The Great War scarred the world trenches Which stretched if laid end to end for 35 000 miles across once picturesque Countryside and bodies of innumerable Young men lives broken cut short before They truly had a chance to begin 1914-1918 was a colossal struggle one Which 100 years later we cannot shake The remembrance of for not merely were The loss is great whole family trees Torn up by the root the experiences of The men who went to war were incredible Not merely because of the cruel Conditions in which they fought but Because of the things they witnessed The Oddities the Paranormal indeed in World War One stories of the strange and Supernatural abounded Tales of phantom Bowman and Angels descending from Heaven To protect those fighting in the Trenches were widely circulated as were Somber stories those of Fallen comrades Returning as ghosts to utter one final Farewell to their fellow soldiers one of The most significant paranormal events Reported during the war was the Mysterious disappearance of an entire British Battalion in 1915. on that day Soldiers present on the battlefield Witnessed hundreds of men charge forward Bravely into a cloud never to be seen Again
My name is Laura and you are watching The Paranormal scholar Foreign Despite being described as contemptibly Small at the start of the war by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany the British army Had swollen in size by the time the Conflict ended with a tremendous 8.7 Million men serving at some time during The war like so many others in the UK And elsewhere my family was touched by The hostilities as such I would like to Say a big thank you to my Heritage for Having sponsored this video and thus Providing me with the opportunity to Share my own world war one family History with you I always knew that my great-grandfather Had fought in the War I never had the Chance to meet him but through my father No of his service in a very vague and Indistinct way he too never met him but Has for many years kept safe the medals Which he was awarded and so when given The chance to research my family history I knew precisely who I wanted to learn More about with over 90 million users my Heritage is the leading global Service For family history research and DNA Testing that not only makes building Your family tree a pleasant and easy Activity but also allows you access to Powerful tools that can help you Research your family history in Greater
Detail when searching for my Great-grandfather Frank I was able to Access my heritage’s depository of more Than 18 billion easily searchable Historical records this led me to Official records about his military Service including the very service medal And award roles index pertaining to the Medals my father has kept safe for so Many years I learned that he fought in France on the Western Front having Entered the war in 1915. for the first Time in my life these medals although Always special were transformed from Mere Souvenirs of the past to an entire Life even if you only know a little About your family’s Origins my Heritage Can find new family members and records Of your ancestors when I began building My own tree I only input the details of A handful of immediate family members With the help of my heritage’s tools Including smart matches and instant Discoveries I was able to swell my Family tree to 205 members again my Great-grandfather grew becoming so much More than a name or a face in a Photograph I was able to trace his early Years where he lived and what his Parents did as well as his eight Siblings and their stories all of which Left me feeling oddly proud of people I Have never met but people who if it were Not for them their stories their loves
And their courage I would not exist Another my Heritage tool which truly Brings your family history to life is Its Advanced AI Technologies for Repairing enhancing colorizing and Animating historical photographs side by Side with learning about my family Members lives through historical records This feature is mind-blowing and so if You have ever wondered about your own Ancestors and been interested in Building your own family tree you might Like to sign up for a 14-day free trial And enjoy all the amazing features that Myheritage has to offer and if you click My link in the description and Afterwards decide to continue your Subscription you’ll get a 50 discount Thank you now on with the video World War one was fought primarily between the British French and Russian Empires Against the German and austro-hand Hungarian Empires and lasted until the Latter’s eventual surrender in 1918 a Clash between the great powers of Europe It eventually overspilled dramatically Dragging much of the world including the United States into the conflict in one Way or another the Ottomans an old and Powerful Empire sensing the opportunity To weaken its traditional rival Russia Entered on the side of Germany At the beginning of 1915 as part of a Grand strategy to isolate Germany the
