WWI: The Last Tommies

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Stories told by the last Tommies, remembering life and death in World War I.

Vivid and heartbreaking stories told by the last Tommies, remembering life and death in World War I, illustrated with powerful archive.

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Steve Humphries

Nick Maddocks

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WWI: The Last Tommies: Series 1: Episode 2: The Battle of the Somme

The Battle of the Somme

Episode 2

Episode 2: The Battle of the Somme

Series 1

BBC Four - WWI: The Last Tommies, Series 1, The Battle of the Somme

Emotional stories from the last survivors of the Somme reveal its true horror and tragedy.

Stories told by the last Tommies, remembering WWI. The survivors of the Somme in 1916 and their families back home reveal the true horror and tragedy of the battle.

The Battle of the Somme is an immersive account of one of the most iconic and tragic battles in history, told through its last survivors and through families and communities at home who lost loved ones. When the troops went over the top in June 1916, they imagined this was the attack that would end the war. Instead, it turned into the most costly battle of the entire war, with enormous casualties on both sides. 

We tell the stories of the officers and the men, the Tommies who sustained life-changing injuries and the nurses who treated them. We see how whole communities were devastated as the Pals Battalions, each one recruited from a particular town or city, were mown down. With the help of the tank, the Battle of the Somme ended in November 1916. The British and empire casualties totalled 400,000 men. They had advanced just six miles, but they had dealt a devastating blow to the German army.

WWI: The Last Tommies: Series 1

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WWI: The Last Tommies

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Episode 2: The Battle of the Somme

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