Hi again. Tonight on Sunday ` lost and forgotten faces. Do you know who they are? Can you help solve the mystery? They went,... they fought,... and too many died. Who are they? That's incredible that that's survived. Faces of our soldiers, our heroes. Beautiful, clear, and they're really personal. Stories of romance, bravery and sacrifice... in a photo. Wow. Kia ora. I'm Miriama Kamo. There's a story behind every photograph. And in this case the stories are of young lives lost, hearts broken, families torn apart, and, really, tragedy almost beyond comprehension. When World War One broke out, many of our soldiers got a photograph with their wives, their children, and their loved ones. The portraits would have graced mantlepieces at home and comforted those young men in the trenches. Many of those soldiers didn't survive, but the images lived on, hidden away in a dark and dusty attic. Pete Cronshaw takes us back to where history lay hidden for 100 years. GARY JULES' 'MAD WORLD' For nearly a century, a treasure trove of NZ history lay hidden and neglected amongst the dust and cobwebs of this attic. God, look at all this stuff. What's that? Part of an old camera maybe. Even today, this attic is littered with hundreds, maybe thousands of images from the past. God, that it is someone's little baby. That is incredible that that has survived. But the most precious of all ` a unique historical record of the First World War ` was rescued by Te Papa nearly 15 years ago. The images are so beautifully clear, and they're really personal. They put a real human face to the War. And I could identify with them, because they were ordinary NZers, just ordinary people who were put into a situation that was extraordinary. The big question is who are these people? There is a lot of mystery in there. Now Lynette Townsend and a group of Te Papa historians are attempting to unravel the mysteries of the past and put life stories to each and every one of these faces. It is not just about a battle or an event in the war. It's about that person now. I felt like they were calling out to be found, to be discovered. Who were they? We needed to reconnect them with their identity. You obviously have a connection. Have you shed a tear for any of them? CHUCKLES: I don't know if I want to confess to that. Come on. God... (laughs) yeah, I probably have, yeah. It is easy to dismiss any historical object as just a 'thing of curiosity', but as historian Kirstie Ross will tell you, it is the backstory that makes all 'things' interesting. What are these? I get this is part of a uniform, but what is this? This little guy is made from a chicken bone, and he was sold by Dorothy Broad and her sister Frances. Is that a chicken wishbone? Is that a chicken wishbone? Yeah, this is a chicken wishbone. And she and her sister made quite a few of these and sold them to raise funds for soldiers' tobacco and comfort. Sadly, these wishbone soldiers failed to work their magic and bring comfort to Dorothy. This little woollen doll was made by Dorothy and we believe he is supposed to be a stand-in for her fiance who left in the main body for Egypt in 1914. Dorothy's fiance, Wyville Rutherfurd, was awarded the military cross for bravery but died of influenza in Iran as the war came to a close. She never received his medals because they went to the next of kin. So, she did the best she could with these items to memorialise him. She never got married? She never got married? She never married, no. She lived a long life. With a broken heart? Well, a heart that was missing something, missing the love of Wyville. It's really disappointing when you get collections in of photographs or of artefacts and we know nothing about how they were used, how they were appreciated, who bought them, who gave them to whom, you know, so it is those biographies, those life stories around the photos and our collections that we-we-we cherish. In the lead-up to 'the war to end all wars', more than a 120 Kiwi soldiers took time out to have their portraits taken by William Berry at his Wellington studios in Cuba Street. He ran a business there, a photography business for almost 30 years and really that's about all we know about him. The photographer himself is a bit of a mystery, but his portraits are a character study of men under stress ` ordinary Kiwis preparing to leave their loved ones and embark on an adventure that will haunt them for the rest of their lives. He didn't intend to leave this legacy. The photographs were taken for purely commercial reasons. He was running a business, and he probably wasn't thinking about posterity. And I think he was simply taking photographs for people who wanted a photograph taken. And it looks as though when he left his business, he simply left the negatives behind. Finding these glass-plate negatives was just the beginning. Then began the real detective work, trying to put a name to the faces. The biggest clue is this white scrawl on top of the negative. Once inverted, it reveals a name. In this case, Goldfinch. I'm still trying to unravel the story of Adolph Goldfinch. Adolph Goldfinch was 43 years old when he signed up to go to war. And there is plenty of evidence to suggest this father of 10, who'd been married three times, was eager to get out of town. From what we can gather, Adolph may have been a bit of a ratbag. And he was prosecuted