Tales from the Battlefields

In this episode we talk to historian Simon Jones about the "Myths of Messines". Were 10,000 Germans really killed by the explosions? Did the Prime Minister hear the explosions in London? Were Irishmen killed by the falling debris? All of these mysteries are explained, and much more too.

In this episode we travel to the Western Front with the relatives of the 2 brothers from Lancashire who died a year apart but in the same circumstances - trying to save wounded comrades in No Man's Land. How did the family discover their stories? What does it mean to them? Could we find a grave for one of them who is still missing?  And what artefacts did we discover on the battlefields where they...

In this week's episode we commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Aubers Ridge through the eyes of the soldiers who were there. We use previously untold accounts of this disastrous single day battle in May 1915. We learn how the men were cut down as soon as they went "over the top" and how they spent all day avoiding German fire up to their necks in ditch water. We also have news from the Com...

In this episode we tell the story of this successful battle through the eyes of the Australian and German soldiers who fought against each other in April 1918. We visit the Sir John Monash Centre and also a school in Villers-Bretonneux that was rebuilt from funds raised by the veterans of Australia. 

In this episode we commemorate the anniversary of the gas attack at Ypres in April 1915, through the eyes of the soldiers who were there. We hear from the Canadian and British defenders and how they plugged the gap in the line, and also the terrible scenes that the German attackers witnessed as they attacked. There is also the tragic story of a entire family of civilians killed by shellfire.

In this week's episode, we travel to Ypres Reservoir Cemetery to discover the stories of the men buried here. We find a Victoria Cross recipient, 3 men "shot at dawn", 2 brothers exhumed from far off graves and now buried together, what happened to a group of men who were killed in St Martin's Cathedral, and the story of the victims of a terrible fire in the ramparts. 

In this week's episode we follow the story of an 18 year old German soldier, Edwin Kuhns, who was conscripted in 1917 and kept a diary through the 1917 Battle of Cambrai and the 1918 campaigns. He graphically explains how he narrowly missed death, the terrible sights he saw and how he felt during the conflict. There is an emotional account of how he met his Father behind the lines. He then sees ac...

This episode was recorded on a Somme battlefield walk where we tell the stories behind the headstones. We travel to several cemeteries and discover what happened to the men buried there. We also find some private memorials at Guillemont and look at the story of Charles Dickens' Grandson near Ginchy. We then walk up to Lochnager Crater and discover some of the stories played out there. 

In this week's episode we travel to the famous Sunken Lane on the Somme and view the battlefield from the German side of the wide. We  listen to the words of a Lancashire Fusilier who was there on that day and we speak to Terry Berry from the The Hawthorn Crater Association, who gives us a guided tour of the area. 

In this episode we talk to author Jeremy Gordon-Smith about his relative Ivan Bawtree and we discover the story of his work on the Western Front as a photographer. His task was to take photographs of the original wooden grave markers, and he also explains what Ypres was like in 1917 and the gruesome work of finding and exhuming the dead after the Armistice.

In February 1917 the Battle of Boom Ravine was fought on the Somme. We tell the story of this awful single day battle through the eyes of the soldiers who were there. What did they see? How did the sudden change in the weather prove disastrous? Was the battle plan given away by British deserters? And the story of the German man whose life was saved by a Tommy and they became friends after the war....

In this episode, BBC Northampton's Graham McKechnie tells the story of Edgar Mobbs, the Northampton Saints and England captain who formed his own company that became known as "Mobbs' Own". How did he he turn his rugby leadership skills into becoming a fearless commanding officer? What happened to him at 3rd Ypres? Why is he still a hero today?

In this episode, BBC Northampton's Graham McKechnie tells the story of Edgar Mobbs, the Northampton Saints and England captain who formed his own company that became known as "Mobbs' Own". How did he he turn his rugby leadership skills into becoming a fearless commanding officer? What happened to him at 3rd Ypres? Why is he still a hero today?

In this episode we look at the the experience of one of our national treasures during the summer of 1916. Arnold Ridley played Private Godfrey in Dad's Army for 9 years and 80 episodes. But he was wounded 3 times on the Somme in 1916.Why did he join up? What happened to him on the Somme? How did it affect him for the rest of his life? How did it affect his family? And how Dad's Army changed his li...

In this episode we tell the stories of the young Edwardian women who gave up their privileged lives to become VAD's on the Western Front. Why did they do this? Where did they go and what did they do? And what horrors did they see? We also explore one terrible night in May 1918 when the Germans bombed a Base Hospital at Etaples.

In this episode we look at what happened at Hooge, on the Menin Road, during the 1st Battle of Ypres and in 1915 when the first ever terrifying flamethrower attack took place, through the eyes of the soldiers who were there. We also talk to the owner of the Hooge Crater Cafe and Museum, who explains what it is like to live and work on the Ypres battlefield 

In this episode we are guided around Tyne Cot Cemetery by a Belgian guide who lives on the doorstep of the largest CWGC Cemetery in the world. He tells us about American, Belgian and German burials, as well as the incredible story of a New Zealander who was killed on Christmas Eve1917. We also look at the story of 2 Australians who were awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions close to the cem...

In this episode we look at some coincidences that I have experienced recently when researching the Great War soldiers. Or are they the spirits of these men drawing us back to them? And we consider a heartbreaking poem written by a war widow. We also talk to Megan Kelleher from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission about her work looking at the commemoration of the dead who are buried in the UK 

This week we return to the Somme battlefields to discover what happened to the Northumberland Fusiliers on 1st July 1916 on their first day in battle. We tell the story with help from Martin Talbot, who has researched their story, and through the eyes of Captain James Bibby who led his men into action on that day. We also hear from Bibby's Great, Great Grandsons who walked the battlefields with me...

In this episode we look back at the events of November 1918 and examine what happened during that momentous week in history. Why did the fighting continue up to 11am on 11th? Who were the final casualties and how did they die? How did the soldiers feel about the end of the fighting? Why was it not the end of the war? How did the Germans react? We hear from the men and women themselves as they help...

Who is the woman standing quietly in a muddy field near Langemarck? Who is she thinking about? Why is she here? In this podcast, we tell the story of the awful conditions during the Battle of Passchendaele, through the eyes of a soldier who died in the mud. We also tell the story of an Australian soldier who also died nearby, and of a bracelet that we reunited with its owner at his grave in Arras.

107 years ago the Battle of Loos was being fought in the flat, featureless, bleak, mining area of Northern France. In this episode, we look at the battle, not through the history books, but instead through the eyes of the men who were there.

In this special edition of the podcast, we may tribute to the HM Queen Elizabeth by looking at the role of the Royal Family in the Great War and also of the Queen herself during the 2nd World War when she joined the ATS. We talk about the Queen Mother's brother who fell at Loos, the Christmas box that Princess Mary sent to the troops in 1914 and look into the diaries of the King and Queen during t...

To mark the 106th anniversary of the first use of tanks, we talk to historian and guide Pete Smith, who lives in Flers, and discuss what happened on 15th September 1916. Pete tells the incredible story of the Earl of Faversham, Lt Col Charles Duncombe, who bravely led his men into action and gave his life on that fateful day.

In this episode we talk to Rick Smith from the Hawthorn Ridge Crater Association to discover how they have preserved the crater and we also look at what happened at Beaumont Hamel in July and November 1916. How did they tunnel beneath the German lines? What went wrong? Why did they blow the mine 10 minutes before Zero Hour? We discuss these issues and much more.