22 September 2014
S4C will broadcast a weekend of programmes on 27 and 28 September that will take a fresh look at the experiences of people in Wales and the world here at home and on the bloody battlefields abroad during the 1914-18 Great War.
The weekend includes three new programmes which portray the trials and challenges of ordinary people as well as some more well-known figures in the First World War and celebrate their contributions.
Llion Iwan, S4C's Commissioning Editor for Factual Programmes and Sport said, "These programmes all give a voice and a platform to people who have not always had their rightful place in the history books. Soldiers, women, conscientious objectors - powerful personal experiences which make strong and gripping television for today’s S4C audiences."
The weekend begins with a revealing documentary entitled Pwy sy'n gwisgo'r trowsus? (translation; Who wears the trousers?, produced by Apollo, part of Boom Pictures Cymru) which looks at the story of four women during the First World War.
The portraits show how the attitudes, rights and women's fashions changed as a result of the war. It features portrayals of Jessie Hughes of Holywell, who worked as a nurse in Manchester, Olwen Leyshon who worked in a munitions factory in Pembrey near Llanelli, Edith Haines who was among the first women to get a job as a clippie on the buses in Swansea and Olwen Carey Evans from Cricieth, who went to France with the V.A.D.s (Voluntary Aid Attachment).
The weekend of programmes continues on Sunday, 28 September with the moving documentary Gwrthwynebwyr y Rhyfel Mawr (translation: Objectors to the Great War, producers Apollo, part of Boom Pictures Cymru) which relives the story of four Welsh conscientious objectors.
There are portrayals of a farm labourer from Llaneilian, Anglesey Percy Ogwen Jones and pacifist George M Ll Davies who was imprisoned for preaching against the war. We hear the stories of the poet from Alltwen, Swansea Valley, Gwenallt, who went into hiding at his relatives' homes in Llandeilo and Rhydcymerau to avoid going to gaol and Ithel Davies, who, during his imprisonment, refused to do any prison work that would help the war effort.
The last programme is Tir Neb (translation: No Man’s Land, a Cwmni Da and Looksfilm co-production).
For many, 'tir neb' – no man’s land – is the ultimate symbol of the carnage of 1914-18. Tir Neb is a documentary film that is at once lyrical and tragic as it tells the story of the Great War, from the first shots to the armistice, in the words of those who served on both sides of no man’s land.
It is based on contemporary correspondence by Germans, Frenchmen and Americans – as well as Welshmen such as Huw T. Edwards, Hughie Griffith and T. Salisbury Jones.
Pwy sy'n gwisgo'r trowsus?
Saturday 27 September 8.30, S4C
An Apollo production (part of Boom Pictures Cymru) for S4C
Gwrthwynebwyr y Rhyfel Mawr
Sunday 28 September 7.30, S4C
An Apollo production (part of Boom Pictures Cymru) for S4C
Tir Neb
Sunday 28 September 9.00, S4C
A Cwmni Da and Looksfilm co-production for S4C
English subtitles
Online: s4c.co.uk
On demand: s4c.co.uk/clic
