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.
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 . Send us a text Support the show...
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. Send us a text Support the show
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. Send us a text Support the...
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. Send us a text Support the show...
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?! Send us a text Support the show
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? Send us a text Support the show...
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. Send us a text Support the show
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. Send us a text Support the show...
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. Send us a text Support the show
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. Send us a text Support the show...
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. Send us a text Support the show
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. Send us a text Support the show
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. Send us a text Support the show
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? Send us a text Support the show...
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. Send us a text Support the show
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. Send us a text Support the show...
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. Send us a text Support the show
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. Send us a text Support the show
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. Send us a text Support the show...
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? Send us a text Support the show
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. Send us a text Support the show
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. Send us a text Support the show
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. Send us a text Support the show...
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. Send us a text Support the show...
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? You can support the podcast on BuyMeACoffee and Patreon . Send us a text Support the show...
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. Send us a text Support the show
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. Send us a text Support the show...
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? Send us a text Support the show
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. Send us a text Support the show...
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. Send us a text Support the show...
