My two Great Uncles were at the Somme.  I have the little cards they were allowed to fill out in pencil here at home.  I treasure them dearly.   They both made it home but neither of them married.  Brave men.  ❤

Videos like this are extremely important to understand history! The Somme is one of those places where the landscape looks peaceful until you know what happened underneath it. Every time I film an old British place, I’m reminded how completely ordinary ground can carry unbearable history. Those veterans describing it themselves hits differently.

Their speaking in a lost version of English slang. Their voices are a part of history.

This is the most touching documentary I've ever seen. Those men, I can only hope that I can just stand in there shadows.

This was beautifully done!! Like watching a movie!  I couldn’t stop watching and listening to these brave men. God bless them.😢🙏❤️

Awesome. Chilling, and awesome.

WW1 completely devastated a lot of British families, and before there was any recognition of ptsd, grief counselling etc.
On my dad's side of the family, my own great grandfather saw the battle of the Somme and was injured but luckily survived. No longer fit for active duty he went on to train other soldiers in the use of machine guns.
In other battles of the 1st World War, one great great uncle was killed at the battle of Neuve Chapelle and has no known grave, and his brother another of my great great uncles was injured in one of the many battles, sent home to Britain for treatment, recovered and was then sent back over to France again. This time he was even more seriously injured in battle and taken prisoner by the Germans.  At the end of the war he was repatriated to Great Britain but so great were his injuries he never left hospital and eventually succumbed to his wounds in August 1919.
On my mothers side of the family, my great grandmother lost 3 of her brothers in WW1. And none of them have a known grave.

And this very sadly, was not uncommon.

Thank you, good night!

My GG-grandfather was at Fromelles with the Aussies in July 1916. Designed to take the pressure off the Somme. I have two letters from a nurse at a casualty clearing station. The first says he's alive but has lost his legs. The second says he passed away during the night. Jeez...

My Grandfather was at Fricourt that first day with the The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment)
The Somme taught armies that industrial warfare could not be won by courage and mass infantry attacks alone.

In college I took a course that was specifically all about WW1. And I remember the Somme battle being the most fascinating.
This was at USM around 1998, and the teacher was Gary Sheffield, who was on some “teacher exchange” loan from a university in England. I later saw him on the History Channel a few times, obviously WW1 was his specialty. Great professor, he really made it fascinating.
I’m only about 10 minutes into this documentary, he might be in it. We’ll see.

This is we should learn why war is never good for all sides... Let the leader initiating war fought in the arena for their ambition, and leaves the solder alone

What an amazing documentary, so sad to see how everyone was affected from young soldiers not knowing what they were getting into to the families back home. Such a tragic waste of life, lessons to be learnt today but unfortunately they never will. Too many leaders love war and power too much.

It saddens me that our men sacrificed themselves for what is being done to our country today

Everything they did protected our country and all our futures, true hero's and true patriots. What would these men say if they saw what happening to our country in 2026?

My great grandfather was drafted from here in America he was a member of America first and wanted to stay out of Europes problems . He went and was gassed twice by mustard gas . The second time put him in the hospital far from the trenches. While he was healing he was spared by being assigned to caring for Black Jack Pershing’s horses. Someone knew him and knew he was a natural healer for horses. Mr Pershing’s love for his horses likely the only reason I was ever born.

Would have been good to also have heard from the guy fighting on the other side.

Both my grandparents were in WWI, Opa on the German side, grandpa on the USA side. When they met! It was awesome. They shake hands then hugged. They never talked about their experience to me. So I don't know their history! I lost grandpa when I was 7, Opa when I was 10. I remember them. I miss them

My great, great uncle was killed two days before the push at the Somme, he and two of his Manchester Pals were hit by shells and fatally wounded, they were moved to a hospital but they couldn’t be saved. They are buried in a small graveyard that is nothing like the huge military graveyards that are spread across Northern Europe. It’s tended by the local community and I was lucky enough to visit a few years ago, it’s in A1 condition and a credit to those who still look after it. Always humbling to visit the area and be reminded of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

It is very important to know about history events that change man's kind. History always repeats itself but in different circumstances and with different faces but the mentality is the same unfortunately.