Old Front Line
WW1 Podcast with Paul Reed
Back To The Front: Ypres
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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24 Comments on “Back To The Front: Ypres”
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Old Front Line 
cheers Paul, you have helped my Ypres addiction with the podcasts, finally managed to book trip for May 22… thanks for holding the line.
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Thanks, Edward!
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Excellent as usual Paul. Thanks for keeping it all alive in these weird times we live in where everything those men fought for is under attack by woke pygmies.
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I was one of those you took back to the battlefields in October. I travelled because I wanted to see where some of the 127 former pupils of the school in which I taught for many years and who fell in the Great War fought and are remembered, and I could not have had a better guide. In particular thank you for helping me find where Lt. James Scott of the K.O.S.B. lies, killed at Loos at 19 “as soon as the battle started”; for showing me Authille Wood, where four Lonsdale Pals from Westerkirk with consecutive army numbers rose from their trenches and did not return to their farms; for taking me to Arras to see where William Campbell Beattie, the Langholm three-quarter who surely would have played rugby for Scotland, is remembered. I will not forget the light on the Memorial at Vimy that afternoon, the unrelenting edges of Langemark, the sad grace of Arras, nor hearing you read Eric Heaton’s letter to his parents as we stood at the foot of the Sunken Road at Hawthorn Ridge. You have said that a visit to the silent cities may inspire us to take the opportunities we are given and which were denied to these men who lived perhaps half our years. The pandemic brought nothing of much good that I can see, except maybe to say to all of us in that same spirit – you know that thing you were going to do? Just get it done. I am glad I did this. You should be proud of your work.
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Thanks so much for those kind and generous comments. It was a real pleasure for me to be back out there which such an interesting and engaged group. So thank you!
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Best one yet! It’s been my routine every week to listen to your podcast on my Sunday morning walk around Adelaide (Sth Australia)….shed a tear or two this morning, hearing your eloquent heartfelt words about being back in Ypres (and the region). Thanks for keeping us all connected to this special place (especially when we can’t travel).
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Thanks so much, Sonia.
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I felt your ‘return emotion’ Paul, I imagine others did too.
Hoping to return next year.
Thanks for your continued dedication to the men who remain on the battlefields, those in cemeteries and those remembered on memorials.
And a thank you for the podcasts.
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Thank you Michael.
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Paul, very interested in one of your tours, particular interest in Guillemont 2 Sept 16 have you done a podcast on this? Jim MacKenzie jim489558@btinternet.com
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Hi James – all my tours are via Leger Battlefield Tours, see http://www.legerbattlefields.co.uk
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Paul, can’t see a tour taking in Guillemont – is there one?
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Thanks Paul…listening to this in our B & B in Ypres. We arrived yesterday and have started our journey of remembrance for the first time in 2 years. I loved this podcast, I could feel the passion in your voice and it made me think about the things I have seen today and how glad and humbled I feel to be back amongst our history. Can’t wait for the next one.
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Thanks so much, Tanya. Enjoy your time in Ypres.
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Wow….like you I’ve been a few times to hear the Last Post and hearing it again in my bunker made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up! Well done and hopefully Leger are back on the battlefields much more in 2022……..
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Thanks, Niall. After so long, it was one of the most special I’d heard.
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Top work as always Paul. Nice to hear you on Footsteps of the Fallen this week too.
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Thanks, Matt.
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Hi Paul , saved this Podcast till Remembrance Day on Thursday.So much enjoyed your podcast of you being back on The Old Front Line in Belgium. It’s fantastic that your self and Ledger Battlefield Tours are up and running again.As I write this I know you are back On the Old Front Line for Remembrance have a good time visiting your favourite places.
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Thanks so much, John. It’s been an excellent trip again.
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Great to hear you “in action” again and thanks for another fascinating podcast.
Interesting to hear how in the 19th century Germany influenced our commemoration of the dead. Also interesting to hear about the mythology behind the “kindermord bei Ypern” . Looking forward to getting back to the Old Front Line with Leger next year.
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Thanks, Stephen – was great to be back!
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Thank you Paul you for showing me how much I missed on 1 trip to Ypres and the area a day spent on bicycling around without any particular idea of where to go other than Tyne Cot and Langemark I must try and return and spend much more time there. you also dispelling the many of the myths and my misundertanding about so many things.
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I hope you get a chance to return sometime soon.
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