LOTR director Peter Jackson restores WWI footage for new documentary, "They Shall Not Grow Old."*

My son and I saw it yesterday and loved it. One of the scenes really affected me. It showed soldiers huddling in a country lane waiting to go over the top, I think at the Somme. Most of the guys were laughing and joking but one kid looked absolutely terrified, and rightly so. He didn't look any older than 16. Jackson said in the following documentary that most of them were in the final 30 minutes of their lives when it was filmed.

 

Oh, another thing I took from this film? Dental work has come a long way in 100 years!

 

Yeah that's a great scene. Well perhaps "great" isn't the right word, but one of the most powerful for the looks on some of their faces. That's taken from the Battle of the Somme film and I was lucky to have a kind of lecture-commentary on that film when I did a Conflict Archaeology module back at uni. They're waiting in a sunken lane in the middle of no-man's and we were pretty much all wiped out once they left it, which makes that scene all the more sad. You're basically seeing faces of men who were totally in the **** and knew they were gonna die any time soon. Some info on the site here Webmatters : The Battle of the Somme 1916: Sunken Road, Beaumont-Hamel (at least I'm pretty sure it's this site)

 

Wow, I didn't realize that was Beaumont-Hamel, although a present-day photo of a trench that Jackson showed in the post-film documentary was definitely from there. I recognized it because my wife and I went there last year, as well as the stunning memorial and grounds at Vimy Ridge. The slaughter on July 1, 2016, was beyond comprehension. The Royal Newfoundland Regiment at Beaumont-Hamel suffered over 700 casualties in just a couple of minutes. Unbelievable. The preserved battlefields there and at Vimy should be seen by everyone who has an interest in military history.

 

It's one of my life's ambitions to go and see some of the WW1 battlefields and memorials. There's not much stopping me as I'm only over the water, but I'm kinda hesitant for some reason - almost like I worry I'll be a gawking tourist and I don't particularly feel that's appropriate, particularly as I don't know of any familial links to the Western Front (the only relative I know about was my great-granddad who was in Mesopotamia). Eh, I know I'll go one day though.

 

You should go. It's very moving and impressive. My Canadian grandfather and three great uncles fought there. My Grandmother was from Rye and met my grandmother in England in 1917. My grandfather was in a fighting battalion but was thankfully transferred to a construction battalion two weeks before the Somme. His old mates were decimated there. He went back into a fighting battalion in early 1918 and was shot through the wrist during the first day of the Battle of Amiens. His brother returned home with severe shell shock and spent the rest of his life in a mental hospital. Two of my grandmother's brothers fought for the British and one was killed at the Somme.

If you ever go, see Vimy. It's magnificent.

 

Holy cow! Some of those teeth looked positively painful. Apparently the working class didn't get any dental work outside of extractions.

 

They waited until their teeth were rotten enough to pull them all, then got full plates. It used to creep me out to go to my grandparents' places and see their teeth in a glass. Yuck.

 

Just out of interest, how do you know so much about what your family got up in the war? Did you research it specifically or was it just something your family talked about? Because it was my great-grandparents' generation (you must be older than me!), who were all long dead by the time I was born and both grandfathers didn't exactly live long after I was born either, the war belongs to a generation just out of reach for me. Other than my gran briefly saying where her dad was stationed, I know nothing of what my family did in the war. Which makes me endlessly sad, I must say.

 

I can speak for myself. I'm 45. They were my great-grandparents, too. My great-grandfather who served in the infantry in the Black Watch, as a member of the 9th Scottish Division, lived to be 97, so I was 18 when he passed away. He was born in 1895. So, from about the time I was 8 years old I began asking him questions. I knee him very well. If I didn't see him in person, as he lived about 600 miles away, I could always pick up the phone. Not only him, but at my behest (actually I begged), I would have my grandmother drive me around to meet other WWI vets, all of whom served in the US military. I was just so fascinated by the war at such an early age. I believe my fascination grew because my father was a combat rifleman in Vietnam, but he didn't want to talk about it. He was my hero, so to understand him better, I believe that I reached out to others who would actually talk about what they experienced. Interestingly enough, it seemed that the the older someone got the more likely they were to talk about it. I find the same to hold true today with WWII veterans.

So, there I was, tape recorder in hand, with my little notebook and pen, and most of these old guys were charmed by me. I asked pointed questions and most of the time they answered. It was my great-grandfather, though, who was really special to me. I might have written here, or elsewhere, that people were amazed that he spoke to me about these things, and he never talked down to me because I was a little kid. I don't suppose anybody was every interested in what he had to say until I came along.

I also had another great-grandfather who served in the Army Aircorp in WWI, but the war ended before he could go over. He had some great stories, too, but nothing about combat. He wasn't a pilot or anything. He was ground crew.

Anyway, several years after my Scottish great-grandfather passed, in 1992, I found a book about the 9th Scottish Division, whom he served with. Back then, when a war was over, you had a division historian who would write, and publish, a book about one's division they served in. Therefore there are books for every British division that fought in The Great War. This particular book was published in 1919, so talk about a quick turnaround! It's not a light book, either. It's about 600 pages, taking the reader through every single troop movement, combat operation, for all regiments, battalions, etc. in the division. What I found was that my great-grandfather (who didn't own this book) was so incredibly spot on with the book when it came to his regiment: where they were, what they did, what year, and sometimes within a few days of what the book stated. I've only run across one other veteran (a WWII vet) with that kind of recall.