a couple of times for not keeping up maintenance payments and not sending his kids to school. The problem for me with this photo is if Adolph absconded from his parental responsibilities, then why have we got a photo, a family photo, with all his children and wife in it? So I'd really love to know a bit more about Adolph and his family. And then, by contrast, there is the story of 27-year-old Lance Bridge. I think the story of Lance Bridge is quite a sad one. Lance bridge was an unsung hero. His life and death encapsulated the Anzac spirit. He was at Gallipoli, and he was involved in the assault on Chunuk Bair in August 1915, and he's wounded during that assault, but he refuses to take any medical care. He's lying in the field wounded, but he says to stretcher bearers, 'There are men more wounded than I. Take them before you take me.' And he's out there for days without treatment and eventually he does die, and so he sacrificed his life so others could be saved. I love this photo here. Why? Why? I don't know. I just think it shows that the war wasn't just about the men going away. It was about the families. There is no doubt many of these men were bound for some of history's bloodiest battles. You look at them think, 'I could never let my partner go or my husband or my child,' but they didn't have a choice. In all likelihood, these images could be the last photographs of them before they died. And it is upsetting to think what some of these guys went through and what some of the families would have gone through. There's still that hope that we'll be able to connect those with` with a family member and then they can add to the story. After the break, we go in search of more clues to try and identify those who lay in wait for nearly a century. She is sitting in exactly the same chair as those soldiers were. And 100 years on, an emotional reunion. Wow. I'm just... Oh, I'm speechless. PENSIVE MUSIC They called it the Great War, the war to end all wars. Of the 100,000 NZers sent overseas, more than 41,000 were wounded and 18,0000 killed. In all likelihood some of these men did not survive the years of bloody battles that lay ahead, but their images have. I think about the intensity of emotion that people would have been feeling, and I just can't comprehend it. You know, for me it is so outside of my life and my experience. EMOTIVE PIANO MUSIC Berry's vision captured a priceless insight into our war history. But his record keeping has left very few clues to the identity of these men, their children and loved ones. It's really annoying. I wish Berry had of had better handwriting because of course someone's inscribed the name on all of the negatives, and some of them it's just rubbish. I mean... (SIGHS) This photo clearly states the name Beckett. The problem is 26 Becketts served during World War One. At first glance, there is not much to tell you. According to historian Mike Fitzgerald, the secret to solving this 'who-is-it' rather than whodunnit is in the detail. There is no badges of rank, there is no collar badge but what there is... is a dark cloth patch on what they call his forage cap. The plain old patch? The plain old patch? Yep! That temporary patch was issued to founding members of the NZ Rifle Brigade, 2nd Battalion. The 2nd battalion were in camp at Rangioto in the Manawatu in late August, and because there problems in the camp with bad weather and overcrowding and general conditions weren't that good, they decided to send the men on leave for a week. So we were able to figure out that this photograph was taken some time during the week of the 20th to the 27th of August. One Beckett served in that unit. A check of his military records reveals he was Private Middleton Beckett, an enthusiastic recruit who lied about his age and gave up his childhood to serve King and country. I didn't know anything about him. Nothing was ever said about him, except I knew my father had a brother named Middleton. Judy O'Connell is Middleton Beckett's niece. Look, I've got a wee prezzie, something I want you to look at. Now, after nearly a hundred years... It is like Christmas. ...she is about to be re-united with an uncle she never knew... Wow! ...and also an aunt. There were actually three glass plates found in the attic. There were actually three glass plates found in the attic. Goodness. This is an amazing surprise. Oh, is that him with his mother? < No. < No. His sister? I think you'll find that's your Aunt Helen. I think you'll find that's your Aunt Helen. Aunt Helen! Wow. Goodness me. Oh, I feel like weeping. (CHUCKLES) I'm just... Oh, I'm speechless. Excuse me. I... I can't believe that. Judy had been told her uncle died of pneumonia in the trenches, but official records reveal a different story. READS: As the party climbed over the parapet just upon dark, the enemy opened a light bombardment. Rifleman Beckett was struck by a shrapnel bullet. For a time he did not seem to be badly wounded and he was able to talk to his stretcher bearer, but by the time the ambulance arrived, his voice and strength were failing and he never rallied. Ohhh. Oh. Mm, I didn't know any of that. We didn't know that. Nor did she know he lied about his age. All those lives just wasted, just taken. It's unbelievable. Middleton Beckett's life story ended in France aged 19, but amongst this unique collection of photos are some