Great War Horses, BBC4

[Steven Broomfield]

Saw THIS forthcoming event advertised in the Radio Times. No idea whether it will be any good, but might be worth a watch.

[seaJane]

Thanks Steven, I'll try and remember to watch it.

 

 

 

 

Edited 1 September , 2017 by seaJane

[Steven Broomfield]

I'm away on Tuesday night (Regimental Association get-together), so I have asked my little woman to record it.

[Steven Broomfield]

Just bumping this up, although I fear Lisa Riley's Baggy Body Club on ITV may provide too much of a counter-attraction for some.

[TGM]

Thank you, General.

 

RT Description

Also repeated in the early hours of the morning!

Edited 5 September , 2017 by TGM

[Steven Broomfield]

Thanks for that.

 

Jolly good of them to have a picture of a horse, just in case we weren't sure.

[TGM]

[mbriscoe]

Quote

DOCUMENTARY: Great War Horses
On: BBC 4 (Freeview)    
Date: Tuesday 5th September 2017 (starting in 4 hours and 37 minutes)
Time: 21:00 to 22:00 (1 hour long)

A powerful, moving account of the men and horses of the Australian Light Horse and the pivotal role they played in World War I at the Battle of Romani, the celebrated Light Horse charge at the Battle of Beersheba and the capture of Damascus in 1918. The horses that provided the backbone of the Australian Light Horse regiments in World War I were popularly known as Walers. Bred for Australia's tough Outback conditions, Walers were well-equipped for the harsh climate and terrain of the Middle East, where the ANZAC forces faced the armies of the Ottoman Empire.
(New, Stereo, Widescreen, Subtitles, Audio Described)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt taken from DigiGuide - the world's best TV guide available from http://www.getdigiguide.tv/?p=1&r=7346

Copyright (c) GipsyMedia Limited.

 

[Black Maria]

I thought it was good and although I am a 'Westerner' it made a change to see a documentary about a different theatre of war and ' new'

film footage instead of the same clips that are always shown of the Western Front '.

 

[Gareth Davies]

That's an hour of my life I won't get back.  But credit where credit is due; well done the Australians for winning the war single handed.  And:

 

- Beersheba brought about Balfour: you learn something new every day.

 

- Film of Mk V tanks in Palestine: another revelation.

 

Shoot me.

 

 

Edited 6 September , 2017 by Gareth Davies

[Steven Broomfield]

Oh dear: should I have asked Mrs Broomfield to stick with Lisa Riley?

[seaJane]

Until we get a programme about "How everyone won the war" each individual group is going to 'big up' their own achievement

 

I thought it was okay.

[Black Maria]

I suppose at least the Australians are proud of their army's achievements in the war, unlike the British who seem to always want to concentrate

on their failures. I enjoyed watching it because of the personal stories and original film , nearly all of which I have never seen before .

 

[Ron Clifton]

1 hour ago, Steven Broomfield said:

Oh dear: should I have asked Mrs Broomfield to stick with Lisa Riley?

No, I think you will enjoy it. Apart from the absence of references to anything not Australian (but it was about the Australian Light Horse, after all) I found it an interesting and informative programme. One point which it brought out strongly was the close bond between a man and his horse, although I was not entirely convinced by the statement at the end, regarding the horses, that "none came back."

 

Ron

[Stoppage Drill]

I enjoyed it.

It was an Australian programme about Australia, Australian soldiers and Australian horses.

Shouldn't be too much surprise on where the emphasis lay. There wasn't any Mel Fibson-style Pommy bashing.

 

Better than much of the current WW1 related output.

 

Recommended.

[mbriscoe]

Perhaps they should have introduced it as an Australian production but, as above, it was about an Australian unit so I could not see anything wrong with it being about Australians.

 

It was obvious that it was not going to end well for the horses.

 

 

 

 

[Steven Broomfield]

I'm quite looking forward to it. I can catch Lisa Riley on iPlayer (or whatever the ITV version is)

[stiletto_33853]

I enjoyed it and as SD stated it was better than much of the current WW1 output, particularly from the BBC.

 

Andy

[charlesmessenger]

In spite of some inaccuracies, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The bonds developed between man and horse were brought out most movingly.

 

Charles M

[John_Hartley]

I think I understand that there are cavalry units and there are mounted infantry units. Assuming I'm right, which is the Light Horse, please?

 

And what's the difference between the two (assuming there is a difference)?

[paulgranger]

Cavalry primarily fights from the saddle with sword or lance, though is trained to fight dismounted. Mounted infantry uses horses as transport, and fights as infantry when it goes into action. The Light Horse was essentially MI, though the charge at Beersheba was a cavalry-style action.

[mbriscoe]

5 minutes ago, paulgranger said:

Cavalry primarily fights from the saddle with sword or lance, though is trained to fight dismounted. Mounted infantry uses horses as transport, and fights as infantry when it goes into action. The Light Horse was essentially MI, though the charge at Beersheba was a cavalry-style action.

 

This programme last week had some explanation of cavalry etc. in WWI

 

Quote

HISTORY DOCUMENTARY: World War I at Home
On: BBC 4 (Freeview)    
Date: Tuesday 29th August 2017 (Already shown)
Time: 19:30 to 20:00 (30 minutes long)

The Equine Army.
Saul David follows the story of hundreds of thousands of animals prepared in the West Country for the front line. From cavalry horses to mules, he rediscovers the lost camps set up to train the animals, what life in them was like and the changes they made to society as a whole.
(Stereo, Repeat, Widescreen, Subtitles)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt taken from DigiGuide - the world's best TV guide available from http://www.getdigiguide.tv/?p=1&r=7346

Copyright (c) GipsyMedia Limited.

 

Might be still on iPlayer

 

[squirrel]

Enjoyed the programme and there was even a brief mention of the British infantry playing a major part in the capture of Beersheba and a passing reference to the British and Indian cavalry in the operations in the Jordan valley. Must have missed the reference to the "few Jocks" that helped the Australians win the war.

[John_Hartley]

13 hours ago, paulgranger said:

Cavalry primarily fights from the saddle with sword or lance, though is trained to fight dismounted. Mounted infantry uses horses as transport, and fights as infantry when it goes into action. The Light Horse was essentially MI, though the charge at Beersheba was a cavalry-style action.

Succinct and helpful. Thanks.

[Liz in Eastbourne]

On 9/6/2017 at 10:41, Ron Clifton said:

No, I think you will enjoy it. Apart from the absence of references to anything not Australian (but it was about the Australian Light Horse, after all) I found it an interesting and informative programme. One point which it brought out strongly was the close bond between a man and his horse, although I was not entirely convinced by the statement at the end, regarding the horses, that "none came back."

 

Ron

 

Agreed, Ron - but why weren't you convinced by the statement 'None came back'?  I thought, given the distance to Australia, it would be surprising if they had been willing to go to the expense of shipping horses back.

 

Liz