| PART I |
| CHAPTER I |
| a few words of introduction |
| CHAPTER II |
| with the belgians at ramscapelle |
| page |
| I Reach the First Line Belgian Trenches—And become a Belgian Soldier for the Time Being—A Night Attack—An Adventure whilst Filming a Mitrailleuse Outpost—Among the Ruins of Ramscapelle—I Leave the Company and Lose my Way in the Darkness—A Welcome Light and a Long Sleep—How Little does the Public know of the Dangers and Difficulties a Film Operator has to Face | [6] |
| CHAPTER III |
| with the goumiers at lombartzyde |
| A Morning of Surprises—The German Positions Bombarded from the Sea—Filming the Goumiers in Action—How these Tenacious Fighters Prepare for Battle—Goumier Habits and Customs—I Take the Chief's Photograph for the First Time—And Afterwards take Food with Him—An Interesting and Fruitful Adventure Ends Satisfactorily | [15] |
| CHAPTER IV |
| the battle of the sand-dunes |
| A Dangerous Adventure and What Came of It—A Race Across the Sand-dunes—And a Spill in a Shell-hole—The Fate of a Spy—A Battle in the Dunes—Of which I Secured Some Fine Films—A Collision with an Obstructive Mule | [22] |
| CHAPTER V |
| under heavy shell-fire |
| In a Trench Coat and Cap I again Run the Gauntlet—A Near Squeak—Looking for Trouble—I Nearly Find It—A Rough Ride and a Mud Bath—An Affair of Outposts—I Get Used to Crawling—Hot Work at the Guns—I am Reported Dead—But Prove Very Much Alive—And then Receive a Shock—A Stern Chase | [30] |
| CHAPTER VI |
| among the snows of the vosges |
| I Start for the Vosges—Am Arrested on the Swiss Frontier—And Released—But Arrested Again—And then Allowed to Go My Way—Filming in the Firing Zone—A Wonderful French Charge Over the Snow-clad Hills—I Take Big Risks—And Get a Magnificent Picture | [40] |
| PART II |
| CHAPTER I |
| how i came to make official war pictures |
| I am Appointed an Official War Office Kinematographer—And Start for the Front Line Trenches—Filming the German Guns in Action—With the Canadians—Picturesque Hut Settlement Among the Poplars—"Hyde Park Corner"—Shaving by Candlelight in Six Inches of Water—Filming in Full View of the German Lines, 75 yards away—A Big Risk, but a Realistic Picture | [51] |
| CHAPTER II |
| christmas day at the front |
| Leave-taking at Charing Cross—A Fruitless Search for Food on Christmas Eve—How Tommy Welcomed the Coming of the Festive Season—"Peace On Earth, Good Will To Men" to the Boom of the Big Guns—Filming the Guards' Division—And the Prince of Wales—Coming from a Christmas Service—This Year and Next | [61] |
| CHAPTER III |
| i get into a warm corner |
| Boxing Day—But No Pantomime—Life in the Trenches—A Sniper at Work—Sinking a Mine Shaft—The Cheery Influence of an Irish Padre—A Cemetery Behind the Lines—Pathetic Inscriptions and Mementoes on Dead Heroes' Graves—I Get Into a Pretty Warm Corner—And Have Some Difficulty in Getting Out Again—But All's Well that Ends Well | [65] |
| CHAPTER IV |
| the battlefield of neuve chapelle |
| A Visit to the Old German Trenches—Reveals a Scene of Horror that Defies Description—Dodging the Shells—I Lose the Handle of My Camera—And then Lose My Man—The Effect of Shell-fire on a Novice—In the Village of Neuve Chapelle—A Scene of Devastation—The Figure of the Lonely Christ | [72] |
| CHAPTER V |
| filming the prince of wales |
| How I Made a "Hide-up"—And Secured a Fine Picture of the Prince Inspecting some Gun-pits—His Anxiety to Avoid the Camera—And His Subsequent Remarks—How a German Block-house was Blown to Smithereens—And the Way I Managed to Film it Under Fire | [76] |
| CHAPTER VI |
| my first visit to ypres and arras |
| Greeted on Arrival in the Ruined City of Ypres by a Furious Fusillade—I Film the Cloth Hall and Cathedral, and Have a Narrow Escape—A Once Beautiful Town Now Little More Than a Heap of Ruins—Arras a City of the Dead—Its Cathedral Destroyed—But Cross and Crucifixes Unharmed | [80] |
