World War I: On Land and Air - Vintage Short Subjects from the Great War

THE BATTLE OF SOMME - 1916: An edited version of the British propaganda film Kitchener's Great Army in the Battle of the Somme that was screened for American troops about to be shipped overseas. What remains shows the 2nd Royal Fusiliers marching to the Western Front and then going 'over the top' for the first time on July 1, 1916. Gruesome footage of dead British and German soldiers was removed so as not to discourage our boys who were soon to be sent to the front themselves. Amazingly, the unedited version of the film sold nearly 20 million tickets in its first 6 weeks of release in England, nearly half the population of the UK. This record would not be broken until the release of Star Wars (1977) over 60 years later.

THE WHISPERING WIRES OF WAR - 1918: A one-reel short subject from Pathe demonstrating how vital telephone communication was to our soldiers on the front lines.

THE AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES IN SIBERIA - 1960: This installment of TV's The Big Picture explains how American soldiers were sent to Siberia to halt the spread of Bolshevism, which had caused Russia to drop out of World War I.