On October 12th, 1917, Captain Clarence Jeffries led one hundred Australian troops toward a German machine gun position on the Passchendaele road. He'd already captured one pillbox that morning—exactly the kind of action that had worked brilliantly in September. But the ground had turned to liquid mud. The barrage was invisible. Everything was different. Jeffries was killed instantly, posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for capturing ground that would be abandoned the next day.

The Battle of Passchendaele represents the tragic final chapter of Third Ypres. In this episode, Mat McLachlan examines how an offensive that had proven the Western Front stalemate could be broken descended into one of history's ultimate symbols of futility.

From the 66th Division's twelve-hour march through mud to reach their start line, to the 3rd Australian Division's 400-yard advance at the cost of 3,199 casualties, to General Currie's precise prediction of 16,000 Canadian losses—we witness the attacks that should never have happened. But we also confront the uncomfortable question: if September's battles taught the lessons that helped win the war in 1918, what does that mean for October's dead?

Why did Field Marshal Haig continue attacking when every commander knew the ground was impossible? How did the same tactics that succeeded at Broodseinde fail so catastrophically at Passchendaele? What makes this battle both a vindication of tactical innovation and a monument to strategic delusion?

"I thought the principle was to be 'hit, hit, hit, whenever the weather is suitable.' If so, that principle is thrown away at the first temptation." - General Hubert Gough, October 8th, 1917

Episode Length: 43 minutes

Features: Captain Jeffries' Victoria Cross action, the sunk cost fallacy at GHQ, why Currie's prediction was exactly right, and the bitter irony of September's success drowning in October's mud.

Series Conclusion: The final reckoning of Third Ypres—triumph and tragedy, lessons learned and lives lost.

Presenter: Mat McLachlan

Producer: Jess Stebnicki

Ready to walk the battlefields? Join Mat's exclusive European tours: https://battlefields.com.au/

Find everything Mat is doing at https://linktr.ee/matmclachlan

For more history: https://www.LivingHistoryTV.com

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On October 4th, 1917 a thousand British guns opened fire on German positions along Broodseinde Ridge. What followed was described by Crown Prince Rupprecht as "the black day of the war." For the first time, German high command began to consider the unthinkable: that they might actually lose.

The Battle of Broodseinde was the third and final success in General Plumer's carefully planned offensive. In this episode, Mat McLachlan reveals how a perfect convergence of tactics, timing and weather created what Charles Bean called "the most complete success so far won by the British Army in France."

From the 3rd Australian Division's capture of the Tyne Cot blockhouse to the stunning double-blow of simultaneous attacks, we follow the forces that shattered German morale and captured the ridge that dominated the Ypres Salient. But we also witness what came after: the rains that turned the battlefield to porridge, and the attacks at Poelcappelle and Passchendaele that descended into nightmare.

Why did German commanders panic after Broodseinde? How did tactics that worked perfectly on October 4th fail catastrophically days later? What makes the captured pillbox at Tyne Cot Cemetery the most significant monument on the Western Front?

"We no longer know what to do." - Crown Prince Rupprecht's diary, October 4th, 1917

Episode Length: 42 minutes

Features: The capture of the Tyne Cot blockhouse, Crown Prince Rupprecht's crisis of confidence, the weather that changed everything and why this single day's success could not be repeated.

Next Episode: Passchendaele - the final, bloodiest phase of Third Ypres.

Presenter: Mat McLachlan

Producer: Jess Stebnicki

Ready to walk the battlefields? Join Mat's exclusive European tours: https://battlefields.com.au/

Find everything Mat is doing at https://linktr.ee/matmclachlan

For more history: https://www.LivingHistoryTV.com

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On September 26th, 1917, at Polygon Wood, three cousins from the same Australian pioneering family waited in the pre-dawn darkness. Raymond Single would soon be shot by a sniper who saw his luminous watch glow. Within hours, Hubert Thompson and Wilfred Single would also be dead.

At 5:50 AM, a thousand guns opened simultaneously in what Frank Hurley called "a blinding sheet of flame." The Battle of Polygon Wood had begun.

