Railways of the Western Front

[healdav]

Some may be interested in seeing my beautiful face again in another documentary about the railways in the Great War.

Others may not be so enamoured, but you can't have everything in this life.

 

Railways of the Western front is due for transmission next week

Date:         Monday 25^th November 2019

Channel:    Five (UK only)

Time:        2100

The rest of the series is scheduled to follow from Monday 2^nd December for the next 4 Mondays as below.   All episodes will air at 2100

2^nd December             Hungary and Romania – The Last Train to Transylvania

9^th December              Turkey – The Eastern Express

16^th December            Ireland – Crossing the Emerald Isle

23^rd December            Kenya – The Lunatic Express

Thank you for all your help with this series.  Please feel free to pass this email on and spread the word.

 

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[GWF1967]

On 18/11/2019 at 17:05, healdav said:

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Railways of the Western front is due for transmission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many thanks, I watched and enjoyed the programme; not my first choice of presenter. 

[healdav]

8 hours ago, GWF1967 said:

Many thanks, I watched and enjoyed the programme; not my first choice of presenter. 

I agree about the presenter. My part was cut out completely. What baffled me was that Tarrant arrived by train (a Belgian train, by the way, Luxembourg trains are red), and did a piece on the platform. I was with them until they packed up and left. They came by car and left by car! Where and how and when they did the train bit I have no idea.

The photos of the station, and the report that flashed across the screen are all mine.

I didn't know that there are still lengths of working narrow gauge line.

[David Filsell]

Inept, inadequately researched and poorly presented by Tarantella starts to describe it

Edited 26 November , 2019 by David Filsell

[squirrel]

1 hour ago, David Filsell said:

Inept, inadequately researched and poorly presented by Tarantells starts to describe it

Spot on.

[NigelS]

11 hours ago, healdav said:

What baffled me was that Tarrant arrived by train (a Belgian train, by the way, Luxembourg trains are red), and did a piece on the platform. I was with them until they packed up and left. They came by car and left by car! Where and how and when they did the train bit I have no idea.

 

The railway documentary equivalent of a 'noddy shot'

 

NigelS

[David Filsell]

Let's be honest, it was rubbish.

[sassenach]

I learnt from Mr Tarrant that there were twelve thousand men in a "Regiment."

[keithfazzani]

When I heard that I physically winced. Whilst Tarrant may be ignorant of the subject, surely those writing his script had some knowledge of the matter. What is always worrying in such circumstances is that one is aware of such nonsense in subjects one knows something about, but presumably much of such TV output is riven with such nonsense.  Perhaps it is best to regard  all TV output as pure fiction. 

[Talesofaseadog]

I did not really like them saying that all the carnage was the fault of the railway, this was just press sensationalism of the worst kind and spoilt what could have been an enjoyable program with a little more research. 

[jay dubaya]

Perhaps Tarrant should have phoned a friend rather than rely on his researchers

[jonbem]

I did get past half way through before I turned off the tv, but not much past.

[Don Regiano]

It looked to me as though Tarrant was about to keel over at any time.

[keithfazzani]

He did seem to be a little unsteady on his legs. I suspect like many of us of a certain age, he has dodgy knees. He has my sympathy on that. 

[David Filsell]

His knees aren't half as dodgy as his knowledge of the subject. Even the appalling Snowman could have done better in my humble...

[keithfazzani]

I agree with that David, but I sympathise with the knees.

[Keith Woodland]

I definitely saw the "Old man shuffle".

[David Filsell]

I prefer the Harlem Shuffle!

 

 

[stripeyman]

So the question is, as you don't like Mr Tarrent as the presenter, who would you have to take his place ?

[Don Regiano]

8 minutes ago, stripeyman said:

So the question is, as you don't like Mr Tarrent as the presenter, who would you have to take his place ?

 

Baldrick?

 

At least the camera shots across La Boisselle were welcome ahead of my trip across next week.  Unfortunately, I suspect the weather will be colder, wetter and altogether more miserable than when they were taken.  Probably sufficiently so to prevent my completing my external electrical work to be done there.  I will just have to stay inside and drown my sorrows in the knowledge that I won't be watching the rest of the series.

[healdav]

On 26/11/2019 at 22:10, NigelS said:

 

The railway documentary equivalent of a 'noddy shot'

 

NigelS

Not really. I recognised the train  arriving in the correct station, and I could make out the station names on the board as he got off. Yet I saw him arrive and leave by car. Rather strange.

 

[CorporalPunishment]

I personally find some of the remarks about Chris Tarrant offensive and uncalled for. Saying he looked about ready to keel over, doing the old man shuffle and the Harlem Shuffle are right out of order. The man is in his seventies and suffered a stroke a while back so mocking his gait is wrong. I'm no fan of Tarrant, nor any other member of the angling fraternity for that matter, but I wouldn't sink that low. As far as the reference to the railways being largely responsible for the horrendous death rate on the Western Front goes, well, I wouldn't argue with that. They certainly made a massive contribution to it.  Pete.

[Talesofaseadog]

2 hours ago, CorporalPunishment said:

I personally find some of the remarks about Chris Tarrant offensive and uncalled for. Saying he looked about ready to keel over, doing the old man shuffle and the Harlem Shuffle are right out of order. The man is in his seventies and suffered a stroke a while back so mocking his gait is wrong. I'm no fan of Tarrant, nor any other member of the angling fraternity for that matter, but I wouldn't sink that low. As far as the reference to the railways being largely responsible for the horrendous death rate on the Western Front goes, well, I wouldn't argue with that. They certainly made a massive contribution to it.  Pete.

I agree with you about Chris Tarrant however, responsibility for the carnage must rest with man, in the first 2 years of the war we used animals to carry much of the ammunition to the front line before we adopted the light railway, they were blameless as well.

My grandfather was in France in 1917/8 as a Royal Engineer railwayman but unfortunately never spoke about his experiences even when I asked him directly which was a shame.

Tony

[healdav]

36 minutes ago, Talesofaseadog said:

I agree with you about Chris Tarrant however, responsibility for the carnage must rest with man, in the first 2 years of the war we used animals to carry much of the ammunition to the front line before we adopted the light railway, they were blameless as well.

My grandfather was in France in 1917/8 as a Royal Engineer railwayman but unfortunately never spoke about his experiences even when I asked him directly which was a shame.

Tony

The amounts of ammunition and other supplies (including men) could never have got anywhere near the front if it had not been for the railways. In the Portillo programme I said, and they cut it out, "I can't say that there wouldn't have been a war in 1914, but they could not have had the First World War as we know it, without the railways".

 

[Talesofaseadog]

1 hour ago, healdav said:

The amounts of ammunition and other supplies (including men) could never have got anywhere near the front if it had not been for the railways. In the Portillo programme I said, and they cut it out, "I can't say that there wouldn't have been a war in 1914, but they could not have had the First World War as we know it, without the railways".

 

That is quite different to

'The machine that enabled death on such a horrendous scale was in fact the train'

which are the actual words used at the very beginning.

Hearing those words just turned me against the program from the start which is a shame.

 

We all do our best to convey the truth but editors or producers regularly change things, that is the way of the press and TV.

I even had a reporter apologise to me because his editor had changed his words, something we have to live with but it helps to know where the fault was.

Tony