Trenches and Trees

In August 1914, Lord Kitchener, the war minister, began a recruiting campaign calling for men aged between 19 and 30 to join the British Army.

Harry Williams, my Grandfather, was born in 1896 and volunteered for the army before his 19th birthday. Men could volunteer at age 18 but were not allowed to serve abroad until they were 19 years old. This did not deter Harry!

It is not an encyclopaedic record, but it is a true account of his army exploits. Despite his claim to be uneducated, his writing has a colourful style, punctuated by his unique humour and descriptive narrative of the often pitiful conditions he and his comrades were subjected to.

The Grimsby Evening Telegraph described it as
“a very emotional and sentimental read”

Grimsby Evening Telegraph

He recounts the challenge of telling his parents he had joined the Army, especially as his mother who was strongly against military service. Harry describes the early days of training, and the difficulties faced by new recruits adapting to harsh conditions and learning the unforgiving realities of military life.

Harry’s story provides a powerful and insightful portrayal of the realities of war, highlighting the courage, sacrifice, and camaraderie of the soldiers who fought on the Western Front.

Trenches and Trees book cover

Read more about Harry’s book on the Trenches and Trees web site.

The book is Available from Amazon and other online book stores.

Harry’s story vividly describes some events that no-one should ever be exposed to – let alone a teenage boy.

The Channel 4 TV web site described it as a
“Moving narrative history”

Channel 4 TV web site (Archived page)

They sent mere boys to fight a tragic war, one million British men never returned home.

My First Completed Project

I was born in the Grimsby / Cleethorpes area but left there when I was young, so my only exposure to the area was on visits to see family. I do remember everything looking “grim”, in Grimsby, and the Cleethorpes arcades that were exciting as a child had started to lose their sparkle. Permission was obtained from the Docks Authority for filming, the licence cost £5! This video was made in 1988 (I was 27) even in those days the Grimsby docks had vastly less trade than in the 1950’s.

I was able to get the video digitised, so I can now share the video: Dry Dock (1988) – Recollections of Grimsby and Cleethorpes

I used a Panasonic 8mm tape camcorder and edited on to VHS tape with a JVC HQ video recorder and a simple video mixer. As a result, some of the edits are a little off and may be ragged. I have resisted the temptation to make any significant changes to the editing.

The music has been remastered: The original recording of the music in the first section (Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique) was not available, so a newer recording has been used that is at a slightly different tempo, so the edits do not property match the music. The other two tracks (Erasure – The Circus, and Pet Shop Boys – It’s A Sin) match the original recordings used. Any resemblance to Erasure’s official video (which also appears to have been shot in Grimsby and Cleethorpes) and this video is entirely coincidental. I had not seen the Erasure video until recently and some of the shots in it are remarkably similar to my video!