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1
00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:12,074
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2
00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:49,302
This film contains some scenes which
some viewers may find upsetting
3
00:00:52,930 --> 00:00:57,268
I gave every part of my youth
to do a job
4
00:00:57,268 --> 00:01:00,772
and to go through a savage war.
5
00:01:00,772 --> 00:01:04,275
It was a different war from
year to year, and one's reactions
6
00:01:04,275 --> 00:01:06,111
were completely different.
7
00:01:06,111 --> 00:01:10,740
The intensity changed so much
that anybody who'd been out in 1914
8
00:01:10,740 --> 00:01:12,784
and went home and came back in 1917,
9
00:01:12,784 --> 00:01:16,120
wouldn't recognise it
as the same war.
10
00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:18,874
I can only say one thing,
I wouldn't have missed it.
11
00:01:18,874 --> 00:01:21,918
It was terrible at times,
but I wouldn't have missed it.
12
00:01:21,918 --> 00:01:25,714
Oh, yes, if I could have
my time again, I'd go through it
13
00:01:25,714 --> 00:01:28,383
all over again because
I enjoyed the service life.
14
00:01:28,383 --> 00:01:32,346
I could only say that I have never
been so excited in my life,
15
00:01:32,346 --> 00:01:35,933
this was like a boy going
to the play the first time.
16
00:01:35,933 --> 00:01:39,103
I never realised there was
anything unusual about it.
17
00:01:39,103 --> 00:01:42,606
There was a job to be done
and you just go on and did it.
18
00:01:42,606 --> 00:01:45,734
We were all instilled with the idea
that this was war
19
00:01:45,734 --> 00:01:49,572
and that we've got to kill the
Germans, and this is how we looked
20
00:01:49,572 --> 00:01:51,073
at the thing.
21
00:01:51,073 --> 00:01:53,701
I don't regret
having experienced it.
22
00:01:53,701 --> 00:01:57,288
I wish I hadn't, but I don't
regret it because I'm safe.
23
00:01:58,790 --> 00:02:01,084
There were good times
and bad times in France.
24
00:02:01,084 --> 00:02:03,211
But you took the rough
with the smooth.
25
00:02:03,211 --> 00:02:07,257
I was twice wounded and gassed,
but it was just war and you made
26
00:02:07,257 --> 00:02:09,008
the best of it.
27
00:02:09,008 --> 00:02:11,469
Just took it in its stride,
like everybody else.
28
00:02:11,469 --> 00:02:14,347
We were glad to be in it
and we expected it to be rough,
29
00:02:14,347 --> 00:02:17,642
and it WAS rough,
but we didn't complain.
30
00:02:17,642 --> 00:02:20,019
There was no real excitement
about it.
31
00:02:20,019 --> 00:02:23,647
You'd seen death so many times,
you'd seen wounded so many times,
32
00:02:23,647 --> 00:02:25,275
blood didn't excite you.
33
00:02:25,275 --> 00:02:29,487
We were professionals
and to us it was just a job of work.
34
00:02:29,487 --> 00:02:34,075
It would be a fallacy to say
that one enjoyed it,
35
00:02:34,075 --> 00:02:37,246
but one got afterwards
a nice, warm inner feeling that
36
00:02:37,246 --> 00:02:38,788
one had been some use.
37
00:02:38,788 --> 00:02:41,249
It didn't affect me very much
because I wasn't
38
00:02:41,249 --> 00:02:44,044
sufficiently open in the ways
of the world, I was only a kid,
39
00:02:44,044 --> 00:02:45,962
like other blokes there.
40
00:02:45,962 --> 00:02:49,090
It was more like
a great big game to be enjoyed,
41
00:02:49,090 --> 00:02:52,803
apart from the actual killing
and all that sort of thing.
42
00:02:52,803 --> 00:02:54,346
It made me a man.
43
00:02:54,346 --> 00:02:55,764
Yes, it did.
44
00:02:55,764 --> 00:02:58,225
I don't think I should
have ever been the man I am if it
45
00:02:58,225 --> 00:03:00,185
hadn't been for having to serve.
46
00:03:00,185 --> 00:03:03,397
You'd learn to look after yourself.
47
00:03:03,397 --> 00:03:07,568
Whereas in your civilian life,
your mother did all the chores.
48
00:03:07,568 --> 00:03:09,945
You've got to learn
how to cook for yourself,
49
00:03:09,945 --> 00:03:12,615
darn your own socks,
sew on your own buttons
50
00:03:12,615 --> 00:03:14,408
and all the things like that.
51
00:03:14,408 --> 00:03:16,160
It was just a day's work.
52
00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:19,704
I knew that I was not alone,
I knew I wasn't fighting the war
53
00:03:19,704 --> 00:03:23,334
by myself and that what happened
to other people might happen to me.
54
00:03:23,334 --> 00:03:25,252
I had no regrets at all.
55
00:03:25,252 --> 00:03:28,005
But, you see, I had no wife,
no girl, no nothing.
56
00:03:28,005 --> 00:03:30,299
No regrets, no horrors...
57
00:03:32,092 --> 00:03:35,345
..because if you survive that,
you can survive anything.
58
00:03:46,274 --> 00:03:48,526
We was aware that there was
sort of a nasty feeling
59
00:03:48,526 --> 00:03:50,528
between England and Germany.
60
00:03:50,528 --> 00:03:53,406
We knew of the Kaiser's ambition
to expand his empire
61
00:03:53,406 --> 00:03:55,866
and all that sort of thing.
62
00:03:55,866 --> 00:03:59,787
During that summer, there was a lot
of talk about trouble
63
00:03:59,787 --> 00:04:02,206
going on in the Balkans,
but we were a long way
64
00:04:02,206 --> 00:04:05,794
from the Balkans
and it didn't worry us at all.
65
00:04:05,794 --> 00:04:08,129
It was that Serbia business,
wasn't it?
66
00:04:08,129 --> 00:04:10,506
Serbia, when that chap was shot.
67
00:04:10,506 --> 00:04:13,551
I was paying attention
to politics and I realised
68
00:04:13,551 --> 00:04:17,222
that there was going to be trouble
between England and Germany.
69
00:04:17,222 --> 00:04:20,558
It was a lovely
August the 4th morning.
70
00:04:20,558 --> 00:04:23,728
We were all seated around the table
and we were starting
71
00:04:23,728 --> 00:04:25,980
the Rugby football dinner
with the German team.
72
00:04:25,980 --> 00:04:28,609
There was a German here,
next to him was an Englishman,
73
00:04:28,609 --> 00:04:30,986
and next to him was a German,
and so on and so on.
74
00:04:30,986 --> 00:04:34,364
And a runner arrived into the middle
of this dinner
75
00:04:34,364 --> 00:04:37,868
with extraordinary news
of outbreak of war.
76
00:04:37,868 --> 00:04:40,913
There was a big placard -
"War declared on Germany."
77
00:04:40,913 --> 00:04:43,207
We didn't know what we ought to do.
78
00:04:43,207 --> 00:04:45,292
Whether we got to seize
a knife off the table
79
00:04:45,292 --> 00:04:48,129
and plunge it into the German
or what!
80
00:04:48,129 --> 00:04:51,340
But, after a little bit
of discussion, we decided
81
00:04:51,340 --> 00:04:55,302
that as far as we were concerned,
the war was going to start tomorrow,
82
00:04:55,302 --> 00:04:57,638
and the party proceeded.
83
00:05:00,725 --> 00:05:03,644
I'm proud of being a British hero.
I mean, I think we're as good
84
00:05:03,644 --> 00:05:05,062
a country as any in the world
85
00:05:05,062 --> 00:05:07,689
and you've got to be prepared
to fight for that.
86
00:05:07,689 --> 00:05:09,441
There's no doubt about it -
87
00:05:09,441 --> 00:05:13,362
in the First World War,
we prepared for war.
88
00:05:13,362 --> 00:05:17,116
The empire was strong,
we weren't afraid of anyone.
89
00:05:17,116 --> 00:05:20,370
Everybody bought little buttons
and white flags and sang songs,
90
00:05:20,370 --> 00:05:23,456
there was no feeling of despair
about it at all.
91
00:05:23,456 --> 00:05:27,084
England couldn't possibly lose,
no matter how many Germans pushed
92
00:05:27,084 --> 00:05:29,963
how many Englishmen into the
Channel, that they'd get no further.
93
00:05:29,963 --> 00:05:32,215
We couldn't possibly lose.
94
00:05:32,215 --> 00:05:36,469
We were brought up to think that one
Englishman was worth ten Germans.
95
00:05:36,469 --> 00:05:40,181
I thought that any enemy
of England was an enemy of mine
96
00:05:40,181 --> 00:05:41,891
and I wanted to be in it.
97
00:05:41,891 --> 00:05:44,436
Oh, 6 months or 12 months,
it would be all over
98
00:05:44,436 --> 00:05:46,521
and Bob's your uncle.
99
00:05:46,521 --> 00:05:49,023
I went with a friend of mine
to Shepherd's Bush Empire
100
00:05:49,023 --> 00:05:51,943
to see the picture show there
and they showed the fleet
101
00:05:51,943 --> 00:05:56,031
saving the high seas and played
"Britons never shall be slaves",
102
00:05:56,031 --> 00:05:58,658
and one feels that little shiver run
up their back and you know
103
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you've got to do something.
104
00:06:00,410 --> 00:06:03,121
A friend of mine said to me,
"We're going to join up."
105
00:06:03,121 --> 00:06:05,624
It was from the
patriotic point of view,
106
00:06:05,624 --> 00:06:10,754
and from the general excitement of
the whole affair, I suppose.
107
00:06:10,754 --> 00:06:14,049
I didn't believe in war
to that extent, but I was prepared
108
00:06:14,049 --> 00:06:16,134
to do my part.
109
00:06:16,134 --> 00:06:19,513
You see, in those days, men weren't
to think for themselves,
110
00:06:19,513 --> 00:06:23,267
they just had to do what they were
told and that's all there was to it.
111
00:06:23,267 --> 00:06:26,520
Oh, my mother
was very aggrieved about it.
112
00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:29,941
But, you know, a young man,
you decide you're going to go.
113
00:06:29,941 --> 00:06:33,735
At lunchtime, I left the office,
went along to Armoury House
114
00:06:33,735 --> 00:06:37,114
and there was a queue of about
1,000 people trying to enlist.
115
00:06:37,114 --> 00:06:39,325
Everybody thought
it would be a civilised war
116
00:06:39,325 --> 00:06:41,702
and wanted to be fit enough to go.
117
00:06:41,702 --> 00:06:44,371
Two of us decided to join up
together, and when we told
118
00:06:44,371 --> 00:06:46,666
the boss we were going to start
training on Monday,
119
00:06:46,666 --> 00:06:48,042
he was very annoyed.
120
00:06:48,042 --> 00:06:50,712
He didn't make any promise
at all that our jobs would be there
121
00:06:50,712 --> 00:06:52,129
when we got back.
122
00:06:52,129 --> 00:06:55,591
My mother, she said,
"You wait until you're 19."
123
00:06:55,591 --> 00:06:59,137
See, that was the age
in those days, 19 to 35.
124
00:06:59,137 --> 00:07:01,472
Well, it was supposed to be.
125
00:07:01,472 --> 00:07:03,391
We were all lads together, you know,
126
00:07:03,391 --> 00:07:04,892
full of excitement
127
00:07:04,892 --> 00:07:06,478
and all this kind of thing.
128
00:07:06,478 --> 00:07:07,895
I mean, I just wanted
129
00:07:07,895 --> 00:07:09,356
to have a go at Jerry.
130
00:07:09,356 --> 00:07:12,066
I just thought that I'd like
to go and fight for the country.
131
00:07:12,066 --> 00:07:15,028
This was the thing, you were proud
of your country
132
00:07:15,028 --> 00:07:16,780
and you'd do the best you could
for it.
133
00:07:16,780 --> 00:07:19,615
And this was what most of the
young people thought of doing
134
00:07:19,615 --> 00:07:21,201
in those days.
135
00:07:21,201 --> 00:07:24,621
My mother, she said to me,
"Look, we could stop you doing this
136
00:07:24,621 --> 00:07:26,206
"because of your age."
137
00:07:26,206 --> 00:07:29,917
I said, "Yes, I know you could,
Mother, but I'm sure you won't."
138
00:07:29,917 --> 00:07:31,670
Which they never did.
139
00:07:31,670 --> 00:07:35,048
I just felt that all the young
fellows of that age
140
00:07:35,048 --> 00:07:36,425
were volunteering
141
00:07:36,425 --> 00:07:38,594
and I thought it was
my job to do the same.
142
00:07:38,594 --> 00:07:41,471
I was desperately keen
and a whole heap of us were.
143
00:07:41,471 --> 00:07:43,390
I said, "Direct enlistment, please."
144
00:07:43,390 --> 00:07:44,892
They were highly delighted
145
00:07:44,892 --> 00:07:47,269
and pushed me in
as quick as lightning.
146
00:07:47,269 --> 00:07:50,105
Lots of the lads were
joining the local regiments,
147
00:07:50,105 --> 00:07:52,066
like the Bucks and the Middlesex.
148
00:07:52,066 --> 00:07:54,276
Lads that I knew
and had been to school with,
149
00:07:54,276 --> 00:07:56,153
played football and cricket with,
150
00:07:56,153 --> 00:07:58,739
we joined up, hoping for the best.
151
00:07:58,739 --> 00:08:01,325
We were good friends, comrades
152
00:08:01,325 --> 00:08:05,496
and it was a relief from rather
boring jobs at home, you see.
153
00:08:05,496 --> 00:08:08,749
I was walking down
the Camden Town high street,
154
00:08:08,749 --> 00:08:12,962
when two young ladies approached me,
"Why aren't you in the Army?"
155
00:08:12,962 --> 00:08:14,839
I said, "I'm only 17."
156
00:08:14,839 --> 00:08:16,757
"Oh, they all say that here."
157
00:08:16,757 --> 00:08:20,344
And to my amazement,
she put her hand in her bag
158
00:08:20,344 --> 00:08:23,514
and I put my hand up to sort of
safeguard myself,
159
00:08:23,514 --> 00:08:27,310
and this white feather
finished up my nose.
160
00:08:27,310 --> 00:08:31,606
As we marched to the station,
some of the chaps had bowler hats,
161
00:08:31,606 --> 00:08:36,027
some had straw hats, some had the
regulation peaked Army cap.
162
00:08:36,027 --> 00:08:38,446
Some would have tunics,
some would be dressed
163
00:08:38,446 --> 00:08:41,991
with their ordinary jackets
with a pair of Army trousers.
164
00:08:41,991 --> 00:08:44,494
Some had Army boots, some didn't.
165
00:08:44,494 --> 00:08:47,163
And we really were a motley throng.
166
00:08:47,163 --> 00:08:49,624
Some of them were obviously chaps
who had hoped to live
167
00:08:49,624 --> 00:08:52,502
in some comfort and brought
suitcases with clothes with them,
168
00:08:52,502 --> 00:08:53,961
which they never saw again.
169
00:08:53,961 --> 00:08:55,880
We had to all get our hair cut.
170
00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:57,173
"How would you like it, sir?"
171
00:08:57,173 --> 00:08:59,468
And you'd say,
"Short back and sides."
172
00:08:59,468 --> 00:09:01,762
But the answer was,
straight over the top
173
00:09:01,762 --> 00:09:05,681
with horse clippers, and we looked
more like convicts than soldiers.
174
00:09:05,681 --> 00:09:07,935
As soon as war broke out,
there was a call made
175
00:09:07,935 --> 00:09:10,103
for all ex-soldiers to rejoin,
176
00:09:10,103 --> 00:09:12,855
and they made them sergeants
straight away.
177
00:09:12,855 --> 00:09:15,984
So you got a lot of instructors
that way.
178
00:09:15,984 --> 00:09:19,153
The people who really carried us
through was the old sweats
179
00:09:19,153 --> 00:09:23,492
who'd had previous war experience
and gave us a lot of wise advice
180
00:09:23,492 --> 00:09:26,870
as to what to look for
and what to dodge.
181
00:09:26,870 --> 00:09:31,291
We were ordered down onto the parade
ground and then we were allotted
182
00:09:31,291 --> 00:09:33,836
to different platoons.
183
00:09:33,836 --> 00:09:37,547
When they came to us,
they were weedy, sallow,
184
00:09:37,547 --> 00:09:40,884
skinny, frightened children.
185
00:09:40,884 --> 00:09:44,972
The refuse of our industrial system
and they were in very poor condition
186
00:09:44,972 --> 00:09:47,224
and had to be made into soldiers.
187
00:09:47,224 --> 00:09:51,228
Many of us had given
our wrong ages to join the Army.
188
00:09:51,228 --> 00:09:53,814
The agent walked down
the lines and gave an order,
189
00:09:53,814 --> 00:09:59,320
"Every man under the age of 19
should take two paces forward."
190
00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:01,823
Nobody moved.
191
00:10:01,823 --> 00:10:05,784
I was a lad of 17 and
they'd probably say I wasn't 19,
192
00:10:05,784 --> 00:10:08,329
which you had to be to join up.
193
00:10:08,329 --> 00:10:11,749
But he says, "How long
do you want to sign on for?"
194
00:10:11,749 --> 00:10:15,044
Everyone else was joining up so
I called into the recruitment office
195
00:10:15,044 --> 00:10:18,005
and he said to me, "How old
are you?" I said, "17, sir."
196
00:10:18,005 --> 00:10:21,342
Well, he said, "Go outside and
come back and say you are 18."
197
00:10:21,342 --> 00:10:24,428
So of course, I went outside
and said we were 18.
198
00:10:24,428 --> 00:10:26,305
I was straight up there.
199
00:10:26,305 --> 00:10:29,017
The Sergeant said,
"How old are you?"
200
00:10:29,017 --> 00:10:30,351
I said, "I'm 18 and one month."
201
00:10:30,351 --> 00:10:32,645
He said,
"Do you mean 19 and one month?
202
00:10:32,645 --> 00:10:34,647
So I thought for a moment,
I said, "Yes, sir."
203
00:10:34,647 --> 00:10:36,608
He said, "Right, sign here, please."
204
00:10:36,608 --> 00:10:40,237
He asked me how old I was
and I said I was 16 in March.
205
00:10:40,237 --> 00:10:41,946
He said, "You're too young,
206
00:10:41,946 --> 00:10:44,574
"you better go outside
and have a birthday."
207
00:10:44,574 --> 00:10:47,828
I was 16 years old in 1917
208
00:10:47,828 --> 00:10:52,791
and I was six foot two tall
and my father allowed me to go.
209
00:10:52,791 --> 00:10:56,003
So I entered my age as 19 years old,
210
00:10:56,003 --> 00:10:59,506
three years older
than what I really was.
211
00:10:59,506 --> 00:11:04,094
I was 15 years,
just 2½ years short of 18,
212
00:11:04,094 --> 00:11:07,723
and I got before this
medical officer, who said,
213
00:11:07,723 --> 00:11:10,308
"All right, you pass."
214
00:11:10,308 --> 00:11:14,271
I had just turned 17 at the time
and I went up to Whitehall
215
00:11:14,271 --> 00:11:17,149
and enlisted in the 16th Lancers.
216
00:11:17,149 --> 00:11:20,569
I was 15 and I thought
I'd have a better chance
217
00:11:20,569 --> 00:11:22,363
than when I were 14.
218
00:11:22,363 --> 00:11:26,283
So I walked into the barracks
and just said, "I'm 18,"
219
00:11:26,283 --> 00:11:27,784
and that was it.
220
00:11:27,784 --> 00:11:31,205
My parents wrote to the
commanding officer and asked for me,
221
00:11:31,205 --> 00:11:32,998
as I was underage, to be released.
222
00:11:32,998 --> 00:11:36,919
And he said, "Your parents
want you back - do you want to go?"
223
00:11:36,919 --> 00:11:38,421
I said no.
224
00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:43,009
The chaplain asked me my age,
and I said I was 16.
225
00:11:43,009 --> 00:11:47,889
He said, "Much too young.
Would you like me to pray for you?"
226
00:11:53,061 --> 00:11:56,939
The clothing came piecemeal
into the quartermaster stores.
227
00:11:58,983 --> 00:12:02,153
One lad said,
"These boots don't fit me."
228
00:12:02,153 --> 00:12:04,948
And the quartermaster said,
"There isn't such a thing as boots
229
00:12:04,948 --> 00:12:07,241
"that don't fit in the Army,
it's your feet that don't
230
00:12:07,241 --> 00:12:08,618
"fit the boots."
231
00:12:08,618 --> 00:12:12,580
Some men would find a tunic
to fit them or perhaps
232
00:12:12,580 --> 00:12:14,082
a pair of trousers.
233
00:12:14,082 --> 00:12:17,335
And so it went on
for nearly a fortnight.
234
00:12:17,335 --> 00:12:18,836
Just one uniform.
235
00:12:18,836 --> 00:12:23,049
I was in the Army nearly four years,
I only had one uniform.
236
00:12:23,049 --> 00:12:25,927
We were all issued
with these famous puttees,
237
00:12:25,927 --> 00:12:29,348
which were news to all of us,
and I personally could never quite
238
00:12:29,348 --> 00:12:31,892
master the putting on of puttees.
239
00:12:31,892 --> 00:12:36,104
The main reason for puttees were
to support the legs in marching.
240
00:12:36,104 --> 00:12:39,858
I was issued with a kilt
but nothing to wear underneath it,
241
00:12:39,858 --> 00:12:42,361
and I was given a slip of paper
to say,
242
00:12:42,361 --> 00:12:45,572
"This man has not
been issued with underpants."
