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The Battle of the Somme

Episode 2 of 6

Series honouring heroes from conflicts past and present. Olympic rower Matthew Pinsent reveals stories of his three great-uncles, who were killed during WWI.

Former Olympic rower Sir Matthew Pinsent joins Sophie Raworth and injured veteran JJ Chalmers at the Imperial War Museum in London. Matthew reveals stories of his three great-uncles, all of whom were killed during the First World War - on the Somme, at Gallipoli and during an aerial dogfight.

The son and great-grandson of one of the youngest officers to fight on the Somme return to the battlefield to walk in his footsteps, and at the Battle Back Centre in the midlands, a helicopter technician opens up to the group about her fight back to fitness.

Matthew Pinsent reads a farewell letter from a Somme soldier killed on the first day of battle, and Sophie takes in a new museum exhibition celebrating a century of war films.

Ending the show is a performance by the orchestra of Chetham's School of Music, playing a specially composed score to the first ever feature-length documentary from the front line in 1916.

45 minutes

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Sophie Raworth
Presenter JJ Chalmers
Participant Matthew Pinsent
Music Group Chetham's School of Music Orchestra
Series Producer Sian Price
Executive Producer Roger Farrant

Broadcast

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