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The Old Front Line — History
The Old Front Line

Walk the battlefields of the First World War with Military Historian, Paul Reed. In these podcasts, Paul brings together over 40 years of studying the Great War, from the stories of veterans he interviewed, to when he spent more than a decade living on the Old Front Line in the heart of the Somme battlefields.

Copyright: © 2023 The Old Front Line

Latest Episodes:

Questions and Answers Episode 16 Nov 02, 2024

In a wargraves special, we follow up on the recent episode about the new Loos British Cemetery Extension and we take some Questions relating to the work being carried out there, along with the recovery and identification of the dead from the Great War, both in the past and the present.

Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Questions and Answers Episode 15 Oct 26, 2024

Our latest questions submitted by podcast listeners lead us to discuss what was a 'British Warm' and how did uniforms change during the Great War, ask if we could go back in time what would we want to see, look at the quarries that were part of the battlefield at Beaumont-Hamel on the Somme, and ask what happened to Allied Prisoners of War taken in the final days of the conflict in November 1918?

The Western Front Association Online Trench Maps: WFA TrenchMapper site.

Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Loos: A New WW1 Cemetery Oct 19, 2024

We take the podcast across to Northern France and visit Loos British Cemetery on the battlefields of 1915, seeing the new Extension that has been constructed here, looking at the initial burials and asking how this brand new cemetery might develop over the coming years.

Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Questions and Answers Episode 14 Oct 12, 2024

In our latest selection of questions from podcast listeners we look at the circumstances of the end of the First World War on the Western Front on 11th November 1918, ask why Albert Ball VC has a private memorial over his grave in France, discuss what happened to the Last Post Ceremony during WW2 and examine the 'War of the Guns' in the Great War - the use of artillery.
Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Five Weapons of WW1 Trench Warfare Oct 05, 2024

Trench Warfare saw the use of existing weapons on the battlefield and the development of new ones to cope with the static nature of the Western Front. In this episode we examine five of those weapons from handguns to trench clubs to mortars, and include a surprising 'weapon' of trench warfare.

Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Questions and Answers Episode 13 Sep 28, 2024

This week we answer questions about British Prisoners of War held in Switzerland, ask what kind of permission you need to explore the fields and woods across the landscape of the Great War, discuss if any Estaminets survive from the Great War and look at events on the Somme on 1st July 1916 and what the experience of soldiers was on that evening as darkness fell.

Red Cross Records from WW1 are found here: Red Cross Prisoner of War Records.

Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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A Bridge at Fismes Sep 21, 2024

Fismes is a small town on the Aisne, close to its neighbour Fismette and divided by the Vesle river. Here in the summer of 1918 men of the American 28th Division took part in a bitter battle for possession of its houses and the bridge over the Vesle, a story retold in possibly the greatest American memoir of the First World War: Toward the Flame by Hervey Allen. Here too a memorial bridge was built commemorating their sacrifice, just a dozen years before Europe went to war once more.
Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Questions and Answers Episode 12 Sep 14, 2024

In this latest Question and Answer Episode we look at several questions about the changing nature of the British Army in the Great War, and its Regimental system, examine one aspect of how WW1 meets WW2 and discuss whether it is possible to trace a fatal casualty for every day of the Great War.

The image for this episode shows British tanks passing Villers Bretonneux Military Cemetery on the Somme in September 1944. (IWM BU 272)

Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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The Unknown Warrior with John Nichol Sep 07, 2024

In this special edition of the podcast as we return from after the summer break we speak to author and broadcaster John Nichol about his new book examining the history and story behind the Unknown Warrior buried in Westminster Abbey.

John Nichol’s new book, The Unknown Warrior, is published by Simon & Schuster on the 26th September.

His national theatre tour, telling the moving story behind the Unknown Warrior’s tomb in Westminster Abbey, runs from 4 October.

For more information, visit www.JohnNicholLive.com
You can also find John Nichol's on Facebook and Twitter.

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Podcast Summer Special Aug 17, 2024

In a special summer edition of the podcast before it returns properly in September, we walk the battlefields near Passchendaele and have an extended Question and Answer session.

Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Podcast Questions & Answers Ep 10 Jul 27, 2024

In our tenth QnA Episode we look at subjects from Canada's Hundred Days in 1918 to the Missing of the Great War, ask how to begun studying the First World War given all that is available now, and discuss how sickness was as much of a problem to soldiers on the battlefield as wounds from shot and shell.

John Livesay - link to a copy of Canada's Hundred's Days on the Internet Archive.

Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Return to Richebourg Jul 20, 2024

In an episode recorded live on the battlefields, we travel to Northern France and follow the Southdowns Battalions of the Royal Sussex Regiment from behind the lines to their attack at The Boar's Head near Richebourg. We also visit the graves of the fallen at St Vaast Post Cemetery and at nearby Laventie, learning about 'The Day Sussex Died' on 30th June 1916.

Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Podcast Questions & Answers Ep 9 Jul 13, 2024

In our latest Questions and Answers Episode we look at the rifles carried by British soldiers in the Great War, discuss the experience of Prisoners of War, ask what kind of recycling and salvage took place, and discuss the horticulture in British and Commonwealth Cemeteries.

Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

Link to WW1 POW Records: International Red Cross Prisoner of War Records

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Somme 1916: Nab Valley Jul 06, 2024

For our 200th Episode we return to the Somme battlefields where the podcast began in 2020 and walk the ground from Crucifix Corner, along the edge of Authuille Wood to Nab Valley, a terrible killing ground on 1st July 1916, ending at the Lonsdale Cemetery.

Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Podcast Questions & Answers Ep 8 Jun 29, 2024

In our latest batch of Questions and Answers we look at what Mentioned in Despatches were, who they were awarded to how and what they were for, we discuss what special badges were represented on the headstones in War Cemeteries, how German occupation worked in WW1 and how the casualties of the various nations affected them, and who suffered the most?
Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Somme Books Jun 22, 2024

The Somme is one of the most written about battles in military history. Where to start your reading given the huge number of books about the period? In this episode we take a 'layered' approach to reading and examine everything from 'Gateway Books' to Battlefield Guides.

Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Podcast Questions & Answers Ep 7 Jun 15, 2024

In this latest Question & Answer Episode we look at subjects ranging from the Hampshire Regiment in the Great War, to ask if there is an increase in German visitors to the battlefields, and discuss how soldiers are being identified more than a century after the conflict ended.
Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Gallipoli: The First D-Day? Jun 08, 2024

On the 80th Anniversary of the Normandy Landings in 1944, we look at how events at Gallipoli in 1915 link the two great conflicts, from Churchill to landing craft to a battalion of the British Army. What lessons were learned from one war to another?
Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Podcast Questions & Answers Ep 6 Jun 05, 2024

In our latest series of Questions and Answers we cover a wide range of subjects from the use of alcohol and tobacco by soldiers in the war, to visiting battlefields 'beyond the Somme', to how we present those battlefields of the Great War to future generations and what role Identify Disks or 'Dog Tags' had in the identification of the dead.

Alex's Youtube channel: Alex315 on YouTube.

Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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The War Underground Jun 01, 2024

The War Underground in many ways defined the static nature of the First World War on the Western Front. We examine the history of military mining, discover Sir John Norton Griffiths and his attempt to recruit 10,000 "moles" to work beneath No Man's Land, and examine the pinnacle of mine warfare at Messines in 1917.

Simon Jones' website: Myths of Messines
Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Why was there Trench Warfare in WW1? May 25, 2024

In the first of our new 'how and why' podcasts we ask a simple question: Why was there Trench Warfare in the First World War? What factors made it possible, where were the first trenches, who dug them and how did they affects the battles in WW1?

Thanks to Doug @colour_history on Twitter for the use of the colourised image of men from the 1/4th East Lancashire Regiment in the trenches in January 1918.

Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Podcast Questions & Answers Ep 5 May 22, 2024

In this latest Questions & Answers bonus episode, we look at questions about the Regular Army and the 1914 Star, the Canadians in WW1 as 'Shock Troops', discuss the men from the Southdowns Battalions from Sussex and ask do we have enough memorials along The Old Front Line?

Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Newfoundland's Unknown Soldier May 18, 2024

Just this week it was announced that the body of an Unknown Soldier from the Royal Newfoundland Regiment would be taken back to Newfoundland to become their Unknown Warrior. In this first episode of Season 7 we look at the story behind this and the history of The Royal Newfoundland Regiment in the Great War and their Missing soldiers.

The articles relating to the Newfoundland Unknown Soldier are on the Veterans Affairs Canada website and Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.

The new Old Front Line Substack is available here: The Old Front Line with Paul Reed.
Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Podcast Questions & Answers Ep 4 May 08, 2024

In this latest Questions & Answers episode we look at how we read the landscape of the Great War, visiting the Sunken Lane at Beaumont Hamel and Talbot House, discuss that remains of RFC/RAF airfields, examine the survival rates of officers and ask what part weather played in the experience of the trenches.
Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Podcast Questions & Answers Ep 3 May 01, 2024

In this latest Old Front Line Podcast Questions & Answers Episode we answer four questions from listeners asking what is the most memorable story of the Great War I've visited, what battlefield draws me back time and again, what did British troops think about Australians and Canadians, and what was the weaponry of ordinary soldiers and how did that change during the war?

