My grandfather, an NCO at the time, went over the top at the Somme with the other 1000 men in the battalion. The next day when they took the roll call , there were 73 of them. He told me that the officer and NCO's stood there calling names with tears streaming down their faces.
Please allow an old American cavalry corporal, and combat veteran, to offer his sincere respects and regrets for your grandpa's service. A sincere tip of the Stetson to him and all his mates.
@@skeletonjam Because she has been deaf since childhood and can lip-read perfectly. The real question here is why would someone want to cast doubt on something like this. What motive would such a person have for doing so.
@@ShizukuSeiji because the footage is incredibly low quality, straight up broken, missing frames, and often disturbed by people walking in front of camera, heads turning, scratches, smoke etc etc. some of the clips I would say you could 100% tell what their lips are saying, but in others its like reading pixels.
Absolutely. It was fascinating to hear what they were saying, and even how appropriate it was given the circumstances. I might have said the same in the that situation!
This brought me to tears…my grandfather wasn’t a victim of the Somme…but died as a member of the American Expeditionary Forces from a gas attack 20 years after the war…thankfully my father was conceived before he passed away in 1934 from the results of his injuries…my thoughts and prayers go out to those sainted souls who fought that dark day 🙏🙏🙏
Wars continue killing men long after they've ended, 56,000 Americans died in Vietnam, 72,000 Vietnam veterans killed themselves in the years after the war.
Years ago, I found my maternal grandfather's WWI record online. I dedicated this video to him. The following encapsulates what I found. Private Mathew Wells (Regimental # 5628) was enlisted in the British Army (5th. Durham Light Infantry) as a Private on 7/26/16 at the age of 29. He had three young children at the time, aged 4, 2, and 2 months (Auntie Marge). After travelling through France on a train transport, he embarked on a troop ship and arrived in Salonika Greece on 11/17/16 three and half months after enlistment. It appears that he served in the Royal Engineers Signals Corps. After War’s end on 11/11/18, he may have been transferred to Batum, Russia. He was given leave and hospitalized in England in 1919 where he was diagnosed with 50% disability of “confusional insanity”, apparently a form of PTSD (war strain, war neurosis). Terms were very un-PC in those days. For instance. One of the questions on the census form from the same period asked how many “imbeciles” were living in the home. He was awarded The British War Medal, The Victory medal, and a very modest pension. He was discharged on 9/4/20. During World War Two, he served as an auxiliary policeman in London. I still have his truncheon.
You are fortunate. Thanks to the GB Gov at the time of the Blitz on London, 2 thirds of the Gt War Records went up in smoke in addition to the 1931 Census. A few lorries could have moved them up north, if they bothered to think!
It was a dreadful War, run by men chosen on the basis of what school they went to. I found records of a Great Uncle, who served in the AIF, wounded 5 times, gassed twice. He seems to have spent most of his time in Hospital. His last wound was listed as Gunshot, right thigh, self inflicted. He survived the War, God only knows what his life was like after the War.
Thank you for sharing this. My Great Grandfather; Harry Jones 16/121, 1st Batallion West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales’s Own) died on 8th Oct 1918, aged 26. At home he left his widow Hilda & his newborn son. Watching this & more so, Peter Jackson’s epic ‘They Shall Not Grow Old’, I often wonder if any of the soldiers captured on this silent footage is him? I don’t think we’ll ever be able to comprehend what they experienced; both during the conflict & the aftermath. To quote the great Harry Patch, the last fighting Tommy….”War is organized murder and nothing else”…..&…..”Politicians who took us to war should have been given the guns and told to settle their differences themselves, instead of organising nothing better than legalised mass murder”.
My dad was nearly deaf, and he could lip read like her. He could watch TV with the volume off and tell you nearly every word they said (assuming they were facing the camera, of course). Sometimes it really came in handy b/c he could tell you what people were saying when they thought you couldn't hear them. Other times it was a drawback, like when we thought we were being sly by whispering something to a sibling, only to realize our father "heard" every word.
I’m a retired US Army Infantryman and I know my UK counterparts will agree with what I say here that preparing your soul to meet the Lord so many times during a war takes a toll. I’m both thankful and amazed that I survived and with minor injuries compared to friends and some of the men I served next to. We do experience anger when one of us is hit or killed and we later feel severe guilt and that stays with us for years if not decades.
Extremes ..I seen them - Not like your Experiences.. I do simple things and Next best turn in Time. Sudden Noises and Demanding People..I say " Oh Yeah " to the Challenging event..
It wasn't called No man's land because it was a great place to be. It got that name because no man survived being there for very long. You were volunteering to be executed just trying to cross it. Those boys knew it too.
So long ago, yet so recent. Possibly the first combat footage ever recorded. It's like watching Battle of Hastings footage in the late-12th century. Trees and earth have a different timescale from us humans. To the people of the far future, we today are living in the same era as these WW1 soldiers.
@@dukecraig2402 I hadn't considered running out of film, but now that you mention it, film cameras were notorious for chewing through the film stock. They are somewhat like a machine gun in that respect as no matter how much film or ammunition you may have on hand, it disappears awfully fast! Mark from Melbourne Australia
@@markfryer9880 That's a coincidence, I just got done watching Under Hill 60. Soon as I get done watching it I look at my phone and someone from Australia sent me a message all the way over here in America, what are the odds?
At 8.01, that poor lads face on the left, total fear in his eyes, i dont think we can fully understand that feeling, knowing if you ran away or refused it would be a bullet for deserting and if he stays he is about to walk into hell.... I have so much respect for all these men, regardless of which side they fought on, they lived in mud, ate badly, slept in the rain and snow all the time being shelled and if they got shell shock they were often shot as mad or deserters. May their end be quick and their rest long and peaceful.
yes society especially British society was savage especially to its own people...probably still is to a large degree....weren't called the bloody British for nothing...
My grandfather was there and wounded on the 1st July with the 11th Battalion Royal Irish Riffles the South Antrim volunteers. He later served with the Lancashire Fusiliers as his Battalion had ceased to exsist. He probably knew some of the men in the video.
@david gallagher You don't know that David, and you're being judgmental. I'm ashamed of you if you are in fact Irish. The tragedy of the Great War goes well beyond simplistic generalisations, especially in the case of early 20th Century Ireland. The mindset you represent contributes nothing to present society or a better future.
@david gallagher 😁 that's some family mate! I just can't compete, How about my Uncle Private Tommy Murphy (from Newcastle west Limerick) who served with the Ulster Rifles in the Korea War ☘️ ..also my late great aunt's childhood sweetheart (another Limerick lad) who was wounded fighting with the International Brigade in Spain's Civil War 😉😎
@david gallagher I mentioned my relative's who served the crown, but back then things weren't always black & white . My Great Grandfather was a IRA gun runner & local volunteer, he later fought for the free state army in the civil war . (Disappointingly in later life he became a Blue shirt 🙄) I suppose what I'm saying is that it was Very different & complex times 🧐 Slainte
Six miles gained over five months for that many men, I can't even wrap my head around that lunacy. Great video and great work by the forensic team, especially the lip reader bringing back the words of the dead.
