Western Front

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Western Front is a 60 minute documentary-war starring and Richard Holmes. The series premiered on Thu Jul 29, 1999 on BBC One.

19991 season

HDCC

Season 1

6 episodes

1. Making the FrontRichard Holmes follows the route taken between August and December 1914 by the 100,000 men of the British Expeditionary Force as they went to fight the Germans in France.CCJul 29, 1999
2. Feeding the FrontOn April 22nd, the troops holding the Front were confronted with the first use of poison gas as a weapon of war. By the middle of 1915 over half of the 25,000 troops had been killed or badly wounded. Lord Kitchener's recruiting drive 'Your country needs you' prompted millions of young men to enlist. Veteran Robbie Burns, now 104, and Dick Trafford, now 102 recall the moment that they joined up. Dick also recalls the Battle of Loos where the British lost 8,000 men in an hour and Holmes relates the story of Rudyard Kipling's only son John who was among the reserves at Loos.CCAug 5, 1999
3. Holding the FrontA visit to Verdun in France, scene of the first battle where artillery totally dominated the battlefield, leaving one million soldiers killed or wounded.CCAug 12, 1999
4. Commanding the FrontRichard Holmes discusses the Battle of the Somme, which took place in northern France in 1916 and saw 60,000 British soldiers killed or wounded in a single day.CCAug 19, 1999
5. Enduring the FrontThe story of the ill-fated Nivelle offensive of 1917, in which French commander Robert Nivelle galvanized 750,000 troops in a lightning attack on the German defences, only for the heavy losses inflicted on the French to lead to mutiny in the ranks. Meanwhile, the British found themselves under pressure at the third battle of Ypres, also known as Passchendaele, where the atrocious weather turned the battleground into a muddy hell. Richard Holmes also looks at the underground warfare waged during the battle.CCAug 26, 1999
6. Breaking the FrontIn 1917 America joined the war against Germany, And Germany moved to finish the war quickly to their advantage. This program examines Kaiserlacht (the Imperial Battle), the massive offensive launched by the German Army on 21st March 1918. It looks at how close Germany came to winning the war at this point, and the Allied counter-offensive that eventually led to victory and the German surrender.CCSep 2, 1999

Western Front

19991 season6 episodesReturning Series

Western Front is a 60 minute documentary-war starring and Richard Holmes. The series premiered on Thu Jul 29, 1999 on BBC One.

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Details and artwork from TMDB. Availability from JustWatch and can change without notice.