243
00:12:45,572 --> 00:12:48,159
I was given strict instructions
that I couldn't ride on top
244
00:12:48,159 --> 00:12:51,245
of the tram car,
had to ride downstairs.
245
00:12:53,163 --> 00:12:56,834
Now, the pack was for
everything that you own.
246
00:12:56,834 --> 00:13:01,213
The overcoat had to be folded
very, very neatly and tightly.
247
00:13:01,213 --> 00:13:04,591
There was a needle, thread,
spare buttons, knife,
248
00:13:04,591 --> 00:13:11,975
fork, spoon, razor, shaving brush,
toothbrush and also a half-pint mug.
249
00:13:11,975 --> 00:13:17,396
One spare shirt and one spare pair
of socks, and that was your kit.
250
00:13:17,396 --> 00:13:20,941
The Army razor with which we were
issued was absolutely useless,
251
00:13:20,941 --> 00:13:24,195
but it came in handy
for cutting up meat and so forth.
252
00:13:24,195 --> 00:13:27,323
The toothbrush, that came in handy
for cleaning buttons.
253
00:13:27,323 --> 00:13:30,034
But one of the peculiarities
about the Army was that,
254
00:13:30,034 --> 00:13:32,787
though it was a crime
to have dirty buttons,
255
00:13:32,787 --> 00:13:35,039
you were never issued
with the materials to clean
256
00:13:35,039 --> 00:13:37,625
the buttons,
you had to buy them yourself.
257
00:13:37,625 --> 00:13:41,671
We were awakened by the bugle,
which sounded Reveille.
258
00:13:41,671 --> 00:13:44,591
Wash, shave, pack your bed up
and pack your kit.
259
00:13:44,591 --> 00:13:49,095
About half past six, and you would
have an hour, PT before breakfast.
260
00:13:49,095 --> 00:13:53,433
Press-ups and physical exercises,
arms upward stretch.
261
00:13:53,433 --> 00:13:57,103
They knew you were fresh
and they tried to take it by stages,
262
00:13:57,103 --> 00:14:00,023
there wasn't any bullying
or anything like that.
263
00:14:00,023 --> 00:14:03,944
Breakfast consisted
of bread, butter,
264
00:14:03,944 --> 00:14:07,072
one rasher of
Lance Corporal Bacon.
265
00:14:07,072 --> 00:14:09,908
It was streaky bacon,
it had one stripe in it.
266
00:14:09,908 --> 00:14:12,702
Well, there was jam and
they seemed to make nothing
267
00:14:12,702 --> 00:14:14,663
but plum and apple, you know?
268
00:14:14,663 --> 00:14:17,999
If you got any other kind,
it was a celebration event.
269
00:14:19,710 --> 00:14:22,838
There were the Bruce Bairnsfather
cartoons depicting that,
270
00:14:22,838 --> 00:14:25,090
handing him a tin of plum
and apple jam.
271
00:14:25,090 --> 00:14:27,134
"When the 'ell is it
going to be strawberry?"
272
00:14:27,134 --> 00:14:29,053
It was wonderful, that jam.
273
00:14:29,053 --> 00:14:32,639
Tickler's, the jam manufacturers,
274
00:14:32,639 --> 00:14:36,935
they must have made millions of tins
of P&A, plum and apple.
275
00:14:36,935 --> 00:14:40,731
# Oh, oh, oh, it's a lovely war
276
00:14:40,731 --> 00:14:43,484
# What do we want with eggs and ham
277
00:14:43,484 --> 00:14:47,071
# When we've got bags
of Tickler's Jam? #
278
00:14:47,071 --> 00:14:50,867
And then it would be parade time
and the Sergeant would take over
279
00:14:50,867 --> 00:14:54,036
and you'd have a whole morning
of marching
280
00:14:54,036 --> 00:14:56,455
and you would learn all commands,
281
00:14:56,455 --> 00:14:59,708
such as "about turn"
and all that sort of thing.
282
00:14:59,708 --> 00:15:03,379
Having been in the Boy Scouts,
it was dead easy to me.
283
00:15:03,379 --> 00:15:05,756
When you get the order
"right dress",
284
00:15:05,756 --> 00:15:08,593
you turn your head only,
to the right.
285
00:15:08,593 --> 00:15:10,803
Some of them managed to turn left,
286
00:15:10,803 --> 00:15:13,931
which didn't exactly please
the drill Sergeant.
287
00:15:13,931 --> 00:15:16,225
We were all youngsters,
we'd come from
288
00:15:16,225 --> 00:15:18,770
fairly sheltered lives and so forth.
289
00:15:18,770 --> 00:15:23,149
This Sergeant of ours
was the loudmouth shouting type.
290
00:15:23,149 --> 00:15:28,113
Coming up against
military discipline was a shock,
291
00:15:28,113 --> 00:15:32,492
being chased around from pillar
to post by disciplinarian NCOs.
292
00:15:32,492 --> 00:15:34,619
Some of the sergeants were shockers.
293
00:15:34,619 --> 00:15:37,997
They would cause a lot of trouble
if you were out of step
294
00:15:37,997 --> 00:15:40,959
or if you didn't keep time,
or if you didn't handle
295
00:15:40,959 --> 00:15:42,753
your rifle properly.
296
00:15:42,753 --> 00:15:45,130
They were always having a go at you.
297
00:15:45,130 --> 00:15:47,549
Most of them were all right,
the shouting meant nothing,
298
00:15:47,549 --> 00:15:49,467
but some of them never lost it.
299
00:15:49,467 --> 00:15:54,514
One night I'd gone to bed and
this pot was brought round to my bed
300
00:15:54,514 --> 00:15:57,643
and they said,
"Oh, you want to do a piss?"
301
00:15:57,643 --> 00:15:59,895
So I did the business in the pot.
302
00:15:59,895 --> 00:16:02,564
They'd rested this big, huge pot
303
00:16:02,564 --> 00:16:05,568
which contained gallons,
on the door.
304
00:16:05,568 --> 00:16:09,947
And when this Sergeant came along
to see that everybody
305
00:16:09,947 --> 00:16:12,366
was in bed, this thing turned up
and he was drenched
306
00:16:12,366 --> 00:16:14,576
from top to bottom in fluid!
307
00:16:16,871 --> 00:16:19,957
First of all,
I was full of enthusiasm.
308
00:16:19,957 --> 00:16:23,044
But after about the first week,
I wished I hadn't done it.
309
00:16:23,044 --> 00:16:26,672
Because the discipline was so strict
that I was beginning to get
310
00:16:26,672 --> 00:16:29,675
a little bit nervous
as to what was in store.
311
00:16:29,675 --> 00:16:32,177
We weren't out dancing,
anything like that.
312
00:16:32,177 --> 00:16:33,930
We were getting ready for a war.
313
00:16:33,930 --> 00:16:38,643
The thing was, you were in the Army,
you had to do as you were told.
314
00:16:38,643 --> 00:16:42,814
You had one master, or dozens,
but you just had to get on with it
315
00:16:42,814 --> 00:16:44,232
and that was it.
316
00:16:44,232 --> 00:16:46,401
I did find that right
through the Army,
317
00:16:46,401 --> 00:16:49,237
if you behaved yourself,
you'd nothing much to fear.
318
00:16:49,237 --> 00:16:51,239
This was quite a new world to us.
319
00:16:51,239 --> 00:16:53,700
I mean, you can imagine.
I came out of civilian life,
320
00:16:53,700 --> 00:16:55,993
like all the others did,
and we weren't in a position
321
00:16:55,993 --> 00:16:58,121
to argue or object.
322
00:16:58,121 --> 00:17:00,749
It was just a matter of doing
what we were told.
323
00:17:00,749 --> 00:17:02,125
I liked it.
324
00:17:02,125 --> 00:17:05,879
I liked to be told what I had to do
because there was a reason
325
00:17:05,879 --> 00:17:10,133
for doing it, and later on I
realised that was the best training
326
00:17:10,133 --> 00:17:11,759
you could have.
327
00:17:11,759 --> 00:17:15,138
The first week, our route march
would be ten miles,
328
00:17:15,138 --> 00:17:18,267
the second week it would be 12,
and so on and so on.
329
00:17:18,267 --> 00:17:22,688
It intensified, because
it's of the utmost importance
330
00:17:22,688 --> 00:17:26,525
that the infantry soldiers
could march with a full kit.
331
00:17:26,525 --> 00:17:29,444
What you had to carry was 109 lbs.
332
00:17:29,444 --> 00:17:33,073
The marching was easy for me,
but quite a lot of chaps
333
00:17:33,073 --> 00:17:36,701
who were in sedentary jobs
found it pretty hard.
334
00:17:36,701 --> 00:17:42,041
It numbed and cramped my muscles
on my thighs and calves
335
00:17:42,041 --> 00:17:45,043
until they hurt very much indeed.
336
00:17:45,043 --> 00:17:47,213
Oh, those Army boots.
337
00:17:47,213 --> 00:17:48,714
I could have cried.
338
00:17:48,714 --> 00:17:54,303
My feet and ankles with those heavy
Army boots after civilian shoes.
339
00:17:54,303 --> 00:17:58,182
So to get your boots made pliable,
you used to urinate in them
340
00:17:58,182 --> 00:18:00,309
and leave it overnight.
341
00:18:00,309 --> 00:18:05,064
Quite a lot of men were clerks
or they worked in shops,
342
00:18:05,064 --> 00:18:09,443
and the very nature of their calling
didn't make for fitness.
343
00:18:09,443 --> 00:18:12,863
Well, they sent me to hospital
and they gave me the cure
344
00:18:12,863 --> 00:18:18,035
for hookworm and I found that
I could stand the drill after that.
345
00:18:18,035 --> 00:18:20,830
They used to march us
all round the West End.
346
00:18:20,830 --> 00:18:25,084
Crowds used to foregather, and
some of the poor, deluded ones
347
00:18:25,084 --> 00:18:28,462
fell for the con trick and
lined up behind us
348
00:18:28,462 --> 00:18:31,091
and we used to march
them all down to Chelsea barracks,
349
00:18:31,091 --> 00:18:32,550
where they got signed up.
350
00:18:35,136 --> 00:18:38,348
Lunch would consist
of inedible stew.
351
00:18:38,348 --> 00:18:42,519
Now, you must remember the chaps
in the cookhouse were by no means
352
00:18:42,519 --> 00:18:45,063
experienced cooks,
but anybody can make a stew,
353
00:18:45,063 --> 00:18:46,898
and that's what they did.
354
00:18:46,898 --> 00:18:51,945
Sometimes we got a bit of plum duff
and milk puddings and tapioca rice.
355
00:18:51,945 --> 00:18:54,698
It was the good old-fashioned,
plain stuff
356
00:18:54,698 --> 00:18:56,324
that I was brought up on.
357
00:18:56,324 --> 00:18:58,660
I had no complaint about it.
358
00:18:58,660 --> 00:19:03,873
In the afternoon, it could be
a lecture on Vickers machine guns.
359
00:19:03,873 --> 00:19:07,378
We used to strip the machinegun
right down
360
00:19:07,378 --> 00:19:09,296
and put it together again.
361
00:19:09,296 --> 00:19:13,008
And, luckily, I seemed to cotton on
to that quite quickly.
362
00:19:13,008 --> 00:19:16,053
We were always told
the man's best friend is his rifle,
363
00:19:16,053 --> 00:19:17,763
and it was.
364
00:19:17,763 --> 00:19:22,309
Our rifle was a short Lee-Enfield,
a very good rifle indeed.
365
00:19:22,309 --> 00:19:24,144
A real sturdy rifle.
366
00:19:24,144 --> 00:19:28,440
You had your ammunition pouches
on both sides of the chest,
367
00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:30,651
to counterbalance the weight
of the pack,
368
00:19:30,651 --> 00:19:35,614
and those pouches carried 150 rounds
of .303 ammunition.
369
00:19:35,614 --> 00:19:38,283
We were supposed to hold
the rifle up in one hand,
370
00:19:38,283 --> 00:19:40,870
but I could never hold
a rifle properly.
371
00:19:40,870 --> 00:19:43,623
My right wrist wouldn't hold it up.
372
00:19:43,623 --> 00:19:46,626
I'd never fired a rifle in my life,
but on the first day we went
373
00:19:46,626 --> 00:19:48,002
onto the rifle range,
374
00:19:48,002 --> 00:19:50,588
and it was amazing
the bull's-eyes I was getting.
375
00:19:50,588 --> 00:19:54,383
So, the next thing, I was made
a first-class rifleman.
376
00:19:54,383 --> 00:19:56,844
Above all, we learned rapid-fire.
377
00:19:56,844 --> 00:20:00,473
Ten rounds, get those ten rounds
onto the target in one minute.
378
00:20:00,473 --> 00:20:02,642
It was known as "the mad minute".
379
00:20:02,642 --> 00:20:06,103
I'd never seen a dead man
or anything of that kind,
380
00:20:06,103 --> 00:20:08,857
and I wondered, if it came
to my shooting a man,
381
00:20:08,857 --> 00:20:10,900
whether I would be able to do this.
382
00:20:10,900 --> 00:20:13,904
Plunge the bayonet into the sack,
shout like hell.
383
00:20:13,904 --> 00:20:16,239
And they would tell you
where to put your bayonet.
384
00:20:16,239 --> 00:20:18,741
Either into his left shoulder,
his right shoulder,
385
00:20:18,741 --> 00:20:20,868
in the chest or in the body.
386
00:20:20,868 --> 00:20:23,080
We was told to make
as much noise as we could.
387
00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:25,248
I think that was
to frighten the enemy.
388
00:20:25,248 --> 00:20:28,918
It didn't seem to me to be a likely
thing to do, but we used to shout.
389
00:20:28,918 --> 00:20:32,088
When you train as a division,
there's 12 battalions,
390
00:20:32,088 --> 00:20:35,216
there's roughly 12,000 men
who are on the move,
391
00:20:35,216 --> 00:20:39,137
and you're a very small cog
in a big wheel.
392
00:20:39,137 --> 00:20:42,224
Saturday mornings we were let off,
but we had to do
393
00:20:42,224 --> 00:20:43,893
sometimes barrack duties.
394
00:20:43,893 --> 00:20:47,354
And then, on Sundays, we were all
marched down to church.
395
00:20:47,354 --> 00:20:50,066
It didn't matter what religion
you were, you all had to go,
396
00:20:50,066 --> 00:20:51,608
and that was it.
397
00:20:51,608 --> 00:20:54,236
Hardly a day passed
without the shout
398
00:20:54,236 --> 00:20:55,529
around the barrack-room,
399
00:20:55,529 --> 00:20:57,906
"Has anybody here had
any experience with horses?
400
00:20:57,906 --> 00:21:00,493
"Can anybody here play
any musical instruments?
401
00:21:00,493 --> 00:21:03,120
"Anybody had an experience
at so and so?"
402
00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:06,749
So gradually, the thousand men
who were joined up
403
00:21:06,749 --> 00:21:11,337
as a motley throng, now became
a transport man, a bandsman,
404
00:21:11,337 --> 00:21:13,297
signalman and so on.
405
00:21:13,297 --> 00:21:15,424
You didn't want to mess
about on the parade ground
406
00:21:15,424 --> 00:21:17,801
with heavy packs
on the route marches.
407
00:21:17,801 --> 00:21:21,556
Most of us wanted to go across
and do some scrapping.
408
00:21:21,556 --> 00:21:25,184
After good food,
fresh air and physical exercise,
409
00:21:25,184 --> 00:21:28,020
they changed so that their mothers
wouldn't have recognised them.
410
00:21:28,020 --> 00:21:32,358
They put on an average of one stone
in weight and one inch in height.
411
00:21:32,358 --> 00:21:35,737
Although we hated the sight and
sound of our disciplinary sergeants,
412
00:21:35,737 --> 00:21:39,532
this reflects greatly to their
credit because they knocked us
413
00:21:39,532 --> 00:21:42,243
into shape as regards
to marching and foot drills.
414
00:21:42,243 --> 00:21:45,747
But far more than that,
they were handsome,
415
00:21:45,747 --> 00:21:49,166
ruddy, upstanding,
square-shouldered young men
416
00:21:49,166 --> 00:21:51,836
who were afraid of nobody,
not even the Sergeant Major.
417
00:21:51,836 --> 00:21:54,464
After the six weeks,
we were informed we were going
418
00:21:54,464 --> 00:21:56,967
to be posted overseas.
419
00:21:56,967 --> 00:22:01,054
They said, "You're leaving tomorrow
morning for an unknown destination."
420
00:22:01,054 --> 00:22:03,598
You were never told
where you were heading for.
421
00:22:03,598 --> 00:22:06,809
I just wanted to fight the Germans,
and as far as that was concerned,
422
00:22:06,809 --> 00:22:09,604
it didn't matter tuppence to me
where we went.
423
00:22:09,604 --> 00:22:12,649
And when we pushed them
through this crash programme
424
00:22:12,649 --> 00:22:14,443
of military training,
425
00:22:14,443 --> 00:22:16,528
they were pushed off to
France in batches.
426
00:22:16,528 --> 00:22:19,698
Before we left, the officer said,
"well, you haven't had time
427
00:22:19,698 --> 00:22:23,201
"to be made sergeants, so we'll give
you a couple of stripes."
428
00:22:23,201 --> 00:22:26,914
So they made us corporals,
and in less than no time
429
00:22:26,914 --> 00:22:29,875
we were marched down to the station.
430
00:22:29,875 --> 00:22:33,087
In my mind I wondered,
"Shall I ever come back?"
431
00:22:33,087 --> 00:22:35,172
I didn't think I would at the time.
432
00:22:35,172 --> 00:22:37,466
I didn't worry about it.
433
00:22:37,466 --> 00:22:41,179
Oh, they were all full of euphoria,
they were all glad they were going.
434
00:22:41,179 --> 00:22:43,013
Nobody was crying.
435
00:22:43,013 --> 00:22:45,223
I wrote a postcard
when I was in the train
436
00:22:45,223 --> 00:22:48,143
and chucked it out of the window,
hoping that it would be delivered
437
00:22:48,143 --> 00:22:49,562
to my family.
438
00:22:49,562 --> 00:22:52,398
We arrived at Folkestone
in the evening.
439
00:22:52,398 --> 00:22:56,068
We embarked on one of
the old Thames pleasure boats.
440
00:22:56,068 --> 00:23:00,239
Well, pretty crowded, but of course
there's only 21 mile
441
00:23:00,239 --> 00:23:02,866
from Dover to Calais on the boat.
442
00:23:02,866 --> 00:23:05,911
There were talks by officers to us
as to how to behave ourselves
443
00:23:05,911 --> 00:23:09,039
on foreign soil, and that we've
got to respect other people's
444
00:23:09,039 --> 00:23:11,251
modes of conduct.
445
00:23:11,251 --> 00:23:15,046
The biggest number of casualties
were NCOs,
446
00:23:15,046 --> 00:23:17,507
and we weren't all too keen
about this.
447
00:23:17,507 --> 00:23:21,094
So I went into the lavatory
and my stripes came off
448
00:23:21,094 --> 00:23:23,722
and they disappeared
through the porthole.
449
00:23:23,722 --> 00:23:26,807
And with that, I went back on deck
as a private.
450
00:23:30,728 --> 00:23:32,772
As our horses were brought
down the gangways,
451
00:23:32,772 --> 00:23:35,734
I noticed the expression
on the men's faces.
452
00:23:35,734 --> 00:23:38,570
There were no cheerful,
smiling faces coming down
453
00:23:38,570 --> 00:23:40,154
that gangway at all.
454
00:23:42,408 --> 00:23:44,785
It was beautiful weather,
very warm,
455
00:23:44,785 --> 00:23:48,538
and every village and town
we went through, people rushed out,
456
00:23:48,538 --> 00:23:51,792
bottles of wine,
yards of French bread, flowers.
457
00:23:51,792 --> 00:23:54,419
The land flowed
in every single aspect.
458
00:23:54,419 --> 00:23:56,588
There were farmers
going about their business,
459
00:23:56,588 --> 00:23:58,465
the most lovely country.
460
00:24:00,676 --> 00:24:03,429
If we passed a field of carrots,
we used to raid the field
461
00:24:03,429 --> 00:24:06,890
and walk along munching
the carrots and turnips.
462
00:24:11,061 --> 00:24:13,230
I was dead scared
that the war would be over
463
00:24:13,230 --> 00:24:14,649
before I got out to it.
464
00:24:14,649 --> 00:24:16,275
When I got out to France,
465
00:24:16,275 --> 00:24:18,861
I was terribly pleased,
really keen.
466
00:24:21,572 --> 00:24:24,533
You just marched and marched
until roughly 20 miles
467
00:24:24,533 --> 00:24:26,244
from the trenches.
468
00:24:26,244 --> 00:24:28,954
We knew we were getting close
to the line because the gunfire
469
00:24:28,954 --> 00:24:31,123
was becoming more noisy.
470
00:24:31,123 --> 00:24:33,793
I remember the first shell,
I was delighted.
471
00:24:36,546 --> 00:24:40,299
We went through towns, villages
that were absolutely derelict.
472
00:24:40,299 --> 00:24:43,803
So we never knew where we were,
except that we were in Belgium.
473
00:24:46,472 --> 00:24:49,767
The devastation was something
I never could have imagined.
474
00:24:49,767 --> 00:24:52,728
The whole place gave one
the most eerie sensation.
475
00:24:56,524 --> 00:25:00,236
There was stunted trees,
torn to shreds with shellfire
476
00:25:00,236 --> 00:25:04,157
and there was shell holes
all over the place.
