First World War

[delrich]

Many first War programmes start with a soldier carrying a wounded soldier over his shoulders.
He is carrying this wounded soldier through the mudded trenches and looks up to the camera ( with a haunting expression). Does anybody know who the poor wretch was and did he get through the war

[Postdog]

"many programmes......"

Bit of a cliche if they did!

If he remains unknown, I can tell you where he is burried.

[Sandy-Wroe]

That particular clip looks as though it was staged for the camera.
The cameraman seems to have been above the trench and so in the enemies sights. Most unlikely.

[tonyav]

delrich, i know the film clip that you are talking about. i can remember watching a documentary about w w 1 and there were a few clips that ww1 experts said were staged for the camera's. that particular clip was one of them also two other's that i remember was that one were they go over the top and most of them get down down and slide back down the side of the trench dead, and that clip that they often show of soldiers breaking through barbed wire and most of them getting mown down in the process.

[carlton23]

I don`t think any film producers would be that stupid to actually be in the front line taking pictures of our guys getting mowed down as indeed they were.

[Parsfan]

I've got the photo you refer to in a book called "The First Day on the Somme" by Martin Middlebrook. As its name suggests, it covers the first day of the Battle of The Somme, 1 July 1916. The photo was taken during the battle, and the caption states that the poor wretch died shortly after it was taken.

[Paul21455]

The man carrying the wounded soldier was a Lancashire Fusilier, and can be identified from his uniform badges and insignia.

The Imperial War Museum recently conducted an enquiry into the identity of the soldier, after being supplied with a possible name. The film was forensically examined and a picture of the 'suspect' was superimposed over the top of the original footage.

This revealed that they were, in fact, two different people, so he remains unidentified.

It has been reported (as stated above) that the wounded soldier died about 30 minutes after the photograph was taken. How that has been established, is a mystery, as presumably, the identity of the soldier would be known, but his name is never disclosed.

In similar footage, an Officer can be seen supervising troops entering a trench system on their way into battle. The soldiers are coming head-on towards the camera, and then turning left (as you look at the screen) with the Officer, complete with Greatcoat and cap, to the right of the picture.

This Officer has now been positively identified. In fact a forensic lip-reader has analysed the footage and reported the conversation that takes place, as the troops pass by.

His grand=daughter was recently invited to examine the footage, and a film was made of the whole event.

Riveting stuff. 'We will remember them'