@@obvious-trollEarl Haig was a field marshal in the WW1. The Poppy Appeal was originally called the Earl Haig Fund, in Scotland I was involved with your outdoor/ambient advertising back in the mid to late 90's. The advent of the internet and the truth behind the guy was that strong, they realised it wasn't helpful and reinvented the whole charity as Poppy Scotland. You should Google the guy. What a horrible person
Very interesting & Fascinating - History research , My great uncle was wounded & shell-shocked in the Somme ( lost his arm) , he was in the "Braunschweigisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 92" ( Brunswyck Infantry Regiment Nr 92) of the Imperial German Army . Salute from Germany .
Thank you for this. Easy to forget the suffering on both sides. If you haven't already seen it, I highly recommend the ne Netflix movie version of All Quiet on the Western Front in German. Cheers
Yeah. My family was on "the other side" too. It was tough. the stories from my grandmother were tough to hear. First when she was a child, then as a mother in the second war. Both sides suffered greatly. The stories from my father, from the second war as a youth, still disturb me. Some nights I wish he never told me. Other times, it's history and it's our responsibility to remember.
The memories of my grandfather telling us of his participation at the Somme. He enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force at the age of 17 and was trained and on the ground for the battle. His military records show he was wounded twice, once by rifle and the other by cannon shot thru his right side. He someone was carried to the rear, emergency surgery performed and it took them 6 months to get him back to a Canadian hospital. As kids we were amazed by the size of his stomach wound. He lived until age 93 and received wonderful support of the military veterans hospital. I was one of the few within our Canadian family that was born in the US. We stayed in Boston, were schooled here and eventually all my sisters and brother became citizens. It was not until I retired from service, US Army, Aviation Brigade Commander, 32 years including flying Hueys as an Instructor Pilot, did I search for his canadian military records. Knowing what he did at the age of 17, the horror of that battle lived real in his mind. Very brave young men died on that ground.
Fascinating piece of forensic film history gentlemen and a great tribute to the legacy of those that gave their lives during this important era in our history. Well done.
That was absolutely outstanding - what a great glimpse of this tragic event. I have always wondered what some of these men/ women were saying as they were being filmed.....
I think the original film was shot at 18 frames per second. That's why a lot of earlofilm was shown later at 24 frames per second & looks speeded up. Today we can show it at the correct speed & understand it better. Giving this lost generation a voice, so we can understand them as just like us - REAL.
The early cameras were entirely hand-cranked as we saw of the camera brought with the team. The frame speed was around 16-18 frames/sec. The operators counted 1-2-3 as in Waltz time to keep the rate as constant as possible. Sound film runs at 24 frames/sec. The film stock of the time was chemically identical to shell propellants: Nitrocellulose. It degrades over time. The best option is to copy it onto 'safety' film. Amazing that this film has survived. Even though it may have been censored. obviously the authorities would not want audiences at home to see a bloody slaughter. The casualty on the stretcher could have been using some pretty hot language after having just been wounded no matter what his background. He has just been through Hell on Earth and survived it in addition to the pain of his wounds. The lip-reader did amazingly given these soldiers might have had regional accents that could be a bit thick.
OK, so I'm an American Civil War reenactor. Our observances for the 150th anniversary of our national tragedy coincided with quite a bit of the UK's observances of their Great War tragedy, and it was interesting from a historian's point of view to compare the two. There were some things that I really wish we had done. For example the 'We're Here' demonstration of young men dressed in War One kit going to train stations with cards for passersby of men who were raised near the train station and who died at the Somme was **brilliant** ! God, I wish we'd thought of that! And of all the participants of the Great War, the UK has shown a deep reverence and respect for the men she lost, from all over the Empire. And some of the documentary efforts have been outstanding. This one in particular is interesting AF because of the technical aspects of validating and authenticating combat footage and doing it by hand on the ground in which it was shot.
The war to end all wars. Possibly wishful thinking. So very well done Folks, thanks for this eye opener, brilliant work all round, great respect to those on both sides that were lost, many literally. RIP men. Duty done.
The Great War was the beginning of the end of great wars waged by empires against other empires if you consider the Second World War the same war with a hiatus between hostilities. Which it basically was. The end of WW2 thrust our species into the atomic age which made large wars between superpowers impractical. There have been wars fought since then but not on the scale previously common on this planet. They've been brush and proxy wars. That's a big change.
I remember watching this during first broadcast (I am sure it was about 2006?) and was fascinated by the lip reader and this combat footage. Very poignant. I am a bit of an amateur WWI reader and this was without doubt the best investigative research documentary I have seen on WWI. As an aside, it was only recently I found out I had a great great uncle (maternal side) who was an 'old contemptible' 1st East Lancashire Regiment who was killed in 1915 near Ypres. My Great Granddad (paternal side) was, I believe, a wartime volunteer in the Royal Field Artillery. I have visited Ypres and the Somme twice, 2012 and 2015 and sadly didn't know about the death of the great great uncle at the time. I wish I could have visited the site (although critically injured on the Yser canal near Ypres, he passed away in Boulogne military hospital and is buried there). I hope to do so in the future.
Wow thanks for sharing that!! I think you're doing a great service to their memory and sacrifice! Hope you have a safe and successful experience in your endeavors
Got a bit of a chuckle at that. Lost a great uncle at the Somme. reigina trench Andy Robertshaw does Fantastic work on WW 1 sites. Thanks to all who care. Lest We Forget.
It is 104 years ago now . Mum found about 2 years ago Her Grandmothers Brothers went over and 1 lost his life after injury to his Hips. His records showing he made it back to an England Hospital but succumbed to his Injuries from I can only imagine was shell damage. The Priest gave him a Funeral and not sure but 'a few Soldiers" fired a Salute
About 23 years ago, working as a Military Historian, I interviewed a SGM. His mother was an English war bride. Her father use to sign his checks, "Old Reliables" all the time. He had been in the English Army prior to World War I. He was in the first Battle of the Somme. After the battle, the chain of command for his battalion consisted of 8 corporals. They gave his grandfather two choices. A. A battle field commission. B. SGM of the Battalion. I asked him why he became a SGM rather than an officer. He said, his grandfather was a working class lad. If he took the commission, it would be considered presumptuous. But a SGM, well now, that really meant something where he came from. Of course, another view of his decision was that all the officers were dead. His chances of surviving as a SGM were much much better. And just and FYI, his grandfather trained up a new company every three months after that.
I've never heard the nickname the "old reliables" . The original pre-WW1 British regular army were nicknamed the "Old Contemptibles". That's the badge of honour they called themselves after the German Kaiser called them "a contemptible little army". There was only 1 battle of the Somme (as compared to 3 battles of ypres/wipers) though it did last 6 months. Most of the men who fought at the Somme were not old contemptibles, but "Kitchener's army" nicknamed after volunteering since the outbreak of war, the Somme was their fist major action. Also do you mean RSM (WO1) ? SGM isn't a term i've known used in the British army/infantry..
My Grandfather was also a 'Wells' I wonder if any connection. All my family have been military up until and including myself, then the tradition ended - hopefully so did War? Sleep in Glory boys, the Poppies always grow for you. For ALL the fallen of WW1 - NO MORE stupity and killing please. May the world know total peace one day? It never cease to astound me the pointless waste of humanity fighting over a piece of land? That Christmas Day when rivals rose up from the trenches and shook hands - IF ONLY that could have been the END TO ALL WAR? 🤷♂
I believe that this was the comment I accidentally deleted: My Paternal Grandfather got shot in the shin I'm this battle. He suffered from depression for the rest of his life. He told me when they marched to the Trenches soldiers were digging mass graves for later in the day. How luck we are . Christopher Cook
For me, the forensic lip reader at 4 minutes in is the star here. Wow. To actually give voice to the soldiers filmed here. That was impressive. They didn't even tell us her name.
