Old Front Line
WW1 Podcast with Paul Reed
Questions and Answers Episode 43
In this episode of The Old Front Line, we explore how individual lives and institutions reveal the human realities of the First World War.
We begin by asking why only three officers were Shot at Dawn during the war, and what this striking disparity tells us about military justice, discipline, and class within the British Army.
We then turn to the work of the Australian Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau, examining how its innovative and compassionate approach – under the leadership of Vera Deakin – sought to uncover the fate of the missing and bring answers to grieving families.
Next, we consider how the experience of war shaped the men who served in the First World War, and question whether their post-war identities and challenges were truly unique, or part of a broader historical pattern.
Finally, we analyse the Battle of Manchester Hill in March 1918, assessing its significance and discussing the possible fate of Lieutenant Colonel Wilfrith Elstob VC, who commanded the defence during the German Spring Offensive.
Shot at Dawn episode: Shot At Dawn – Old Front Line.
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One Comment on “Questions and Answers Episode 43”
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Old Front Line 
Excellent as always Paul. The question of how men were shaped by the war particularly interested me as my grandfather always spoke quite disparagingly about his own dad who served with the Grenadier Guards as he walked out on the family in the early 1930s when my grandfather was 9 or 10. Indeed I’m surprised he kept his father’s 14-15 Star which I still have. Thinking about it now, with a bit more perspective perhaps, makes me wonder if my great-grandfather’s reasons for leaving were linked to his mental state and his war experience? I’ll probably never know!
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