The Great War

This gripping, full length documentary takes full advantage of the unique voice recordings of veterans from the Great War stored in the sound archives of the Imperial War Museum. These recordings provide invaluable firsthand testimonies from British soldiers and airmen who lived through the carnage of the Great War. Combat is vividly described, but so is the everyday life of ordinary men living in the trenches and on the airfields of the Western Front. Their extraordinary firsthand accounts of the Great War are illustrated by the pick of footage and stills from the Imperial War Museum film and picture archives, one of the world's greatest repositories of such material.

This rarely-seen American War Department 35mm silent film shot during the latter half of the Great War shows battle-hardened British 'Tommies' sharing their combat experience with the unbloodied American soldiers of the 83rd Division. In particular they stress the effective and deadly use of the bayonet and other hand-to-hand combat techniques - preparing the Americans for the grim reality of trench warfare on the Western Front. A French officer then instructs them on the use of the Chauchat machine gun. The 83rd are also seen drilling and practicing with rifles, field artillery, trench mortars and gas attack survival techniques. They are reviewed by Major General E.F. Glenn, Inspector General Chamberlaine and Assistant Secretary of War Benjamin Crowell.