The last tommies

[Guest Quickfire Media]

Quickfire media are making a landmark documentary for BBC1 focusing on the lives of ordinary ‘Tommies’, as part of a special commemoration, and we are hoping to contact every living ex-soldier so that we can create a lasting testimony to their strength and courage.

We feel it is important that the few remaining veterans have a chance to take part in this project and tell their story. Some people have never told their story, and indeed some soldiers do not want to talk about what they saw. But for those that do, this is a chance to share their experiences.

The First World War Vet's Association have been very helpful, and we think there are about 20-25 British tommies alive today, between the ages of 102-107, a couple of whom live abroad. Does anyone out there know of any first world war vets out there who might like to talk to us?

Please contact me on the e-mail address below if you can help, and best wishes,

Melissa Blackburn

Assistant Producer

Quickfire Media

Melissa.Blackburn@quickfiremedia.com

[trenchwalker]

I cant email but my aun has a tape of her father and his experiance he was in the R.F.C in 1914 and won the M.M.

If you require any live action stuff I belong to a great war re enactment with our own trench which we have done film work for the bbc and channel 4.

[Kate Wills]

Melissa

May I suggest you contact the Western Front Association, who have a Veterans Officer, and are actively involved with their welfare.

http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/

[Tim Birch]

A couple of years ago I had the priviledge of meeting a gentlemen of 104 on a social basis, the patient of a friend of mine and who had fought at Beaumont Hamel and later at Arras where he was wounded. Sadly he has since passed away, but I remember at the time being very reluctant to press him and if he hadn't been my friend's patient and friend I would never have met him.

One thing which came up during our discussions was the pressure he felt under being approached on a regular basis by "researchers" seeking interviews with him. Some of whom were very pushy. Whilst he felt happy to talk to friends he found interviews with strangers stressful. When I met him it was a social occaision as opposed to an interview, and whilst he spoke a bit about the war it obviously brought back painful memories, and he was much happier to talk about the 40 odd years he had spent in banking after the war!

At one point he spoke about how he had been wounded during a bombing exchange with some Germans in a nearby crater. He became quite emotional when he recalled how his best mate had been killed.

When seeking to interview or make recordings of these veterans it is essential that they are treated with the utmost sensitivity. Before seeking to interview any of them I believe it is essential that the first approach should be to their relatives or carers. If there is the slightest hesitation or doubt about it my message would be "back off". Please do bear in mind that if the experience of my friend was anything to go by, you are not alone in wishing to interview them, and the thinner their ranks become the greater the pressure becomes as more and more people seek to meet them in the interests of "research". Remember that people of this age do not need pressure from strangers and talking about momentous events which took place in their lives all those years ago can resurrect deeply supressed emotions which they would rather leave where they are.

Tim