The Old Front Line

In this latest Old Front Line Q&A, we answer four more listener questions exploring the history, technology and experience of the First World War on the Western Front.

How valuable were captured guns, ammunition and horses during the Battle of the Somme? Did British and German forces routinely put captured artillery and equipment back into service, and could soldiers face disciplinary action or a court martial for abandoning guns, horses and ammunition to the enemy?

We also explore some of the more unusual and thought-provoking examples of battlefield art and memorials along the Old Front Line, including abstract installations that challenge traditional ways of commemorating the fallen.

Another question takes us into the complexities of trench warfare. When an attack succeeded in capturing part of a trench, what happened to the troops on either side of the breach? How did defenders prevent themselves being outflanked, and could opposing armies sometimes occupy different sections of the same trench?

Finally, inspired by Martin Middlebrook’s classic book The First Day of the Somme, we examine the role of the bugler in the British Army during the First World War. What battlefield purpose did buglers serve by 1916, and how important were they as communications technology evolved?

Four fascinating questions, covering captured weapons and horses, battlefield art, trench warfare tactics and the bugler’s role in the British Army during the Great War.

Main Image: Les Fantômes on the Marne (OFL Archives)

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Join us on the Somme battlefields as we explore the remarkable story of Hawthorn Ridge Crater, one of the most iconic and historically significant sites of the First World War. In this episode of The Old Front Line, we are joined by Terry Berry and Rick Smith of the Hawthorn Ridge Crater Association, the dedicated team working to preserve, research and interpret this extraordinary piece of the battlefield.

The conversation looks back at the dramatic events of 1 July 1916, when the massive mine beneath the German positions at Hawthorn Ridge was detonated in the opening moments of the Battle of the Somme. The resulting crater remains one of the most recognisable features of the battlefield, but its history extends far beyond that single moment.

Terry and Rick explain how they became custodians of the site, the work involved in protecting it for future generations and the importance of building relationships with the local French population. We discuss what archaeological investigation and historical research have revealed about the crater and the surrounding battlefield, including fascinating new discoveries emerging from research into German military archives. These findings are helping to shed fresh light on the German experience of the battle and the events surrounding the mine explosion.

We also look ahead to the future of the project, including ambitious plans for a new Study Centre in Beaumont-Hamel, which will provide an important resource for researchers, battlefield visitors and anyone interested in understanding the history of the Somme.

You can join the Association here: Hawthorn Ridge Crater Association.

Main Image: Hawthorn Crater taken in 2016 (Old Front Line archives)

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In this week's Question and Answer Episode we look at: why did German intelligence understand so much about the coming Battle of the Somme, yet the Allies were caught so badly off guard by the German Spring Offensive of 1918? 

We also examine the changing role of cavalry after the war of movement ended in 1914. How did commanders such as Haig reconcile traditional cavalry doctrine with trench warfare, and why were substantial cavalry formations maintained even as infantry numbers fell?

We then turn to the fascinating problem of errors on war graves and memorials. How common were mistakes in names, dates and details when thousands of headstones were produced without modern databases, and what happens when an error is discovered?

Finally, we follow the story of Private Arthur Wickes of the 11th Sherwood Foresters, whose battalion's Somme battle plan placed him on prisoner duties at Battalion HQ rather than in the first assault. Why were men selected for these duties, and could his previous wounds have influenced the decision? 

Main Image: Cavalry in reserve halted in the Authie River to water the horses, Auxi-le-Chateau, 17th September 1918. (IWM Q9317).

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As the Battle of the Somme entered its final, bitter weeks, fighting continued across the ground between Thiepval, Grandcourt and Courcelette. In this episode of The Old Front Line, we explore the October and November 1916 battles as autumn turned to winter and the Somme battlefield became a landscape of mud, rain and continuous shell craters.

We follow the fighting, examining the attacks around Regina Trench, Stuff Trench, Grandcourt and Courcelette, and the challenges faced by British and Commonwealth troops as they attempted to push forward.