This is how the German Army rated British and Commonwealth Divisions in the Great War, taken from a 1916 report by the Oberste Heeresleitung (OHL):

Good - 47th, 6th, 20th, 50th, 18th, 1st Canadian, 2nd Canadian

Medium - 11th, 39th, 41st, 3rd Canadian, NZ

Poor - 61st, 40th, 60th, 63rd, 3rd Australian, 5th Australian, 4th Canadian

Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Etaples to Arras: A Journey Apr 27, 2024

In a special edition of the podcast which marks the end of Season 6, this episode was recorded on The Old Front Line where we take a journey from the vast Etaples Military Cemetery, look at the Tank Gunnery School at Merriment, Douglas Haig and 'GHQ' at Montreuil, and then travel via a small village up to Arras and the Arras Memorial.

Season 6 will continue with two more Question & Answers episodes and then after a short break the Podcast will return in early May.

Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Podcast Questions & Answers Ep 2 Apr 24, 2024

In our latest Old Front Line Podcast Questions & Answers Episode we answer four questions from listeners covering subjects like the 'Learning Curve' on the Western Front to how to visit battlefields beyond the Somme.

The Naval Flank of the Western Front project I mentioned was this one: Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War.

Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Despatches: Somme - Redan Ridge Apr 20, 2024

We travel to the familiar landscape of Picardy and visit one part of the 'Forgotten Somme' - the battlefields on the Redan Ridge. Here we see look at the fighting on 1st July 1916 and at the end of the battle in November 1916, examine the story of a soldier 'Shot at Dawn' and discuss the writer H.H. Munro ('Saki') who fell here during the Battle of the Somme.
Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Aftermath: The Myth of the Red Zone Apr 13, 2024

At the end of the Great War, vast areas of France were left devastated by the fighting: this became the 'Zone Rouge' or the 'Red Zone'. Reconstruction and recovery of ground brought that Red Zone to an end in the 1920s but stories of it circulated once more during the Great War Centenary. So what are the Myths of the Red Zone, and what are its truths?
Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Podcast Questions & Answers: Episode 1 Apr 03, 2024

In the first of our new 'your questions answered' episodes we answer six questions sent in by listeners to the podcast covering subjects like how the army saw itself in the Great War, why the podcast is called 'the Old Front Line', how the opposing armies held the Western Front, and what kind of methods did I use to check the accuracy of Great War veterans interviews made in the 1980s and 90s.
Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Despatches: A Weekend in Ypres Mar 30, 2024

We've just had the first ever Old Front Line Podcast Supporter's meet-up on the battlefields of Flanders near the Belgian city of Ypres. What was the weekend all about, what plans have we got for more of these, and in the episode we share some of the stories we discussed at Ypres on our walks.

Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

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Beyond The Somme Mar 23, 2024

The Great War on the Western Front was much more than Flanders and the Somme, and the experience of British and Commonwealth soldiers. When we travel 'Beyond the Somme' - what does that mean, and what do we find on these battlefields where soldiers from France and its Empire, and later American troops fought?

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Four Years of the Old Front Line Mar 16, 2024

On our fourth anniversary of launching The Old Front Line, I look back over the episodes and discuss how the podcast has helped shape and define how I see the landscape of the Great War, helped me find a language for what it means more than a century later, and we look back too over some of my favourite episodes and those which have proved especially popular.

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Despatches: By Train to Ypres Mar 09, 2024

Railways were an essential part of the Great War, and the line which ran from Northern France to Poperinghe and Ypres became the route in and out of the battlefield for millions of men during the conflict. What can we learn of the history of the railways in Flanders and what do we find of it on the landscape of the Western Front today?

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Despatches: Fort de Loncin 1914 Mar 02, 2024

In August 1914 a force of more than 55,000 German soldiers descended on the Belgian city of Liege. Protected by a belt of steel and concrete forts, at Fort de Loncin the garrison of 550 men came under murderous German artillery fire resulting in a huge explosion that turned this site into a national cemetery and memorial, and came to stand for Belgian defiance in that first year of the war.
The website of the fort is here: Fort de Loncin.

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Exhibiting The Great War Feb 24, 2024

We look at two exhibitions in two key institutions that connect us to the history of the Great War: the In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres and Imperial War Museum in London. At Ypres we see an exhibition about the history of the war cemeteries in Flanders, and at the IWM a new gallery devoted to war art, photography and film.

Imperial War Museum - Restoration of the John Singer Sergeant Gassed painting.

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Despatches: Somme Trench Map Feb 17, 2024

In this latest episode of Despatches, we examine an original Trench Map from the Battle of the Somme in 1916, showing the battlefield around the village of Courcelette where the Canadians fought. What are Trench Maps, and what do they tell us about the history and landscape of the Great War?
You can support the Podcast via BuyMeACoffee or Patreon.

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WW1 At Home: Shorncliffe Cemetery Feb 10, 2024

Returning to the History of the First World War we find on our doorsteps, we visit Shorncliffe in Kent to record an episode onsite. Here during the Great War were an Army Garrison, along with a major training centre. We discover the important role of the Canadians at Shorncliffe, the men of the Chinese Labour Corps who had their camp here, and also discuss the first Gotha Bomber raid on Britain by the Germans in 1917.

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Despatches: War Damage Postcards Feb 03, 2024

In this episode we look at so-called 'War Damage Postcards' published during the conflict and which depicts the smashed villages, towns and cities, and indeed landscapes of the Western Front. We ask what these postcards tell us about the conflict and the battlefields of the Old Front Line?
The images discussed can be found on the Podcast website here: https://oldfrontline.co.uk/2024/02/03/despatches-war-damage-postcards/

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Despatches: Wings Over Flanders Jan 27, 2024

In this latest Despatches we discuss the passing of author Martin Middlebrook, and look back to another Great War icon, perhaps lesser known, John Giles. John founded the Western Front Association in 1980, wrote a series of books on the Western Front, and in 1982 took what was then a unique flight over the Old Front Line. We look back on that aerial survey and discuss what landscape means to us on the ground and from the air.

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The Dead Man's Penny Jan 20, 2024

While the Great War was still on the British Government decided to produce a Next of Kin Memorial Plaque for all those who had died while on service in the conflict, which read 'He Died For Freedom and Honour'. Often called a "Dead Man's Penny" or 'Widow's Penny" or even 'Death Plaque", eventually over 1.1 million were produced for every British and Commonwealth service men and women who died. In this episode of Despatches, we examine their history and what these objects mean more than a century later.
You can support the podcast on BuyMeACoffee and at Patreon.

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Letters From The Trenches Jan 13, 2024

A staggering 12 million letters were going to and from the Western Front during the Great War. What was the history of the Royal Engineers Postal Section, how did letters and parcels get to troops in the front line, and how did censorship work for all those letters from the trenches?
You can support the podcast on BuyMeACoffee and at Patreon.

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Despatches: Tales of Tyne Cot Jan 10, 2024

In our first podcast of 2024 we return to Flanders to look at some of the history behind the original burials at Tyne Cot Cemetery near Ypres, the largest British and Commonwealth cemetery from either World War. Was there really once an Advanced Dressing Station here, and if not what does the archive evidence tell us about how this site evolved?
You can support the podcast on BuyMeACoffee and at Patreon.

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Despatches: Christmas on the Somme Dec 23, 2023

In this special episode of Despatches we look at two Christmases on the Somme: 1915 and 1916. We do this through the experience of men from southern England who served with the 18th (Eastern) Division and discover what their life in the trenches and behind the front was like during the Christmas period.
You can support the Podcast via BuyMeACoffee and Patreon.

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Despatches: Battlefield Pilgrimages Dec 20, 2023

In this latest edition of Despatches we look at the phenomena of Battlefield Pilgrimages which began almost as soon as the Great War ended and continued throughout the 1920s and 30s. What were they? What motivated people to go on a pilgrimage to the battlefields and what can we find of their history in a new book on the subject?

Mike Hill's new book: Pilgrimage to the Western Front
Terry Whenham's Podcast on the Great Pilgrimage 1928.
You can support the Podcast via BuyMeACoffee and Patreon.

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Somme: Schwaben Redoubt Dec 16, 2023

In our final main episode of 2023 we travel to the Somme battlefields and visit one of the most iconic parts of the 1916 landscape - the fields where the infamous Schwaben Redoubt once stood near the village of Thiepval. The Schwaben was a strong German defensive position that took over three months to capture, at the cost of thousands of lives.
You can support the Podcast via BuyMeACoffee and Patreon.

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Despatches: Cemetery in the Sand Dunes Dec 13, 2023

Despatches goes on the road, and this episode was recorded on location in Flanders. We visit Coxyde Military Cemetery, a British and Commonwealth cemetery from when these troops held the line on the top end of the Western Front in 1917. What do we find here and what does the cemetery tell us about the Great War?
You can support the Podcast via BuyMeACoffee and Patreon.

