Tucked off the southwest coast of England, the Isles of Scilly seem an unlikely location for participating in the longest military conflict ever recorded.
The date was August 6th, 1915. World War I raged across Europe as the German army marched on Russia’s Osowiec Fortress, determined to finally capture the stronghold after two failed attempts. Little did the Russian defenders know, the Germans had brought a terrifying new weapon - poison gas.
In 1861, a determined 9-year-old boy named John Lincoln Clem set out to join the Union Army, only to be initially rejected for being too small and young. But Clem, who stood just 4 feet tall, persisted and eventually became the drummer boy for the 22nd Michigan Infantry at the age of 10.
The summer of 1943 - the height of World War II. A bloody battle rages at sea between American destroyers and German U-boats. At the Philadelphia Naval Yard, the newly built USS Eldridge hums with energy.