In September 1938, as Chamberlain was having discussions with Herr Hitler, and managing to secure ‘Peace in our Time’, a weekly magazine called I WAS THERE hit the news agents and booksellers. Twenty years had elapsed since the Great War ended and in that period hundreds of books on the subject had been written by those who took part. It was from these published sources that extracts were taken from the personal stories of soldiers, sailors and airmen who had experienced the ‘war to end all wars’ firsthand. The magazine I WAS THERE proved popular with the public and came only came to an end as the Second World War broke out. This rework – in book form – They Were There has allowed these stories of 1914 to be aired once more – covering exciting accounts from Mons to the Christmas Truce, 1914, and to the German naval bombardment of the East Coast of England in December of that year. We are confident that many will agree, these stories are well worth resurrecting and presenting in book form to readers of the 21st Century – 100 years after they were first told.