Podcasts by 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.
Further podcasts by Paul Reed
Podcast on the topic Geschichte
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Despatches: Cemetery in the Sand Dunes from 2023-12-13T02:00
Despatches goes on the road, and this episode was recorded on location in Flanders. We visit from 2023-09-16T02:00
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...
Season 5 Old Front Line Roundup from 2023-08-26T02:00
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....
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Somme: Contalmaison to Bazentin from 2023-08-19T02:00
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 surge...
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Great War Music with Beverley Palin from 2023-08-12T02:00
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 di...
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Verdun In A Day from 2023-08-05T02:00
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 ...
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The Pillboxes of Flanders from 2023-07-29T02:00
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 ...
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Trench Chat: The Caretakers with Caitlin DeAngelis from 2023-07-15T02:00
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 Res...
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From Training to Trenches from 2023-07-08T02:00
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 consist...
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First Day Of The Somme from 2023-07-01T02:00
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 st...
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The Monocled Mutineer: Fact or Fiction? from 2023-06-24T02:00
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 ...
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Gas! Gas! Gas! from 2023-06-10T02:00
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 Ypre...
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Ypres Walks: Menin Gate to Ypres Town Cemetery from 2023-06-03T02:00
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 sto...
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Somme Walks: Hawthorn Ridge to the Sunken Lane from 2023-05-20T02:00
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, an...
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Changing Landscapes: Canal du Nord from 2023-05-13T02:00
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 durin...
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Somme Walks: Bois Français from 2023-05-06T02:00
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 t...
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Trench Chat: Black Poppies with Stephen Bourne from 2023-04-22T02:00
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 contr...
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Springboks at Delville Wood from 2023-04-15T02:00
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&ap...
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Forgotten Battlefield: The Reunion from 2023-04-01T02:00
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 thre...
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Verdun: The Trench of Bayonets from 2023-03-18T02:00
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 o...
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The Hindenburg Line from 2023-03-04T02:00
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 West...
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Ypres: The Immortal Salient from 2023-02-25T02:00
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 Sali...
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Trench Chat: Reclaiming The Salient with Roger Steward from 2023-02-11T02:00
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 'Reclaim...
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Birds on the Western Front from 2023-02-04T02:00
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 trenche...
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WW1 Battlefield Pilgrimages: Trench Chat with Professor Mark Connelly from 2023-01-21T02:00
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, ...
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Doughboys in Flanders from 2023-01-14T02:00
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 fro...
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The Art of War from 2023-01-07T02:00
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:...
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Winter on the Somme from 2022-12-24T02:00
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 con...
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Gallipoli: The Farm from 2022-12-17T02:00
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, u...
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Five Little-Known WW1 Memorials from 2022-12-10T02:00
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, an...
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How I Wrote my WW1 Battlefield Walking Books from 2022-11-26T02:00
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 e...
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Trench Chat: America in WW1 with Mike Cunha from 2022-11-19T02:00
In this latest Trench Chat we are joined by Mike Cunha of the Battles of the First World War P...
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Remembrance: Five Little-Known Cemeteries of the Great War from 2022-11-12T02:00
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 h...
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Crawley War Memorial with Renny Richardson from 2022-10-29T02:00
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 th...
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Henry Williamson's Books from 2022-10-22T02:00
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 wha...
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Film Review: All Quiet on the Western Front from 2022-10-08T02:00
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 f...
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Loos 1915 In A Day from 2022-10-01T02:00
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-Oct...
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Return to the Silent Cities from 2022-09-17T02:00
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 sit...
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Where WW1 Meets WW2 from 2022-09-03T02:00
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 aff...
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Somme: Villers-Bretonneux 1918 from 2022-08-13T02:00
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. ...
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Forty Years on the Old Front Line from 2022-07-30T02:00
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 l...
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Behind The Lines at Ypres from 2022-07-16T02:00
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 ...
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Great War Objects: Touching The Past from 2022-07-02T02:00
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 from 2022-06-18T02:00
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 h...
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Vimy Ridge In A Day from 2022-06-04T02:00
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 R...
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Somme: Across the Pozières Ridge from 2022-05-21T02:00
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 villag...
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Arras In A Day from 2022-05-07T02:00
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 ke...
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Somme: La Boisselle to Contalmaison from 2022-04-23T02:00
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 d...
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Adjutant's Notebook: What Is A Division? from 2022-04-02T02:00
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 W...
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The Somme In A Day from 2022-03-26T02:00
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 s...
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Above The Battlefield: WW1 Aerial Photography from 2022-03-19T02:00
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 th...
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Ypres In A Day from 2022-03-12T02:00
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 ta...
