The Old Front Line
Walk the battlefields of the First World War with Military Historian, Paul Reed. In these podcasts, Paul brings together over 40 years of studying the Great War, from the stories of veterans he interviewed, to when he spent more than a decade living on the Old Front Line in the heart of the Somme battlefields.
Episodes
278 episodes
Questions and Answers Episode 46
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 ...
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Season 9
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Episode 22
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40:10
Winter in Flanders
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...
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Season 9
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Episode 21
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49:30
Questions and Answers Episode 45
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 call...
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Season 9
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Episode 20
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44:33
Demarcation Stones at Ypres
In this special episode, Paul Reed discusses the Ypres League's mission to preserve the history of the Ypres Salient and the significance of Demarcation Stones that mark the furthest advance of German forces during the First World...
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Season 9
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Episode 19
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47:42
Questions and Answers Episode 44
In this episode, we explore the role of British Army Chaplains during the First World War, examining who they were, what duties they performed at the front, and how effective they were in the brutal conditions of the Great War. We also a...
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Season 9
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Episode 18
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39:33
Are We Forgetting The First World War?
Is the First World War slowly fading from public memory, or has our relationship with the Great War simply changed? In this episode, Are We Forgetting The First World War?, we explore how interest in WW1 has grown, shifted, and adapted o...
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Season 9
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Episode 17
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41:41
Questions and Answers Episode 43
In this episode of The Old Front Line, we explore how individual lives and institutions reveal the human realities of the First World War.We begin by asking why only three officers were Shot at Dawn during the war, and wh...
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Season 9
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Episode 16
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40:40
Forgotten Memoirs of the Great War Part 2
We return to the subject of Forgotten Memoirs of the First World War and discuss The Years of Remembrance by Harold Maybury which was published in 1924. Maybury served in the ranks of the 2/4th Battalion South Lancashire Regime...
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Season 9
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Episode 15
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45:25
Questions and Answers Episode 42
In this episode, we delve into a lesser-known but essential aspect of First World War life: the use and organisation of latrines on the battlefield. Where did soldiers actually go to the toilet, how were these facilities construct...
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Season 9
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Episode 14
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41:26
A Tale of Two Veterans
In this episode we discuss the importance of oral history and what it tells us about the experience of conflict and the culture of the British military in the Great War, and we contrast two interviews I did with veterans in the 1980s: Ja...
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Season 9
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Episode 13
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53:23
Questions and Answers Episode 41
In this episode, we unpack the meaning and origins of the term Downland, and explore how this distinctive landscape helps us better understand the geography and terrain of the First World War.We take a closer look at the
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Season 9
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Episode 12
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40:40
Caring For The Silent Cities
In this special edition, we’re joined by Jon Gedling, Director of Estates for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, to discuss the challenges and responsibilities involved in caring for Firs...
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Season 9
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Episode 11
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38:01
Questions and Answers Episode 40
In this 40th Questions and Answers episode, we explore some of the lesser-known battlefields of the Western Front, uncovering places where traces of the First World War fighting can still be seen today. We examine what real...
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Season 9
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Episode 10
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44:49
West of Arras: Behind The Lines
We travel to the area Behind the Lines of West of Arras, visiting cemeteries where Casualty Clearing Stations were moved back to in 1918, discuss a small village where WW1 meets WW2, discover some original Great War graffiti on a farm building ...
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Season 9
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Episode 9
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1:06:06
Questions and Answers Episode 39
In this episode we ask what is the current size of the 'Zone Rouge' and are there plans to clear it? We then look at the use of morphine to treat pain and was this misused? We then look at when Steel Helmets were first issued to British and Can...
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Season 9
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Episode 8
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40:10
Battle of Loos with Peter Doyle
In a special episode we are joined by Professor Peter Doyle who delivered this talk on Loos at a Podcast Supporters Evening for the 110th Anniversary of th...
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Season 9
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Episode 7
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1:10:21
Questions and Answers Episode 38
In this latest QnA episode, we tackle a fresh set of listener questions about the First World War, ranging from battlefield geography to the realities of supply and discipline at the front. We start with how hills and features were numbered<...
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Season 9
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Episode 6
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35:25
Gunner Officer: Malcolm Vyvyan
We return to the memories of WW1 veteran Malcolm Vyvyan MC, who served with 96th Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery on the Western Front from 1916, and then latterly the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force. We follow him from the ...
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Season 9
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Episode 5
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35:38
Questions and Answers Episode 37
In this WW1 Q&A episode, we explore the lives and social backgrounds of British Army officers, ask whether First World War veterans hated their German enemies, and share the remarkable stories of soldiers who were di...
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Season 9
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Episode 4
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37:15
Remembering the Forgotten Front
What was the “Forgotten Front” of Northern France? In this episode, we explore the stretch of battlefield from Armentières on the Belgian border through La Bassée to the ground near Loos, scene of the Big Push of September 1915: f...
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Season 9
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Episode 3
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1:07:11
Questions and Answers Episode 36
In our first QnA Episode for Season 9 we look at what happened to the German forces when the guns went silent on 11th November 1918, discuss the use of poison gas and it's legacy on the battlefields today, examine if British and German dead wer...
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Season 9
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Episode 2
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37:59
Walking the Somme: Gommecourt
In our first episode of Season 9, we walk the northern part of the Somme battlefield from Foncquevillers out to the ground before Gommecourt, and examine the attack here by the 46th (North Midland) Division on 1st July 1916. We examine the Cour...
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Season 9
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Episode 1
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1:06:55
Bonus Episode: The Menin Gate at Night
In our third and final Bonus Episode that brings Season 8 to a close, we have a live recording from the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, recorded while out leading a battlefield tour a few weeks ago. We reflect on the subjects we have covered on t...
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Season 8
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Episode 35
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26:13
Bonus Episode: A Siege Battery Gunner
In this second Bonus Episode to end Season 8 of the podcast we look at the subject of Great War veterans and in particular Malcolm Vyvyan who served as a Siege Battery officer in the Royal Garrison Artillery on the Somme, Arras an...
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Season 8
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Episode 34
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29:40
