The Necessary War

Esther Johnson’s film uses local archive footage to convey the story of Sunderland's involvement in the First World War, from the men who fought in the fields to those who stayed behind to work in the region’s shipyards and munitions factories.

This film takes us into the harsh realm of BC's early coal mines, canneries, and lumber camps; where primitve conditions and speed-ups often cost lives. Then, the film moves through the unemployed' struggles of the '30s, post WWII equity campaigns, and into more recent public sector strikes over union rights.

Producer Samuel Cummins, along with five participants in World War I, discuss the key events of the war as illustrated by an assemblage of battlefield and other documentary footage. This film is not the same as, but seems likely to have either inspired or been inspired by, Norman Lee's British production of the same title (q.v.), apparently released the following year.

The story of how newspapers were distributed during the Blitz, stressing the importance of an accurate and objective press on the home front.

Canada was led to war by a bigoted, ignorant, self-obsessed Minister of Militia, who may well have been clinically insane, but the importance of Canada's contribution in that war owes a great deal to him. The man of course, was Colonel - later made Lieutenant General by his own hand - Sam Hughes. Sam's Army is a compelling portrait of a complex man and the formidable military he built. Sam Hughes was not your standard-issue military leader. Canada's World War I Minister of Militia and Defence concentrated power in his own hands, insisted that the Canadian military use the ill-conceived Ross rifle and liberally promoted his cronies. But there was no denying Hughes was a visionary. He assembled the world's largest-ever volunteer army and bucked superiors to keep his ferocious fighting force together in one Canadian Corps.

A two-hour documentary which recreates for the viewer one of the greatest battles in Canadian military history. The film was made to show that Canadian character at its best, forging an identity for a country that before the First World War had been seen only as a British colony - an identity and a character that became recognized and respected throughout Europe.

Canadian military accomplishments in the last hundred days of World War I, when the German Army was destroyed, surpassed those of any other army. The Canadian success was, in no small measure, due to Arthur Currie, whom a recent British historian describes as "the most successful Allied General and one of the least well known."

This program provides, through 1st hand accounts & contemporary films & photographs, a rare insight into what really happened. Together with meticulously researched stories, it provides a unique analysis of the Gallipoli campaign, including never-seen before interviews with the last 10 Gallipoli Anzacs, rare film footage showing the beach & trenches at Gallipoli.

The Gallipoli campaign of World War I was so controversial & devastating, it changed the face of battle forever. Using diaries, letters, photographs and memoirs, acclaimed director, Tolga Ornek, traces the personal journeys of Australian, New Zealand, British and Turkish soldiers, from innocence and patriotism to hardship and heartbreak.

Not everything has been told about World War One. This documentary tries to explain how tens of millions of men could have suffered the unbelievable toughness of life in trenches during the 4 year ordeal. How could they have accepted the idea of a sure death or injury while not being able to tell why they were fighting.

Documentary on American troops in France in the First World War.

This lost WWI documentary appears to be about the German zeppelin attacks on Londonon September 2nd, 1916.

A documentary and propaganda film which shows the British Army's preparations for, and the early stages of, the battle of the Somme.

Produced by the Fox Movietone News arm of Fox Film Corporation and based on the book by Lawrence Stallings, this expanded newsreel, using stock-and-archive footage, tells the story of World War I from inception to conclusion. Alternating with scenes of trench warfare and intimate glimpses of European royalty at home, and scenes of conflict at sea combined with sequences of films from the secret archives of many of the involved nations.

Russen und Deutsche - Sieben historische Wendepunkte

Heroic Struggle in Snow and Ice is a 1917 Austro-Hungarian propaganda newsreel film produced by Sascha-Film for the Imperial and Royal War Press Headquarters. The film is hand-colored and presented in two parts. It depicts the fighting on the Alpine Front between Italy and Austria-Hungary.

At the end of August 1914 Leuven became the victim of blind rage war. Virtually the entire city center was systematically destroyed by the Germans. War journalist Rudi Vranckx explains what happened.

On the 22nd of August 1914 the recently deployed BEF fought and delayed the German First Army of Von Kluck in around the industrial coal mining town of Mons. After 2 days of hard fighting the 3rd and 5th Division of II Corps, assisted by the Cavalry division, having borne the brunt of the battle withdrew South West in the direction of Paris. Whilst this battle was in reality a minor Corps action, when taken in the context of the Great War, it showed that the British regular soldier was more than a match for the German army when he was properly led and not vastly outnumbered by guns and men. This film shot on the battlefield tells the story of this 2 day battle bringing out the heroism and skill of the”Old Contemptible s “in delaying and escaping from Von Kluck’s attacking force of 6 Infantry and 5 Cavalry Divisions.

As Gen Smith-Dorrien’s II Corps retreated from Mons, along with rest of the BEF, they were closely pursued by Von Kluck’s Army. On reaching Le Cateau on 25th Aug Smith- Dorrien realized he would have to stand and fight if his Corps was not going to be picked of piecemeal by the Germans. This film follows the fortunes of II Corps on the 26th Aug as they faced the 12 Divisions of the 1st German Army. Once again the skill, bravery and training of the officers and men off II Corps were able to delay the Germans for long enough to allow them to withdraw as a formed force and live to fight another day. Not a victory but a success. The Old Contemptibles lived to fight another day.

A detailed account of one of the bloodiest battles of World War I. Between February and December 1916, the French and German armies relentlessly fought in the devastated camps around the village of Verdun.