almost everyone backed it. 126 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:11,200 Most trade unions suspended strikes, which had been common. 127 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:14,560 Their men went back to work, supporting the war effort. 128 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:21,080 This, they were told, would be the war to end war. 129 00:10:22,680 --> 00:10:24,520 And almost overnight, 130 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:28,520 the British people united in determination to defeat the enemy. 131 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:34,320 MARCHING MUSIC SWELLS 132 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:49,080 Despite widespread hopes of a quick victory, 133 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:51,360 many feared a German invasion. 134 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:57,080 The British High Command believed the enemy might land at any time. 135 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:06,920 The south coast seemed especially at risk. 136 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:15,880 The first British trenches weren't in Belgium or France. 137 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:17,520 They were in England. 138 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:20,920 There was such worry that August about a German invasion 139 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:24,400 that all over the south coast, people started digging in. 140 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:28,880 There were even defensive positions here on the White Cliffs of Dover. 141 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:36,600 "The enemy is almost in sight of our shores," 142 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:41,040 warned the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 143 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:44,240 "There is the possibility of disaster." 144 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:47,120 THUNDER RUMBLES 145 00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:57,080 With most soldiers now abroad, at home it was all hands to the pump. 146 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:04,400 Men too old or unfit to fight enrolled as Special Constables. 147 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:09,480 They manned roadblocks and patrolled day and night, 148 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:11,120 on the lookout for the enemy. 149 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:19,440 Boy Scouts helped out this Dad's Army. 150 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:23,160 They trained to give first aid to the wounded. 151 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:27,240 They also watched the coast for signs of the invader. 152 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:30,920 When on night duty, they were let off school the next day. 153 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:37,640 People on the south coast now started receiving some pretty alarming advice. 154 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:41,480 They were told that if there WAS an invasion, they should flee, 155 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:43,720 and take to the fields if necessary. 156 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:47,080 And just along the coast here, animals owners were advised 157 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:49,600 that if the Army had no use for their animals 158 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:51,560 and they couldn't evacuate them, 159 00:12:51,560 --> 00:12:54,840 they should be "rendered useless to the enemy." 160 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:03,200 The nation with the greatest empire the world had ever seen 161 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:06,480 was now an island in fear of invasion. 162 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:12,600 Throughout Britain, people waited anxiously 163 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:15,120 for news from the battlefields in Europe. 164 00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:28,360 By mid-August, British troops were making their way 165 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:31,480 through France and Belgium, towards the enemy. 166 00:13:33,680 --> 00:13:37,360 They were often greeted as heroes by the local people. 167 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:45,000 It was "a blissful period," remembered one soldier. 168 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,200 "Roses all the way," said another. 169 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:01,880 They were well-trained and well-equipped, 170 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:03,920 but there were far too few of them. 171 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:08,080 Britain's regular army was pitifully small. 172 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:12,760 Two-thirds of it, a mere 80,000 professional soldiers, 173 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:15,160 had crossed the Channel. 174 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:17,760 Side by side with their French allies, 175 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:19,520 they were about to clash 176 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:22,720 with the far stronger forces of the invading Germans 177 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:24,760 around the Belgian town of Mons. 178 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:40,400 In the town square, 179 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:43,480 some of the soldiers took a break before battle began. 180 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:51,440 Many of these men would never see their homes again. 181 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:04,120 The first British soldier to be killed 182 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:07,480 probably shouldn't have been here at all. 183 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:11,640 Private John Parr was a former golf caddy from North London 184 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:14,920 who'd joined the Army to better himself. 185 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:18,320 He was out on a bicycle reconnaissance patrol 186 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:21,320 when he was killed in an ambush. 187 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:24,240 GUNFIRE 188 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:32,720 Early on August 23rd, World War I began in earnest. 189 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:46,920 As the Germans launched a full-scale assault, 190 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:51,040 this canal became part of a long and bloody battlefront. 191 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:55,840 The British fought bravely. 