Mentioned in Dispatches

In this episode, Aimée Fox, Mike Finch and David Morgan-Owen discuss their edited volume on how the First World War was perceived and interpreted by those who experienced it. They explore how different groups, including soldiers, commanders and politicians, framed the conflict and how those perspectives influenced decision-making. The interview highlights the diversity of viewpoints and the import...

In this podcast, Antony Bell discusses the historical background to his novel A Penny a Shell , focusing on the 1916 Barnbow munitions factory explosion. He explores the lives of the women workers, known as the Barnbow Lasses, who laboured under dangerous and secretive conditions. The interview highlights the scale of the disaster, its impact on the local community and the broader role of women on...

In this episode, Andrew Lucas about hisi book with Jürgen Schmieschek that explores Saxon soldiers during the First World War. Using personal writings, they examine how German troops experienced combat on the Western Front, particularly in Flanders. The interview explores daily life, combat conditions and the emotional toll of prolonged warfare. Andi also reflects on the importance of presenting a...

In this episode, Charles Barrington re-examines the life and career of Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, focusing on his decisive actions during the early stages of the First World War. The interview explores his leadership at the Battle of Le Cateau and his role in stabilising the British Expeditionary Force during its retreat. Barrington challenges traditional narratives that have overlooked Smith-Dorri...

In this edition of the Mentioned in Dispatches Podcast, Hazel Strouts talks about her book  Three Sons for the Kaiser: A German Family’s Sacrifice in the First World War , a moving account of Philipp Gercke and his three sons, all of whom served, in the Imperial German armed forces and only on returned.

In this episode, Nick Higham explores Britain’s extraordinary and often overlooked campaign in the Caucasus during the closing stages of the First World War. Drawing on his book Mavericks , he discusses the diverse group of soldiers, diplomats and intelligence officers sent to Baku to prevent Ottoman and Bolshevik control of critical oil resources. The interview highlights the strategic importance...

In this podcast interview, Linden MacIntyre discusses his exploration of Sir Hugh Tudor, a deeply controversial figure in the Irish War of Independence. He explains the motivations behind writing An Accidental Villain and examines Tudor’s transformation from a respected British Army officer into a central figure in Britain’s coercive policy in Ireland. The conversation explores Tudor’s relationshi...

In this episode of the Western Front Association’s Mentioned in Dispatches , David Griffiths discusses his new book The Guards 1915–17: An Elite Division at War . The book is the first major history of the Guards Division in nearly a century, drawing on war diaries and memoirs to follow the unit through Loos, Flers-Courcelette, Morval and Pilckem Ridge. Griffiths also examines the culture, reputat...

In this episode of the Western Front Association’s Mentioned in Dispatches , Kelsey Moriarty examines the bureaucratic and cultural processes that reshaped grief during and after the First World War. Her thesis Kafka in the Trenches: Death, Bureaucracy, and the Written Record in Britain 1914–1920 explores how official letters, forms and memorials affected the experience of mourning. From governmen...

In this episode of the Western Front Association’s Mentioned in Dispatches , historian Dr Todd Gray discusses his award-winning book Lest Devon Forgets . The book explores the creation, meaning and controversies surrounding the county’s Great War memorials, shedding light on how communities in the wake of the conflict grappled with loss, identity and memory. Published by Stevens Books.

In this episode of the Western Front Association’s Mentioned in Dispatches , Mike Jackson tells the story of his great-uncle, Lance Corporal John Street, who fell in 1917 and whose sacrifice went unrecognised for more than a century. On 10th April 2025, Street will finally be laid to rest with full military honours near the battlefield where he died. Jackson, a retired training manager and militar...

In this episode of the Western Front Association’s Mentioned in Dispatches , acclaimed author Daniel Kraus discusses his novel Angel Down — a haunting, formally ambitious reimagining of the First World War told through a single, continuous sentence. The book explores themes of survival, selfishness, the supernatural and the staggering human cost of mechanised slaughter, immersing readers in the mo...

In this episode of the Western Front Association’s Mentioned in Dispatches , researcher Gary Guess shares his work on the 12th (Service) Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment, known as the Teesside Pioneers. Recruited largely from Middlesbrough and surrounding towns, the battalion served with distinction in France, combining infantry courage with engineering labour under fire. Guess, who has spent s...

In this episode of the Western Front Association’s Mentioned in Dispatches , Dr Richard Batten, Honorary Research Fellow in History at the University of Exeter, discusses his new book For King and Country: The Role of Patriotism in Mobilisation in the First World War , published by Pen & Sword in 2025. Focusing on Devon but addressing wider national and European themes, the book explores how l...

In this episode of the Western Front Association’s Mentioned in Dispatches , Nick and Fiona Jenkins discuss their remarkable journey along the entire Western Front. In Walking the Line , they travelled over 1,000 kilometres from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border to discover what physical and emotional traces of the First World War still remain. With humour, resilience and a healthy dose of win...

Cameron Telch, a doctoral candidate in Educational Studies at Mount Saint Vincent University, discusses the underrepresentation of shell shock in Canadian war museums. He shares two important archival discoveries—a 1919 Canadian film and a 1958 American play—that offer new perspectives on the cultural memory of psychological trauma in the First World War. His research challenges prevailing narrati...

Professor Gary Sheffield compares and contrasts the experience of the London Territorial Force in the First and Second World Wars. He explores the evolution of its role, structure and public image across the two conflicts, offering fresh insights into the transformation of this key component of Britain’s military reserve. This talk was part of the London Pride Conference held in June 2024.