Nick Talan
Dr. Quirk
History 143
31 October 2017
Our World War “The First Day” | Review
On August 1914, two weeks after the First World War was declared. The world would be changed dramatically. More than 80,000 British troops arrived in southern Belgium, but they have yet to see the enemy. They expect the enemy to not be near as they set up camp in Mons. Among these professional soldiers are the 4th Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers, and some of the best trained gunners in the British Army. Lieutenant Maurice Dease and his friend, Australian Lieutenant Fred Steele, are in charge of the two companies of riflemen and machine gunners who find themselves setting up camp overnight at Nimy Bridge, the northernmost point of the Mons-Conde body of water. The canal, surrounding the town of Mons, supports 17 bridges stretched along 21 miles of water but everyone, including Private Sid Godley and his buddy Private William Holbrook, expects to be crossing those bridges early in the morning. This didn’t go as planned, in the middle of the night intelligence reports the Germans may be closer than the British could ever fathom, and the Royal Engineers, including Lance Corporal Charles Jarvis and his sapper, Private Neary, are demanded to start preparing the bridges to be destroyed. Sunday the 23rd of August, tests the soldiers' skillset, courage and slyness to the limit, leading to the first Victoria Crosses of the First World War. Not everyone will make it through the First Day/First Battle. The majority of this episode happens in contrast between what the British soldiers expected, as they try to protect the land around Mons, and what they actually end up facing. The first third of the episode shows the conflicts within the British forces, mostly based on class and personal differences. The Australian Fred Steele comes across as a practical, no messing around type leader that is trying to get things done. Unlike his British opposite Dease, a good meaning yet counter productive member of the British upper class trying to keep his troops under control and well behaved.
Yet such stupid conflicts play a role into insignificance beside the conflict to come. I feel as if the director of this show/series did a great job of showing what was to come through the use of shots from the bird’s eye view. I loved the shot of the British troops on one side of a river, and the huge German force piling up on the other. We unfortunately pretty much know in advance that the conflict will be an unequal one and so it proves, as the British are massacred, forcing Steele to bid a fast retreat leaving one machine-gunman to hold it down. In the end the British do manage to hold up the Germans, due in no small part to the individual heroism of the machine-gunner and an explosives expert.
Shot in washed-out colors, with a musical score comprised of modern songs summing up the mood of the piece, this episode is based on recollections by members of the Royal Fusiliers of the opening shots of the war. The episode ends with a tribute to the troops that fought, with shots of the brigade museum at the Tower of London. This is not a fun piece to watch: director Goodison has deliberately shown how bloody the conflict actually was. Yet it is both condemnatory yet celebratory in tone – even though it might have been regarded as a defeat, the conflict showed how brave human beings can be under the most extreme circumstances. As a student that is going into video production/film I love seeing adaptations of these great battles in our world’s history. There is a lot of time and hard work that goes into TV miniseries’ like this. I will always have a great a deal of respect for productions like this. When I was in high school I took a class called the Harlem Veteran Project. This class changed my life forever, I had the task of making a short documentary about a Vietnam War era veteran. I must say learning from a real life source was an incredible experience. It showed me that even when the textbook closes there is still a war going on whether that be in their head or physically somewhere across the globe. That is way watching TV shows like this that try and put you in the shoes of the people that actually served is always an incredible experience for me. Anyone that has ever served their country is a hero and that is what TV mini series/classes like the Harlem Veteran Project have taught me and I have gained a lot of respect for veterans. This was a fun watch and I will have to watch the rest of the series.