Six days after the success at Menin Road, General Plumer launched his second "bite and hold" attack. In this episode, Mat McLachlan reveals how Polygon Wood became both a perfect victory and a terrible revelation: the British Empire had finally learned how to win battles, but winning provided no relief from the slaughter.

From Pompey Elliott holding the line while his brother died, to Patrick Bugden's five rescue missions into no-man's land, we follow the 4th and 5th Australian Divisions through what Charles Bean called possibly Elliott's greatest achievement—and one of the bloodiest days in Australian military history.

Why did German commanders admit they had "no idea what to do"? How did 21,000 men become casualties in a victorious battle? What made the 5th Division choose this costly triumph for their memorial?

"We are living through truly abominable days." - Colonel von Thaer, German High Command

Episode Length: 45 minutes

Features: The Single family tragedy, German crisis conference at Roulers, Company Sergeant Major Dewey's eyewitness account, and the moment when even perfect tactics couldn't change the arithmetic of death.

Next Episode: Broodseinde—the black day that ended in rain.

Presenter: Mat McLachlan

Producer: Jess Stebnicki

Ready to walk the battlefields? Join Mat's exclusive European tours: https://battlefields.com.au/

Find everything Mat is doing at https://linktr.ee/matmclachlan For more history: https://www.LivingHistoryTV.com

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On September 20th, 1917, at the Battle of Menin Road, Private Roy Inwood lay in the mud east of Ypres. His brother had died at Pozières the year before. In three hours, Roy would earn the Victoria Cross. The day after, he'd be dead.

Nearby, three brothers from Petersham waited with their unit. By nightfall, their mother would have lost all three sons.

After weeks of catastrophic failures under General Gough, Field Marshal Haig transferred command to General Herbert Plumer. In this episode, Mat McLachlan reveals how Plumer's methodical genius transformed the offensive: three weeks of preparation, limited objectives, overwhelming firepower—one gun for every five yards of front—and revolutionary tactics that reversed traditional doctrine.

From predawn assembly through torrential mist to the devastating creeping barrage, we follow the 1st and 2nd Australian Divisions executing what Charles Bean called "probably their zenith"—the most perfectly coordinated attack of the war.

Why did German counter-attacks fail so catastrophically? How did Plumer's "bite and hold" change tactical doctrine? What drove Roy Inwood to advance alone through his own barrage—twice?

"Nothing I have heard in this world or can in the next could possibly approach its equal." - Australian soldier describing the barrage

Episode Length: 42 minutes

Features: Frank Hurley's battlefield diary, German assessments of defensive collapse, and the Seabrook brothers' final day.

Next Episode: Polygon Wood—the high point of the offensive.

Presenter: Mat McLachlan

Producer: Jess Stebnicki

Ready to walk the battlefields? Join Mat's exclusive European tours: https://battlefields.com.au/

Find everything Mat is doing at https://linktr.ee/matmclachlan

For more history: https://www.LivingHistoryTV.com

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When Field Marshal Douglas Haig launched his great Flanders offensive in July 1917, he believed he was unleashing the battle that would end the war. Instead, he condemned three-quarters of a million men to fight and die in what would become synonymous with the horror of the Western Front.

In this opening episode, Mat McLachlan reveals how the stage was set for Third Ypres through a deadly convergence of strategic necessity and catastrophic weather. Through authentic accounts, we explore the crisis that made the battle inevitable: the French Army's collapse into mutiny after the disastrous Nivelle Offensive; the devastating U-boat campaign threatening to starve Britain into submission; and Haig's fateful decision to entrust his decisive battle to the aggressive General Hubert Gough rather than the methodical Herbert Plumer.

From the spectacular success of Messines Ridge - where 19 massive mines vaporized 10,000 German soldiers in 19 seconds - to the opening disaster of July 31st when torrential rain transformed the battlefield, Mat captures the human drama and strategic miscalculations that defined the campaign's tragic opening.

Why did Haig reject Plumer's plea to continue after Messines? How did catastrophically wrong weather predictions shape the battle? What drove Irish divisions from both sides of the religious divide to advance together into the slaughter at Langemarck?