British Empire aided by their French Allies opened up a new theater of war Against the Ottoman Empire in the Gallipoli Peninsula located in modern Day Turkey Gallipoli was initially Expected to be a limited and Speedy Campaign it soon turned into an epic Struggle between Empires their war Machines unceasing throwing hundreds of Thousands of bodies at each other among These were the first fifth Norfolk Battalion of the British Army on the 12th of August the Norfolk Battalion Charged across the suvlar plain major General f s inglefield would soon after Report that the Battalion and their Leader were filled with Arda and Dash as They made contact with and fought the Enemy in the midst of the fighting they Pressed ahead of the rest of the Brigade After which englefield lost touch of him When the fighting cooled and the man of The Norfolk Battalion did not return Rumors began to circulate that something Peculiar had happened inglefield himself Appears to have been one of the original Instigators of the mystery writing an Official report to headquarters he Stated that 16 officers and some 250 men Have disappeared and the present Battalion Commander Major Barton assures Me that no information concerning any of These can be obtained even within the Context of Total War the absolute
Disappearance of so many men including 16 senior officers was highly irregular Such as strangeness is captured by Inglefield’s report at a time of great Tragedy it would have been much more Usual for it to have been stated that The Battalion simply felt in action that He felt the need to highlight their Disappearance and lack of information Concerned learning it illustrates what a Mystery this was at the time and Certainly even the commander-in-chief of The Gallipoli campaign sir Ian Hamilton Wrote in an official dispatch to the British Secretary of State for war that In the course of the fight there Happened a very mysterious thing against The yielding forces of the enemy Colonel Sir H Beauchamp a bold self-confident Officer eagerly pressed forward followed By the best part of the battalion Fighting grew hotter and at this stage Many men were wounded or grew exhausted At the colonel with 16 officers and 250 Men kept pushing forward driving the Enemy before him nothing more was seen Or heard of any of them they charged Into the forest and were lost to sight Or sound not one of them ever came back It wasn’t until after the end of the war That the mystery of the Norfolk Battalion was thought of again assuming That the Lost men must have been held as Prisoners of War the British government
Made the request for them to be returned The Ottomans however denied all Knowledge of the soldiers claiming that Their forces had never engaged with them And so the task of uncovering their fate Fell to the Commonwealth wargraves Commission whilst traveling with them to Gallipoli Reverend Charles Edwards Discovered a Norfolk regimental cap Badge alongside 180 bodies 122 of these Fallen men bought the Shoulder badges which identified them as Belonging to the norfolks and so they Had been found the Ottomans had lied They had been slain by the enemy Yet this was not the end of the mystery For indeed when the farmer who owned the Land where the man were found was Interviewed he is said to have testified That all of the bodies were terribly Broken as if they had fallen from a Great height fearful of some Supernatural malady the farmer had Supposedly quickly buried them in the Nearest Gorge it is not known how the Man had sustained the injuries claimed By the farmer injuries which were Inconsistent with a bullet or bayonet Wound in this way the mystery lingered Unsolved but largely forgotten and Relegated to rumor until 50 years after The original incident In 1965 three sappers from a New Zealand Regiment present at the Battle signed an
Affidavit including their full names and Ranks declaring that they had witnessed The last charge of the Norfolk battalion They described how they and 19 others Watched a few hundred men of the Norfolk Battalion run forward to reinforce an Attack happening on Hill 16. the new Zealanders were in their trenches Located 500 feet away and saw as their Fellow soldiers charged forward a thick Cloud that seemed almost solid structure Mysteriously descend onto the Battlefield the men of the Norfolk Battalion are said to have marched Without hesitation into it after which They disappeared never to be seen again The soldiers who witnessed This Cloud Claim that they watched it devour entire Groups of soldiers who entered it for About an hour afterwards the cloud then Supposedly lifted from the ground and Joined a group of other clouds in the Sky which the soldiers described as Looking like peas in a pod immediately After these clouds sped away from the Area in unison toward the direction of Bulgaria one year after this testimony Was shared in 1966 another New Zealander World War One veteran called Gerald Wilde corroborated the story stating That the details were well known in his Regiment these eyewitness accounts in Combination with the strange report from The farmer who discovered some of the
