we’re here because we’re here (Manchester)
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- ‘we’re here because we’re here’ was a modern memorial to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, in which around 1500 voluntary participants dressed in First World War uniform appeared unexpectedly in locations across the UK.
Commissioned by 14-18 NOW (the UK’s arts programme for the First World War centenary) and created by Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller in collaboration with Rufus Norris (Director of the National Theatre), each participant represented an individual soldier who was killed on 1 July 1916. The work was partly inspired by tales of sightings during and after the First World War by people who believed they had seen a dead loved one.
Covering the width and breadth of the UK, from Shetland to Penzance, participants took to the streets from 7am-7pm, visiting shopping centres, train stations, beaches, car parks and high streets to serve as a reminder to all they encountered of the 19,240 men who were killed 100 years ago the same day; the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
The event stopped commuters in their tracks, with many moved to tears, and images flooded social media alongside passionate responses to the sightings of soldiers in over 900 public places across the UK. A YouGov poll indicated that 63% of the population were aware of the soldiers, including over 2 million people who saw the soldiers on the streets. The event trended on Twitter for over 14 hours and achieved exceptional media coverage, uniting all mainstream media from the Daily Telegraph to the Daily Mirror in positive coverage. There were 190 million impressions on social media, over 94,000 posts mentioning ‘we are here’ were created and TV and press coverage of the project reached an estimated 31 million people.
we’re here because we’re here in the North West was led by the Royal Exchange Theatre (Manchester) in partnership with Bolton Octagon, LeftCoast (Blackpool), Oldham Coliseum and Storyhouse (Chester).
"he says he's dead." something about the way she said that, and the mens' sombre silence....this is a true work of art
I write this with tears. I am very touched watching this. Flesh and bones, souls, sons, humans with names, personalities, with their whole young lives ahead of them. I complain because I am getting older, something they did not get the privilege to do. I will stop complaining right this minute. We won't forget you.
I was fortunate enough to visit the Somme some years back and I have never been the same since.
There's a lump in my throat watching this.
Well said
I think I love you lady.
What a brilliant, moving idea to commemorate the war dead . Watching it, I felt as though those soldiers brought 1916 back to the streets of Manchester 2016. The underlying tragedy once again resurfaced.
I wish they did this every year.
The next one will be in 3016 if they still remember
And if ur lucky one in 2040's for ww2 and ww2 soldiers
@@Hounkey 2039
@@Hounkey Why wouldn't it be in 2116 for the 200 year anniversary? Or can you not do math?
@@SStupendous I can see he where comes and I realised I did the same mistake too....Eventually I did think again.
I’m from the States and this just ran across this researching some stuff on the Somme. As a veteran, this touched my soul..
I’m also from the states
But I found this because of a world war 1 song
Called
“We’re here because we’re here”
Basically that’s the entire lyric
There ain’t no point in this war
But we’re here because uh well we’re here
@@JavaScrapperthat’s sadly pretty much all war. Zero point, poor men fighting for rich men.
@@JavaScrapperLike so many wars, to include Iraq and Afghanistan. Our politicians, whose kids never pay the price, are cheerkeaders of deat. Like that stupid US Senator Graham.
@@JavaScrapperThe song is just meant to be a trench version of Auld Lang Syne. It wasn't about attacking the war
@addicted2tone349 That might be the American perspective. For us in Britain it is and was about far more then fighting for richmen...
I'm here today because a 17 year old boy who was seriously wounded and lost a leg below the knee survived the Somme . He came home got married and had two sons and two daughters one of whom was my late Mother . Cannot really appreciate what that wars casualty list was like but lack of men in towns and villages throughout the UK was highlighted in subsequent censuses . This Art Project was very poignant .
Absolutely amazing.Everyone of them was my great cousin Harry.Killed Hill 60 14/2/1916.God bless
Wait thats illegal how is ur cousin in 1916 like say im 10 my cousins will be 12 or 8 it has to be your grandad
@@Hounkey They said great cousin which is your parents cousin
@@orbitalpenguin170 SO YOUR TELLING ME HIS PARENTS ARE BORN IN 1840
@@orbitalpenguin170 IF HIS GREAT COUSIN IS KILLED IN 1916 HIS PARENTS HAVE TO BE BORN AROUND THE SAME TIME HIS GRANDADS COUSIN WILL BE MORE ACCURATE
@@Hounkey not really my youngest great cousin is 22 and my oldest great cousin is 38 and I'm 18. So there parents may of been born in the war or after then they was born in the 40s or 50s. It depends really on there parents siblings ages.
