Tales from the Battlefields

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.

In this episode we travel to the Ypres battlefields to a place called Pond Farm, a German Headquarters in 1917  and a location where Canadian General Arthur Currie was located during the gas attack in 1915.  We talk to Stijn Butaye, who lives on the farm and has established his own private museum and built a replica British WW1 tank.  Stijn talks to us about his museum and explains what it was lik...

In this special episode Military Historian Paul Reed takes us on a trip on the Western Front battlefields that saw fighting in both conflicts. What happened to the Great War CWGC cemeteries when the Nazis arrived? What happened to WW1 veterans when they returned to fight again in 1940? Where did Hitler serve in WW1? We discuss these subjects and much more too.

During the Great War millions of letters were sent to and from soldiers on the front line and went a long way to keeping up the morale on both sides of the Channel. In this episode, we look at some of the emotional and heartbreaking letters that were sent between loved ones, including many "final letters home". These letters go someway to explaining how soldiers felt on the eve of the major battle...

This week's podcast takes us to a rural farm in deepest Northamptonshire where we investigate the incredible story of over 30,000 enemy POW's who were here during World War 1. Who were they? How did they live? How did they get electricity years before the villagers? How many of them died and why? We talk to the farmer and the author of a book about the camp to discover the answers to these questio...

In this weeks' podcast we travel once again to the battlefields of the Western Front in the footsteps of 5 men who fought there. We follow in their footsteps as I take 3 family members on an emotional tour to find out what happened to these men.

This week's podcast features the ABF The Soldiers' Charity "Frontline Walk" and we talk to the charity about this incredible event that, for the last 8 years, has raised over £1.4 million for our soldiers, veterans and their families. The walk covers 100k in just 3 days from Lochnager Crater on the Somme to the Menin Gate in Ypres, via Vimy Ridge. Along the way we discover the stories of these inf...

In this week's episode we travel to Poperinge to talk to the the manager of Talbot House, a beautiful Belgian house that offered sanctuary to hundreds of thousands of British and Commonwealth soldiers during the Great War. Simon tells the story of the house and "Tubby" Clayton, the incredible inspiration behind the house.

In this week's podcast we take the microphone to the 1915 Loos battlefield and, along with his Grandson, walk in the footsteps of a soldier who was badly wounded there. What happened to him and how did his descendant feel as he walked the ground? We also visit Lochnager Crater on the Somme and talk to the working group, including the owner Richard Dunning, who spent the weekend restoring the Crate...

Mollie Dunkley's is 94 and her father Charlie, who served in the Great War, was wounded 3 times and survived his troop ship being sunk. In this week's episode, we talk to Mollie about her memories of her father and how he coped with the affects of his Great War experience. Mollie also talked about life in a small Northamptonshire village during the 2nd World War. This episode is a social history r...

This week's podcast is from the Somme. It includes an interview with the custodians of the Ulster Memorial Tower and we tell the story of the 36th Ulster Division on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

In this week's episode, we look at the work of the CWGC's team of gardeners throughout the world. We examine the stories of the some of the gardeners who remained on the Western Front after the Armistice, and include an interview with one of the current gardeners, Diego Blondel.

 In this week's podcast we look at the work of Julie and David Thomson who moved to the Somme battlefield in 2012 and opened a Bed & Breakfast on the old German front line in La Boisselle.  They explain why they moved to the Somme, what it is like to live and work there, the stories of 3 soldiers who were awarded the Victoria Cross for their efforts in the village. Julie explains her own famil...