British WWI Veteran Speaks: "I saw skeletons GALORE!" | WW1 Veteran Interview

In this remastered interview, "Ted" Francis (1896-1996) tells all about the terrible experience he had on the front lines of WWI. He speak candidly on his experiences, and offers some very thought provoking and emotional insights. We also have a conclusional breakdown of the matters spoken in the interview, at the end of the video.
#ww1 #veteran #warstories

[@HistoryDiveOfficial]

Ted Francis (1896-1996) - One of the last surviving soldiers of the first world war, He joined the British army in the very first weeks of the war (at age 18) to fight a Germany led by Kaiser Wilhelm II. Like many eager young soldiers who went off to the war under the delusion that he would be fighting glorious battles in the name of Britain, he quickly came to realize how brutal and awful the war really was. Not only did he find the war brutal and horrifying but he, like his comrades went to the war thinking that it wouldn't last past December and ended up fighting for their lives for the next four years. If you enjoyed this interview, please remember to like and subscribe!

[@mbluetraining]

Ted's words are a lesson to all of us! God rest his soul!

[@TheBrummie60]

To think Ted and many more valiant British lions sacrificed so much for a country that is barely a faint shadow of how it used to be. My heart weeps, bless 'em all.

[@HorseMalone]

When I was a youth there were a great many men who had been badly hurt in WW1, my own father had been in WW2, slowly the WW1 veterans dwindled away and then they were all gone and I never really thought about it until one day I realised there were now very few WW2 soldiers left. This country has very little left to fight for now, completely ruined during my short lifetime by various political wastrels. I despise them all.

[@grahambamford9073]

My great grandfather fought at the somme, he survived the war, but never talked about it for the rest of his life. I often think he must have seen terrible things.

[@kevinlatham5661]

a somme veteran described the sound of the german machine guns like a crowd of sewing machines in the distance.

[@colinwheeler6937]

Thank you for your service all those years ago Mr. Francis. Greatest respect

[@tonydean2541]

i dont know this man at all, but im so proud of him and what hes done. Total respect

[@berrymcockiner3906]

At least he had his brother ❤

[@madmusicyoutube]

Some of the things these heroes had to deal with and remember untill the day they passed away are horrendous.😢

[@leemoldon]

Amazing what men are capable of doing to each other when instructed by their governments!

[@jamiefairchild4029]

I remember an interview, perhaps from the 1970s, of a man who had served as a very young British officer in the trenches. At one particular time the hostilities halted, don't remember why, but he was put in charge of a burial party. He described the procedure, which started by kicking the body so the rats would escape the body cavity. They moved the remains of some 600 men over a period of days. He said that looking back over his life, the two or so years he spent in the trenches still occupied more of his memory than the rest of his life thereafter.

[@vespelian]

Sounds like from the BBC's The Great War of 1964. It was repeated in the 70's.

[@Jane-h5x]

One of the most graphic accounts of the trenches I've heard. Absolutely horrendous. So courageous to talk about it and get his experience recorded for posterity. Thank you, Mr Francis - a true hero.

[@andrewparrott7260]

Wow, absolute truth and no holding back on how it really was. WW1 was very hanious as is all wars, but this was truely the first mechanicised war of attrition. Thanks for your candid responses and insights to the way you lived and survived during such an awful time. May you rest in peace and lest we forget.

[@tomcolvin8199]

Sad to say but you are correct.

[@daughertyjack1]

Fantastic interview. Many thanks for posting this man’s stories that he shared with unflinching honesty. I genuinely hope he rests in peace now.

[@davidcrespin584]

I remember my English teacher when at school in the sixties telling me that he stepped off the duckboards and stepped into the decomposing chest of a soldier in the mud. His name was Dai Davies so I guess he fought with a regiment from Wales.

[@80srenaissance67]

They wouldn't have bothered if they could see Britain today

[@TRHARTAmericanArtist]

Same here.Corpse in the white house, and a dummy VP

[@heldt952]

Why did you write that comment?

