AS THIS issue of Britain at War Magazine closed for press, the BBC began airing a series of programmes entitled I Was There: The Great War Interviews. Representing a valuable source of first-hand testimony, these interviews were originally recorded in the early 1960s for The Great War television series but did not get shown at that time. In August 1963, the BBC resolved to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War with a major television project. The series was the first to feature veterans, many of whom were still relatively fit individuals in their late sixties or early seventies, speaking of their experiences. This landmark approach of archival footage intercut with interviews remained the "standard format" for years to come. To locate enough veterans to film, a public appeal for veterans was published in the national press. In due course, thousands of men and women responded to the adverts. The result was a massive bank of original interviews, shot on 16mm film, with former First World War airmen, seamen and soldiers of all ranks and nationalities, as well as civilians and munitions workers.
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