477
00:25:04,157 --> 00:25:07,077
We were relieving men of the
28th division,
478
00:25:07,077 --> 00:25:10,496
and as they passed us, we would say,
"What's it like up there?"
479
00:25:10,496 --> 00:25:13,876
The reply invariably came back,
"Bloody awful, mate."
480
00:25:13,876 --> 00:25:17,420
The old sweats coming back
got their tails up all right,
481
00:25:17,420 --> 00:25:21,216
but I didn't know what to expect,
just hadn't a clue.
482
00:25:21,216 --> 00:25:24,678
It was deadly warfare,
you were facing the Germans.
483
00:25:28,932 --> 00:25:30,391
Follow me.
484
00:25:33,061 --> 00:25:34,688
You got the order, "load".
485
00:25:34,688 --> 00:25:38,650
You put nine in your magazine
and one up the spout
486
00:25:38,650 --> 00:25:40,402
and you put the safety catch on,
487
00:25:40,402 --> 00:25:43,155
and you always went into the line
prepared to use
488
00:25:43,155 --> 00:25:44,781
your rifle immediately.
489
00:25:46,617 --> 00:25:49,370
That's when you got rigid orders,
no talking whatsoever,
490
00:25:49,370 --> 00:25:50,996
keep your head down.
491
00:25:50,996 --> 00:25:53,040
Single file, no smoking.
492
00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:56,335
The captain would then direct you
right to the front trenches.
493
00:25:59,839 --> 00:26:02,383
Before a man goes into the trenches,
he usually carries
494
00:26:02,383 --> 00:26:07,138
a roll of barbed wire or a bag of
bombs, besides his own equipment.
495
00:26:07,138 --> 00:26:09,848
That's the way to get the stuff
up to the front line.
496
00:26:09,848 --> 00:26:12,643
Now,
a guide would always be sent out.
497
00:26:12,643 --> 00:26:15,355
Extend this part of
the trench over there.
498
00:26:15,355 --> 00:26:16,856
What, that way?That's it.
499
00:26:16,856 --> 00:26:18,608
The trenches in France were a maze.
500
00:26:18,608 --> 00:26:21,318
If you didn't have a guide,
you could very soon get lost.
501
00:26:21,318 --> 00:26:24,030
Smile, so your mother thinks
I'm looking after you.
502
00:26:26,616 --> 00:26:28,409
Coming up, coming up!
503
00:26:32,873 --> 00:26:34,916
The trenches weren't
in one straight line.
504
00:26:34,916 --> 00:26:38,420
They were built on what they call
a Travis System.
505
00:26:38,420 --> 00:26:41,339
The Travis would break up
the shellfire
506
00:26:41,339 --> 00:26:44,676
and stop it spreading right along
the trench.
507
00:26:44,676 --> 00:26:46,428
There was a front line of trenches
508
00:26:46,428 --> 00:26:48,805
and then there was a second line
of trenches.
509
00:26:48,805 --> 00:26:53,143
The support line would be about 50
yards or more behind the front line.
510
00:26:53,143 --> 00:26:55,812
In between, there would be
communication trenches
511
00:26:55,812 --> 00:26:58,231
so that they could move through
if the front line
512
00:26:58,231 --> 00:26:59,983
was under jeopardy.
513
00:26:59,983 --> 00:27:03,362
First impression I got
of the trenches was they were
514
00:27:03,362 --> 00:27:05,405
very much lived in.
515
00:27:05,405 --> 00:27:07,407
We had to take them
as we found them.
516
00:27:07,407 --> 00:27:11,077
You would see an overcoat
hanging from a wooden peg.
517
00:27:11,077 --> 00:27:14,790
You would see a mess tin
with some tea in it.
518
00:27:14,790 --> 00:27:17,918
A dugout, which had a piece
of blanket in it,
519
00:27:17,918 --> 00:27:20,087
a bed made of sandbags.
520
00:27:20,087 --> 00:27:23,173
Our world was divided
by no-man's-land,
521
00:27:23,173 --> 00:27:24,967
a sort of Iron Curtain,
522
00:27:24,967 --> 00:27:28,888
beyond which were bogey men who
would kill you if they ever saw you.
523
00:27:28,888 --> 00:27:32,058
As you look through your periscope,
all you could see were hundreds
524
00:27:32,058 --> 00:27:37,020
of shell holes, your barbed wire
and the German barbed wire.
525
00:27:37,020 --> 00:27:39,940
You could see dead bodies
hanging on the barbed wire
526
00:27:39,940 --> 00:27:42,985
and they may have been there
for a long, long time.
527
00:27:42,985 --> 00:27:46,030
It was one of the most desolate
looking places in the world.
528
00:27:46,030 --> 00:27:50,451
You never saw a sign of life,
and yet you knew very well that,
529
00:27:50,451 --> 00:27:54,914
within shouting range, there were
hundreds and hundreds of men.
530
00:27:54,914 --> 00:27:57,625
A platoon of about 50 men
would have about 100 yards
531
00:27:57,625 --> 00:28:01,129
of front line trenches
as their responsibility.
532
00:28:01,129 --> 00:28:03,381
There were signs
all over the trenches,
533
00:28:03,381 --> 00:28:06,968
Piccadilly Circus and Regent Street
and all that sort of thing,
534
00:28:06,968 --> 00:28:08,720
telling you where water points were
535
00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:11,264
and which was the
most dangerous part of the land
536
00:28:11,264 --> 00:28:13,432
with regard to snipers.
537
00:28:13,432 --> 00:28:16,102
You had to be extremely careful
because a bullet could go
538
00:28:16,102 --> 00:28:18,897
through one layer of
sandbags quite easily.
539
00:28:18,897 --> 00:28:21,483
I was talking to a bloke one day
and, pop,
540
00:28:21,483 --> 00:28:23,735
his head was bashed in like an egg.
541
00:28:23,735 --> 00:28:27,030
He just happened to be in a place
where a sniper could get an aim.
542
00:28:28,448 --> 00:28:31,201
We used to do
a four-day stint in a line.
543
00:28:31,201 --> 00:28:35,706
We took with us sufficient food
to last the four days.
544
00:28:37,165 --> 00:28:39,042
Go on, lads, give our love to Jerry.
545
00:28:39,042 --> 00:28:40,502
Mind yourselves out there.
546
00:28:40,502 --> 00:28:44,631
Your day would start before dawn
when NCOs would go round
547
00:28:44,631 --> 00:28:47,676
this 100 yards and
make sure everybody was alive.
548
00:28:47,676 --> 00:28:51,305
Of a day in the trenches,
you had two hours on, four off.
549
00:28:51,305 --> 00:28:53,474
A third of the people
were on sentry duty,
550
00:28:53,474 --> 00:28:56,310
a third working
and a third sleeping.
551
00:28:56,310 --> 00:28:58,103
We just slept where we were.
552
00:28:58,103 --> 00:29:00,731
No beds, just flopped down
on the ground.
553
00:29:00,731 --> 00:29:03,316
Been to the pictures, mate!
554
00:29:03,316 --> 00:29:06,486
The trench was very wet
and, wherever possible, we would try
555
00:29:06,486 --> 00:29:08,072
and get above the water.
556
00:29:08,072 --> 00:29:10,742
We were able to dig out
the side of the trench
557
00:29:10,742 --> 00:29:13,285
and that was when we used
to steal our sleep
558
00:29:13,285 --> 00:29:15,787
on the two-on and four-off stretch.
559
00:29:15,787 --> 00:29:18,707
And then you'd have
your couple of hours on the parapet
560
00:29:18,707 --> 00:29:20,501
and then rest again.
561
00:29:20,501 --> 00:29:23,671
If nothing untoward happened,
there would be perhaps
562
00:29:23,671 --> 00:29:27,342
two or three sentry groups
in the whole company's front.
563
00:29:39,020 --> 00:29:40,771
It was a job to keep awake.
564
00:29:40,771 --> 00:29:43,733
Woe betide you
if you were caught asleep.
565
00:29:43,733 --> 00:29:46,861
If you are so tired,
you can sleep standing up,
566
00:29:46,861 --> 00:29:48,655
which I've done many times.
567
00:29:50,072 --> 00:29:55,286
The first thing you did when you got
into the line was to have a brew-up.
568
00:29:55,286 --> 00:29:57,664
There was one thing
about the Vickers gun,
569
00:29:57,664 --> 00:29:59,457
it being a water-cooled weapon,
570
00:29:59,457 --> 00:30:01,918
if you were continuously firing,
you'd find that the water
571
00:30:01,918 --> 00:30:04,796
would be boiling.
You could disconnect the tube
572
00:30:04,796 --> 00:30:06,298
and make a cup of tea.
573
00:30:06,298 --> 00:30:09,217
The water came up
in two-gallon petrol cans.
574
00:30:09,217 --> 00:30:11,678
And we could taste the petrol in it
because they couldn't
575
00:30:11,678 --> 00:30:13,555
wash it completely out.
576
00:30:16,516 --> 00:30:18,769
In every bay was a little fireplace.
577
00:30:18,769 --> 00:30:23,231
You used tiny slivers of wood
because if you made smoke
578
00:30:23,231 --> 00:30:25,317
in the front line,
over would come a shell.
579
00:30:25,317 --> 00:30:26,569
I fancy a brew.
580
00:30:26,569 --> 00:30:29,029
But save a drop of that tea
to shave with.
581
00:30:29,029 --> 00:30:31,490
Because we had to shave
in the front line.
582
00:30:31,490 --> 00:30:34,284
We used to put a lot of tins
out on the parapet
583
00:30:34,284 --> 00:30:37,704
if it rained. You daren't touch
any of the other water.
584
00:30:37,704 --> 00:30:40,541
We were scooping water
out of shell holes,
585
00:30:40,541 --> 00:30:42,626
there might have been
dead bodies underneath.
586
00:30:42,626 --> 00:30:44,712
We thought as long as
we boiled it for a long time,
587
00:30:44,712 --> 00:30:46,839
all the green stuff
would come off the top.
588
00:30:46,839 --> 00:30:49,550
Nice and gentle.
Anyway, we'd made tea with it.
589
00:30:49,550 --> 00:30:51,927
That's how I got
my dose of dysentery.
590
00:30:51,927 --> 00:30:54,513
Of course,
there was no sanitary arrangements.
591
00:30:54,513 --> 00:30:56,766
They'd dig a trench
and stick a pole across,
592
00:30:56,766 --> 00:31:00,519
and you'd get about seven
or eight chaps on the pole.
593
00:31:00,519 --> 00:31:02,730
God, to have a clear-out
was terrible.
594
00:31:04,357 --> 00:31:06,817
People used to go
to the toilet with no privacy.
595
00:31:06,817 --> 00:31:10,238
Being rather a shy nature,
if I had pissed with somebody,
596
00:31:10,238 --> 00:31:11,697
I felt a bit nervous.
597
00:31:11,697 --> 00:31:14,659
But when you were in the Army,
you got quite used to it.
598
00:31:14,659 --> 00:31:17,328
Of course, it didn't matter a damn
because there was no women
599
00:31:17,328 --> 00:31:18,747
or anything like that.
600
00:31:18,747 --> 00:31:21,374
The flies used to crawl
over your bottom.
601
00:31:21,374 --> 00:31:22,709
Most unpleasant.
602
00:31:22,709 --> 00:31:24,585
And no such thing as toilet rolls.
603
00:31:24,585 --> 00:31:26,755
You had to wipe your
behind with your hand.
604
00:31:26,755 --> 00:31:29,257
Your hands might have been
in all sorts of things,
605
00:31:29,257 --> 00:31:30,926
but you never washed.
606
00:31:30,926 --> 00:31:32,594
Well, you heard a terrific shout...
607
00:31:34,262 --> 00:31:37,182
..and the pole had snapped
and the poor men
608
00:31:37,182 --> 00:31:39,601
who were sitting on the bar
fell down in the muck!
609
00:31:41,436 --> 00:31:44,440
There was always the humorous side
of the war.
610
00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:47,568
We had to put rifles down for them
to hang onto,
611
00:31:47,568 --> 00:31:52,447
and they came out like slimy rabbits
and nobody wanted to go near them.
612
00:31:54,908 --> 00:31:57,869
We had no spare clothes at all
and you were living for weeks
613
00:31:57,869 --> 00:32:00,830
without washing or getting a bath.
614
00:32:00,830 --> 00:32:04,876
I personally became really badly
infested and chatty,
615
00:32:04,876 --> 00:32:07,546
as we used to call it,
with these lice.
616
00:32:07,546 --> 00:32:10,007
Oh, lice was a dreadful problem.
617
00:32:10,007 --> 00:32:13,553
They were funny little things,
like little monster sort of things,
618
00:32:13,553 --> 00:32:16,639
with six legs, and they used
to feed ten times a day.
619
00:32:16,639 --> 00:32:18,307
You had to kill the bloody things.
620
00:32:18,307 --> 00:32:20,684
My favourite way was burning them.
621
00:32:20,684 --> 00:32:23,645
You would run the seams
over the lighted candle
622
00:32:23,645 --> 00:32:26,274
and you could hear the eggs going
pop, pop, pop, pop.
623
00:32:27,983 --> 00:32:30,611
The sooner you got the shirt back
again, the heat of the body
624
00:32:30,611 --> 00:32:32,530
hatched the eggs that you'd missed.
625
00:32:33,948 --> 00:32:36,576
And we was just as lousy
the next day.
626
00:32:39,328 --> 00:32:42,665
Each man prepared his own breakfast.
627
00:32:42,665 --> 00:32:46,502
Bread and jam was about
16 men to a loaf of bread.
628
00:32:48,212 --> 00:32:50,548
There'd be a little bit of bacon
which would suffice
629
00:32:50,548 --> 00:32:52,675
for half a dozen men.
630
00:32:52,675 --> 00:32:56,011
You'd put your rasher of bacon
in your mess tin lid,
631
00:32:56,011 --> 00:33:00,558
put a few more sticks on your fire
and you would fry your bacon.
632
00:33:00,558 --> 00:33:03,562
And then soak up the fat
with a piece of biscuit
633
00:33:03,562 --> 00:33:05,689
and then there you are
with the breakfast.
634
00:33:05,689 --> 00:33:08,399
Dinner time was mostly
bully beef cut up and stewed,
635
00:33:08,399 --> 00:33:11,444
along with all sorts
of vegetables from tins.
636
00:33:11,444 --> 00:33:14,739
Magonoghie's tinned stew was
mixed up with the bully beef.
637
00:33:14,739 --> 00:33:18,201
I've gone into French dugouts
and eaten biscuits
638
00:33:18,201 --> 00:33:20,870
which had been left by the troops
two years previously,
639
00:33:20,870 --> 00:33:25,209
and tasted the green mould in them,
but it didn't do me any harm.
640
00:33:25,209 --> 00:33:28,629
This was how it was. Anything's
good, you know, when you're hungry.
641
00:33:28,629 --> 00:33:31,047
And you were always hungry.
642
00:33:32,340 --> 00:33:35,135
But any given moment,
we could expect to be shelled.
643
00:33:37,262 --> 00:33:39,639
You had very little protection
against that.
644
00:33:39,639 --> 00:33:43,477
One would hear a mild pop
as the gun fired five miles away.
645
00:33:45,729 --> 00:33:48,482
And in the five or six seconds
it took to come,
646
00:33:48,482 --> 00:33:51,777
you can pass through quite a number
of psychological changes.
647
00:33:57,742 --> 00:34:00,369
I can't remember anything more
nerve-racking
648
00:34:00,369 --> 00:34:04,331
than the continuous shelling,
without stop, went on day and night.
649
00:34:04,331 --> 00:34:07,752
But we were always told that you
never heard the shell that hit you
650
00:34:07,752 --> 00:34:10,713
because most of them
travelled faster than sound.
651
00:34:10,713 --> 00:34:14,967
But you could literally feel your
heart pounding against the ground.
652
00:34:14,967 --> 00:34:17,553
The emotional strain
was absolutely terrific.
653
00:34:17,553 --> 00:34:19,847
Although a shell might burst
50 yards away,
654
00:34:19,847 --> 00:34:22,642
you might find a fragment
of jagged iron,
655
00:34:22,642 --> 00:34:24,769
really red hot
and weighing half a pound,
656
00:34:24,769 --> 00:34:27,021
arriving in your trench.
657
00:34:27,021 --> 00:34:29,523
You see people blown to little bits.
658
00:34:29,523 --> 00:34:31,901
I've actually had to put a man
in a sandbag.
659
00:34:31,901 --> 00:34:34,112
Every now and again,
there would be a great roar
660
00:34:34,112 --> 00:34:36,197
like an aeroplane
coming in to land...
661
00:34:37,448 --> 00:34:39,952
..and in a fifth of a second,
your resolution would break
662
00:34:39,952 --> 00:34:41,828
and you'd throw yourself down
into the mud
663
00:34:41,828 --> 00:34:44,122
and the other ones
would laugh at you.
664
00:34:44,122 --> 00:34:47,041
The shrapnel shell would burst
in the air and spray bullets
665
00:34:47,041 --> 00:34:48,627
on the troops below.
666
00:34:50,462 --> 00:34:51,880
As if they were from a shotgun.
667
00:34:53,799 --> 00:34:57,343
The bullets came down,
whistling like all the hobs of hell.
668
00:35:01,181 --> 00:35:04,059
Another one of the annoyances
we had was the Germans
669
00:35:04,059 --> 00:35:05,685
were very active with mining.
670
00:35:07,687 --> 00:35:09,773
We crouched down underneath
the front parapet
671
00:35:09,773 --> 00:35:11,275
to dodge the debris falling,
672
00:35:11,275 --> 00:35:15,028
and I got the men to open up
rapid fire to prevent the Germans
673
00:35:15,028 --> 00:35:18,616
from getting into that crater
where they could bomb us.
674
00:35:18,616 --> 00:35:21,535
If the front line gets damaged,
it's got to be repaired.
675
00:35:21,535 --> 00:35:23,245
Well,
the people who are in the line,
676
00:35:23,245 --> 00:35:24,997
they've got to get on with it.
677
00:35:24,997 --> 00:35:29,460
I had in my mind that we expected
big gunfire to light amongst
678
00:35:29,460 --> 00:35:32,796
all us cavalry and absolutely
swipe us off the face of the Earth.
679
00:35:36,675 --> 00:35:38,594
I shouted, "Gallop!" like that.
680
00:35:38,594 --> 00:35:40,888
They dropped 'em all at once,
the horses.
681
00:35:42,222 --> 00:35:44,475
Oh, a heck of a mess.
682
00:35:44,475 --> 00:35:47,479
The horses were laying down,
with their intestines hanging out,
683
00:35:47,479 --> 00:35:50,522
and men with matter hanging out
of theirs.
684
00:35:50,522 --> 00:35:53,025
"And that, boys," they said,
"the bloody Germans!"
685
00:35:53,025 --> 00:35:56,029
To lose a horse was
like losing a friend.
686
00:35:56,029 --> 00:35:58,822
The Brigadier turned
to our captain and he says,
687
00:35:58,822 --> 00:36:00,825
"See that the boy has
two or three days' rest.
688
00:36:00,825 --> 00:36:02,452
"When a boy likes an animal
like that,
689
00:36:02,452 --> 00:36:04,912
"there's not a lot wrong with him."
690
00:36:04,912 --> 00:36:07,540
Over the whole of the front line,
there was a smell.
691
00:36:07,540 --> 00:36:09,792
It wasn't a complicated smell,
692
00:36:09,792 --> 00:36:12,837
it was the smell
of decaying corpses.
693
00:36:12,837 --> 00:36:15,048
Nasty, sickly smell.
694
00:36:15,048 --> 00:36:16,633
You never forgot that smell.
695
00:36:19,219 --> 00:36:20,846
It was the smell of death.
696
00:36:20,846 --> 00:36:25,100
If you've ever smelt a dead mouse,
it was like that, but hundreds
697
00:36:25,100 --> 00:36:27,060
and hundreds of times worse.
698
00:36:28,936 --> 00:36:30,397
It seemed to cling to everything.
699
00:36:30,397 --> 00:36:34,067
When you was having your food,
you could taste it.
700
00:36:34,067 --> 00:36:39,114
The awful stench and bits of
human bodies laying about,
701
00:36:39,114 --> 00:36:41,700
it became an everyday thing.
702
00:36:41,700 --> 00:36:44,912
We thought, well, it'll be you
too next, what does it matter?
703
00:36:47,039 --> 00:36:51,251
Wherever there was a grave
or a body, there were rats.
704
00:36:51,251 --> 00:36:52,461
They were all big fat ones
705
00:36:52,461 --> 00:36:55,131
and we knew where they got
the fat from.
706
00:36:55,131 --> 00:37:00,511
Unpleasant animals, because of
the filtration into the graves.
707
00:37:00,511 --> 00:37:03,889
They used to feed on the dead
and come in the dugouts,
708
00:37:03,889 --> 00:37:05,433
pick up scraps in there.
709
00:37:05,433 --> 00:37:07,434
I woke up in the bottom
of the trench
710
00:37:07,434 --> 00:37:09,895
and felt something warm on my face.
711
00:37:09,895 --> 00:37:12,899
And a little heart
going bang, bang, bang.
712
00:37:12,899 --> 00:37:15,567
The devil scratched my face
with the claws of his hind feet
713
00:37:15,567 --> 00:37:16,735
as he took off.
714
00:37:16,735 --> 00:37:19,155
We used to try and shoot them,
hit them, kill them,
715
00:37:19,155 --> 00:37:20,656
chase them, do anything.
716
00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:24,243
Then you've got gas.