"In my opinion the war can only be won here in Flanders." - Field Marshal Douglas Haig, August 13, 1917

Episode Length: 43 minutes

Features: Authentic diary entries, Crown Prince Rupprecht's battlefield assessments and firsthand accounts from German blockhouses to Irish trenches.

Next Episode: The Australians enter the battle at Menin Road, testing new tactics against German steel and concrete.

Presenter: Mat McLachlan

Producer: Jess Stebnicki

Ready to walk the battlefields? Join Mat McLachlan's exclusive European battlefield tours: https://battlefields.com.au/

Find everything Mat is doing at https://linktr.ee/matmclachlan

For more history content, visit www.LivingHistoryTV.com

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When 35,000 Allied paratroopers dropped into Holland in September 1944, four Australians from opposite corners of the continent found themselves at the heart of one of World War Two's most catastrophic operations.

In this remarkable episode, Mat McLachlan reveals the forgotten Australian stories of Operation Market Garden. Through authentic accounts and personal testimonies, we follow Keith Prowd from Gympie as his burning bomber falls from the sky at 550 feet; Alan Wood from Sydney, typing dispatches while German mortars explode around him; John Hackett from Perth, leading bayonet charges before being hidden by three Dutch sisters who risk everything to save him; and Tom Hall from Melbourne, whose Typhoon rockets try desperately to keep Hell's Highway open.

From Prowd's Death March through frozen Poland to Hackett's months in hiding during the Hunger Winter, these four men experienced Market Garden from every angle - in the air, on the ground, and through the typewriter keys that would preserve its history. Their stories capture not just the military disaster, but the extraordinary humanity that emerged from catastrophe.

Why did the de Nooij sisters risk execution to hide a stranger? How did Alan Wood keep typing as the battle raged? What drove Keith Prowd's mates to carry him through freezing temperatures when dropping him would save their own lives? Mat explores these questions through the actual words of the men who were there.

A powerful testament to the Australians who fought at Arnhem - and the Dutch civilians who saved them.

"If in years to come any man says to you, 'I fought with the Arnhem airborne force,' take your hat off to him and buy him a drink." - Alan Wood, September 1944

Episode Length: 24 minutes

Features: First-hand accounts from Keith Prowd's 2003 interview, excerpts from personal memoirs and on-location insights from Arnhem and Oosterbeek

Presenter: Mat McLachlan

Producer: Jess Stebnicki

Ready to walk in the footsteps of heroes? Join Mat McLachlan on an exclusive river cruise that visits the battlefields of Waterloo, WWI and WW2 in 2027: https://battlefields.com.au/history-cruises/

Find out everything Mat is doing with books, tours and media at https://linktr.ee/matmclachlan

For more great history content, visit www.LivingHistoryTV.com, or subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/LivingHistoryTV

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While the world watched Iwo Jima and Okinawa, over 70,000 Australian soldiers were fighting and dying in what many would later call the 'unnecessary wars' - the final campaigns in Bougainville, New Guinea and Borneo.

In this powerful episode, Mat McLachlan tells the forgotten story of Australia's last battles of World War Two. From November 1944 to August 1945, Australian forces fought through some of the war's most grueling conditions, losing over 2000 men in campaigns that history has largely overlooked.

Through authentic accounts from the soldiers who were there - including seven Victoria Cross recipients - we experience the mud, monsoons and malaria of jungle warfare. We meet young men like 20-year-old Frank Partridge, who became the war's youngest Australian VC recipient, and veterans like George Palmer, who carried the memory of a Japanese soldier he killed for the rest of his life.

Were these campaigns strategically necessary, or were they, as critics claimed, a waste of Australian lives for political purposes? Mat explores the controversy while never losing sight of the human story - of ordinary Australians who did extraordinary things when their mates needed them most.

A moving tribute to the men who fought on after the world had stopped watching.

