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 . Send us ...
Apr 20, 2024•42 min•Season 6Ep. 32
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 . Send us a text S...
Apr 13, 2024•55 min•Season 6Ep. 31
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 Ser...
Apr 03, 2024•55 min•Season 6Ep. 30
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 . Send us a text Support the show...
Mar 30, 2024•37 min•Season 6Ep. 29
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? Send us a text Support the show
Mar 23, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 6Ep. 28
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. Send us a text Support the show...
Mar 16, 2024•41 min•Season 6Ep. 27
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? Send us a text Support the show...
Mar 09, 2024•31 min•Season 6Ep. 26
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 . Send us a text Support the show...
Mar 02, 2024•33 min•Season 6Ep. 25
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 . Send us a text Support the show...
Feb 24, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 6Ep. 24
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 . Send us a text Support the show...
Feb 17, 2024•32 min•Season 6Ep. 23
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. Send us a text Support the show...
Feb 10, 2024•34 min•Season 6Ep. 22
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 / Send us a text Support the show...
Feb 03, 2024•31 min•Season 6Ep. 21
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. Send us a text Support the show...
Jan 27, 2024•31 min•Season 6Ep. 20
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...
Jan 20, 2024•34 min•Season 6Ep. 19
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 . Send us a text Support the show...
Jan 13, 2024•57 min•Season 6Ep. 18
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 . Send us a text Support the show...
Jan 10, 2024•30 min•Season 6Ep. 17
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 . Send us a text Support the show...
Dec 23, 2023•25 min•Season 6Ep. 16
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 . S...
Dec 20, 2023•23 min•Season 6Ep. 16
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 . Send us a text Support the show...
Dec 16, 2023•56 min•Season 6Ep. 15
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 . Send us a text Support the show...
Dec 13, 2023•25 min•Season 6Ep. 14
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 BuyMeACof...
Dec 09, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 6Ep. 13
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 . Send us a text Support the show...
Dec 06, 2023•21 min•Season 6Ep. 12
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 . ...
Dec 02, 2023•54 min•Season 6Ep. 11
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,...
Nov 29, 2023•16 min•Season 6Ep. 10
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 . Send us a text Support the show...
Nov 25, 2023•48 min•Season 6Ep. 9
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. Send us a text Support the show
Nov 18, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Season 6Ep. 8
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? Send us a text Support the show
Nov 11, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Season 6Ep. 7
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. Send us a text Support the show
Nov 04, 2023•47 min•Season 6Ep. 6
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. Send us a text Support the show
Oct 28, 2023•41 min•Season 6Ep. 5
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! Send us a text Support the show
Oct 07, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Season 6Ep. 4
