Old Front Line
WW1 Podcast with Paul Reed
Four Years of The Old Front Line
On our fourth anniversary of launching The Old Front Line, I look back over the episodes and discuss how the podcast has helped shape and define how I see the landscape of the Great War, helped me find a language for what it means more than a century later, and we look back too over some of my favourite episodes and those which have proved especially popular.
Episode One of the Podcast from March 2020:
24 Comments on “Four Years of The Old Front Line”
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Old Front Line 
Nice to think that though Covid brought such horrific consequences for so many t did bring some good. Do keep it going.
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Thank you, Stefan.
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I have spent the morning while baking listening to old episodes of the podcast. A wonderful way to educate oneself.
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Thanks so much and I’m glad they kept you company while you baked!
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Amazing it’s been all that time Paul. I picked up on it in April or May of 2020 while in my garage refurbishing a set of alloy wheels for my car, believe it or not! Now I now so much more than I did and I’ve even finally been and seen a little of the Western Front. I reckon you’ve given a lot of people like me a way in, just like those writers and characters you mention did for you. Here’s to the next four years!
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Thanks, so glad you got out there!
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Loved every one – lets me learn more about the war while I’m out driving on night shifts. Easy listening and shows your knowledge is right up there with the best historians on the subject.
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Thank you, David!
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Many thanks Paul for four great years of podcasts. It’s been a passion for me for forty years. I look forward to every episode and the chance to learn something new.
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Thank you, Carlton!
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Congratulations on the fourth anniversary of a simply wonderful podcast that I look forward to every week. I hope you continue to educate and entertain us for many more years.
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Thank you, John, very kind.
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We have thoroughly enjoyed your podcasts and joined up on Patreon early on I think. I have always found that you pitch the stories at the right level of respect for the topic and those who served in it which I think is invaluable. I am keen to hear of other “front lines” in the war to end all wars and while the Western Front is more accessable to those of us in Europe, the other and further flung front lines would be worth exploring more? Best wishes Chris & Anne Brown
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Hi Chris and Anne – yes I do plan to cover the wider areas of the Great War but as always it’s a matter of time and money.
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love your show. So much empathy and humanity. My favorite show was on the Princess tins the soldiers received
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As several others noted: out of the horror of those days of Covid-19, your podcast arose, and I am delighted that it goes on still. Thanks across the miles for all you do, Paul, to keep the history of the Great War alive and relevant. Cheers.
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Thanks for those very kind words, Nick.
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P.S. Thank you, too, for your shout-out/suggestion to Tom Hanks to do a future series on the AEF in the Great War. A lot of us here fully (and loudly)would second your request.
Safe travels to Cunel and the Romagne sector of the Meuse-Argonne: poignant sites for America in the Great War.
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Thanks, I’m going to keep pushing on that!
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Thanks to the Pandemic for you starting the podcast, although I’m a more recent listener of the past two years or so. Always enjoy your productions and you’ve raised many interesting elements about World War One. I wonder if you’ve ever thought about doing a podcast on some of the inventions that came out of the First World War? I’m thinking of people such as: Major Peter Norman Nissen – Quonset Hut; Captain Cluny Macpherson – Gas Masks; Gideon Sundback – Zipper; Colonel Ernest Swinton – Tank; Captain Oswald Robertson – Blood Banks; etc. etc. Just a thought for the future.
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Paul, thanks for the past four years. I have listened to all your podcasts and thoroughly enjoyed them. All have been interesting and informative and have increased my understanding and appreciation of the Great War. My library has increased as a result and your podcasts (especially about your early battlefield visits using public transport) on the Somme, inspired me to do my own self-guided walking tour there last year. I hope to repeat these elsewhere on the OFL as well. Keep up the great work.
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Thank you, Stephen!
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Thank you for a brilliant first 4 years. You have developed my interest from the Ox & Bucks L I to a more general knowledge of the Great war. I have got so much more out of my visits to the Western Front and visited areas outside of the usual, I have even enjoyed visits to non-British battlefields. I would love to go to Verdun after listening to your podcasts.
Thank you for broadening my outlook and knowledge.
Here’s to many more years of the Old Front Line.
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Thank you, Kevin – I really appreciate your kind comments and it’s great to hear the Podcast has helped you think about exploring other parts of the Old Front Line.
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