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It became very apparent that the war wouldn't be over by Christmas 1914 as many had hoped for, and in this special episode, we look at how soldiers in the front celebrated Christmas, and how many charitable organizations ensured that home comforts were supplied to the men at war.  From container ships of Christmas puddings to brass tins of spices, we examine what Christmas was like for men serving in and behind the lines.

We also look at Christmas on the home front, and how the sad reality of four years of War dampened Christmas cheer for those left behind.

We examine how overindulgence in alcohol caused no end of problems for London's magistrates in 1915, and settle once and for all who won the great Royal Fusiliers vs Hampshire Regiment snowball fight of Christmas 1917.  There's also no mention of football! 

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On the edge of a small field near Fromelles, in northern France stands one of the most poignant and emblematic monuments anywhere on the Western Front.  Called "Cobbers" the statue depicts an Australian soldier carrying a wounded comrade on his back, and stands on the top of what was a German blockhouse.

How did this memorial come about, and why does the village of Fromelles hold such significance to Australian military history?  We look at the events of the 19th July 1916, where the Australian army lost more men than on any other day in the Great War.

While the battle has been largely forgotten, a remarkable archaeological discovery in 2002 led to the creation of the first war cemetery to be built in France for a generation and provided a remarkable insight into the fate of some of the men who lost their lives on that tragic day in 1916. 

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In this episode, our journey through the footsteps of the fallen examines the remarkable vision and perseverance of a 45-year-old Red Cross Ambulance driver by the name of Fabien Ware, whose dismay at the state of war graves, led him to become the founding father of what is now known as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.  We examine the creation of the organization, the challenges faced, and why the cemeteries of the Great War look the way they do, as well as reflecting on 30 years of visiting these "silent cities."

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Our 10th episode takes us back to Northern France, where we visit the battlefield of the British offensive against the Aubers Ridge.  What was supposed to be a gentle stroll across the Artois countryside, turned into an offensive that was abandoned after only 15 hours.  By the time night fell, over 11,000 men were killed, wounded, or missing, and the German lines remained staunchly in German hands. The tiny Sussex village of Wadhurst paid a heavy price that day, and their memory of the dead has seen the creation of a magnificent English country garden in the village of Aubers itself. 

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This special episode to coincide with Remembrance Day takes us to Mons in Belgium, where the first actions of the Great War between the British and Germans took place.  We visit the first and last shot memorials, and the grave of the first VC winner of the Great War.  We hear about the first and last British soldiers to die, and the death of the last Commonwealth soldier to die, shot dead by a German sniper just two minutes before the Armistice. We end with the poignant story of a Surrey mother whose Armistice day celebrations were torn apart by the postman's knock.

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In this episode, we walk the battlefield of Delville Wood, the scene of the first engagement of the South African Infantry on the Western Front.  In a period of six days, they suffered almost 100% casualties and were subjected to German artillery bombardments of a ferocity unprecedented even by Great War standards.  We hear of the heroic struggle to hold the wood and the story of how a bag of 400-year-old Huguenot acorns was used to replant the wood in the aftermath of the War. 

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In this episode, we walk the battlefield of the first German gas attack in April 1915.  We begin by surveying the battlefield from a German observation post at the Totemuhle or "Death Mill" and then visiting Vancouver Corner, the site of the magnificent Brooding Soldier Memorial.  We hear the story of two women caught up in the gas attack and how a gardening chemist discovered that a common garden pest was, in fact, nature's greatest anti-gas device.  Our visit to the vast cemetery at Langemarck concludes with the story of a British airman who lost his life to one of the German airforce's greatest aces. 

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In this episode, we look at the lives of two soldiers from New Zealand, whose exceptional acts of bravery on the Somme saw them awarded the Victoria Cross.  The exploits of one of these men, Dick Travis, in No Mans Land made him a legend amongst the officers and men of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, and earned him the sobriquet "The King of No Mans Land".

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In our 5th episode, we have come back to Belgium and walk through Essex Farm cemetery near Ypres.  It's a cemetery full of stories, including the division that withstood the first use of a terrifying new weapon of war; a Black Country man who joined the Army to escape poverty and single-handedly saved the lives of his entire company, winning a VC in the process.  We hear about a disastrous excursion into No Mans Land; one of, if not the youngest soldier to die in combat, and how the death of a friend prompted a Canadian doctor to write the most famous poem of the entire Great War. 

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In this episode, we take our first trip to the Gallipoli peninsula where we hear about an unlikely hero whose exploits have entered into Australian folklore.  The immigrant son of a Tyneside seaman, John Simpson Kirkpatrick was an immensely popular figure amongst the Australian troops, and his courage and bravery under fire became the stuff of legend.  In just 24 days, the man with the donkey entered into the annals of Australian history, where he remains revered to this day.