The most moving, honest and direct memorial ever.
We're here because they were there. God bless their souls x 😔🇬🇧
The people never forget , it's the politicians that have the memory problems .
This needs to be an annual event.
Yes, for WWI and II
My great uncle fell at Vimy Ridge, 9 April 1917. Edward Maunsell, 26 years old.
Here in Manchester, New Hampshire USA - we lost beautiful young men here to the war and will always remember them. Thank you for this beautiful expression of compassion.
Wrong Manchester mate
@@Stairetoc Both Manchester's did lose a lot of men as a result of the war.
@@Stairetoc
But still lost sons.
@@Stairetocpretty sure that's why he put "new Hampshire usa"
This is the most moving videao i've seen on RUclips.
We will remember them.
Wow very powerful. So proud of our service men and woman past and present. 🇬🇧 Lest We Forget🙏🇬🇧
"It's the same, old theme, since 1916, in your streets, in your streets, they're still marching" R.I.P Dolores 'O Riordan and young lives tore away in the battle of the Somme
I mean the song was more based on the sectarian/nationalistic violence between Irish Catholic nationalists and Protestant unionists in Northern Ireland. 1916 was also the year of the Easter Rising in Dublin, hence it's reference in the song. But music is open to interpretation and a lot of the themes they put into the song carry across conflicts. Lest we forget
Dolores was criticising the IRA. Damning them, rather.
Since history is one of my primary interests I have been exposed to many awful things involved in wars via photo and video, and from listening and reading, especially the brutal Soviet-German battles and the Mongol conquests; it is rare for me to respond emotionally to historical events because I have more-or-less desensitized myself by overexposing myself to carnage. But 3 things I encountered related to WWI in the West brought tears to my eyes: the first was a shot in a video of memorials in France of a military academy showing losses suffered by the graduating classes of officers from 14 to 18 - for the year 1914 there was no long list of names of those who were killed, it just said 'the class of 1914' because they ALL died by the armistice. The second was a video showing memorials near the Somme where one was dedicated to the "missing" - the number listed was over 70,000. The third was a lecture about the Somme where the British historian mentions the soldiers' disillusionment as a result of the battle, and he actually sang "We're here because we're here, because we're here...." and that sort of hit me in the way this video did.
Inspiring. As ex-Forces, I found that very moving . . .
A great show of respect to remember those who gave their lives must not be forgotten .
Yes they should do this more often.
Thank you for all who took part.
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
I love this, my Grandad flew with the RNAS aged 18, bombing the uboat pens at Ostend he was invalided out nearly losing his legs having been shot down in 1918, but still joined up in 1939. I think this sums him up.
Still teary eyed watching these lads , I’m very glad to see the people of my home city giving them a respectful reception especially the older gentleman standing with them in a dignified show of solidarity.
The silence.. So heartbreaking.
I sometimes wish they would do this every year.It brings it all to life.
So moving. It upsets me every time I watch it.... But we will remember them x
This is such an incredibly moving tribute to an entire generation - an impeccably designed, massive, and moving (literally and figuratively) work of art! Bravo to these gentlemen - lovely work by the young men volunteering to portray the soldiers (they all represent actual young men and had bio information cards about their solider), and (chef’s kiss to borrow historical clothing queen Bernadette Banner’s exclamation!) beautifully done uniforms!
It’s so eerie and SO WELL DONE how each young man looks like a ghost caught in time and silently drifting in the wake of the mad modern world - the whole effect is magical, like a photograph taken by a time machine. Such a beautiful tribute to the once very alive and vibrant and hopeful young men (I’m thinking now of the letters I’ve read written by the Great War’s soldiers and the real experiences of men like Tolkien and C. S. Lewis and Wilfred Owen) just at the start of their lives in trades or at university, many in love with their sweethearts in that overwhelming blush of first love, some newly married and hoping for a life filled with a happy family “after the war” - which for so many never ended even if they survived. These young men were holding to the most precious things in life - their families back home and their best mates. Some were brand new young fathers with growing babies back home, some the only sons/brothers of their families and cherished members of small communities, some who spoke Welsh or Gaelic at home yet English in the field - all lost in Western France, among the poppies.