192 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:59,560 Indeed, the first two VCs of the war were won right here. 193 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:01,360 But they were forced back, 194 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:04,440 and later that day, they had to abandon the town. 195 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:06,960 What we call the Battle of Mons 196 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:10,560 turned into a long and terrible retreat 197 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:14,920 with Britain's finest fighting men facing total annihilation. 198 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:17,320 SHOUTING AND GUNFIRE 199 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:20,720 Pursued by the Germans, 200 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:24,960 they pulled back over 200 miles, deep into France. 201 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:32,680 They marched 13 days and nights, 202 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:36,200 so short of sleep they slept as they marched 203 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:38,320 and they dreamed as they walked. 204 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:44,760 This gruelling retreat 205 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:47,880 saved the core of the British Army from disaster. 206 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:53,480 And it gave rise to one of the most famous stories of the war - 207 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:57,440 the miracle of how they were rescued by heavenly guardians, 208 00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:01,320 the "Angels of Mons", blocking the Germans' path 209 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:03,920 and guiding our boys to safety. 210 00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:13,200 There's one very simple explanation for the Angels of Mons - 211 00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:15,280 exhaustion. 212 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:17,800 "March, march, march, 213 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:21,800 "for hour after hour, without a halt," one private remembered. 214 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:27,240 "Very nearly everyone was seeing things. We were all dead beat." 215 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:32,280 There was no angel. But there had been a humbling defeat. 216 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:40,320 The British public was about to register 217 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:43,960 the first great shock of World War I. 218 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:59,720 For a week, little news of the Battle of Mons had filtered home, 219 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:02,920 with all press reports strictly censored. 220 00:18:05,120 --> 00:18:10,040 But then, on August 30th, The Times printed a brutally frank account 221 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:11,880 of the battle and the retreat. 222 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:17,920 "Broken British regiments", 223 00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:20,440 "German tidal wave". 224 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:25,000 "Our losses are very great," writes the reporter. 225 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:28,640 "I have seen broken bits of many regiments." 226 00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:33,880 Now, it was amazing the Army censor had allowed this through, 227 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:39,440 but what was even more astonishing were the words he added afterwards. 228 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:44,440 "The first great German offensive has succeeded. 229 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:48,160 "The British Army has suffered terrible losses 230 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:52,320 "and requires immense and immediate reinforcements. 231 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:56,920 "It needs men, men, and more men." 232 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:08,800 The call to arms was led by the most famous soldier alive - 233 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:11,480 Lord Kitchener, the new War Secretary. 234 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:18,880 Kitchener was a national hero 235 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:22,360 after ruthless victories in colonial campaigns. 236 00:19:22,360 --> 00:19:24,720 He was arrogant and unbending, 237 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:27,920 a maverick who did things his way. 238 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:31,320 He'd realised that Britain could only win the war 239 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:34,360 by creating a massive new army. 240 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:40,000 Elsewhere in Europe, they forced young men into uniform. 241 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:42,960 Kitchener's new soldiers would be volunteers. 242 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:48,120 And he was the perfect figurehead to rally the men of Britain. 243 00:19:48,120 --> 00:19:52,040 MUSIC: "Pomp and Circumstance March 4" by Elgar 244 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:56,280 Targeting all able-bodied young men over five foot three, 245 00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:58,880 Kitchener launched a recruitment campaign. 246 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:04,680 It began with a massive poster offensive. 247 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:10,640 12 million published in one year alone. 248 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:15,240 Many appealed to national duty. 249 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:20,680 Some to virility. 250 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:25,800 Some played on guilt. 251 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:31,400 Others on fear of invasion. 252 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:35,360 This was an unprecedented campaign 253 00:20:35,360 --> 00:20:38,240 of mass persuasion by the state. 254 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:45,560 Most of the time, most of the press were right behind the government. 255 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:49,800 In late August, for example, an advertisement appeared in The Times. 256 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:52,120 "Wanted - petticoats, 257 00:20:52,120 --> 00:20:56,520 "for able-bodied young men who have not yet joined the Army." 258 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:02,080 The local press followed suit. 259 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:04,880 That September, a Leicestershire paper featured 260 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:07,120 proud mother Mrs Martha Ainsworth. 261 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:13,800 There were other families who'd made an even bigger contribution 262 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:16,000 to Kitchener's army. 263 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:19,720 MUSIC: "Land of Hope and Glory" 264 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:22,880 Recruiting centres were set up all over Britain. 265 00:21:25,360 --> 00:21:27,920 Joining up was a very public business. 