"We weren't soldiers, we were heavily-armed civilians... for the most part, we were just ordinary people." - Les Cook, veteran

Episode Length: 21 minutes

Features: Original veteran testimonies, detailed battle accounts and expert historical analysis

Presenter: Mat McLachlan

Producer: Jess Stebnicki

Ready to walk in the footsteps of heroes? Join Mat McLachlan on an exclusive river cruise that visits the battlefields of Waterloo, WWI and WW2 in 2027: https://battlefields.com.au/pre-register-for-2027-battlefield-river-cruises/

Find out everything Mat is doing with books, tours and media at https://linktr.ee/matmclachlan

For more great history content, visit www.LivingHistoryTV.com, or subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/LivingHistoryTV

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Was dropping the atomic bomb necessary? For nearly 80 years, historians have debated President Truman's decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan. But secret intelligence intercepts - classified for decades after the war - reveal what Japanese leaders were actually planning in the summer of 1945.

Using newly available evidence from the "Magic" intercepts, Mat McLachlan examines the brutal alternatives Truman faced: invasion projections of over a million American casualties, Japanese preparations to turn their entire population into combatants, and intelligence proving Japan's refusal to surrender.

Through the stories of Colonel Paul Tibbets, who piloted the Enola Gay, and Reverend Kiyoshi Tanimoto, who survived Hiroshima, this episode explores one of history's most controversial decisions - and why the evidence suggests it was the only choice that could end the war and save lives.

The atomic bombs killed 200,000 people. But would the alternatives have killed millions more?

Presenter: Mat McLachlan

Producer: Jess Stebnicki

Ready to walk in the footsteps of heroes? Join Mat McLachlan on an exclusive river cruise that visits the battlefields of Waterloo, WWI and WW2 in 2027: https://battlefields.com.au/pre-register-for-2027-battlefield-river-cruises/

Find out everything Mat is doing with books, tours and media at https://linktr.ee/matmclachlan

For more great history content, visit www.LivingHistoryTV.com, or subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/LivingHistoryTV

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Step into the hallowed halls of London's Guards Museum with Mat McLachlan as he uncovers extraordinary artifacts from one of history's most pivotal battles. In this captivating episode, Mat takes you behind the scenes to examine authentic Waterloo relics that have survived over two centuries - from battle-worn uniforms and weapons to personal effects that once belonged to the soldiers who fought on that fateful day in 1815. You'll discover how these precious artifacts made their way from the Belgian battlefield to their current home in London, and what they tell us about courage, sacrifice, and the brutal reality of Napoleonic warfare.

Presenter: Mat McLachlan

Guest: Lee Murrell

Producer: Jess Stebnicki

Watch the full video version of this episode at: https://youtu.be/aWVEQ9_r7Hs?si=Zy_NqutT4gFgxX6k

Ready to walk in Wellington's footsteps? Join Mat McLachlan on an exclusive private tour of the Waterloo battlefield, where you'll explore the very ground where history was made. Discover the stories behind the strategy, visit key locations, and gain insights that only come from experiencing this legendary battlefield firsthand. Book your unforgettable Waterloo adventure at: https://battlefields.com.au/waterloo-private-tour/

Find out everything Mat is doing with books, tours and media at https://linktr.ee/matmclachlan

For more great history content, visit www.LivingHistoryTV.com, or subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/LivingHistoryTV

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In October 1942, as Field Marshal Rommel's Afrika Korps prepared for one final push towards Cairo, Australia's 9th Division and New Zealand's 2nd Division stood ready at El Alamein for what would become the decisive battle of the North African campaign. Author Tom Gilling joins Mat McLachlan to explore how Montgomery's meticulously planned offensive depended on the tenacity of these Anzac forces to break through Rommel's formidable defences. From the initial barrage that lit up the desert night to the grinding attritional warfare that followed, this is the story of how Australian and New Zealand forces helped deliver the victory that Churchill called "the end of the beginning" - a triumph that saved the Middle East and marked the true turning point of the Second World War.

Tom Gilling's new book on the Battle of El Alamein, Start Digging You Bastards!, is available now.

Presenter: Mat McLachlan

Guest: Tom Gilling

Producer: Jess Stebnicki

Join one of our battlefield tours and walk in the footsteps of the Anzacs! Visit https://battlefields.com.au/ for more information.

Find out everything Mat is doing with books, tours and media at https://linktr.ee/matmclachlan

For more great history content, visit www.LivingHistoryTV.com, or subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/LivingHistoryTV

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.