The Old Front Line

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

In this week's episode, we step beyond the British sector of the Western Front to one of the most iconic French battlefields of the Great War - Verdun. Here we walk the ground between the 'lost' village of Fleury and visit the huge cemetery and ossuary at Douaumont. Our object is a commemorative memorial stone produced to help soldiers wounded in battles like Verdun.  Sign up for th...

In this week's episode we travel to another 'Forgotten Battlefield' of the Great War and walk the area around Loos, on the site where the 'Lone Tree' was located in 1915.  Walking from Le Rutoire Farm, near the village of Vermelles, to the Lone Tree in the very heart of the 1915 Loos Battlefields. We visit battlefield cemeteries and discuss the story of Rudyard Kipling&apo...

In this episode we walk the Somme battlefields between Trônes Wood and the village of Guillemont. We follow the story of Noel Chavasse VC & Bar, the son of a Royal Academy artist, Raymond Asquith whose father was Prime Minister, and discover how the stories of men from either side of No Man's Land collided in a sunken lane. Our WW1 object is a small Old Comrades badge; what does it tell u...

In this episode we start in the village of Wulverghem and walk via Ration Farm, and some battlefield cemeteries, up onto the Messines Ridge. This weeks WW1 object is a collection of 'Fragments From France' magazines and we discuss the work of cartoonist Bruce Bairnsfather, famous for the 'Old Bill' cartoons. Sign up for the free podcast newsletter here: Old Front Line Bulletin...

In this episode we walk the battlefields of the Somme between the villages of Hebuterne and Gommecourt where men of the 56th (London) Division fought on 1st July 1916. We look at the stories of two veterans who were in two separate dugouts here on that day: Malcolm Vyvyan MC, a Gunner officer, and Harry Coates MSM, a Sergeant in the London Scottish. The WW1 object this week is an Imperial Service...

In this episode we move to Gallipoli, a battlefield in Turkey where British and Commonwealth soldiers landed on 25th April 1915. Here we visit Lancashire Landing Cemetery, walk down to W Beach and look at the story of the 'six VCs before breakfast'. Our object this week is a WW1 photo album with private images taken at Gallipoli in 1915. Send us Fan Mail Support the show

This week we take our first walk across one of the 'Forgotten Battlefields' of the Great War, the Boar's Head close to the village of Richebourg in Northern France. Here we discover the story of the Southdown's Battalions, or Lowther's Lambs, and uncover what a terrible sacrifice Sussex made here on 30th June 1916. Send us Fan Mail Support the show

In this episode we walk the battlefields of the Somme, taking a journey from Auchonvillers up onto the Hawthorn Ridge near Beaumont-Hamel, where the fighting raged on 1st July 1916, the First Day of the Somme. We learn about a young officer, Eric Heaton, and visit a small battlefield cemetery where comrades lay side by side: Hawthorn Ridge No 1. Sign up for the free podcast newsletter here: Old Fr...

In this episode, published on the 103rd Anniversary of the Battle of Arras, we talk about some of the history of the battle and remember two veterans who were there in 1917: George Butler of the Machine Gun Corps and Malcolm Vyvyan MC of the Royal Garrison Artillery. Send us Fan Mail Support the show

In this episode we look at Battlefield Archaeology carried out by the Diggers near Ypres in 2001-2002, examine an original piece of recovered archaeology and visit the Advanced Dressing Station bunkers at Essex Farm, on the battlefields close to Ypres in Flanders.  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...

In this first Episode of the Old Front Line, Military Historian Paul Reed takes you on a walk across the Somme battlefields at Pozières, the scene of heavy fighting in 1916. We visit the cemetery and memorial, and travel through the village to 'Mucky Farm'. We also introduce a regular feature looking at WW1 objects, talking about a Great War officer's whistle.  Sign up for the free...