When they were moving about, one easy way to mark landmarks that they could then triangulate from a distance would be to have a simple balloon and put it on a long string so that they could see that from a very long distance. It is really amazing how far you can see a balloon when you let it go.
This is a fascinating piece. I have seen smaller clips of this over the years, and this is the longest one I've found. Now, I want to see the whole piece. My one question is the setup of the shoot, and the cameraman. The infantrymen are advancing from the right side of the screen to the left side. Wouldn't this have meant that the cameraman would had to have been in front of the point of embarkation for the infantrymen? Or, at least parallel to the advance? Surely they would have commenced the advance from the apex of the trench system as it would have meant having to cover less ground during the advance. I would have imagined that the cameraman would have been behind the advance, and filmed the infantrymen advancing away from the camera. What a fantastic piece of history. It would be great if they could clean this up like the did with They Will Not Grow Old.
As far as I understand it, Malins, the cameraman was set up at the end of the trench called, I believe, White city, which appears to be behind a bit of a ridge. It looks like the infantry across the road started from a position a bit farther back. They were supposed to take the lip of the crater first, but the Germans beat them to it.
@@crsnmorton Not so sure about the narrative of the film being "edited". What are the chances that the cameraman ran out of film and had to change reels?
@@dukecraig2402 probably not. These people are not silly he would have had a full roll of film onboard because he knew beforehand what he was to film...and changing a film on that sort of camera isn't quick or easy. If he had run out that was the end of the story.
@@dukecraig2402 You have to remember these films were commissioned by the army to be propaganda, they wouldn't have released footage that made the viewers think, "wow look at all those men falling this attack is a slaughter"
My Great Grandad served in this war, I think he was a stretcher bearer cause he was telling my Grandad his son, watching limbs cut.. My other Grandad served too and got shot through the shoulder, he never spoke about any of the war.. His 2 sons served in the 2nd world war, one died in the Japanese prison camp..
It would be fantastic if colour could be added to this footage. Colour changes the whole perspective of black and white film. Its difficut to grasp that there are men being killed in an attack it just looks surreal. Getting out of a trench and moving towards machine guns just doesn't seem a good way to attack a position but these poor lads had to do it possibly more than once. I used to sit in the butts on the range when I was serving and think about WW1 and having to go over the top. It filled me with dread thinking about it, how they all got up and went over with very little hope of surving. The noise of the rifle and machine guns and the men being hit and dropping. What must the cameraman been thinking as he was filiming it, just so surreal. Medieval tactics in an industrial age frighting.
Trench warfare is surreal any way you slice it. It drove men mad that were involved. I've seen film of the nutters and they are off their beam. Completely cracker jacks.
I was in the TF in NZ. Have having been in the butts of a range holding and walking with targets the man shaped ones. safe as well below ground and the bullets. U could see the damage to targets when we had to count the hits. It makes me think of the poor troops that suffered not only in trenches but going of the top would have been sheer hell. Had family from both sides serve in both world wars. Some from UK and some from New Zealand. Also some KIA. Father's father was in Turkey and latter on the Somme where he gassed. Survived and worked in a sanatorium for years helping look after the poor guys that had shell shock a number of them never made it home. Dad used to say his father said the lucky ones did not make it. It must have been a hell of a place to work. Great Uncle on mother's side suffered his whole life from his experience in the trenches and was told just before he died he was yelling in his sleep and swearing like a trooper. Farther was in the British army for just about the whole war WW2 and was not happy when when I joined the TF like he said the odds get smaller with time. Bit of. History buff with large number of Military History Books as well as books written by ex-serivice members and others. Latest All Hell Let Loose by Max Hastings. Recommend any of his books. Least We Forget.
We visited sunken lane a few years ago, its the only cover in the area and is surrounded by elevated German positions,a scary place to try and break out of,almost impossible.
Granddad was with British forces. He was a teenager when he signed up and eventually shipped to France. He was with the Engineering troops and designated as a Sapper. Sappers were the guys that dug the tunnels under enemy lines to blow them to hell. His unit was in the Hill 60 area and fighting was fierce. Late November 1917 he was seen at night in no man's land headed for the German lines. His people considered him to be a deserter and shot at him. He did make it to German lines and was taken prisoner, but he had the back of his right foot blown off by a German grenade and was sent to hospital behind the German lines and then to a POW camp in East Prussia. After the Armistice it took five months for him to be returned to his people. He was never charged with absconding to the enemy, but he never was given a single decoration for service. All this is in the official records that are still available. My guess is that he thought he was going to die and he just had to do something instead of waiting to be blown to bits or smothered in an underground cave-in. I think he probably also had some wicked PTSD to go along with his damaged foot that ached for the rest of his life.
I have relatives from Gallipoli and the Somme...and I'm very proud that they made it through both Campaigns...otherwise I would not be here today..!!!! And bombings in Chelsea London ...in world war two....Look at a map of world war two bombings in Chelsea Worlds End...my ancestry was right in the middle of it all and survived...house on house...!!!!!
Apologies, while adding a recent comment about my video, I may have accidentally deleted someone's comment by mistake. If so, please add it again. Carson
A friend gave me a book titled "Poor Bloody Infantry". The author wrote of his experience as a 'Lewis Gunner" as well as patrol and 'bomb squad' [think grenadier]. Some of the writings described going over the top at night on a raid, getting shelled and coming back to the trench and sitting on the bodies of fellow soldiers, killed during the shelling, to stay out of the mud/water at the bottom of what was left of the trench. Stop and think about that for just a moment. No wonder so many soldiers had "Shell Shock" or any of the other many names of conditions labelled on those that came back. No wonder so many grandfathers/fathers/brothers never spoke of the war. The wee bit of film here tells a terrible story. Fantastic and terrible.
My two great uncles with the Newfoundland Regiment took part in this exact battle. They were massacred. Only 84 on roll call the next morning. The Regiment was wiped out.
Robin, that really is a direct connection. Newfoundland Park in Beaumont-Hamel, France, of course, is one of the most well-preserved portions of the battlefield. Cheers.
Why is it that the cameraman on documentaries nowadays has to dwell on those talking or presenting rather than the subject matter. It's the newsreel footage we are interested in not these 2
I always thought that the shot with the men dying was real. Someone being actually hit versus someone being told to pretend to be hit just don't fall the same. Especially in a time where actors weren't going for realism at all as it was mostly theater based back then.
When people are really shot and fall it's not like you see in movies. They don't go flying back or gesture outstretched. They just fall. That's the reality of physics and severe trauma. It's visually pretty anti-climatic. Most of the victims don't even know what hit them.
Half a league, half a league, half a league onward, all into the valley of death rode the six hundred. "Forward the light brigade, charge for the guns", he said into the valley of death rode the six hundred....
My Great uncle with the US Army fought with the 58th Division in the Meuse area in 1918 and was wounded by MG fire in the right arm and left leg,survived to 1967.I recall him well.
My children's maternal grandfather lied about his age and went over with Pershing's American Expeditionary force during World War I. He was gassed and lived till the early 1950's.
@@crsnmorton I watched a show titled "The Last Day of WW1". The Armistice was signed at 05:00 but didn't take affect until 11:00. All soldiers wanted to stop fighting at 05:00 but Pershing made them fight until 11:00. The soldiers that died in those six hours was more than was lost on D-Day according to the narrator of the show.