717
00:37:24,243 --> 00:37:27,372
We saw this green cloud
coming towards us.
718
00:37:27,372 --> 00:37:29,415
Just rolling slowly
along the ground.
719
00:37:29,415 --> 00:37:31,000
They'd shout "gas"...
720
00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:33,210
..and you had to take your mask out
and stick it on
721
00:37:33,210 --> 00:37:34,754
in two, three seconds.
722
00:37:34,754 --> 00:37:39,092
Yes, it was phosgene gas,
later on there was mustard gas.
723
00:37:39,092 --> 00:37:41,010
That was very effective.
724
00:37:41,010 --> 00:37:44,180
I never saw a slightly gassed man.
725
00:37:44,180 --> 00:37:47,308
If you couldn't get your gas mask,
you were to pee on your handkerchief
726
00:37:47,308 --> 00:37:49,561
and stuff this round
your nose and mouth.
727
00:37:49,561 --> 00:37:52,063
I don't mind admitting that
I didn't think much of the
728
00:37:52,063 --> 00:37:55,107
urinating on the handkerchief,
so I went into one of
729
00:37:55,107 --> 00:37:58,653
the trench's latrines
and I stuck my head in a bucket.
730
00:37:58,653 --> 00:38:00,905
But I'll tell you, I couldn't
hold my breath any more,
731
00:38:00,905 --> 00:38:03,909
came up, took a good breath of air,
down again.
732
00:38:03,909 --> 00:38:06,077
We were very soon
enveloped in this thick,
733
00:38:06,077 --> 00:38:07,871
yellow, filthy cloud.
734
00:38:07,871 --> 00:38:11,166
The more we tried to get rid
of the sting in our eyes,
735
00:38:11,166 --> 00:38:12,834
the worse it got.
736
00:38:14,919 --> 00:38:17,131
And I thought deeply
of what the effect of blindness
737
00:38:17,131 --> 00:38:18,798
was going to be.
738
00:38:18,798 --> 00:38:22,761
The extraction of clotted blood
and the injection of saline
739
00:38:22,761 --> 00:38:24,930
could alleviate a lot
of the trouble.
740
00:38:24,930 --> 00:38:27,975
And as I was gassed myself,
I can speak from experience.
741
00:38:30,268 --> 00:38:32,980
In the winter time,
as the weather deteriorated,
742
00:38:32,980 --> 00:38:36,191
so the trenches got
more and more sodden with water
743
00:38:36,191 --> 00:38:38,485
until they just became ditches.
744
00:38:38,485 --> 00:38:41,197
The water was swirling
about our feet and rising higher
745
00:38:41,197 --> 00:38:44,658
and higher
until it reached our chests.
746
00:38:44,658 --> 00:38:47,578
Our difficulty was frostbite.
747
00:38:47,578 --> 00:38:51,332
Our gumboots filled with water,
and in the mornings we could not
748
00:38:51,332 --> 00:38:55,127
split them off because
they were frozen to our feet.
749
00:38:55,127 --> 00:38:57,338
When you're talking
about trench feet,
750
00:38:57,338 --> 00:38:58,923
you're talking about gangrene.
751
00:38:58,923 --> 00:39:03,261
Send him straight down the line,
hack the legs off.
752
00:39:03,261 --> 00:39:05,138
Give us a hand with that, will you?
753
00:39:05,138 --> 00:39:09,309
When the water had soaked into the
earth, the floors of the trenches
754
00:39:09,309 --> 00:39:14,230
were just paved with liquid mud,
and that became like glue.
755
00:39:14,230 --> 00:39:18,360
It was a curious
sucking kind of mud.
756
00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:20,945
Very disgusting indeed,
very tenacious.
757
00:39:20,945 --> 00:39:22,614
It stuck to you.
758
00:39:22,614 --> 00:39:26,200
If one had to go
to the rear for rations,
759
00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:28,619
well, that was just
a nightmare journey.
760
00:39:28,619 --> 00:39:30,371
Slithering about.
761
00:39:30,371 --> 00:39:33,708
When it was pouring with rain
and on slippery duck boards,
762
00:39:33,708 --> 00:39:36,169
the language was really edifying.
763
00:39:36,169 --> 00:39:38,963
You heard words that
you never dream existed.
764
00:39:38,963 --> 00:39:42,175
And if you slipped off the duck
boards, you just sank into the mud
765
00:39:42,175 --> 00:39:45,387
of decomposed bodies
of humans and mules,
766
00:39:45,387 --> 00:39:47,723
and that was the end of you.
767
00:39:47,723 --> 00:39:51,101
The boy, he was in the middle
of this huge sea of mud, struggling,
768
00:39:51,101 --> 00:39:52,728
and we couldn't do a thing.
769
00:39:52,728 --> 00:39:54,229
There was no hope of getting to him.
770
00:39:54,229 --> 00:39:57,024
The look on the lad's face,
and he was a mere boy,
771
00:39:57,024 --> 00:39:59,068
was really pathetic.
772
00:39:59,068 --> 00:40:02,737
I've seen men sinking into the mud
and dying in the slime.
773
00:40:02,737 --> 00:40:05,407
I think it absolutely
finished me off.
774
00:40:06,950 --> 00:40:09,453
It was supposed to be quiet and
then you might get
775
00:40:09,453 --> 00:40:12,373
some drunken German saying, "I'm
going to give them hell today,"
776
00:40:12,373 --> 00:40:14,041
and opened up with all
his batteries
777
00:40:14,041 --> 00:40:16,043
and catch hundreds of people
in the line-up.
778
00:40:16,043 --> 00:40:19,588
And that was what they called
holding the line.
779
00:40:19,588 --> 00:40:23,384
We were in conditions that isolated
us completely from civilisation.
780
00:40:23,384 --> 00:40:27,763
We got so generate,
so isolated living in this mud.
781
00:40:27,763 --> 00:40:31,517
And you could sympathise
with how a rabbit must feel
782
00:40:31,517 --> 00:40:34,770
because we were hunted by mankind,
just the same as a rabbit.
783
00:40:34,770 --> 00:40:37,273
You knew your lives were in
one another's hands
784
00:40:37,273 --> 00:40:39,942
and it united you very closely
and you didn't let anything
785
00:40:39,942 --> 00:40:41,944
interfere with that.
786
00:40:41,944 --> 00:40:44,363
You knew what was going
on within your vision.
787
00:40:44,363 --> 00:40:47,283
Beyond that, you hadn't got a clue.
788
00:40:47,283 --> 00:40:50,995
You didn't care how the war
was going, whether we were winning.
789
00:40:50,995 --> 00:40:53,039
You weren't bothered
with that at all.
790
00:40:53,039 --> 00:40:56,042
You lived like tramps,
you didn't polish any buttons,
791
00:40:56,042 --> 00:40:59,754
you wore any uniformed bits
that you liked and nobody worried.
792
00:40:59,754 --> 00:41:02,882
All they were concerned
with was that you were fit to fight.
793
00:41:02,882 --> 00:41:05,051
If nothing's happening,
you chat about life,
794
00:41:05,051 --> 00:41:07,303
where he came from
and you came from.
795
00:41:07,303 --> 00:41:08,597
Everything was friendly.
796
00:41:08,597 --> 00:41:10,807
There was a terrific lot
of kindness in a way,
797
00:41:10,807 --> 00:41:12,267
to each person.
798
00:41:12,267 --> 00:41:15,270
When the war was not very active,
it was really rather fun
799
00:41:15,270 --> 00:41:16,855
to be in the front line.
800
00:41:16,855 --> 00:41:20,317
It was not very dangerous,
the sort of outdoor camping holiday
801
00:41:20,317 --> 00:41:25,114
with the boys, with a slight spice
of danger to make it interesting.
802
00:41:25,114 --> 00:41:28,825
We used to raid the trenches
and get a prisoner if possible.
803
00:41:28,825 --> 00:41:32,704
And a typical trench raid
would be perhaps eight in passing.
804
00:41:34,080 --> 00:41:36,333
If you was going to make a raid,
somebody would cut
805
00:41:36,333 --> 00:41:38,586
a passage through the wire
at night-time.
806
00:41:41,296 --> 00:41:43,548
The only way to do it
was silently...
807
00:41:45,717 --> 00:41:47,970
..to rush it,
and that was the arrangement.
808
00:41:47,970 --> 00:41:50,264
We would bomb and bayonet
the Germans coming out
809
00:41:50,264 --> 00:41:52,891
on their hands and knees
out the dugout, we'd smack them
810
00:41:52,891 --> 00:41:55,478
over the head and throw
in a couple of bombs.
811
00:42:00,024 --> 00:42:02,527
And there were three ways
of getting rid of him.
812
00:42:02,527 --> 00:42:05,655
One was to knife him,
garrotte him or to bayonet him.
813
00:42:05,655 --> 00:42:08,866
Quietest was the quick wrap
around the throat
814
00:42:08,866 --> 00:42:10,367
and knife into the back.
815
00:42:14,372 --> 00:42:16,665
I threw a revolver
at poor little Rudolph,
816
00:42:16,665 --> 00:42:18,000
he was only about 18.
817
00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:19,585
I hit him in the face with it.
818
00:42:19,585 --> 00:42:22,255
He screamed and came back at me,
and that's when I got him.
819
00:42:22,255 --> 00:42:24,674
Got him with a Very pistol.
820
00:42:24,674 --> 00:42:26,509
Well done, chaps! Good raid!
821
00:42:26,509 --> 00:42:29,136
I always had a full flask
and I gave him a drink.
822
00:42:29,136 --> 00:42:31,097
I felt very sorry for him.
823
00:42:31,097 --> 00:42:34,225
He said, "Danke schoen,
das ist gut," and died.
824
00:42:41,857 --> 00:42:45,237
And it was a very successful raid,
they got two prisoners, I think,
825
00:42:45,237 --> 00:42:47,489
which was all they all wanted.
826
00:42:47,489 --> 00:42:50,409
By the way, the men
who were captured on the trench raid
827
00:42:50,409 --> 00:42:55,456
were the first Germans I saw
on the Western Front.
828
00:42:55,456 --> 00:42:58,667
A lot of the German troops,
they were very good, very friendly.
829
00:42:58,667 --> 00:43:02,504
In fact, some of those Bavarians
were dammed good, decent people.
830
00:43:02,504 --> 00:43:04,798
The snipers would fire
but not hit anybody,
831
00:43:04,798 --> 00:43:06,008
know what I mean?
832
00:43:07,842 --> 00:43:10,220
They put up a sign - "Gott mit uns."
833
00:43:10,220 --> 00:43:11,971
God is with us.
834
00:43:11,971 --> 00:43:15,058
And we put a sign up in English -
"We've got mittens too!"
835
00:43:15,058 --> 00:43:17,686
We don't know if the Germans
enjoyed that joke or not.
836
00:43:17,686 --> 00:43:20,814
There was a wounded German,
he was a Wartenberger, I think.
837
00:43:20,814 --> 00:43:23,066
We did what we could for him,
we gave him a bit of food
838
00:43:23,066 --> 00:43:26,779
and that sort of thing, and
he was cursing the Prussians.
839
00:43:26,779 --> 00:43:31,033
The Saxons were in front of us
and they gave us the warning
840
00:43:31,033 --> 00:43:34,620
that there were going
to be relieved by the Prussians.
841
00:43:34,620 --> 00:43:37,665
And they said to us,
"Give them hell."
842
00:43:37,665 --> 00:43:39,875
They hated the Prussians.
843
00:43:39,875 --> 00:43:41,794
The Prussians were cruel bastards.
844
00:43:44,129 --> 00:43:46,090
Hurry up!This way.
Schnell, schnell!
845
00:43:46,090 --> 00:43:48,342
Watch yourself.Come along!
846
00:43:48,342 --> 00:43:50,386
The Bavarians or the Saxonians,
847
00:43:50,386 --> 00:43:52,764
they were the more civilised
of the Germans.
848
00:43:52,764 --> 00:43:54,556
Part English, if anything.
849
00:43:57,643 --> 00:44:00,729
After a four-day spell
in the front line,
850
00:44:00,729 --> 00:44:04,484
we were relieved and we had to
march back to the billets
851
00:44:04,484 --> 00:44:06,819
a few miles behind the lines.
852
00:44:06,819 --> 00:44:10,365
We were going for
a supposed one-week's rest.
853
00:44:10,365 --> 00:44:12,450
Everybody was dead whacked.
854
00:44:12,450 --> 00:44:14,285
We were all pretty knocked up.
855
00:44:14,285 --> 00:44:16,455
We extricated ourselves from the mud
856
00:44:16,455 --> 00:44:19,498
to what was, somewhat ironically,
called rest.
857
00:44:19,498 --> 00:44:23,169
In the front line itself,
you didn't criticise people
858
00:44:23,169 --> 00:44:25,796
and if you had a chap
who was a bit dicky,
859
00:44:25,796 --> 00:44:28,258
you would keep an eye on him,
just like in a family.
860
00:44:28,258 --> 00:44:30,885
But when you got out of the line,
you'd want nothing to do
861
00:44:30,885 --> 00:44:32,304
with those people at all.
862
00:44:32,304 --> 00:44:34,514
I mean, you can't call
it comradeship exactly,
863
00:44:34,514 --> 00:44:35,974
it was the way you did it.
864
00:44:35,974 --> 00:44:38,810
Come and get your mail!
Welcome back!
865
00:44:38,810 --> 00:44:42,689
The thing which always struck me
as being absolutely stupid
866
00:44:42,689 --> 00:44:47,152
was the next morning,
every man had to be spick and span,
867
00:44:47,152 --> 00:44:48,737
not a trace of mud on him.
868
00:44:50,655 --> 00:44:54,368
You'd brush off clothes or dry
them off the best way you could
869
00:44:54,368 --> 00:44:55,827
and clean your boots.
870
00:44:55,827 --> 00:44:58,455
In other words, smarten yourself up.
871
00:44:58,455 --> 00:45:01,542
It's A Long Way To Tipperary
872
00:45:11,260 --> 00:45:13,763
The men would always appear
the same -
873
00:45:13,763 --> 00:45:17,641
cheerful and, in the circumstances,
happy as they could be,
874
00:45:17,641 --> 00:45:19,601
making the best of everything.
875
00:45:19,601 --> 00:45:22,146
You know, in true British fashion.
876
00:45:23,356 --> 00:45:27,527
What?The Cockney wit was prevalent
and we were all lads together,
877
00:45:27,527 --> 00:45:30,655
you know, we didn't care about it.
878
00:45:30,655 --> 00:45:34,784
We'd make a fuss about nothing,
the little things that didn't matter
879
00:45:34,784 --> 00:45:38,037
really, because it was something
to fill the time in.
880
00:45:38,037 --> 00:45:40,790
We used to have to make
our own amusements.
881
00:45:40,790 --> 00:45:42,083
Bloody bastard!
882
00:45:42,083 --> 00:45:43,752
You laughed at the slightest things.
883
00:45:43,752 --> 00:45:47,005
I think probably it was the
general tension of the atmosphere
884
00:45:47,005 --> 00:45:49,174
that used to make us like that,
you know?
885
00:45:51,259 --> 00:45:54,846
My mother sent me a parcel
with a plum pudding, of all things,
886
00:45:54,846 --> 00:45:57,474
and had no thought of
not being able to cook it,
887
00:45:57,474 --> 00:45:59,100
so we used it as a rugby ball.
888
00:46:00,769 --> 00:46:03,689
We had this regimental sports day.
889
00:46:03,689 --> 00:46:06,274
And I won't say
I was the only sober one,
890
00:46:06,274 --> 00:46:09,485
but most of them were merry
about it.
891
00:46:17,661 --> 00:46:20,289
I mean, you took part in everything
because you had to fill
892
00:46:20,289 --> 00:46:22,666
your time in, you know.
893
00:46:22,666 --> 00:46:24,710
Otherwise all you did
was sit about and smoke.
894
00:46:28,839 --> 00:46:32,425
The only time we saw the artillery
was when we was out of rest.
895
00:46:32,425 --> 00:46:34,136
Fire!
896
00:46:36,722 --> 00:46:39,266
They would be, say,
two miles behind the line.
897
00:46:40,977 --> 00:46:43,229
Fire!
898
00:46:43,229 --> 00:46:46,065
We wanted to neutralise enemy
batteries, so we were registering
899
00:46:46,065 --> 00:46:47,900
our batteries on his.
Fire!
900
00:46:50,278 --> 00:46:52,280
We used to know the line
and elevation
901
00:46:52,280 --> 00:46:54,114
because it was done by aircraft.
902
00:46:56,408 --> 00:46:59,579
It was pretty ghastly, but the idea
was to kill as many German gunners
903
00:46:59,579 --> 00:47:00,872
as you could.
904
00:47:00,872 --> 00:47:02,123
Ready!
905
00:47:04,041 --> 00:47:05,709
Fire!
906
00:47:12,217 --> 00:47:15,261
There was no motorised transport
for guns.
907
00:47:15,261 --> 00:47:18,014
The guns used to be
brought up by horses.
908
00:47:18,014 --> 00:47:19,641
Eight horses to each gun team.
909
00:47:19,641 --> 00:47:21,351
Four horses to each wagon team.
910
00:47:21,351 --> 00:47:22,852
About 60 horses.
911
00:47:24,395 --> 00:47:27,273
The gunners made a filthy noise,
jingling and jingling
912
00:47:27,273 --> 00:47:29,275
and the horses making
noises both ends.
913
00:47:29,275 --> 00:47:31,444
And it was always
of great concern for those of us
914
00:47:31,444 --> 00:47:33,071
who were going into battle.
915
00:47:33,071 --> 00:47:35,782
Heave!
916
00:47:37,409 --> 00:47:38,826
Heave!
917
00:47:43,873 --> 00:47:46,125
Each company officer
paid his own company.
918
00:47:46,125 --> 00:47:49,755
Now, it was generally the
first morning after we were out
919
00:47:49,755 --> 00:47:52,507
of the line, you got five francs.
920
00:47:52,507 --> 00:47:55,343
A franc was worth 10p,
so 50p was your pay
921
00:47:55,343 --> 00:47:57,554
for a fortnight, 50p.
922
00:47:57,554 --> 00:48:00,557
Now, that's a week
of riotous living.
923
00:48:00,557 --> 00:48:03,978
Every town of any size at all
had a brothel
924
00:48:03,978 --> 00:48:07,606
and that was where most
of these boys learned a little bit
925
00:48:07,606 --> 00:48:11,109
more about life than they would ever
have done in normal civil life.
926
00:48:11,109 --> 00:48:14,029
So although they were young
in years, it wasn't long
927
00:48:14,029 --> 00:48:16,657
before they were quite worldly men.
928
00:48:16,657 --> 00:48:19,076
One of the lads said,
"Let's go and have a look
929
00:48:19,076 --> 00:48:21,746
"in the White Star.
It's like a pub."
930
00:48:21,746 --> 00:48:24,415
I'd led a very sheltered life.
931
00:48:24,415 --> 00:48:28,252
And they were beautiful girls
with just a piece of lace on,
932
00:48:28,252 --> 00:48:32,548
and, oh, my word, I'd never seen
anything like it before!
933
00:48:32,548 --> 00:48:35,801
There was I, a young lad, knowing
nothing about this, and off we go,
934
00:48:35,801 --> 00:48:39,013
and these men were
going up to see the girls.
935
00:48:39,013 --> 00:48:41,391
I was very keen. I said
to one of these fellas,
936
00:48:41,391 --> 00:48:43,059
"I've only got a sixpence."
937
00:48:43,059 --> 00:48:45,687
He said, "That's no good,
it's a shilling."
938
00:48:45,687 --> 00:48:48,522
That was my first experience
of a brothel.
939
00:48:48,522 --> 00:48:51,609
Anyway, we looked in there
for a couple of minutes,
940
00:48:51,609 --> 00:48:54,612
when four or five naked girls
came running down the corridor.
941
00:48:54,612 --> 00:48:56,864
We turned tail and ran!
942
00:48:56,864 --> 00:48:58,992
It was an eye-opener to me.
943
00:48:58,992 --> 00:49:01,369
There she stood, great, big woman,
944
00:49:01,369 --> 00:49:03,913
with this little cane in her hand
and she belted my backside
945
00:49:03,913 --> 00:49:05,415
as if I was a little schoolboy.
946
00:49:05,415 --> 00:49:07,751
Pelted Sergeant this
and pelted Sergeant the other,
947
00:49:07,751 --> 00:49:09,419
thump, thump, thump, thump, thump!
948
00:49:11,838 --> 00:49:13,381
Oh, gambling?
949
00:49:13,381 --> 00:49:15,008
People were gambling all day long.
950
00:49:15,008 --> 00:49:17,635
The Canadians and the Australians
used a gamble terrific
951
00:49:17,635 --> 00:49:19,054
amounts of money.
952
00:49:19,054 --> 00:49:20,680
More money than any of us seen.
953
00:49:24,226 --> 00:49:26,311
The beer was very thin indeed.
954
00:49:26,311 --> 00:49:30,815
It was one and nine stuff -
one pint, nine piddles.
955
00:49:30,815 --> 00:49:34,027
Friday was always the issue day
for cigarettes
956
00:49:34,027 --> 00:49:36,905
and the cigarettes were
Three Witches,
957
00:49:36,905 --> 00:49:40,533
which soon became
Three Bitches or Red Hue Tsars.
958
00:49:40,533 --> 00:49:44,747
I think they were made
from stable returns.
959
00:49:44,747 --> 00:49:48,708
But generally, in good-sized
villages, you could get Woodbines
960
00:49:48,708 --> 00:49:54,965
and Player's, and they were far
preferable to the issue cigarettes.
