Old Front Line
WW1 Podcast with Paul Reed
Category: Arras
West of Arras: Behind The Lines
We travel to the area Behind the Lines of West of Arras, visiting cemeteries where Casualty Clearing Stations were moved back to in 1918, discuss a small village where WW1 meets WW2, discover some original Great War graffiti on a farm building wall and… Continue Reading “West of Arras: Behind The Lines”
Gunner Officer: Malcolm Vyvyan
We return to the memories of WW1 veteran Malcolm Vyvyan MC, who served with 96th Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery on the Western Front from 1916, and then latterly the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force. We follow him from the Somme to… Continue Reading “Gunner Officer: Malcolm Vyvyan”
Bonus Episode: A Siege Battery Gunner
In this second Bonus Episode to end Season 8 of the podcast we look at the subject of Great War veterans and in particular Malcolm Vyvyan who served as a Siege Battery officer in the Royal Garrison Artillery on the Somme, Arras and Flanders,… Continue Reading “Bonus Episode: A Siege Battery Gunner”
Live from The Arras Memorial
In this episode we travel to the Arras Memorial to the Missing, where we explore the powerful story of over 35,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers with no known grave. In this episode, we uncover the personal histories of men from the British Army, Royal Naval Division, and Royal… Continue Reading “Live from The Arras Memorial”
Etaples to Arras: A Journey
In a special edition of the podcast which marks the end of Season 6, this episode was recorded on The Old Front Line where we take a journey from the vast Etaples Military Cemetery, look at the Tank Gunnery School at Merriment, Douglas Haig… Continue Reading “Etaples to Arras: A Journey”
Despatches: War Damage Postcards
In this episode we look at so-called ‘War Damage Postcards’ published during the conflict and which depicts the smashed villages, towns and cities, and indeed landscapes of the Western Front. We ask what these postcards tell us about the conflict and the battlefields of… Continue Reading “Despatches: War Damage Postcards”
Despatches: WW1 Trench Museums
In this latest episode of Despatches we think about First World War Trench Museums: a battlefield phenomena from the 1920s when thousands of ‘pilgrims’ travelled to the landscape of the Western Front. We look at some of the famous, and less famous Trench Museums… Continue Reading “Despatches: WW1 Trench Museums”
Walking Arras: Gavrelle
In this episode we return to the Arras battlefields in Northern France and walk to the village of Gavrelle where the men of the Royal Naval Division fought in 1917, and discover the fields where the Royal Marines lost more men in a single… Continue Reading “Walking Arras: Gavrelle”
Walking Arras: Hénin Hill
On a hill above the village of Hénin, close to Arras, stood a wooden cross remembering soldiers who fell there in 1917. Preserved in Beverley Minster in Yorkshire, what happened to this memorial and what can we find of the men who fought here… Continue Reading “Walking Arras: Hénin Hill”
Trench Chat: The Caretakers with Caitlin DeAngelis
In this latest Trench Chat we speak to historian and writer Caitlin DeAngelis who has just finished a fascinating new book ‘The Caretakers: War Graves Gardeners and the Secret Battle to Rescue Allied Airman in World War II’. We discuss her research for the… Continue Reading “Trench Chat: The Caretakers with Caitlin DeAngelis”
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