Then we walk the battlefield, visiting Stump Road Cemetery, Grandcourt Road Cemetery and Regina Trench Cemetery. These cemeteries provide a direct connection to the men who fought and died here, revealing the human cost of the Somme's final phase.

From Thiepval to Grandcourt and Courcelette, this is the story of the Somme after 1 July: the forgotten battles of October and November 1916 and the men who fought through them.

Main Image: Grandcourt Road Cemetery (Stephen Kerr). 

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In this Old Front Line Q&A, we explore four fascinating questions from the First World War, taking us from the Ypres Salient to German-occupied France and Belgium, and from wartime prisoners to the fate of battlefield cemeteries during the Second World War.

We begin in the Ypres Salient and the often-overlooked French presence in 1914–15. When did French troops arrive, how was the Allied sector divided, why did the British eventually take over, and what was the relationship between French and British soldiers on the Western Front?

We then investigate the experience of British officers who became prisoners of war. Were former POWs really interrogated by British military authorities after 1918, and what happened when they returned home?

Our third question takes us behind the German lines to examine everyday life for French and Belgian civilians under occupation. How did German rule affect schools, currency, local government, communication and families separated by the new front line?

Finally, we look at the impact of the Second World War on First World War cemeteries, memorials and battlefields. Were Great War sites deliberately targeted, accidentally damaged or protected? And what is the truth behind the story of Hitler and the Canadian Memorial at Vimy Ridge?

Main Image: British Officer Prisoners of war in Germany c.1916. (OFL Archives).

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Between August and December 1914, the British Expeditionary Force fought its first battles of the First World War across Belgium and northern France and some 19,000 officers and men were missing. From Mons and Le Cateau to the Retreat and the First Battle of Ypres, thousands of men were killed and never recovered, becoming part of the great story of the Missing of 1914.

In this episode of The Old Front Line, we explore the history behind the 1914 campaign and discuss the memorials that commemorate those who have no known grave and who died in 1914. But this time, we go beyond the just the names by using a specially developed AI tool. 

With this we analyse the data behind the Missing of 1914 to uncover patterns and statistics: which were the costliest days of the campaign, which regiments suffered the greatest losses, how old were the men who disappeared, where did they come from, and how many had previous military experience?

By combining battlefield history, memorials, military records and data analysis with the expert eye of an historian, we take a different look at the men who went missing during those iconic opening months of the First World War.

Main Image: La Ferte sous Jouarre Memorial (Old Front Line Archives). 

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In this episode of The Old Front Line Podcast, we answer another fascinating selection of listener questions that explore the realities of life, death, remembrance and battlefield tactics on the Western Front during the First World War.

How much safer were soldiers when they left the front line? We examine the British Army's system of rotating troops through front-line, support and reserve positions, and ask whether moving away from the trenches really improved a soldier's chances of survival, or whether artillery, snipers and long-range shellfire meant danger was never far away.

We also travel to Sidcup in Kent and explore the legacy of families who suffered devastating losses during the Great War. From the pioneering work of Sir Harold Gillies and the famous "blue benches" to the story of the Crombie family, we investigate whether Britain had its own "Saving Private Ryan" stories and look at families who lost multiple sons in the conflict.

A visit to Hooge Crater Cemetery prompts a question about multiple burials in Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries. Why do some headstones commemorate several men? How common are collective graves, and what do they tell us about the conditions of battle and battlefield burial?

Finally, we delve into the world of breastwork trenches. Common across the low-lying landscapes of French Flanders, these unusual battlefield defences posed unique challenges for attackers and defenders alike. How were breastworks built, assaulted and protected, and were they more vulnerable to artillery fire than conventional trenches?

Book Recommendations: 

Roy, R.H. - The Journal of Private Fraser (Canada 1985, later CEF books 1998)

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris - The Facemaker (London 2022)

Main Image: New Zealand troops of the 9th (Wellington East Coast Rifles) Regiment holding a well constructed breastwork near Fleurbaix during June 1916. Note one of the troops using a periscope rifle. (IWM Q666). 