961
00:49:54,965 --> 00:49:57,760
Of course, we were always
bartering with the Frenchmen.
962
00:49:57,760 --> 00:49:59,762
We used to barter some of our
under-clothing
963
00:49:59,762 --> 00:50:01,847
and get a loaf of bread with it.
964
00:50:01,847 --> 00:50:05,476
We used to swap our British
cigarettes for their French wine.
965
00:50:05,476 --> 00:50:09,021
It could be just as tiring out
of the line as in the line
966
00:50:09,021 --> 00:50:10,773
and it was sometimes worse.
967
00:50:10,773 --> 00:50:12,733
If you were chosen for fatigue,
968
00:50:12,733 --> 00:50:15,736
you'd have to go
on the working party.
969
00:50:15,736 --> 00:50:19,949
You collected stores from a big dump
three or four miles back.
970
00:50:19,949 --> 00:50:22,577
Enormous bundles of sandbags,
971
00:50:22,577 --> 00:50:26,163
many made-up duck boards
and, worst of all, barbed wire.
972
00:50:27,540 --> 00:50:29,166
It was always hard work.
973
00:50:29,166 --> 00:50:32,712
You were a bonny labouring boy
more than you were a fighter.
974
00:50:32,712 --> 00:50:35,799
All the chaps were very tired,
but it made no difference.
975
00:50:35,799 --> 00:50:37,717
And they were mentally tired out.
976
00:50:37,717 --> 00:50:39,845
They'd just come out of a
trench tour for a rest
977
00:50:39,845 --> 00:50:42,305
and this was
the kind of rest they were getting.
978
00:50:43,764 --> 00:50:48,019
You would be carrying stuff
up on a light railway.
979
00:50:48,019 --> 00:50:51,981
Yes, they laid a narrow gauge,
light railway track.
980
00:50:51,981 --> 00:50:55,819
It was the simplest of things,
just platforms on wheels,
981
00:50:55,819 --> 00:50:58,029
driven by light locomotives.
982
00:51:06,163 --> 00:51:08,290
Light railways were always
a blooming nuisance
983
00:51:08,290 --> 00:51:11,293
because they were always
coming off the track.
984
00:51:11,293 --> 00:51:15,172
And they lost control of this truck
going down a slight incline
985
00:51:15,172 --> 00:51:17,424
and it would barge
into the one in front,
986
00:51:17,424 --> 00:51:21,762
which scattered the duck boards
all over the place.
987
00:51:21,762 --> 00:51:25,182
We used to take our mess tins
up to the engine driver
988
00:51:25,182 --> 00:51:28,518
and get some boiling water
for our brew-up of tea.
989
00:51:31,605 --> 00:51:33,065
And another.
990
00:51:35,401 --> 00:51:39,905
The Germans could see the steam
and smoke from the steam engine.
991
00:51:39,905 --> 00:51:42,575
So then it was mostly petrol engines
992
00:51:42,575 --> 00:51:45,077
which used to run up
to the trenches.
993
00:51:47,955 --> 00:51:50,916
The light railway only went
as far as the communication trench,
994
00:51:50,916 --> 00:51:53,628
and then we had to push the thing
along by hand.
995
00:51:57,548 --> 00:51:59,884
Somebody came along and said,
"This is it, we're going
996
00:51:59,884 --> 00:52:01,469
"to be home by Christmas!
997
00:52:01,469 --> 00:52:03,137
"We'll just go down the road
998
00:52:03,137 --> 00:52:05,515
"and look in a field there,
you'll see."
999
00:52:05,515 --> 00:52:07,808
Wouldn't tell us why.
Anyway, we went down.
1000
00:52:07,808 --> 00:52:11,145
They were on the roadside covered
with tarpaulin sheets.
1001
00:52:11,145 --> 00:52:15,024
You could see nothing
except a square outline.
1002
00:52:15,024 --> 00:52:17,902
And then the officer said, "These
are supposed to be hush-hush."
1003
00:52:17,902 --> 00:52:20,947
When we asked what it was,
the simple reply was "tanks".
1004
00:52:20,947 --> 00:52:24,910
Knowing the shortage of water,
we naturally assumed water tanks
1005
00:52:24,910 --> 00:52:27,245
and thought that we were
getting reserve supplies.
1006
00:52:27,245 --> 00:52:29,664
It was one of the best-kept secrets.
1007
00:52:29,664 --> 00:52:32,042
We were delighted because
these wonderful machines
1008
00:52:32,042 --> 00:52:33,376
were going to win the war.
1009
00:52:34,878 --> 00:52:36,880
Soon everybody would be home again.
1010
00:52:36,880 --> 00:52:38,923
Of course, it didn't
happen like that.
1011
00:52:41,718 --> 00:52:45,972
We were taken out of the line
and had intensive training.
1012
00:52:45,972 --> 00:52:50,268
Plunge the bayonet into the sack,
shout like hell.
1013
00:52:50,268 --> 00:52:53,856
It was to get used to plunging
them into somebody's body.
1014
00:52:53,856 --> 00:52:56,608
Then we fired our rifles
on the rifle range.
1015
00:53:03,907 --> 00:53:06,452
Firing rifle grenades
is a specialist job.
1016
00:53:08,579 --> 00:53:10,163
But they were clumsy.
1017
00:53:11,373 --> 00:53:13,167
I didn't like them much.
1018
00:53:14,752 --> 00:53:18,881
Forced marching, marching without
a rest and also a frontal attack,
1019
00:53:18,881 --> 00:53:21,300
right flank attack,
left flank attack,
1020
00:53:21,300 --> 00:53:23,636
both flanks attack,
night attack,
1021
00:53:23,636 --> 00:53:26,180
and we wondered what the devil
all this training was for.
1022
00:53:29,100 --> 00:53:32,312
The corps commander said that
he had just received instructions
1023
00:53:32,312 --> 00:53:36,441
to go ahead with an operation
to break through the German lines.
1024
00:53:38,526 --> 00:53:41,278
Suddenly we were called to parade
with full marching order,
1025
00:53:41,278 --> 00:53:44,115
and we had to go back up the front,
and we'd only been out of the line
1026
00:53:44,115 --> 00:53:45,533
a couple of days.
1027
00:53:45,533 --> 00:53:49,370
We could see streams of supplies,
mostly ammunition columns,
1028
00:53:49,370 --> 00:53:51,706
going up toward the front.
1029
00:53:51,706 --> 00:53:54,084
We didn't have a lot of notice,
but we knew it was going
1030
00:53:54,084 --> 00:53:55,543
to be a big advance.
1031
00:54:09,933 --> 00:54:11,434
So batteries pushed forward,
1032
00:54:11,434 --> 00:54:13,728
forward positions filled up
with ammunition.
1033
00:54:13,728 --> 00:54:16,273
Let's get these ladders up.
1034
00:54:16,273 --> 00:54:20,277
As the great push drew nearer,
the line livened up. It began to get
1035
00:54:20,277 --> 00:54:22,946
much more dangerous
and not nearly so much fun.
1036
00:54:22,946 --> 00:54:25,824
And we learnt that
a bayonet charge was to be made
1037
00:54:25,824 --> 00:54:28,952
on German machine gunners.
1038
00:54:28,952 --> 00:54:31,914
"I wish it to be impressed
on all ranks, the importance
1039
00:54:31,914 --> 00:54:34,625
"of the operations
about to commence.
1040
00:54:34,625 --> 00:54:37,377
"The Germans are now outnumbered
and outgunned
1041
00:54:37,377 --> 00:54:39,629
"and will soon go
to pieces if every man goes
1042
00:54:39,629 --> 00:54:41,756
"into the fight
determined to get through
1043
00:54:41,756 --> 00:54:43,842
"whatever the local difficulties
may be.
1044
00:54:43,842 --> 00:54:46,928
"I am confident that the brigade
will distinguish itself in this,
1045
00:54:46,928 --> 00:54:48,347
"its first battle.
1046
00:54:48,347 --> 00:54:51,975
"Let every man remember
that all England is watching him."
1047
00:54:51,975 --> 00:54:55,688
We marched all through the night,
and it got so bad that officers
1048
00:54:55,688 --> 00:54:59,442
at the side were pushing men back
into line who were straggling out,
1049
00:54:59,442 --> 00:55:03,029
and your legs just seemed
to go automatically forward.
1050
00:55:03,029 --> 00:55:05,531
I had a feeling that we were
walking in our sleep.
1051
00:55:05,531 --> 00:55:07,325
More men were brought into the line,
1052
00:55:07,325 --> 00:55:10,328
regiments were crowded up
closer together.
1053
00:55:10,328 --> 00:55:14,457
We were filling up the trenches,
packed in like sardines.
1054
00:55:14,457 --> 00:55:18,378
Our captain was a splendid man.
He would never bark an order at you,
1055
00:55:18,378 --> 00:55:21,005
he would give an order
in a conversational way.
1056
00:55:21,005 --> 00:55:23,132
"We don't know exactly
how far this trench is,
1057
00:55:23,132 --> 00:55:26,010
"but between 200 and 300 yards.
1058
00:55:26,010 --> 00:55:29,180
"I will go over with the first wave
and you will be in the second wave.
1059
00:55:29,180 --> 00:55:32,642
"And as soon as the curtain fire
starts, we'll move.
1060
00:55:32,642 --> 00:55:35,145
"Now, go along and tell
your men to be ready."
1061
00:55:35,145 --> 00:55:37,981
And this is the
sort of order we got.
1062
00:55:37,981 --> 00:55:41,068
I had two assorted companies,
both ignorant of what their conduct
1063
00:55:41,068 --> 00:55:42,777
would be when they got into action.
1064
00:55:42,777 --> 00:55:45,655
So Captain Neville thought it
might be helpful if he could furnish
1065
00:55:45,655 --> 00:55:48,408
each platoon with a football
and allow them to kick it forward
1066
00:55:48,408 --> 00:55:49,785
and follow it.
1067
00:55:49,785 --> 00:55:52,203
I think myself that it did help
them enormously,
1068
00:55:52,203 --> 00:55:54,080
it took their minds off it.
1069
00:55:54,080 --> 00:55:57,375
We had an extra bandolier
of ammunition around our necks,
1070
00:55:57,375 --> 00:55:59,962
and if you didn't have a shovel,
you had a pick.
1071
00:55:59,962 --> 00:56:03,090
We got in the trenches
and we waited for zero hour.
1072
00:56:03,090 --> 00:56:05,842
All the watches were synchronised.
1073
00:56:05,842 --> 00:56:08,220
I was what's called
a first bayonet man,
1074
00:56:08,220 --> 00:56:10,556
which meant that I carried
the rifle with the bayonet
1075
00:56:10,556 --> 00:56:12,057
in the attacking position,
1076
00:56:12,057 --> 00:56:14,393
and the rest of the men
carried bags of bombs.
1077
00:56:16,854 --> 00:56:19,565
And we were warned to be ready
to advance at any moment.
1078
00:56:19,565 --> 00:56:22,777
"Any moment" was quite a long time
coming and, of course, that added
1079
00:56:22,777 --> 00:56:24,779
to the tension that we were feeling.
1080
00:56:26,906 --> 00:56:30,326
My platoon had been told
to go out and test the fire.
1081
00:56:30,326 --> 00:56:33,204
We had to get out
and walk towards the enemy.
1082
00:56:33,204 --> 00:56:37,833
We went about 200 yards
and then they called us back again.
1083
00:56:37,833 --> 00:56:41,796
There was to be no preliminary
bombardment the days beforehand,
1084
00:56:41,796 --> 00:56:45,758
there was only one short, sharp
barrage just before the battle.
1085
00:56:47,802 --> 00:56:50,554
You've got to have
the artillery preparation
1086
00:56:50,554 --> 00:56:52,306
to smash their wire down.
1087
00:56:52,306 --> 00:56:53,599
Fire!
1088
00:56:53,599 --> 00:56:57,728
I ordered fire on possible enemy
assembly and forming-up positions.
1089
00:56:57,728 --> 00:57:02,192
The bombardment started
and the ground shook.
1090
00:57:04,026 --> 00:57:08,615
And we could see the hundreds
and hundreds of gun flashes.
1091
00:57:09,741 --> 00:57:11,368
Ready, fire!
1092
00:57:20,626 --> 00:57:24,631
As soon as the bombardment started,
the German retaliation came.
1093
00:57:28,427 --> 00:57:30,804
For four hours, we had to sit
there and take everything
1094
00:57:30,804 --> 00:57:32,472
they slung at us.
1095
00:57:33,890 --> 00:57:36,768
And first of all,
a large number of tanks went in.
1096
00:57:36,768 --> 00:57:39,980
We could hear them
rumbling and rattling.
1097
00:57:39,980 --> 00:57:42,650
320 tanks crawling along.
1098
00:57:42,650 --> 00:57:45,610
We waited for the signal
to move off.
1099
00:57:45,610 --> 00:57:50,449
Already, everybody was anxious
to go, but we waited and waited.
1100
00:57:52,493 --> 00:57:54,703
We got no sleep at all that night,
owing to the noise
1101
00:57:54,703 --> 00:57:59,458
of our artillery barrage, which was
continuous, the whole time.
1102
00:57:59,458 --> 00:58:02,044
We was asked to hand over
any personal belongings
1103
00:58:02,044 --> 00:58:05,381
to our company officer,
such as photographs and letters
1104
00:58:05,381 --> 00:58:08,050
that we valued.
1105
00:58:08,050 --> 00:58:11,262
I heard soft voices talking to one
another quietly,
1106
00:58:11,262 --> 00:58:14,265
and I wondered - how many are going
to live to see the sun rise?
1107
00:58:14,265 --> 00:58:17,143
In a man's pay book, there was
provision for making a valid will
1108
00:58:17,143 --> 00:58:19,687
if they were going into action
for the first time.
1109
00:58:19,687 --> 00:58:22,065
I didn't bother with it,
I had nothing to leave anybody.
1110
00:58:23,858 --> 00:58:26,694
The fellow next to you,
he was your best friend.
1111
00:58:26,694 --> 00:58:29,238
You perhaps didn't know him
the day before.
1112
00:58:29,238 --> 00:58:31,491
And then an hour to go,
they were the longest
1113
00:58:31,491 --> 00:58:34,201
and the shortest hours in life.
1114
00:58:34,201 --> 00:58:36,580
We had unlimited time for thinking,
1115
00:58:36,580 --> 00:58:39,749
and I know I found myself thinking
much more deeply
1116
00:58:39,749 --> 00:58:42,460
than I had ever thought before.
1117
00:58:42,460 --> 00:58:44,462
Some people might be incapable
of thinking,
1118
00:58:44,462 --> 00:58:46,881
they might have regarded
the situation as being such
1119
00:58:46,881 --> 00:58:48,591
that they were incapable of thought.
1120
00:58:48,591 --> 00:58:50,593
I don't think
there was any feeling of fear,
1121
00:58:50,593 --> 00:58:52,971
it was just
that we were doing a job
1122
00:58:52,971 --> 00:58:55,098
and if it came, it came.
1123
00:58:55,098 --> 00:58:59,686
We realised that, sooner or later,
we were going to get the chop.
1124
00:58:59,686 --> 00:59:02,063
You were either going to be killed
or wounded.
1125
00:59:02,063 --> 00:59:05,275
I was not in the least frightened
being killed,
1126
00:59:05,275 --> 00:59:09,112
but I was terrified
lest I should lose an arm or a leg.
1127
00:59:09,112 --> 00:59:12,282
Waiting for an hour for an attack
is not a very pleasant thing.
1128
00:59:12,282 --> 00:59:16,536
We sort of chatted away, trying
to keep the spirits up, you see.
1129
00:59:16,536 --> 00:59:20,249
We told dirty stories
and made crude remarks.
1130
00:59:20,249 --> 00:59:23,126
We had 1,000 guns massed
on a mile front behind us.
1131
00:59:23,126 --> 00:59:25,463
Well, you can imagine all
this stuff coming over you,
1132
00:59:25,463 --> 00:59:27,506
we had the German stuff
coming the other way.
1133
00:59:27,506 --> 00:59:31,468
The noise rose to a crescendo
such as I'd never heard before.
1134
00:59:31,468 --> 00:59:33,512
You wouldn't hear a word.
1135
00:59:33,512 --> 00:59:37,641
The shells were passing over you
probably three foot, four foot.
1136
00:59:37,641 --> 00:59:41,520
And the air, it was an inferno,
and your line was another inferno.
1137
00:59:41,520 --> 00:59:43,814
Reason was completely blasted
out of it.
1138
00:59:43,814 --> 00:59:47,193
The bombardment created a sort
of hysterical feeling.
1139
00:59:47,193 --> 00:59:49,612
All of a sudden,
one of our fellas started crying,
1140
00:59:49,612 --> 00:59:52,532
really screaming and crying.
The officer in charge telling
1141
00:59:52,532 --> 00:59:56,285
the Sergeant, "Find that man
and shoot him, shoot him!"
1142
00:59:56,285 --> 00:59:58,788
It's difficult to explain
the reaction of a man
1143
00:59:58,788 --> 01:00:01,332
when he is in a big bombardment.
1144
01:00:01,332 --> 01:00:05,086
He thought that this man's screaming
and crying would be a danger
1145
01:00:05,086 --> 01:00:06,879
to the rest of the men.
1146
01:00:06,879 --> 01:00:09,299
As soon as it was light,
we were given a ration of rum,
1147
01:00:09,299 --> 01:00:11,676
any amount of it,
as much as you can drink.
1148
01:00:11,676 --> 01:00:14,011
And we got the order
to fix bayonets.
1149
01:00:14,011 --> 01:00:15,972
Fix bayonets!Fix bayonets!
1150
01:00:15,972 --> 01:00:17,599
Bayonets fixed!
1151
01:00:17,599 --> 01:00:21,811
It was a beautiful day, the way
it dawned after a rainy night.
1152
01:00:21,811 --> 01:00:23,187
A beautiful day.
1153
01:00:23,187 --> 01:00:27,358
Five minutes to go, I remember those
lads standing there, dead silent,
1154
01:00:27,358 --> 01:00:28,902
couldn't make a noise.
1155
01:00:28,902 --> 01:00:31,613
I was more frightened sitting,
waiting to start.
1156
01:00:31,613 --> 01:00:34,407
I was very frightened then,
very frightened indeed.
1157
01:00:34,407 --> 01:00:37,994
And an officer shouted along the
line, "Is everybody ready?"
1158
01:00:37,994 --> 01:00:40,997
And I called out, "I can't get my
bayonet on my rifle, sir."
1159
01:00:40,997 --> 01:00:43,417
And he said,
"Damn you, mate, hurry up."
1160
01:00:43,417 --> 01:00:45,669
I sent back a message
to brigade headquarters
1161
01:00:45,669 --> 01:00:47,170
to say we were all ready.
1162
01:00:47,170 --> 01:00:49,507
But unfortunately
a slight mistake occurred.
1163
01:00:49,507 --> 01:00:52,550
The first thing they knew
was a terrific tremor on the ground.
1164
01:00:52,550 --> 01:00:55,595
We blew a mine, which should
have been under the German trenches
1165
01:00:55,595 --> 01:00:57,222
but it wasn't.
1166
01:01:00,642 --> 01:01:03,354
It was in no-man's-land, and
that gave the Germans five minutes
1167
01:01:03,354 --> 01:01:05,522
to occupy the crater,
which they did.
1168
01:01:08,359 --> 01:01:11,987
Sergeant Moore, he was standing
behind the trench with a revolver
1169
01:01:11,987 --> 01:01:15,115
in his hand and he said, "Any boy
goes back, I shoot them."
1170
01:01:15,115 --> 01:01:18,493
So that if we didn't go one way,
we wouldn't go the other.
1171
01:01:18,493 --> 01:01:20,997
There wasn't a reluctance
to go over the top,
1172
01:01:20,997 --> 01:01:22,664
not with people I were with.
1173
01:01:22,664 --> 01:01:24,291
Fire!
1174
01:01:26,044 --> 01:01:27,420
Fire!
1175
01:01:27,420 --> 01:01:30,631
They put a curtain of shells
over you and you advanced.
1176
01:01:31,924 --> 01:01:33,759
That was the theory, I think.
1177
01:01:33,759 --> 01:01:35,553
Fire! Fire!
1178
01:01:35,553 --> 01:01:38,473
I realised this was
the moment of the assault.
1179
01:01:38,473 --> 01:01:40,182
And then zero hour.
1180
01:01:40,182 --> 01:01:43,227
Somebody shouted, "There they go!"
1181
01:01:43,227 --> 01:01:45,897
To the left were the
London Scottish, running forward.
1182
01:01:45,897 --> 01:01:48,482
I gave the order of "up the ladders,
over the top".
1183
01:01:51,819 --> 01:01:54,822
And after this, you lived
in a world of noise,
1184
01:01:54,822 --> 01:01:56,783
simply noise for hours.
1185
01:02:00,287 --> 01:02:02,997
As soon as you get over the top,
fear has left you.
1186
01:02:02,997 --> 01:02:05,959
You didn't run, there was
no shouting nor cheering,
1187
01:02:05,959 --> 01:02:08,003
everybody was deadly quiet.
1188
01:02:08,003 --> 01:02:11,131
Just as I stepped into
no-man's-land, somebody was shot
1189
01:02:11,131 --> 01:02:14,342
through the head
and his skull was splintered.
1190
01:02:14,342 --> 01:02:17,095
It wasn't a good send-off,
I can assure you.
1191
01:02:17,095 --> 01:02:23,018
The barrage proceeded into the
enemy lines in steps of 100 yards
1192
01:02:23,018 --> 01:02:24,436
at a time.