[@Enhancedlies]

very moving, thanks for posting this

[@benitolazio8193]

Imagine fighting two World wars under the pretence of getting invaded , to have your government just let everyone come anyway.

[@lablackzed]

My great great granddad served in france he called it nothing but butchery we never learn.Rip

[@mickeymisa9350]

My Grandads brother was shot in the Somme right next to him. He was given a steel plate to save a bullet in the heart but that didn't help much. Bless you Ted for telling how it really was.

[@grantcumming5680]

Thank you Ted, a very very brave man RIP❤

[@pearljam619]

Thank you Sir for you sacrifices for our freedoms.

[@jacobmcbride9426]

The interviewer is never my main concern. At least they let the guy talk. Hopefully more people will see this .

[@nicholasmartin297]

They called WW1 “The war to end all wars”. I wish that had been true. There is no end to my admiration for those brave men who risked and sacrificed their lives for their countries. We need to have a war against the evil men who start them and take no prisoners. I remember a poster, from the 60s or 70s I think. It said profoundly “Suppose they held a war and nobody came…” It is the people who start wars who are the real enemy.

[@leod-sigefast]

What's with this really cringy way of chopping up the video and putting a really out of place American voice within the interview that obviously wasn't there in the original?! It really takes away from the authenticity of the veteran's recollections.

[@HistoryDiveOfficial]

The original interview was far worse. There was an incredibly obnoxious, condescending and impatient american woman interviewing him. She would get angry at him because he wouldnt answer the way she wanted. Snapping at him. Telling him to sit back when he couldn't hear her. Awful. When I tell you that your blood would boil watching it, I really mean it. This man showed a lot of patience with that horrid interviewer.

[@whitetroutchannel]

if your interested in hearing ww1 vet. stories i strongly advise watching the bbc series "the great war" it contains veteran interviews from all sides of the war including civilians and some kindly soul uploaded the complete series

[@kevpowlbeardedbiker]

I watched the original and it was hard to listen to that awful woman. What a man to see such horror. That whole generation of men and women were incredible.

[@kang_min_nal_ra]

@@HistoryDiveOfficial what are you talking about? The only thing about the original interviewer is she speaks very loudly, probably because the man has impaired hearnig. Nothing about it was condescending or rude. In fact she apologizes all the time for having to interrupt him

[@scouseneo4971]

Well we should be the judge of that ​@HistoryDiveOfficial

[@strickersniper7909]

The fact that his existences were seen on every front is just insane

[@shaunpeck5042]

This man and his fellow servicemen and women are true heroes

[@whitetroutchannel]

i heard a story once about a man in the trenches that had been buried alive under sandbags and all that was left was his arm stickin out of the bags, when the troops went over the top they shook the dead mans hand on their way by, it was considerd bad luck in the line if you didnt shake it

[@davefrench3608]

Thank goodness that the memories of these heroes from so long ago have been captured for posterity. His memories show that war is a disgusting activity.

[@johnhanson5943]

I still remember some of these men telling us about the trenches as a boy in South Africa. Lest we forget!

[@PETERNESS]

Opa a veteran of WW2 wouldnt stop telling awful terrible tales of death and huge sufferings in France The Netherlands and Belgium ,he would recall these times just before my brothers and i would go to bed and i suffered horribly ,the 5 of us brothers never slept more than an hour all night ,he lived to 98 years old and we miss him dearly ,we were hes way of dealing with grief

[@12alocin]

All of that pain and death and look at the UK today 4 August 2024!

[@Changedmynameagain]

Strange, I was a boy in the 1960's and every old bastard I ever knew was a miserable, sour faced veteran. It's so funny to think that all they spoke about was war, I feel I've been there and served. We were council house scum and they made sure we knew our place. I could throw threepence, and I'd be in Wimbledon common. We had our share of knobs, and complete scum, drinking meths and sleeping in the graveyards in Mitcham, but they survived the trenches.

[@80srenaissance67]

Sickening,isn't it

[@philipmilner9638]

My grandfather had his left arm, shreaded by shrapnel in Yprees in the autumn/winter of 1917.

