Old Front Line
WW1 Podcast with Paul Reed
Somme: Across the Pozières Ridge
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 village when they took it, see where Albert Jacka VC might have been awarded a bar to his Victoria Cross, and ending on the ground where the Canadians made their assault on Courcelette in September 1916.
BATTLEFIELD MAP:
RECOMMENDED READING:
It seems that ‘For The Duration’ by D.H.Rowlands has never been reprinted, but there is a copy of the unit War Diary available – see below.
Podcast Extras:
11 Comments on “Somme: Across the Pozières Ridge”
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Nice one! Know you are out on the ground now so enjoy!
Thanks!
Great show. Loved the story of Jacka. The Aussies were and still are a tough group. My
Friends who were in Vietnam said the Aussies were recklessly brave
Thank you, Nancy.
Please Note my New Email address overlord44@gmail.com
Excellent podcast as always. My grandfather served with the NZ Artillery in Italy in and around Monte Cassino. Thank you for mentioning this WW2 campaign
Thanks – and I’m sure mentioning WW2 won’t be the last time I do it!
Thanks again Paul gorgeous a great podcast. So glad reference was made to the late, great Lyn, too, not only a wonderful and compassionate writer but also (despite the comments of some not-to-be-named-here academics) a massive spark for Great War History at a time when interest in the conflict was perhaps waning and a pioneer for non-male study of the War. Hope the covid recovery continues matey!
Thanks, Andy – yes important to acknowledge the work of people like Lyn who did so much to keep it alive when the Great War was forgotten largely.
Excellent podcast. I found the comparison with Italy in WW2 interesting. In the World at War episode on the Italian front, (Tough old gut) the war correspondent, Wynford Vaughan -Thomas describes watching the German attacks at Anzio; when they left their trenches “as like something out of Journey’s End”.He also wrote the book “Anzio” on which the 1968 film with Robert Mitchum was loosely based. I say loosely because after watching the film you could be forgiven for thinking that it was an entirely American battle! I took the book with me on the 2019 Leger 75th anniversary Italian tour. Which was, as ever, fantastic.
Yes indeed, my Dad often said this about Anzio – similar to Gallipoli, where his dad had been.