Old Front Line
WW1 Podcast with Paul Reed
Category: Podcast Episode
100th Episode: Across The Old Front Line
To commemorate one hundred episodes of the podcast we take a journey along the Western Front visiting four locations from Flanders to the Somme to Verdun to the Vosges. What does the landscape of the Great War mean to us? The Old Front Line… Continue Reading “100th Episode: Across The Old Front Line”
Aisne: The Old Contemptibles at Soupir
We visit the small village of Soupir on the Aisne where men of the British Expeditionary Force, known as The Old Contemptibles, fought in September 1914. We visit the British graves here and walk the battlefield to the Aisne heights where some of the… Continue Reading “Aisne: The Old Contemptibles at Soupir”
Tommy Tucker: Food in WW1
What did the British Tommy in the trenches of the Western Front eat? How was it supplied, how good was his food, how did it reach him, and having had a meal, how did he go to the toilet? RECOMMENDED READING: Transporting Rations Water… Continue Reading “Tommy Tucker: Food in WW1”
Forgotten Front: Cuinchy Brickstacks
We return to the ‘Forgotten Front’ in Northern France where the British operations on the Western Front took place in 1915, and there were long periods of static trench warfare. Here we visit the site of the Cuinchy ‘Brickstacks’ – huge stacks of undelivered… Continue Reading “Forgotten Front: Cuinchy Brickstacks”
Poets on the Somme
In this episode, we follow Great War poets Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon into the trenches near Fricourt at the ‘Bois Français’ during the months before the 1916 battle and learn about how the death of a much-beloved comrade affected them both. RECOMMENDED READING:… Continue Reading “Poets on the Somme”
Trench Chat: Matt Dixon
In a special Trench Chat, we are joined by Matt Dixon, host of the Footsteps of the Fallen Podcast. We talk about Matt’s interest in the Great War, what led him to produce the podcast and the books he is currently working on. LINKS:… Continue Reading “Trench Chat: Matt Dixon”
Vimy Ridge: The Crater Cemeteries
In this episode, we go ‘off the beaten track’ at Vimy Ridge and look at two unusual cemeteries on the battlefield here – Lichfield and Zivy Crater Cemeteries – where the Canadians buried their dead in some old mine craters in April 1917. WW1… Continue Reading “Vimy Ridge: The Crater Cemeteries”
Somme: Heilly Station Cemetery
In this episode we are Behind the Lines on the Somme, starting in the small village of Heilly, and looking at how soldiers were billeted in places like this, we then walk down to the railway station and examine the use of railways on… Continue Reading “Somme: Heilly Station Cemetery”
Ypres: Lille Gate to Bedford House
In this episode, we return to Flanders, and walk from the Lille Gate on the edge of the city via ‘Shrapnel Corner’ to Bedford House Cemetery, one of the largest in this area and laid out in an unusual way. We end on the… Continue Reading “Ypres: Lille Gate to Bedford House”
Back to the Front: Arras & the Somme
In the second of our episodes recorded while on a Leger Battlefield Tour, we travel to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Experience at Arras and then down to the Somme battlefields to see the Lochnagar Crater, the Ulster Tower, the trenches in the Newfoundland… Continue Reading “Back to the Front: Arras & the Somme”
Old Front Line 