As a Yank I’d love to see this in the US for our Vietnam vets or our Civil War vets or all of our wars - we should never, ever forget the daily cost of the lives of these young men swept out of their homes and communities into a monstrous machine that churned out only their memories, a machine that turned these boys into lists of names, the lost, on the pages of newspapers.
Have to say, impressed. The Poms do this very well & full marks to the person behind it.
Fantastic live installation! What a great taste and accuracy!
Greetings from Russian reenactment community!
Those cards were a stroke of genius.they read the cards looked at the young man who gave them and made the connection. Flesh and blood not just numbers.well done all concerned.
May the Prince of Peace return soon, and all the wars cease. Amen.
I saw this as ghosts of the past still wondering the streets
I saw this in home town of Plymouth to me they represented ghosts of the dead of the battle of the Somme walking in plain sight of the living each one of these men carried a card with a name of one soldier killed in that opening day of the battle .60,000 men on the first day 20,000 dead 40,0000 missing and wounded. It was very moving.
Still so proud to see these guys God Bless every last one!
Beautiful.
i can say with pride both my grandfathers where in the Manchester regiment
A stark reminder! we will remember them!
This is an amazing story. Kudos to the people who came up with this. The lads would be proud.
Something about the silence feels so unsettling yet so real at the same time. This feels as how returning soldiers came back from WW1 felt returning to their home country, changed men.
I have nearly 10 relatives among the battalion of the dead frea the 2 World Wars mixed between 2 regiments, Royal Inniskillen Fusiliers and the Royal Inniskillen Dragoon’s. My generation (millennials) needs till wise up and start appreciating our troops and the sacrifice they make. Lest We Forget
what a fantastic idea it worked the uk do some things really well and this was one of them
Amazing! We will remember them.
Great idea and done very well. The men they commemorate gave so much and yet most of them didn't even have suffrage.
Every soldier was well mannered props to this memorial
So hauntingly evoking of so many emotions. Pride, sadness, grief.. I know im not alone in saying 'We Will Remember Them' 🤍
So so touching but a beautiful way to remembering all our heroes
Very moving. The scars are still too fresh.
That was moving !!! WELL DONE (from a Greek mate).At least the British Empire was an empire of ''light''.
The lady who said sorry.....hahahahahahaahahah !!!!
This is absolutely amazing!! I love history, especially living history
As someone who had an uncle on my moms side who was a us army field cook during the first world war this is a great way to to remember this generation of young men
A memorial with deeds. It's very moving. All those footsteps in all those places that have fallen silent. I wonder if 100 years from now ... 🤔
Very moving to watch this. We should never forget those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
The thing that gets me is how the tone of the bystanders shifts. They come in bemused and lighthearted, smiling. Then they are handed the card, and they connect the dots.
This isn't a prank, there isn't some movie or show being filmed.
These were someones Father, Son, Uncle, Nephew, Cousin.
And this was just a small fraction of who was killed at the Somme... On the FIRST DAY.
What a wonderful theatrical piece. I think the actors could have interacted with the public a little more, but then I get the point they were trying to make.
It’s about time modern day people see what it is ! Lads from everywhere so young and Dads , lost for us ! 🇬🇧
For my family member: Lt. Frank Timothy Quinlan, 5th Canadian Railway Troops, Killed in Action, Sept 9th 1917 at Ypres, Belgium Age 27
God Bless His soul ❤ may we never forget the lives lost
Just great, moving and impressing!
the best generation of fighting men ever.
It's sad to see that today's generation is forgetting about the sacrifices that the men made during WW1 and WW2.
I haven't forgotten. I won't let it be forgotten!
Not really. I'd say gen Z will be the ones to forget though.
Amazing, Well done and Thank you very much for representing those who were here!!!!
Very touching.
Incredible
Ironic, they can't wear the bayonet and scabbard (not even a fake one) on their belt due to strict UK knife laws. But carry the entrenching tool, sometime in their hands as they wander around the town. The entrenching tool was of course a better hand to hand weapon for up close killing.
I cannot even fathom what the boys who fought at the Battle of the Somme went through and I think it's very important to understand what type of gear they Wear and everything else the honor and privilege to wearing those uniforms and the sounds of those boots on the bricks making that famous sound from the USA to the UK may the brave men who have fought and died during the Battle of the Somme rest in peace you are gone but never forget I'm also curious about the ranks during world war one of y'all have the answers please let me know sending love and respect to the people of UK
Wow, this is so moving.
Just brilliant!
