Old Front Line
WW1 Podcast with Paul Reed
The Day the Guns Fell Silent
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?
Below are some books relating to Armistice Day and also the BBC Documentary we made with Michael Palin in 2008. Click on an image to be taken to it’s Amazon page. Buying these books/DVDs this way helps support The Old Front Line. Thank you!
Podcast Extras
Last Men Killed on 11th November 1918
8 Comments on “The Day the Guns Fell Silent”
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Paul…am still glued to your podcast, every week. Been listening since the beginning and am still deeply moved by each episode, none more so than by the stories of these poor lads who made the ultimate sacrifice with minutes to go until peace officially began.
Was also intrigued by your mention of a monument that annoyed and was destroyed by German forces in WW2 ( and subsequently rebuilt ). I would love to know more about the attitudes of WW2 occupying German forces towards the monuments they came across, as they conquered territory along the Old Front Line .
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Hi Henry – many thanks, that’s very kind. I shall do some more on the Aftermath including this in some later podcasts.
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Very moving and interesting……St Symphorium cemetery is worth a visit if you’ve not been…..
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Another great episode and especially poignant as we approach 11/11/11. Thanks again for the continued sharing of your knowledge it makes me even more proud of what my great grandfather, his brother and my nan’s brother endured and the ultimate sacrifice they and so many others paid. Charles Meek, Francis Francis Meek, Malcolm McLeod. And also pride of my grandfather George Marshall and Wiliam and Angus McLeod my great uncles who fortunately returned.
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Another fascinating podcast, especially touching on the high casualties of 1918. I have always been puzzled and troubled by the fact that after over three years of costly attentional trench warfare, casualties were just as high, if not higher during the post Kaiserschlact period of open/semi open warfare. It was also a timely reminder of our last trip with Leger, the Poets trip with Vic last November. Not only did we visit Wilfred Owen’s grave, but a few graves along, the grave of James Kirk VC, who happened to be the great uncle of my partner’s best friend. The year before we went to a special commemorative service on the 100th anniversary of his death at Cheadle Hume near Stockport.
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Yes, it was such a costly period. Victory always comes at a cost.
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According to my father my great uncle William didn’t often speak about his experiences but recalled his saying that during his time as a PoW he was aware that the German people had been as hungry as he was. He was captured after he fell into a shell hole and broke his leg. They saved him from drowning in it and used brown paper to bandage it and hold on a splint. I think he felt they had done their best for him under the circumstances, they certainly saved his life. He had been a plumber but decided to take Holy Orders after the war. He was a chaplain in WW2 and was in Normandy after D Day.
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Gosh, what a story!
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