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Flanders: The CCS Cemeteries Dec 09, 2023

Bandaghem, Dozinghem and Mendinghem were three made-up names for British Casualty Clearing Stations locations in Flanders, reflecting their use for the wounded: Bandaging Them, Dosing Them Up and Mending Them! What was the story of these important medical facilities and what stories of the war in Flanders do we find here?
Returned From The Front website: Battlefield Cross - Caps B.H. Vyvyan

The wartime book on Best-Dunkley VC: At Ypres with Best-Dunkley
You can support the Podcast via BuyMeACoffee and Patreon.

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Despatches: WW1 Trench Museums Dec 06, 2023

In this latest episode of Despatches we think about First World War Trench Museums: a battlefield phenomena from the 1920s when thousands of 'pilgrims' travelled to the landscape of the Western Front. We look at some of the famous, and less famous Trench Museums and some that no longer exist. What do they tell us about the experience of trench warfare?
You can support the Podcast via BuyMeACoffee and Patreon.

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Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery Dec 02, 2023

The Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery is the largest US War Cemetery in Europe with over 14,000 graves. We walk the battlefields here from Cunel to the cemetery, and down into Romagne village to visit an amazing private museum. Along the way we discuss the history and ask why such a place receives so few American visitors?

Romagne 14-18 Museum: website of Romagne 14-18 Museum.

American Battle Monuments Commission website: ABMC website.
You can support the Podcast via BuyMeACoffee and Patreon.

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Despatches: The Butte de Warlencourt Nov 29, 2023

Welcome to Despatches, a new short-form podcast from The Old Front Line. These new shorter Pods will look at some specific aspects of the Great War and the landscape of the battlefields of the First World War. They will be published in addition to the regular episodes.
In this first Despatches episode we travel to the Somme and look at the Butte de Warlencourt, the old burial mound where the fighting came to an end in November 1916. It was in the news this week having had a change of ownership, and we look at its history and consider how and why sites like these can be preserved.
The official Butte de Warlencourt website is here: https://www.buttedewarlencourt.com/
The Butte de Warlencourt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ButteDeWar
The Hawthorn Crater Association is here: https://hawthornridgeca.com/
You can support the Podcast via BuyMeACoffee and Patreon.

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War at Sea: HMS India Nov 25, 2023

In this episode we look at the War at Sea in the Great War for the first time and are joined by historian Rebecca Clarke to discuss her book on the fate of HMS India and her crew, following the loss of the ship to a German U-Boat in August 1915. The men spent the rest of the war interned in neutral Norway and we discover the fascinating stories behind their experience there.

Rebecca Clarke's website: HMS India website.

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Walking Arras: Gavrelle Nov 18, 2023

In this episode we return to the Arras battlefields in Northern France and walk to the village of Gavrelle where the men of the Royal Naval Division fought in 1917, and discover the fields where the Royal Marines lost more men in a single days fighting than on any other in their entire history.

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Memoirs: The Great War Remembered Nov 11, 2023

In this episode for Armistice Day we look at those who survived the Great War and came home to write about in a series of memoirs which were published from the 1920s until more recent times as that generation faded away. We look at Officer's Memoirs and ask why there are fewer memoirs by ordinary soldiers?

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Volunteers in WW1 with Richard Van Emden Nov 04, 2023

In this latest Trench Chat we are joined by author and historian Richard Van Emden to discuss his new book 'Volunteers' about the men who enlisted as volunteers in the British Army during the early years of the Great War in 1914/15.

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Return of The Old Front Line Oct 28, 2023

After moving house, and nearly three hundred miles with the Old Front Line archives and library, we return from a new location, new ideas for the podcast and shifting hundreds of Great War books has prompted some thoughts from the past, from authors to Great War veterans.

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Podcasting About the Great War Oct 07, 2023

In this special Trench Chat we bring together four Great War Podcasters: I was so very happy and honoured to be joined by Mike Cunha, Matt Dixon and Terry Whenham. We discuss what podcasting is all about and what we think the subject brings to this medium, and go off on plenty of tangents too!

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Somme Mine Craters with Peter Doyle Sep 30, 2023

In this latest Trench Chat we speak to Professor Peter Doyle about his current research on the mine craters of the Somme battlefields. We learn how were these craters formed, what their wartime story was, and what do they mean in relation to the landscape of the Western Front today?

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Walking Arras: Hénin Hill Sep 23, 2023

On a hill above the village of Hénin, close to Arras, stood a wooden cross remembering soldiers of the 64th Brigade who fell there in 1917. Preserved at Beverley Minster in Yorkshire, what happened to this memorial, and what can we find of the men who fought here at Hénin Hill in 1917?

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Charley's War Sep 16, 2023

Charley's War was a comic strip published in the late 1970s and early 1980s telling the story of Charley Bourne, a 16 year old Tommy on the front line of the Great War. What does it tell us about the conflict, and what impact does it have on our understanding of the subject?

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Season 5 Old Front Line Roundup Aug 26, 2023

In this episode we look back over Season 5, discuss some of the subjects we have spoken about during the past few months, explain how the podcast is planned and made, and look ahead to Season 6. Along the way we also have a few Great War stories. The podcast returns for the next Season in September.

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Somme: Contalmaison to Bazentin Aug 19, 2023

For the final episode of Season 5 we are back on the Somme. At Contalmaison we discover the story of how the history of Great War football weaves through that village, how a pioneering eye surgeon from Liverpool came to be killed there, and later we uncover the story of the 'Nine Brave Men' at Bazentin. We look at Private Memorials and how Bazentin Wood almost broke the proud volunteers of the 'Leicestershire Pals.' in July 1916 and think once more about the 'Forgotten Somme'.

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Great War Music with Beverley Palin Aug 12, 2023

In this special Trench Chat, we meet historian, re-enactor and professional musician Beverley Palin, and discover the story of two original WW1 instruments she has restored and now plays, and discuss the importance of music to the generation of the Great War.

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Verdun In A Day Aug 05, 2023

In the latest of our series of Battlefields in a Day, we travel to Eastern France and look at the Battlefields around Verdun. Verdun was the longest single battle of the Great War, lasting some 300 days and 300 nights, fought between February and December 1916. More than 770,000 French and German soldiers became casualties in what the Poilus called 'the mincing machine'.

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The Pillboxes of Flanders Jul 29, 2023

Concrete bunkers - pillboxes - are an iconic symbol of the Great War, and in this episode we look at the book 'The Pillboxes of Flanders' published in the 1930s, examine their history and use, and then visit some of the surviving examples of bunkers around Ypres.

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Trench Chat: The Caretakers with Caitlin DeAngelis Jul 15, 2023

In this latest Trench Chat we speak to historian and writer Caitlin DeAngelis who has just finished a fascinating new book 'The Caretakers: War Graves Gardeners and the Secret Battle to Rescue Allied Airman in World War II'. We discuss her research for the book, look at the community of War Graves gardeners that existed on the battlefields in the late 1930s and what happened to them when war swept across Northern France. The book will be released in January 2024.

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From Training to Trenches Jul 08, 2023

In this episode we look at how British soldiers joined the army, either before the war or when the New Army of volunteers was created in 1914, what their training and preparation for war consisted of, and what their route to the trenches was.

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First Day Of The Somme Jul 01, 2023

On the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, we take a virtual walk along all eighteen miles of the Somme front from Gommecourt to Montauban, connecting to the landscape and discovering the stories of those who fought and fell on 1st July 1916: the First Day of the Somme. We also examine the casualties that day and ask where they are buried and commemorated.

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The Monocled Mutineer: Fact or Fiction? Jun 24, 2023

In 1986 the BBC Drama 'The Monocled Mutineer' was released, starring Paul McGann who plays Percy Toplis. In this episode, we look at the series and ask what is the truth behind Toplis and the claim that he dressed as an officer and took part in the Etaples Mutiny? We also ask how realistic the series was in depicting various aspects of the Great War.

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Gas! Gas! Gas! Jun 10, 2023

In this episode we look at a weapon that came to symbolise the First World War - Poison Gas. We look at the history behind its use, the story of the 'Birth of Chemical Warfare' at Ypres in April 1915 and what measures were made to protect soldiers against the gas, as well seeing what can be found of this history on the battlefield today.

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Ypres Walks: Menin Gate to Ypres Town Cemetery Jun 03, 2023

In this episode recorded in Ypres, we look at the renovations at the Menin Gate Memorial, discuss what Memorials to the Missing mean to us, and then walk to Ypres Town Cemetery following the stories of English Lords, members of the Royal Family, and seeing how the graves themselves are witnesses to the Great War.

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Somme Walks: Hawthorn Ridge to the Sunken Lane May 20, 2023

In another episode recorded on the battlefields, we walk the crest of the Hawthorn Ridge near Beaumont-Hamel on the Somme, visiting Hawthorn No 1 Cemetery, across to the Hawthorn Mine Crater, and down to the famous Sunken Lane and Beaumont-Hamel British Cemetery.

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Changing Landscapes: Canal du Nord May 13, 2023

A massive engineering project has been announced for Northern France which will create a new 'super canal' linking in with the existing Canal du Nord, the scene of heavy fighting during the Great War, especially in 1917/18. In this episode we will look at the history of the canal, the fighting there and how this project may change the landscape of the Western Front in this region, and what might be found during the work.

