2 June 1916

Home Front's Kenny Stokoe arrives at the front, in this story by Jonathan Ruffle.

On 2nd June 1916, large numbers of Kitchener's new civilian army are massing in the valley of the Somme to take part in a carefully-planned, well-prepared attack of such overpowering weight that it might just end the war.

They include one Kenny Stokoe, local football hero for Marshall's, and spurned suitor of Edie Chadwick. Along with his pals, the newly-trained signallers of the Tyneside Scottish, Kenny is feeling confident. Until he meets the old army, in the person of Mickey Bliss.

Meticulously based on unit war diaries and eye-witness accounts, each episode of TOMMIES traces one real day at war, exactly 100 years ago.

And through it all, we'll 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.

Series created by Jonathan Ruffle
Producers: David Hunter, Jonquil Panting, Jonathan Ruffle
Director: Jonquil Panting.