Bodies have led many to believe that the First fifth Norfolk Battalion was the Victim of a mass UFO Abduction in a 1967 Book called Flying sources are hostile It is alleged that 22 more witnesses or New Zealander veterans came forward to Further corroborate the story those Witnesses are said to include artillery Personnel Who provided additional Details when they described how the Cloud had a strange quality to it with It producing a blinding glare that made Them unable to see and thus fire their Weapons thus Whispers of the Paranormal Grew seemingly evidenced by multiple Eyewitnesses However not all were so convinced as to The involvement of something Otherworldly despite claiming that they Had never engaged the Norfolk Battalion Ottoman records reveal this was untrue Many years after the end of the war Researchers combing through Turkish Archives discovered several testimonies Transcribed from captured soldiers of The first fifth Norfolk Battalion According to Turkish official history Which is shaped by these testimonies and Those of their own Soldiers the norfolks Were in pursuit of one of their Retreating battalions when a Counter-attack was organized so as to Intercept the pursuing British units This retaliation succeeded with it being
Written that the British soldiers were Bayonetted it was close and terrible Hand-to-hand combat the sort for which The Ottomans were well known and feared For their proficiency and preference One ottoman major at the scene reported Their Victory by stating thanks to God The enemy were utterly defeated and Scattered Around 37 prisoners of War were captured From the Norfolk Battalion their Testimonies are stalled in the Turkish Archives one a private Brown was wounded And captured on a hill whose name he did Not know another three soldiers were Recorded as working in a cement factory As prisoners of War whilst receiving Parcels from home it is perhaps the Testimony of second Lieutenant William Fawkes that provides the clearest Picture of what happened that day vaux Stated that he and his platoon charged Forward and were met by heavy fire that Decimated his unit only he and his Sergeant were left alive they continued To go forth until first his Sergeant Fell and then he was wounded even with His wound he was determined to keep Going until the wound caused him to lose Consciousness when he woke the stars Were shining above him and he was being Used as part of a parapet by the Ottomans it seems that they believed he Was dead and so worried that he would be
Killed if he tried to move from the Mound of bodies of which he was now Apart Falks stayed still until he lost Consciousness a second time The next time he awoke feeling desperate He attempted to take the trench Admiringly or bemused by his frantic Courage the Ottomans gave him food and Water and sent him to the rear with the Other prisoners of War another survivor Of the first fifth Norfolk has also been Found to have left an oral testimony This time in The Archives of Britain’s Imperial War Museum Sergeant Tom Williamson stated that the Battalion lost many of its officers Early on in the attack to sniper fire Leaderless they charged forward until Most of the Battalion went through the Turkish lines unknowingly we were Intermixed with the Turks they were Scattered around us Soon he was wounded and began to retreat When he saw the Sandringham platoon part Of e-company about 40 men under Sergeant Ima’s Sheltering in a barn the scrub was On fire they more or less surrounded by The Turks a hopeless position for them To be in they were undoubtedly killed or Wounded where they were I can picture I Miss now rallying his men These testimonies indicate at least one Probable scenario for the Norfolk Battalion propelled forward by a courage
That is impossible to imagine they Full-heartedly went so deep into Enemy Lines that they were surrounded and Destroyed The ottoman propensity for bayonets Would have left little room to have Survived such an attack thus the low Numbers of survivors in this way many Have concluded that the case is closed The fate of the norfolks was a terrible But very Earthly tragedy yet the New Zealander soldiers who gave their Eyewitness accounts were real veterans That were also there fighting in the Trenches so what of their testimonies After all there is little reason to Believe that they would have lied there Was no profit to be had in doing so and No matter what sort of a person they Were it is difficult to imagine several Veterans of such a tragic and traumatic Experience making light of it the Norfolks were their brothers in arms Thus it could be argued that there is Still truth to be found in what they Said Such truth might be inherent in the Inconsistencies of their accounts indeed They state that they saw the strange Clouds swallow the soldiers on the 21st Of August 1915 when in fact the first Fifth Norfolk Battalion disappeared some Nine days earlier on the 12th a Forgivable and small inconsistency given
