The Old Front Line

In this episode, we are behind the lines on the Somme, in the village of Englebelmer. We look at life behind the front on the Somme, discover what remains from 1916, and follow a journey many soldiers made towards the front line in this sector of the battlefields. Send us Fan Mail Support the show

In this episode, we travel away from the Western Front to Gallipoli. Here there are thirty-one British and Commonwealth cemeteries on the Gallipoli Penninsula, and we visit some on the beaches and others in more isolated locations, along with the stories of the men buried there from the 1915 Campaign.  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

In this episode we walk from the village of Wytschaete ('Whitesheet' to the soldiers), along part of the Messines Ridge, scene of fighting in 1917, and visit three small battlefield cemeteries, reflecting on how we connect with these comrade's burial grounds of the Great War.  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

With the Great War battlefields still seeming far away, this week we travel to a picturesque church in Somerset to look at memorials to men bound together by family, sacrifice and duty, and in the churchyard discover the grave of one of the major Great War poets: Siegfried Sassoon.  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

After the Great War, more than half a million casualties had marked graves. A decision was made to mark them permanently with headstones and allow the families of the fallen a chance to add their own inscription; more than a century later what do they tell us about grief and loss, sacrifice and service, and the myriad faces of the Great War? Sign up for the free podcast newsletter here: Old Front...

In this episode, we follow the story of the Southdowns Battalions of the Royal Sussex, "Lowther's Lambs"; often seen as the nearest Sussex had to Pals Battalions. We look at their story from their formation in September 1914 to their virtual destruction at Richebourg and Hamel in 1916. We also discuss the journey I made in the 1980s to follow their war and interview some of the last...

Continuing with our look at the 105th Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, we examine the fighting on 15th September 1916, the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, when tanks were used for the first time in history. After an overview of the fighting that day, we also walk the battlefield near 'Bully' and 'Lousy' Wood where men from the London Regiment fought.  Send us Fan Mail Suppo...

More than 300 British and Commonwealth soldiers were executed 'for the sake of example' during the First World War, for crimes from desertion to striking a superior officer. In this episode, we look at the background to military discipline, the process of Field General Courts-Martial, and what was involved when a soldier was executed by firing squad. And we discover how the inscription o...

After the fighting at Mametz on 1st July 1916, the Devonshire Regiment buried their dead in an old disused trench among the trees of Mansel Copse. Here the 'Devonshires Held This Trench, The Devonshires Hold It Still'. In this episode, we walk the ground at Mametz and discover the stories of three men: a poet who loved the countryside, a former spy who made a model of the battlefield, an...

In the final episode of Season 2, we look back at this season's podcasts and ahead to the future of The Old Front Line, and then travel to Belgium, to examine some of the opening shots of the war at the village of Nimy, near Mons, where the men of the 4th Royal Fusiliers fought in August 1914.  Sign up for the free podcast newsletter here: Old Front Line Bulletin . Got a question about this e...

The 'Crimson Coast' extended along the Northern French coast where the British Base Hospitals were located during the Great War. Here men shattered by wounds were treated, in the massive Base Depots new soldiers were prepared for the front line and women worked in changing ways behind the front. In this episode, we visit Le Treport and Etaples, including the cemeteries in both locations....

In this episode we walk the Somme from Ovillers to Mouquet Farm; 'Moo-Cow Farm' or 'Mucky Farm' as the soldiers called it. Here we examine the attacks by Australian, Canadian and finally British units, discovering just how costly this corner of the Somme battlefields was in 1916.  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

On 31st July 1917 the Third Battle of Ypres - or the Battle of Passchendaele as it is often called - began with an attack on a forteen mile front near the city of Ypres. In this Anniversary episode we look at the first day of Third Ypres; who attacked, what happened and what were the casualties?  Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Se...

the heart of the Loos Battlefield. Here we look at the fighting in this part of the Western Front, the background to the Missing, and examine some stories of those commemorated here: from a Major-General to the son of Rudyard Kipling, to the men from Sussex, many of whom died at Richebourg.   Send us Fan Mail Support the show

As the Battle of the Somme continued, it took the British Army into the 'Horseshoe of Woods' that characterised the next phase of the fighting here in July 1916. As the 105th Anniversary of the Somme continues, we look at how the battle progressed.  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

The Great War went from a mobile war in 1914 to a static conflict with hundreds of miles of trenches across France and Flanders. How did trench warfare come about, what were the trenches that crisscrossed the battlefield and what were the differences between Allied and German trenches?  Sign up for the free podcast newsletter here: Old Front Line Bulletin . You can order Old Front Line Merch via T...

In this episode, we look at how the Northumbrian Territorials were thrown into battle at Ypres in April 1915, look at Wieltje as a front line village, and walk the ground where the opening phase of the Third Battle of Ypres took place following the men from the medical services as they struggled to save the wounded, including Captain Noel Chavasse VC & Bar.  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

Today is the 105th Anniversary of the First Day of the Battle of the Somme. The battle began on this day at 7.30 am, when the British soldiers went Over The Top on a perfect summer's morning. On this anniversary we look at the background to 1st July 1916, visit the Thiepval Memorial, and discuss what the First Day of the Somme means to me, reflecting on the experience of the veterans I interv...

High Wood was one of the most fought-over corners of the Somme battlefields in 1916. We take a walk from Caterpillar Valley Cemetery via Longueval, to stand beneath the dark trees of the wood. We learn about New Zealand's Unknown Warrior, Indian Cavalry, and a father and son who were both awarded the Victoria Cross.  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

South of the city of Ypres in Belgium, a large area of woodland was swallowed up in the fighting of 1914. For the next four years, the British and Commonwealth forces held the line in and around Ploegsteert Wood - "Plugstreet Wood" to the British Tommy.  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

In this 'Trench Chat' we talk to Canadian Tour operator Samantha Cowan about battlefield tourism coming to the Great War battlefields from Canada. What inspires Canadians to come? What does Vimy mean to them? Samantha shares her years of experience with her tour company TheBattlefieldTours . Send us Fan Mail Support the show

The story of the Northern Pals battalions who marched to war in 1914 is forever linked to the Somme, but their war continued and in May 1917 they found themselves up against a 'dark wood' - Oppy Wood, near Arras.  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

Located at the heart of the Somme battlefields, the town of Albert, known as 'Bert to the troops, was the route to the front line - all roads led there in 1916. Here we look at what the town meant to those who served on the Somme, examine the story of the Basilica with its figure of Mary, which Australian soldiers called 'Fanny Durack' and then look at the British graves in Albert C...

It's War Graves Week ! The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintain all cemeteries and memorials from both World Wars worldwide. This week sees the first War Graves Week and the focus is on the graves we see at home, in the cemeteries close to where we live. In this special episode, we talk to Megan Maltby and James King from CWGC, and Battlefield Guide Martin Garnett in Barnsley Cemetery....

In this latest Trench Chat, we are joined by Richard Fisher of the Vickers Machinegun Collection & Research Association to talk about the Machine Gun Corps, Graham Seton Hutchison ('Hutchy') and did they make tea from the hot water in their Vickers gun water jackets?!  Send us Fan Mail Support the show