A special documentary programme to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of the Great War.
Presented by the distinguished journalist and historian John Grigg.
Sixty years ago this week, the most terrible war the world had known was coming to an end after 52 months of heroism, sacrifice and suffering. At 5.0 am on 11 November 1918 the Armistice was signed and at 11.0 am hostilities ceased-though, tragically, men were being killed up to the very stroke of that llth hour.
This documentary, filmed in France, Belgium and Britain, shows how the Great War reached its dramatic conclusion and how people reacted to the coming of peace. It describes the origin and meaning of those emotionally charged institutions imperishably associated with that war - the cult of the Unknown Warrior, the Flanders Poppy and Armistice Day itself, with its unforgettable two minutes silence. And it asks the question: should we go on remembering?
Written by JOHN GRIGG and MALCOLM BROWN Research SHIRLEY SEATON Photography JIM PEIRSON Sound JULIAN BALDWIN
Film editor LES NEWMAN Produced by MALCOLM BROWN
(When the Guns Stopped Firing, next Saturday 10.15 pm on Radio 4; next Sunday, the Cenotaph Service on BBCl)