266 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:31,840 Streets were cordoned off. 267 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:35,600 Military bands played. 268 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:41,200 Volunteers made speeches. 269 00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:45,920 Fevered enthusiasm swept the land, 270 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:49,640 with 20,000 men volunteering every day. 271 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:55,280 # God, who made thee mighty Make thee mightier yet... # 272 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:57,680 On 3rd September, 1914, 273 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:01,520 more young men joined than on any other day of the war, 274 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:06,000 over 33,000 of them heeding Lord Kitchener's call. 275 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:12,720 He was the only man who could hope 276 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:14,840 to carry the public with him. 277 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:16,600 I mean, we know what war is, 278 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:21,600 and they, up to that point, they had enjoyed wars that were over there, 279 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:24,360 and the Army went away somewhere and they fought a war 280 00:22:24,360 --> 00:22:27,000 and everyone had a lovely medal and it was all lovely. 281 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:29,800 And they didn't fully appreciate the extent to which 282 00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:33,120 their whole way of life was going to go before the cannon, 283 00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:36,160 and he was what was needed at that time, 284 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:39,880 and, you know, they loved him. 285 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:42,800 What sort of a man do you think Kitchener was? 286 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:45,600 Almost a medieval type, really. 287 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:50,160 Tremendously moral, and with... 288 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:55,200 at times, a naive feeling that others were as moral as he was, 289 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:59,000 you know, when he would instruct the troops, you know, that they must, 290 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:02,480 I forget the phrase... Refrain from women and wine, yes. 291 00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:06,240 Well, refrain from intimacy. Yes. How did he think that would happen? 292 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:10,200 He was a very odd chap to be sitting in a War Cabinet, wasn't he? 293 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:12,880 Well, you know, most of the Cabinet would have agreed with you 294 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:15,280 because his viewpoint was so practical 295 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:20,040 and was so far removed from the theoretical war of politicians. 296 00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:23,360 He couldn't stand politicians! He couldn't stand politicians. 297 00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:25,920 I mean, the wonderful quote which I always love about him 298 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:28,400 is when he said, "The trouble with these politicians, 299 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:30,840 "you tell them something's absolutely secret 300 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:33,840 "and then they go home and tell their wives, except for Lloyd George, 301 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:36,320 "who goes home and tells everyone else's wife." 302 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:40,480 He believed that politicians and civil servants couldn't run anything. 303 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:45,000 He knew this was a war that would be fought across Europe on land, 304 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:51,240 and that we lacked the basic requirement to fight a war, 305 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:52,840 which was an army, 306 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:55,240 and that was his job, was to make one. 307 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:04,200 As men cheerfully committed themselves to fight, 308 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:08,920 countless families across Britain said goodbye to a father or son. 309 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:12,760 There were many tears. 310 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,160 One woman in Scotland was so distraught, 311 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:25,240 she wouldn't let go of her husband's hand as the train carried him away. 312 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:27,760 She was dragged underneath it, and died. 313 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:42,560 By Christmas, well over a million men had volunteered. 314 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:51,600 We think of them as soldiers because the government put them in uniform. 315 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:54,320 But till now, they'd all been civilians 316 00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:57,320 from all walks of life and all over Britain. 317 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:06,200 You really can't fail to be impressed by this massive rush to arms. 318 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:10,280 While nobody knew for certain the full horror that awaited them, 319 00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:12,960 there were plenty of people who had some idea. 320 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:15,000 Yet still they came. 321 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:17,560 They did so for all sorts of reasons 322 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:19,480 but the most prominent among them 323 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:23,480 seems to have been a sense of patriotic duty. 324 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:26,560 BRASS BAND PLAYS 325 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:32,840 In this stirring climate, some made themselves rich and famous 326 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:37,200 by persuading others to put their lives on the line. 327 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:41,440 A self-serving MP, Horatio Bottomley, leapt at the chance. 328 00:25:43,360 --> 00:25:49,480 He staged the first of his bizarre rallies in a London music hall. 329 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:53,000 Among the 5,000 spectators, women fainted and wept 330 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:56,480 as he turned volunteering into theatre. 331 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:00,720 DRUM ROLL 332 00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:05,040 The British were "the chosen leaders of the world," Bottomley ranted, 333 00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:06,840 chosen by God, of course. 