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Somme Walks: Bois Français May 06, 2023

Recorded on the battlefields, in this episode we walk the ground where poets Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon served with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers at Bois Français near Fricourt and end at the Devonshire Cemetery near Mametz.

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Trench Chat: Black Poppies with Stephen Bourne Apr 22, 2023

In this latest Trench Chat, we are joined by Stephen Bourne, author of Black Poppies. His important book, now in its third edition with a children's version, tells the often-neglected contribution of Black soldiers in the British and Commonwealth forces in the Great War.

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Springboks at Delville Wood Apr 15, 2023

In the summer of 1916 men of the South African Brigade marched into Delville Wood. After six days of fighting, less than a third of them returned from among the shattered trees of "Devil's Wood". Who were the Springboks of the South African Brigade and what can we find of them on the Somme today?

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Forgotten Battlefield: The Reunion Apr 01, 2023

More than twenty years after the BBC made a film about the work of 'The Diggers' called 'Forgotten Battlefield', in this special edition of the podcast we bring together three of us connected to the film - Aurel Sercu from the Diggers, BBC Producer John Hayes Fisher and me, Military Historian Paul Reed. We look back on the work the group did, the making of the film in 2001, and what happened with the film was released the following year.
The film can be watched on YouTube via the Podcast website link below.

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Verdun: The Trench of Bayonets Mar 18, 2023

In December 1920 a large concrete shelter financed by an American millionaire marked the spot where French soldiers had fallen in one of the many small actions around Verdun in 1916. The story of the Trench of Bayonets was born, but what is the real story behind this episode of the Great War, and the memorial that still marks the spot?

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The Hindenburg Line Mar 04, 2023

In this episode we ask: what was The Hindenburg Line? A system of German defences built in Northern and Eastern France, it was the largest single engineering project of the Great War on the Western Front. Some of the key battles of 1917/18 were fought along it, and we look at the background to these important First World War fortifications.

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Ypres: The Immortal Salient Feb 25, 2023

In this episode we look at the four years of the Great War in Flanders and the battles around the city of Ypres, in what became known as the 'Immortal Salient'. What was the Ypres Salient, what was its meaning and what does it still mean to us more than a century later?

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Trench Chat: Reclaiming The Salient with Roger Steward Feb 11, 2023

In this Trench Chat, we are joined by Roger Steward who works as a Battlefield Guide in Flanders, and is the author of an excellent book on Langemarck German Cemetery and a new one 'Reclaiming the Salient' about the battlefields around Ypres in the years following WW1. We look at the problems of the 'Iron Harvest', the recovery of the dead, and modern battlefield archaeology.

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Birds on the Western Front Feb 04, 2023

In this episode, we look at the birds which flew above and lived across the battlefields of the Western Front during the First World War, and what they meant to the men who served in the trenches of France and Flanders. We also look at how birds did their bit in the war, too, how the battlefield conditions affected them, and discuss ways we can connect this subject to what we see on the Great War landscape today.

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WW1 Battlefield Pilgrimages: Trench Chat with Professor Mark Connelly Jan 21, 2023

In a Trench Chat special we are joined by Professor Mark Connelly of the University of Kent to discuss the post-war Pilgrimages to the Great War Battlefields, and his new work on the postcards, ephemera and guidebooks that came out of this period.

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Doughboys in Flanders Jan 14, 2023

In this episode we look at the men of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) who fought in Flanders, from Ypres to the Scheldt River, in 1918. What were American troops doing in Belgium away from the main US sector and what remains of their battlefields more than a century later?

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The Art of War Jan 07, 2023

What can War Art and the work of Official War Artists tell us about the experience of the Great War and the landscape of the Western Front? We examine this through the work of three war artists: John Nash, CRW Nevinson, and Paul Nash.

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Winter on the Somme Dec 24, 2022

We look at three winters on the Somme front: from 1914 to 1916. We discuss Christmas Truces involving the French and Germans, and later when the British arrive, discuss the terrible sub-zero conditions of 1916, and look at the problem of Trench Foot, particularly amongst Australian troops faced with the harsh reality of Somme mud.

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Gallipoli: The Farm Dec 17, 2022

Who was Harry Moseley? In this episode we ask: can one man's life be more important than another? Our journey takes us from the Helles Memorial, and the Missing of the Gallipoli Campaign, up to the high ground at Chunuk Bair and a walk to the isolated cemetery at The Farm, uncovering the life and achievements of one of Britain's greatest Edwardian scientists.

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Five Little-Known WW1 Memorials Dec 10, 2022

In this episode we explore five little-known memorials along the Western Front battlefields in France and Flanders, looking at how different nations commemorated the battles of the Great War, and what they chose to remember.

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How I Wrote my WW1 Battlefield Walking Books Nov 26, 2022

This weekend marks History Writers Day, a new venture from Simon at History Book Chat on Twitter. As part of my contribution to the event, in this episode I talk about how I came to write my trilogy of WW1 Battlefield Walking Guides covering the Somme, Ypres and Arras.

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Trench Chat: America in WW1 with Mike Cunha Nov 19, 2022

In this latest Trench Chat we are joined by Mike Cunha of the Battles of the First World War Podcast to talk about his interest in the Great War and the wider aspect of American involvement in the conflict and how it is remembered there today. We also discuss the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and Mike's recent visit to the battlefields.

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Remembrance: Five Little-Known Cemeteries of the Great War Nov 12, 2022

In this episode we travel along The Old Front Line in France and Flanders to visit five lesser-known war cemeteries from different nations where the dead of the Great War lie, some with only a handful of graves and others with thousands of burials.

We visit: Nécropole Nationale de la 28ème Brigade (La Ferme de Wacques), Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, Noyelles-sur-Mer Chinese Cemetery, Vladslo German Cemetery and Guizancourt Farm Cemetery near Gouy.

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Crawley War Memorial with Renny Richardson Oct 29, 2022

We are joined by Renny Richardson, author of a trilogy of books about the men of Crawley in West Sussex who fought in the Great War. Renny chats with Paul Reed, who was born in Crawley, about the town at war and the stories of the men commemorated on the war memorials here.

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Henry Williamson's Books Oct 22, 2022

Following the purchase of a Great War book owned by author and veteran Henry Williamson, we explore something of Williamson's life, the Writing Hut where he crafted his work and look at what the book was, and how it connects is to the battlefields of the Great War.

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Film Review: All Quiet on the Western Front Oct 08, 2022

Thanks to Netflix, I've been able to watch a preview of the new film All Quiet on the Western Front. In this episode we look at the film, the story behind the book that gives it its name, and I share my thoughts on what the film is like and the impact it may have on our understanding of the Great War.

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Loos 1915 In A Day Oct 01, 2022

In this episode, we feature another Battlefield In A Day and visit the area around the Northern French coal-mining village of Loos-en-Gohelle where the Battle of Loos was fought in September-October 1915.

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Return to the Silent Cities Sep 17, 2022

Following a battlefield tour looking at the early work of the Imperial War Graves Commission and the establishment of the permanent cemeteries across Belgium and France, we examine some keys sites connected to the Soldier's Cemeteries of the Great War, what Rudyard Kipling called 'The Silent Cities'.

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Where WW1 Meets WW2 Sep 03, 2022

In this episode we look at how the criss-cross paths of two Great Wars collide on the old battlefields of the First World War. What happened to the approach to war, how were the battlefields affected in the fighting of 1940 and the Occupation, and what happened during the Liberation in 1944?

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Somme: Villers-Bretonneux 1918 Aug 13, 2022

In this episode, we look at the fighting around Villers-Bretonneux on the Somme in April 1918, seeing where Australian and British soldiers stopped the German advance on the key city of Amiens. We visit the cemeteries and memorials, and see where Tanks fought Tanks for the first time in history.

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Forty Years on the Old Front Line Jul 30, 2022

This episode marks forty years since I first visited the battlefields of the Great War. We look back over those four decades and discuss what those first trips meant to me, what it was like to live on the battlefields, my work as a Battlefield Guide and examine some of my favourite locations that I've visited over the years.

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Behind The Lines at Ypres Jul 16, 2022

In this episode we go behind the lines in Flanders and look at the key locations that enabled the British and Commonwealth forces to keep millions of men on the front line near Ypres during the Great War.

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Great War Objects: Touching The Past Jul 02, 2022

In this episode of the podcast we look at several objects connected to the First World and ask what they tell us about the wider history of the period and those who fought and died.

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Great War Veterans Jun 18, 2022

In this episode we look at the experience of war and how it affected veterans who returned home and live long lives. When did they feel able to talk about the Great War? What did they say? And how was it possible to conduct interviews with Great War veterans in the 1980s and 90s.

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Vimy Ridge In A Day Jun 04, 2022

The capture of Vimy Ridge by the Canadian Corps in April 1917 was one of Canada's iconic moments in the Great War. In another of our Battlefields In A Day series we look at the wider Vimy Ridge battlefield, seeing some lesser-known locations and getting an understanding of this important battle.

