Derek Black Posted 27 October , 2020 Share Posted 27 October , 2020 Has anyone compiled a list of great war documentaries primarily featuring interviews with participants? I'm sure there's plenty that have passed me by or not been aired in a long time that could be tracked down. The only ones i can recall seeing are: The Great War, 1964 it's sequel of sorts, I Was There: the Great War Interviews, 2014 The Last Tommy, 2005 The Last voices of the great war, 2008 Cheers, Derek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 27 October , 2020 Share Posted 27 October , 2020 The best for me is "A Game of Ghosts" , an Everyman documentary which IMDB says was first aired on 1st July 1991- No prizes for guessing why. It is currently available on You Tube. The thing that has always struck me with the documentaries featuring interviews is how articulate and balanced are the interviewees- which makes one realise even more how tragic the waste of lives was. In a"black and white" media war- the documentary stock of the time , the soldiers are silent- it is the old men and the survivors that speak for them . Oh that we could wish, say, a 5 minute recorded interview with this man, for example Just to mention it, the BBC does have a stock of radio interviews as well - One that was aired many years ago was from the 1930s (1934?) and had Admiral Sir William Goodenough. My memory is that the Beeb had a rather genteel number of "I Was There" type interviews from that time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilkley remembers Posted 27 October , 2020 Share Posted 27 October , 2020 Not documentaries as such but the Imperial War Museum has a vast archive of recollections from WW1 which have been digitised with funding from the WFA https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/sound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIFFO Posted 27 October , 2020 Share Posted 27 October , 2020 I have dozens,to many to list(honest)from oz, one from Belgium where an old lady speaks of smelling gas while living in pop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 27 October , 2020 Share Posted 27 October , 2020 Just now, BIFFO said: I have dozens,to many to list(honest)from oz, one from Belgium where an old lady speaks of smelling gas while living in pop Come on Biffo, tell us what they are!!! Can't wait till you get knocked down by a bus and they all turn up at a bootfair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWF1967 Posted 27 October , 2020 Share Posted 27 October , 2020 The best for me is "A Game of Ghosts" Thanks for posting; one I’d not seen previously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Black Posted 28 October , 2020 Author Share Posted 28 October , 2020 Thanks for the pointers chaps. Game of Ghosts is a new one for me, thanks GUEST. Watching it now. (1991 was two years loser to the end of the great war than we are today from the end of the second war.....time flies eh.) Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Black Posted 28 October , 2020 Author Share Posted 28 October , 2020 "Lions Led by Donkeys" - The battle of the Somme, 1985 (A bit of a scratchy VHS copy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Black Posted 28 October , 2020 Author Share Posted 28 October , 2020 Sidney Williams, 1970 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Black Posted 28 October , 2020 Author Share Posted 28 October , 2020 Robert Burns, year unknown and incomplete with Dutch subtitles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIFFO Posted 28 October , 2020 Share Posted 28 October , 2020 Come on Biffo, tell us what they are!!! Can't wait till you get knocked down by a bus and they all turn up at a bootfair i tell you what laddy,go look at my profile, send to my e mail, for your cheek I will send you pages,the one that got away from me?,thr erlsh rugby team were taken to Mametz wood and shown the stupidity of war.I have asked on here but no show Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 28 October , 2020 Share Posted 28 October , 2020 Just a jest, Biffo. Is the one you want perhaps this one? Just a thought. Looks a good documentary. 6 minutes ago, BIFFO said: thr erlsh rugby team were taken to Mametz wood and shown the stupidity of war On the other hand, the Welsh Rugby team could have been taken to the Millennium Stadium and shown the stupidity of Rugby.... BBC iPlayer -Wales at the Somme: Gareth Thomas and the Battle of Mametz Wood - BBC Documen 2,542 views •14 Sep 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIFFO Posted 28 October , 2020 Share Posted 28 October , 2020 now laddy there is always one AND you are both of them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIFFO Posted 29 October , 2020 Share Posted 29 October , 2020 Now GUEST thats not the doco I was on about, its close it is Gareth and it is Mamatz,the one im on about was the whole Welsh rugby team taken to Mametz to see where the carnage happened, esp from British Artillery,not wot like happened on the field of dreams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Black Posted 31 October , 2020 Author Share Posted 31 October , 2020 British ex servicemen living in Canada interviewed in 1978. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Black Posted 31 October , 2020 Author Share Posted 31 October , 2020 Britain's Boy soldiers, 2004. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 31 October , 2020 Share Posted 31 October , 2020 (edited) May I draw attention to the British Film Institute and it's National Archive?- has quite a bit of stuff that can be viewed for free It's a bit awkward to use but there are some goodies there. Also,it has a lot of other stuff that is not free but would take too long to explain-even if I understood anyway. Below- a scene from a 1 minute documentary stock of Trinidadians being inspected by the Lord Mayor at Guildhall in 1916,with acknowledgements to British Film Institute-for fair use and education only Edited 31 October , 2020 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Black Posted 7 December , 2020 Author Share Posted 7 December , 2020 Peace in No Man's Land - The Christmas Truce (1981) The three men interviewed were still just nippers at 84, 84 and 88 when this was made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Black Posted 18 March , 2021 Author Share Posted 18 March , 2021 Jack Campbell of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, being interviewed by the late Gay Byrne in 1988 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Black Posted 18 March , 2021 Author Share Posted 18 March , 2021 Ireland & The Great War (1998) narrated by Myles Dungan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIFFO Posted 18 March , 2021 Share Posted 18 March , 2021 this week on smithsonian the best non veteran ww1 doco I have seen Peter Barton both sides of the wire in 3 episodes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted 18 March , 2021 Share Posted 18 March , 2021 Looking forward to that, Thank you for the heads up Gerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jervis Posted 18 March , 2021 Share Posted 18 March , 2021 10 hours ago, Derek Black said: Jack Campbell of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, being interviewed by the late Gay Byrne in 1988 A Great interview - I’d just thought I d mention, Campbell while a Dubliner he actually served with the Black Watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jervis Posted 18 March , 2021 Share Posted 18 March , 2021 2 hours ago, BIFFO said: this week on smithsonian the best non veteran ww1 doco I have seen Peter Barton both sides of the wire in 3 episodes I agree with you Biffo. I thought Barton’s documentary was brilliant, although there are many on this forum who disagree with Barton’s assessments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIFFO Posted 19 March , 2021 Share Posted 19 March , 2021 ah many on GWF disagree with lots me I cannot see a problem with Dan Snow for instance now his grandfather should be lined up against the wal with the other bloke?? anyway the doco is on PBS America Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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