This weekend marks History Writers Day, a new venture from Simon at History Book Chat on Twitter. As part of my contribution to the event, in this episode I talk about how I came to write my trilogy of WW1 Battlefield Walking Guides covering the Somme, Ypres and Arras. 

Send us a text

Support the show

In this latest Trench Chat we are joined by Mike Cunha of the Battles of the First World War Podcast to talk about his interest in the Great War and the wider aspect of American involvement in the conflict and how it is remembered there today.  We also discuss the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and Mike's recent visit to the battlefields. 

Send us a text

Support the show

In this episode we travel along The Old Front Line in France and Flanders to visit five lesser-known war cemeteries from different nations where the dead of the Great War lie, some with only a handful of graves and others with thousands of burials.

We visit: Nécropole Nationale de la 28ème Brigade (La Ferme de Wacques), Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, Noyelles-sur-Mer Chinese Cemetery, Vladslo German Cemetery and Guizancourt Farm Cemetery near Gouy. 

Send us a text

Support the show

We are joined by Renny Richardson, author of a trilogy of books about the men of Crawley in West Sussex who fought in the Great War. Renny chats with Paul Reed, who was born in Crawley, about the town at war and the stories of the men commemorated on the war memorials here. 

Send us a text

Support the show

Following the purchase of a Great War book owned by author and veteran Henry Williamson, we explore something of Williamson's life, the Writing Hut where he crafted his work and look at what the book was, and how it connects is to the battlefields of the Great War. 

Send us a text

Support the show

Thanks to Netflix, I've been able to watch a preview of the new film All Quiet on the Western Front. In this episode we look at the film, the story behind the book that gives it its name, and I share my thoughts on what the film is like and the impact it may have on our understanding of the Great War. 

Sign up for the free podcast newsletter here: Old Front Line Bulletin.

You can order Old Front Line Merch via The Old Front Line Shop.

Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

Send us a text

Support the show

In this episode, we feature another Battlefield In A Day and visit the area around the Northern French coal-mining village of Loos-en-Gohelle where the Battle of Loos was fought in September-October 1915. 

Sign up for the free podcast newsletter here: Old Front Line Bulletin.

You can order Old Front Line Merch via The Old Front Line Shop.

Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.

Send us a text

Support the show

Following a battlefield tour looking at the early work of the Imperial War Graves Commission and the establishment of the permanent cemeteries across Belgium and France, we examine some keys sites connected to the Soldier's Cemeteries of the Great War, what Rudyard Kipling called 'The Silent Cities'.

Send us a text

Support the show

In this episode we look at how the criss-cross paths of two Great Wars collide on the old battlefields of the First World War. What happened to the approach to war, how were the battlefields affected in the fighting of 1940 and the Occupation, and what happened during the Liberation in 1944? 

Send us a text

Support the show

In this episode, we look at the fighting around Villers-Bretonneux on the Somme in April 1918, seeing where Australian and British soldiers stopped the German advance on the key city of Amiens. We visit the cemeteries and memorials, and see where Tanks fought Tanks for the first time in history. 

Send us a text

Support the show