MARK KNIGHT
9 November 2019 • WAR CRY • FEATURE 3
Logging on to the past W
HAT might you have done during the First World War? BBC Rewind – the corporation’s archive project – has relaunched its digital experience, which takes users on ‘an interactive personalised journey through World War One’. The Armistice Day pages ask a series of questions and, with each click, people can learn more about various aspects of the war. They are brought to life through clips from the BBC archive that feature soldiers who served in the war and their loved ones. The first question is geographical. After selecting the region of the UK that they were most likely to serve in, users can learn information specific to it. Those who may have served in the Midlands will be able to hear the story of the egg collectors, who were under pressure to collect eggs locally that would be sent to feed the wounded soldiers at the front. One million eggs were needed each week. Anyone who selects the Scotland, Northern Isles and Hebrides region will learn about the ‘Gretna girls’ or the ‘munitionettes’, the female workforce that produced munitions. They worked at HM Factory Gretna. At the time, it was the world’s biggest munitions factory, with its own independent transport network, power source and water supply. The next question asks whether the user would have served at home or away. Service away included caring for the wounded as a nurse, maid or cook, or serving in the British Army, the Royal Navy or the Royal Air Force. At home, contributions to the war effort could have been producing munitions or working the land. But there were also conscientious objectors who refused to fight because
Sarah Olowofoyeku reports on the interactive website that takes users back in time of their pacifist, political or religious beliefs. They were often mocked and shamed, and almost 6,000 of them were sent to prison. Whatever a person did in the war, the clips and information from the BBC archive make it clear that it was tough for everyone. Families at home grieved as thousands died in the fighting. Many sacrifices had to be made. Men and boys from Britain and its empire left the lives that they knew to go into the unknown. But, despite the harsh conditions, men continued to fight. And In the war, many many of those on the front lines ended up sacrifices had to making the ultimate be made sacrifice by giving up their lives in the conflict. Historian Vanda Wilcox suggests what may have been behind the soldiers’ resilience and willingness to continue fighting, writing that ‘men were motivated above all by comradeship as they fought alongside friends and companions’. Willingly putting oneself in danger or making a sacrifice is never easy, but a motivation can be powerful. Before giving up his own life for the sake of humanity, Jesus said: ‘Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends’ (John 15:13 New International Version). Jesus’ sacrifice made a way for us all to experience a friendship with him. His resurrection has given hope to many people in the past – and can assure us that, whatever battles we feel we are fighting, there is someone who will stand by us.