Army Cross Country

Private Daly of the Connaught Rangers triumphs in the Aldershot Command annual cross country race, months before the outbreak of WWI.

This poignant newsreel item shows hundreds of soldiers competing in the annual Aldershot Cross Country race, months before the outbreak of WWI. The camera keeps pace with the runners, tracking Private Daly as he crosses the finish line. Known as 'the Devil's Own', the Connaught Rangers were an Irish Regiment of the British Army; some 2,500 Rangers would lose their lives in the coming conflict.