‘I Was There!’ – The Great War in Their Own Words

The Western Front Association is pleased to present audio narrations of personal accounts from I Was There! magazine, bringing to life the voices of those who experienced the Great War first-hand.

I Was There! was published as a weekly periodical between September 1938 and September 1939, just before the outbreak of the Second World War. The series, edited by Sir John Hammerton, contains 377 personal reminiscences from soldiers, politicians and civilians who participated in the First World War.

Our dedicated volunteers have recorded narrations of these fascinating first-hand accounts, accompanied by relevant historical images. These recordings are being published on The WFA's YouTube channel in batches. The recordings are organised into 'Chapters' (as YouTube playlists) following the original magazine format.

All links open in a new window. The links will take you to the YouTube playlist or video.

Video	Date
Playlist – The War Clouds Break
Ch1:E1: Asquith Speaks the Words of Fate, by Countess Margot Asquith, Aug 4, 1914	4 August 1914
Ch1:E2: When the Foreign Office Blundered, by Hon Harold Nicolson, August 4, 1914	4 August 1914
Ch1:E3: The Clock Ticks at the Admiralty, by Rt Hon Winston Churchill, Aug 2-4, 1914	2-4 August 1914
Ch1:E4: At the Eleventh Hour, by Michael Macdonagh, August 4 - 8, 1914	4-8 August 1914
Ch1:E5: Thunder over Paris, by Sir Philip Gibbs, August 1 - 3, 1914	1-3 August 1914
Ch1:E6: Berlin a-Tiptoe for War, by H W Nevinson, August 1 - 6, 1914	1-6 August 1914
Ch1:E7: My First Days at War, by Sir Roger Keyes, July 17 - August 6, 1914	17 July - 6 August 1914
Ch1:E8: Birth of a World Song, by George C Curnock, August 9 - 18, 1914	9-18 August 1914
Playlist – Mons: The Going up to Battle
Ch2:E9: My Road to Adventure, by Captain Arnold Gyde, August 17 - 22, 1914	17-22 August 1914
Ch2:E10: Our Troops Reach Mons, by Georges Licope, August 21, 1914	21 August 1914
Ch2:E11: I fired the First Shot! by Sergeant Thomas, August 22, 1914	22 August 1914
Ch2:E12: How I Lived through the 1st Hours at Mons, by Maj Corbett Smith, Aug 23, 1914	23 August 1914
Ch2:E13: I Walked with Fear, by Lt-Col Osburn, August 23, 1914	23 August 1914
Ch2:E14: Long Lines of Death, by Corporal John F Lucy, August 23, 1914	23 August 1914
Playlist – Mons: The Fighting Retreat
Ch3:E15: Terror and Tribulation of those Fateful Days, by Capt A Gyde. Aug 23-25, 1914	23-25 August 1914
Ch3:E16: How We Saved Haig's Corps at Landrecies, by Capt R Wolrige Gordon, August 25, 1914	25 August 1914
Ch3:E17: Affair of Mattresses in Landrecies, by Brig-Gen John Charteris, Aug 25, 1914	25 August 1914
Ch3:E18: Horses Honoured in their Country's Service, August 1914, and After	August 1914 and after
Ch3:E19: The Unseen Killers at Le Cateau, by Pte R G Hill, August 26, 1914	26 August 1914
Ch3:E20: Stragglers of '14 - Lost for a Week! by Pte Frank Richards, Aug 26-27, 1914	26-27 August 1914
Ch3:E21: The True Story of "The Angels of Mons", by Arthur Machen, Aug - Sept, 1914	21 August - September 1914
Ch3:E22: Laughing Dawn of Despair, by Frederic Coleman, August 27, 1914	27 August 1914
Ch3:E23: Epic Story of St Quentin: Tom Bridges Saved Two Regiments, by Lt-Col Osburn, Aug 27, 1914	27 August 1914
