Tales from the Battlefields

In this episode we travel to the Somme, Ypres and a forgotten battlefield to follow in the footsteps of a British soldier who enlisted under the “Derby Scheme” in December 1915. We discover how he arrived on the Somme battlefield during the final stages of this iconic battle, and was then awarded the Military Medal following an unknown attack in March 1917. We then follow his journey to the Passch...

In this episode we travel to Cambrai and tell the story of this tank attack through the eyes of the soldiers who were there, rather than the history books. We talk to historian Neal Russell about 2 soldiers he discovered in a military cemetery and discover a connection with the son of the British Prime Minister, Raymond Asquith. We follow the stories of 2 British soldiers who died in the battle an...

In this episode we continue the story of the 6th Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment. We find them in flooded trenches at Fricourt during Christmas 1915, and discover what happened when the Germans carried out a raid on their positions and captured 20 of them. Who were these captured men? What happened to them and why were their trenches undefended? We also follow their preparations for the...

In this episode we talk to RAF veteran and writer John Nichol about his book “The Unknown Warrior”. After the hardback version of the book sold so well it has now been published in paperback. We discuss how remembrance has changed over the last 105 years and I read sections of his book following the final journey of the warrior from the battlefield to Westminster Abbey. We also listen to the words...

In this episode we look at the struggles of the soldiers who suffered from shell shock.  Probably over 250,000 men suffered from ‘shell shock’ as result of the First World War. At the time it was believed to result from a physical injury to the nervous system during a heavy bombardment or shell attack, later it became evident that men who had not been exposed directly to such fire were just as tra...

In this special episode we join The Army Benevolent Fund’s “Frontline Walk” from the Somme to Ypres, via Vimy Ridge. As we follow the fundraisers’ we visit a vast German Cemetery near Arras and hear from a walker whose relative is buried along the route. In Polygon Wood, we find an Australian grave with an emotional family inscription, and follow the route of the Canadians as they cross the Ravebe...

In this episode we continue the story of 6th Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment as they spend their first few months on the “quiet sector” of the Somme in 1915. We discover who their first casualty was and how the soldiers suffered with the mud and rats of the trenches. And they encounter mine warfare for the first time and the horrors and fear that it created. We also discuss the story of...

In this episode we look at the very powerful and emotive stories of the children of the men that went off to World War 1 and never returned. How did they cope as young children? What happened to them in their adult lives? We hear from Ellen Elston whose Mother turned the portrait of her Father around because it upset her so much. And who was the WW2 airman who visited his father’s grave when he wa...

In this episode we commemorate the 110th anniversary of the Battle of Loos by talking to author Nigel Atter about the 8th Lincoln’s experience on the second day of the battle. We discuss how the Germans attacked them before they could go into action and how all of their Officers became casualties. We find out how one Officer was shot in the head, taken prisoner and held in captivity for over 3 yea...

In this episode we continue the story of Charles Carrington and his memoirs from the Great War. We hear his description of the Somme battlefield in the bitterly cold winter of 1916/17 and the German retreat from the battlefield in the Spring of 1917. We discover what it was like to route march 15 miles in a day and listen to the songs they sang along the way. We visit the grave of Mary Jane Climps...

In this episode we feature one of the Great War’s war most graphic books. We travel with Charles Carrington as he discovers the broken bodies of enemy dead on the Somme “bursting out of their clothes”. We hear his voice as he describes the first day of the Somme and learn how he felt under an artillery barrage. He describes the Y Sap crater at La Boisselle before being ordered to attack Ovillers i...

In this episode we look at the tragic stories of veterans and their families whose love and relationships were torn apart by the soldiers’ experiences in the Great War. We discover the story of the French girl who took her own life after being jilted by a young British Officer. And, back home in Blighty, why did RAMC man Frank Copperwaite murder his wife and then attempt to take his own life? And...

