The Old Front Line

Today is Armistice Day; a century ago in 1920, the body of the Unknown Warrior was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey. What lays behind this story, how was he selected, and what of the Unknown Warriors in our own connections to the Great War? A bonus episode for Armistice Day. Support the podcast via BuyMeACoffee or Patreon . Send us Fan Mail Support the show

As Remembrance Sunday approaches we look at the final day of the Great War on the Western Front. What happened on 11th November 1918, what brought the war in France and Flanders to an end and who were the last men to die that day?  Sign up for the free podcast newsletter here: Old Front Line Bulletin . You can order Old Front Line Merch via The Old Front Line Shop . Got a question about this episo...

As part of Black History Month, we look at the often forgotten story of the Black African-Caribbean men who joined the British Army during the Great War or who served in the ranks of the British West Indies Regiment on the Western Front.  Sign up for the free podcast newsletter here: Old Front Line Bulletin . You can order Old Front Line Merch via The Old Front Line Shop . Got a question about thi...

We're joined by Military Historian Taff Gillingham this week to talk about his amazing Great War Huts project taking place in Suffolk. We learn about how he and his team have saved many of these original WW1 huts and will open them to the public.  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

What is the story behind a place known as 'The Colonel's Field' near to the Somme village of Flers? In this episode, we link Picardy with Yorkshire and follow the story of an English Earl and a Battalion of Yeoman who marched to the front in 1916.  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

Rudyard Kipling called the cemeteries of the Great War 'Silent Cities', these vast cities of stone where the dead of that conflict lay. What is the background and history of these cemeteries, what happened to them in WW2, and what is their meaning to us today?  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

In this latest Trench Chat we talk to historian and author John Broom about his new book Reported Missing in the Great War which will be published by Pen & Sword Books in October 2020. John tells us about his research, some of the stories of grief and loss, and how in some cases closure for families took over a century to happen.  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

The war poet Siegfried Sassoon referred to the Missing of the First World War as 'nameless names'. Who were the Missing, what was their fate, how were they commemorated, and is it a story lost in the past, or still part of the Great War battlefields today?  Sign up for the free podcast newsletter here: Old Front Line Bulletin . Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your q...

In this episode, we walk the fields that link together an English composer, a Canadian who was one of three from the same street to be awarded the Victoria Cross, a black cat that went into battle in one of the first Tanks, and a young officer who collected books. We're back on the Somme, walking the ground between Pozières and Martinpuich where the fighting in September 1916 took place. Send...

On the slopes of the Messines Ridge, Croonaert Wood (or Bayernwald as the Germans called it) was one of the places connected to Adolf Hitler's story in the Great War. We uncover his connection to the fighting here in 1914, look at the role of the French Army in this sector and uncover the history of the WW1 Trench Museum that was once here in the 1970s and 80s and the reconstructed trenches t...

Why is the Geology of the First World War so important? In this latest Trench Chat, we are joined by Professor Peter Doyle to discuss landscape and memory, and how the geology of Mud, Chalk, and Rock affected the battlefields of the Western Front.  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

In this episode, we are back on the Somme and follow in the footsteps of Canadian soldiers who fought at Courcelette in 1916. On this tiny battlefield, more than 6,000 Canadians went missing; we hear some of their stories and walk from the village to ADANAC Military Cemetery, one of the largest in this area.  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

In this episode, we follow a route to the front line used by soldiers during the Great War. Starting in Ypres, we walk via Shrapnel Corner, Zillebeke Lake, Zillebeke village, and up to the area beyond Maple Copse where the front lines were located. Along the way, we visit cemeteries, discuss Canadian poet Robert Service, and see the graves of British aristocrats.  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

In this episode, we walk the battlefield at Fricourt on the Somme. It's a walk very much connected to regiments from Yorkshire who fought here on 1st July 1916: the First Day of the Battle of the Somme. We visit cemeteries, walk across the front lines, discuss a lesser-known war poet, and look at the story of the German dead on the Somme. Send us Fan Mail Support the show

In this episode, we explore Tyne Cot Cemetery and Memorial. Tyne Cot, the largest British and Commonwealth war cemetery in the world, stands on a ridge in Flanders facing the city of Ypres. We look at what the cemetery means to us and uncover some of the stories of those buried here. This episode was recorded at Tyne Cot Cemetery a few weeks ago.  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

This weeks episode was recorded a few weeks ago whilst on the battlefields of Flanders, and in it, we visit a small cemetery in the fields near Boesinghe, remember a son's visit to his father's grave, and walk among the vast legion of unknown soldiers at Poelcapelle.  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

In this latest 'Trench Chat' we speak to military historian and author Richard Van Emden about his time interviewing veterans of the Great War, and personal photographs taken by soldiers with their own cameras on the front line.  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

What does Passchendaele mean to us, more than a century later? In this episode, we walk an iconic battlefield of the Great War, the ground where the final phase of the Third Battle of Ypres occurred. Our walk takes us through the valley where the final attack by the Canadians took place in October 1917, seeing the memorials at Crest Farm and in Passchendaele church.  Sign up for the free podcast n...

For the first of our Trench Chats, we are joined by Battlefield Guide Tim Thurlow to talk about his many years of walking the Somme battlefields, discuss some of the amazing things he has found on his walks and what the battlefields mean.  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

In this episode, we are once more on the Somme and take a visit to the Newfoundland Memorial Park at Beaumont-Hamel, a unique area of preserved First World War battlefield where the Newfoundland Regiment, among others, fought on the First Day of the Battle of the Somme. We follow a route through the park to the front line, walk the trenches, and look at the two ends of the battle in July and Novem...

On the Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, this Somme Extra looks at some of the background to 1st July 1916, we take a walk from outside Albert to La Boisselle and Mash Valley, visiting Ovillers Military Cemetery. The podcast includes a recording of Liverpool Pal Ted Williams, made in the 1980s, and our object this week is a group photograph connected to the story of 1st July 1916. Send us Fa...

In this episode we walk from the Menin Road, along Maple Avenue to Sanctuary Wood British Cemetery, visiting the grave of Gilbert Talbot and a private memorial to an officer killed nearby. We also see the Trench Museum at Sanctuary Wood and finish on the high ground of Hill 62.  Send us Fan Mail Support the show

This week we are once again back on the Somme, this time to visit the battlefield at Serre where the men from the Northern Pals battalions had their baptism of fire on 1st July 1916 - the First Day of the Battle of the Somme. We visit the cemeteries and memorials, hear about the veterans who were here and this week's object is a photo of Harry Scargill of the Barnsley Pals.  Send us Fan Mail...

In this episode we walk from the village of Locre (now Loker) to Kemmel Hill in Flanders. Along the way we discuss men who were Shot at Dawn, an Irish Nationalist MP Willie Redmond, life behind the lines and the importance of the high ground at Kemmel Hill and the often forgotten role of French troops here in 1918. Our Great War object is a frame containing a WW1 Memorial Plaque.  Send us Fan Mail...

We return to the Somme this week and walk the ground from Dantzig Alley Cemetery to Mametz Wood, looking at the Manchester Pals, Generals killed on front line and the Welsh Volunteers who fought and died at Mametz Wood in July 1916. Our object this week is a unique photograph taken by an officer on the Somme. Send us Fan Mail Support the show