1193
01:02:24,436 --> 01:02:26,938
Fire!
1194
01:02:26,938 --> 01:02:29,900
The line of British troops, fixed
bayonets, walking quite steadily
1195
01:02:29,900 --> 01:02:31,693
behind the barrage.
1196
01:02:31,693 --> 01:02:33,487
It is a sight I shall never forget.
1197
01:02:33,487 --> 01:02:36,574
To start with, we'd had
the odd machinegun firing,
1198
01:02:36,574 --> 01:02:40,244
but remarkably little, and it seemed
almost too good to be true.
1199
01:02:40,244 --> 01:02:44,373
We then realised the Germans
had been containing their fire
1200
01:02:44,373 --> 01:02:47,334
until they saw
how far the attack was developing.
1201
01:02:47,334 --> 01:02:51,089
Unknown to us, there was
10 to 20 German machine guns.
1202
01:02:51,089 --> 01:02:53,382
Then all hell broke loose.
1203
01:02:53,382 --> 01:02:56,677
And, my God, he really
opened up and he let us have it.
1204
01:02:56,677 --> 01:02:58,303
It just swept us.
1205
01:03:04,268 --> 01:03:06,062
Keep moving, laddie!
1206
01:03:15,738 --> 01:03:19,074
Machinegun bullets came
at us like hailstones.
1207
01:03:19,074 --> 01:03:22,245
I didn't realise that it was
swish, swish with bullets.
1208
01:03:22,245 --> 01:03:25,039
I looked round and people were
dropping all round you.
1209
01:03:25,039 --> 01:03:28,376
I mean, they just faded away
on either side of you.
1210
01:03:28,376 --> 01:03:32,046
And I thought, what are
they shooting at me for?
1211
01:03:32,046 --> 01:03:35,759
I hadn't gone more than a few yards
before I was shot in the thigh.
1212
01:03:35,759 --> 01:03:38,344
There was a captain alongside me
with his revolver out
1213
01:03:38,344 --> 01:03:40,097
and, all of a sudden, he dropped.
1214
01:03:40,097 --> 01:03:42,307
And then another chap,
he was hit in the leg,
1215
01:03:42,307 --> 01:03:47,146
but he continued with great bounds,
hopping on one leg.
1216
01:03:47,146 --> 01:03:50,399
When the bullets hit the tank,
the metal flakes were whirling
1217
01:03:50,399 --> 01:03:52,734
around like razor blades
inside the tank.
1218
01:03:52,734 --> 01:03:55,361
You could see men dropping,
but you didn't take any notice.
1219
01:03:55,361 --> 01:03:57,573
If you didn't get hit,
you just carried on.
1220
01:03:57,573 --> 01:04:00,200
I suddenly found myself with
a terrible pain in my left hand
1221
01:04:00,200 --> 01:04:03,286
as if someone had caned me,
and I found a big hole in it.
1222
01:04:03,286 --> 01:04:06,831
A man was running across the front
of me and he was shot to the body
1223
01:04:06,831 --> 01:04:11,462
because the contents of his wallet
were flung out forward of me.
1224
01:04:11,462 --> 01:04:13,880
I felt a terrific bang
on my right arm
1225
01:04:13,880 --> 01:04:16,925
and the blood started running
off the end of my hand.
1226
01:04:16,925 --> 01:04:19,345
I just didn't think that this
German machinegun would
1227
01:04:19,345 --> 01:04:21,680
trouble to even fire at me,
but the next thing I felt
1228
01:04:21,680 --> 01:04:25,517
a shock of quite a number of bullets
hitting the right side of my body.
1229
01:04:25,517 --> 01:04:29,438
A hare crossed my path
with eyes bulging in fear,
1230
01:04:29,438 --> 01:04:32,816
but I felt that it couldn't have
been half as frightened as I was.
1231
01:04:32,816 --> 01:04:35,403
You could see your mates
going down right and left,
1232
01:04:35,403 --> 01:04:38,197
and you were face-to-face
with the stark realisation
1233
01:04:38,197 --> 01:04:39,698
that this was the end of it.
1234
01:04:39,698 --> 01:04:42,952
The two in front of me went down
wounded in the head and chest.
1235
01:04:42,952 --> 01:04:45,705
Those bloody bullets got me
in the leg and blew a great big hole
1236
01:04:45,705 --> 01:04:48,791
in the back. It didn't hurt.
1237
01:04:48,791 --> 01:04:51,043
Life was very, very hazardous indeed
1238
01:04:51,043 --> 01:04:53,296
and we proceeded in this fashion,
some getting hit
1239
01:04:53,296 --> 01:04:54,798
and others carrying along.
1240
01:04:54,798 --> 01:04:56,966
You hadn't got time
to deliberate upon things.
1241
01:04:56,966 --> 01:04:59,635
Machinegun bullets might be
coming over, but they weren't
1242
01:04:59,635 --> 01:05:02,472
hitting you and you just go on.
1243
01:05:02,472 --> 01:05:05,600
They say your past comes up when you
think you're going to die,
1244
01:05:05,600 --> 01:05:08,353
but I hadn't got very much
past at 19.
1245
01:05:08,353 --> 01:05:10,730
And when I saw these bullets
coming along,
1246
01:05:10,730 --> 01:05:13,107
all I thought was -
am I going to live?
1247
01:05:13,107 --> 01:05:15,318
Of course, if the thing hits
you fair and square
1248
01:05:15,318 --> 01:05:17,988
and you die immediately,
you don't feel anything at all,
1249
01:05:17,988 --> 01:05:19,906
nothing to it.
1250
01:05:19,906 --> 01:05:22,658
First wave were all
absolutely wiped out.
1251
01:05:22,658 --> 01:05:24,661
Everybody was either
killed or wounded.
1252
01:05:24,661 --> 01:05:27,247
There were so many dead laying
about, it was hard to avoid
1253
01:05:27,247 --> 01:05:28,623
treading on them.
1254
01:05:28,623 --> 01:05:31,335
I was trying to step over them
and the sergeant behind me said,
1255
01:05:31,335 --> 01:05:33,337
"Go on, you mustn't take
any notice of that,
1256
01:05:33,337 --> 01:05:35,046
"you keep going."
1257
01:05:35,046 --> 01:05:37,758
And we were literally
walking over the dead bodies
1258
01:05:37,758 --> 01:05:39,217
of our comrades.
1259
01:05:39,217 --> 01:05:42,555
The carnage is just indescribable.
1260
01:05:42,555 --> 01:05:45,683
I had in my path about 2,000 dead,
British and German.
1261
01:05:45,683 --> 01:05:49,353
An attempt to clear any dead man
from our path was impossible
1262
01:05:49,353 --> 01:05:53,273
because of the shelling
and we ploughed over the lot.
1263
01:05:53,273 --> 01:05:56,485
Any shell bursting within a few
yards of the tank
1264
01:05:56,485 --> 01:05:58,862
seemed to lift it up in the air
1265
01:05:58,862 --> 01:06:02,658
and you felt a tremendous
back pressure.
1266
01:06:02,658 --> 01:06:05,328
The noise of battle when you're out
in the middle of it
1267
01:06:05,328 --> 01:06:08,914
is so terrific that you don't
hear any individual shots even.
1268
01:06:08,914 --> 01:06:11,876
And we had to stop in front
of the German wire.
1269
01:06:11,876 --> 01:06:14,712
It was quite impossible to advance
any further because of the
1270
01:06:14,712 --> 01:06:17,381
barbed wire and the machinegun
posts, which were about
1271
01:06:17,381 --> 01:06:18,842
50 yards further on.
1272
01:06:18,842 --> 01:06:21,135
The wire in front of us
was quite uncut,
1273
01:06:21,135 --> 01:06:23,096
despite the intense bombardment.
1274
01:06:23,096 --> 01:06:25,098
You couldn't see anything
but this wire,
1275
01:06:25,098 --> 01:06:27,433
it seemed to be acres
and acres of it.
1276
01:06:27,433 --> 01:06:30,019
It was just black with rust.
1277
01:06:30,019 --> 01:06:32,647
I don't think a rabbit
could have got through it.
1278
01:06:32,647 --> 01:06:35,817
Then our own artillery started
dropping shells amongst us.
1279
01:06:42,073 --> 01:06:44,575
Obviously they hadn't got
their range or they didn't know
1280
01:06:44,575 --> 01:06:46,661
where we were.
1281
01:06:46,661 --> 01:06:50,082
I heard the first
shrapnel shell burst above my head.
1282
01:06:50,082 --> 01:06:52,667
There was a terrific whiz,
that was the disappearance
1283
01:06:52,667 --> 01:06:54,627
of my steel helmet.
1284
01:06:54,627 --> 01:06:56,505
I never found it again.
1285
01:06:56,505 --> 01:06:59,841
I got a bit off the cheek of
my backside, a piece in my hip,
1286
01:06:59,841 --> 01:07:03,178
a piece in my leg,
then a piece right through my leg.
1287
01:07:03,178 --> 01:07:05,806
The fellow to my left took
the full blast of the shell
1288
01:07:05,806 --> 01:07:08,225
and had half his head blown away.
1289
01:07:08,225 --> 01:07:11,436
Bullets were catching us and
shrapnel was coming down overhead
1290
01:07:11,436 --> 01:07:14,648
and we had all the
German artillery banging away at us
1291
01:07:14,648 --> 01:07:16,566
and our own artillery going over.
1292
01:07:16,566 --> 01:07:18,443
The shells were exploding
all round you
1293
01:07:18,443 --> 01:07:21,197
and it was a real good old battle
and it got hold of you, sort of.
1294
01:07:23,782 --> 01:07:28,036
One had no sanity at all
because the inferno was so blasting
1295
01:07:28,036 --> 01:07:30,288
that you had no time to think.
1296
01:07:30,288 --> 01:07:35,460
That din, that numbing din seemed
to stop one doing the things
1297
01:07:35,460 --> 01:07:39,048
that one would normally do, no
matter how well-intentioned one was.
1298
01:07:40,632 --> 01:07:42,218
You don't look, you see.
1299
01:07:42,218 --> 01:07:43,886
You don't hear, you listen.
1300
01:07:43,886 --> 01:07:46,222
You taste the top of your mouth,
your nose is filled
1301
01:07:46,222 --> 01:07:47,973
with fumes and death.
1302
01:07:47,973 --> 01:07:51,311
The veneer of civilisation
has dropped away.
1303
01:07:51,311 --> 01:07:54,897
I was literally blown about 12 or 14
yards and all that I could hear
1304
01:07:54,897 --> 01:07:57,609
was the cries and screams
from the survivors,
1305
01:07:57,609 --> 01:08:00,236
sometimes in two,
sometimes in three parts.
1306
01:08:00,236 --> 01:08:02,947
Legs, arms all strewn
all over the place
1307
01:08:02,947 --> 01:08:05,574
and that arid smell of explosion.
1308
01:08:05,574 --> 01:08:10,413
Well, all my romantic ideas
of war completely vanished.
1309
01:08:10,413 --> 01:08:13,666
A shell had hit this man,
it knocked off his left arm,
1310
01:08:13,666 --> 01:08:15,377
knocked off his left leg,
1311
01:08:15,377 --> 01:08:17,795
his left eye was hanging
on his cheek
1312
01:08:17,795 --> 01:08:20,214
and he's calling out for Nanny.
1313
01:08:20,214 --> 01:08:22,426
His bleeding eye was
hanging on, pulsing.
1314
01:08:23,968 --> 01:08:25,804
So I shot him.
1315
01:08:25,804 --> 01:08:28,473
I had to, I had to shoot him.
1316
01:08:28,473 --> 01:08:32,685
He'd have died in any case
and it put him out of his misery.
1317
01:08:32,685 --> 01:08:34,354
HE SOBS:It hurt me.
1318
01:08:36,648 --> 01:08:38,608
I knew there was no hope
of getting any orders
1319
01:08:38,608 --> 01:08:40,819
because there was
nobody to give any.
1320
01:08:40,819 --> 01:08:44,448
All officers was killed
and wounded, and most of the NCOs.
1321
01:08:44,448 --> 01:08:46,157
I jumped into this big shell hole.
1322
01:08:46,157 --> 01:08:49,035
You dropped down anywhere,
shell holes, anywhere at all
1323
01:08:49,035 --> 01:08:52,330
just to take cover
until the barrage lifted.
1324
01:08:52,330 --> 01:08:55,375
I'm not one of those heroes who want
to take the German army on my own,
1325
01:08:55,375 --> 01:08:57,962
so I went to work
and I got down behind the lip
1326
01:08:57,962 --> 01:09:00,047
of a big shell hole.
1327
01:09:00,047 --> 01:09:03,092
Fortunately, I was able
to drop into a shell hole.
1328
01:09:03,092 --> 01:09:05,844
Used to call them shell hole
droppers, they would drop down
1329
01:09:05,844 --> 01:09:07,429
into a shell hole
1330
01:09:07,429 --> 01:09:10,516
because of the barrage
and seeing a few men killed.
1331
01:09:10,516 --> 01:09:12,685
It's a pity they didn't all drop
into shell holes.
1332
01:09:12,685 --> 01:09:15,103
Before the barrage lifted,
they were dead.
1333
01:09:16,606 --> 01:09:19,775
And the bullets were hitting the
back of the shell hole where I was.
1334
01:09:19,775 --> 01:09:21,235
It was raining bullets.
1335
01:09:21,235 --> 01:09:22,987
I don't know how I got missed.
1336
01:09:22,987 --> 01:09:26,532
From behind the lip of this shell
hole, the dirt was spraying down
1337
01:09:26,532 --> 01:09:28,201
the back of my neck.
1338
01:09:28,201 --> 01:09:30,869
There were three chaps in the
shell hole and one of them said,
1339
01:09:30,869 --> 01:09:32,871
"They're firing
into a bloody shell hole."
1340
01:09:32,871 --> 01:09:35,833
We looked round to see the bullets
go right through his head.
1341
01:09:35,833 --> 01:09:37,293
So that was the end of that.
1342
01:09:37,293 --> 01:09:40,838
A sergeant came down into the
shell hole on top of us
1343
01:09:40,838 --> 01:09:42,757
and he was dead, he got it
through the neck.
1344
01:09:42,757 --> 01:09:45,677
Anyway, he had a lovely pair of
field glasses round his neck
1345
01:09:45,677 --> 01:09:48,346
and I nabbed them. Because things
were so scarce,
1346
01:09:48,346 --> 01:09:51,224
if there was anything like that,
you'd collar it.
1347
01:09:51,224 --> 01:09:55,561
Jerry slapped shell after shell
into us until one shell penetrated
1348
01:09:55,561 --> 01:09:57,438
the forward part of the tank.
1349
01:09:57,438 --> 01:09:59,899
What happened then,
I cannot tell you but I believe
1350
01:09:59,899 --> 01:10:01,693
there was an explosion.
1351
01:10:01,693 --> 01:10:04,779
These were fully trained soldiers,
we always had the rifles loaded,
1352
01:10:04,779 --> 01:10:07,324
but we stuck in the
extra five rounds to make it
1353
01:10:07,324 --> 01:10:09,117
a ten for rapid-fire.
1354
01:10:09,117 --> 01:10:12,370
The Germans got up in their
own trenches and fired at us.
1355
01:10:12,370 --> 01:10:16,207
In my opinion, they were very brave,
very brave men indeed.
1356
01:10:16,207 --> 01:10:19,878
There was a German standing up
on his parapet and flinging bombs.
1357
01:10:19,878 --> 01:10:21,796
So I shot him.
1358
01:10:21,796 --> 01:10:24,883
They officer gave us orders,
"Open immediate rapid-fire."
1359
01:10:24,883 --> 01:10:28,845
We all opened up as fast as we could
go and continually fired.
1360
01:10:28,845 --> 01:10:31,181
It was a real mad minute,
I'll tell you.
1361
01:10:31,181 --> 01:10:33,475
They stood up and I was picking
the Germans off
1362
01:10:33,475 --> 01:10:35,686
because I was a sniper.
1363
01:10:35,686 --> 01:10:38,564
I was trying to pick a shot
and something hit me
1364
01:10:38,564 --> 01:10:41,191
between the eyes
like a sledgehammer.
1365
01:10:41,191 --> 01:10:42,860
I dissolved into unconsciousness
1366
01:10:42,860 --> 01:10:45,821
with no pain, but with
millions of golden stars
1367
01:10:45,821 --> 01:10:47,865
in a dark blue heaven.
1368
01:10:47,865 --> 01:10:49,992
After I'd used up a whole lot
of bullets,
1369
01:10:49,992 --> 01:10:52,536
I got down,
I says, "You have a go, Bill."
1370
01:10:52,536 --> 01:10:56,123
He didn't even fire a shot,
he was killed immediately.
1371
01:10:56,123 --> 01:10:57,750
That's how things were.
1372
01:10:57,750 --> 01:11:00,420
You felt aggrieved,
it was a pal of yours.
1373
01:11:00,420 --> 01:11:05,174
But you took it casually because I
suppose you become battle hardened.
1374
01:11:05,174 --> 01:11:08,385
We kept up rapid-fire there
as long as our rifles would work.
1375
01:11:08,385 --> 01:11:10,137
They got too hot to fire any more.
1376
01:11:10,137 --> 01:11:12,556
Fat was pouring out
the woodwork of the rifles,
1377
01:11:12,556 --> 01:11:14,851
the muzzles were
beginning to extend.
1378
01:11:14,851 --> 01:11:17,437
Then we got an order
from the captain, we must make
1379
01:11:17,437 --> 01:11:21,857
a barricade of the dead,
the German dead and our own dead.
1380
01:11:21,857 --> 01:11:25,278
My captain, at that time, was
anxious to go on and keep it up,
1381
01:11:25,278 --> 01:11:27,572
but I'm afraid he died.
1382
01:11:27,572 --> 01:11:29,824
I had three men loading up
these rifles with me
1383
01:11:29,824 --> 01:11:31,409
and I peppered the whole line.
1384
01:11:31,409 --> 01:11:35,538
And judging by the shouts and
screams, I took a very good toll.
1385
01:11:35,538 --> 01:11:39,000
There was machinegun spraying
on the lip of our shell hole.
1386
01:11:39,000 --> 01:11:41,336
I waited until
the belt of that gun had fired
1387
01:11:41,336 --> 01:11:43,713
and immediately carried on
the advance.
1388
01:11:43,713 --> 01:11:47,175
The sergeant said, "Follow me."
1389
01:11:47,175 --> 01:11:49,052
I managed to crawl under the wire -
1390
01:11:49,052 --> 01:11:51,930
a lot of us got through in
that way - and gathered together
1391
01:11:51,930 --> 01:11:54,224
on the German side of the wire.
1392
01:11:54,224 --> 01:11:57,102
All the shells screamed
over our heads onto the German posts
1393
01:11:57,102 --> 01:11:58,562
and then suddenly stopped.
1394
01:11:58,562 --> 01:12:00,981
"Come on, lads, give them hell,"
and we just got up
1395
01:12:00,981 --> 01:12:02,816
and rushed forward.
1396
01:12:02,816 --> 01:12:05,610
In the bayonet charge,
the majority of us always
1397
01:12:05,610 --> 01:12:08,780
had a round up the spout,
besides the magazine.
1398
01:12:08,780 --> 01:12:11,450
There was a feeling of exultation
that with a rifle, bayonet
1399
01:12:11,450 --> 01:12:14,245
and a couple of Mills bombs in your
pocket, we were going to be able
1400
01:12:14,245 --> 01:12:16,997
to get stuck into the bastards
that had been killing our mates.
1401
01:12:16,997 --> 01:12:19,583
And we went like hell,
straight into the Germans.
1402
01:12:28,133 --> 01:12:30,845
And we fired at anything that moved.
1403
01:12:30,845 --> 01:12:33,055
I dropped down on my knees
and the sergeant fired
1404
01:12:33,055 --> 01:12:35,933
over my shoulder and hit the German.
1405
01:12:35,933 --> 01:12:38,144
He was on the ground but
still firing, so he went up
1406
01:12:38,144 --> 01:12:39,353
and killed him.
1407
01:12:39,353 --> 01:12:41,814
There was only one method
of bayonet fighting, that is to
1408
01:12:41,814 --> 01:12:44,066
shove your bayonet
in as hard as you could.
1409
01:12:44,066 --> 01:12:46,652
There was this German
on the floor of the trench,
1410
01:12:46,652 --> 01:12:48,195
and the poor bugger was dead scared.
1411
01:12:48,195 --> 01:12:50,657
So one of them wondered
whether to stick him or shoot him,
1412
01:12:50,657 --> 01:12:53,117
the German jumped out away
to my left, another one
1413
01:12:53,117 --> 01:12:55,704
on the right, so I pinned
this German down, then shot
1414
01:12:55,704 --> 01:12:59,082
the German on the left,
worked my bolt, put another one
1415
01:12:59,082 --> 01:13:02,168
up the spout, and shot the German
who was running away on the right.
1416
01:13:02,168 --> 01:13:04,963
Quite a number of Germans
came in a rush and we shot them,
1417
01:13:04,963 --> 01:13:06,506
one by one.
1418
01:13:06,506 --> 01:13:08,091
We probably killed the lot.
1419
01:13:08,091 --> 01:13:12,512
Some chap said, "Poor old Dick got
it," and I looked around and saw him
1420
01:13:12,512 --> 01:13:14,764
lying with the top of his head off.
1421
01:13:14,764 --> 01:13:18,101
On their right flank came a German
with a canister on his back,
1422
01:13:18,101 --> 01:13:20,687
squirting this
liquid fire out of the hose.
