The Old Front Line

For our 300th Episode we reflect on six years of the Old Front Line Podcast and go back to where we started in March 2020 by retaking a virtual walk through the battlefields and village of Pozières on the Somme. We start at the Pozieres British Cemetery and Memorial and then walk into the village seeing memorials, and discussing some of the 'characters of the Somme', walking up to Mouque...

In this episode of the Old Front Line Podcast, we answer another fascinating selection of listener questions covering some of the most intriguing aspects of the First World War. We begin by exploring the formidable German concrete fortifications of the Somme , including the infamous Quadrilateral. How were these massive bunkers and strongpoints constructed so close to the front line, and why were...

In this episode of the Old Front Line Podcast , we continue our exploration of the Battle of the Somme on 1st July 1916 by examining the southern sector of the British attack. Travelling across the battlefields of Mametz and Montauban , we uncover how some of the most successful attacks of the opening day unfolded and why this part of the front achieved results that proved elusive elsewhere. We ex...

On the morning of 1st July 1916 , as whistles blew along miles of the Somme front, the men of the III Corps and XV Corps rose from their trenches and walked into the centre of one of the most catastrophic days in British military history. In this second special episode of Old Front Line for the Somme 110th Anniversary , we focus on the brutal heart of the Somme battlefield , that stretch of scarre...

In this latest Questions & Answers episode of the Old Front Line podcast, we tackle another fascinating collection of listener questions that uncover some of the lesser-known aspects of the First World War. We begin by exploring the German tradition of Sterbebilder or Death Cards , the memorial cards issued to commemorate fallen soldiers. How were these cards produced, who organised them, and...

In the first of a three-part series marking the 110th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, we explore the fighting in the northern sector of the battlefield on 1 July 1916. This episode examines the attacks at Serre, Beaumont-Hamel and Thiepval , where some of the most dramatic and costly actions of the opening day unfolded. We look at the ground over which the soldiers advanced, the plans behi...

For this episode of the Old Front Line podcast, we open the virtual mailbag once again for another Questions & Answers special covering some fascinating and lesser-known aspects of the First World War. From observation balloons hanging silently over the trenches to trench foot, white feathers and booby traps in No Man’s Land, this episode explores the realities of life on the Western Front bey...

In this special edition of the podcast we explore a lesser-known theatre of conflict from the First World War in Northern Italy with historian Tom Isitt . Tom's new book - Thunder in the Mountains - follows a journey he made across those battlefields and with him we discover the unique challenges of mountain warfare, the diverse nations involved, and personal stories from the battlefield. We...

In this wide-ranging listener Q&A episode of Old Front Line , we dive into some intriguing and human questions thrown up by the Great War. We begin with the fate of the missing . With hundreds of thousands of men listed as “missing” across the Western Front, is there any real evidence that some chose to disappear, seizing the chaos of war to start new lives elsewhere? We explore the realities...

Step into one of the most chaotic and little-known battles of the First World War in 1916 with this episode of The Old Front Line , as we explore the Battle of the St Eloi Craters (March–April 1916) . Fought in the shattered landscape south of Ypres , this battle saw the devastating use of underground mines transform the battlefield into a nightmarish maze of mud-filled craters. We examine how Bri...

Step back from the battlefield and into the questions that bring the Great War to life in this special Q&A episode. Drawing on years of battlefield exploration and historical research, we tackle four fascinating listener questions centred on the Battle of the Somme and beyond. We begin on the heights above the battlefield, exploring the idea of Bouzincourt Ridge as a “grandstand view” on 1 Jul...

With a special edition for ANZAC Day, in this insightful interview, playwright Arthur Meek discusses his project to bring to life the voices of Gallipoli veterans through oral histories and verbatim theatre. The conversation explores the power of personal stories, memory, remembrance, and the impact of war on individuals and collective memory. A bonus for TOFL pod listeners - 50% off for the first...

