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The weather played its part in the Great War, perhaps in more ways than first imagined.  The Great War lasted over 1500 days, and over 600 saw rain on the Western Front.  The winter of 1914 saw torrential rain and temperatures drop to -10 in France, and the autumn of 1917 in Flanders saw four months' worth of rainfall in just 33 days. 

London's Met Office offered to help at the outbreak of war, but a terse telegram from GHQ rebuffed this offer.  However, the increased use of aircraft and poison gas quickly made senior command understand the importance of meteorology, and the Meteorological Service of the Royal Engineers soon started providing masses of valuable data.

Who were these men, and what did they do? In this episode, we look at the work of "Meteor" HQ and their vital role as the war progressed. 

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On the 110th anniversary, we travel to France and walk around the battlefield of the first major offensive launched by the British on the Western Front at Neuve Chappelle.

Initial successes were tempered by poor decision-making and poor communications between divisional commanders and the offensive ground to a halt in the face of heavy German resistance.  Casualties were 11,000 killed, wounded and missing in three days, but no fewer than nine VCs were awarded for the fighting in this area. These quiet farmers' fields hide the secrets of the past, but there is much history to be found if one knows where to look.

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Welcome to this latest episode of the podcast.

Today, we walk the battlefield around the area of the Hohenzollern Redoubt, the formidable German strongpoint located on the battlefield at Loos, which was attacked by the 9th Scottish Division on the opening day of the battle of 25th September 1915.  Fighting continued until the middle of October when men of the 46th Midland Division tried and failed to retake the redoubt.

What happened here, and what can be seen when you walk the battlefields today?  

Supporting maps and the walking route can be found in the gallery section of the website: https://footstepsofthefallen.com/gallery/

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Welcome to the first Trench Talk of Season 7!

It's a real pleasure to be joined by naval historian and writer Chris Sams as we talk about the Battle of Jutland in 1916.  The long-awaited showdown between the Royal Navy and the Kriegsmarine turned into an unexpectedly bad day for the British.  We look at what happened that afternoon off the coast of Denmark and talk about other naval matters in this fascinating and wide-ranging conversation.

Chris' book on the German navy can be found here.

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Welcome to the first episode of 2025!

Today, we head to Belgium and walk a less-trodden route south of Plugstreet Wood towards the hamlet of Le Gheer.  From the village of Ploegsteert, we head south and east across the farmer's fields to discover the long-lost history of this part of the battlefield.  These seemingly bare fields tell the story of the rank and file of the Allied infantry who fought and died in this so-called quiet sector of the front.  There is much to be found if one knows where to look.

We meet the famous (latterly very famous) 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers commander, a certain Mr W.S Churchill, hear the sad story of an officer's death through an appalling piece of treachery, discover the unpleasant and dangerous work of "pond duty", and contemplate how McKenna's bridge got its name.

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Welcome to the final episode of 2024!

One of the great misnomers of WW1 is that soldiers spent all their time in the trenches fighting. Fighting battles took up a tiny amount of soldiers' time, so what did soldiers do when not in the line?

In this episode, we look at life behind the lines, where soldiers had the opportunity to spend their pay on treats to make soldiering more bearable.  Many soldiers indulged in the age-old vices of women and gambling; gambling was technically illegal, but thousands of francs were known to change hands through unscrupulous soldiers using loaded dice to stack odds firmly in their favour.  We look at the ubiquitous concert parties, hear about the leave lottery endured by soldiers, and discover why being a competent "anchor-man" was a financially enviable position.  We also hear the sad story of Basil Radford, "Gilbert the Filbert", one of Edwardian theatre's greatest dandies who met a terrible end on the battlefields of France.

Footsteps of the Fallen will be back in 2025!

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A famous saying asserts that an army marches on its stomach, and in this episode, we examine food and drink for men on the front line. 

The challenge of feeding an army was immense, and the war office employed science to calculate the exact calorific intake needed by a soldier to survive.

Feeding the men was one thing; feeding them something palatable was something else. We look at trench rations, from the infamous Army Biscuits to cans of "dog vomit," and see that the culinary life of a soldier in the trenches was not a happy one. Occasionally, however, comfort came in mysterious ways, as men of the Hampshire Regiment found out when the Germans shelled the canal near Cuinchy and provided an unexpected and welcome treat. 

Alcohol played an essential part in soldiers' lives from all sides, and we discover more about the daily rum ration, "Pinard", and celebratory German beer mugs.  We learn the origin of the phrase "to be on the fiddle", and hear about how excessive alcohol consumption caused huge problems for the Germans advancing in March 1918.

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In the early hours of the 30th July 1915, men of the Rifle Brigade and Kings Royal Rifle Corps were attacked near Hooge by German soldiers using a new and appalling weapon of war - liquid fire.  The subsequent counter-attack that afternoon by the British was a military disaster that could have been avoided had the protests of senior commanders in the line been listened to.

We examine what happened that day, discover the story of the man who won the first VC for the new armies, and meet the enigmatic and eloquent "Student in Arms."

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Welcome to this latest episode, in which we explore the history behind one of the world's great monuments, the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in the Belgian city of Ypres.

We hear the history of the Last Post, look at the famous lions and their connection to Australia, hear the stories of some of the dead, and contemplate what makes this an iconic place of remembrance.

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Welcome to the latest episode!

In today's episode, we look at the role played by Army Chaplains during the Great War. Responsible for the spiritual and personal welfare of soldiers, the Chaplain was a source of great comfort for men during the hell of trench warfare.

We look at the history of the Army Chaplain Department and discover the massively important role that Chaplains had in the lives of men at war and meet some of them, including the famous Woodbine Willie, "Tubby" Clayton and the Reverend Theodore Hardy, a non-combatant who ended the war with an MC, DSO and finally a VC.

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