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Somme: Across the Pozières Ridge May 21, 2022

In this episode we travel to the Somme battlefields of 1916, see the ground where men of the 13th Rifle Brigade fought in a tragic attack, and walk the route the ANZACs took into Pozières village when they took it, see where Albert Jacka VC might have been awarded a bar to his Victoria Cross, and ending on the ground where the Canadians made their assault on Courcelette in September 1916.

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Arras In A Day May 07, 2022

In the latest of our Battlefields In A Day series we travel to Arras in Northern France to visit some key locations connected to the fighting here in 1917-1918; from the Arras Memorial to the key battle sites, ground connected to the 1917 movie and the ground fought over by Australians in 1917 and Canadians in 1918. A separate Battlefields In A Day covering Vimy Ridge will come later!

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Somme: La Boisselle to Contalmaison Apr 23, 2022

We begin Season 4 of the podcast with a walk between the Somme villages of La Boisselle and Contalmaison, the scene of heavy fighting in July 1916. We see memorials, battlefield cemeteries and discover the stories of those who fought here more than a century ago.
You can support the Podcast via BuyMeACoffee and Patreon.

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Adjutant's Notebook: What Is A Division? Apr 02, 2022

In a new Podcast Series we use the Adjutant's Notebook to look at different aspects of First World War history. In this episode we examine the cornerstone of the British Army in the Great War - the Division. These self-contained units of nearly 20,000 men fought the battles and held the line, and by 1918 there were more than seventy of them.

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The Somme In A Day Mar 26, 2022

In the second in our series of Battlefields In A Day, we travel to the Somme battlefields in Northern France. The Somme was one of the defining battles of the Great War and we follow it's story from beginning to end, seeing some of the key sites connected to the fighting in 1916.

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Above The Battlefield: WW1 Aerial Photography Mar 19, 2022

During the Great War pilots took their aircraft above the battlefield not only to bomb and strafe, but to photograph the trenches of the Western Front. What do these images show us and how do they relate to the landscape we know today?

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Ypres In A Day Mar 12, 2022

In this episode, the first in a series of Battlefields in a Day, we explore one of the iconic British and Commonwealth battlefields of the Great War: Ypres, in Flanders. On our tour we take in some well known and famous locations, and travel off the beaten track, too.

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Walking Arras: Feuchy Chapel Mar 05, 2022

Astride the Arras-Cambrai road a small wayside memorial commemorates a missing British officer. Out in the fields small Comrade's Cemeteries act like beacons to the fighting here in April 1917. What took place on this ground around Arras, near to Feuchy Chapel?

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Walking Ypres: Brandhoek Feb 26, 2022

Just astride the road between Poperinghe and Ypres, the hamlet of Brandhoek was a main site for the treatment of wounded soldiers. Here women serving as Army nurses got close to the realities of war, and the war cemeteries here today remind us that not everyone could be saved.

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The Bantams of Bourlon Wood Feb 19, 2022

Among the dark Oak trees of Bourlon Wood, the Bantam Battalions from England, Scotland and Wales experienced their baptism of fire. Who were The Bantams, and did all roads lead to Bourlon Wood in November 1917?

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100th Episode: Across The Old Front Line Feb 12, 2022

To commemorate one hundred episodes of the podcast we take a journey along the Western Front visiting four locations from Flanders to the Somme to Verdun to the Vosges. What does the landscape of the Great War mean to us?

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Henry Williamson's War Feb 05, 2022

In this episode we look at the writer Henry Williamson, best known for his nature writing and Tarka The Otter novel, but in the 1950s he began to publish 'A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight', some fifteen novels, five of which cover the Great War. We look at his life, his war, and his work as a writer, a forgotten author of the First World War.
The Henry Williamson Society website.

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Aisne: The Old Contemptibles at Soupir Jan 29, 2022

We visit the small village of Soupir on the Aisne where men of the British Expeditionary Force, known as The Old Contemptibles, fought in September 1914. We visit the British graves here and walk the battlefield to the Aisne heights where some of the first trenches were dug in the Great War.

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Tommy Tucker: Food in WW1 Jan 22, 2022

From Bully Beef to Hardtack and Plum and Apple Jam... what did the British Tommy in the trenches of the Western Front eat? How was it supplied, how good was his food, how did it reach him, and having had a meal, how did he go to the toilet?

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Forgotten Front: The Cuinchy Brickstacks Jan 15, 2022

We return to the 'Forgotten Front' in Northern France where the British operations on the Western Front took place in 1915, and there were long periods of static trench warfare. Here we visit the site of the Cuinchy 'Brickstacks' - huge stacks of undelivered bricks that formed towers on the battlefield here.

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Poets on the Somme Jan 08, 2022

In this episode, we follow Great War poets Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon into the trenches near Fricourt at the 'Bois Français' during the months before the 1916 battle and learn about how the death of a much-beloved comrade affected them both.

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Unquiet Truce: The Men Who Died on Christmas Day 1914 Dec 24, 2021

Christmas Day in 1914 - a day we more commonly associate with a Christmas Truce between the British and Germans. Who died and where, and how many?

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Trench Chat: Matt Dixon from Footsteps of the Fallen Podcast Dec 18, 2021

In a special Trench Chat, we are joined by Matt Dixon, host of the Footsteps of the Fallen Podcast. We talk about Matt's interest in the Great War, what led him to produce the podcast and the books he is currently working on.

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Vimy Ridge: The Crater Cemeteries Dec 11, 2021

In this episode, we go 'off the beaten track' at Vimy Ridge and look at two unusual cemeteries on the battlefield here - Lichfield and Zivy Crater Cemeteries - where the Canadians buried their dead in some old mine craters in April 1917.

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Somme: Heilly Station Cemetery Dec 04, 2021

In this episode we are Behind the Lines on the Somme, starting in the small village of Heilly, and looking at how soldiers were billeted in places like this, we then walk down to the railway station and examine the use of railways on the Somme and establishment of medical facilities for the wounded. We end at Heilly Station Cemetery, a vast city of the dead from the Somme battles of 1916.

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Ypres: Lille Gate to Bedford House Nov 27, 2021

In this episode, we return to Flanders, and walk from the Lille Gate on the edge of the city of Ypres via 'Shrapnel Corner' to Bedford House Cemetery, one of the largest in this area and laid out in an unusual way. We end on the old Ypres-Comines Canal where the German Army was stopped south of Ypres in April 1918.

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Back To The Front: Arras & The Somme Nov 20, 2021

In the second of our episodes recorded while on a Leger Battlefield Tour, we travel to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Experience at Arras and then down to the Somme battlefields to see the Lochnagar Crater, the Ulster Tower, the trenches in the Newfoundland Park and end at 'Mighty Thiepval'.

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A Time to Remember Nov 13, 2021

In an episode released between Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday, we pause to Remember. We reflect on the veterans back in the 80s and 90s, and think about what visiting the battlefields of the Great War means to us more than a century later.

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Back To The Front: Ypres Nov 06, 2021

In this episode after so many months away from The Old Front Line we return to Flanders with a Leger Battlefield Tour group on a trip along the Western Front. We visit Tyne Cot, walk the trenches at Sanctuary Wood and attend the Last Post at the Menin Gate.

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Somme: Journey Up The Line Oct 30, 2021

In this episode, we are behind the lines on the Somme, in the village of Englebelmer. We look at life behind the front on the Somme, discover what remains from 1916, and follow a journey many soldiers made towards the front line in this sector of the battlefields.

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Gallipoli Cemeteries Oct 23, 2021

In this episode, we travel away from the Western Front to Gallipoli. Here there are thirty-one British and Commonwealth cemeteries on the Gallipoli Penninsula, and we visit some on the beaches and others in more isolated locations, along with the stories of the men buried there from the 1915 Campaign.

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Ypres: Across the Messines Ridge Oct 16, 2021

In this episode we walk from the village of Wytschaete ('Whitesheet' to the soldiers), along part of the Messines Ridge, scene of fighting in 1917, and visit three small battlefield cemeteries, reflecting on how we connect with these comrade's burial grounds of the Great War.

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WW1 at Home: Mells, Somerset Oct 09, 2021

With the Great War battlefields still seeming far away, this week we travel to a picturesque church in Somerset to look at memorials to men bound together by family, sacrifice and duty, and in the churchyard discover the grave of one of the major Great War poets: Siegfried Sassoon.

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A Space Has Been Reserved Oct 02, 2021

After the Great War, more than half a million casualties had marked graves. A decision was made to mark them permanently with headstones and allow the families of the fallen a chance to add their own inscription; more than a century later what do they tell us about grief and loss, sacrifice and service, and the myriad faces of the Great War?

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Sussex to the Somme: Lowther's Lambs Sep 25, 2021

In this episode, we follow the story of the Southdowns Battalions of the Royal Sussex, "Lowther's Lambs"; often seen as the nearest Sussex had to Pals Battalions. We look at their story from their formation in September 1914 to their virtual destruction at Richebourg and Hamel in 1916. We also discuss the journey I made in the 1980s to follow their war and interview some of the last remaining veterans.