334 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:10,160 And the war was "a holy crusade" against Germany. 335 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:13,560 He worked his audience into a patriotic frenzy, 336 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:16,800 with actors declaiming The Charge of the Light Brigade, 337 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:19,360 and he invited the men in the audience to approach 338 00:26:19,360 --> 00:26:23,640 the recruiting officers seated at tables draped in Union Jacks. 339 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:26,600 The show was a barnstorming hit. 340 00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:34,680 Now Bottomley took his shows on the road. 341 00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:39,960 He played to packed audiences throughout Britain. 342 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:43,840 It made him a star - and a fortune. 343 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:49,000 At one show, over 1,000 men enlisted. 344 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,840 Not for nothing was he sometimes called 345 00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:55,200 the second most important man in Britain after Kitchener. 346 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:02,760 All his performances peddled hatred of the Germans, 347 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:05,200 or "Germ-huns," as he called them. 348 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:11,800 "You cannot naturalise an unnatural beast, a human abortion," he raged, 349 00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:14,560 "but you can exterminate it." 350 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:18,640 Germany, he said, should be "wiped from the face of the map." 351 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:28,560 Before they left Britain for battle, 352 00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:32,040 volunteers faced at least six months' training, 353 00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:34,760 but this didn't turn out as they'd expected. 354 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:42,120 At first, the Army simply couldn't keep up with the rush of men. 355 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:46,280 Some had to train in their own clothes, 356 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:49,360 with caps for helmets or broom handles for rifles. 357 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:55,840 One unit's practice attack came to a halt 358 00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:59,480 when the volunteers went off to pick blackberries. 359 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:01,680 A senior officer claimed 360 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:05,040 they were the laughing stock of every soldier in Europe. 361 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:11,840 "We were play-acting," said one volunteer. 362 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:14,640 "It required a lot of confidence to remember 363 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:18,400 "we were training to face the gigantic German war machine." 364 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:29,000 But Kitchener persisted. 365 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:32,760 That autumn, to boost the number of volunteers still further, 366 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:35,440 he backed a bold new idea... 367 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:40,080 ..join up with your friends. 368 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:42,760 After all, it would be much less frightening 369 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:45,560 if you knew you were going to war with your pals. 370 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:51,520 The so-called "Pals" battalions 371 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:54,880 were comprised of men from the same area, club, 372 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:56,840 background or profession. 373 00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:02,760 There were battalions for artists, 374 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:04,560 for railwaymen, 375 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:06,520 for city stockbrokers. 376 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:11,600 There were battalions for men under five foot three, 377 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:14,040 many of them sturdy miners. 378 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:20,760 The first sportsman's battalion included several county cricketers 379 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:23,440 plus England's lightweight boxing champion. 380 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:33,760 The passion for sport led to 381 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:37,160 one of the most rousing volunteer stories of the war. 382 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:39,640 It was set in the back streets of Edinburgh. 383 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:49,400 It centred around the favourite game of the working man - football. 384 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:55,480 Many of the newspapers sneered 385 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:59,480 that football was a sport for cowards and war-dodgers. 386 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:03,160 Recruiting efforts at some games were often so unsuccessful 387 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:06,280 that lots of people thought the professional sport 388 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:09,480 should be banned until the war was over. 389 00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:13,040 And then one of Scotland's leading teams decided 390 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:14,920 to change the sport's reputation. 391 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:21,800 Tynecastle, in the west of Edinburgh 392 00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:24,720 was the home of Heart of Midlothian Football Club. 393 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:30,240 After a string of victories, Hearts looked set 394 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:32,720 to be Scotland's next champions. 395 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:38,040 But that November, 11 players volunteered for the Army. 396 00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:45,840 They'd been persuaded to enlist by the local MP and Hearts shareholder, 397 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:49,840 Sir George McCrae - himself a volunteer, aged 54. 398 00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:53,840 He hoped the Hearts stars would inspire the fans 399 00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:55,840 to join his new battalion. 400 00:30:56,880 --> 00:31:00,280 BAGPIPE MUSIC 401 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:07,000 CROWD CHEERING 402 00:31:18,080 --> 00:31:21,640 "In the presence of the god of battles..." 