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

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  • ‘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
Ch12:E80: My Escape from an English Prison Camp, by Gunther Plüschow, July 4 - 12, 1915 4-12 July 1915
Ch12:E81: First Use of Liquid Fire - I Saw Men Consumed by It, by Pte. A. P. Hatton, July 30, 1915 30 July 1915
Ch12:E82: Outwitted by the British Secret Service, by Captain von Rintelen, Aug 13-17, 1915

13-17 August 1915

Digital magazine archive

To complement the YouTube narrations, complete digital scans (PDF files) of all 51 weekly magazines are available in the members' area of The WFA website through our Searchable Magazine Archive.

Join The WFA to get access this collection and much more.

About Us

The Western Front Association (The WFA) was formed with the purpose of furthering interest in First World War of 1914-1918. We also aim to perpetuate the memory, courage and comradeship of all those who served their countries on all sides, across all theatres and fronts, on land, at sea and in the air and at home, during the Great War.

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