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Somme105: The Battle of Flers-Courcelette Sep 18, 2021

Continuing with our look at the 105th Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, we examine the fighting on 15th September 1916, the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, when tanks were used for the first time in history. After an overview of the fighting that day, we also walk the battlefield near 'Bully' and 'Lousy' Wood where men from the London Regiment fought.

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Shot At Dawn Sep 11, 2021

More than 300 British and Commonwealth soldiers were executed 'for the sake of example' during the First World War, for crimes from desertion to striking a superior officer. In this episode, we look at the background to military discipline, the process of Field General Courts-Martial, and what was involved when a soldier was executed by firing squad. And we discover how the inscription on an executed soldier's grave - 'Shot At Dawn' - remains as powerful as when his father chose it in the 1920s.

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Walking the Somme: The Devonshire Cemetery Sep 04, 2021

After the fighting at Mametz on 1st July 1916, the Devonshire Regiment buried their dead in an old disused trench among the trees of Mansel Copse. Here the 'Devonshires Held This Trench, The Devonshires Hold It Still'. In this episode, we walk the ground at Mametz and discover the stories of three men: a poet who loved the countryside, a former spy who made a model of the battlefield, and a young man who had traveled the world.

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Mons: A Bridge At Nimy Aug 21, 2021

In the final episode of Season 2, we look back at this season's podcasts and ahead to the future of The Old Front Line, and then travel to Belgium, to examine some of the opening shots of the war at the village of Nimy, near Mons, where the men of the 4th Royal Fusiliers fought in August 1914.

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Behind The Lines: The Crimson Coast Aug 14, 2021

The 'Crimson Coast' extended along the Northern French coast where the British Base Hospitals were located during the Great War. Here men shattered by wounds were treated, in the massive Base Depots new soldiers were prepared for the front line and women worked in changing ways behind the front. In this episode, we visit Le Treport and Etaples, including the cemeteries in both locations.

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Walking the Somme: Mouquet Farm Aug 07, 2021

In this episode we walk the Somme from Ovillers to Mouquet Farm; 'Moo-Cow Farm' or 'Mucky Farm' as the soldiers called it. Here we examine the attacks by Australian, Canadian and finally British units, discovering just how costly this corner of the Somme battlefields was in 1916.

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Third Ypres Remembered Jul 31, 2021

On 31st July 1917 the Third Battle of Ypres - or the Battle of Passchendaele as it is often called - began with an attack on a forteen mile front near the city of Ypres. In this Anniversary episode we look at the first day of Third Ypres; who attacked, what happened and what were the casualties?

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The Loos Memorial Jul 24, 2021

the heart of the Loos Battlefield. Here we look at the fighting in this part of the Western Front, the background to the Missing, and examine some stories of those commemorated here: from a Major-General to the son of Rudyard Kipling, to the men from Sussex, many of whom died at Richebourg.

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Somme 105: The Battle Continues Jul 17, 2021

As the Battle of the Somme continued, it took the British Army into the 'Horseshoe of Woods' that characterised the next phase of the fighting here in July 1916. As the 105th Anniversary of the Somme continues, we look at how the battle progressed.

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The Western Front: WW1 Trench Warfare Jul 10, 2021

The Great War went from a mobile war in 1914 to a static conflict with hundreds of miles of trenches across France and Flanders. How did trench warfare come about, what were the trenches that crisscrossed the battlefield and what were the differences between Allied and German trenches?

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Walking Ypres: Wieltje to the Steenbeek River Jul 03, 2021

In this episode, we look at how the Northumbrian Territorials were thrown into battle at Ypres in April 1915, look at Wieltje as a front line village, and walk the ground where the opening phase of the Third Battle of Ypres took place following the men from the medical services as they struggled to save the wounded, including Captain Noel Chavasse VC & Bar.

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Somme 105th Anniversary Jul 01, 2021

Today is the 105th Anniversary of the First Day of the Battle of the Somme. The battle began on this day at 7.30 am, when the British soldiers went Over The Top on a perfect summer's morning. On this anniversary we look at the background to 1st July 1916, visit the Thiepval Memorial, and discuss what the First Day of the Somme means to me, reflecting on the experience of the veterans I interviewed.

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Walking The Somme: High Wood Jun 26, 2021

High Wood was one of the most fought-over corners of the Somme battlefields in 1916. We take a walk from Caterpillar Valley Cemetery via Longueval, to stand beneath the dark trees of the wood. We learn about New Zealand's Unknown Warrior, Indian Cavalry, and a father and son who were both awarded the Victoria Cross.

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Walking Ypres: Plugstreet Wood Jun 19, 2021

South of the city of Ypres in Belgium, a large area of woodland was swallowed up in the fighting of 1914. For the next four years, the British and Commonwealth forces held the line in and around Ploegsteert Wood - "Plugstreet Wood" to the British Tommy.

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Trench Chat: Canadian Remembrance Tourism with Samantha Cowan Jun 12, 2021

In this 'Trench Chat' we talk to Canadian Tour operator Samantha Cowan about battlefield tourism coming to the Great War battlefields from Canada. What inspires Canadians to come? What does Vimy mean to them? Samantha shares her years of experience with her tour company TheBattlefieldTours.

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Walking Arras: The Pals at Oppy Wood Jun 05, 2021

The story of the Northern Pals battalions who marched to war in 1914 is forever linked to the Somme, but their war continued and in May 1917 they found themselves up against a 'dark wood' - Oppy Wood, near Arras.

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Walking The Somme: Albert May 29, 2021

Located at the heart of the Somme battlefields, the town of Albert, known as 'Bert to the troops, was the route to the front line - all roads led there in 1916. Here we look at what the town meant to those who served on the Somme, examine the story of the Basilica with its figure of Mary, which Australian soldiers called 'Fanny Durack' and then look at the British graves in Albert Communal Cemetery and end on the outskirts of the town at Bapaume Post Military Cemetery.

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WW1 at Home: War Graves Week May 22, 2021

It's War Graves Week! The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintain all cemeteries and memorials from both World Wars worldwide. This week sees the first War Graves Week and the focus is on the graves we see at home, in the cemeteries close to where we live. In this special episode, we talk to Megan Maltby and James King from CWGC, and Battlefield Guide Martin Garnett in Barnsley Cemetery.

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Trench Chat: WW1 Machine Guns with Richard Fisher May 15, 2021

In this latest Trench Chat, we are joined by Richard Fisher of the Vickers Machinegun Collection & Research Association to talk about the Machine Gun Corps, Graham Seton Hutchison ('Hutchy') and did they make tea from the hot water in their Vickers gun water jackets?!

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Books & Battlefields: The Somme May 08, 2021

Something slightly different this week: we look at the village of Bazentin-le-Petit on the Somme battlefields through the lens of three classic memoirs of the Great War. These include Robert Graves Goodbye To All That and Frank Richards Old Soldiers Never Die. How important are these WW1 memoirs and what do they tell us?

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Walking The Somme: Ancre Valley May 01, 2021

The Ancre Valley cuts across the northern Somme battlefield like a deep scar; in 1916 attack after attack saw heavy losses here. Our walk takes us from the small village of St Pierre Divion, to a bridge over the river Ancre itself, then on to the Ancre Cemetery and ending in Beaumont-Hamel.

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Last Digger Action: Montbrehain 1918 Apr 24, 2021

In the quiet village of Montbrehain in Northern France, Australians who had fought at Gallipoli, and in some of the key battles on the Western Front, went into battle for the last time on a misty morning in October 1918. This was Australia's final battle of the Great War: the end of a long route across France and Flanders that had cost the lives of more than 45,000 Diggers.

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1914: The Princess & The Christmas Box Apr 17, 2021

In this Trench Chat Special, we speak to Professor Peter Doyle about his upcoming book on the story of an iconic Great War artifact, the Princess Mary's Christmas Box. Peter explains the history behind the little brass tin, what was in it and who it was given to.

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Flanders: Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery Apr 10, 2021

Located just off the main road on a route into Flanders, and sheltered by tall trees, this is Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery. It was once one of the largest British cemeteries from the Great War, with nearly 11,000 burials of men who died of wounds. Here we look at Railheads and Estaminets and examine the treatment of the wounded, and the role of Nurses.

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Walking Arras: Bullecourt Apr 03, 2021

In this episode, we follow the Australians - the ANZACs - and men from the West Riding of Yorkshire who fought around the sleepy village of Bullecourt near Arras, in Northern France. Here more than 10,000 ANZACs became casualties in the bloody battles for the Hindenburg Line.

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Ypres: Hill 60 Mar 27, 2021

Once the haunt of lovers, these gentle slopes on a Flanders landscape became Hill 60 to the British Tommy - one of the most infamous locations on the battlefields near Ypres. We look at the story of Demarcation Stones, British and Commonwealth Tunnellers, mine craters and bunkers... and a forgotten WW1 Trench Museum.

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The Champagne Battlefields Mar 20, 2021

In this episode, we have an introduction to the battlefields east of Reims in the vast open fields of the Champagne. We discover a surprisingly diverse battlefield where men of many nations fought during the Great War and hear the story of a disgraced English Colonel who found retribution here in 1915.