@@594bolt Yes, that's terrible to contemplate. I think officers fought on for a number of reasons. Some wanted that last bit of glory at the cost of their men's lives; some wanted to gain as much ground as possible before the Armistice, in case of a treaty not making the peace permanent; and then there were some like future President and Artillery Captain, Harry S Truman, who told his men that if there was one shell left at 11 o'clock, there'd be hell to pay.
I think that it's just something on the film negative. Any firing would be coming from the extreme left outside the frame. This would have been from the lip of the newly formed crater that the Germans had quickly occupied. Remember, the explosion occurred at 7:20 am. The British went over at 7:30, giving the Germans a full 10 minutes to get into position.
Does anyone know where I can find this documentary? I could've sworn it used to be on amazon prime but I can't seem to find it now. It doesn't seem to be on youtube either. Any help in finding the full documentary would be greatly appreciated.
Michael, as far as I know there were some staged footage from the Boer War, but no actual combat film. The Imperial War Museum in London has various bits of film from the Boer War, but not on public display.
amazing to see another war has broken out in europe, and tactic's have not changed, loss of live is no where near ww1 number's, but reading that 200-500 Russian casualties in today world is crazy. we should celebrate peace.
I imagine because the purpose of the documentary was to authenticate the particular piece of film of British soldiers crossing the hillside following the mine explosion beneath German front line. Of all the film shot during WWI, that piece of film is possibly the only recording of actual combat. As the documentary points out, film of soldiers supposedly charging up out of a trench is clearly a not-very good re-enactment.
How long and or when did the battle field get cleaned up, how long did the bodies lay there, how much of a person body got ate by rats, how long did the smell stay
And the irony here is that Lancashire women were themselves fantastic lip readers, due to their working as weavers in Lancashire's cotton mills. The noise in a large industrial weaving shed is unbelievably loud. It is so intense that you cannot hear your own voice if you speak, or even if you shout. Hence the weavers (mainly women) became highly proficient at reading lips. I have witnessed two Lancashire women having a long, silent conversation while sitting in two separate stationary buses, several yards apart. One of the women was my mother, who, incidentally, lost two uncles at the Somme, and worked hard to ensure that I became a highly educated Lancashire man.
The loss of so many men in that war had long range consequences even into WW2 and later. Political leaders are short sighted and rarely pay any consequences.
Its Dezember 2022. Just before christmas. Today we heard in the news that the Garbage Dump in a small town called Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine has been retaken by Ukrainian forces. This battle has been going on from August 2022 till today. The Garbage Dump, the petrol station and the village outskirts have changed hands multiple times. For that few hundered meters of land thousands of people have died so far. I guess its realy true. War never changes.
They're running toward the crater which was between the lines. Unfortunately, the Germans had already occupied the newly-formed rim of the crater and were able to open fire on the advancing British troops.
@@edwardd9702 would we see dirt being kicked up from gun fire? I'd guess "no" since the video resolution is so low compared to what we are used to now. 🤔 We can see the crater explosion because it was ~600 feet high. When a bullet hits the ground, you don't see it or notice any disturbance unless you're literally right there and staring right at it, and even then you'd be lucky to see a blade of grass move a bit. The bullet itself gets lodged in the dirt, nearly without a trace. Now, if you try recording that with a hand-crank camera from over 100 years ago, you simply won't be able to see anything like the fine detail you want to see from machine gun fire hitting the men or the ground around them. 👍 🙏
@@crsnmorton many years before? I'm referring to the lip reading portion, not the battlefield location. This BBC release was in 2017 and appears to be the same research shown by Jackson. Jackson's film was co-commissioned by 14-18 NOW and Imperial War Museums in association with the BBC, who approached Jackson in 2015 for the project. I thought I had seen it before.
Put the prime minister's of both sides in a sealed room for 5 days with knives........Then after 5 days open the door the one still living can declare himself the winner Millions of lives with be saved..... Trouble being they probably be the best of friends by then
My grandfather, an NCO at the time, went over the top at the Somme with the other 1000 men in the battalion. The next day when they took the roll call , there were 73 of them. He told me that the officer and NCO's stood there calling names with tears streaming down their faces.
What unit was it.
@@tooyoungtobeold8756 G-Unit
It seems it was never the brass hats who paid the price for this sort of thing.
@@tooyoungtobeold8756 Bedfords
Please allow an old American cavalry corporal, and combat veteran, to offer his sincere respects and regrets for your grandpa's service.
A sincere tip of the Stetson to him and all his mates.
That lip-reader has some crazy valuable and rare skill! She dubbed that perfectly, that was so amazing.
She basically gave the dead a voice once more.
how do you know she dubbed it perfectly
@@skeletonjam its better than silence, and atleast she took from context
@@skeletonjam Because she has been deaf since childhood and can lip-read perfectly.
The real question here is why would someone want to cast doubt on something like this. What motive would such a person have for doing so.
@@ShizukuSeiji because the footage is incredibly low quality, straight up broken, missing frames, and often disturbed by people walking in front of camera, heads turning, scratches, smoke etc etc. some of the clips I would say you could 100% tell what their lips are saying, but in others its like reading pixels.
Death whispers?
The lady Lip Reading contributes such a wonderful insight. Thank her immensely. That's a remarkable contribution - she's a wonderful talent.
That lip reader was amazing.
Absolutely. It was fascinating to hear what they were saying, and even how appropriate it was given the circumstances. I might have said the same in the that situation!
What amazes me is how does she have an accent since she's been deaf from childhood?
@@Idcanymore510 She Might Have Lost Her Hearing In Childhood. Around 7 Or 10 Or So?
The bit when the lip reader read “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” really got me…. Wow! Amazing. She makes these lads come alive again. Thank you.
7:27 is a special moment...his words are seen.. and finally heard after 100 years. I would think this is why the researchers do what they do. Amazing.
This brought me to tears…my grandfather wasn’t a victim of the Somme…but died as a member of the American Expeditionary Forces from a gas attack 20 years after the war…thankfully my father was conceived before he passed away in 1934 from the results of his injuries…my thoughts and prayers go out to those sainted souls who fought that dark day 🙏🙏🙏
Wars continue killing men long after they've ended, 56,000 Americans died in Vietnam, 72,000 Vietnam veterans killed themselves in the years after the war.
and both sides prayed to the same God!!!
Years ago, I found my maternal grandfather's WWI record online. I dedicated this video to him. The following encapsulates what I found.
Private Mathew Wells (Regimental # 5628) was enlisted in the British Army (5th. Durham Light Infantry) as a Private on 7/26/16 at the age of 29. He had three young children at the time, aged 4, 2, and 2 months (Auntie Marge). After travelling through France on a train transport, he embarked on a troop ship and arrived in Salonika Greece on 11/17/16 three and half months after enlistment. It appears that he served in the Royal Engineers Signals Corps. After War’s end on 11/11/18, he may have been transferred to Batum, Russia. He was given leave and hospitalized in England in 1919 where he was diagnosed with 50% disability of “confusional insanity”, apparently a form of PTSD (war strain, war neurosis). Terms were very un-PC in those days. For instance. One of the questions on the census form from the same period asked how many “imbeciles” were living in the home. He was awarded The British War Medal, The Victory medal, and a very modest pension. He was discharged on 9/4/20. During World War Two, he served as an auxiliary policeman in London. I still have his truncheon.
