BattleWalks

In advance of our new series of BattleWalks, Mat and Pete are taking you back to some of their favourite episodes. In this episode we explore one of the concrete V1 flying bomb launch sites that once terrorized London during the final years of World War II. Walking among the overgrown bunkers and crumbling launch ramps, we uncover the story of Operation Crossbow - the desperate German attempt to t...

In advance of our new series of BattleWalks, Mat and Pete are taking you back to some of their favourite episodes. In this episode they explore the killing fields from the First Day of the Somme in 1916, as they walk from the Sunken Road to Y Ravine. Presenters: Mat McLachlan and Pete Smith Producer: Jess Stebnicki Join us on a battlefield tour! Visit https://battlefields.com.au/ for more informat...

Join Mat to hear all about guidl, a new audio tour app that he is contributing to. guidl takes you on walking tours to the world's most historic sites, narrated by leading historians. Mat's first guidl tour is of wartime Ypres and, in this special episode, Mat shares the first chapter of his Ypres walking tour. Download the app and find out more about guidl: https://www.guidl.tours/ Join Mat on a...

The Somme region in northern France was the scene of some of the bloodiest fighting of the First World War. Today, it is one of the most important and evocative battlefields for Australian visitors. In this special episode, Mat explores the Somme region and tells you where to go, where to stay and what you will see when you are there. Watch the video version of this podcast! https://youtu.be/vo1LD...

Mat McLachlan and Peter Hart are going to Gallipoli! In this special episode of the podcast, the two historians and chums discuss their upcoming tour in May 2025, which will discover the battlefields of Gallipoli by walking in the footsteps of the men who were there! The 10-day tour begins in Istanbul on May 21, 2025, and we'd love you to join us (from wherever you are in the world)! There are lim...

Join Mat McLachlan on YouTube Live on Feb 15, 2024 at 6pm Sydney (7am London) time to discuss the Battle of Passchendaele! Click here to join: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfWdbJGaBZ0 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A special bonus episode from our sister podcast, Living History with Mat McLachlan! To kick off Season 8, Mat is joined by historian John McManus to discuss the new Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg production Masters of the Air , currently streaming on Apple TV+. Mat and John discuss the history behind the mini-series, and the immense contribution made to victory in the Second World War by the US Army A...

Mat and Pete are on the last day of their Signature Tour of the battlefields of the Western Front. Join them for a recap of an extraordinary week's touring! Presenters: Mat McLachlan and Pete Smith Producer: Jess Stebnicki Become a member to listen ad-free and to receive exclusive bonus episodes from only $2.99 per month!: https://plus.acast.com/s/battlewalks Join us on a battlefield tour at www.b...

Mat and Pete are live on the battlefields! Join them as they discuss an exciting day of exploring 1918 battlefield sites, fascinating isolated cemeteries and a V1 rocket launch site! Presenters: Mat McLachlan and Pete Smith Producer: Jess Stebnicki Become a member to listen ad-free and to receive exclusive bonus episodes from only $2.99 per month!: https://plus.acast.com/s/battlewalks Join us on a...

Mat is joined by battlefield historian Jo Hook as they walk the famous Second World War battlefield of Arnhem. It was here in September 1944 that British paratroops fought a desperate action to capture the Rhine bridges, as part of the huge Allied attack known as Operation Market Garden. Presenters: Mat McLachlan and Jo Hook Producer: Jess Stebnicki Become a member to listen ad-free and to receive...

Mat and special guest Richard Osgood, an archaeologist who has dug on battlefields from ancient to modern, discuss Richard's latest project, an excavation of the English village where Easy Company trained before parachuting into Normandy on D-Day. Presenters: Mat McLachlan and Richard Osgood Producer: Jess Stebnicki Become a member to listen ad-free and to receive exclusive bonus episodes from onl...

Mat and Pete would love you to join them on their Signature Tour of the battlefields of France and Belgium in 2024. The Signature Tour is the only tour that Mat personally escorts, and it is the most popular tour offered by Mat McLachlan Battlefield Tours. In 2024 the tour will visit all the key Australian battlefields of the Somme, the Ypres Salient and French Flanders. It starts and ends in Pari...

In this special Anzac Day episode, Mat McLachlan speaks to historians Pete Smith and Peter Hart about the landscape of Belgium, France and Gallipoli, and how the secrets of the battlefields are still being revealed more than a century after the guns fell silent. Pete Smith reveals relics he's found on the battlefields of the Western Front, and Peter Hart describes how getting off the beaten track...