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Walking Arras: Feuchy Chapel from 2022-03-05T02:00
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 1...
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Walking Ypres: Brandhoek from 2022-02-26T02:00
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...
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The Bantams of Bourlon Wood from 2022-02-19T02:00
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 i...
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100th Episode: Across The Old Front Line from 2022-02-12T02:00
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 o...
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Henry Williamson's War from 2022-02-05T02:00
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 Su...
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Aisne: The Old Contemptibles at Soupir from 2022-01-29T02:00
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 wal...
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Tommy Tucker: Food in WW1 from 2022-01-22T02:00
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 h...
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Forgotten Front: The Cuinchy Brickstacks from 2022-01-15T02:00
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 w...
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Poets on the Somme from 2022-01-08T02:00
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...
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Unquiet Truce: The Men Who Died on Christmas Day 1914 from 2021-12-24T02:00
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 from 2021-12-18T02:00
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 t...
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Vimy Ridge: The Crater Cemeteries from 2021-12-11T02:00
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 buri...
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Somme: Heilly Station Cemetery from 2021-12-04T02:00
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 sta...
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Ypres: Lille Gate to Bedford House from 2021-11-27T02:00
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 a...
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Back To The Front: Arras&The Somme from 2021-11-20T02:00
In the second of our episodes recorded while on a Leger Battlefield Tour, we travel to the Commonwealth War Grav...
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A Time to Remember from 2021-11-13T02:00
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 t...
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Back To The Front: Ypres from 2021-11-06T02:00
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...
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Somme: Journey Up The Line from 2021-10-30T02:00
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 so...
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Gallipoli Cemeteries from 2021-10-23T02:00
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 a...
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Ypres: Across the Messines Ridge from 2021-10-16T02:00
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 ce...
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WW1 at Home: Mells, Somerset from 2021-10-09T02:00
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 t...
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A Space Has Been Reserved from 2021-10-02T03:00
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 thei...
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Sussex to the Somme: Lowther's Lambs from 2021-09-25T03:00
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...
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Somme105: The Battle of Flers-Courcelette from 2021-09-18T03:00
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 ...
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Shot At Dawn from 2021-09-11T03:00
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 ep...
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Walking the Somme: The Devonshire Cemetery from 2021-09-04T03:00
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, Th...
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Mons: A Bridge At Nimy from 2021-08-21T03:00
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 t...
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Behind The Lines: The Crimson Coast from 2021-08-14T03:00
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 massi...
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Walking the Somme: Mouquet Farm from 2021-08-07T03:00
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...
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Third Ypres Remembered from 2021-07-31T03:00
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 epis...
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The Loos Memorial from 2021-07-24T03:00
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 Majo...
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Somme 105: The Battle Continues from 2021-07-17T03:00
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 Anniversa...
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The Western Front: WW1 Trench Warfare from 2021-07-10T03:00
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 cr...
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Walking Ypres: Wieltje to the Steenbeek River from 2021-07-03T03:00
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...
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Somme 105th Anniversary from 2021-07-01T03:00
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 mornin...
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Walking The Somme: High Wood from 2021-06-26T03:00
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. W...
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Walking Ypres: Plugstreet Wood from 2021-06-19T03:00
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...
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Trench Chat: Canadian Remembrance Tourism with Samantha Cowan from 2021-06-12T03:00
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...
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Walking Arras: The Pals at Oppy Wood from 2021-06-05T03:00
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&ap...
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Walking The Somme: Albert from 2021-05-29T03:00
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 tow...
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WW1 at Home: War Graves Week from 2021-05-22T03:00
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 fo...
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Trench Chat: WW1 Machine Guns with Richard Fisher from 2021-05-15T04:00
In this latest Trench Chat, we are joined by Richard Fisher of the Vickers Machinegun Collection & Research Association to talk about the Machine G...
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Books&Battlefields: The Somme from 2021-05-08T03:00
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 Gra...
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Walking The Somme: Ancre Valley from 2021-05-01T04:00
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 ...
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Last Digger Action: Montbrehain 1918 from 2021-04-24T05:00
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 mist...
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1914: The Princess&The Christmas Box from 2021-04-17T05:00
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...
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Flanders: Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery from 2021-04-10T05:00
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...
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Walking Arras: Bullecourt from 2021-04-03T05:00
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 t...
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Ypres: Hill 60 from 2021-03-27T05:00
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 stor...
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The Champagne Battlefields from 2021-03-20T05:00
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 foug...
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Ypres: The Menin Gate from 2021-03-13T05:00
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 Coo...
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Forgotten Front: The Footballers of Loos from 2021-03-06T05:00
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 ...