403 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:24,160 McCrae wrote in the local newspaper, 404 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:28,200 "..ask your conscience - 'Dare I stand aside?'" 405 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:30,080 And then on December the 5th 406 00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:33,880 just before the start of the local derby against rivals Hibernian, 407 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:37,880 an astonishing sight - McCrae comes down the tunnel onto the pitch 408 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:41,880 in full military uniform followed by a pipe band 409 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:45,400 and behind that, 800 new recruits. 410 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:55,920 Spectators watched from the most modern football stand in the world, 411 00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:57,600 completed that very year. 412 00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:04,240 Hearts won the match 3-1. 413 00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:12,680 Then, still more joined up, inspired by comradeship, 414 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:18,120 collective folly, national pride or sporting glamour. 415 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:21,960 The 16th Royal Scots - known as McCrae's Men - 416 00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:25,000 soon had over 1,100 volunteers... 417 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:27,240 and started training for war. 418 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:34,720 But as with so many such battalions, once these men saw action, 419 00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:37,760 there was only one likely outcome. 420 00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:45,840 Young star Harry Wattie, a local man and one of 421 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:49,960 the finest forwards in the land, was among the players killed in action. 422 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:57,040 Altogether, over 400 of McCrae's men never returned to Scotland. 423 00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:05,360 The deaths struck very deep in the Tynecastle community. 424 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:10,640 So deep, that there were postmen and post boys who threw in their jobs 425 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:13,560 because they couldn't stand any longer 426 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:15,840 being the bearers of bad news. 427 00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:42,280 For the British public, 428 00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:45,560 one of the best ways to resist the enemy was to laugh at him. 429 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:55,000 Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm became a comic-book bogeyman. 430 00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:02,680 That autumn, at selected newsagents, you could buy a postcard 431 00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:06,320 supposedly from the Kaiser to Britain's King George V - 432 00:34:06,320 --> 00:34:08,040 who happened to be his cousin. 433 00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:15,160 IMITATES GERMAN ACCENT: "Mine dear Cousin," it began, 434 00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:16,720 "Vot I kom for? 435 00:34:16,720 --> 00:34:19,880 "I vants der leedle Bank von England for mein Frau. 436 00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:23,680 "I vants der dockyards... I vants der leedle Isle von Wight 437 00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:25,800 "and her luffly cows... 438 00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:30,160 "I vant dose leedle places, India, Canadas, Australias for mein Sohns..." 439 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:34,960 "Deutschland's uber alles. Top Dog... Gott im Himmel!" it finishes, 440 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:36,840 "Greetings von Wilhelm." 441 00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:43,240 But with so much tension and anxiety in the air, 442 00:34:43,240 --> 00:34:45,840 the British sense of humour got a bit lost 443 00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:47,760 as wild rumours swept the nation. 444 00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:52,240 There were detailed stories about everything from 445 00:34:52,240 --> 00:34:55,520 a huge German arms dump near Charing Cross 446 00:34:55,520 --> 00:34:58,680 to thousands of Russian soldiers 447 00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:01,400 secretly shipped to Britain to help us. 448 00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:05,040 They were said still to have Arctic snow on their beards. 449 00:35:07,200 --> 00:35:10,080 No-one had actually SEEN these things 450 00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:14,080 but everyone knew someone who knew someone else who HAD. 451 00:35:17,240 --> 00:35:20,880 By far the most hideous rumours were about what the Kaiser's troops 452 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:24,480 had apparently done when they invaded Belgium. 453 00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:28,680 They'd raped women. They'd chopped children's hands off. 454 00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:31,960 They'd bayoneted a five-year-old girl. 455 00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:36,000 They'd executed boy scouts. 456 00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:42,200 They'd crucified a British soldier and burned him alive. 457 00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:51,840 The land of the stiff upper lip had become a land of crazy rumour. 458 00:35:56,040 --> 00:36:00,240 One story which spread like wildfire and appeared in the national press 459 00:36:00,240 --> 00:36:04,960 was about a 23-year-old nurse from Dumfries called Grace Hume. 460 00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:08,640 She was said to have been working in a hospital in Belgium 461 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:11,760 when the Germans arrived, burned the place down, 462 00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:16,000 beheaded the patients and lopped off her right breast. 463 00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:20,400 The truth turned out to be quite different... 464 00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:24,880 She was living quietly with both her breasts in Huddersfield. 465 00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:27,960 The whole thing had been made up by her sister. 466 00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:40,680 But there had been real savagery in Belgium. 467 00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:45,760 The Germans had laid waste ancient cities. 468 00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:49,080 They'd executed civilians, including women and children, 469 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:50,640 in cold blood. 470 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:58,000 And, true or false, atrocity stories terrified 471 00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:00,600 a British public in fear of invasion. 