Britain's Boy Soldiers
A 'Secret History' programme for Channel 4, made by Testimony Films. The programme told the story of the hundreds of thousands of lads who joined the British Army under age during The Great War.
The programme won 'Best Network Documentary' at the 2004 RTS Awards.
Richard Van Emden's excellent book 'Boy Soldiers' was published in 2005.
Uniforms, Equipment, Props and Specialist Extras:
Khaki Devil provided nearly all the uniforms, equipment and props for this production. We supplied copies of many extremely scarce recruiting posters and found a hall to film the recruiting scenes which had remained almost unchanged since 1914. We also provided many specialist extras who gave an added sense of realism to all the scenes which involved British soldiers of The Great War.
Location:
We built a complete trench system for the programme with barbed wire entanglements constructed exactly as the originals would have been. The trench was extrememly realistic as it was constructed using the original materials and designs of 1914/1915.
Training:
We also gave some basic training to the young actors who played the under-age soldiers.
