"Maybe Your Own Officer Would Shoot You"
EXHIBITION : IRELAND AND THE GREAT WAR
About this Item
Discipline could be harsh in the British Army, Jack King, who fought in the Royal Irish Regiment, outlines strong measures used to stiffen the nerves of the troops.
- Title Memories of World War 1
- 1st Broadcast 24/10/1984
- ContributorJim Fahy (Presenter)
- Clip Duration 00:02:05
- Material Type Audio
- Series title Looking West
- Clip title "Maybe Your Own Officer Would Shoot You"
- Extended description
Jack King recalls the tough disciplinary measures used in the British Army including beatings and shootings.
"You had to follow instructions if you didn't maybe your own officer would shoot you as well as the others, you see that was how it was. They would they would shoot you if you didn't do what they told you. Or they would beat you..some of them would beat hell out of you."
Jack also remembers been given a liquid to drink before going into action. "When you have it drank about half an hour after you would go through the wall. There was no wall in the world would stop you. Whatever the hell was in the thing."
- Information
An interview with First World War veteran Jack King for the series 'Looking West' broadcast 24 October 1984.
'Looking West' was a series presented by Jim Fahy looking at people, places and events in the west of Ireland.
The photograph accompanying this clip is courtesy of King's College London and shows Lords Granard, Powerscourt and Headford at the Dardanelles in 1915.
- Local keywords World War 1, First World War, Great War, Conflicts, Wars, Jack King, British Army, Royal Irish Regiment
- Geographical coverage Ireland
- Genre Factual
- Topic Wars and Conflict
- Publisher Broadcaster RTÉ
- First broadcast channel RTÉ Radio One
- Production year 1984
- Country of production Ireland
- Original identifier BB1937
- IPR restrictions Rights Reserved - Free Access
- Rights terms and conditions
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- Item sound Mono
- Language used English (eng)
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