472 00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:05,320 Life now became very difficult for the 50,000 or so 473 00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:08,840 German immigrants who had moved to Britain before the war. 474 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:14,160 German governesses might have bombs hidden under their skirts. 475 00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:16,920 German barbers might slit your throat. 476 00:37:18,240 --> 00:37:21,000 German butchers might poison your meat. 477 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:25,120 Suddenly all German names were out. 478 00:37:32,840 --> 00:37:35,320 But the public had caught spy mania. 479 00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:41,280 Scare stories abounded that Britain was riddled with German spies - 480 00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:44,200 the Kaiser's secret agents, here on our streets, 481 00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:46,520 and looking just like everyone else. 482 00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:51,880 And sure enough, one was about to show his face. 483 00:37:57,600 --> 00:37:59,360 In October 1914, 484 00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:02,840 a German called Karl Lody was caught red-handed, 485 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:04,960 posing as an American tourist 486 00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:08,520 while sketching British dockyards and warships. 487 00:38:10,160 --> 00:38:11,960 He was put on trial in London. 488 00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:20,720 The story was a national sensation. 489 00:38:20,720 --> 00:38:22,360 Here, at last, 490 00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:28,280 was a real live German spy who was indeed living in our midst, 491 00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:32,760 and sending British naval secrets back to his spymasters in Berlin. 492 00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:40,720 Convicted of war treason, 493 00:38:40,720 --> 00:38:44,000 Lody was sentenced to death in the Tower of London. 494 00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:50,440 Here he prepared to die, as he put it - 495 00:38:50,440 --> 00:38:52,880 "In the service of the Fatherland." 496 00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:03,480 On the eve of his execution, Karl Hans Lody wrote what must be 497 00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:07,680 one of the strangest thank you letters ever written. 498 00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:09,960 It was to his British captors - 499 00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:13,040 "I feel it my duty as a German officer 500 00:39:13,040 --> 00:39:16,840 "to express my sincere thanks and appreciation... 501 00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:21,920 "for their kind and considered treatment even towards the enemy." 502 00:39:21,920 --> 00:39:24,240 That's what I call good manners. 503 00:39:31,080 --> 00:39:32,520 Despite his politeness, 504 00:39:32,520 --> 00:39:35,760 Lody seemed to represent a very real threat - 505 00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:37,760 the long arm of the Kaiser, 506 00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:40,160 reaching right into the heart of Britain. 507 00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:46,520 At dawn on November the 6th, Senior Lieutenant Lody 508 00:39:46,520 --> 00:39:50,480 of the Imperial German Navy, was led to his execution. 509 00:39:55,680 --> 00:39:57,160 GUNSHOTS 510 00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:02,480 He was the first of 11 German spies 511 00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:04,680 executed during the course of the war. 512 00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:10,440 It was nothing like the feared ARMY of agents. 513 00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:14,120 The British taste for spy scares wasn't borne out in reality. 514 00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:19,080 Britain had gone to war. 515 00:40:19,080 --> 00:40:21,920 Now, the war was about to come to Britain. 516 00:40:31,720 --> 00:40:36,120 On the north-east coast of England, December the 16th, 1914, 517 00:40:36,120 --> 00:40:38,320 was a still, misty morning. 518 00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:46,480 The first signs of anything unusual were the flashes 519 00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:51,200 coming from unidentified ships several miles out to sea. 520 00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:53,880 DISTANT BOOMING 521 00:40:57,520 --> 00:40:59,760 One family realised what was happening 522 00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:02,120 when a German shell fragment struck their house 523 00:41:02,120 --> 00:41:05,600 and smashed into the front of the family alarm clock, 524 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:09,120 stopping it for ever at three minutes past eight. 525 00:41:14,160 --> 00:41:17,040 It was the start of a ferocious bombardment. 526 00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:25,000 The people of Hartlepool felt the full horror of modern war. 527 00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:28,080 BOOMING 528 00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:34,800 Homes were death traps. But so too were these streets. 529 00:41:34,800 --> 00:41:37,320 The German shells burst on impact, 530 00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:41,320 sending shards of screaming hot metal in all directions 531 00:41:41,320 --> 00:41:44,040 at hundreds of miles an hour. 532 00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:52,320 It was the first major attack on Britain since 1066. 533 00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:55,440 Many thought the Germans were invading. 534 00:41:58,760 --> 00:42:02,800 Terrified children had simply no idea what was happening. 535 00:42:06,120 --> 00:42:08,360 All we could hear was "Bam!" 536 00:42:08,360 --> 00:42:12,200 This noise, bams. You see, it was far out to sea, 537 00:42:12,200 --> 00:42:15,480 it didn't sound like bombs dropping against here. 538 00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:17,560 What did you think the sound was? 539 00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:19,240 We didn't know. 540 00:42:19,240 --> 00:42:24,320 Me oldest sister, me mother shouted her upstairs and she said, 541 00:42:24,320 --> 00:42:27,080 "I think somebody's beating the carpets!" 542 00:42:27,080 --> 00:42:28,760 That's what she said. 543 00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:30,480 So, anyway, she goes out, 544 00:42:30,480 --> 00:42:34,360 she bounds out, she says, "Oh, Ma!" and she comes running back, 545 00:42:34,360 --> 00:42:37,680 "Mam, the Germans are here, they're on the beach." 546 00:42:37,680 --> 00:42:41,000 And everybody's running, running away. 547 00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:43,640 I went upstairs and looked out the bedroom window. 548 00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:45,480 I could see big flashes. 549 00:42:45,480 --> 00:42:49,000 Out at sea? Flashes out at sea, yes. 550 00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:51,160 And how were people reacting? 