Questions and Answers Episode 19

Posted on December 14, 2024 by

8 Comments

Based on this weeks questions we look at the difference between Ordnance Survey and Trench maps, recommend some WW1 Channels and videos to look at on YouTube, look at how to study a particular regiment and examine souvenirs brought home by veterans.

Old Front Line Recommends on YouTube: click here to watch the playlist.

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Category: QnA Episode

8 Comments on “Questions and Answers Episode 19”

  1. Paul,

    Regarding the taking of souvenirs on the battlefield, were there instances where soldiers, just prior to being demobbed, brought functioning weapons back to the UK e.g. pistols, grenades, etc, which could easily be hidden in packs and bypass detection?

    regards,

    Stuart Price

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    • I’ve read that they were searched before and after arriving home and many items confiscated but of course officers owned their own kit and no-one searched them for examples. I’m sure however many soldiers found ways round this!

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  3. A fascinating Q and A. It was especially interesting to hear about the social differences between the London regiments. Good choice of documentaries, although as you mentioned Andy Robertshaw, his five “Finding the Fallen” episodes on YouTube are worth a look. Also, “The Western Front” by the late great Richard Holmes.

    Given Lance Cattermole’s description of Courcelette, I’m not sure that I would like to dwell on how the German paybook came to be in the allied soldier’s possession.

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  4. On 17th December 1915, a Cambridge shopkeeper was killed and his shop destroyed by a Great War souvenir. Joseph Fenton was very popular with troops who were billeted with him, and two of them decided to send (!) him back some fuses from the battlefield as presents. Fenton was trying to take one of these apart with a hammer when it went off and killed him and destroyed his shop. I’ve heard from the family that this event caused a great deal of change after the inquest, with the laws regarding the bringing back of souvenirs being tightened. Thanks Paul 🙂 – Dave and Helen

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  5. Another informative and intersting Q&A – the Youtube watch list is a great idea.

    I have just watched a Game of Ghost – never aware of this before. Superb! If only there were more interviews with Great War veterans avaiable. A lesson to be learnt make sure that stories are captured, if they are happy to do so and photographs annotated before the people with knowledge have gone. (I have so many regrets about not recording my relatives experiences or even asking!!)

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