I Was There!: New chapter of videos commences: First Ypres

The volunteers who are working on the audio visual interpretations of 'I Was There!' have now moved on to a new chapter, being that covering the First Battle of Ypres. 

In this chapter there will be a large number of videos covering the actions between October and November 1914. The various pieces in the original publication are described as follows: 

During the early days of October 1914 the British Expeditionary Force was removed from the land-locked line of the Aisne to the neighbourhood of Ypres in Belgium . The heroism with which its battalions fought to stem the German onrush is, in this section of our work, magnificently described by four officers, Captain Brownlow, Captain Needham, Lt.-Col. the Hon. R. G. A. Hamilton and Captain Stacke, while Private H. J. Polley tells his story from the ranker's point of view. The Territorial battalions began to arrive at the front, and the first gallant action of the London Scottish is recounted by Mr. Herbert de Hamel At the same time the British Navy met a major disaster in the tragedy of Coronel, which is recorded by a survivor, Sick Berth Steward J. D Stephenson.

With five 'chapters' now completed and available in five 'playlists' on our YouTube Channel, we will continue to publish these at regular intervals, so please do 'subscribe' to our YouTube channel to ensure you don't miss an episode. 

The most recent video, being Episode 41 can be seen here Lightning Glimpses in the Breaking Storm by Capt C A L Brownlow, DSO.

This is described in 'I Was There! as follows: 

When Capt Brownlow arrived at Zelobes (just west of Vieille Chapelle, in Flanders) there were billeted in and about the village some regiments of French cavalry. On October 14, 1914 he witnessed one of the most dramatic incidents he had ever seen.

These videos are being grouped (following the format in the original magazine) into 'Chapters' (on YouTube these are 'playlists') and can be seen here:

PDF copies of the original I Was There! documents are available exclusively to members of The Western Front Association to download via the Members’ Portal.