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The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing is the largest British war memorial in the world and one of the most powerful places where we remember the sacrifice of the Missing on the Western Front. In this episode, we explore the story behind "Mighty Thiepval" and uncover why this iconic monument continues to resonate more than a century after the Battle of the Somme.

We begin by examining the strategic importance of the village of Thiepval during the fighting up to 1916, and why it became one of the most heavily defended positions on the battlefield. We then follow the remarkable career of Sir Edwin Lutyens, tracing the experiences and influences that led him to create this masterpiece of remembrance.

Using modern AI technology, we delve into the stories hidden within the more than 72,000 names carved into the memorial's stonework, revealing what these men can tell us about the scale and human cost of the Somme campaign. Along the way, we focus on several individual soldiers whose lives and sacrifices help bring the memorial's vast roll of honour into sharper focus.

Finally, we take a walk across the battlefield at Thiepval today, exploring the landscape, the surviving traces of war, and the enduring connection between memory, history and place.

Main Image: Thiepval Memorial during the WW1 Centenary.(Old Front Line archives)

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RECOMMENDED READING:

Lutyens and the Great War - Tim Skelton and Gerald Gliddon (Frances Lincoln 2008)

Cemeteries of the Great War by Sir Edwin Lutyens - Jeroen Geurst (Rotterdam 2010)

The Memorial to the Missing of the Somme - Gavin Stamp (Profile 2006)

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In this latest Old Front Line Q&A, we tackle four fascinating questions that take us from the opening moments of the Battle of the Somme to the long legacy of the Western Front landscape.

We begin at Hawthorn Ridge on 1 July 1916 and ask whether the famous mine was detonated ten minutes early to help the attack, to provide Geoffrey Malins with the perfect filming opportunity, or for a combination of both. We also examine whether the advanced position of the Lancashire Fusiliers in the Sunken Lane, together with the early gains of the Ulster Division nearby, could have transformed a disastrous sector of the Somme battlefield into a genuine British success.

We then explore memories of the Second World War, discussing whether First World War veterans ever compared their own experiences with the rapid collapse of France and the BEF in 1940.

A question inspired by a walk along the Old Front Line looks at modern ownership of battlefield land. If your house stands on top of a trench system, can you excavate it, and what permissions might be required in France and Belgium?

Finally, we examine what happened when soldiers' remains were discovered in the 1920s. How were they identified, who carried out the work, and what kind of burial and ceremony followed?

Book: Nick and Fiona Jenkins - Walking The Line (Wetsocks Books 2021)

Main Image: Field Marshal Montgomery reads the inscription on a grave at the Canadian First World War memorial at Vimy Ridge, 8 September 1944. (IWM BU 763). 

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We begin Season 10 of The Old Front Line with a journey into The Great War Around Us: the First World War history that can still be found in the places where we live.

In this episode, we visit the East Sussex village of Wadhurst and explore how the impact of the Great War can still be discovered more than a century later. Starting at the village war memorial in the church, we uncover the stories behind the names carved in stone and examine what they reveal about the devastating losses suffered by this small community, particularly during the fighting of 9 May 1915 at the Battle of Aubers Ridge.

We then step into the parish churchyard to search for traces of the war, from Commonwealth war graves to moving family epitaphs that preserve personal memories of sacrifice and loss. Along the way, we discover how local history can open a window onto the wider story of the First World War.

This episode is also a call to action. Wherever you live, the history of the Great War is often closer than you think. War memorials, churchyards, memorial plaques and family stories can all help us understand how the conflict touched communities across Britain and beyond.

Join us as we explore the Great War around us and discover why local remembrance remains such a powerful way to connect with the history of that conflict more than a century ago. 

Main Image: Wadhurst Church and Roy Fazan. (Old Front Line archives)

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