551 00:42:51,160 --> 00:42:56,680 Oh, crying. Some were crying. Some were running with their prams. 552 00:42:56,680 --> 00:43:00,640 Anyway, there was hardly anybody left in Hartlepool, 553 00:43:00,640 --> 00:43:02,760 they were all up the country. 554 00:43:04,120 --> 00:43:05,840 Mm... 555 00:43:05,840 --> 00:43:08,000 People were scurrying along outside, were they? 556 00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:09,840 And then somebody came and said, 557 00:43:09,840 --> 00:43:12,000 "Oh, somebody's had his head blown off." 558 00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:13,840 Well, that frightened me. Mm. 559 00:43:13,840 --> 00:43:16,440 Somebody had their head blown off. 560 00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:19,200 What did... do you remember what you felt? 561 00:43:19,200 --> 00:43:20,760 You were seven years old. 562 00:43:20,760 --> 00:43:24,040 I was horrified. I thought they were coming...any minute 563 00:43:24,040 --> 00:43:27,400 to the door to take us, kill us. 564 00:43:27,400 --> 00:43:30,280 Oh, I was sitting shivering, 565 00:43:30,280 --> 00:43:32,920 I just sat on the end of the bed. 566 00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:35,320 I was like that. Shivering. 567 00:43:35,320 --> 00:43:36,840 Terrified. 568 00:43:36,840 --> 00:43:39,800 What, thinking a German might walk through the door? 569 00:43:39,800 --> 00:43:41,800 I thought they were coming any minute 570 00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:43,680 to take us away, to get us...yeah. 571 00:43:57,880 --> 00:44:01,120 The children of Hartlepool were among the many victims 572 00:44:01,120 --> 00:44:03,600 of Kaiser Wilhelm's navy that day. 573 00:44:04,680 --> 00:44:08,400 Three members of the Dixon family were killed by a shell 574 00:44:08,400 --> 00:44:10,320 as they ran for it, holding hands. 575 00:44:10,320 --> 00:44:11,840 George, 576 00:44:11,840 --> 00:44:13,800 his sister Margaret 577 00:44:13,800 --> 00:44:16,040 and their brother Albert, aged seven. 578 00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:19,880 Their mother's leg was blown off. 579 00:44:24,760 --> 00:44:29,040 Suddenly, the dead of World War I had different faces - 580 00:44:29,040 --> 00:44:31,520 the faces of British children. 581 00:44:33,320 --> 00:44:34,880 For days after the attack, 582 00:44:34,880 --> 00:44:39,000 newspaper sales soared, as the public read of the horrors. 583 00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:43,560 Over 500 wounded, 152 killed. 584 00:44:43,560 --> 00:44:46,080 The eldest victim, 86. 585 00:44:46,080 --> 00:44:48,600 The youngest, only six months. 586 00:45:03,360 --> 00:45:06,080 Whitby and Scarborough were also shelled that day 587 00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:08,560 with another 21 civilians killed. 588 00:45:16,440 --> 00:45:19,280 The people of Scarborough barricaded the streets 589 00:45:19,280 --> 00:45:21,000 in case the Germans landed. 590 00:45:23,720 --> 00:45:26,120 They watched the funeral processions 591 00:45:26,120 --> 00:45:29,160 convinced that the attack confirmed the rumours 592 00:45:29,160 --> 00:45:31,280 about the viciousness of the Hun. 593 00:45:44,280 --> 00:45:46,720 For most British people, what happened 594 00:45:46,720 --> 00:45:51,960 here in the north-east that day was a war crime, an atrocity. 595 00:45:51,960 --> 00:45:55,320 A line had definitely been crossed. 596 00:45:55,320 --> 00:45:58,920 From now on, civilians in Britain knew 597 00:45:58,920 --> 00:46:02,120 they too could be in mortal danger. 598 00:46:08,560 --> 00:46:12,000 Early in the new year, a sinister new weapon 599 00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:14,400 claimed its first British victims - 600 00:46:14,400 --> 00:46:16,880 the Zeppelin airship. 601 00:46:18,800 --> 00:46:23,360 Four civilians were killed in Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn, Norfolk. 602 00:46:23,360 --> 00:46:28,040 In other attacks, over 500 more would die a similar death. 603 00:46:30,560 --> 00:46:33,440 This new war made no distinction 604 00:46:33,440 --> 00:46:35,640 between soldiers at the front 605 00:46:35,640 --> 00:46:37,880 and women and children in their beds. 606 00:46:50,760 --> 00:46:54,880 Across the Channel, the war had reached a deadly stalemate. 607 00:46:54,880 --> 00:46:59,560 Nothing like the heroic battles these men had been trained for. 608 00:47:03,600 --> 00:47:06,840 To protect their positions, both sides had dug in 609 00:47:06,840 --> 00:47:10,000 and were now bogged down in trench warfare. 610 00:47:11,160 --> 00:47:13,360 They faced each other along what became known 611 00:47:13,360 --> 00:47:14,960 as the Western Front - 612 00:47:14,960 --> 00:47:16,960 the long line of trenches 613 00:47:16,960 --> 00:47:18,960 and defensive positions 614 00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:21,800 that stretched almost 500 miles. 615 00:47:26,400 --> 00:47:30,960 A campaign imagined as one of dash and movement 616 00:47:30,960 --> 00:47:34,360 had become a grinding, swampy slaughter. 617 00:47:40,760 --> 00:47:44,000 Uncountable numbers of men were eating, 618 00:47:44,000 --> 00:47:48,280 sleeping and praying to survive in holes in the ground. 619 00:47:54,440 --> 00:47:57,520 "This is not war..." one soldier wrote home, 620 00:47:57,520 --> 00:47:59,480 "it's the ending of the world." 621 00:48:07,960 --> 00:48:13,280 And now, the families left behind in Britain - whether rich or poor - 622 00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:15,360 had to deal with their grief. 623 00:48:22,240 --> 00:48:27,360 In January 1915, at St Mary's Church in Great Leighs, 624 00:48:27,360 --> 00:48:29,960 there was a memorial service for three men - 625 00:48:29,960 --> 00:48:33,120 the first victims of the war from the village. 626 00:48:36,000 --> 00:48:39,560 "The blow has fallen," said Squire Tritton. 627 00:48:39,560 --> 00:48:44,160 His son, Captain Alan Tritton, had been killed on Boxing Day. 628 00:48:44,160 --> 00:48:48,800 The farm worker, Mr Fitch had lost two sons - Dick, killed in August, 629 00:48:48,800 --> 00:48:51,640 and Arthur, killed on New Year's Day. 630 00:48:52,880 --> 00:48:56,160 This is the order sheet for the memorial service 631 00:48:56,160 --> 00:48:59,320 for all three men honoured here together. 632 00:49:06,520 --> 00:49:10,200 The youngest of the squire's sons, Captain Alan Tritton 633 00:49:10,200 --> 00:49:12,080 of the Coldstream Guards 634 00:49:12,080 --> 00:49:15,040 had told his family that autumn he'd never come back. 635 00:49:16,120 --> 00:49:18,200 He was shot in the head by a sniper. 636 00:49:23,400 --> 00:49:27,000 Valerie Frost is the niece of the two Fitch brothers 637 00:49:27,000 --> 00:49:30,040 also mourned that January in Great Leighs. 638 00:49:30,040 --> 00:49:33,920 I do have photographs of Dick and of Arthur, um... 639 00:49:33,920 --> 00:49:36,280 Dick is the one sitting down... 640 00:49:36,280 --> 00:49:39,360 He was the one in the Army? He was in the Essex Regiment 641 00:49:39,360 --> 00:49:41,120 and he enlisted in 1913. 642 00:49:41,120 --> 00:49:43,720 And as Dick was under age at the time 643 00:49:43,720 --> 00:49:45,640 Grandmother went along to try 644 00:49:45,640 --> 00:49:49,680 and stop him from enlisting. And he said, "If you stop me, Mother, 645 00:49:49,680 --> 00:49:51,640 "you will never see me again." 646 00:49:51,640 --> 00:49:54,440 And she had to let him go. 647 00:49:54,440 --> 00:50:00,400 He then died on August the 26th, 1914, at the Battle of Mons. 648 00:50:02,720 --> 00:50:04,840 And so this one here is Arthur? 