Excellent ❤❤
Chilling and brilliant. England, and, indeed the world must never forget what the young men gave up in The Great War. The world would have been torn apart without them.
To see them as if they just rose from the dead as alive as you or me. Look up once more and swear you'll never forget their SACIRIFICE. They loved and were loved and now they lie in ETERNAL PEACE. GOD REST THEIR SOULS.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: / Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn
Some volunteered in the thoughts that the war will last only a year…it end up lasting four with thousands not returning home
6:14
Respect
Men proper men
even now its shameful how people ignore and dont get it.
Love tho know where they got the uniforms. They look authentic,but of course, anything that old would've faded or fallen apart decades ago.
Oh my fucking god this is amazing
Jeremy Deller is a genius.
lest we forget.
I wish they also do the Christmas Truce.
Being a ww2 reenactor, this was the coolest thing I have ever seen.
I think you've missed the whole point.
This to commerate the battle of the Somme a battle which cost the lives of 20,000 dead and another 40,000 missing and wounded in a single day .A battle which was supposed to break the german lines after a 7 day around the clock Artillery bombardment .In fact the german defences were literally left intact. On 1st of July 1916 07:30 around 20 divisions went over the top .As they crossed no man's land the Germans opened up almost at point blank range with rifle and machine gun fire.Within minutes the battlefields were strewn with the dead. It was one of the biggest defeats of the British Army in its history.
@@chrisholland7367 I think you need reading comprehension.
@@JMark-zk5pj Is that so .Maybe you ought to study history.
@@chrisholland7367 Go somewhere else, you run your mouth over your strange preconceptions. Nothing else better to do?
@@JMark-zk5pj social media if I have an opinion I'll share it .If don't like don't read it. Simple.
You obviously know bugger all about ww1 I'll take a guess your an American let's face your country didn't turn up until it was almost over and the U.S.was late for the last event (ww2)
Like I said do your homework fool .
Great!❤
See now I love this message and the history mixed with it is beautiful I wish people understood just how costly the First World War was if it didn’t happen the number of people in this world would almost be multiplied by a estimated 25-30% total world population due to if all the men woman and children who died grew up full lived full lives had kids and all that
the rarest video ever when a british army travelling to the future
War is hell. I must admit I shed a tear. What a most excellent way to remember those who gave all for freedom. Thanks Brits for all you have done and are doing for Ukraine. Slava Ukraine
Das ist ergreifend. So gedenken Menschen an Ihre Soldaten . Wir Deutsche dürfen da ja nicht
Your soldiers were just kids caught on the wrong side of history. May they rest in peace.
They are remembered here. Brave Germans that kept the Iron Curtain from becoming the Iron Tomb.
Wow it's weird how the good guys always seem to win
@@harpo345 what a lovely thing to say. your words with their kindness move me almost as strongly as this video does.
“The British Army, Cowards” James C Richards Last Words before blowing his pipes and leading men into battle before getting shot by a sniper
What?
Too profound for words .
I wonder if this will be re done for 2017
chris rowe They'd probably be arrested under the guise of hate speech
No they said it was a one off because it was such an undertaking.
@Brian Holtzman no
that end tho :D
This how us reenactors ban together to teach history. Im a new reenactor for 4th battalion royal fusiliers
putting this in black and white would be so strange. all the ww1 soldiers in a 2016 (ish) period
Came here from a meme video about guns. I return touched
No one:
That guy who forgot the lyrics to auld lang syne: 8:47
Where is the music ?
The music was too short
Nvm
Ghosts. We should remember them
👍🍺
1:33 IS THAT AN ASSAULT-SPADE!?!
I just realized, a little over a decade ago, we lost our last lifeline to the First World War. Its veterans have all passed on.
Never forget their sacrifices.
as a scotsman,their kilts are far too low
Pathetic comment
Are they doing this in Germany too?
Never heard about that, also I am pretty sure they won't. People would mistake the Uniform of the Imperial German Army with the Uniform of the Wehrmacht and call them Nazis.
@@Teufer2 Bloody shame it's true, they're erasing their own history
@@Teufer2 It’s sad, but true. Too many people today are ignorant of history and replace fact with fiction. If they did something like this for the Imperial German Army, there’d be too much backlash and hate that continuing the event would become pointless.
Well done lads, you can sleep now...
what was on the pieces of paper?
Phyllida Hickish The name of the soldier they were representing and where they were killed.
Very poignant. Lest We Forget.