Stories of the Great War

This episode explores the morning of September 15, 1916, when twenty-eight-ton steel machines first ground their way across the deadly no man's land of the Somme. The narrative traces the frantic evolution of the Mark I tank from Winston Churchill’s unorthodox Landships Committee to General Douglas Haig's desperate gamble to break the agonizing trench warfare deadlock. We journey inside these sweltering, carbon monoxide-filled mechanical beasts alongside their inexperienced crews, and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Canadian, New Zealand, and British infantry who watched in awe as the machines crushed barbed wire and silenced German machine guns. Though plagued by massive breakdown rates and deployed over ground where some commanders begged not to attack, these lumbering first tanks successfully reignited hope among the exhausted infantry and permanently announced the mechanical future of modern warfare.

In this episode, Chris Mowery delves into the tactical chaos and profound strategic impact of the largest naval gun battle in history: the Battle of Jutland. We explore the harrowing events of May 31, 1916, when Britain's Grand Fleet and Germany's High Seas Fleet collided in the cold North Sea, resulting in devastating losses, vaporized battlecruisers, and legendary acts of sacrifice by men like Major Harvey and Jack Cornwell. Guiding listeners through the complex maneuvers of Admirals Jellicoe, Beatty, and Scheer, the narrative reveals the great irony of the battle: while Germany claimed a tactical triumph by sinking more ships, the survival of the British fleet maintained a suffocating blockade that ultimately forced Germany into the unrestricted submarine warfare that would seal its eventual doom.

Join host Chris Mowery as he explores the tragic and defining morning of July 1, 1916. In this episode, we follow the heartbreaking story of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, a group of young volunteers from what was then an autonomous British dominion. Sent across the Atlantic to fight in the opening day of the Battle of the Somme, the regiment lost the better part of a generation in just thirty minutes. The Blue Puttees: Discover how a small, fishing-based island raised a volunteer regiment in barely a month, outfitting them in distinctive blue leg-wrappings due to a local khaki shortage.
The Flawed Assault: Learn about the strategic miscalculations at Beaumont-Hamel, including a catastrophic compromise to detonate a massive underground mine ten minutes early, alerting the German frontline.
The 30-Minute Devastation: Hear a detailed account of the morning the regiment advanced alone across no-man's land into converging machine-gun fire, suffering a casualty rate of over ninety percent. Out of roughly 800 men, only 68 answered the roll call the next day.
The Aftermath & Legacy: We examine how the decimated unit rebuilt to fight again and earn the rare "Royal" prefix from King George V. Finally, we explore the lasting national wound: how the staggering financial and human cost of the Great War eventually led Newfoundland to surrender its self-government and join the Canadian Confederation.

In 1917, America didn’t have a massive standing army ready for France—so Ohio sent its communities. Steelworkers, farmers, clerks, and teachers mobilized together as the 37th Division, a National Guard force that would become known as the “Buckeye Division.” In this deep-dive episode, we follow their transformation from state armories to federal soldiers, shaped by the AEF’s massive “square division” doctrine, hardened in training, and carried across a U-boat-haunted Atlantic. Their first months in the trenches serve as a brutal apprenticeship—then comes the test: the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. We trace the chaos of the Montfaucon woods, the controversy that followed the stalled fight for the heights, and the grinding battle around Ivoiry—where Lieutenant Albert E. Baesel’s self-sacrifice earns a Medal of Honor. Finally, the Buckeyes are rushed north to fight under Belgium’s King Albert I, pushing through flooded Flanders to the freezing, bullet-swept Scheldt River—where volunteers swim into the darkness to help crack a fortified line and force a crossing. This is the story of a citizen-soldier division—born in Ohio, forged in mud, and remembered in the words that became their legacy: We’ll do it.

In the summer of 1914, a job at the St. James's Gate Brewery was more than just employment; it was a "golden ticket" in a city grappling with poverty and disease. Known for its "womb to tomb" care, the Guinness Brewery provided a level of corporate paternalism unheard of at the time, fostering an intense loyalty among its workforce. But when the call to arms rang out across the British Empire, that loyalty was tested in ways no one could have imagined.

