my great grandfather was shot in the head during the Somme. He was treated by a German surgeon who had trained in Britain. The doctor wrote to my Great Grandmother to tell her that he was alive and recovering. He was then assigned to work on a farm in Silesia and once the war was over, he slowly made his way home - it too him months. There is a photo of me on his lap.. He had a divot in his skull from the bullet wound.

My great-grandfather was a German national serving on an american merchant ship when WW1 broke out. The ship was boarded by the British and he was taken captive, being the only German on board. Interestingly, the ship later sank off of Newfoundland with all hands lost. His misfortune turned out to be his salvation.

My great grandfather was a french prisoner and he was send to a small village in the middle of germany to help as an agricultural worker. There he met my great grandmother. Even though he was brought back home after WW1, he came back travelling 1000km to marry her.

I met a chap in 1977 who had been captured in 1915. He was just 15. He said the Officer who interrogated him spoke better English than he did. The old chap came from Birmingham. When the war ended, the guards abandoned the camp and he walked to Holland. His mate ate a raw rotten potato as it was all they could find. He died.

Is it bad that I learn more from this guy then I do my history teacher.

Oh no Battlefield1 Fanboys are coming...

This Channel is Everything the History Channel should be.

The words "woefully unprepared" seem to describe every aspect of every nation entering this conflict.

My father born in 1897, imported to Canada in 1903, left Canada in 1914, in April 1915 was captured at Ypres during the first chemical attack, mustard gas, a prisoner at 17 until he returned back to Toronto late 1920, emotionally a mess, 3 marriages, fathered 9 children worked and financially all of them and lived 88 years with the pain of war in his heart, always reluctant to share his memories of war. He used his white privledge to fight for Canada,

Great grandfather was prisoner of war in a Siberian prison camp for 4 years. When he returned home everytime his child cried he had to leave the house because he couldn't handle it. He would hear men cry themselves to sleep every night when he was a prisoner

"Most of them wouldn't come in contact with women for years."

6:19

My great-grandfather was a “doughboy”, serving in France during The Great War. He was wounded ( I still have his Purple Heart and the piece of shrapnel that was taken out of his leg), but he did make it home alive. I never knew him, so I never had the chance to hear about his experiences. As a history buff, I’ve studied WW1 over the years, but have learned far more about it from watching your videos than I have from any other resource. Your channel is a tremendous historical resource for WW1 facts. You present them very well, and in a way that keeps the viewer interested. I wish my history teachers back in school had been as engaging as you are; it’s obvious that you are passionate about this period in history, and that you enjoy teaching it.

This channel has brought me to realize just how big this war was. I read All Quiet in 10th grade and have been interested for a very long time thank you for all this cool information.

If anyone is interested, the great French film, "La Grande Illusion" from 1937 is great portrait of French officers who are prisoners of war during World War I.

Yesterday I finally finished binge-watching all the episodes but now a voice in my head always repeats 'hello, my name is Indy Neidell' :p

My Great Grandad on my mum's side had been fighting (I'm pretty sure it was half of the war) in WW1 and was gassed and captured. He was sent to a German prison camp, but though it was boring (but much better than the front), his German camp commandment gave him his request of paper and art material. It's beautiful to know that even in the terrible prison camps of WW1, art never was defeated! Sadly a few years after my grandad was born he died of Spanish flu. He never talked of his times at war though, and he never recovered from shell shock. (Well nobody really does do they?)

My Grandfather was in the Italian army during WW1. He did a mission for the US. Was captured and put in a German prison camp. He was given honorary US citizenship for his bravery during the war. He had to have a sponsor and a job waiting for him before he came to America. It did not pay for my grandma passage. My grandpa worked 5 years to bring her over.

just came across this channel. great content

Hey I just want to throw in a story, that is maybe a bit different and probably pretty lucky too. My Grandmothers father was a German soldier in French imprisonment, I am not quit sure when, but it was early in the war, where he was put into work at a farm. The farmer did at first not like him, but as time passed by they became excellent friends, and he had almost free hands at the farm where he lived. He ended up loving France, but as a site note the war hat had some serious inflictions on his mental- & physical-health, because he had lost a good friend on the western front, which disabled him from fighting in the second world war and led to that he died at an age og 45 or 55 (I don't quite remember)