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Ypres: The Menin Gate Mar 13, 2021

Back in the city of Ypres in Flanders, in this episode we follow the walls, the old Ramparts, seeing British bunkers, visit the Ramparts Cemetery, discover more about military historian Rose Coombs, and end at the Menin Gate. Each night at 8pm the Last Post is sounded under this Memorial to the Missing, but who does it commemorate and what does it mean to us today?

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Forgotten Front: The Footballers of Loos Mar 06, 2021

Was this the 'greatest game'? On 25th September 1915, men of the London Irish Football Club kicked a ball into battle signalling the start of the Battle of Loos. We follow their story and the other London lads who fought that day in the slag heaps near Loos and Lens.

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Trench Chat: War Cemeteries & Landscape with Dr Tim Godden Feb 27, 2021

In this latest Trench Chat we are joined by military historian Dr Tim Godden to discuss his research on the Junior Architects of the Imperial War Museum, and the design and meaning of the 'Silent Cities', the British cemeteries of the Great War. We also discuss Tim's work as an artist, and how that connects to his wider interest in the conflict.

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Somme: Courcelette to Regina Trench Feb 20, 2021

In this 50th Episode of the podcast, we return to home ground - the village of Courcelette on the Somme. We walk the Canadian attack route in the attack on the village, visit Courcelette British Cemetery and then look at the final stage of the battle around Regina Trench and Desire Trench.

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Ypres: Hell Fire Corner Feb 13, 2021

Along the old Roman Road between Ypres and Menin was a road junction that became the main route to the front line: this was Hell Fire Corner, the most infamous spot on the Western Front. In this episode, we walk from the centre of Ypres to the Lille Gate and along the old railway line to Hell Fire Corner.

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Somme: Ginchy to LesBoeufs Feb 06, 2021

We return to Picardy, for a walk across the 'Forgotten Somme': those places less visited on these battlefields of 1916, and see the villages of Ginchy and LesBoeufs, look at the story of the 'Tally Ho VC', of author Charles Dickens' grandson killed near Ginchy, and discuss conditions in the dreadful Somme mud of the autumn and winter of 1916.

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The Vimy Memorial Jan 30, 2021

In this episode, we travel to Vimy Ridge in Northern France, taken by Canadian soldiers in April 1917. We walk from a series of preserved trenches and mine craters to the crest of the Ridge and look at the impressive Vimy Memorial unveiled in 1936. Has a memorial come to symbolise Canada's connection to the Great War?

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Trench Chat: Battlefield Tourism & Landscape with Amy Harrison Jan 23, 2021

In this episode, we are joined by Military Historian Amy Harrison to discuss her work as a Commonwealth War Graves Commission Intern, and her research into Battlefield Tourism and Landscape for the Ph.D. she is researching at the University of Kent.

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The Film 1917 Uncovered Jan 16, 2021

In this episode we take a detailed look at the film 1917, examining how it represents this period of the First World War, how it depicts the landscape of the Western Front, and how it links us to the battlefields of the Hindenburg Line around Arras today.

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Walking Cambrai: Havrincourt Jan 09, 2021

Cambrai in November 1917 witnessed the first mass use of British Tanks in the Great War as battalions of the Tank Corps supported the infantry. On this walk we follow the men from the West Riding of Yorkshire in their attack at Havrincourt, look at the story of the chateau here, the West Riding Memorial, and visit a small 'Comrade's Cemetery' neat Havrincourt Wood.

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Walking The Somme: Authuille to Thiepval Jan 02, 2021

In the shadow of Lutyens' mighty Thiepval Memorial, we visit the graves of British soldiers in the picturesque Authuille Military Cemetery, discover how a Newcastle United player launched the attack here with a football on 1st July 1916, and find what remains of the pre-war village of Thiepval, more than a century after its destruction.

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Peace in No Man's Land: The Christmas Truce of 1914 Dec 19, 2020

On a cold winter's day in December 1914, the men of both sides emerged from their trenches. Not to fight, but to take part in the Christmas Truce. For a brief moment, there was Peace in No Man's Land. But what is the real story of this famous event?
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Walking Ypres: Polygon Wood Dec 12, 2020

Amidst the dark trees of Polygon Wood near Ypres, bunkers and old shell craters tell the story of the Great War in Flanders. This week we walk the cemeteries and memorials around the wood, follow the ANZACs, and discover the story of the Black Watch in 1914.

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Trench Chat: Remembrance in France with Mathilde Bernardet Dec 05, 2020

In this latest Trench Chat, we are joined by military historian Mathilde Bernardet who works at the Memorial 14-18 Museum near Lens in Northern France. Mathilde discusses how France remembers the Great War, the history of France's largest military cemetery at Notre Dame de Lorette, and the new memorial, the Ring of Remembrance.

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Forgotten Battlefields: The Indian Corps at Neuve-Chapelle Nov 28, 2020

Alongside a busy road in Northern France, the Star of India rises from between two weeping willows, commemorating the thousands of Indian Army soldiers who died in the trenches of the Western Front. What took place at Neuve-Chapelle and what was India's story in the early years of the Great War?

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Trench Chat: The Old Contemptibles with Andrew Thornton Nov 21, 2020

In the latest Trench Chat, we talk to historian and battlefield guide Andrew Thornton about his research on the men of the British Expeditionary Force in 1914, the 'Old Contemptibles'. Who were they, and what is the history behind the Old Contemptibles Association. We also discuss the death of John Parr at Mons in 1914, the soldier believed to be the first killed on the Western Front in 1914.

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Walking Ypres: Langemarck German Cemetery Nov 14, 2020

We return to Flanders and walk the battlefields near the village of Langemarck across to Langemarck German Cemetery, the story of which runs like a dark thread through the history of the Twentieth Century, uncovering many of the myths about this iconic symbol of German loss in the Great War. For our WW1 Object, we look at a German 1917 Artillery Signalling Lamp.

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Remembrance: Unknown Warriors Nov 11, 2020

Today is Armistice Day; a century ago in 1920, the body of the Unknown Warrior was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey. What lays behind this story, how was he selected, and what of the Unknown Warriors in our own connections to the Great War?
A bonus episode for Armistice Day.
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The Day the Guns Fell Silent: Armistice 1918 Nov 07, 2020

As Remembrance Sunday approaches we look at the final day of the Great War on the Western Front. What happened on 11th November 1918, what brought the war in France and Flanders to an end and who were the last men to die that day?

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Britain’s Forgotten Black Army in WW1 Oct 31, 2020

As part of Black History Month, we look at the often forgotten story of the Black African-Caribbean men who joined the British Army during the Great War or who served in the ranks of the British West Indies Regiment on the Western Front.

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Trench Chat: Great War Huts with Taff Gillingham Oct 24, 2020

We're joined by Military Historian Taff Gillingham this week to talk about his amazing Great War Huts project taking place in Suffolk. We learn about how he and his team have saved many of these original WW1 huts and will open them to the public.

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Somme: The Colonel's Field Oct 17, 2020

What is the story behind a place known as 'The Colonel's Field' near to the Somme village of Flers? In this episode, we link Picardy with Yorkshire and follow the story of an English Earl and a Battalion of Yeoman who marched to the front in 1916.

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The Silent Cities Oct 10, 2020

Rudyard Kipling called the cemeteries of the Great War 'Silent Cities', these vast cities of stone where the dead of that conflict lay. What is the background and history of these cemeteries, what happened to them in WW2, and what is their meaning to us today?

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Trench Chat: The Missing with John Broom Oct 03, 2020

In this latest Trench Chat we talk to historian and author John Broom about his new book Reported Missing in the Great War which will be published by Pen & Sword Books in October 2020. John tells us about his research, some of the stories of grief and loss, and how in some cases closure for families took over a century to happen.

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The Missing of the Great War Sep 26, 2020

The war poet Siegfried Sassoon referred to the Missing of the First World War as 'nameless names'. Who were the Missing, what was their fate, how were they commemorated, and is it a story lost in the past, or still part of the Great War battlefields today?

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Somme: Pozières to Martinpuich Sep 19, 2020

In this episode, we walk the fields that link together an English composer, a Canadian who was one of three from the same street to be awarded the Victoria Cross, a black cat that went into battle in one of the first Tanks, and a young officer who collected books. We're back on the Somme, walking the ground between Pozières and Martinpuich where the fighting in September 1916 took place.

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Ypres: Hitler's War at Croonaert Wood Sep 12, 2020

On the slopes of the Messines Ridge, Croonaert Wood (or Bayernwald as the Germans called it) was one of the places connected to Adolf Hitler's story in the Great War. We uncover his connection to the fighting here in 1914, look at the role of the French Army in this sector and uncover the history of the WW1 Trench Museum that was once here in the 1970s and 80s and the reconstructed trenches that still remain within the wood today.

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Trench Chat: WW1 Geology with Peter Doyle Sep 05, 2020

Why is the Geology of the First World War so important? In this latest Trench Chat, we are joined by Professor Peter Doyle to discuss landscape and memory, and how the geology of Mud, Chalk, and Rock affected the battlefields of the Western Front.

