Old Front Line
WW1 Podcast with Paul Reed
Category: Flanders
Flanders: The CCS Cemeteries
Bandaghem, Dozinghem and Mendinghem were three made-up names for British Casualty Clearing Stations locations in Flanders, reflecting their use for the wounded: Bandaging Them, Dosing Them Up and Mending Them! What was the story of these important medical facilities and what stories of the… Continue Reading “Flanders: The CCS Cemeteries”
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”
The Pillboxes of Flanders
Concrete bunkers – pillboxes – are an iconic symbol of the Great War, and in this episode we look at the book ‘The Pillboxes of Flanders’ published in the 1930s, examine their history and use, and then visit some of the surviving examples of… Continue Reading “The Pillboxes of Flanders”
Gas! Gas! Gas!
In this episode we look at a weapon that came to symbolise the First World War – Poison Gas. We look at the history behind its use, the ‘Birth of Chemical Warfare’ at Ypres in April 1915 and what measures were made to protect… Continue Reading “Gas! Gas! Gas!”
Ypres Walks: Menin Gate to Ypres Town Cemetery
In this episode recorded in Ypres, we look at the renovations at the Menin Gate Memorial, discuss what Memorials to the Missing mean to us, and then walk to Ypres Town Cemetery following the stories of English Lords, members of the Royal Family, and… Continue Reading “Ypres Walks: Menin Gate to Ypres Town Cemetery”
Forgotten Battlefield: The Reunion
More than twenty years after the BBC made a film about the work of ‘The Diggers’ called ‘Forgotten Battlefield’, in this special edition of the podcast we bring together three of us connected to the film – Aurel Sercu from the Diggers, BBC Producer… Continue Reading “Forgotten Battlefield: The Reunion”
Ypres: The Immortal Salient
In this episode we look at the four years of the Great War in Flanders and the battles around the city of Ypres, in what became known as the ‘Immortal Salient’. What was the Ypres Salient, what was its meaning and what does it… Continue Reading “Ypres: The Immortal Salient”
Trench Chat: Reclaiming The Salient with Roger Steward
In this Trench Chat, we are joined by Roger Steward who works as a Battlefield Guide in Flanders, and is the author of an excellent book on Langemarck German Cemetery and a new one ‘Reclaiming the Salient’ about the battlefields around Ypres in the… Continue Reading “Trench Chat: Reclaiming The Salient with Roger Steward”
Birds on the Western Front
In this episode, we look at the birds which flew above and lived across the battlefields of the Western Front during the First World War, and what they meant to the men who served in the trenches of France and Flanders. We also look… Continue Reading “Birds on the Western Front”
WW1 Battlefield Pilgrimages: Trench Chat with Professor Mark Connelly
In a Trench Chat special we are joined by Professor Mark Connelly of the University of Kent to discuss the post-war Pilgrimages to the Great War Battlefields, and his new work on the postcards, ephemera and guidebooks that came out of this period. Professor… Continue Reading “WW1 Battlefield Pilgrimages: Trench Chat with Professor Mark Connelly”
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