Wednesday 16 November 2016 A medieval-looking chainmail mask worn by one of the first ever tank drivers, who locked it away in a drawer for decades, has been uncovered on brand new TV series Trading History on Yesterday.
The primitive splatter mask - which features in the first episode of the series tomorrow/Wednesday at 7pm - belonged to Private Charlie Boyce, who used it to protect his face from lethal shards of shrapnel while operating a first production tank during World War One.
Pte Boyce survived the war and kept the metal and leather visor in a drawer in his living room and barely spoke of it to his family. When he died in 1975 aged 77 the mask was found by granddaughter, Suzanne Harris, who kept it in her attic.
She decided to auction it off to mark the 100th anniversary year of the invention of the tank and the sale is to be featured on TVs Trading History, a new show on the Yesterday channel.
Trading History uncovers fascinating historical stories through the prism of auction houses across the UK.
Splatter masks were created by tank crews on the Western Front in 1917 using spare materials lying around. Very few of them survived the war so it is rare for one to come up for sale so long after the event.
Andrew Lambert, professor of naval history at Kings College London, explained that early tank crews endured a hellish environment inside the tracked vehicles. Often they were in danger of being hit by red hot shrapnel caused by Nazi gunfire.
He said
It was a hellish environment inside, unbelievably hot. These vehicles had no suspension so as they drove over broken ground, they lurched from side to side. And every time something hit the outside of the tank bits of the rivets flew off the inside.
The splatter mask is a remarkable re-use of some very old technology to solve a new problem. Its essentially made of leather and chainmail, so it couldve come off a medieval jousting field. Tank crews almost certainly designed this themselves.
They didnt make this stuff fresh, they took pieces that were already there and created these things. So this was invented on the job by the tank drivers and then mass produced back in England.
Pte Boyce, from Suffolk, joined the 16th Tank Battalion at the age of 16 because he was too young to join the Royal Flying Corps. He became the tank driver because of his small size and sat in a Mark I tank with five other men.
After the war Pte Boyce married and had three daughters, but barely spoke about the war.
Ms Harris, the granddaughter of Pte Boyce,said,
The mask was in a drawer in their living room. They knew it was there but it was never discussed, they didnt wish to impose it on everybody else. It looks pretty gruesome but actually the reality behind it is probably far more gruesome than actually the object itself.
The splatter mash sold to a private collector for £1,000.
Adrian Wills, general manager for the Yesterday channel, added,
Trading History uncovers some amazing personal stories that bring history to life, creating an empathy between Yesterday viewers and the heroes of the past. Its wonderful that were able to uncover hidden stories like that of Private Charlie Boyce more than a century later.
Trading History will be shown on the Yesterday channel over six weeks every Wednesday at 7pm, starting November 16.
ENDS
For pics, video and more press info:
Katie Sheldrake, Publicist
About Trading History Treasures reveal the history of the world, thats what makes them special and desirable. They are a tangible piece of the past that can be touched, held and owned.
How much would you pay to own Napoleons hat? Or the Rolex watch that belonged to the 77th man through the tunnel in The Great Escape? Or the earliest aerial photographs of London? Or even a silver bell that belonged to Queen Elizabeth II as a child? Perhaps youd like to own a 1912 photo of the iceberg that sank the Titanic? What about items that previously belonged to members of the British Secret Service? Or Napoleons tooth? Or even a chair designed by Pharrell Williams? Or John Lennons guitar?
These treasures sell at extremely high prices, anything from thousands to millions of pounds. Wealthy private collectors battle to outbid each other, and often they will outbid museums and public archives.
This all new series uncovers intriguing family history through the prism of auction house artifacts, and foes on an investigative and genealogical journey. The back story of each object for sale is revealed from three perspectives; the sellers, the buyers and the auctioneers.
The series examines famous figures from history - Churchill, Hitler, Napoleon, the Suffragettes, our royal monarchs and great writers of the 20th century - as their treasures have emerged at auction houses selling for millions after being hidden away from decades. For many items, this will be a last chance to see before they disappear into private collections.
The opening episode features the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck, baby photos of Queen Elizabeth II, the death of an Irish aristocrat, antique eyewear, a WWI tank mask and clothing that once belonged to Queen Victoria.
About Yesterday Sky 537, Virgin 206, Freeview 19, BT and TalkTalk 019 and on demand via UKTV Play
Showcasing UK premiere series such as Raiders of the Lost Past, Forbidden History, and UFO Declassified, Yesterday provides fascinating factual stories. The channel also features dynamic nature and science programming including David Attenboroughs Natural Curiosities and Why Planes Crash, and programmes which challenge expectations including Secrets of the Bible. Ancient history is also featured in series including Medieval Dead, plus modern conflict in shows such as Black Ops.
About UKTV UKTV is the biggest multichannel broadcaster in the UK.
The award-winning independent has eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Pla
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
Wednesday 16 November 2016 A medieval-looking chainmail mask worn by one of the first ever tank drivers, who locked it away in a drawer for decades, has been uncovered on brand new TV series Trading History on Yesterday.