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Somme: Courcelette to ADANAC Cemetery Aug 29, 2020

In this episode, we are back on the Somme and follow in the footsteps of Canadian soldiers who fought at Courcelette in 1916. On this tiny battlefield, more than 6,000 Canadians went missing; we hear some of their stories and walk from the village to ADANAC Military Cemetery, one of the largest in this area.

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Ypres: A Walk to the Front Line Aug 22, 2020

In this episode, we follow a route to the front line used by soldiers during the Great War. Starting in Ypres, we walk via Shrapnel Corner, Zillebeke Lake, Zillebeke village, and up to the area beyond Maple Copse where the front lines were located. Along the way, we visit cemeteries, discuss Canadian poet Robert Service, and see the graves of British aristocrats.

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Walking The Somme: Fricourt Aug 15, 2020

In this episode, we walk the battlefield at Fricourt on the Somme. It's a walk very much connected to regiments from Yorkshire who fought here on 1st July 1916: the First Day of the Battle of the Somme. We visit cemeteries, walk across the front lines, discuss a lesser-known war poet, and look at the story of the German dead on the Somme.

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Flanders: Tyne Cot Cemetery Aug 08, 2020

In this episode, we explore Tyne Cot Cemetery and Memorial. Tyne Cot, the largest British and Commonwealth war cemetery in the world, stands on a ridge in Flanders facing the city of Ypres. We look at what the cemetery means to us and uncover some of the stories of those buried here. This episode was recorded at Tyne Cot Cemetery a few weeks ago.

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Return to the Old Front Line Aug 01, 2020

This weeks episode was recorded a few weeks ago whilst on the battlefields of Flanders, and in it, we visit a small cemetery in the fields near Boesinghe, remember a son's visit to his father's grave, and walk among the vast legion of unknown soldiers at Poelcapelle.

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Trench Chat: Veterans with Richard Van Emden Jul 25, 2020

In this latest 'Trench Chat' we speak to military historian and author Richard Van Emden about his time interviewing veterans of the Great War, and personal photographs taken by soldiers with their own cameras on the front line.

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They Called It Passchendaele Jul 18, 2020

What does Passchendaele mean to us, more than a century later? In this episode, we walk an iconic battlefield of the Great War, the ground where the final phase of the Third Battle of Ypres occurred. Our walk takes us through the valley where the final attack by the Canadians took place in October 1917, seeing the memorials at Crest Farm and in Passchendaele church.

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Trench Chat: The Somme with Tim Thurlow Jul 11, 2020

For the first of our Trench Chats, we are joined by Battlefield Guide Tim Thurlow to talk about his many years of walking the Somme battlefields, discuss some of the amazing things he has found on his walks and what the battlefields mean.

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Somme: Newfoundland Park Jul 04, 2020

In this episode, we are once more on the Somme and take a visit to the Newfoundland Memorial Park at Beaumont-Hamel, a unique area of preserved First World War battlefield where the Newfoundland Regiment, among others, fought on the First Day of the Battle of the Somme. We follow a route through the park to the front line, walk the trenches, and look at the two ends of the battle in July and November 1916.

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Somme Anniversary Jul 01, 2020

On the Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, this Somme Extra looks at some of the background to 1st July 1916, we take a walk from outside Albert to La Boisselle and Mash Valley, visiting Ovillers Military Cemetery. The podcast includes a recording of Liverpool Pal Ted Williams, made in the 1980s, and our object this week is a group photograph connected to the story of 1st July 1916.

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Walking Ypres: Sanctuary Wood Jun 27, 2020

In this episode we walk from the Menin Road, along Maple Avenue to Sanctuary Wood British Cemetery, visiting the grave of Gilbert Talbot and a private memorial to an officer killed nearby. We also see the Trench Museum at Sanctuary Wood and finish on the high ground of Hill 62.

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Walking The Somme: Pals at Serre Jun 20, 2020

This week we are once again back on the Somme, this time to visit the battlefield at Serre where the men from the Northern Pals battalions had their baptism of fire on 1st July 1916 - the First Day of the Battle of the Somme. We visit the cemeteries and memorials, hear about the veterans who were here and this week's object is a photo of Harry Scargill of the Barnsley Pals.

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Walking Ypres: Kemmel Hill Jun 13, 2020

In this episode we walk from the village of Locre (now Loker) to Kemmel Hill in Flanders. Along the way we discuss men who were Shot at Dawn, an Irish Nationalist MP Willie Redmond, life behind the lines and the importance of the high ground at Kemmel Hill and the often forgotten role of French troops here in 1918. Our Great War object is a frame containing a WW1 Memorial Plaque.

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Walking The Somme: Mametz Wood Jun 06, 2020

We return to the Somme this week and walk the ground from Dantzig Alley Cemetery to Mametz Wood, looking at the Manchester Pals, Generals killed on front line and the Welsh Volunteers who fought and died at Mametz Wood in July 1916. Our object this week is a unique photograph taken by an officer on the Somme.

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Verdun: Fleury to Douaumont May 30, 2020

In this week's episode, we step beyond the British sector of the Western Front to one of the most iconic French battlefields of the Great War - Verdun. Here we walk the ground between the 'lost' village of Fleury and visit the huge cemetery and ossuary at Douaumont. Our object is a commemorative memorial stone produced to help soldiers wounded in battles like Verdun.

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Forgotten Battlefields: The Lone Tree, Loos May 23, 2020

In this week's episode we travel to another 'Forgotten Battlefield' of the Great War and walk the area around Loos, on the site where the 'Lone Tree' was located in 1915. Walking from Le Rutoire Farm, near the village of Vermelles, to the Lone Tree in the very heart of the 1915 Loos Battlefields. We visit battlefield cemeteries and discuss the story of Rudyard Kipling's son, John, who fell at Loos with the Irish Guards. Our object this week is a poignant photo of a young girl, a postcard lost on the battlefield.

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Walking The Somme: Guillemont Road May 16, 2020

In this episode we walk the Somme battlefields between Trônes Wood and the village of Guillemont. We follow the story of Noel Chavasse VC & Bar, the son of a Royal Academy artist, Raymond Asquith whose father was Prime Minister, and discover how the stories of men from either side of No Man's Land collided in a sunken lane. Our WW1 object is a small Old Comrades badge; what does it tell us about veterans of the Great War?

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Walking Ypres: The Messines Ridge May 09, 2020

In this episode we start in the village of Wulverghem and walk via Ration Farm, and some battlefield cemeteries, up onto the Messines Ridge. This weeks WW1 object is a collection of 'Fragments From France' magazines and we discuss the work of cartoonist Bruce Bairnsfather, famous for the 'Old Bill' cartoons.

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Walking The Somme: A Tale of Two Dugouts May 02, 2020

In this episode we walk the battlefields of the Somme between the villages of Hebuterne and Gommecourt where men of the 56th (London) Division fought on 1st July 1916. We look at the stories of two veterans who were in two separate dugouts here on that day: Malcolm Vyvyan MC, a Gunner officer, and Harry Coates MSM, a Sergeant in the London Scottish. The WW1 object this week is an Imperial Service Badge.

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Walking Gallipoli: W Beach Apr 25, 2020

In this episode we move to Gallipoli, a battlefield in Turkey where British and Commonwealth soldiers landed on 25th April 1915. Here we visit Lancashire Landing Cemetery, walk down to W Beach and look at the story of the 'six VCs before breakfast'. Our object this week is a WW1 photo album with private images taken at Gallipoli in 1915.

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Forgotten Battlefields: The Boar's Head 1916 Apr 19, 2020

This week we take our first walk across one of the 'Forgotten Battlefields' of the Great War, the Boar's Head close to the village of Richebourg in Northern France. Here we discover the story of the Southdown's Battalions, or Lowther's Lambs, and uncover what a terrible sacrifice Sussex made here on 30th June 1916.

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Walking the Somme: Hawthorn Ridge Apr 12, 2020

In this episode we walk the battlefields of the Somme, taking a journey from Auchonvillers up onto the Hawthorn Ridge near Beaumont-Hamel, where the fighting raged on 1st July 1916, the First Day of the Somme. We learn about a young officer, Eric Heaton, and visit a small battlefield cemetery where comrades lay side by side: Hawthorn Ridge No 1.

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Arras Anniversary Special: Arras Veterans Apr 09, 2020

In this episode, published on the 103rd Anniversary of the Battle of Arras, we talk about some of the history of the battle and remember two veterans who were there in 1917: George Butler of the Machine Gun Corps and Malcolm Vyvyan MC of the Royal Garrison Artillery.

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Ypres Battlefield Archaeology & Essex Farm Apr 03, 2020

In this episode we look at Battlefield Archaeology carried out by the Diggers near Ypres in 2001-2002, examine an original piece of recovered archaeology and visit the Advanced Dressing Station bunkers at Essex Farm, on the battlefields close to Ypres in Flanders.

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A Walk Through Pozières Mar 29, 2020

In this first Episode of the Old Front Line, Military Historian Paul Reed takes you on a walk across the Somme battlefields at Pozières, the scene of heavy fighting in 1916. We visit the cemetery and memorial, and travel through the village to 'Mucky Farm'. We also introduce a regular feature looking at WW1 objects, talking about a Great War officer's whistle.

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