The Ballad of the Great War - 1914

1/5 The ballad of 1914, featuring stories told by men and women who took part in the conflict.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04n2d2s

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04m4j7g

The Ballad of the Great War - 1914, featuring stories told by men and women who took part in those first few months of the conflict both at home and abroad. The stories are accompanied by original music written especially for the programme and was inspired by the stories told.

In this programme we hear stories about La Belle Epoque, the era of calm before the outbreak of the first world war, the clamour by young men to join the army during August 1914, the London buses which were conscripted into the army to take the troops to the battlefields, the battle of Mons, trench warfare, the bombardment by German battleships of Scarborough, Whitby and Hartlepool and The Christmas Truce.

The songs for this programme are written by John Tams, Billy Bragg, Julie Matthews, Jez Lowe and Sean Cooney.

This programme, which has been a year in the making, was produced by John Leonard.

CJB