Very cool, thanks for sharing!
You are fortunate. Thanks to the GB Gov at the time of the Blitz on London, 2 thirds of the Gt War Records went up in smoke in addition to the 1931 Census. A few lorries could have moved them up north, if they bothered to think!
It was a dreadful War, run by men chosen on the basis of what school they went to.
I found records of a Great Uncle, who served in the AIF, wounded 5 times, gassed twice. He seems to have spent most of his time in Hospital.
His last wound was listed as Gunshot, right thigh, self inflicted.
He survived the War, God only knows what his life was like after the War.
Your finale song isn't correct for this video...ruclips.net/video/LQUXuQ6Zd9w/видео.html
Thank you for sharing this.
My Great Grandfather; Harry Jones 16/121, 1st Batallion West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales’s Own) died on 8th Oct 1918, aged 26. At home he left his widow Hilda & his newborn son.
Watching this & more so, Peter Jackson’s epic ‘They Shall Not Grow Old’, I often wonder if any of the soldiers captured on this silent footage is him?
I don’t think we’ll ever be able to comprehend what they experienced; both during the conflict & the aftermath.
To quote the great Harry Patch, the last fighting Tommy….”War is organized murder and nothing else”…..&…..”Politicians who took us to war should have been given the guns and told to settle their differences themselves, instead of organising nothing better than legalised mass murder”.
My dad was nearly deaf, and he could lip read like her. He could watch TV with the volume off and tell you nearly every word they said (assuming they were facing the camera, of course).
Sometimes it really came in handy b/c he could tell you what people were saying when they thought you couldn't hear them. Other times it was a drawback, like when we thought we were being sly by whispering something to a sibling, only to realize our father "heard" every word.
I’m a retired US Army Infantryman and I know my UK counterparts will agree with what I say here that preparing your soul to meet the Lord so many times during a war takes a toll. I’m both thankful and amazed that I survived and with minor injuries compared to friends and some of the men I served next to. We do experience anger when one of us is hit or killed and we later feel severe guilt and that stays with us for years if not decades.
CAP
Yes...I balance my Trauma Experiences with Next Good Event..I got challenged last night with a Loud Drunk yelling at Me for NO REASON..I shone thru..
Extremes ..I seen them - Not like your Experiences..
I do simple things and Next best turn in Time.
Sudden Noises and Demanding People..I say " Oh Yeah " to the Challenging event..
Looking at the footage in the sunken lane, you can see the look of sheer terror on some of these poor men . God bless all of you.
It wasn't called No man's land because it was a great place to be. It got that name because no man survived being there for very long. You were volunteering to be executed just trying to cross it. Those boys knew it too.
So long ago, yet so recent. Possibly the first combat footage ever recorded. It's like watching Battle of Hastings footage in the late-12th century. Trees and earth have a different timescale from us humans. To the people of the far future, we today are living in the same era as these WW1 soldiers.
It was only 100 years ago...
and now Ukraine could turn into something similar. God forbid.
I'm not sure about their theory of an "edit" in the film, I'd say it's just as likely that the cameraman ran out of film and had to change reels.
@@dukecraig2402 I hadn't considered running out of film, but now that you mention it, film cameras were notorious for chewing through the film stock. They are somewhat like a machine gun in that respect as no matter how much film or ammunition you may have on hand, it disappears awfully fast!
Mark from Melbourne Australia
@@markfryer9880
That's a coincidence, I just got done watching Under Hill 60.
Soon as I get done watching it I look at my phone and someone from Australia sent me a message all the way over here in America, what are the odds?
At 8.01, that poor lads face on the left, total fear in his eyes, i dont think we can fully understand that feeling, knowing if you ran away or refused it would be a bullet for deserting and if he stays he is about to walk into hell.... I have so much respect for all these men, regardless of which side they fought on, they lived in mud, ate badly, slept in the rain and snow all the time being shelled and if they got shell shock they were often shot as mad or deserters.
May their end be quick and their rest long and peaceful.
yes society especially British society was savage especially to its own people...probably still is to a large degree....weren't called the bloody British for nothing...
My grandfather was there and wounded on the 1st July with the 11th Battalion Royal Irish Riffles the South Antrim volunteers. He later served with the Lancashire Fusiliers as his Battalion had ceased to exsist. He probably knew some of the men in the video.
@david gallagher You don't know that David, and you're being judgmental. I'm ashamed of you if you are in fact Irish. The tragedy of the Great War goes well beyond simplistic generalisations, especially in the case of early 20th Century Ireland. The mindset you represent contributes nothing to present society or a better future.
@@barryolaith Well said 👌 I had Several Great Uncles on both sides of my family from Limerick & Cork fought who in WW1 ☘️
That’s wild.
@david gallagher 😁 that's some family mate! I just can't compete, How about my Uncle Private Tommy Murphy (from Newcastle west Limerick) who served with the Ulster Rifles in the Korea War ☘️ ..also my late great aunt's childhood sweetheart (another Limerick lad) who was wounded fighting with the International Brigade in Spain's Civil War 😉😎
@david gallagher I mentioned my relative's who served the crown, but back then things weren't always black & white . My Great Grandfather was a IRA gun runner & local volunteer, he later fought for the free state army in the civil war . (Disappointingly in later life he became a Blue shirt 🙄) I suppose what I'm saying is that it was Very different & complex times 🧐 Slainte
Six miles gained over five months for that many men, I can't even wrap my head around that lunacy. Great video and great work by the forensic team, especially the lip reader bringing back the words of the dead.
The commanders didn’t care for the common man, the directed the battle from the warm hut with fresh tea and biscuits.
@@911Locksmiths thats a myth
@@obvious-trollEarl Haig was a field marshal in the WW1. The Poppy Appeal was originally called the Earl Haig Fund, in Scotland I was involved with your outdoor/ambient advertising back in the mid to late 90's. The advent of the internet and the truth behind the guy was that strong, they realised it wasn't helpful and reinvented the whole charity as Poppy Scotland. You should Google the guy. What a horrible person
quite literally brought tears to my eyes.
Very interesting & Fascinating - History research , My great uncle was wounded & shell-shocked in the Somme ( lost his arm) , he was in the "Braunschweigisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 92" ( Brunswyck Infantry Regiment Nr 92) of the Imperial German Army . Salute from Germany .
Thank you for this. Easy to forget the suffering on both sides. If you haven't already seen it, I highly recommend the ne Netflix movie version of All Quiet on the Western Front in German. Cheers
Yeah. My family was on "the other side" too. It was tough. the stories from my grandmother were tough to hear. First when she was a child, then as a mother in the second war. Both sides suffered greatly. The stories from my father, from the second war as a youth, still disturb me. Some nights I wish he never told me. Other times, it's history and it's our responsibility to remember.
Wow this was a really great job by all involved, especially the lip reader giving a voice of the soldiers makes it so much more personal!
If I’m not mistaken, she was also involved in the production of Peter Jackson’s epic documentary ‘They Shall Not Grow Old’.
Perhaps it wasn't censorship as such, perhaps Mallins was just so shocked by what he was witnessing, he forgot momentarily to turn the crank?
