Thank you! I love Eric Bogle and his music. Fantastic artist!

John Douglas Hancock, my grandfather, 25th August 1918 lost his life on the Western Front, buried far from home in Achiet le Grand. My mother the youngest age 20 months of four girls all under five had no memory of her father. The Great War!

And again and again and again 🙏

I’m from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 . When I was a teenager , we used to go to the local folk nights & loved it . I learned many a war song . I would write the words for my mother & sing the songs . Willie m bride was a favourite . Thank you .. politics, religion is always at the root cause . 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🙏❤️

Great to see the guy who wrote and who’s inspiration give this treasure to us all.

As he says, it's not really about Willie McBride. It's about all those lads buried there. Equal in death. Known unto God.

Willie Mcbride.. Forgotten no more..

Lovely

Greatest anti-war-song i ever heard!

The Somme Battle Field is, for me, one of the most painful places on the Western Front. My grandmother’s First Cousin was killed during the Australian 1st Division, the men who had survived Gallipoli, involvement at Poziers on July 23, 1916. His grave was lost during the subsequent battles across this land over the next two years. His name is recorded on the Australian Monument at Villiers Brettonneux. I have been twice to pay my respects. In March 2018 at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, ACT 30 of his descendants gathered for a Last Post Ceremony. It was a very moving evening. RIP Charles.

Thank you Eric. My dad was in WWII, so all this means a lot to me.

Oh, my, listening to him say the words is emotional.

In common with countless others, both my grandfathers fought in WW1. One continued to hear the guns every night until his death in 1982: the other, who held both the DCM and MM ( with bar) was blinded in one eye by a sniper's bullet . I asked him about his bravery and he told me he wasn't at all brave, just scared of dying.

A song Eric that is so inspirational and I have loved all my life. My late father John Clarke loved this song and it is a song I hold so dear to my heart.

Always remember the warriors.

after being in a few wars, still trying to figure out what "anti-war" means. War is bad? That's really going out on a limb

Could anyone in Russia please show this to president Poetin?

A folk song should have 3 elements. 1. And easy to play tune. 2 An element of history to pass on and 3. A message for future generations. That's what folk songs are for from days before written history. By any measure this is one of the best folk songs ever written.

I visited the Australian cemeteries on the Somme with French relatives who let me sob by myself. They understood we were on hallowed ground. There were busloads of aussie visitors who spoke in hushed tones as if we were in church. There's no way we can thank enough, the men and women who went to war for freedom.

No more brother wars, no more wars between the tribes of true Israel.

And Today it's relived in Ukraine. I have family buried in France, so what did they die for?. Russia MUST be stopped. Their names were O'Leary and Mulligan.

My favourite cousin's are the mc bride's.

I'm Irish. My grandmother's family were Welsh Quaker's, my grandfather was a Cork Man. They ended up serving together and that's how my grandparents met. My grandmother's brother's refused to bear Arms and they became Stretcher Bearer's, That's what Quaker's were expected to do. All 4 amazingly survived the great war. Of the O'Leary side of the family 3 of 4 survived but a brother passed away at Chelsea Hospital and so it was 2 of 4. That's the O'Leary's, the other side their name was Davis. My Dad's family are Mulligan's. Such is life.

I always encourage anyone who is interested in military history to make an effort to visit war cemeteries and battlefields. I live in the central US, so I've never been able to visit a WW1 battlefield but I have visited a Civil War battlefield at Fort Donelson in Tennessee. I'm from the state of Illinois, and at the Fort Donelson cemetery there is a central monument with the graves of 20 soldiers from one Illinois regiment who were all killed in the battle. You can also see where they died, an open field surrounded by trees and Confederate defenses. It was a hopeless slaughter. And I couldn't help but wonder, much like "No Man's Land/Green Fields of France" wonders about Willie McBride: what kind of lives did these people leave behind? Were they remembered by their loved ones, or forgotten in the hundreds of thousands of deaths during the war? Might I be related to any of them? And the most chilling thought of all: if I were around in the 1860s, might I have been one of them? That regiment was recruited from Chicago, and I'm not too far away. It is a very humbling experience to see a place where people actually fought and died. It made me find a new appreciation for the humanity in war, and the value of a life.

Authulie is a small cemetery and for many to stop by to pay their respects to William and all the others speaks volumes...thank you Eric.

Not many songs depict an event as well as ' No Man's Land '. The Great War, as it was called, was supposed to be the last war; instead, it was the futile slaughter of millions for no other reason than to dominate a country, and opened the surety of another war more deadly than the first. " The countless white crosses in mute where they stand to mankind's indifference to his fellow man ". Wars are long endured when they happen, and quickly forgotten when they're over. Thank you for the song.

Only when we are ruled by women is there any prospect of killing war, mothers do not send their children to old men to command them to die...

What a great song, what a remarkable man, what a moving film! Just stumbled across it, luckily. I saw Eric Bogle in concert in Germany in the late 70s / early 80s, and was immediately impressed by this gentle and thoughtful singer and songwriter.

Really interesting and moving! Thanks for pointing the way here Dan, much appreciated!

Happy memories of our meeting in Adelaide some years ago and the sharing of memories and Talisker. Michael

Thank you, Eric, for the words that can move me to tears each time I hear them. Looking across the rows of headstones, one is struck by the waste of the great human potential laid under the grass there. And as I write this, in Ukraine it is happening again.

Thinking of the people of Ukraine today and wishing the best for them. Extremely tragic and horrible. Putin should be so deeply ashamed.

Thank you for sharing this beautiful clip. Despite loving this song and songwriter for decades I didn’t know the documentary existed.

“We send our children to kill their children” What a shame....

What a wonderful heart Eric has and to celebrate all the young ones of all past who died for wars, amazing to encompass it all....

We never learn

He seems like a lovely and kind man

Powerful. Moving. Heartbreaking.

I’ve visited this cemetery on many occasion, the fact that Willie Mcbride is buried there makes it a bit more special. Eric Bogle who for at least me is the greatest song writer of all time , I’ve had the pleasure of seeing him perform a few times. I even had the chance to chat with him, a true gentleman in all senses, thank you Eric for introducing me to the Great War , least we forget.

Eric Bogle you have a great Ego. Now we know who you are. Hope your feelings are true or is this just about you!

Where can I get part 2??

Just stumbled across this, and oh, such a beautifully executed film, with Eric's gentle, powerful, presence and words..

Great Song, Great Film,Great revelation of the song writers heart..... Thanks for posting this so poignant

Have loved the song for a long time but this is just priceless to hear the thoughts of the song writer, in his own words.

Aye, very moving.

I nearly broken down when eric was talking to willie's gravestone.

So profound and incredibly moving.

If everyone stood up and said NO. NO you sort it out. There would be none of this. Millions of dads sons millions being ripped apart for nothing. Years later it doesn't matter. Does my head in

This is what should be taught about war. The horror, the losses, the pain, the shattered bodies, and the short peaces before it goes all over again, and again and again and again....

Hearing Eric actually speak the words of the song is incredibly moving :(