ABC - The War that Changed Us (2014) Part 3 Coming Apart (1916-17)

Especially commissioned by the ABC to mark the centenary of the First World War, “The War That Changed Us” is history on a grand scale. Wrought from the fine grain detail of the vivid and evocative personal testimonies of six Australians - revealed in letters, diaries, speeches and newspaper articles the events of the war unfold at home and on the frontline. Driven by human stories, rather than the detail of military history, the series offers an opportunity to get close to the actual experience of war, and to learn how it changed the lives of those involved. As a result the political becomes personal and the epic everyday. We watch the series protagonists struggle with the opposing influences of imperialism and independence, militarism and pacifism, Old World enmities and New World utopian ideals. The War That Changed Us uses dramatic reconstruction, location filming, expert analysis and colourised black and white archive to tell a gripping tale spanning three continents over four brutal years. The events of 1914-18 not only change the course of human history, but would also test the mettle of one of the worlds newest nations Australia. The six key characters Foot soldier Archie Barwick (Myles Pollard) from Tasmania; army nurse Kit McNaughton (Jane Watt) from southwest Victoria; Boer war veteran Harold 'Pompey' Elliott (Luke Hewitt) from Melbourne; English born, farm labourer's son Tom Barker (Tom Milton); peace campaigner, Vida Goldstein (Virginia Gay) and pro-war crusader Eva Hughes (Alexandra Jones).

Part 3 Coming Apart (1916-17)

On the battlefields of Europe, Pompey Elliott, Archie Barwick and Kit McNaughton are caught up in a war where men fight and die in their thousands. Pompey Elliott leads his men in the battle of Fromelles where Australia suffers the worst 24 hours in its history. Archie Barwick suffers a terrible loss and endures a grim life in the trenches under the constant risk of death, while Nurse Kit McNaughton tends the wounded in what has become the bloodiest war in history. On the home front, there's political turmoil and bitter argument. Eva Hughes supports Conscription in a referendum that drives a wedge though Australian society. Militant unionist Tom Barker is jailed for good and his organisation, the International Workers of the World, outlawed. Vida Goldstein loses her brother in a war she opposes.

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