In this in-depth Questions & Answers episode of The Old Front Line , we tackle four fascinating listener questions exploring the aftermath and realities of the First World War. We begin in the Ypres Salient, examining how the Commonwealth War Graves Commission replaced thousands of temporary wooden crosses with the iconic headstones we see today. How was this monumental task organised? How man...

In this special episode with Professor Mark Connelly we explore the profound connection between landscape, memory, and national identity during the Great War, focusing on the significance of chalk landscapes in Britain and their influence on cultural memory and battlefield symbolism. We dive into how the beautiful, chalky terrains of England shaped the identity of soldiers during the Great War. Ma...

We are now 50 Q&As in, and the questions keep getting better, sharper, and more human! This milestone edition of The Old Front Line is built around four listener prompts that take us from the small, intimate scale of one soldier’s photograph to the vast, uneasy scale of a battlefield that never fully stops giving things back to the surface. We start with the stories that first hooked me on Fir...

In this episode of The Old Front Line , we explore the dramatic opening moments of the Battle of Verdun , focusing on the heroic stand of Lieutenant Colonel Émile Driant and his men in the Bois des Caures on 21st/22nd February 1916. Commanding the 56th and 59th Battalions of Chasseurs à Pied , Driant faced the full force of the German offensive as it erupted with one of the most intense artillery...

In this Old Front Line Q&A episode , we tackle a fascinating range of questions from listeners about life, death, and survival on the battlefields of the First World War. We begin by exploring whether veterans of the conflict were ever allowed to be buried within the official war cemeteries alongside the comrades who fell during the war, and look at the rules established by the Commonwealth Wa...

In this special episode of the Podcast, Paul Reed speaks with archaeologist and wargamer Alex Sotheran about his journey in battlefield archaeology and the evolution of wargaming. They discuss the significance of battlefield archaeology in understanding the human experience of war, the challenges faced in recovering human remains, and the impact of television on the field. Transitioning to wargami...

In this Old Front Line WW1 podcast Q&A episode , we answer listeners’ questions about the history of the First World War  and the legacy of the conflict today. We begin by exploring British and Commonwealth war cemeteries , explaining how the headstones are kept perfectly aligned and why some graves appear in straight rows while others are spaced further apart, including the role of the Common...

Step onto the Western Front in Flanders as we explore the area near to Ypres known as The Bluff . In this episode we uncover the story of the fighting here in February-March 1916, when British and German forces struggled for control of the high ground overlooking Ypres. Using contemporary accounts and battlefield evidence, we explain why this small rise in the landscape mattered so much and how th...

In this special Q&A episode of the Old Front Line podcast , recorded on location at Hooge , near Ypres , we answer questions about the battlefields of the Western Front and the legacy of the First World War. We begin by exploring what happened to the woods and forests on the Western Front during World War One. Were they completely destroyed by shellfire? Did they naturally grow back after the...

In this episode of the Old Front Line podcast, host Paul Reed is joined by military historians Charles Fair, Richard Hendry, and Dr. Tom Thorpe to delve into the often-overlooked history of the London Territorial Force during the Great War. The discussion begins with an exploration of the origins and purpose of the Territorial Force, established in 1908, which served primarily for home defense bef...

In this latest First World War Q&A episode we tackle some of the most intriguing and overlooked questions about life, strategy and survival on the Western Front and after the guns fell silent. Why did the British Army so often attack on ground not of its own choosing, at places like Loos and the Somme? If British commanders could have picked the battlefield, where might they have fought instea...

In this episode, we explore the four brutal wartime winters in Flanders during the First World War, focusing on the Western Front around Ypres from 1914 to 1918. Beginning with the establishment of the British front line at Ypres in late 1914, we examine how soldiers endured cold, mud, and constant danger during the Great War’s earliest winter, including the famous Christmas Truce of 1914. Using f...

In this latest Questions & Answers episode , we tackle some intriguing, and often misunderstood, aspects of life and fighting on the Western Front during the First World War . Who actually decided what a battle was called? Did the ordinary soldier know, at the time, which battle he was fighting in – or even when one battle had ended and another begun, during almost four years of near-continuou...