Tommies

Meticulously based on unit war diaries and eye-witness accounts, each episode of Tommies traces one real day at war exactly 100 years ago. Today Tommies celebrates the women combatants and drivers of the Serbian Army in this story by Jonathan Ruffle.

Doctor Celestine de Tullio, like Flora Sandes, has gone from doctoring to fighting in Serbia, joining the legendary campaign of the Serbian Army to reclaim its homeland, in which 60% of the male population died. Today she's commanding an offensive up a near-vertical mountain deep in snow. The military objective is at the top of the mountain. But Celestine has another target in her sights.

And through it all, listeners follow the fortunes of Mickey Bliss and his fellow signallers, from the Lahore Division of the British Indian Army. They are the cogs in an immense machine, one which connects situations across the whole theatre of the war, over four long years.

Cast:
Sergeant Celestine de Tullio.....Pippa Nixon
Commentator.....Indira Varma
Major Milan Dukic.....Paul Chahidi
Sergeant Gordana Savic.....Catriona McFarlane
Olive Collings.....Karen Bartke
Corporal Radomir.....Finlay Robertson
Private Janko.....Gavi Singh Chera
Private Kuzman.....Robert Ginty
Signaller.....Nicholas Murchie
Soldier.....Luke MacGregor
Corporal.....Maksim Mijovic

Director: Jonquil Panting
Producers: David Hunter, Jonquil Panting, Jonathan Ruffle for the BBC

Publicity contact: BBC Radio 4 Publicity