Birds on the Western Front

Posted on February 4, 2023 by

23 Comments

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 trenches of France and Flanders. We also look at how birds did their bit in the war, too, how the battlefield conditions affected them, and discuss ways we can connect this subject to what we see on the Great War landscape today.

RECOMMENDED READING:

BATTLEFIELD MAP:

PODCAST EXTRAS:

Pte Edward A F Allen:

Category: Flanders, Podcast Episode, Somme, WW1 Birds, Ypres

23 Comments on “Birds on the Western Front”

  1. Fascinating episode (as always). I’ll be digging out my old dvd of ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ (1979 remake) this afternoon to see what bird Baumer was sketching when he met his demise.

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      • It was a butterfly in the original film Paul but I’m pretty sure it was a bird in the 1979 remake. The bird flies away as Baumer is drawing it, and when he sticks his head above the parapet he gets shot.

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      • Sorry but Paul was sketching a Bird when shot. He first spots it from his trench looking back towards his side of the Line. The Bird was in a tree. As Paul rose to get a better view , that was when he was shot. The Camera shows the Bird on his sketching paper. then as he and his last sketch falls into the bottom of the Trench, his last sketch is then covered with muddy water.

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  2. Terrific episode. I was hoping for a mention of Cher Ami, the pigeon who helped save the AEF’s Lost Battalion in the Argonne Oct 1918

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  3. Brilliant stuff Paul, this really was one of the best episodes.
    Listened this morning with the dog on my lap and two long-tailed tits out on the bird feeder.

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  4. Wonderful podcast! I listened as I watched the birds on my backyard feeder, on a cold and snowy Canadian winter day. I can see how the birds on the front line would have brought thoughts of home to soldiers on the battlefields.

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  5. Ive been listening to the podcasts since the day they began and completely agree with Matt (above) that this was one of the best episodes I have heard from the long running series. Im currently looking at the birds in my own grandfathers sketch book from WW1 and I remember him writing in his diary of the storks slowly circling over the lake at Suvla in Gallipoli among shell the bursts. I love the stories which emerge from Paul, the absolute master of Great War History. Such a rich eclectic episode from such a gifted story teller.

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  6. Paul, this episode is stunning, your writing and telling of how birds fit into the sky scape and lives of us all is beautifully told. Your podcasts have been outstanding but this one soars that little bit higher, thank you.

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  7. An excellent podcast about what is for me, a relatively unknown aspect of the Great War. Interesting to hear that birds were used in tanks. How did they cope with the fumes, which had a debilitating effect on the crews?

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  8. We’ve read a book about there being 150 types of birds and the men having pets and building gardens behind the Front Line in WW1, Des anyone know what it’s called.

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