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Trench Chat: War Cemeteries&Landscape with Dr Tim Godden from 2021-02-27T05:00
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 '...
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Somme: Courcelette to Regina Trench from 2021-02-20T05:00
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...
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Ypres: Hell Fire Corner from 2021-02-13T05:00
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...
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Somme: Ginchy to LesBoeufs from 2021-02-06T05:00
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 ...
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The Vimy Memorial from 2021-01-30T05:00
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 ...
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Trench Chat: Battlefield Tourism&Landscape with Amy Harrison from 2021-01-23T05:00
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 ...
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The Film 1917 Uncovered from 2021-01-16T05:00
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 t...
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Walking Cambrai: Havrincourt from 2021-01-09T05:00
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 Ridin...
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Walking The Somme: Authuille to Thiepval from 2021-01-02T05:00
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 t...
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Peace in No Man's Land: The Christmas Truce of 1914 from 2020-12-19T05:00
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 ...
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Walking Ypres: Polygon Wood from 2020-12-12T05:00
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, follo...
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Trench Chat: Remembrance in France with Mathilde Bernardet from 2020-12-05T05:00
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 th...
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Forgotten Battlefields: The Indian Corps at Neuve-Chapelle from 2020-11-28T05:00
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 Fr...
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Trench Chat: The Old Contemptibles with Andrew Thornton from 2020-11-21T05:00
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'....
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Walking Ypres: Langemarck German Cemetery from 2020-11-14T05:00
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 Twentie...
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Remembrance: Unknown Warriors from 2020-11-11T05:00
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 Wa...
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The Day the Guns Fell Silent: Armistice 1918 from 2020-11-07T05:00
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 wh...
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Britain’s Forgotten Black Army in WW1 from 2020-10-31T05:00
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...
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Trench Chat: Great War Huts with Taff Gillingham from 2020-10-24T05:00
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 ...
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Somme: The Colonel's Field from 2020-10-17T05:00
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 Engl...
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The Silent Cities from 2020-10-10T05:00
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 ceme...
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Trench Chat: The Missing with John Broom from 2020-10-03T05:00
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 20...
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The Missing of the Great War from 2020-09-26T05:00
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 st...
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Somme: Pozières to Martinpuich from 2020-09-19T05:00
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 batt...
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Ypres: Hitler's War at Croonaert Wood from 2020-09-12T05:00
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 connect...
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Trench Chat: WW1 Geology with Peter Doyle from 2020-09-05T05:00
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...
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Somme: Courcelette to ADANAC Cemetery from 2020-08-29T05:00
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...
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Ypres: A Walk to the Front Line from 2020-08-22T04:00
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 ...
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Walking The Somme: Fricourt from 2020-08-15T05:00
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 ...
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Flanders: Tyne Cot Cemetery from 2020-08-08T05:00
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 l...
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Return to the Old Front Line from 2020-08-01T05:00
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 fath...
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Trench Chat: Veterans with Richard Van Emden from 2020-07-25T05:00
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 soldie...
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They Called It Passchendaele from 2020-07-18T05:00
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 occu...
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Trench Chat: The Somme with Tim Thurlow from 2020-07-11T05:00
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 ...
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Somme: Newfoundland Park from 2020-07-04T05:00
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...
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Somme Anniversary from 2020-07-01T05:00
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 Ovi...
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Walking Ypres: Sanctuary Wood from 2020-06-27T05:00
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 al...
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Walking The Somme: Pals at Serre from 2020-06-20T05:00
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 ...
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Walking Ypres: Kemmel Hill from 2020-06-13T05:00
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 ...
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Walking The Somme: Mametz Wood from 2020-06-06T05:00
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...
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Verdun: Fleury to Douaumont from 2020-05-30T05:00
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 &...
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Forgotten Battlefields: The Lone Tree, Loos from 2020-05-23T06:00
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...
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Walking The Somme: Guillemont Road from 2020-05-16T05:00
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 As...
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Walking Ypres: The Messines Ridge from 2020-05-09T05:00
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 'Fragme...
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Walking The Somme: A Tale of Two Dugouts from 2020-05-02T08:00
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 ...
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Walking Gallipoli: W Beach from 2020-04-25T05:00
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 a...
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Forgotten Battlefields: The Boar's Head 1916 from 2020-04-19T05:00
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 discov...
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Walking the Somme: Hawthorn Ridge from 2020-04-12T06:00
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 Da...
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Arras Anniversary Special: Arras Veterans from 2020-04-09T11:00
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...
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Ypres Battlefield Archaeology&Essex Farm from 2020-04-03T16:00
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 ...
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A Walk Through Pozières from 2020-03-29T14:00
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 cemeter...
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