Questions and Answers Episode 53

Posted on May 16, 2026 by

12 Comments

In this wide-ranging listener Q&A episode of Old Front Line, we dive into some intriguing and human questions thrown up by the Great War.

We begin with the fate of the missing. With hundreds of thousands of men listed as “missing” across the Western Front, is there any real evidence that some chose to disappear, seizing the chaos of war to start new lives elsewhere? We explore the realities of desertion, the systems used to record the dead, and whether the idea of men slipping away into anonymity holds up under historical scrutiny.

From there, we head to the contested borderlands of Alsace-Lorraine. Annexed by the German Empire after the Franco-Prussian War, the region produced soldiers who often found themselves fighting for Germany despite deep cultural ties to France. Were these men treated with suspicion? Were they deliberately dispersed among regiments, and how did questions of identity and loyalty shape their wartime experience?

We also turn to the modern landscape of the First World War, answering a question about relationships with landowners across the former front lines. What happens when cemeteries and forgotten sites lie on private land? Do landowners welcome visitors, and how connected do they feel to the history beneath their fields?

Finally, we tackle casualty comparisons. While 1 July 1916 stands as the British Army’s darkest day on the Battle of the Somme, what were the equivalent days of devastation for the French and German armies? From the Battle of the Frontiers to the Offensive in the Champagne, we examine when losses peaked and what that tells us about the wider war.

As always, this episode blends thoughtful listener questions with grounded historical analysis, uncovering the personal stories and bigger truths behind the conflict.

Research by David O’Mara: Casualties in 1914 and 1915.

315eRI on Substack: The Day Flesh Met Steel.

Main Image: The Dawn: Propaganda Poster During the First World War with Two Women Representing Alsace and Lorraine by Henri Royer. 

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Category: QnA Episode

12 Comments on “Questions and Answers Episode 53”

  1. A novel about a bloke who disappeared in the Great War like Question 1 is In Pale Battalions by Robert Goddard…name on the Thiepval Memorial but alive…..Not a bad read….

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  2. Thanks so much Paul for answering my question. As you say the figures defy comprehension. I will definitely check out Dave O’ Mara’s books. I can’t say that I’m surprised though about the lack of information about the Germans.

    The question on Alsace Lorraine was also very interesting. Arguably the most famous French soldier during this period (for all the wrong reasons) from the province was Alfred Dreyfuss.

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  3. While I do not share your enthusiasm to the same extent as you for contemporary WW1 fiction (Birdsong q and A episode) I read Two Storm Wood Philip Gray on a 99p Kindle deal from start to finish. Critically well received it details a young woman’s search for her missing lover/fiance. In the end although reviewers say they did not see the twist coming it was fairly predictable. However at the end of the day it fulfils your criteria for modern fiction looking at the ‘missing’ . I will not elaborate for risk of a ‘spolier’ ‘https://www.amazon.co.uk/Two-Storm-Wood-Philip-Gray/dp/178730261X/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

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  4. Hi Paul. I’m pretty sure I remember from a BBC documentary 20 years ago or so that the German chap that Harry Patch met was from Alsace Lorraine and became a French citizen before WW2. I think his son also fought for the Germans from memory. Plausible his father could have fought in the Franco Prussian war for the French?

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  5. Dear Paul,

    Thanks for the wonderful podcast. I’ve been listening for years, though I’m not much of a writer.

    In response to your latest podcast: there is a Dutch book by a Dutch author about a Flemish soldier with memory loss who builds a new life after the war as someone else. It is a fictional story.

    Author: Anjet Daanje: De herinnerde soldaat (The Remembered Soldier) follows Amand Coppens, a World War I soldier who is found near the Belgian front lines suffering from total amnesia. Years later, a woman named Julienne claims he is her long-lost husband and brings him back home, even though he cannot remember her, their children, or his former life. As Amand tries to rebuild his identity and their relationship, haunting nightmares from the war begin to return, forcing him to confront painful questions about memory, guilt, love, and whether a person can truly become someone new.

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