My family's dark Somme secret, by UK TV historian
Dan Snow, the TV historian, belongs to one of Britain's most distinguished broadcasting families. When he began looking into the past of a little-known ancestor, however, he was shocked to uncover a deeply uncomfortable family secret. Sir Thomas D'Oyly Snow, the grandfather of TV journalists Peter and Jon Snow, was a general at the Battle of the Somme who sent thousands of men to their deaths.
Dan came close to tears as he stood in the graveyards of northern France, contemplating his great-grandfather's central role in the biggest disaster in British military history. On the first day at the Somme, 1 July 1916, the army suffered 57,470 casualties, including 19,240 dead. Popular history would judge that these men were 'lions' led by 'donkeys' such as Douglas Haig and Thomas Snow. 'That is the darkest day in British military history, arguably British history, and my great-grandpa was one of the key guys in the planning and execution of that attack,' Dan Snow told The Observer last week. 'That was a huge surprise. It's fascinating to be descended from one of the most maligned men in British history.'
Dan is the son of Peter Snow, the former Newsnight presenter famed for the election night 'swingometer', and together they presented the TV series Battlefield Britain. Peter is a cousin of Jon Snow, the main presenter of Channel 4 News. Dan's grandfathers both fought in the Second World War, one in the army in India, the other in the Canadian navy. But despite being a professional historian Dan had not examined his own family history. He grew up aware of Thomas from a portrait on the living-room wall and his father's joking description of him as 'a bit rubbish'. 'He had a very stern face and this big moustache,' said Dan. 'He used to stare down at us from the wall as we ate.'
So the historian seized the BBC's offer to take part in My Family at War, a series in which celebrities trace ancestors connected with the First World War to mark next month's 90th anniversary of the Armistice. But unlike many of the other participants, who include Rolf Harris and Kirsty Wark, Dan did not find a straightforward story of lost innocence.
Read entire article at Guardian (UK)
Dan came close to tears as he stood in the graveyards of northern France, contemplating his great-grandfather's central role in the biggest disaster in British military history. On the first day at the Somme, 1 July 1916, the army suffered 57,470 casualties, including 19,240 dead. Popular history would judge that these men were 'lions' led by 'donkeys' such as Douglas Haig and Thomas Snow. 'That is the darkest day in British military history, arguably British history, and my great-grandpa was one of the key guys in the planning and execution of that attack,' Dan Snow told The Observer last week. 'That was a huge surprise. It's fascinating to be descended from one of the most maligned men in British history.'
Dan is the son of Peter Snow, the former Newsnight presenter famed for the election night 'swingometer', and together they presented the TV series Battlefield Britain. Peter is a cousin of Jon Snow, the main presenter of Channel 4 News. Dan's grandfathers both fought in the Second World War, one in the army in India, the other in the Canadian navy. But despite being a professional historian Dan had not examined his own family history. He grew up aware of Thomas from a portrait on the living-room wall and his father's joking description of him as 'a bit rubbish'. 'He had a very stern face and this big moustache,' said Dan. 'He used to stare down at us from the wall as we ate.'
So the historian seized the BBC's offer to take part in My Family at War, a series in which celebrities trace ancestors connected with the First World War to mark next month's 90th anniversary of the Armistice. But unlike many of the other participants, who include Rolf Harris and Kirsty Wark, Dan did not find a straightforward story of lost innocence.