Ch3:E24: Toy Drum and Tin Whistle, by Lt-Gen Sir Tom Bridges, August 27, 1914	27 August 1914
Ch3:E25: Sleep-Walkers of the Great Retreat, by Cpl B J Denore, Aug 23 - Sept 5, 1914	23 August - 5 September 1914
Ch3:E26: 'They Were Going to Shoot Me!, by Paul Maze, 25 -28 August, 1914	25-28 August 1914
Ch3:E27: The Ending Days: Red Reaping and Red Tape, by Capt E J Needham, 28 Aug - 5 Sept, 1914	28 August - 5 September 1914
Ch3:E28: Heligoland: A Stoker's Saga, by 'Clinker Knocker', August 28 1914	28 August 1914
Ch3:E29 The Immortal Story of 'L' Battery, an Epic of the Retreat, by Gunner Darbyshire, 1 Sept 1914	1 September 1914
Playlist – The Marne and the Aisne
Ch4:E30: 'Locusts of Steel', from the Diary of a Casualty, by the Hon Aubrey Herbert, Sept 5-10 1914	5-10 September 1914
Ch4:E31: The Day We Forced the Passage of the Marne, by A A Martin, 10 September 1914	10 September 1914
Ch4:E32: Aerial Adventure on Aisne and Marne, by Lt Col L A Strange, DSO, MC, DFC, Sept 11-13, 1914	11-13 September 1914
Ch4:E33: Death Called My Comrades - Holocaust in a Wood on the Aisne by Cpl J F Lucy, 13-14 Sep 1914	13-14 September 1914
Ch4:E34: Devil's Orchestra - Personally Conducted on the Aisne, by Dr A A Martin, Sept 14-15, 1914	14-15 September 1914
Ch4:E35: German White Flag Treachery - I Shall Never Forget It! by Capt E J Needham, 17 Sept 1914	17 September 1914
Ch4:E36 I Saw Rheims Catherdral Burn, by G Ward Price, September 1914	September 1914
Ch4:E37: 'Suicide Squadron' - One U-Boat sinks Three Cruisers, by Cmdr Austin Tyrer, 22 Sept 1914	22 September 1914
Playlist – The Antwerp Adventure
Ch5:E38: We Brought Succour to Belgium, by May Sinclair, September 25 - October 13, 1914	25 September - 13 October 1914
Ch5:E39: Doom over Antwerp - I Witness a Nation's Exodus, by J M N Jeffries, October 4 - 8, 1914	4-8 October 1914
Ch5:E40: Antwerp Adventure - Shells and Burning Oil, by Rev. Canon H. Clapham Foster, Oct 4-8, 1914	4-8 October 1914
Playlist – The First Battle of Ypres
Ch6:E41: Lightning Glimpses in the Breaking Storm by Capt C A L Brownlow, DSO, Oct 14 - Nov 11, 1914	14 October - 11 November 1914
Ch6:E42: Diary of 5 Dreadful Days when we lost Zonnebeke, by Lt Col RGA Hamilton, Oct 18 - 22, 1914	18-22 October 1914
Ch6:E43: Cabaret of Death! Shelled by Friend and Foe, by Capt E J Needham, October 22 - 23 1914	22-23 October 1914
Ch6:E44: The War was Nearly Lost - I Helped to Smash the Prussians, by Pte HJ Polley, 31 Oct 1914	31 October 1914
Ch6:E45: French's 'Worst Half-Hour', by Captain H FitzM Stacke MC, 31 October 1914	31 October 1914
Ch6:E46: I Saw the Tragedy of Coronel, by J D Stephenson, 1 November 1914	1 November 1914
Ch6:E47: Blood Bath of London Scots, by Pte Herbert de Hamel, 31 October - 1 November 1914	31 October - 1 November 1914
Ch6:E48: New Light on the Emden: Story of a Famous Sea Fight, by Lewis R Freeman, 9 November 1914	9 November 1914
Ch6:E49: The Stark Horror of Sanctuary Wood, by Corporal John Lucy, 11 November 1914	11 November 1914
Playlist – The Last Days of the First Year
Ch7:E50: Revenge! I Saw von Spee Meet his Doom, by Commander Barry Bingham, 8 December, 1914	8 December 1914
Ch7:E51: British Pluck and Luck at the Hartlepools - The First Bombardment in 250 years, 16 Dec 1914	16 December 1914
