The Ballad of the Great War 1917 11 Nov 2017 - Radio 2 - 21.00 For the latest programme in the Radio Ballad series,
Barry Coope joins The Thurnscoe Harmonic Male Voice Choir to sing his arrangement of 'Trench Raid', a new song written by Sean Cooney of The Young 'Uns.

I've been reading Forgotten Voices of the Great War, transcribed from the taped interviews held by the Imperial War Museum.
It isn't really suitable for bed-time reading, but I've come across the story that inspired the song 'Trench Raid'.

Corporal Sidney Amatt, 7th Battalion, Essex Regiment; They never asked for volunteers, they'd say, 'You, you, you and you,' and you suddenly found yourself in a raiding party. They went over at night, in silence. The idea was to crawl underneath the German wire and jump into their front-line trench. It was usually the biggest man in the raiding party who was chosen to lead, because he had the best chance of fighting the Germans, who were nearly all bigger than us. All the smaller chaps were used to throw grenades.

We were out walking over Harecastle Canal Tunnel with Barry Coope, looking forward to lunch at the Bleeding Wolf at Scholar Green.
What time will I get home? he asked. You can catch a train from Kidsgrove back to Longport and be home in time for tea, I told him.
Oh good, he replied. I'm off to Thurnscoe tonight to rehearse with the Harmonic Male Voice Choir.