The memories of my grandfather telling us of his participation at the Somme. He enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force at the age of 17 and was trained and on the ground for the battle. His military records show he was wounded twice, once by rifle and the other by cannon shot thru his right side. He someone was carried to the rear, emergency surgery performed and it took them 6 months to get him back to a Canadian hospital. As kids we were amazed by the size of his stomach wound. He lived until age 93 and received wonderful support of the military veterans hospital. I was one of the few within our Canadian family that was born in the US. We stayed in Boston, were schooled here and eventually all my sisters and brother became citizens. It was not until I retired from service, US Army, Aviation Brigade Commander, 32 years including flying Hueys as an Instructor Pilot, did I search for his canadian military records. Knowing what he did at the age of 17, the horror of that battle lived real in his mind. Very brave young men died on that ground.
Thank you so much for this wonderful story. It's a thrill how many memories and tributes this video has gotten. Helluva story. Thanks.
Absolutely fantastic work. Thank you.
Somewhere there is my uncle, he was killed on the 9th Nov, I'm named after him, never forgotten.
Fascinating piece of forensic film history gentlemen and a great tribute to the legacy of those that gave their lives during this important era in our history. Well done.
That was absolutely outstanding - what a great glimpse of this tragic event. I have always wondered what some of these men/ women were saying as they were being filmed.....
I think the original film was shot at 18 frames per second. That's why a lot of earlofilm was shown later at 24 frames per second & looks speeded up. Today we can show it at the correct speed & understand it better. Giving this lost generation a voice, so we can understand them as just like us - REAL.
The early cameras were entirely hand-cranked as we saw of the camera brought with the team. The frame speed was around 16-18 frames/sec. The operators counted 1-2-3 as in Waltz time to keep the rate as constant as possible. Sound film runs at 24 frames/sec.
The film stock of the time was chemically identical to shell propellants: Nitrocellulose. It degrades over time. The best option is to copy it onto 'safety' film. Amazing that this film has survived. Even though it may have been censored. obviously the authorities would not want audiences at home to see a bloody slaughter.
The casualty on the stretcher could have been using some pretty hot language after having just been wounded no matter what his background. He has just been through Hell on Earth and survived it in addition to the pain of his wounds. The lip-reader did amazingly given these soldiers might have had regional accents that could be a bit thick.
OK, so I'm an American Civil War reenactor. Our observances for the 150th anniversary of our national tragedy coincided with quite a bit of the UK's observances of their Great War tragedy, and it was interesting from a historian's point of view to compare the two. There were some things that I really wish we had done. For example the 'We're Here' demonstration of young men dressed in War One kit going to train stations with cards for passersby of men who were raised near the train station and who died at the Somme was **brilliant** ! God, I wish we'd thought of that!
And of all the participants of the Great War, the UK has shown a deep reverence and respect for the men she lost, from all over the Empire. And some of the documentary efforts have been outstanding. This one in particular is interesting AF because of the technical aspects of validating and authenticating combat footage and doing it by hand on the ground in which it was shot.
The war to end all wars. Possibly wishful thinking.
So very well done Folks, thanks for this eye opener, brilliant work all round, great respect to those on both sides that were lost, many literally.
RIP men. Duty done.
The Great War was the beginning of the end of great wars waged by empires against other empires if you consider the Second World War the same war with a hiatus between hostilities. Which it basically was. The end of WW2 thrust our species into the atomic age which made large wars between superpowers impractical. There have been wars fought since then but not on the scale previously common on this planet. They've been brush and proxy wars. That's a big change.
These war footages were reused in They Shall Not Grow Old.
I remember watching this during first broadcast (I am sure it was about 2006?) and was fascinated by the lip reader and this combat footage. Very poignant. I am a bit of an amateur WWI reader and this was without doubt the best investigative research documentary I have seen on WWI. As an aside, it was only recently I found out I had a great great uncle (maternal side) who was an 'old contemptible' 1st East Lancashire Regiment who was killed in 1915 near Ypres. My Great Granddad (paternal side) was, I believe, a wartime volunteer in the Royal Field Artillery. I have visited Ypres and the Somme twice, 2012 and 2015 and sadly didn't know about the death of the great great uncle at the time. I wish I could have visited the site (although critically injured on the Yser canal near Ypres, he passed away in Boulogne military hospital and is buried there). I hope to do so in the future.
Wow thanks for sharing that!! I think you're doing a great service to their memory and sacrifice! Hope you have a safe and successful experience in your endeavors
"He's not a highly educated man."
"Oh he's a Lancashireman"
The dumbest of the dumb
Got a bit of a chuckle at that. Lost a great uncle at the Somme. reigina trench Andy Robertshaw does Fantastic work on WW 1 sites. Thanks to all who care.
Lest We Forget.
It is 104 years ago now . Mum found about 2 years ago Her Grandmothers Brothers went over and 1 lost his life after injury to his Hips. His records showing he made it back to an England Hospital but succumbed to his Injuries from I can only imagine was shell damage. The Priest gave him a Funeral and not sure but 'a few Soldiers" fired a Salute
About 23 years ago, working as a Military Historian, I interviewed a SGM.
His mother was an English war bride.
Her father use to sign his checks, "Old Reliables" all the time.
He had been in the English Army prior to World War I.
He was in the first Battle of the Somme.
After the battle, the chain of command for his battalion consisted of 8 corporals.
They gave his grandfather two choices.
A. A battle field commission.
B. SGM of the Battalion.
I asked him why he became a SGM rather than an officer.
He said, his grandfather was a working class lad.
If he took the commission, it would be considered presumptuous.
But a SGM, well now, that really meant something where he came from.
Of course, another view of his decision was that all the officers were dead.
His chances of surviving as a SGM were much much better.
And just and FYI, his grandfather trained up a new company every three months after that.
I've never heard the nickname the "old reliables" . The original pre-WW1 British regular army were nicknamed the "Old Contemptibles". That's the badge of honour they called themselves after the German Kaiser called them "a contemptible little army". There was only 1 battle of the Somme (as compared to 3 battles of ypres/wipers) though it did last 6 months. Most of the men who fought at the Somme were not old contemptibles, but "Kitchener's army" nicknamed after volunteering since the outbreak of war, the Somme was their fist major action. Also do you mean RSM (WO1) ? SGM isn't a term i've known used in the British army/infantry..
This is Incredible, thank you.
My Grandfather was also a 'Wells' I wonder if any connection. All my family have been military up until and including myself, then the tradition ended - hopefully so did War? Sleep in Glory boys, the Poppies always grow for you. For ALL the fallen of WW1 - NO MORE stupity and killing please. May the world know total peace one day? It never cease to astound me the pointless waste of humanity fighting over a piece of land? That Christmas Day when rivals rose up from the trenches and shook hands - IF ONLY that could have been the END TO ALL WAR? 🤷♂
Love this. Would have loved to be part of this with historians
I believe that this was the comment I accidentally deleted:
My Paternal Grandfather got shot in the shin I'm this battle. He suffered from depression for the rest of his life. He told me when they marched to the Trenches soldiers were digging mass graves for later in the day. How luck we are . Christopher Cook
Brilliant video and as said the lip reader was spot on as i come from the same place as the Lancashire fusiliers and we do talk like that 👍👍
watch The Somme then and now 1916-2016 i did this by my self in my works holidays edited on a home pc ...1,75000 watches
A truly stunning piece of work by the way. Amazing.
Amazing work you did. Please do some more if you can.
For me, the forensic lip reader at 4 minutes in is the star here. Wow. To actually give voice to the soldiers filmed here. That was impressive. They didn't even tell us her name.
