| 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—A
|