1423
01:13:20,687 --> 01:13:23,690
I looked towards jets of flame
coming across the trench.
1424
01:13:23,690 --> 01:13:25,441
We'd never heard of flame-throwers.
1425
01:13:25,441 --> 01:13:27,235
Burnt 23 of our chaps to death.
1426
01:13:27,235 --> 01:13:29,737
I plonked one into his chest,
but it didn't stop him,
1427
01:13:29,737 --> 01:13:32,449
he must have had an
armour-plated waistcoat on.
1428
01:13:32,449 --> 01:13:35,452
I got a bang in the arm
and found I was bleeding.
1429
01:13:35,452 --> 01:13:37,662
But I could bomb
pretty well with my left arm
1430
01:13:37,662 --> 01:13:39,540
as I could with my right.
1431
01:13:39,540 --> 01:13:42,167
Somebody threw a Mills bomb,
and it burst behind him,
1432
01:13:42,167 --> 01:13:44,545
and he wasn't armour-plated
behind him, he went down.
1433
01:13:44,545 --> 01:13:46,922
One German came
running out of this trench,
1434
01:13:46,922 --> 01:13:49,884
screaming his head off,
he nearly knocked me over.
1435
01:13:49,884 --> 01:13:52,469
Three Germans came out
with their hands up,
1436
01:13:52,469 --> 01:13:54,805
and they were young chaps
about our own age,
1437
01:13:54,805 --> 01:13:56,765
about 19 or 20.
1438
01:13:56,765 --> 01:14:00,144
If Jerries came up with their
hands up, we just waved them on,
1439
01:14:00,144 --> 01:14:02,896
we didn't fire at them, obviously.
1440
01:14:02,896 --> 01:14:05,399
Prisoners were a nuisance!
1441
01:14:05,399 --> 01:14:07,693
We were shooing them back,
you know, get rid of them.
1442
01:14:07,693 --> 01:14:11,697
The only Germans we were really
fighting were the machine gunners.
1443
01:14:11,697 --> 01:14:13,866
They were firing belt
after belt after us,
1444
01:14:13,866 --> 01:14:15,451
and they never stopped firing.
1445
01:14:15,451 --> 01:14:18,412
The bloody cartridge cases
were piled up in a heap.
1446
01:14:18,412 --> 01:14:20,874
They'd got all their
best men on machine guns,
1447
01:14:20,874 --> 01:14:22,416
and they fought to the death.
1448
01:14:22,416 --> 01:14:25,294
The cog opened, and there
was three Jerries there in front
1449
01:14:25,294 --> 01:14:27,505
of the machinegun,
and of course the bloody gun
1450
01:14:27,505 --> 01:14:31,884
was pointing at me, and I just swung
the Lewis gun, I opened fire first.
1451
01:14:33,052 --> 01:14:34,762
It was split-second stuff.
1452
01:14:34,762 --> 01:14:37,181
Thankfully, I moved on.
1453
01:14:37,181 --> 01:14:40,059
As the war progressed,
it was inevitable that we developed
1454
01:14:40,059 --> 01:14:42,896
the animal characteristic
of killing.
1455
01:14:42,896 --> 01:14:45,065
Well, we've got some
young Lincolnshire lads,
1456
01:14:45,065 --> 01:14:46,482
you know, the 18-year-olds.
1457
01:14:46,482 --> 01:14:48,734
The machine gunners
were putting their hands up -
1458
01:14:48,734 --> 01:14:50,611
it didn't make any difference.
1459
01:14:50,611 --> 01:14:51,821
They were killed.
1460
01:14:53,615 --> 01:14:56,159
And I'm afraid there was
a little bit of slaughter going on,
1461
01:14:56,159 --> 01:14:58,537
until we got in some sort of order.
1462
01:14:58,537 --> 01:15:02,749
Everybody was screaming,
laying down, moaning and groaning,
1463
01:15:02,749 --> 01:15:05,877
and eventually there was silence.
1464
01:15:05,877 --> 01:15:08,421
I found a German officer
with his lung hanging out.
1465
01:15:08,421 --> 01:15:10,674
He was still alive,
but he wasn't conscious.
1466
01:15:10,674 --> 01:15:14,845
You could see his lung was expanding
and contracting as he was breathing.
1467
01:15:14,845 --> 01:15:17,889
It was the nearest I ever came
to shooting a man point-blank,
1468
01:15:17,889 --> 01:15:20,309
but we had to go on.
1469
01:15:20,309 --> 01:15:22,811
One dead German leaning
against a shell wall,
1470
01:15:22,811 --> 01:15:25,731
he was a handsome bloke,
he reminded me of my father.
1471
01:15:25,731 --> 01:15:30,486
A shell had dissected him nicely,
it had taken the whole of the front
1472
01:15:30,486 --> 01:15:34,448
of his chest down to his stomach,
neatly cut aside.
1473
01:15:34,448 --> 01:15:37,534
What a fantastic exhibition
of anatomy.
1474
01:15:39,661 --> 01:15:42,706
The real shooting was over
in about ten minutes.
1475
01:15:42,706 --> 01:15:46,710
There was about 100 of us coming
out, instead of 600 who'd gone over,
1476
01:15:46,710 --> 01:15:48,754
and a band came to meet us.
1477
01:15:48,754 --> 01:15:50,631
It was a wonderful feeling.
1478
01:15:50,631 --> 01:15:52,091
"I've been in a battle!
1479
01:15:52,091 --> 01:15:55,345
"And I'm so very proud about it."
1480
01:15:55,345 --> 01:15:56,804
Hang on.
1481
01:15:59,140 --> 01:16:00,725
You got it?Yeah.
1482
01:16:00,725 --> 01:16:03,102
And if you'd anybody
wounded or killed...
1483
01:16:04,813 --> 01:16:08,607
..if you didn't get them out
straight away, they went down
1484
01:16:08,607 --> 01:16:11,987
in the soil and disappeared,
it was so bad.
1485
01:16:11,987 --> 01:16:13,488
That's it.
1486
01:16:14,947 --> 01:16:19,619
Well, you had to ascertain
whether a man was alive or not.
1487
01:16:19,619 --> 01:16:24,958
If he was dead, then he
was no trouble - medically.
1488
01:16:24,958 --> 01:16:26,918
I can't put that any clearer!
1489
01:16:28,002 --> 01:16:29,671
Keep him level.
1490
01:16:31,047 --> 01:16:32,673
Give me some room!
1491
01:16:32,673 --> 01:16:35,718
I felt some pain, I suppose
about an hour later.
1492
01:16:35,718 --> 01:16:39,514
I'd got these thigh boots on,
and the bullet had gone in sideways,
1493
01:16:39,514 --> 01:16:43,227
all the way down the leg, in, out,
in, out, and hit the ankle bone
1494
01:16:43,227 --> 01:16:44,728
and turned upside down.
1495
01:16:46,646 --> 01:16:49,149
Oh, God!
1496
01:16:49,149 --> 01:16:50,484
Jesus!
1497
01:16:52,193 --> 01:16:55,530
The Sergeant Major brought me
a dixie of hot tea,
1498
01:16:55,530 --> 01:16:59,284
which was just what I needed,
it went down beautifully.
1499
01:16:59,284 --> 01:17:02,371
And casualties started coming back,
walking casualties,
1500
01:17:02,371 --> 01:17:05,958
men with their arms smashed up,
legs trawling, and they got back
1501
01:17:05,958 --> 01:17:08,585
to different dressing stations
the best way they could.
1502
01:17:08,585 --> 01:17:11,255
The walking wounded, they were
coming down in droves.
1503
01:17:11,255 --> 01:17:14,300
Some were holding one another,
and some were walking on their own,
1504
01:17:14,300 --> 01:17:16,927
a light wound in the hand or arm,
but some were hobbling along,
1505
01:17:16,927 --> 01:17:18,929
and some were looking
quite cheerful as
1506
01:17:18,929 --> 01:17:20,973
they'd been free of something.
1507
01:17:20,973 --> 01:17:22,349
Hello, Mum!
1508
01:17:23,768 --> 01:17:26,145
My officer had said,
"Are you all right, Kane?"
1509
01:17:26,145 --> 01:17:28,480
And I said, "Oh, yes,
sir, I can still walk."
1510
01:17:28,480 --> 01:17:31,943
And he said, "But you've been hit
in the back of the head."
1511
01:17:31,943 --> 01:17:34,903
And he handed me
quite a dose of rum.
1512
01:17:37,072 --> 01:17:42,161
The worst cases were those
who were shot through the chest.
1513
01:17:42,161 --> 01:17:45,457
Well, the difficulty of breathing,
you see, you only had
1514
01:17:45,457 --> 01:17:48,918
field dressings,
which every man carried.
1515
01:17:48,918 --> 01:17:50,920
Yeah, we'll have a better look
at it.
1516
01:17:50,920 --> 01:17:52,380
Who's waiting, boys?
1517
01:17:52,380 --> 01:17:55,133
You got a bottle of iodine
and they'd tip it in the hole.
1518
01:17:55,133 --> 01:17:57,886
Oh, the pain was terrific.
1519
01:17:57,886 --> 01:17:59,262
Well done.
1520
01:18:02,099 --> 01:18:05,017
How about that for luck, chum?
Shot right through it.
1521
01:18:08,229 --> 01:18:12,443
I was not in very good shape at all,
and I was getting somewhere near
1522
01:18:12,443 --> 01:18:15,737
the end of my tether, I don't think
I could go on much longer.
1523
01:18:15,737 --> 01:18:20,200
Every soldier, I suppose,
had this breaking strain.
1524
01:18:23,495 --> 01:18:25,830
The medics will be waiting for you.
1525
01:18:25,830 --> 01:18:28,333
Well done, lads, well done.
1526
01:18:28,333 --> 01:18:30,127
That's it.
1527
01:18:30,127 --> 01:18:34,923
We had some remarkable doctors
who worked day and night
1528
01:18:34,923 --> 01:18:39,803
in various stations on the British
front, looking after the wounded.
1529
01:18:41,346 --> 01:18:42,765
Nice cup of Rosie Lee.
1530
01:18:42,765 --> 01:18:44,391
You all right, Jack?
1531
01:18:44,391 --> 01:18:48,353
They seemed never to need any sleep,
so what they hadn't got in numbers
1532
01:18:48,353 --> 01:18:50,314
they made up in effort.
1533
01:18:50,314 --> 01:18:52,191
We need a shell dressing.
1534
01:18:54,276 --> 01:18:58,239
Both my officers, all my sergeants
and three quarters of my men
1535
01:18:58,239 --> 01:19:00,574
were killed or wounded.
1536
01:19:00,574 --> 01:19:04,454
Their ranks were made up with lads
of 18 from England
1537
01:19:04,454 --> 01:19:06,706
who'd been pushed out of factories.
1538
01:19:06,706 --> 01:19:08,415
Easy, that's it.
1539
01:19:11,085 --> 01:19:13,212
Bloody birds! Get out of it!
1540
01:19:13,212 --> 01:19:14,630
Go on!
1541
01:19:15,840 --> 01:19:19,885
My mob were helping
the battalion to bury these...
1542
01:19:19,885 --> 01:19:23,723
..only little kids, they were,
17 or 18 years of age.
1543
01:19:23,723 --> 01:19:26,851
In sure and certain hope
of the resurrection to eternal life
1544
01:19:26,851 --> 01:19:28,645
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1545
01:19:33,608 --> 01:19:36,277
A lot of those kids,
it was their first action,
1546
01:19:36,277 --> 01:19:38,529
and they never knew any more.
1547
01:19:38,529 --> 01:19:41,574
So we'd wrapped them up in blankets,
dug a little shallow grave
1548
01:19:41,574 --> 01:19:42,951
and put them in there.
1549
01:19:46,079 --> 01:19:49,166
I was putting a dressing on
a German, and he was very shaky
1550
01:19:49,166 --> 01:19:52,001
and fearful of what we were
going to do to him.
1551
01:19:52,001 --> 01:19:54,170
But they were more
frightened than we were.
1552
01:19:54,170 --> 01:19:56,465
And we were frightened,
I don't mind telling you!
1553
01:19:56,465 --> 01:19:59,551
Mostly, they were just boys,
as we were.
1554
01:19:59,551 --> 01:20:02,596
They seemed glad to be captured,
they were out of it.
1555
01:20:02,596 --> 01:20:03,764
Is this yours?
1556
01:20:03,764 --> 01:20:05,974
Mein.
This is his.Ah, it's yours.
1557
01:20:05,974 --> 01:20:08,060
Put it in your pocket.
1558
01:20:08,060 --> 01:20:10,562
There was a little German fella,
I gave him a cigarette,
1559
01:20:10,562 --> 01:20:13,815
and he was terrified,
and I was very, very sorry for him,
1560
01:20:13,815 --> 01:20:16,193
really, you know.
He was only about 16.
1561
01:20:16,193 --> 01:20:18,904
And we had a chinwag,
and I just took his pocket watch,
1562
01:20:18,904 --> 01:20:20,531
you know, it was a normal thing.
1563
01:20:20,531 --> 01:20:22,157
We used to rob them, you see?
1564
01:20:22,157 --> 01:20:23,534
Right, let's go.
1565
01:20:24,577 --> 01:20:28,498
Yes, they were underfed,
and they were in very poor shape.
1566
01:20:28,498 --> 01:20:29,874
Come on, come on now, lads.
1567
01:20:29,874 --> 01:20:31,250
Pick him up. Come on!
1568
01:20:31,250 --> 01:20:34,045
And funnily enough, five or six
German prisoners came along,
1569
01:20:34,045 --> 01:20:37,339
and they helped carry me,
and I got another six watches,
1570
01:20:37,339 --> 01:20:40,343
because I robbed these fellas
who helped me down.
1571
01:20:40,343 --> 01:20:44,555
Every time we captured prisoners,
a number of German prisoners
1572
01:20:44,555 --> 01:20:47,141
would immediately
take up stretcher duty.
1573
01:20:47,141 --> 01:20:50,311
Now, I'm sure the Geneva Convention
never required them to do that.
1574
01:20:50,311 --> 01:20:51,688
There you go, lads.
1575
01:20:51,688 --> 01:20:53,481
I've got him. Steady.
1576
01:20:54,857 --> 01:20:56,192
You're all right, chum.
1577
01:20:56,192 --> 01:20:57,777
That's it. Keep going.
1578
01:20:57,777 --> 01:21:00,780
I took about
a dozen prisoners back with me,
1579
01:21:00,780 --> 01:21:03,366
they were all unarmed
and I just had my old gun.
1580
01:21:03,366 --> 01:21:06,702
In some cases, there were
a whole lot of Germans without even
1581
01:21:06,702 --> 01:21:08,954
a Tommy with them.
1582
01:21:08,954 --> 01:21:14,794
Oh, they were really cowed,
they were, yes, very subdued.
1583
01:21:16,838 --> 01:21:21,843
I slept next to a German man
who'd been wounded in the arm,
1584
01:21:21,843 --> 01:21:26,597
and to my amazement he started
talking to me in English.
1585
01:21:26,597 --> 01:21:28,976
And he said he'd been
a waiter at the Savoy.
1586
01:21:32,687 --> 01:21:36,483
I mean, I don't think the average
British soldier ever had
1587
01:21:36,483 --> 01:21:39,819
any deep feelings regarding revenge
against the German.
1588
01:21:39,819 --> 01:21:41,613
He admired him and respected him.
1589
01:21:42,781 --> 01:21:44,199
Go on, show him.
1590
01:21:44,199 --> 01:21:46,910
As the war went on,
I felt as much sympathy for them
1591
01:21:46,910 --> 01:21:48,829
as I did for myself.
1592
01:21:48,829 --> 01:21:51,373
The German I always thought
was a good fighter.
1593
01:21:51,373 --> 01:21:54,459
I'd sooner have him on my side
than on the opposite side.
1594
01:21:54,459 --> 01:21:57,421
I think some of the Germans thought
we ought to have been fighting
1595
01:21:57,421 --> 01:22:01,175
with them against the French
and the Russians, but none of them
1596
01:22:01,175 --> 01:22:03,052
thought we ought to be
fighting each other.
1597
01:22:03,052 --> 01:22:04,470
Keep on moving forward!
1598
01:22:04,470 --> 01:22:08,849
You see, the German
had been an unknown horde
1599
01:22:08,849 --> 01:22:11,477
with their coal-scuttle helmets,
and then we met them.
1600
01:22:11,477 --> 01:22:14,271
Well, the German soldier,
he was a very nice fellow as a rule.
1601
01:22:14,271 --> 01:22:16,649
You know, I think he was
really a barber or a shopkeeper
1602
01:22:16,649 --> 01:22:19,986
or something, and, the same as us,
he was stuck in uniform.
1603
01:22:19,986 --> 01:22:23,197
You're too tall.
Get you next time, Jerry!
1604
01:22:23,197 --> 01:22:25,909
We got on very well together,
actually, and they used to
1605
01:22:25,909 --> 01:22:27,243
mix in with us.
1606
01:22:27,243 --> 01:22:29,204
Want your hat back?
1607
01:22:29,204 --> 01:22:30,955
Here, give it him back!
1608
01:22:30,955 --> 01:22:33,916
They were decent,
sort of family people
1609
01:22:33,916 --> 01:22:37,003
and thought a great deal
of their children.
1610
01:22:38,713 --> 01:22:42,091
They didn't seem to bear
any malice against us.
1611
01:22:42,091 --> 01:22:44,636
They'd had to do what
they were told, like us.
1612
01:22:46,429 --> 01:22:48,514
Go on, go on tracking...
1613
01:22:48,514 --> 01:22:51,517
I couldn't speak German,
but some could, and the Germans,
1614
01:22:51,517 --> 01:22:53,228
some of them could speak English.
1615
01:22:53,228 --> 01:22:55,230
Anyhow, we could
understand each other.
1616
01:22:55,230 --> 01:22:58,150
The general agreement
when we were talking to Germans
1617
01:22:58,150 --> 01:23:02,696
was how useless war was
and why did it have to happen.
1618
01:23:05,491 --> 01:23:07,951
When you're passing bodies
all day long,
1619
01:23:07,951 --> 01:23:11,371
it's bound to have an effect
on whoever it is, isn't it?
1620
01:23:11,371 --> 01:23:13,456
This big fat German
was lying in a street...
1621
01:23:14,666 --> 01:23:17,127
..you know, his stomach
was all gassed up,
1622
01:23:17,127 --> 01:23:19,922
his intestines
lying out on his belly.
1623
01:23:19,922 --> 01:23:22,841
And somebody had stuck
a pipe in his mouth!
1624
01:23:22,841 --> 01:23:26,011
Yeah, we all told him to get up!
1625
01:23:27,429 --> 01:23:31,392
German troops were very brave
and very stubborn.
1626
01:23:31,392 --> 01:23:34,853
The Germans fought rearguard actions
almost back to the Rhine,
1627
01:23:34,853 --> 01:23:38,733
and regiment after regiment
was smashed up and cut about.
1628
01:23:38,733 --> 01:23:42,444
We had an idea that they were
beginning to crack.
1629
01:23:44,446 --> 01:23:47,241
I would say that they were,
if anything, rather despondent.
1630
01:23:47,241 --> 01:23:49,118
They knew they had lost the war.
1631
01:23:49,118 --> 01:23:52,996
We, as front-line soldiers,
knew they were giving up.
1632
01:23:52,996 --> 01:23:57,543
Quite frankly, the Germans
were fed up with the whole thing.
1633
01:23:57,543 --> 01:24:01,464
And, gradually, that is how
the war itself came to an end.
1634
01:24:01,464 --> 01:24:04,634
I got the impression that most
of the German soldiers
1635
01:24:04,634 --> 01:24:08,805
couldn't care less who won
as long as the war finished.
1636
01:24:08,805 --> 01:24:11,307
Of course, that's what everybody
was thinking about then -
1637
01:24:11,307 --> 01:24:13,184
we'd had enough.
1638
01:24:13,184 --> 01:24:16,812
And after a time,
perhaps nobody cared.
1639
01:24:16,812 --> 01:24:18,648
All right, boys, here it comes.
1640
01:24:18,648 --> 01:24:20,233
We're in the pictures!
1641
01:24:21,359 --> 01:24:23,986
There was a fella in
the war called Rumour,
1642
01:24:23,986 --> 01:24:27,073
he knows everything, you see,
and Mr Rumour told us
1643
01:24:27,073 --> 01:24:30,577
that the Germans were also
negotiating for an Armistice.
1644
01:24:30,577 --> 01:24:32,621
There was a huge poster,
1645
01:24:32,621 --> 01:24:37,542
"All hostilities will cease
on the Western Front at 11 o'clock
1646
01:24:37,542 --> 01:24:40,670
"on the 11th of November 1918."
1647
01:24:40,670 --> 01:24:43,048
So we said to each other,
"What day is it?"
1648
01:24:43,048 --> 01:24:47,511
And somebody discovered
it was November the 11th!
1649
01:24:47,511 --> 01:24:50,806
And then we had to shine our boots,
clean our buttons,
1650
01:24:50,806 --> 01:24:53,475
we knew the war was over then,
and we were quite confident
1651
01:24:53,475 --> 01:24:55,894
that we would be
there when it ended.
1652
01:24:55,894 --> 01:25:00,315
This proclamation was read out,
stating that the hostilities
1653
01:25:00,315 --> 01:25:03,986
would cease from 11 that morning,
and actually there wasn't
1654
01:25:03,986 --> 01:25:07,281
a cheer of any kind
raised when that was read out.