In this episode we pick up the story of the 6th Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment as they leave home and head to the South Coast of England to begin their basic training. Back home in Northampton, we describe what happened when a train load of Belgian refugees arrived. We also meet the Battalion’s first CO, George Ripley, and discover how the men occupied themselves when “at rest”, but go...

In this episode we go back to 1932 and discover the story of the people involved in the design and construction of the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission anywhere in the world. We discover what inspired the architect Edwin Lutyens after a battlefield visit in 1917. We also look at the stories of several soldiers commemorated on the memorial, including a dying Sherwood Forester who wrote a...

In this episode we begin telling the story of one of “Kitchener’s Army” New Army battalions – 6th Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment. During this series we will follow the story of this Battalion, from recruitment and training in 1914, to the Somme in the summer and winter of 1916/17, to Arras, the horrors of Ypres and the German Spring Offensive of 1918. And we will continue their journey...

Daddy Dear – I did not see you but Mummy taught me to love you.” In this episode we travel to one of the largest military cemeteries to discover the stories of the men, and one woman, who are buried there. We look at a battlefield pilgrimage from 1923, and discover the story of a Mother who arranged for her own ashes to be buried with her son. We also experience the sounds of nature, as we listen...

In this episode we travel to the Somme and discover how a group of historians from Cheshire have restored 2 forgotten memorials at Bazentin. What is their story? We also discover a new memorial to 16 Submariners who drowned off the coast of Norfolk in 1941. And we pay tribute to a member of the Royal Marines band who died recently.

In this episode we visit the Anglican church in Ypres that was built when Ypres was redeveloped in the 1920’s. Why did Ypres need a British church? Who were the worshippers? Why did they build a British school next door? And what happened in 1940 when the Germans occupied Ypres? How did the British people escape and what happened to the church? We go on a tour of the church and look at some of the...

In this week’s episode we travel to the small village of Le Paradis in Northern France to discover the awful story of a group of BEF soldiers who were murdered by the SS during the retreat to Dunkirk in May 1940. We listen to the words of the only 2 survivors and find out how another man escaped the shootings by going through a different door as the SS waited for them to surrender. We are joined b...

In this episode we once again travel to the Somme battlefield and discover the story of the 8th Battalion of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry on the first day of the battle. We discover their story in their own words, rather than the history books. We find out what it was like to be stranded in No Man’s Land for several days, whilst being sniped at by German marksmen. And how a Mother, whos...

In this episode we talk to historian and battlefield guide Beth Moore about her local battalion on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Why were they ordered to carry out a diversionary attack? What did they experience on that awful day? What happened to them in No Man’s Land? And Beth’s passionately defends their Commanding Officer who was blamed for the disaster that occurred.

In this episode we travel to the town of Bethune in Northern France to discover the stories of the men that died in a Casualty Clearing Station and are now at rest here. We find the final resting place of an NCO who was murdered by 2 of his men, who were executed for their crime and then buried a few hundred yards away from their victim. And who was the Indian soldier buried in Bethune who was pos...

In this episode we travel from the Yorkshire Moors to the Somme battlefield at Serre to discover the story of the Leeds Pals. Who were these men? Why is their training ground now a special place for them? We look at the extraordinary bravery of their young Officers and Other Ranks on the first day of this infamous battle, and read a letter written by the sister of a 16 year old Boy Soldier, beggin...

In this episode we travel to a small village near the French/Belgium border to discover some forgotten stories. We discover the tragic stories of 2 Australians buried here and how a Northampton man foretold his own death, leaving his 2 young daughters orphaned. And discover the incredible action of a Yorkshireman who was awarded the Victoria Cross for saving the lives of many comrades here. We als...

In this episode we discover the stories of the Commonwealth soldiers buried in Dochy Farm Cemetery on the Ypres battlefield. Who were they? What was their story? And how was one Officer identified decades after he was buried in the cemetery? Who was the footballer buried there who scored the winning goal in the FA Cup Final? And we discover how I felt when I walked Hill 60 at dusk. And we listen t...