In September 1915, the British launched their largest offensive of the war to date and their fourth offensive against the Germans in Artois.

The location was the grim mining town of Loos, a pancake-flat barren landscape of fortified villages, mine workings, chimneys, and slag heaps.  To make up for a critical lack of artillery shells, the British would use poison gas for the first time, but unsettlingly this was an offensive, that they didn't really want. Under pressure politically and in desperate need to maintain the entente cordiale, Sir John French's hand was forced by the Minister of War, Lord Kitchener.

This first of a two-part podcast sets the scene; it looks at the build-up to the battle, the geography which had such a massive impact on the offensive, the lack of ammunition, the animosity between French and Sir Douglas Haig, and the critical handling of the reserves which ultimately made the difference between success and failure.