1655
01:25:07,281 --> 01:25:11,660
At 11 o'clock, the noise
of the gunfire just rolled away,
1656
01:25:11,660 --> 01:25:13,954
like a peal of thunder,
in the distance.
1657
01:25:26,217 --> 01:25:27,927
Never heard it being quiet.
1658
01:25:27,927 --> 01:25:30,847
Now it was dead silent.
1659
01:25:30,847 --> 01:25:33,975
You were so dazed that you could
stand up straight and not be shot.
1660
01:25:33,975 --> 01:25:35,476
It was eerie.
1661
01:25:37,395 --> 01:25:40,105
There was a feeling
of relief and gladness,
1662
01:25:40,105 --> 01:25:42,733
I suppose, but no celebration.
1663
01:25:42,733 --> 01:25:45,653
The staff officer
shut his watch up and said,
1664
01:25:45,653 --> 01:25:48,405
"I wonder what we're
all going to do next."
1665
01:25:48,405 --> 01:25:52,035
There was no demonstration
of any kind, nobody said a word,
1666
01:25:52,035 --> 01:25:54,704
everybody just slumped away.
1667
01:25:54,704 --> 01:25:57,248
The only way we could
have celebrated as regards
1668
01:25:57,248 --> 01:26:00,751
to a liquid
would have been tea, that's all.
1669
01:26:00,751 --> 01:26:03,421
It was one of
the flattest moments of our lives.
1670
01:26:03,421 --> 01:26:05,757
We just couldn't comprehend it.
1671
01:26:07,467 --> 01:26:09,761
We had that sort of feeling
as though we'd been kicked
1672
01:26:09,761 --> 01:26:11,054
out of a job.
1673
01:26:11,054 --> 01:26:14,641
For some of us, it was practically
the only life we'd known.
1674
01:26:14,641 --> 01:26:16,810
What was one going to do next?
1675
01:26:16,810 --> 01:26:19,062
It was just like
being made redundant.
1676
01:26:19,062 --> 01:26:22,024
That was very much
the feeling of everyone.
1677
01:26:22,024 --> 01:26:25,318
We were thoroughly upset,
we'd all got no work to go to.
1678
01:26:25,318 --> 01:26:27,362
"I don't want to go back."
1679
01:26:27,362 --> 01:26:32,576
There was no cheering, no singing -
we were drained of all emotion.
1680
01:26:32,576 --> 01:26:37,247
We were too far gone,
too exhausted to enjoy it.
1681
01:26:37,247 --> 01:26:41,502
All things come to an end,
and even a drama can go on too long.
1682
01:26:41,502 --> 01:26:44,797
It didn't end with a whimper,
but something very much like one.
1683
01:27:01,147 --> 01:27:04,650
I was very happy to leave.
I'd had enough, you know?
1684
01:27:04,650 --> 01:27:08,278
After a time, it begins
to wear on one, you know?
1685
01:27:08,278 --> 01:27:11,157
"Thank goodness the bloody thing
is over," that was all.
1686
01:27:11,157 --> 01:27:13,450
But so far as I was concerned,
I was out of it,
1687
01:27:13,450 --> 01:27:15,536
and now the next step in life.
1688
01:27:15,536 --> 01:27:18,581
The first thing we did was
write home, say we were all right,
1689
01:27:18,581 --> 01:27:21,000
making sure we got the date
on the envelope right.
1690
01:27:21,000 --> 01:27:23,836
To someone like myself,
who was interested in nature,
1691
01:27:23,836 --> 01:27:26,589
after the horrors that man had
made of the battlefront,
1692
01:27:26,589 --> 01:27:30,635
I was immensely delighted to find
shell holes in which I picked
1693
01:27:30,635 --> 01:27:34,681
lilies of the valley and larkspur,
and I pursued Camberwell Beauties
1694
01:27:34,681 --> 01:27:38,517
and swallowtail butterflies
along the banks of the Aisne river.
1695
01:27:38,517 --> 01:27:40,395
We went to Boulogne.
1696
01:27:40,395 --> 01:27:42,522
By the way, we came
home with full pack,
1697
01:27:42,522 --> 01:27:45,233
the only thing we left
behind was the bullets,
1698
01:27:45,233 --> 01:27:47,110
we had to discard those.
1699
01:27:47,110 --> 01:27:48,903
But we still kept our rifle.
1700
01:27:48,903 --> 01:27:53,950
We went over to Folkestone,
and there were long trestle tables
1701
01:27:53,950 --> 01:27:57,412
with very kind ladies,
and they gave you a sausage roll
1702
01:27:57,412 --> 01:28:02,083
or a bun and a cup of tea,
and that was very welcome.
1703
01:28:02,083 --> 01:28:06,254
We entrained to Victoria,
and there we broke up.
1704
01:28:06,254 --> 01:28:09,299
We went to the barracks,
and we just dumped rifles,
1705
01:28:09,299 --> 01:28:12,052
bayonets and everything,
and there were a lot of suits
1706
01:28:12,052 --> 01:28:14,471
on display, hats, shoes.
1707
01:28:14,471 --> 01:28:17,099
You could tell her which one
you wanted, style and colour,
1708
01:28:17,099 --> 01:28:18,600
and they measured you.
1709
01:28:20,060 --> 01:28:23,439
I was horrified by what I saw
when I came back here
1710
01:28:23,439 --> 01:28:25,358
and when one tried to get a job.
1711
01:28:25,358 --> 01:28:27,651
There was mass unemployment,
and I thought,
1712
01:28:27,651 --> 01:28:29,278
"This isn't much of a life."
1713
01:28:29,278 --> 01:28:31,488
It was a most difficult thing
to realise you're of
1714
01:28:31,488 --> 01:28:32,907
no commercial value.
1715
01:28:32,907 --> 01:28:35,367
It was a shame, the way
ex-servicemen were treated.
1716
01:28:35,367 --> 01:28:36,744
You weren't wanted.
1717
01:28:36,744 --> 01:28:40,164
Some places said,
"No ex-servicemen need apply,"
1718
01:28:40,164 --> 01:28:42,875
and that was the sort of attitude
you were up against.
1719
01:28:42,875 --> 01:28:47,255
One of my pals was killed, and when
I went home, the very first thing
1720
01:28:47,255 --> 01:28:49,674
that I did was
go to his mother, who,
1721
01:28:49,674 --> 01:28:52,051
if she'd had a frying pan,
she'd have hit me.
1722
01:28:52,051 --> 01:28:54,554
Her son had been killed
and I'd come back alive.
1723
01:28:54,554 --> 01:28:56,388
She was very bitter.
1724
01:28:56,388 --> 01:28:59,517
The first night I came home,
I got into my old bed,
1725
01:28:59,517 --> 01:29:02,896
the first bed I'd laid
in since I joined the Army.
1726
01:29:02,896 --> 01:29:05,231
When mother brought my cup
of tea up in the morning,
1727
01:29:05,231 --> 01:29:07,400
she found me fast asleep
on the floor.
1728
01:29:07,400 --> 01:29:09,319
People never talked about the war.
1729
01:29:09,319 --> 01:29:12,364
It was a thing that had
no conversational value at all.
1730
01:29:12,364 --> 01:29:15,242
Most people were
absolutely disinterested.
1731
01:29:15,242 --> 01:29:17,535
When I got home,
my father and my mother
1732
01:29:17,535 --> 01:29:20,121
didn't seem in the least
interested in what had happened,
1733
01:29:20,121 --> 01:29:22,206
they hadn't any conception
of what it was like.
1734
01:29:23,374 --> 01:29:25,669
And there was no reason
why any one of us millions
1735
01:29:25,669 --> 01:29:27,963
should have been favoured
with a thank you very much
1736
01:29:27,963 --> 01:29:32,134
for having got a little bit muddy
and out of touch with good manners.
1737
01:29:32,134 --> 01:29:34,552
And on occasions when
I did talk about it,
1738
01:29:34,552 --> 01:29:38,307
my father would argue points of fact
that he couldn't possibly have known
1739
01:29:38,307 --> 01:29:40,225
about because he wasn't there.
1740
01:29:40,225 --> 01:29:43,061
Every soldier I've spoken
to experienced the same thing.
1741
01:29:43,061 --> 01:29:46,022
We were a race apart
from the civilians,
1742
01:29:46,022 --> 01:29:48,108
and you could speak
to your comrades,
1743
01:29:48,108 --> 01:29:50,944
and they understood,
but the civilians,
1744
01:29:50,944 --> 01:29:52,863
it was just a waste of time.
1745
01:29:52,863 --> 01:29:56,742
However nice and sympathetic
they were, attempts of
1746
01:29:56,742 --> 01:30:01,122
well-meaning people to sympathise
reflected the fact that they
1747
01:30:01,122 --> 01:30:03,290
didn't really understand at all.
1748
01:30:03,290 --> 01:30:07,211
I think the magnitude
was just beyond their comprehension,
1749
01:30:07,211 --> 01:30:11,424
they didn't understand that people
that you'd known and played football
1750
01:30:11,424 --> 01:30:13,968
with were just killed beside you.
1751
01:30:13,968 --> 01:30:17,722
My friend who enlisted with me,
and he just lay there like a sack
1752
01:30:17,722 --> 01:30:22,309
of rags until he went black,
before anybody troubled to bury him.
1753
01:30:22,309 --> 01:30:25,188
They knew that people came back
covered with mud and lice,
1754
01:30:25,188 --> 01:30:28,441
but they'd no idea of the strain
of sitting in a trench
1755
01:30:28,441 --> 01:30:31,902
and waiting for something
to drop on one's head.
1756
01:30:31,902 --> 01:30:34,489
You couldn't convey
the awful state of things,
1757
01:30:34,489 --> 01:30:37,950
the way you lived like animals
and behaved like animals.
1758
01:30:37,950 --> 01:30:43,164
People didn't seem to realise
what a terrible thing war was.
1759
01:30:43,164 --> 01:30:47,669
I think they felt that the war
was one continual cavalry charge.
1760
01:30:47,669 --> 01:30:50,588
They hadn't any conception -
how could they?
1761
01:30:50,588 --> 01:30:52,799
Well, it started off
in a reasonable manner,
1762
01:30:52,799 --> 01:30:55,552
it was people fighting
on horseback with swords,
1763
01:30:55,552 --> 01:30:57,845
but it developed
into something ghastly.
1764
01:30:57,845 --> 01:31:01,266
People don't realise the
potential of military equipment.
1765
01:31:01,266 --> 01:31:04,018
A man's life wasn't worth
anything at the end of the war.
1766
01:31:04,018 --> 01:31:06,355
We were none of us heroes,
you know - we didn't
1767
01:31:06,355 --> 01:31:09,441
like this business of
being killed at all.
1768
01:31:09,441 --> 01:31:11,359
When we were talking
amongst ourselves,
1769
01:31:11,359 --> 01:31:14,655
we used to say, "Christ, they won't
have any more wars like this."
1770
01:31:14,655 --> 01:31:16,281
How did we endure it?
1771
01:31:16,281 --> 01:31:19,242
The answer must be partly
the fear of fear,
1772
01:31:19,242 --> 01:31:21,495
the fear of being found afraid.
1773
01:31:21,495 --> 01:31:24,331
Another is belief in human beings,
your colleague,
1774
01:31:24,331 --> 01:31:26,958
and there's no letting people down.
1775
01:31:26,958 --> 01:31:31,087
There may be right on both sides,
but I think war is horrible.
1776
01:31:31,087 --> 01:31:34,132
Everything should be done
to avoid war.
1777
01:31:34,132 --> 01:31:37,135
I still can't see
the justification for it.
1778
01:31:37,135 --> 01:31:39,513
It was all really rather horrible.
1779
01:31:39,513 --> 01:31:42,141
I think history will decide,
in the end,
1780
01:31:42,141 --> 01:31:44,268
that it was not worthwhile.
1781
01:31:46,770 --> 01:31:50,566
The only thing that really did annoy
me was when I went back to work,
1782
01:31:50,566 --> 01:31:53,819
after I'd got demobilised,
I went down the stores,
1783
01:31:53,819 --> 01:31:57,031
and the bloke behind the counter
was a bloke who I knew.
1784
01:31:57,031 --> 01:31:59,116
He said, "Where have you been?
1785
01:31:59,116 --> 01:32:00,785
"On nights?"
1786
01:33:00,846 --> 01:33:04,850
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Parlez vous
1787
01:33:04,850 --> 01:33:09,146
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Parlez vous?
1788
01:33:09,146 --> 01:33:13,025
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
She hasn't been kissed in 40 years
1789
01:33:13,025 --> 01:33:17,280
# Hinky dinky, parlez vous
1790
01:33:17,280 --> 01:33:21,742
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Parlez vous
1791
01:33:21,742 --> 01:33:25,705
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Parlez vous
1792
01:33:25,705 --> 01:33:29,751
# Our top kick in Armentieres
broke the spell of 40 years
1793
01:33:29,751 --> 01:33:32,711
# Hinky dinky, parlez vous
1794
01:33:34,255 --> 01:33:38,009
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Parlez vous
1795
01:33:38,009 --> 01:33:42,347
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Parlez vous
1796
01:33:42,347 --> 01:33:46,643
# You didn't have to know her long
to know the reason men go wrong
1797
01:33:46,643 --> 01:33:49,521
# Hinky dinky, parlez vous
1798
01:33:51,105 --> 01:33:54,525
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Parlez vous
1799
01:33:54,525 --> 01:33:58,780
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Parlez vous
1800
01:33:58,780 --> 01:34:00,949
# She's the hardest working girl
in town
1801
01:34:00,949 --> 01:34:03,159
# She makes her living upside down
1802
01:34:03,159 --> 01:34:05,328
# Hinky dinky, parlez vous
1803
01:34:11,585 --> 01:34:13,587
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
1804
01:34:13,587 --> 01:34:15,380
# Parlez vous
1805
01:34:15,380 --> 01:34:17,883
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
1806
01:34:17,883 --> 01:34:19,510
# Parlez vous
1807
01:34:19,510 --> 01:34:20,719
# She sold her kisses
1808
01:34:20,719 --> 01:34:21,928
# For ten francs each
1809
01:34:21,928 --> 01:34:23,013
# Soft and juicy
1810
01:34:23,013 --> 01:34:24,222
# As sweet as a peach
1811
01:34:24,222 --> 01:34:26,641
# Hinky dinky, parlez vous
1812
01:34:28,143 --> 01:34:30,479
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
1813
01:34:30,479 --> 01:34:32,064
# Parlez vous
1814
01:34:32,064 --> 01:34:34,441
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
1815
01:34:34,441 --> 01:34:36,026
# Parlez vous
1816
01:34:36,026 --> 01:34:38,111
# Madame, you've got a daughter fair
1817
01:34:38,111 --> 01:34:40,030
# To wash the soldiers' underwear
1818
01:34:40,030 --> 01:34:43,033
# Hinky dinky, parlez vous
1819
01:34:44,952 --> 01:34:47,287
# I didn't care what came of me
1820
01:34:47,287 --> 01:34:48,455
# Parlez vous
1821
01:34:48,455 --> 01:34:50,916
# I didn't care what came of me
1822
01:34:50,916 --> 01:34:52,417
# Parlez vous
1823
01:34:52,417 --> 01:34:54,503
# I didn't care what came of me
1824
01:34:54,503 --> 01:34:56,880
# So I went and joined the infantry
1825
01:34:56,880 --> 01:34:59,508
# Hinky dinky, parlez vous
1826
01:35:34,210 --> 01:35:36,421
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
1827
01:35:36,421 --> 01:35:37,881
# Parlez vous
1828
01:35:37,881 --> 01:35:40,341
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
1829
01:35:40,341 --> 01:35:42,051
# Parlez vous
1830
01:35:42,051 --> 01:35:43,845
# Went in her bed, she sure was fun
1831
01:35:43,845 --> 01:35:45,138
# Working her arse
1832
01:35:45,138 --> 01:35:46,431
# Like a Maxim gun
1833
01:35:46,431 --> 01:35:49,684
# Hinky dinky, parlez vous
1834
01:35:50,727 --> 01:35:52,895
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
1835
01:35:52,895 --> 01:35:54,481
# Parlez vous
1836
01:35:54,481 --> 01:35:56,983
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
1837
01:35:56,983 --> 01:35:58,402
# Parlez vous
1838
01:35:58,402 --> 01:36:00,153
# I had more fun than I could tell
1839
01:36:00,153 --> 01:36:02,364
# Beneath the sheets with
Mademoiselle
1840
01:36:02,364 --> 01:36:05,241
# Hinky dinky, parlez vous
1841
01:36:07,202 --> 01:36:10,998
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres,
parlez vous
1842
01:36:10,998 --> 01:36:15,044
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres,
parlez vous
1843
01:36:15,044 --> 01:36:17,046
# She did a wink and cried,
"Oui, oui!
1844
01:36:17,046 --> 01:36:19,381
# "Let's see what you can do
with me"
1845
01:36:19,381 --> 01:36:22,259
# Hinky dinky, parlez vous
1846
01:36:23,469 --> 01:36:25,846
# They say they mechanised the war
1847
01:36:25,846 --> 01:36:27,390
# Parlez vous
1848
01:36:27,390 --> 01:36:29,767
# They say they mechanised the war
1849
01:36:29,767 --> 01:36:31,393
# Parlez vous
1850
01:36:31,393 --> 01:36:33,604
# They say they mechanised the war
1851
01:36:33,604 --> 01:36:35,856
# So what the hell
are we marching for?
1852
01:36:35,856 --> 01:36:38,818
# Hinky dinky, parlez vous
1853
01:36:56,419 --> 01:36:59,463
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
1854
01:36:59,463 --> 01:37:00,590
# Parlez vous
1855
01:37:00,590 --> 01:37:03,301
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
1856
01:37:03,301 --> 01:37:04,803
# Parlez vous
1857
01:37:04,803 --> 01:37:06,763
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
1858
01:37:06,763 --> 01:37:08,806
# She hasn't been kissed for 40
years
1859
01:37:08,806 --> 01:37:11,392
# Hinky dinky, parlez vous
1860
01:37:12,852 --> 01:37:15,647
# The officers get all the steak
1861
01:37:15,647 --> 01:37:16,773
# Parlez vous
1862
01:37:16,773 --> 01:37:19,817
# The officers get all the steak
1863
01:37:19,817 --> 01:37:21,069
# Parlez vous
1864
01:37:21,069 --> 01:37:23,196
# The officers get all the steak
1865
01:37:23,196 --> 01:37:25,156
# And all we get is a belly ache
1866
01:37:25,156 --> 01:37:28,159
# Hinky dinky, parlez vous
1867
01:37:29,369 --> 01:37:30,704
# You might forget
1868
01:37:30,704 --> 01:37:32,998
# The gas and shells, parlez vous
1869
01:37:32,998 --> 01:37:34,582
# You might forget
1870
01:37:34,582 --> 01:37:37,210
# The gas and shells, parlez vous
1871
01:37:37,210 --> 01:37:38,337
# You might forget
1872
01:37:38,337 --> 01:37:39,546
# The groans and yells
1873
01:37:39,546 --> 01:37:40,630
# But you never forget
1874
01:37:40,630 --> 01:37:41,965
# The mademoiselles
1875
01:37:41,965 --> 01:37:44,510
# Hinky dinky, parlez vous
1876
01:38:02,694 --> 01:38:05,322
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
1877
01:38:05,322 --> 01:38:06,448
# Parlez vous
1878
01:38:06,448 --> 01:38:09,202
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
1879
01:38:09,202 --> 01:38:10,286
# Parlez vous
1880
01:38:10,286 --> 01:38:12,205
# Many and many a married man
1881
01:38:12,205 --> 01:38:14,415
# Wants to go back to France again
1882
01:38:14,415 --> 01:38:17,543
# Hinky dinky, parlez vous
1883
01:38:18,919 --> 01:38:21,839
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
1884
01:38:21,839 --> 01:38:22,924
# Parlez vous
1885
01:38:22,924 --> 01:38:25,760
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
1886
01:38:25,760 --> 01:38:26,844
# Parlez vous
1887
01:38:26,844 --> 01:38:29,180
# Just blow your nose
and dry your tears
1888
01:38:29,180 --> 01:38:31,307
# We'll all be back
in a few short years
1889
01:38:31,307 --> 01:38:34,102
# Hinky dinky, parlez vous
1890
01:38:35,603 --> 01:38:38,231
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
1891
01:38:38,231 --> 01:38:39,316
# Parlez vous
1892
01:38:39,316 --> 01:38:41,901
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres
1893
01:38:41,901 --> 01:38:43,027
# Parlez vous
1894
01:38:43,027 --> 01:38:45,489
# I fell in love with her at sight
1895
01:38:45,489 --> 01:38:47,616
# Wet myself for half the night
1896
01:38:47,616 --> 01:38:50,201
# Hinky dinky, parlez vous
1897
01:38:51,870 --> 01:38:55,623
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres,
parlez vous
1898
01:38:55,623 --> 01:38:59,752
# Mademoiselle from Armentieres,
parlez vous
1899
01:38:59,752 --> 01:39:01,963
# You might forget
the gas and shell
1900
01:39:01,963 --> 01:39:03,923
# You never forget the mademoiselles
1901
01:39:03,923 --> 01:39:06,760
# Hinky dinky, parlez vous
1902
01:39:08,177 --> 01:39:09,930
# You might forget the gas and shell
1903
01:39:09,930 --> 01:39:12,265
# But you'll never forget
the mademoiselles
1904
01:39:12,265 --> 01:39:13,934
# Hinky dinky, parlez vous. #
1905
01:39:14,305 --> 01:40:14,687
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