649 00:50:04,840 --> 00:50:08,760 Arthur was Grandmother's first-born child, 650 00:50:08,760 --> 00:50:13,360 he'd been in the Navy for several years and was due to leave. 651 00:50:13,360 --> 00:50:18,760 He was coming home, but the war started and he was not able to. 652 00:50:18,760 --> 00:50:23,200 And he went down with his ship, the Formidable, in the Channel 653 00:50:23,200 --> 00:50:28,480 in Lyme Regis Bay on January the 1st, 1915. 654 00:50:28,480 --> 00:50:31,560 What do you think about the memorial service 655 00:50:31,560 --> 00:50:33,920 shared with the son of the squire? 656 00:50:33,920 --> 00:50:36,360 Well, I think that was a wonderful thing, 657 00:50:36,360 --> 00:50:41,400 it shows that...in death we are all the same, aren't we? 658 00:50:41,400 --> 00:50:43,920 And, really, that would have been... 659 00:50:43,920 --> 00:50:48,640 Their tragedy was as much felt as my grandmother's tragedy. 660 00:50:48,640 --> 00:50:51,640 And I think that's very sad 661 00:50:51,640 --> 00:50:54,400 because so many people lost... 662 00:50:54,400 --> 00:50:56,200 so many loved ones. 663 00:50:59,520 --> 00:51:02,720 They're all very proud in these photographs, aren't they? Yes. 664 00:51:02,720 --> 00:51:06,360 I know Mother was proud of them. Mm. Yeah. 665 00:51:07,760 --> 00:51:10,400 I wonder what they'd think now if they was... 666 00:51:10,400 --> 00:51:12,880 watching all this talking about them? 667 00:51:12,880 --> 00:51:14,800 It would be amazing, really. 668 00:51:14,800 --> 00:51:16,760 THEY CHUCKLE 669 00:51:16,760 --> 00:51:18,240 ..what they would be saying. 670 00:51:18,240 --> 00:51:21,840 I don't know. But I think they'd be pleased. 671 00:51:21,840 --> 00:51:24,120 I think they would be... 672 00:51:24,120 --> 00:51:28,280 proud that we are still remembering the... 673 00:51:28,280 --> 00:51:31,040 sacrifice that they made. Mm-hm. 674 00:51:35,120 --> 00:51:39,080 MUSIC: "The Last Post" 675 00:51:39,080 --> 00:51:44,000 Outside the church, a memorial lists the war dead of Great Leighs. 676 00:51:53,200 --> 00:51:55,960 Among them, four Fitch brothers. 677 00:51:57,200 --> 00:52:02,600 Altogether, of the 86 men of the village who served, 18 died - 678 00:52:02,600 --> 00:52:06,800 a scale of loss echoed throughout much of Britain. 679 00:52:25,120 --> 00:52:29,360 By early 1915, wounded from the Front were arriving 680 00:52:29,360 --> 00:52:32,040 on the south coast in tens of thousands. 681 00:52:37,200 --> 00:52:41,160 How long could Britain maintain this level of casualties? 682 00:52:46,320 --> 00:52:49,000 Already the country was calling on soldiers 683 00:52:49,000 --> 00:52:53,520 from across the British Empire, including men from the Indian Army. 684 00:52:55,280 --> 00:52:58,720 Many Indian wounded were sent to Brighton, 685 00:52:58,720 --> 00:53:02,040 to be treated in a very unusual temporary hospital. 686 00:53:10,840 --> 00:53:15,440 The Royal Pavilion had been built long before, to evoke India - 687 00:53:15,440 --> 00:53:19,040 the jewel in Britain's imperial crown. 688 00:53:21,480 --> 00:53:23,920 That winter, it looked very different. 689 00:53:46,320 --> 00:53:50,960 The Pavilion was filled with badly wounded men. 690 00:53:50,960 --> 00:53:54,440 Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus... 691 00:53:54,440 --> 00:53:57,080 lay in their hundreds 692 00:53:57,080 --> 00:54:00,440 beneath the chandeliers of a royal palace. 693 00:54:06,120 --> 00:54:09,880 Where princes had once dallied and danced... 694 00:54:11,400 --> 00:54:14,480 ..row upon row of Indian soldiers. 695 00:54:18,800 --> 00:54:22,280 The huge Georgian kitchen was an operating theatre. 696 00:54:26,560 --> 00:54:31,520 The dome nearby was another vast ward, complete with khaki lino. 697 00:54:33,760 --> 00:54:37,120 All in all, some 4,000 Indians were treated here. 698 00:54:40,480 --> 00:54:43,400 Every possible care was taken of the men, 699 00:54:43,400 --> 00:54:45,520 each religion had its own kitchen 700 00:54:45,520 --> 00:54:51,680 and, unheard of then in British India, white women nursed Indians. 701 00:54:55,960 --> 00:54:59,080 One patient wrote to his family in India, 702 00:54:59,080 --> 00:55:03,200 "Our hospital is in the place where the King used to have his home. 703 00:55:03,200 --> 00:55:07,080 "The men are tended like flowers." 704 00:55:09,120 --> 00:55:13,320 In fact, the royal family had sold the pavilion to Brighton Council 705 00:55:13,320 --> 00:55:14,600 many years before. 706 00:55:15,880 --> 00:55:19,200 But if these troops believed the King had vacated it 707 00:55:19,200 --> 00:55:22,840 just for them, the authorities didn't tell them otherwise. 708 00:55:24,640 --> 00:55:26,840 And in January 1915, 709 00:55:26,840 --> 00:55:31,080 King George V and Queen Mary honoured them with a visit. 710 00:55:32,240 --> 00:55:35,400 King George had come to pay his respects to the men 711 00:55:35,400 --> 00:55:39,360 who'd served Britain so bravely so far from home. 712 00:55:40,880 --> 00:55:43,480 But not all the wounded could be saved. 713 00:55:45,040 --> 00:55:46,680 As the Last Post sounded, 714 00:55:46,680 --> 00:55:50,760 over 50 of these men were given their own traditional cremation 715 00:55:50,760 --> 00:55:52,640 on the hills above Brighton. 716 00:55:54,600 --> 00:55:58,880 Their ashes were then scattered in the sea off the south coast. 717 00:56:13,600 --> 00:56:18,360 By spring 1915, no-one in Britain could avoid the impact of the war. 718 00:56:20,280 --> 00:56:23,640 Over one and half million men had volunteered 719 00:56:23,640 --> 00:56:26,360 and were training at Army camps across the nation. 720 00:56:29,240 --> 00:56:32,360 Many had hoped the war would be over by Christmas. 721 00:56:33,800 --> 00:56:38,880 Now there was no end in sight - and victory far from certain. 722 00:56:43,160 --> 00:56:46,720 People could feel the country was changing all around them. 723 00:56:50,360 --> 00:56:53,680 London was a tense, jumpy place 724 00:56:53,680 --> 00:56:58,040 with searchlights and blackouts for fear of aerial attack. 725 00:56:58,040 --> 00:57:01,000 The street lamps were dimmed with brown paper. 726 00:57:01,000 --> 00:57:05,160 Buckingham Palace was clad in steel mesh to deflect bombs 727 00:57:05,160 --> 00:57:08,720 and Big Ben - Big Ben was silenced. 728 00:57:17,200 --> 00:57:19,680 No-one had expected all this. 729 00:57:22,160 --> 00:57:25,160 Children under attack from sea and from air. 730 00:57:27,680 --> 00:57:29,480 Trenches above the beaches. 731 00:57:32,000 --> 00:57:33,720 Barriers on the streets. 732 00:57:35,240 --> 00:57:39,880 Men coming home, not as victors, but as victims. 733 00:57:44,320 --> 00:57:46,320 The British people were no longer 734 00:57:46,320 --> 00:57:49,480 just supporting their soldiers in a foreign conflict. 735 00:57:51,120 --> 00:57:53,720 They too were part of the fighting. 736 00:57:59,880 --> 00:58:02,000 But this was just the start. 737 00:58:02,000 --> 00:58:05,960 What was coming was a new kind of war, a total war. 738 00:58:05,960 --> 00:58:09,560 And to win it, Britain would have to be totally transformed. 739 00:58:16,320 --> 00:58:17,760 Next time... 740 00:58:17,760 --> 00:58:20,680 Britain becomes a machine for waging war. 741 00:58:22,240 --> 00:58:23,920 Women fill the factories... 742 00:58:25,120 --> 00:58:27,280 ..men are forced to fight. 743 00:58:29,000 --> 00:58:30,920 But has it all come too late?