Old Front Line
WW1 Podcast with Paul Reed
Walking Arras: Point du Jour
We return to the Arras Battlefields of April 1917 and walk from Athies to the high ground at Point du Jour, seeing where men of the 9th (Scottish) Division, including troops from the South African Brigade fought. We visit cemeteries along the way and see the memorial Cairn overlooking the fields where so much sacrifice took place in the Great War.
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RECOMMENDED READING:
Cheerful Sacrifice – Jonathan Nichols
Walking Arras – Paul Reed
BATTLEFIELD MAP:
Podcast Extras:
5 Comments on “Walking Arras: Point du Jour”
Leave a reply to Stephen Hunt Cancel reply
Old Front Line 
Hi Paul, great episode and great pod cast.
One of my relatives served during the Battle of Arras so I try and hoover up as much data as I can on this Battle. Pvt John George Smart was killed at a place called La Coulotte, on the outskirts of modern day Lens. He was in the Bedfordshire Regiment which attacked the German lines there with the Norfolks on 23 April 1917. Sadly his body was never recovered and I suspect his remains are under what now appears to be a housing estate. I would love to hear more stories of the fighting that took place in this area after the capture of the near by Vimy ridge.
As a side note, John’s brother, William was killed during fighting at the Hohenzollern Redoubt in March 1916.
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I listened to this while also referring to your “Walking Arras book. It was an excellent combination! As ever, thanks also for the plug for the gunners.
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Thanks, Stephen!
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Need a Walking Arras tour! Great episode!
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We do!
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