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Where
did your passion for World War 1 come from?
In 1984 I was the film The Old Contemptables. At Christmas
my mum asked me what I wanted and I suggested something about
WW1. She bought me ‘Goodbye to all that’ by Robert
Graves and I was hooked.
What
were the difficulties with creating ‘The Trench’?
Everything had to be as authentic as possible from the uncomfortable
uniforms to the conditions in the trench. An added problem
was that after September 11th there was a clampdown on the
movement of weapons and even deactivated ones could not be
taken across the Channel so all the weaponry had to be tracked
down in France. In addition, the mess tins, which are manufactured
in Pakistan, had to be found elsewhere.
Where
did you site the trench?
It would have been too sensitive to have used the Somme itself
so we found an almost perfect location at Flesquiere, near
Cambrai. It was a field that had been crossed by the German
Support Line. When we dug out the original trench we found
countless helmets, water bottles, shells, bullets and other
pieces of paraphernalia left behind by the soldiers who had
used it. Fortunately we found no human remains.
How
was the trench itself dug?
The volunteer soldiers didn’t have to do that themselves;
a mechanical digger was used for 28 days to create the trench.
Fortunately the Army had kept manuals on how to dig trenches
and there are also lots of photos in the Imperial War Museum
so we knew just how it should look.
What
has happened to the trench?
The locals were so impressed that they bought the field from
the owner and want to keep the trench for tourists and enthusiasts
to see. It will take some upkeep as the duckboards and supports
will need replacing frequently and the sandbags will rot quite
quickly.
How
did the volunteers react to the situation?
At first they found it hard to accept that they were to live
and breathe the wartime situation without a break for 2 weeks.
One volunteer, when he tried the uniform asked how long he
had to wear it as it was so itchy and uncomfortable. When
told he had to wear it for the duration he dropped out - he
had lasted just 10 minutes!
What
effect did the experience have on the chosen volunteers?
Quite surprising. Many of their wives commented on how they
were quite distant at first on their return. They found the
modern amenities and comforts quite difficult to adjust to
after the deprivations and freezing conditions of the winter
trench, just as their forebears had done.
They also began to appreciate just how much hard work they
had to do to keep the trench viable. Most work was done at
night because it was too cold to sleep.
The experience affected the group so much that they made a
cross to place as a memorial in Oppy Wood where a huge number
of casualties fell in 1917.
How
real was the experience to the men?
We followed the history of the battalion at that period of
the war so a number of men were lost during the two weeks.
The last volunteer to be ‘removed’ during the fortnight
said how he had been convinced his character would make it
through to the end. Many of the volunteers have now started
to research the stories of the men they represented.
What
surprised you most when the programme was made?
The boredom and the trench routine - an officer could look
out and know exactly what time of day it was by what the men
were doing such was the specific routine. It was labour intensive
all the time and everything had to be accounted for. When
you think in WW1 there were two million British men in France,
the equivalent of the populations of Birmingham and Glasgow,
all having to be supplied with food, uniforms, munitions etc
the undertaking was enormous.
What
are your future plans?
I’m planning a Home Front project and also looking into
doing something about the Young Soldiers of 14 to 15 years
who went to fight.
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