[@JarthenGreenmeadow]

I wish this was 5 hours long.

[@mikeyoung7660]

The things he has seen😢

[@Spartacus45]

Lost two great uncles in WW1. Harry on the first day of the Somme, blown to bits and no body recovered. Then Edward at Arras, shot in the head by a sniper. He was bought home and buried with his parents locally. I also served 12 years in The British Army (Northern Ireland x 2, Iraq 1991 (Op Granby) and Bosnia UNPROFOR. We lost five from my regiment in 12 years, nothing like what these fellas went through!! "AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING,WE WILL REMEMBER THEM"

[@nomis777]

Why has the original interviewer been overdubbed?

[@jimihayes2763]

The original interviewer was rude , disrespectful woman

[@ginskimpivot753]

Part of a poem I wrote in memory of my grandfather, who was wounded by machine-gun fire in both legs while attacking the Gavrelle Windmill. _Our Father, please deliver us from this unholy hell._ _Does your only son mean more to you than mine?_ _I know the ten commandments are supposed to be our creed,_ _but from where I stand it seems there’s only nine._ _It can’t be very easy for you, looking down on this,_ _with your patience and compassion sorely tried._ _Opponents each of different tongues all vowing lives of faith,_ _if you’ll only come and smash the other side._ War is insane. God bless the fallen, the broken, and those who lie still surrounded by the soil they died defending.

[@wilderbeestmcc6539]

It’s sad that this old soldier had to carry this psychological baggage round for the rest of his lifetime….❤️🇬🇧

[@Changedmynameagain]

Fr Blundell was a jesuit priest and described these horrors in the trench's, he was crying in 1973, he was distraught, he taught history at Wimbledon College, he eventually had a nervous breakdown. RIP.

[@Kaisan-vc8fw]

Our son fought two tours of Afghanistan as a Junior Officer .... Although he doesn't talk about it, he did tell his mother one day soon after he returned from his last tour, that the Americans had once again dropped a drone onto an entirely innocent villlage ... So he and his guys had picked up the body parts of the children who had bene killed in one compound so their parents could bury them. War, never changes.

[@HistoryDiveOfficial]

Wow. Sorry to hear that your son went through that. I hope he's doing okay.

[@garysmith5641]

Every Great war veteran i spoke to as a kid was more frustrated with the Armistice than the dead , Imagine 1918 you been told you are going to Berlin for 4 years, then as the Germans crumble they tell you to go home , every Tommy knew that they would be back and their sons would have to fight another war , Imagine winning a war and told dont worry Germany has seeded 2 territories . this is what struck or veterans dumb and made them so frustrated to talk

[@brucecox5025]

One of the most terrible conflicts in human history besides WW2 WW1 Set the bar of how far sides were willing to go to win the war by any means necessary RIP to all lives lost British French German Austrian Hungarian Ottoman Americans and others 🙏

[@marble204]

16th Birmingham pal’s battalion, Royal Warwickshire fusiliers

[@lesliemackay7853]

I was lucky enough, from the late sixties onwards to meet and talk to a lot of The Old Boys and Talk to Them. Then, thanks to Measles I lost the hearing in My right which, though I had to always sit at the front of the class I was allowed to avoid a lot of classroom crap as long as I was quiet, so I read. Rapidly got bored with war fiction so I started on autobiographies, so a little knowledge and a big mouth I'd talk to The Old Boys who realising I wasn't going to be a drama queen would talk about all kinds of things, the most frequent thing would be the stench of rotting flesh. To the extent that most could never eat Pork again. Senior BB I was taught First Aid by Doc Wilson ex RAMC, using real skeletons, the same Doc that that taught the same course to My Uncle, b21 and Dad, b33 and They always said He'd always looked the same, tall, erect, striding out with a with a walking stick at Reverse Arms. A different breed.

[@pab777]

What a bloke

[@glennbrady9971]

Was supposed to be the War that ended all Wars...and yet it still goes on....

[@dodibenabba525]

It's a disgrace how we treat each other

[@doncampbell9606]

Tremendous people.