Brilliantly done!
...unbelievable research!🇺🇸
"Madness...sheer madness..."
When they were moving about, one easy way to mark landmarks that they could then triangulate from a distance would be to have a simple balloon and put it on a long string so that they could see that from a very long distance. It is really amazing how far you can see a balloon when you let it go.
This is a fascinating piece. I have seen smaller clips of this over the years, and this is the longest one I've found. Now, I want to see the whole piece. My one question is the setup of the shoot, and the cameraman. The infantrymen are advancing from the right side of the screen to the left side. Wouldn't this have meant that the cameraman would had to have been in front of the point of embarkation for the infantrymen? Or, at least parallel to the advance? Surely they would have commenced the advance from the apex of the trench system as it would have meant having to cover less ground during the advance. I would have imagined that the cameraman would have been behind the advance, and filmed the infantrymen advancing away from the camera. What a fantastic piece of history. It would be great if they could clean this up like the did with They Will Not Grow Old.
As far as I understand it, Malins, the cameraman was set up at the end of the trench called, I believe, White city, which appears to be behind a bit of a ridge. It looks like the infantry across the road started from a position a bit farther back. They were supposed to take the lip of the crater first, but the Germans beat them to it.
@@crsnmorton Thanks a lot for this. Fascinating. What an incredible piece of history.
@@crsnmorton
Not so sure about the narrative of the film being "edited".
What are the chances that the cameraman ran out of film and had to change reels?
@@dukecraig2402 probably not. These people are not silly he would have had a full roll of film onboard because he knew beforehand what he was to film...and changing a film on that sort of camera isn't quick or easy. If he had run out that was the end of the story.
@@dukecraig2402 You have to remember these films were commissioned by the army to be propaganda, they wouldn't have released footage that made the viewers think, "wow look at all those men falling this attack is a slaughter"
My Great Grandad served in this war, I think he was a stretcher bearer cause he was telling my Grandad his son, watching limbs cut..
My other Grandad served too and got shot through the shoulder, he never spoke about any of the war..
His 2 sons served in the 2nd world war, one died in the Japanese prison camp..
Fascinating..... thank you 👍
It would be fantastic if colour could be added to this footage. Colour changes the whole perspective of black and white film. Its difficut to grasp that there are men being killed in an attack it just looks surreal. Getting out of a trench and moving towards machine guns just doesn't seem a good way to attack a position but these poor lads had to do it possibly more than once. I used to sit in the butts on the range when I was serving and think about WW1 and having to go over the top. It filled me with dread thinking about it, how they all got up and went over with very little hope of surving. The noise of the rifle and machine guns and the men being hit and dropping. What must the cameraman been thinking as he was filiming it, just so surreal. Medieval tactics in an industrial age frighting.
Watch ' They Shall Not Grow Old'
Trench warfare is surreal any way you slice it. It drove men mad that were involved. I've seen film of the nutters and they are off their beam. Completely cracker jacks.
I was in the TF in NZ. Have having been in the butts of a range holding and walking with targets the man shaped ones. safe as well below ground and the bullets. U could see the damage to targets when we had to count the hits. It makes me think of the poor troops that suffered not only in trenches but going of the top would have been sheer hell. Had family from both sides serve in both world wars. Some from UK and some from New Zealand. Also some KIA. Father's father was in Turkey and latter on the Somme where he gassed. Survived and worked in a sanatorium for years helping look after the poor guys that had shell shock a number of them never made it home. Dad used to say his father said the lucky ones did not make it. It must have been a hell of a place to work. Great Uncle on mother's side suffered his whole life from his experience in the trenches and was told just before he died he was yelling in his sleep and swearing like a trooper. Farther was in the British army for just about the whole war WW2 and was not happy when when I joined the TF like he said the odds get smaller with time. Bit of. History buff with large number of Military History Books as well as books written by ex-serivice members and others. Latest All Hell Let Loose by Max Hastings. Recommend any of his books. Least We Forget.
We visited sunken lane a few years ago, its the only cover in the area and is surrounded by elevated German positions,a scary place to try and break out of,almost impossible.
Granddad was with British forces. He was a teenager when he signed up and eventually shipped to France. He was with the Engineering troops and designated as a Sapper. Sappers were the guys that dug the tunnels under enemy lines to blow them to hell. His unit was in the Hill 60 area and fighting was fierce. Late November 1917 he was seen at night in no man's land headed for the German lines. His people considered him to be a deserter and shot at him. He did make it to German lines and was taken prisoner, but he had the back of his right foot blown off by a German grenade and was sent to hospital behind the German lines and then to a POW camp in East Prussia. After the Armistice it took five months for him to be returned to his people. He was never charged with absconding to the enemy, but he never was given a single decoration for service. All this is in the official records that are still available. My guess is that he thought he was going to die and he just had to do something instead of waiting to be blown to bits or smothered in an underground cave-in. I think he probably also had some wicked PTSD to go along with his damaged foot that ached for the rest of his life.
I have relatives from Gallipoli and the Somme...and I'm very proud that they made it through both Campaigns...otherwise I would not be here today..!!!! And bombings in Chelsea London ...in world war two....Look at a map of world war two bombings in Chelsea Worlds End...my ancestry was right in the middle of it all and survived...house on house...!!!!!
My Father was in the London Scottish Regiment in the Somme he was wounded, but survived. He was billeted with Leslie Sarony.
Outstanding.
Apologies, while adding a recent comment about my video, I may have accidentally deleted someone's comment by mistake. If so, please add it again. Carson
WOWsers, she is really great.
ABSOLUTELY none of them should have bothered going to war.
What, and just let the Germans invade France and Belgium?
Cannon fodder for treacherous politicians.
They say it was Sheep led by Donkeys ( The Generals )
@@ianlivingston5802
Smedley Butler did write, War Is a Racket.
A friend gave me a book titled "Poor Bloody Infantry". The author wrote of his experience as a 'Lewis Gunner" as well as patrol and 'bomb squad' [think grenadier]. Some of the writings described going over the top at night on a raid, getting shelled and coming back to the trench and sitting on the bodies of fellow soldiers, killed during the shelling, to stay out of the mud/water at the bottom of what was left of the trench. Stop and think about that for just a moment. No wonder so many soldiers had "Shell Shock" or any of the other many names of conditions labelled on those that came back. No wonder so many grandfathers/fathers/brothers never spoke of the war. The wee bit of film here tells a terrible story. Fantastic and terrible.
My two great uncles with the Newfoundland Regiment took part in this exact battle. They were massacred. Only 84 on roll call the next morning. The Regiment was wiped out.
Robin, that really is a direct connection. Newfoundland Park in Beaumont-Hamel, France, of course, is one of the most well-preserved portions of the battlefield. Cheers.
Awesome video!
Great video.
Why is it that the cameraman on documentaries nowadays has to dwell on those talking or presenting rather than the subject matter. It's the newsreel footage we are interested in not these 2
Fantastic
I always thought that the shot with the men dying was real.
Someone being actually hit versus someone being told to pretend to be hit just don't fall the same. Especially in a time where actors weren't going for realism at all as it was mostly theater based back then.
When people are really shot and fall it's not like you see in movies. They don't go flying back or gesture outstretched. They just fall. That's the reality of physics and severe trauma. It's visually pretty anti-climatic. Most of the victims don't even know what hit them.
