Feeding the Front

Overview

On 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.