| CHAPTER VII |
| the battle of st. eloi |
| Filming Within Forty-five Yards of the German Trenches—Watching for "Minnies"—Officers' Quarters—"Something" Begins to Happen—An Early Morning Bombardment—Develops Into the Battle of St. Eloi—Which I Film from Our First-Line Trench—And Obtain a Fine Picture | [85] |
| CHAPTER VIII |
| a night attack—and a narrow escape |
| A Very Lively Experience—Choosing a Position for the Camera Under Fire—I Get a Taste of Gas—Witness a Night Attack by the Germans—Surprise an Officer by My Appearance in the Trenches—And Have One of the Narrowest Escapes—But Fortunately Get Out with Nothing Worse than a Couple of Bullets Through My Cap | [93] |
| CHAPTER IX |
| fourteen thousand feet above the german lines |
| The First Kinematograph Film Taken of the Western Front—And How I Took It Whilst Travelling Through the Air at Eighty Miles an Hour—Under Shell-fire—Over Ypres—A Thrilling Experience—And a Narrow Escape—A Five Thousand Foot Dive Through Space | [107] |
| CHAPTER X |
| filming the earth from the clouds |
| Chasing an "Enemy" Aeroplane at a Height of 13,500 Feet—And What Came of It—A Dramatic Adventure in which the Pilot Played a Big Part—I Get a Nasty Shock—But am Reassured—A Freezing Experience—Filming the Earth as we Dived Almost Perpendicularly—A Picture that would Defy the Most Ardent Futurist to Paint | [116] |
| CHAPTER XI |
| preparing for the "big push" |
| The Threshold of Tremendous Happenings—General ——'s Speech to His Men on the Eve of Battle—Choosing My Position for Filming the "Big Push"—Under Shell-fire—A Race of Shrieking Devils—Fritz's Way of "Making Love"—I Visit the "White City"—And On the Way have Another Experience of Gas Shells | [121] |
| CHAPTER XII |
| filming under fire |
| The General's Speech to the Fusiliers Before Going Into Action—Filming the 15-inch Howitzers—A Miniature Earthquake—"The Day" is Postponed—Keeping Within "The Limits"—A Surprise Meeting in the Trenches—A Reminder of Other Days—I Get Into a Tight Corner—And Have An Unpleasantly Hot Experience—I Interview a Trench Mortar—Have a Lively Quarter of an Hour—And Then Get Off | [135] |
| CHAPTER XIII |
| the dawn of july first |
| A Firework Display Heralds the Arrival of "The Day"—How the Boys Spent Their Last Few Hours in the Trenches—Rats as Bedfellows—I Make an Early Start—And Get Through a Mine-shaft into "No Man's Land"—The Great Event Draws Near—Anxious Moments—The Men Fix Bayonets—And Wait the Word of Command to "Go Over the Top" | [151] |
| CHAPTER XIV |
| the day and the hour |
| A Mighty Convulsion Signalises the Commencement of Operations—Then Our Boys "Go Over the Top"—A Fine Film Obtained whilst Shells Rained Around Me—My Apparatus is Struck—But, Thank Goodness, the Camera is Safe—Arrival of the Wounded—"Am I in the Picture?" they ask | [162] |
| CHAPTER XV |
| roll-call after the fight |
| A Glorious Band of Wounded Heroes Stagger Into Line and Answer the Call—I Visit a Stricken Friend in a Dug-out—On the Way to La Boisselle I Get Lost in the Trenches—And Whilst Filming Unexpectedly Come Upon the German Line—I Have a Narrow Squeak of Being Crumped—But Get Away Safely—And later Commandeer a Couple of German Prisoners to Act as Porters | [169] |
| CHAPTER XVI |
| editing a battle film |
| The Process Described in Detail—Developing the Negative—Its Projection on the Screen—Cutting—Titling—Joining—Printing the Positive—Building Up the Story—It is Submitted to the Military Censors at General Headquarters—And After Being Cut and Approved by Them—Is Ready for Public Exhibition | [178] |
| CHAPTER XVII |
| the horrors of trones wood |
