Old Front Line
WW1 Podcast with Paul Reed
Podcast Questions & Answers: Ep 1
In the first of our new ‘your questions answered’ episodes we answer six questions sent in by listeners to the podcast covering subjects like how the army saw itself in the Great War, why the podcast is called ‘the Old Front Line’, how the opposing armies held the Western Front, and what kind of methods did I use to check the accuracy of Great War veterans interviews made in the 1980s and 90s.
Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.
16 Comments on “Podcast Questions & Answers: Ep 1”
Leave a reply to arnhemdescent Cancel reply
Old Front Line 
Nice one….In answer to a question…someone has written a novel with a man on the Thiepval Memorial who was alive and gone under a false name…In Pale Battalions by Robert Goddard…a good read for the feeder coach LOL
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Thanks for that, Niall. Not one I know!
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Fascinating six questions and answers, thankyou.
Myth or truth ?
Shortly before zero hour (04.00) on 10th July 1916, men of the 14th Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers were heard singing (in Welsh) the stirring Welsh hymn ‘Jesu Lover of my Soul’ before the attack on Mametz Wood.
My Welsh cycling buddies want to sing this at the 38th Division Welsh memorial at Mametz Wood, but we’d like definitive confirmation that this did / didn’t happen.
Richard Croft
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Hi Richard – now that’s a good question, and one I don’t have an answer to. You’d have to do some quite extensive research in archives and newspapers perhaps to uncover that story!
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Paul- This is a great new addition to the Old Front Line podcast! I parricularly enjoyed your response concerning the reliability of oral history reports (Question 6 I think). I remember that my father, who was in the Phillippines in WWII, and my father-in-law, who went into France in early January, 1945, did not talk about their war experiences until they were well into ther 70s. I think that it was hard for them to talk about those things with people who were not there. Keep up the great work. I look forward to your new podcast each week!
Dick
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Thanks, Dick!
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I am getting an “Invite has expired” notice from the Discord link?
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Thanks – I set it to never expire but it has so have updated it now and link should be working!
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An excellent new addition to The Old Front Line format. Loved it, as always.
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Hi Paul, an idea for you. How about doing a chat with Ricky Wilson or another member of the band the Kaiser Chiefs. They did an album called Educatión Educatión and War, which is a WWI themed album. it would be great to hear what inspired them to do it. Keep,up,the super work mate ! Will.
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Good idea, I didn’t know about that!
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Paul,
Many thanks for answering my question on the reliability of oral history and interviewing veterans. Much appreciated.
regards,
Stuart
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My pleasure, Stuart – it was a great question!
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An excellent episode. What the Regular, TF and NA thought about each other is interesting. Reading the memoirs there seems to be quite a lot of prejudice (perhaps played down post-war). Officers preferred being posted to Regular units and were proud to be there and ORs seem to look down on NA soldiers as soft, unprofessional and lacking aggression. I suspect there was a bit of snobbery as well. Officers Messes brought in price limits as newer officers didn’t have the means to pay the bills (less champagne which they seem to drink a lot of) and Junior Officers Riding Schools come up several times to initiate and intimidate perhaps those who couldn’t ride. Worthy of much more research.
Thanks again. Graham
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Thanks Graham – yes indeed, worthy of further research!
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A fascinating Q and A. The final part of the first question, ie the attitudes of Kitchener’s Volunteers towards conscripts, reminded me of a BBC Docu drama, “Our World War”. In episode 3 there is clear friction between a volunteer and a conscript, ie why did the latter sit out the war until called up while the volunteer joined up in August 1914.
I had never heard of this before and I assumed that it was added for dramatic effect. However, after listening to this, there may be some truth in it.
It is still available on BBC iplayer. I thought that it was shown in 2018 to commemorate the end of the war. However, I was surprised to see that was shown in 2014 to commemorate the start of the war. As you say, how time flies!
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