Download First World War: 1914: Voices from the BBC Archive AudioBook Free
A unique assortment of ancient recordings covering incidents from the previous days of tranquility to the Christmas truce, 1914. At midnight on 4 August, Britain possessed declared conflict on Germany. The pacifist Bertrand Russell was shocked by the pro-war euphoria on the roads, yet young men enlisted willingly because "it could all be over by Christmas". It had been not. Instead the opposing armies possessed become entrenched. It had been the start of an extended and bitter stalemate. Within this new audio compilation, troops of the English Expeditionary Push vividly remember the exhausting retreat from Mons, the success at the Marne, and the first struggle of Ypres, where the Territorials found its way to bright red London buses. For reconnaissance pilots, the battlefield was identified by blazing villages, and areas alive with German troops. Among the things which powerfully get the mood of that time period are an eyewitness bill of the Kaiser's reaction to the news from Sarajevo on 28 June; Margot Asquith, better half of the Prime Minister, keeping in mind their despair at the inevitability of conflict; and the poignant reminiscences of civilians and soldiers.