Sorry for writing so much. The math adds up, but even that I'm only 45, it seems like I should be much older to have experienced these men. It's even weird for me to think that our WWII veterans are fading out today. Time is a curious thing. It's not even an object, but it acts like one sometimes.

 

A combination of talking and research. I'm 63 and my grandparents and most of my uncles all lived into their 80s, 90s and one even to 102, so I knew them well. The Internet has also been a huge resource. In the case of my grandfather who fought in WWI, the Canadian Archives has digitized and placed online the war records of all 600,000 Canadians who served. I found my grandfather's records and learned just last year exactly where and when he was wounded (Aug. 8, 1918 outside Amiens), what battalions he served in and his complete medical history. It was a real kick to see his enlistment form from 1916 and see his actual signature. Once I knew the two battalions he was with, I was able to find their battle diaries online. It was an amazing resource of where, when and what actually occurred. Through all that I was able to pinpoint the exact field where he was wounded and actually see it on Google Earth satellite view. Nothing has changed there in 100 years. The battle diary described them coming out of a small wooded area just outside Cayeux-en-Santerre, being fired upon by German machine guns and taking the only casualties of that day. I suspect the British archives would also have something like this.

As for my uncle in the Dam Busters, it was a combination of family stories and again online resources. For something as fabled as that squadron, I easily found online flight logs of every mission they flew, the kind of bombs they dropped and where, even the weather on a particular day and the duration of the flights. The names of the crewmen, including my uncle's, were always listed. The level of detail was amazing.

One of my biggest regrets is never talking to them more about their war experiences. No one did and now it's too late. I would liked to have taped it.

 

Another thing. My grandfather died when he was 88. In his final days and deep into delerium, he was back in trenches, saying things like, "Get your effing heads down boys." It speaks to the impact something like that had on those who survived.

 

My grandfather passed in 1946 so anything I know about him came second hand from my father. All we know is that he served, was gassed, and suffered from lingering symptoms for the rest of his life. We have pictures of him from the 20’s and 30’s only. The one momento I have of him is the 48 star flag that covered his casket when he was laid to rest.

 

About gassing. My great-grandfather told me that a person couldn't hardly get away from being gassed at one point or another. As for himself, he had sucked up small bits of gas from time to time, but only once was he removed from the lines for it (the gas masks weren't the best).He spent three months in a convalescent hospital. Oddly enough, he also smoked non-filtered cigarettes, and did so until the day he died.

A strange thing, several years after he died, I was walking in an old cow pasture with his son, my grandfather, and my granddad told me that when he was a kid he was walking in a field with his father; his father suddenly went to one knee. My grandfather's asked his father what was wrong. My great-grandfather said, "I taste gas," and then he got up and started walking again as if nothing had happened. I'll tell you this, he was a tough old man.

 

Going Thursday 12.27 at 1 pm (Xmas present to myself). Couldn't make it Monday 12.17.

 

They're only showing it at 1 pm on the 27th, which is a Thursday. A little inconvenient for working folks.

 

I think I'm going to see this on the 27th. I have a 9 year old son that is all about WWII right now, and has been for the last 3 years (especially Pearl Harbor stuff. Not sure why. Dude has a book he checked out of the library about Churchill! Anyway, I think he will like it along with my 14 year old but I do wonder if some of the scenes might be too harsh for my little one.

 

online at Fathom the rating is [R] for the real battle footage - now colorized and in some showings depicted via 3D.

missed the 17th showings, hopefully other who saw it in person can describe the film in detail for younger viewers.

 

It might be a bit graphic for 9 year olds. I turned my head a couple of times. Perhaps a little discussion before and after might mitigate some of the horrific images shown.

 

I agree. Don't think I'd take my 9 year old to this. It gets pretty rough. 14 probably can handle it. I think I was 14 when I watched the World At War concentration camp liberation episode on PBS. Jackson doesn't pull any punches.

 

Yea, I was afraid it might be too graphic in spots. He is my little historian - if it's not about WWII, it's the Titanic - so I would hate for him to miss this but I don't want to scare him either. I have a week to figure it out. Thanks for the info!

 

I'm no sure if the film is too graphic. I suppose it depends on one's definition. As a parent myself, I'm struck with the thought that perhaps the absurdity of war, and all of the waste that it leaves behind, is best etched in the minds of the young lest the past becomes prologue. From what I recall the most graphic aspects of the film are a few reams of corpses.

I don't know; of course as a young Jewish child like myself, early on I saw films of concentration camps, with mounds of bodies piled up. We were taught about the experiments, the gas chambers, the ghettos. The only thing it made me fear was the past. The future looked pretty good when we knew that the boogie men were no more.

 

I think it’s important to expose our children to the reality of war. That’s why I’d have a serious conversation with my child if I had one of young age and took them to see this. The opening sequence of the movie had voice overs talking about how wonderful the experience was. Then later some really graphic images of death and carnage. That might be confusing to a real young kid if it’s presented without explanation.

 

Spot on. Yeah, I couldn't imagine not talking to a child about what they're seeing. It would be kind of cold blooded to leave a kid rudderless like that. heh.

 

My wife and I saw it this evening. We were lucky in that Regal were showing it in 2D. Very powerful film, and like others said, a real labor of love on the part of Peter Jackson. They had a half hour on the techniques used to make the documentary after the film. My favorite bit of that was PJ talking about having a collection of WWI vintage armament "...as one does."

Before the film, I was surprised to learn that my wife's grandfather served in WWI, survived being gassed, but it eventually killed him.