Sabah

Whatever you have to do, you come back to me, do you hear?

I'll be all right, Mum, stop worrying.

You don't have to be a hero, you know.

We're going. We're actually bloody well going.

Germans won't know what hit 'em.

Gas release!

- Gas release! - Gas release!

- Masks on! - Masks on!

It's going to hit their trenches in 3 minutes.

Hit their trenches in 3 minutes.

Tuck those bloody masks in.

Come on boys!

- Next wave! - Next wave!

Next wave!

Move, move, move! Keep moving forward!

Can't see a thing!

Fogging up! I can't see!

Can't breathe.

Take them off. There's no gas here.

Shit!

It's coming back at us!

Get your masks back on!

Get your masks back on.

Stick together.

Take cover! Take cover!

Incoming.

Tommy! This way, Tommy! Take cover!

Not much use, are they? Cough it up!

And no water for a bit, makes it worse.

We can't stay here. We've got to

keep moving, upwind of the gas.

No! I'm all right here!

- It's not safe! - I'm not leaving!

What's your name?

What's your name?

Tommy.

Have you got a dad, Tommy?

Yes.

Yeah. He'll never forgive me if I let you.

We'll be all right here. Gas cloud's moving.

Come on.

No!

No!

No! No!

Bastards.

Pocket...

I got three pairs of socks on,

and I still can't feel my feet.

Welcome to the eastern front, boys.

I heard the shells here are 10 times worse.

There's no mud to absorb the impact. The ground's so hard.

I heard your hands get so cold,

you can't fire your rifle.

I heard they have trench parties every night,

more beer than you can drink and three women for every man.

- I like his version. - And me.

Let's get inside, light a fire.

Oh, I can smell bacon.

This morning, it was sausages.

You think it's the Russians' secret weapon?

Send over smells to distract us?

Don't see how, if you're the only one who can smell it.

- So why they picking on me? - No idea.

Freddie!

Ambush! Russians!

My rifle!

Mikey!

Let's get out of here.

Mikey, come on!

There's a ceasefire, so both sides can tend to the wounded.

Move up!

Ceasefire! Tend to the wounded. Move!

Ceasefire! Tend to the wounded.

I don't think I've ever been that scared.

I thought we'd had it.

I would have done if it hadn't been for you.

He would have killed you too.

The new kids that got here yesterday

said that last Christmas on the western front,

some of the British and German troops

came out of their trenches and played football.

And do you believe it?

It's not much of a war if we don't hate each other.

I don't think I did when we got here.

When it started...

I just thought of them as hats on sticks,

like a... Like a game at the fairground.

When you see people actually die,

people who the day before were telling you about their home

and their family, about a book they liked

or the food they were going to eat when they got home...

Then they're dead.

It's hard not to hate the people that did that.

Have you been writing home?

When I can.

After a year, it... It's hard to say anything new.

Well, it is if you leave out the

mud, rats, shells and dead people.

You need a system.

When you write to your parents,

you tell them that you're bored,

there's nothing to do,

but you're safe,

and there's lots of food and clean blankets

so they don't worry.

Then to your girlfriend, if you ever get one,

you tell her that y ou're fighting

the French and British single-handed.

You don't mind lying to your parents?

Do you think I should tell them that I'm

freezing to death on the eastern front?

That I can't feel my hands or feet?

No.

I tell them I'm proud to be fighting for my country.

We're getting leave!

- When? - Soon.

We get moved back to the western front,

and they're giving us four days leave before we go.

Do you know where you are?

You've been hurt. Do you remember?

Thomas, try and stay with me.

- Welcome back. - Where am I?

We got the shrapnel out in one piece,

and they say your lungs look clear.

Was anyone else hurt? My friends?

I'll ask.

Stop.

Your mum said I could come and meet you,

if I promised to bring you straight home.

People are struggling.

Things aren't so easy to come by.

But then, no one complains.

They say the food's all going to the soldiers fighting.

If it is, I haven't seen it.

Sometimes, the bread's so hard,

if we threw that at the Brits

instead of bullets, we might cause more damage.

Mikey!

Oh! Thank God.

Welcome home, Michael.