The First World War from Above

[Havrincourt]

Well, looks a good match on a street view compaerison too, well done that man

Thank you

Andy

[keithjk]

I’ve just watched ‘The Noise and the Fury’ (£4.24 from Amazon with commentary in English) and mightily impressed I was too. It was good to see the French slant on the war. And it really got across the anguish and sense of futility that the war instilled in the poilus and the general population. There was a lot of original footage that I have never seen before (and I own upwards of 100 WW1-related videos).

Sure, they skipped from early 1917 to the Armistice rather rapidly, but I think that is fair enough. It’s a period of the war that the French would not want to dwell on, they had fought themselves to a standstill and were totally demoralised. And a few old chestnuts were present, like tin hats in 1914 and 1915 !! (By the way, I wonder who gets the royalties each time Hawthorn Ridge mine is seen exploding ??)

It’s a shame that the BBC, who perfected the art of documentary-making in 1964 with ‘The Great War’, still let the odd below-par programme like ‘The First World War from Above’ slip through the net. It speaks volumes for them that we expect, and normally get, a very high standard.

Keith