The distance of time and yet Perhaps it Was no mistake perhaps they did observe The cloud on the 21st with the error in Their testimony being that it was not The first fifth Norfolk Battalion who Disappeared into it but a different Military unit and certainly there is Evidence to support this theory on the 21st a massive attack was launched of This Sir John Milbank the commander of The Sherwood Rangers who were involved In the action has stated that an Otherworldly pearly Mist obscured the Enemy during battle this grain of Testimony seems to match those of the The new zealanders and has led some Including the historian Nigel McCreery To conclude that the new zealanders had Confused this incident still strange and Potentially Supernatural with stories of The Disappearance of the Norfolk Battalion and so a mass UFO Abduction Just not of the soldiers we expected a Sensational proposition no doubt but one Which when considered is not as Incredulous as May first seem after all August 1915 saw some of the bloodiest Combat in the Gallipoli campaign it was The British Empire’s last-ditch effort To take the area and the fighting was Near constant with more than half a Dozen major battles fought during that Month alone yet the planning and Operations were awful maps of the area
Were incorrect at best often times Non-existent with many Provisions Unavailable and dysentery Rife many men Of faultless current were given Little Instruction other than to point shoot And move forward by the end of the Campaign there were approximately 300 000 casualties on the Allied side alone In this way it can be said that the only Reason that so much attention has been Given to the norfolks is because within That Battalion there was a platoon made Up of Sandringham Palace gamekeepers Commanded by the king’s personal agent King George V was thus very much Personally invested in these men and had Immediately ordered an inquiry as to Their fate nothing much could be Determined in 1915 which is telling Because if the norfolks with the king’s Own eye could not be found then what Hope did anyone else have a UFO could Have carried out the mass subduction of A battalion with little being set admits The machine gun fire and smoke Certainly when one studies inexplicable Happenings associated with the first World war the alleged disappearance of The norfolks is not a singular Occurrence according to James Haywood in His book myths and legends of the first World war in March 1915 there were Reports of many mysterious Disappearances of entire battalions in
The VA trenches in northern France these Stories were however soon forgotten Ultimately the wargraves commission did Not find all of the bodies of the Soldiers who died during the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign of the Commonwealth Soldiers that perished less than half Were found with another portion being Unearthed in unidentified Graves such Truly illustrates how we do not know Everything that happened during that Dreadful War What we do know however is this that Something strange seems to have happened If not to the Norfolk Battalion than on The 21st of August 1915 a report Compiled by the Royal Commission on Gallipoli the following year contained a Page from the commander-in-chief sir Ian Hamilton’s final dispatch in it he Stated that by some freak of nature Souvla Bay and plane were wrapped in a Strange Mist on the afternoon of the 21st of August Strangers still Hamilton’s dispatch went On to describe how the westward targets Stood out in strong relief against the Luminous light Such matches almost perfectly with the Descriptions provided by the new Zealanders and the commander of the Sherwood Rangers this report was Classified kept secret until 1965. 50 Years after the incident perhaps its
Implications although tragic are Innocent enough with the secrecy being a Matter of policy and nothing more or Perhaps it was hoped 50 years would be Long enough for the Mata to be forgotten And for no one to ask questions about Let alone remember what happened that Fateful day in the mud and blood of Gallipoli Thank you for watching I truly hope you Enjoyed this episode if you did please Leave a like And subscribe for more of The Paranormal if you are not already Also a big thank you to our members both Here on YouTube and on patreon for all The support you’ve shown our work you Are as always much appreciate Appreciate finally if you cannot wait Until my next video why not watch the One suggested on screen now until next Time Foreign
