Inspired by stories from my grandad who enlisted in 1914, my research uncovered little known incidents such as:

• Colonel John Ward, an illiterate child navvy, who became the commanding officer of a regiment of medically unfit men fighting in the depths of Siberia.
• a Canadian who trained Russian prisoners released to support the allies who mutineed and killed their officers, and
• the only German PoW to escape Britain.

It was not all mud, blood and barbed wire. This talk uncovers some of the fascinating stories that have been forgotten in mainstream history.