He knew exactly where to film for the explosion.
Half a league, half a league, half a league onward,
all into the valley of death rode the six hundred.
"Forward the light brigade, charge for the guns", he said
into the valley of death rode the six hundred....
My uncle Fred hung on the wire from July 1st. until November when the Germans pulled out. He is buried near the crater.
God rest them all.
I wonder if JRR Tolkien can be seen in any of the film. he was part of the Lancashire Fusiliers at the Battle of the Somme
My Great uncle with the US Army fought with the 58th Division in the Meuse area in 1918 and was wounded by MG fire in the right arm and left leg,survived to 1967.I recall him well.
My children's maternal grandfather lied about his age and went over with Pershing's American Expeditionary force during World War I. He was gassed and lived till the early 1950's.
@@crsnmorton I watched a show titled "The Last Day of WW1". The Armistice was signed at 05:00 but didn't take affect until 11:00. All soldiers wanted to stop fighting at 05:00 but Pershing made them fight until 11:00. The soldiers that died in those six hours was more than was lost on D-Day according to the narrator of the show.
@@594bolt Yes, that's terrible to contemplate. I think officers fought on for a number of reasons. Some wanted that last bit of glory at the cost of their men's lives; some wanted to gain as much ground as possible before the Armistice, in case of a treaty not making the peace permanent; and then there were some like future President and Artillery Captain, Harry S Truman, who told his men that if there was one shell left at 11 o'clock, there'd be hell to pay.
Wow she has incredible skills ❤
When the men fall , theres a flash to the right above the hedgeline , could that be someone firing on the men who fall .
I think that it's just something on the film negative. Any firing would be coming from the extreme left outside the frame. This would have been from the lip of the newly formed crater that the Germans had quickly occupied. Remember, the explosion occurred at 7:20 am. The British went over at 7:30, giving the Germans a full 10 minutes to get into position.
respect
I'm surprised the lip reader didn't find someone asking, "Why are we at war?" Dying because someone was assassinated.
That lip reading segment gave me ASMR.
The battle of the Somme wad mich more than just one day. It lasted months.
Does anyone know where I can find this documentary? I could've sworn it used to be on amazon prime but I can't seem to find it now. It doesn't seem to be on youtube either. Any help in finding the full documentary would be greatly appreciated.
This was on telly several years ago
wait, wasen't there footage shot in the Boer War? It showed people being shot and it was censored is that true?
Michael, as far as I know there were some staged footage from the Boer War, but no actual combat film. The Imperial War Museum in London has various bits of film from the Boer War, but not on public display.
thanks for clearing that up, sadly it's not public that would be fascinating to see.@@crsnmorton
The soldiers facing the camera are saying to the generations to come:Seize the day, boys!!!.
They should have discuss with WW1 british historians. Some scenes have been shot after the battle. It's well known.
amazing to see another war has broken out in europe, and tactic's have not changed, loss of live is no where near ww1 number's, but reading that 200-500 Russian casualties in today world is crazy. we should celebrate peace.
"-Was it real or was it fake" mentioned in the introduction, why use a phrase like that...?
I imagine because the purpose of the documentary was to authenticate the particular piece of film of British soldiers crossing the hillside following the mine explosion beneath German front line. Of all the film shot during WWI, that piece of film is possibly the only recording of actual combat. As the documentary points out, film of soldiers supposedly charging up out of a trench is clearly a not-very good re-enactment.
Its so sad, now a days, the average youth wouldn't know what the somme was. A million souls affected. What a waste.
How long and or when did the battle field get cleaned up, how long did the bodies lay there, how much of a person body got ate by rats, how long did the smell stay
TIP: Go out to the spot where you think those men fell & died. use a metal detector... you find some relics... you proved ur point.
Amazing work to all who made this film so fascinating.
Boys and young men dying for the whims and wishes of old men safely set aside in capitals. Horrifying, sad, and completely inexcusable.
He's not a highly educated man.
"He's a Lancashire man"
"Oh"
That exchange kills me.
And the irony here is that Lancashire women were themselves fantastic lip readers, due to their working as weavers in Lancashire's cotton mills. The noise in a large industrial weaving shed is unbelievably loud. It is so intense that you cannot hear your own voice if you speak, or even if you shout. Hence the weavers (mainly women) became highly proficient at reading lips. I have witnessed two Lancashire women having a long, silent conversation while sitting in two separate stationary buses, several yards apart. One of the women was my mother, who, incidentally, lost two uncles at the Somme, and worked hard to ensure that I became a highly educated Lancashire man.
The loss of so many men in that war had long range consequences even into WW2 and later. Political leaders are short sighted and rarely pay any consequences.
Its Dezember 2022. Just before christmas. Today we heard in the news that the Garbage Dump in a small town called Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine has been retaken by Ukrainian forces. This battle has been going on from August 2022 till today. The Garbage Dump, the petrol station and the village outskirts have changed hands multiple times. For that few hundered meters of land thousands of people have died so far.
I guess its realy true. War never changes.
How she gets what part of the UK the soldiers are from is absolutely baffling?? No wonder the Mi5-Mi6- FBI CIA use her she's on another level...
How about slow the film down to normal speed?
Lip reading would have been easier….🙄
Haig , come on you coward ,get over the top !
Liam Brady in thumbnail
I'm confused as to where those poor men are being hit from? They're running back to the British trench right?
They're running toward the crater which was between the lines. Unfortunately, the Germans had already occupied the newly-formed rim of the crater and were able to open fire on the advancing British troops.
Wouldn't we be seeing some ground getting kicked up around the men from the rifle and machine gun fire?
@@edwardd9702 would we see dirt being kicked up from gun fire? I'd guess "no" since the video resolution is so low compared to what we are used to now. 🤔
We can see the crater explosion because it was ~600 feet high.
When a bullet hits the ground, you don't see it or notice any disturbance unless you're literally right there and staring right at it, and even then you'd be lucky to see a blade of grass move a bit. The bullet itself gets lodged in the dirt, nearly without a trace.
Now, if you try recording that with a hand-crank camera from over 100 years ago, you simply won't be able to see anything like the fine detail you want to see from machine gun fire hitting the men or the ground around them.
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What is the name of the book they were using? Who wrote it? I would like to buy a copy of it to read.
@@cooldudicus7668 The book is titled How I Filmed The War by Geoffrey H. Malins.
Might pretend dead to avoid being killed smart fellows I do the same in that situation ...correct me if I am wrong?
Is this the research for the Peter Jackson film?
No. This was done a number of years previously.
@@crsnmorton many years before? I'm referring to the lip reading portion, not the battlefield location. This BBC release was in 2017 and appears to be the same research shown by Jackson. Jackson's film was co-commissioned by 14-18 NOW and Imperial War Museums in association with the BBC, who approached Jackson in 2015 for the project. I thought I had seen it before.
@@tegunn I stand corrected on the year. I thought the Peter Jackson film was incredible. I hope that enhanced footage is used in other documentaries.
Put the prime minister's of both sides in a sealed room for 5 days with knives........Then after 5 days open the door the one still living can declare himself the winner Millions of lives with be saved..... Trouble being they probably be the best of friends by then
But did they do buggery and things too, then?
How many Germans died as a result of that enormous explosion?
Around 10 Thousand I believe.
8:05 witnessing the death of 6000+ soldiers
"a True Story". very misleading words.
And, all for WHAT!!! Such a waste of great and brave people!