In 1960, the Imperial War Museum began a momentous & important task. A team of academics, archivists & volunteers set about tracing WWI veterans & interviewing them at length in order to record the experiences of ordinary individuals in war. The IWM aural archive has become the most important archive of its kind in the world. Authors have occasionally been granted access to the vaults, but digesting the thousands of hours of footage is a monumental task.

Now, forty years on, the Imperial War Museum has at last given author Max Arthur & his team of researchers unlimited access to the complete WWI tapes. These are the forgotten voices of an entire generation of survivors of the Great War. The resulting book is an important, unique & compelling story of WWI in the words of those who experienced it. This is a classic for years to come.

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The original edition of this landmark book brought history to life in a way that had never been done before
- through the words
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During the warm mid summer of 1914 few people suspected that, by August, Europe would be plunged into the bloodiest conflict known to mankind. Patriotic fervour
- often misplaced -swept through the participating countries, but the troops dispatched to the battle fronts soon realised that the popular view: 'it will all be over by Christmas', was just an optimistic dream. In the face of the relentless German advance into Belgium, the British Expeditionary Force was engaged in the costly retreat from Mons. The German Army soon took Antwerp, & only the 'miracle of the Marne' stopped them from marching into Paris. The First Battle of Ypres prevented the Germans from reaching the coast, but both sides dug in & the wretched system of trench warfare was established. Following the extraordinary Christmas truce, ferocious fighting restarted over the snow covered battlefields, & casualties on both sides were heavy. In the late spring of 1915 the second Battle of Ypres took place & the Germans used poison gas for the first time. The toll in killed & wounded was disastrous, the British alone losing 50, 000 men; but the Allies finally, managed to halt the enemy advance.
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During the warm mid summer of 1914 few people suspected that, by August, Europe would be plunged into the bloodiest conflict known to mankind. Patriotic fervour
- often misplaced -swept through the participating countries, but the troops dispatched to the battle fronts soon realised that the popular view: 'it will all be over by Christmas', was just an optimistic dream. In the face of the relentless German advance into Belgium, the British Expeditionary Force was engaged in the costly retreat from Mons. The German Army soon took Antwerp, & only the 'miracle of the Marne' stopped them from marching into Paris. The First Battle of Ypres prevented the Germans from reaching the coast, but both sides dug in & the wretched system of trench warfare was established. Following the extraordinary Christmas truce, ferocious fighting restarted over the snow covered battlefields, & casualties on both sides were heavy. In the late spring of 1915 the second Battle of Ypres took place & the Germans used poison gas for the first time. The toll in killed & wounded was disastrous, the British alone losing 50, 000 men; but the Allies finally, managed to halt the enemy advance.
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The horrific third battle of Ypres finally ended at Passchendale on November 10th 1917. Ten days later, at Cambrai, the British launched the first massed tank assault in history. But they faced determined German resistance & within 3 days only 92 tanks out of the original 378 remained operational. After facing a savage counter-attack by the Germans using aircraft, gas & storm troops the British fell back to form a defensive line. Fighting continued throughout the winter, & early in 1918 the German Comm&, strengthened by divisions brought from the Russian front, decided to launch a massive offensive to gain final victory. On 21st March, in the morning fog, they attacked, & supported by artillery from over 6, 000 guns, advanced 14 miles within 3 days. In May, they drove the French Army back 40 miles. However, German losses were high, & the Allied armies, now joined by the Americans, launched a massive counter-attack, from which the Germans never recovered. On 11th November, 1918 ' The bloody war was over'. ...

Following the success of Forgotten Voices of the Great War, Lyn Smith visits the oral accounts preserved in the Imperial ...

Following the success of Forgotten Voices of the Great War the series now chronicles one of human histories darkest hours.



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Following the success of Forgotten Voices of the Great War, Lyn Smith visits the oral accounts preserved in the Imperial ...

This landmark series brought history to life in a way that had never been done before
- through the words of ordinary men & women.
...

When the Italian dictator Mussolini saw that Hitler was conquering Europe he decided that he too, would have a share of the plunder. He declared war on the Allies, vowed to control the Mediterranean, & with his 300, 000 troops stationed in Libya, take Egypt & the Suez Canal. But he knew that this could not be accomplished while the strategic island of Malta remained in Allied hands. For the next two years Malta & its people suffered for almost continuous bombardment, but never gave in. In North Africa, because of stubborn Allied resistance, the Italian ambitions where not realised & the Germans led by General Rommel, joined them in campaign. Following months of bitter fighting Rommel's Afrika Corps were only halting just 150 miles from Cario. But after the Allies' victory at El Alamein, General Montgomery's 8th Army drove the Italians & Germans back to Tunisia where, strengthened by the British first army & the U. S. Second corps the Axis troops were driven from North Africa. This opened the way for the Allies to invade Sicily & eventually the Italian mainl&. ...