Jonathan Saunders Posted 5 November , 2008 Share Posted 5 November , 2008 That's a rather sweeping statement. What's the evidence for it? Regards Anthony Well by all accounts Snow wasnt physically fit. I dont think Stuart Wortley was either. Stopford certainly wasnt. Arundel Martyn I believe was another. It would be interesting to look at Generals that were commanding Home Establishments in, say 1916, and how many had previously commanded in a War Theatre but had returned to home service due to health reasons. In fairness, this was not limited to Generals but there were also numerous officers in the Service Battalions who had rejoined their regiment from retirement and at circa 50 years of age, who quite understandably, struggled on active service, and were replaced asap. It was not meant as a criticism. Regards, Jonathan S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Haslock Posted 5 November , 2008 Share Posted 5 November , 2008 Quote "Towards the end of the A E Nugent programme a newspaper account was seen which asserted that Serjeant Nugent enlisted two days after the war began. Earlier in the programme the narrator said that he was fighting in his first major battle two weeks and four days after war was declared. So, that's two weeks and two days of training. I had always thought that training lasted much longer. Grateful for guidance on this one." Recalled Reservist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Saunders Posted 5 November , 2008 Share Posted 5 November , 2008 In approximate terms I think a peace-time battalion had a strength of about 650 in July 1914. For war service in August 1914 battalions crossed to France over 1000 strong - their numbers being made up with Reservists and Special Resrvists as Jon says. Regards, Jonathan S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 5 November , 2008 Share Posted 5 November , 2008 I had always thought that training lasted much longer. It did. I spotted the inconsistency as well - presume it was an error. Must have been either a regular or recalled reservist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agh57 Posted 5 November , 2008 Share Posted 5 November , 2008 I've found the whole thing pretty enjoyable. Anything that arouses the interest of the general public in the Great War can only be a good thing as far as I'm concerned. I say this just an observation, but forums can sometimes give the impression of a certain amount of eliteism, which is not always a good thing in encouraging new members. I don't think this is necessarily the reality in the GWF, given the friendly and helpful responses I have had to my random postings to date. However, we all have various levels of knowledge on the subject and the acquisition of this knowledge has to start somewhere. If I don't like something I don't watch it. I don't sit there listing every fault I can find with it and then post it on the internet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph Posted 5 November , 2008 Share Posted 5 November , 2008 First class program, just watching tonights episode and expect it to be as good as the rest. Regards Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishmen1916 Posted 5 November , 2008 Share Posted 5 November , 2008 First class program, just watching tonights episode and expect it to be as good as the rest. Regards Charles Not on here till 11.25, cant wait. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebie9173 Posted 5 November , 2008 Share Posted 5 November , 2008 NA advisor to Kate Silverton. "Just type his name in here". Oh, and straight to his full service record! The banging sound you are hearing is my head against the desk.... Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agh57 Posted 5 November , 2008 Share Posted 5 November , 2008 NA advisor to Kate Silverton. "Just type his name in here". Oh, and straight to his full service record! The banging sound you are hearing is my head against the desk.... Steve. Admittedly that does suggest a bit of prior research may have been done prior to the selection of the celebrities, unless Newsreaders have access to a different, more complete version of "Ancestry" than the rest of us! I think the Producers of Who Do You Think You Are have admitted that celebrities are researched before they are "approached" to ensure their story is sufficiently interesting. That said it doesn't really detract from the overall impression the programme is trying to achieve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebie9173 Posted 5 November , 2008 Share Posted 5 November , 2008 Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the programme, but I wonder how many people will turn up to the NA and discover that it isn't just "press this button". By all means give them a set of records saying this is what is available, but don't make it look like it is always that easy. I just wonder how many "false starts" the researchers had with certain celebrities, basically saying "Oops, Hermann got the service records we needed, so we wont bother with that one..." At least with these programmes, they are telling astory, and not really saying this is what research can be done, but I just found myself shouting at the screen on that scene. Steve. P.S. Or I might just be hacked off that the Ancestry MIC records seem to have been cemented into a deep hole so no-one can ever get at them again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph Posted 5 November , 2008 Share Posted 5 November , 2008 Was as good as the rest Peter, local intrest for you. Steve, it would be a short program if he was discharged with Syphilis after a couple of months, and a lot was. Regards Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desmond7 Posted 5 November , 2008 Share Posted 5 November , 2008 Kate Silverton can press my buttons anyime. If we're talking getting the WW1 message across... I can guarantee you that some punter will say to me in the next few days ..'did ye see yer man Holmes on the war thing the other night...' Count that as a success. Good, if inevitably flawed series. In fact, I give it a VG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebie9173 Posted 5 November , 2008 Share Posted 5 November , 2008 The planning meeting that said "I know, let's put Kate through a WW1 "assault course" in WW1 Service Dress" was definitely a Friday-afternooner.... And it was also interesting to see them feature a man who died of wounds 37 years after the event. We've all probably seen a few of those (often without even realising that the man later died of those same wounds). Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIFFO Posted 5 November , 2008 Share Posted 5 November , 2008 I've found the whole thing pretty enjoyable. Anything that arouses the interest of the general public in the Great War can only be a good thing as far as I'm concerned. I say this just an observation, but forums can sometimes give the impression of a certain amount of eliteism, which is not always a good thing in encouraging new members. I don't think this is necessarily the reality in the GWF, given the friendly and helpful responses I have had to my random postings to date. However, we all have various levels of knowledge on the subject and the acquisition of this knowledge has to start somewhere. If I don't like something I don't watch it. I don't sit there listing every fault I can find with it and then post it on the internet! Im with you 100%,its infotainment,if it encourages joe public to take more notice wheres the harm,what I find hard to swallow?,when you wear your poppy the leaf should point to eleven to be reminded one of the armistice WHAT ,who gives a monkeys,you wear your poppy to show support of our troops,not as a prop that tv bods seem to HAVE to do. biff poppy with pride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate Wills Posted 6 November , 2008 Share Posted 6 November , 2008 For the record, when I met Dan Snow he was nothing but polite- however he called me "Dude", I have an aversion to being called this- it made me prickle at the time, it makes me laugh now. Arm It didn't make me laugh when when you recounted it at the time Andy. As I recall, you and the two Snows were gathered onto a platform at a high-profile event, and as you were settling yourselves in for the presentation, Snow junior told you "I'm going to give you a hard time, dude!" Bit short on social graces methinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate Wills Posted 6 November , 2008 Share Posted 6 November , 2008 Can anyone expalin why Kate Silverton (or the producer) kept her great-grandfather's unit a secret from the viewing public? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhifle Posted 6 November , 2008 Share Posted 6 November , 2008 Can anyone expalin why Kate Silverton (or the producer) kept her great-grandfather's unit a secret from the viewing public? I think they mentioned the Rifle Brigade just once at the end. Regards Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief_Chum Posted 6 November , 2008 Share Posted 6 November , 2008 I've still not seen the last two programmes but we provided the uniform for Kate which, when we sent it, had a Rifle Brigade cap badge, which belonged to an old veteran friend of mine, and a full set of black buttons as (from memory) her g-grandfather served with 9/RB. As for the modern assault course, let's just say we did tell them... ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stiletto_33853 Posted 6 November , 2008 Share Posted 6 November , 2008 Can anyone expalin why Kate Silverton (or the producer) kept her great-grandfather's unit a secret from the viewing public? 9th Rifle Brigade Kate, little disappointed with this considering the material I had sent concerning the unit during his period with the battalion, although with the rebuilding of the battalion after 25/9/15 meant a little time of inaction whilst rebuilding. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandect Posted 6 November , 2008 Share Posted 6 November , 2008 Does it really matter the that people appearing in these programmes are "celebrities"? I believe that even if they have achieved some success in one field that when it comes to their families' WW1 involvement they are probably in the same position as most ordinary folk. It doesn't matter to me at all because in general I have no idea who they are! I've seen Mathew Kelly act in a couple of TV dramas recently and Rolf Harris was a performer much liked by my mother about 40 years ago - no idea about the rest!! I assume that someone in the Beeb has decided that they have stories that will add to the theme of remembrance and make interesting television. I also assume that there will be "experts" on hand to keep things on track at least as far as the average, probably uninformed, viewer is concerned. Dog Fox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 6 November , 2008 Share Posted 6 November , 2008 Yes, I am disappointed that the 9th RB information was denied us as it was my Great Uncle's battalion. Kate was right to feel proud of her relative given his age and the large family he left behind - although I suppose he might have continued to be paid by his employer and also picked up the Army allowance for his family. Anyway, he was a real patriot. I found this perhaps low-key programme very moving because it highlighted those with lives wrecked by the Great War - 40 years of suffering waiting for that 1917 wound to kill you. Very sobering. Being one of the "Glorious Dead" was maybe the better option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dycer Posted 6 November , 2008 Share Posted 6 November , 2008 Dog Fox(David), You echo my thoughts concerning the Celebs and wonder if our view of them is clouding our judgement? Whilst I remain critical of the Snow/Cassidy episode(education/lack of),I found in the last two episodes the personal characters of the Celebs shown through(Kelly-emotion,Tuffers-humour,Holmes-roots,Silverton-interpretation). I agree the Forum "anorak" attitude will cloud many to the content of the Programmes and I still stick to my original comment saying any actual WW1 Film footage should be shown in the correct timeline. I do not think the first Programme is a fair reflection and should be binned but the last two Programmes seem an honest attempt by the BBC to comply with its Charter. I will watch the last Programme with renewed interest. George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armourersergeant Posted 6 November , 2008 Share Posted 6 November , 2008 It didn't make me laugh when when you recounted it at the time Andy. As I recall, you and the two Snows were gathered onto a platform at a high-profile event, and as you were settling yourselves in for the presentation, Snow junior told you "I'm going to give you a hard time, dude!" Bit short on social graces methinks. I think the sentence went more like "I'm going to grill you dude" (not delivered in a menacing way but jokingly, challenging) As it happened he had no time to do that. He did ask a few questions but the programme was very much driven by the 'chat show host' who steered the fifteen minutes. He was the one who edited my ability to respond as we went. I ended up giving a poor show of Snow, that was not Dan or Peter's fault but his. Every time I wanted to elaborate he cut me to another question " so did he do well on the Somme?" "no not really, you see what happened was ..." "ok so then did he stay out in France long?" "well in 1917 he went home from..." "ok thanks very much" That sort of thing! Regards Arm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJanman Posted 6 November , 2008 Share Posted 6 November , 2008 I like the way the programme appears to be dipping into lots of different aspects of the war. From Generals to grave exhumation, the home front, the air force, one man who went over and became involved in heavy fighting, another in the same position but probably didn't fire a shot. Older men joining, the conditions they lived in and the fact that not all men died from enemy action, the medical profession/services struggling with symptoms they had never seen before, training and the after effects of war, etc. etc. All the families stories have been different. It highlights that it was not all just about going over the top. The programme may not be factually correct in some areas but I think it does enough to make people wonder what their relatives might have done in the war and maybe start looking into it. I'm enjoying the programme. Barbara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pighills Posted 6 November , 2008 Share Posted 6 November , 2008 CHANGE OF DAY AND TIME!! Don't forget everyone - the final episode is shown on Tuesday 11th November from 9 pm - 10 pm (features Rolf Harris and Kirsty Wark). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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