In this episode, we explore the untold story of the 800 Guinness employees who traded their brewery aprons for khaki uniforms. We examine the unprecedented "Guinness Pledge," a promise of financial security and job retention that removed the fear of destitution for enlisting men. From the slaughter at Gallipoli—where the "Dubs" faced a massacre at V Beach—to the muddy trenches of the Somme, we follow the journey of these men from the vats of Dublin to the front lines of the Great War.

During the Great War, a new kind of injury emerged from the trenches—one that left no visible mark but shattered the minds of soldiers. It was called "shell shock." This podcast explores the story of this invisible wound, from its first appearance as a baffling medical mystery to its dismissal by military command as mere cowardice.
 
Journey back to the front lines to understand the initial theories that blamed the physical blast of shells, and then to the hospitals where the true psychological horror of industrial warfare became undeniable. The episode delves into the stark class divide in treatment: while enlisted men faced brutal disciplinary measures and torturous "cures," officers were sent to pioneering institutions like Craiglockhart Hospital. It was there that doctors like W.H.R. Rivers developed the revolutionary "talking cure," and where two of the world's greatest war poets, Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, forged a friendship that would change literature forever. Through their stories and the tragic case of soldiers like Private Harry Farr, who was executed for cowardice while suffering from severe trauma, this podcast traces the painful evolution of our understanding of combat trauma. It's a story of medical discovery, military crisis, and artistic expression that laid the foundation for the modern diagnosis of PTSD, revealing the enduring echoes of a war that never truly ended for millions

In the spring of 1918, with German forces only miles from Paris, the Allied cause was on the brink of collapse. Into this desperate fight were thrown the untested U.S. Marines.

This episode of "Stories of the Great War" explores the brutal, 26-day battle for Belleau Wood, the bloody crucible that forged the modern identity of the United States Marine Corps. Discover the savage, close-quarters fighting in the dark woods and across blood-soaked wheat fields that shocked veteran German soldiers and gave birth to legends. We'll delve into the stories behind the defiant cry, "Retreat? Hell, we just got here!" and the heroic acts of valor that earned multiple Medals of Honor. Learn how this pivotal battle helped halt Germany's final offensive, boosted Allied morale, and earned the Marines their enduring nickname: "Devil Dogs." - or did it?

In the autumn of 1914, with the dream of a swift German victory shattered on the banks of the Marne, Kaiser Wilhelm II turned to a new commander to salvage the war: General Erich von Falkenhayn. This episode delves into the life and controversial career of one of World War I's most pivotal figures. We explore Falkenhayn's rise to power, his stark realization that the war could not be won by traditional means, and the development of his chilling new strategy: attrition. At the heart of his plan was the Battle of Verdun, a horrific engagement designed not to capture territory, but to "bleed the French army white". Was Falkenhayn a cold-blooded butcher or a grim realist who understood the brutal nature of industrial warfare better than anyone else? From the slaughter on the Meuse to his brilliant, forgotten campaign in Romania, we examine the complicated legacy of the man who gambled on blood.

Join host Chris Mowery for a journey through the remarkable—and heartbreakingly brief—life of Lieutenant William Noel Hodgson. Nicknamed “Smiler” at school and praised for both athletic prowess and poetic talent, Hodgson left Oxford’s cloisters in 1914 to fight with the 9th Devonshire Regiment. From his baptism of fire at Loos to months of trench‑side writing beneath Mansell Copse, the episode traces how war reshaped his verse and spirit. At the center lies Hodgson’s haunting final poem, “Before Action,” published just two days before he fell on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Somme. Through vivid storytelling, original readings, and reflective commentary—delivered without sound effects or music—you’ll discover how one young man’s prayer for courage became an enduring voice of the Great War. Whether you’re new to WWI history or a seasoned listener, this episode brings the soldier‑poet’s legacy to life with clarity, empathy, and conversational warmth.

In this sweeping biographical episode of Stories of the Great War, Chris Mowery traces the extraordinary journey of General John J. Pershing—from a Missouri mule team to the battlefields of Europe. With rich narration and vivid storytelling, we follow Pershing through dusty frontier posts, the fire-swept hills of Cuba, the mountains of the Philippines, and into the heart of the Great War. Learn how personal tragedy, tactical genius, and relentless discipline shaped the man who built America’s first modern army—and changed the course of world history. This is the story of “Black Jack” Pershing, General of the Armies of the United States.