[@markbotterill4076]

Brilliant

[@garychynne1377]

nightmares.

[@ealingwest5750]

Why the American accent dubbed over the original film makers questions?

[@indiosveritas]

The host voice ( most probably AI) is an insult to this brave soldier. It is disgusting .

[@michaeltaylor8835]

God rest his soul

[@bonzo9472]

Now we have drones…

[@bonzo9472]

Absolutely terrifying to be targeted by.

[@sammckay542]

Whys it got a silky afro american voice dubbed on it gives it a bizzare comedy feel to me 😂

[@1945wittman]

This guy is not interviewing the old man.

[@HistoryDiveOfficial]

He was originally interviewed by an incredibly rude and patronising american woman which made it almost unbearable to watch, hence why the interviewers voice was replaced.

[@thejacal2704]

1945wittman Really?!

[@tuckedup]

@@HistoryDiveOfficial good

[@Rain-uc4ru]

^ @@HistoryDiveOfficial = So sad to hear that = Ted deserves FAR more respect Glad you "mugged off" the stupid woman's voice = She isn't worth the steam off his Pi$$

[@snarky_user]

Ridiculous added-on, voice-over questions.

[@deanormsby5510]

🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪

[@pimpompoom93726]

Absolutely hideous to make men live and exist like that-yet we're doing it in Ukraine today. My Great Uncle was at the Ypres front-I met him in 1967, fifty years later and he was still reluctant to talk about it. Was wounded once and gassed once.

[@RoganRogers]

Viewers Discretion for just listening to his story.....wrap your brain around that.

[@mozzab424]

was that an AI generated voice edited into an original audio track - awfull - why not keep the original context with the natural feeling of the interviewer

[@HistoryDiveOfficial]

If you search up the original, you'll see why!

[@Septell]

enemy choice wrong.. result can be seen by looking around..

[@joelee6315]

The Narrator is most false, talking in general it's not there work and a rip-off of its original origin. It's clear that all involved in the good work of the original have been sold down the line for some likes and a few quid for the HistoryDive channel. What desperation to use these men's experiences for ones own gains. Three of my Great Grandfathers were in this horrible European conflict. There's far superior WW1 experiences available on KZbin and other History channels than this doppelgänger of chance.

[@ourBrainF00D]

Please don't use AI voices for the questions. At least use a better one. This sucks.

[@samkitty5894]

Thank the rats for preventing diseases.

[@Lovelylove4everyone]

Millions of rats probably caused diseases.

[@davidyendoll5903]

Like Spanish Flu that killed more than mankind did , all sides that is , in WW1 ? I know what you meant and have to agree with you overall , but the trenches were perfect place for disease as people were so concentrated together with zero hygiene . My mother's father was involved in WW1 with transport systems . He spent time in the trenches too . His officer asked him to get his daily written orders by motorbike one day . Well Sid had never controlled anything with an engine , but he took tens of minutes to return whereas his officer took hours to do the same journey . For making the officer look bad Sid was fastened to a gun carriage wheel by each limb and beaten . Then he had to try to refloat a shelled canal barge with a spade ...... No wonder he hated officials after the war . He then of course had to go through the WW2 , but not abroad at least , like all the over lads he grew up with . Sid was born in 1895 , but lived until the early 1980s with good health and mind . Lest we forget

[@ianhobbs4984]

I learnt my lesson with 2 years in County Armagh Ireland. DON'T GET INVOLVED IN OTHER PEOPLES WAR. And that is why I consider all militaries to be as bad as their opponents TERRORISTS. We had no wright to be in Ireland we were an illegal occupation force.

[@whitetroutchannel]

its funny you comment that, the unionist majority in the north at that time formed a large swaithe of men on the 1st july 1916 indeed the 36th ulster div (along with the mancs and a french div.) were one of the few units to take german lines that morning, those men fought for a united unionist ireland (which they shamefully didnt get) ill not got into the nationlist side (16th irish div) thou they fought as bravely as the unionists for irish home rule, so all that in mind why do you think the irish republicans that holed themselves in a post office in dublin were the correct ones?