Our World War. The First Day. Season 1, Episode 1
Description
August 1914, two weeks after the First World War was declared. 80,000 British troops have arrived in southern Belgium, but they have yet to engage the enemy. Among these professional soldiers are the 4th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, some of the best-trained gunners in the British Army. Lieutenant Maurice Dease and his friend, Australian Lieutenant Fred Steele, command two companies of riflemen and machine gunners who find themselves camping overnight at Nimy Bridge, the northernmost point of the Mons-Conde Canal. The canal, surrounding the town of Mons, supports 18 bridges stretched along 20 miles of water - but everyone, including Private Sid Godley and his mate Private William Holbrook, expects to be crossing those bridges in the morning. Overnight, however, intelligence reports the Germans may be closer than the British think, and the Royal Engineers, including Lance Corporal Charles Jarvis and his sapper, Private Neary, are ordered to start preparing the bridges for demolition. What happens next, on Sunday 23 August, tests the soldiers' skill, courage and ingenuity to the absolute limit, leading to the first Victoria Crosses of the First World War. Not everyone will make it through the First Day.
Runtime
59 minutes
Series
Subjects
Contributor
Geography
Genre
Database
Alexander Street
Direct Link
Similar Films
A Stacked Deck
The Last Day of World War I
World War One at sea. The dreadnoughts of Scapa Flow. Episode 1
Stories of courage. The life of a pilot trainee
The treaties of Versailles
The world wars. Trial by fire. Episode 1
The Longest Struggle
The World Wars. A rising threat
Gallipoli. When Murdoch went to war
A great big story. The original code talkers
From The Library of Black History. Black Hollywood
Stars on Hollywood
Churchill's first world war
The Great War - Part 2
42nd Rainbow Division