| Three Times I Try and Fail to Reach this Stronghold of the Dead—Which Has Been Described as "Hell on Earth"—At a Dressing Station under Fire—Smoking Two Cigarettes at a Time to Keep off the Flies—Some Amusing Trench Conversations by Men who had Lost Their Way—I Turn in for the Night—And Have a Dead Bosche for Company | [183] |
| CHAPTER XVIII |
| filming at pozières and contalmaison |
| Looking for "Thrills"—And How I Got Them—I Pass Through "Sausage Valley," on the Way to Pozières—You May and you Might—What a Tommy Found in a German Dug-out—How Fritz Got "Some of His Own" Back—Taking Pictures in What Was Once Pozières—"Proofs Ready To-morrow" | [196] |
| CHAPTER XIX |
| along the western front with the king |
| His Majesty's Arrival at Boulogne—At G.H.Q.—General Burstall's Appreciation—The King on the Battlefield of Fricourt—Within Range of the Enemy's Guns—His Majesty's Joke Outside a German Dug-out—His Memento from a Hero's Grave—His Visit to a Casualty Clearing Station—The King and the Puppy—Once in Disgrace—Now a Hospital Mascot | [205] |
| CHAPTER XX |
| king and president meet |
| An Historic Gathering—In which King and President, Joffre and Haig Take Part—His Majesty and the Little French Girl—I Am Permitted to Film the King and His Distinguished Guests—A Visit to the King of the Belgians—A Cross-Channel Journey—And Home | [214] |
| CHAPTER XXI |
| the hush! hush!—a weird and fearful creature |
| Something in the Wind—An Urgent Message to Report at Headquarters—And What Came Of It—I Hear for the First Time of the "Hush! Hush!"—And Try to Discover What It Is—A Wonderful Night Scene—Dawn Breaks and Reveals a Marvellous Monster—What Is It? | [222] |
| CHAPTER XXII |
| the juggernaut car of battle |
| A Weird-looking Object Makes Its First Appearance Upon the Battlefield—And Surprises Us Almost as Much as It Surprised Fritz—A Death-dealing Monster that Did the Most Marvellous Things—And Left the Ground Strewn with Corpses—Realism of the Tank Pictures | [230] |
| CHAPTER XXIII |
| where the village of guillemont was |
| An Awful Specimen of War Devastation—Preparing for an Advance—Giving the Bosche "Jumps"—Breakfast Under Fire—My Camera Fails Me Just Before the Opening of the Attack—But I Manage to Set it Right and Get Some Fine Pictures—Our Guns "Talk!" Like the Crack of a Thousand Thunders—A Wonderful Doctor | [234] |
| CHAPTER XXIV |
| fighting in a sea of mud |
| Inspecting a Tank that was Hors de Combat—All that was Left of Mouquet Farm—A German Underground Fortress—A Trip in the Bowels of the Earth—A Weird and Wonderful Experience | [245] |
| CHAPTER XXV |
| the eve of great events |
| A Choppy Cross-Channel Trip—I Indulge in a Reverie—And Try to Peer Into the Future—At Headquarters Again—Trying to Cross the River Somme on an Improvised Raft—In Peronne After the German Evacuation—A Specimen of Hunnish "Kultur" | [250] |
| CHAPTER XXVI |
| an uncanny adventure |
| Exploring the Unknown—A Silence That Could be Felt—In the Village of Villers-Carbonel—A Cat and Its Kittens in an Odd Retreat—Brooks' Penchant for "Souvenirs"—The First Troops to Cross the Somme | [259] |
| CHAPTER XXVII |
| the germans in retreat |
| The Enemy Destroy Everything as They Go—Clearing Away the Débris of the Battlefield—And Repairing the Damage Done by the Huns—An Enormous Mine Crater—A Reception by French Peasants—"Les Anglais! Les Anglais!"—Stuck on the Road to Bovincourt | [266] |
| CHAPTER XXVIII |
| the story of an "armoured car" about which i could a tale unfold |
| Possibilities—Food for Famished Villagers—Meeting the Mayoress of Bovincourt—Who Presides at a Wonderful Impromptu Ceremony—A Scrap Outside Vraignes—A Church Full of Refugees—A True Pal—A Meal with the Mayor of Bierne | [275] |
| CHAPTER XXIX |
| before st. quentin |
| The "Hindenburg" Line—A Diabolical Piece of Vandalism—Brigadier H.Q. in a Cellar—A Fight in Mid-air—Waiting for the Taking of St. Quentin—L'Envoi | [292] |