Pete is out and about guiding a group on the battlefields! In this special episode live from the Somme he takes a breather from his hectic schedule to catch up with Mat about his experiences over the last few days. What's it like to lead a group of young people, who have no direct connection to the history of warfare, on a tour of the battlefields? Where do they go, what questions do they ask, and...

Pete is back with the second episode in his series about touring the backroads of Normandy. While exploring V1 and V2 launch site, Pete let his SatNav lead him on some fascinating diversions, discovering often-overlooked battlefield sites he would otherwise have missed. Presenters: Mat McLachlan and Peter Smith Producer: Jess Stebnicki Become a member to listen ad-free and to receive exclusive bon...

Mat and Pete are walking one of their favourite battlefields, the Suvla sector at Gallipoli. The landings at Suvla Bay were a key part of the huge August Offensive, launched by the Allies in a last desperate bid to win the Gallipoli campaign. But what should have been a brilliant flanking manoeuvre became a siege, as the British dithered on the beach and the Turks flooded reinforcements in to surr...

Mat and Pete return to the Somme battlefields to explore the horrific tale of July 1st, 1916. Today they are walking the ground around the village of Serre, an area that saw the virtual destruction of the Pals Battalions from the north of England. As they tell the tale of the boys from Sheffield, Accrington, Hull, Leeds and other communities they will visit the sites of memorials, preserved trench...

Pete is exploring the Second World War battlefields of Normandy and has realised that some of the most fascinating historic discoveries are made between your intended destinations. In this special episode he describes lonely memorials, unexpected historic sites and memorable military graves that he has discovered as he journeys along. Presenters: Mat McLachlan and Peter Smith Producer: Jess Stebni...

Mat and Pete are returning to the Pacific Theatre of the Second World War, to walk another battlefield from the legendary Guadalcanal Campaign. Following on from their episode about the Thin Red Line, this time they are walking the slopes of Mount Austen, a landmark that could be seen from all parts of the battlefield and the scene of some of the bloodiest fighting in the final stages of the campa...

Mat and Pete go behind the lines to explore the northern French town of Cassel, which played a vital role in both world wars. As they explore the streets they will reveal stories of headquarters, brothels and desperate fighting to the last man. Presenters: Mat McLachlan and Peter Smith Producer: Jess Stebnicki Become a member to listen ad-free and to receive exclusive bonus episodes from only $2.9...

Welcome to Season 4! In this episode, Mat and Pete return to the Somme to explore the battlefield of Pozieres, scene of the most costly battle in Australian military history. Presenters: Mat McLachlan and Peter Smith Producer: Jess Stebnicki Become a member to listen ad-free and to receive exclusive bonus episodes from only $2.99 per month!: https://plus.acast.com/s/battlewalks Support the show wi...

Your chance to walk the battlefields with Pete Smith! In this special episode, Mat and Pete discuss their new tour, Battle Tactics on the Western Front, which walks in the footsteps of the Anzacs on some of the most important battlefields in France and Belgium. Battle Tactics on the Western Front Tour: Departs Paris on October 11, 2023. Visit www.battlefields.com.au for full details! Presenters: M...

The final episode in our special series live from the battlefields! Mat and Pete are in the Somme, discussing their adventures exploring the 1916 and 1918 battlefields. Presenters: Mat McLachlan and Pete Smith Producer: Jess Stebnicki Join one of our battlefield tours and walk in the footsteps of the Anzacs! Visit www.battlefields.com.au for more information. For more great history content, visit...

Mat and Pete are still on the battlefields! Join them live from Ypres as they discuss three busy and rewarding days exploring the Salient! Presenters: Mat McLachlan and Pete Smith Producer: Jess Stebnicki Join one of our battlefield tours and walk in the footsteps of the Anzacs! Visit www.battlefields.com.au for more information. For more great history content, visit www. LivingHistoryTV.com, or s...

For the first time in three years, Mat McLachlan and Pete Smith are exploring the battlefields of the Western Front! In the first of a special series of episodes, join them as they discuss their day exploring the Somme 1918 battlefields, live from Ypres! Presenters: Mat McLachlan and Pete Smith Producer: Jess Stebnicki Join one of our battlefield tours and walk in the footsteps of the Anzacs! Visi...