Teenage Tommy who saw history made

Benjamin Clouting was 16 when he witnessed the first British shots of the Great War. He was the son of a groom working on a large estate near Lewes in Sussex and his love of horses and desire to join the Army brought him to 4th the Royal Irish Dragoon Guards.

Just a week after setting foot in France, Ben took part in the British Army’s first engagement near the Belgian town of Mons when his colleagues opened fire on a group of enemy lancers.

Ben remained on the Western Front for almost the entire war and later in life took over a window cleaning business in Reading, where he worked until shortly before his death in August 1990, aged nearly 93.

Later in his life Benjamin relayed a vivid account of what he saw that day to author Richard van Emden who is interviewed here along with Ben's great grandson. We also hear from benjamin Clouting himself in an interview filmed just before his death on the very spot those shots were fired.