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BBC History Channel

The Great War Interviews

Horace Leslie Birks

Detlef Siebert

Sandra Gorel

The Great War Interviews: Horace Leslie Birks

BBC - The Great War Interviews, Horace Leslie Birks

Tank commander Horace Leslie Birks recalls what it was like in the first tanks.

Tank commander Horace Leslie Birks recalls his nerves when commanding a tank at Passchendaele, and the battle of Cambrai, the first battle to use tanks en masse.

Horace Leslie Birks sailed for France in 1915 as a Private with the 5th Batallion of the London Rifle Brigade. Having been wounded at Gommecourt in July 1916, he was transferred to the Machine Gun Crops heavy branch and became a Second Lieutenant in February 1917.

He recalls his nervousness when first ordered to command a tank in action at Passchendaele, and what it was like to operate inside those hot, steamy and altogether claustrophobic cockpits while machine gun fire and shells rained down. Next came Cambrai, the first battle to use tanks en masse.

Factual: History

A selection of original interview recordings filmed for The Great War in their entirety.

Filmed in the early 1960s, a selection of interviews from the BBC's series, The Great War, featuring eyewitness accounts of the conflict.

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