Never before have so many resources been available to the family historian tracing Great War ancestors, both online and locally but the past dearth of easily accessible material has now been replaced by a blizzard of information that needs its own skills to navigate. Expert genealogist Simon Fowler shows Richard Hone the ropes, with some surprising results. Armed with details of Richard's great uncle William Pye's service between 1914 and 1918, the film sets out with battlefield historian Tim Saunders to ?Find Uncle Bill' and trace his war on the Western Front to his death just weeks before the Armistice. Their journey takes them from his first battle at Loos, via the Somme and Passchendaele, to his last battle and lost grave in the Ypres Salient. In ?Uncle Bill's Medals', Phil Mussel explains which campaign medals that the five million British and Empire soldiers who fought in the Great War would have been entitled to as a result of their active service. Richard Hone (Tracing Great War Ancestors) ? Former soldier, military vehicle expert and presenter for Battlefield History TV, Richard has his origins firmly in Sunderland. Family member William Pye, Richard's Great Uncle Bill, died in the Great War somewhere on the Western Front. With his passion for military history, he sets out to trace the war time service of his Great Uncle Bill on the battlefields of France and Flanders in what is a highly personal journey. Tim Saunders ? Author, military historian and battlefield guide Tim Saunders uses his knowledge as a battlefield historian to show Richard Hone how to use the various sources available to track down and locate the battlefields where his great Uncle fought on the Western Front.