miraculous stories of survival. For example there is this man here, John Owen Clay. The uniform and bandolier reveal he was a mounted trooper. His war records tell us how close he came to death. So what happens is that he's wounded taking part in a bayonet charge on the 25th September, so he's wounded, gunshot wound to the head with compound fracture of the skull, so pretty serious. What effect the wound had on his life ` who knows? John Owen clay not only survived, he eventually married and had two boys, the oldest of whom is John Clay II. Evidently he was hit in the head, and all I remember was, in his forehead. He was bald of course, and he had a dent in the top of his head. But if he held his head up you could put about a tablespoon water in it and that was all... You know, we just never questioned it. It was there, and that was it. John has very few mementoes of his dad's life. So, this is it, this is all you've, really, got of his life? Yeah. Just his watch and chain and his three razors. (CHUCKLES) Yep. This was the only photo he could find of his dad. I'm the oldest one here, hanging on to the pram. Until that treasure trove of images from Berry's attic came to light. It's a bit of a shock, actually. Yeah. Photographs of my parents is something I haven't got a lot of. I can remember as a child there was this photograph was around the home somewhere, but no doubt in the shifts over the years, um, it got lost. But now I have it back again. That's good. Like many children of his generation, John didn't talk to his dad about the war. I've got lots of questions now that I think of every now and then and, you know, but we just didn't ask those questions. I don't know whether it was the cowardice of youth that we didn't ask, or whether... whether we'd have been answered even if we did ask those questions. I don't know. It was the same for Judy O'Connell. Uncle Middleton was never discussed. Why didn't your family talk about him? Um, I used to ask my mother that question, and she said because the war was so horrific. Parents did not want to talk about it. They were stunned losing their sons. It's beautiful. Would I be able to have a copy of this? < You can have both those. < You can have both those. Oh, can I? < You can have both those. Oh, can I? They're yours. Oh! Thank you so much. Gosh, I'll treasure those. That's beautiful. With the passing of each day, the chance of putting backstories to these images grows harder. But Kirstie Ross and her team are determined the Berry boys will be much more than just a snapshot of the past. Collecting is important, but it's the stories that bring these collections to life. We've got this amazing visual record of men going into the unknown. And I think if we can know all of them, that would be a wonderful legacy for NZ. Yes, it would. We are back in a moment, and this is where we need your help. Who are these men, and who are their families? GARY JULES' 'MAD WORLD' # All around me are familiar faces, # worn out places, worn out faces. INQUISITIVE MUSIC INQUISITIVE MUSIC CONTINUES MUSIC SLOWS MUSIC QUICKENS When inspiration strikes, talk to an ANZ home-loan specialist. We have more local experts in more places to help bring your thinking to life. Hello again. Now, this where you can help. 180 glass photographic plates are discovered in the attic above the Berry Studio in Wellington's Cuba Street. Some of them are inscribed with handwritten names. Now, it may be the name of the person in the photo. It may be the name of the person who ordered it, or it could be the person who was to pick them up. Who knows? Well, maybe you do. So we'd like for you to watch this closely, and if you have any clues as to who these people might be, we would love to know. GARY JULES' 'MAD WORLD' HAUNTING PIANO MUSIC # All around me are familiar faces, # worn out places, worn out faces, # bright and early for their daily races, # going nowhere, going nowhere. # Their tears are filling up their glasses. # No expression, no expression. # Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow. # No tomorrow, no tomorrow. # And I find it kinda funny, # I find it kinda sad # the dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had. # I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take # when people run in circles. # It's a very, very... # mad world, # mad world. # Children waiting for the day they feel good. # Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday. # And I feel the way that every child should. # Sit and listen, sit and listen # Went to school and I was very nervous # No one knew me, no one knew me. # Hello, teacher, tell me what's my lesson. # Look right through me, look right through me. # And I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad # the dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had. # I find it hard to tell you, # I find it hard to take # When people run in circles, it's a very, very... # mad world... # mad world. # Enlarging your world. # Mad world. # MUSIC FADES It's beautiful, isn't it? Um, did those names ring a bell? Did you recognise anyone? Are you're sitting there having just made a connection? If you did, go to our website, tvnz.co.nz/sunday for a link and phone numbers. Kati ra mo tenei po. That's it from the Sunday team tonight. Thanks for being with us this evening, and have a lovely week. Nga mihi nui, hei kona.