Ch7:E52: I Fought at Ypres from the Sky, by Lt-Col L A Strange DSO MC DFC, Nov - Dec 1914	November-December 1914
Ch7:E53: The Historic Christmas Truce of 1914, by Capt Sir Edward Hulse Bt, 25 December 1914	25 December 1914
Playlist – Winter and Neuve Chapelle
Ch8:E54: Sergeant who Went the Wrong Way, by Pte Frank Richards DCM, MM, Jan 1 - Mar 13, 1915	January 1915
Ch8:E55: My Four Years in a Frenchwoman's Cupboard, by Trooper Patrick Fowler, January, 1915	January 1915
Ch8:E56: I Saw Beatty Triumph - The Blücher Sunk, by an Officer of HMS Aurora, January 24, 1915	24 January 1915
Ch8:E57: What Happened to Me at 'Plug Street', by Rifleman Aubrey Smith, MM, February 4, 1915	4 February 1915
Ch8:E58: Terrier's First Blood in Sodden Fields, by William Linton Andrews, 9-10 March, 1915	9-10 March 1915
Ch8:E59: Heartbreak Battle - or the Horror of Neuve Chapelle, by Wilfred Ewart, March 10, 1915	10 March 1915
Ch8:E60: At the Crack of Dawn - Air-Raiding before Breakfast, by Fl-Lt Harold Rosher, Mar 24 1915	24 March 1915
Playlist – Gallipoli: Bombardment & Landing
Ch9:E61: My Last Hours in the Irresistible - A Heroic Story, by L-Cpl Powell RM, Mar 17-19, 1915	17-18 March 1915
Ch9:E62: Through Death Valley with the ANZACs, by Private Fred Fox, AIF, April 23-25, 1915.	23-25 April 1915
Ch9:E63: Dauntless in the Face of Death - landing on Gallipoli, by Major A H Mure, Apr 25, 1915	25 April 1915
Ch9:E64: 'My Own Dark Hours' as C-in-C at Gallipoli, by General Sir Ian Hamilton, April 24-25, 1915	24-25 April 1915
Ch9:E65: Heroic Fiasco of 'Y' Beach on Gallipoli, by Sir Ian Hamilton, April 26, 1915	26 April 1915
Ch9:E66: When our Dead Clogged our Trenches, by 'Anzac', April 27, 1915	27 April 1915
Playlist – Ypres: The Second Battle
Ch10:E67: A Poet Encounters Tragedy, at 2nd Ypres, by Lt-Col John McCrae MD, Apr 23 - 25, 1915	23-25 April 1915
Ch10:E68: Canadian Courage and Self-Sacrifice at 2nd Ypres, by Lord Beaverbrook, April 22 - 28, 1915	22-28 April 1915
Ch10:E69: I Saw the Agony of the First Gas Attack, by Anthony R Hossack, April 22, 1915	22 April 1915
Ch10:E70: Retreating on Ypres the Dead, and the 'Secret Gun', by Stanley Casson, May 1 - 3, 1915	1-3 May 1915
Ch10:E71: I Went Down with the Lusitania, by Viscountess Rhondda, May 7, 1915	7 May 1915
Playlist – Gallipoli: Summer Interlude
Ch11:E72: Gallipoli - Snipers' Paradise and Soldiers' Hell, by A. P. Herbert, May - June, 1915	May-June 1915
Ch11:E73: Moving Letters from an Anzac Dugout, by General Sir John Monash, May 30 - June 27, 1915	30 May - 27 June 1915
Ch11:E74: Mountains of Dead in Valleys of Myrtle, by the Hon Aubrey Herbert, May - June, 1915	May-June 1915
Ch11:E75: I Was a Boy at Gallipoli - a Young Terrier's Story, by Pte Fred Wilson, May 10 - 25, 1915	10-25 May 1915
Ch11:E76: Men into Beasts - The Horrors of Anzac, by Digger Craven, June 28, 1915.	28 June 1915
Playlist – The Western Front: Summer 1915
Ch12:E77: A Gunner at Festubert with the Shell Shortage, by Major Franklin Lushington, May 9, 1915	9 May 1915
Ch12:E78: Sheep to the Slaughter - Failure at Festubert, by W Linton Andrews, May 7 - 9, 1915	7-9 May 1915
Ch12:E79: With the H.A.C. at Hooge - through Terror-stricken Fields, by H S Clapham, June 16, 1915	16 June 1915