Secret History: Britain's Boy Soldiers

"We'd been having a rough time. Three or four days with nothing to eat. No drinks; nothing. We were buggered. Absolutely buggered." Doncaster-born veteran Royce McKenzie's recollection of life in the trenches during the First World War reminds us all of the harsh conditions faced by the thousands of men who fought for King and Country, many losing their lives in the process.

However, McKenzie's story has another twist: he was only 17 when he enlisted, so not only came face to face with the horrors of war, but did so while under age. (The official age for joining up was 18 and, to serve overseas, lads were supposed to be 19.) This tremendously moving film tells some of the young soldiers' stories, using a mixture of dramatic reconstruction, historians' analyses and memories of those lucky enough to survive.

It is hard to believe that these days teenagers lie about their ages in order to get served in pubs, whereas 90 years ago, birthdays were faked to enable boys to go to war. More than 250,000 under-age lads fought for Britain during the conflict, although we will never know exact numbers - because the government of the time turned a blind eye to under-age recruitment.

This dramatised documentary shows that kids were so desperate to fight that they lied about more than their ages. Aby Beverstein, a 16-year-old Jewish East Ender, not only lied about his age but also changed his surname, so that no one would suspect he wasn't a British subject. Londoner Tommy Gay (played by Zak Thomas) was only 16 when he enlisted, but pretended to be 18. "When we went to the door," he says, "the man said: 'Oh yeah; you're just the lads we want.'"

The wholesale loss of life during the First World War always makes for thoughtprovoking television. However, the determination of these soldiers - little more than boys - to risk their lives for their country is barely comprehensible in our relatively peaceful times.

Pensioner Madge Maindonald, whose 17-year-old brother was killed in action, sums it up ideally: "He was at the beginning of his life. What did he know? He knew nothing, did he?"