Some WWI documentaries and books

[mightymads]

I’m researching WWI little by little and would like to share the sources I especially liked so far.

The Great War channel on youtube - very informative and well-made. Bite-sized videos (ten minutes on average) explain the events of WWI week by week as it happened.

The First World War - an engrossing docudrama, where archive reels are mixed with dramatised fragments. The series is dedicated to the war on the Eastern front. It’s in Russian with English subtitles. interesting to compare the point of view of Russian historians with Western historians.

The diary of a British Doctor on the Western Front - Dr. Cyril Helm (1888 - 1972) kept day-to-day notes during the first year of the war. This diary reflects a first-hand experience in real time, and it’s a fascinating read.

Doctors in the Great War by Ian R. Whitehead - a very insightful if a bit dry book. A lot of well-organised data about the way the medical service worked on the Front. The book is helpful for getting a general idea what civilian doctors had to face when they were recruited.

The Last Fighting Tommy - A memoir by Harry Patch, who was the last surviving WWI veteran who fought in the trenches. Harry Patch lived to be 111 years, 1 month, 1 week, and 1 day and was haunted by the memories of the war even in advanced age.

Comments

[earthspirits]

Thanks for this very interesting list! Most intriguing.

Especially interested in "Doctors in the Great War" as my great uncle served as a doctor in the British army during WW1.

[mightymads]

It must be fascinating when it’s a part of family history!

[buttonsbeadslace]

That diary sounds amazing. There's no substitute for reading what people who lived through something thought about it at the time. Thank you for the link!

[mightymads]

The diary is very interesting! It reflects the changes on the front, from the mobile war during the first months to the trench warfare which followed. Sometimes it’s easy to imagine that Dr. Helm is Watson because of the writing style: clear, dynamic, and even lyrical when he describes quiet periods and places yet untouched by war.