In our first Questions and Answers Episode of Season 8 we look at 'quiet' sectors of the Western Front, whether civilians got near the battlefields, discuss the 'best' photos of WW1 and ask if Stretcher Bearers were easy prey on the front line doing their vital work.

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We begin Season 8 back on the Somme Battlefields of 1916 and walk the ground around the village of Mailly-Maillet, located just behind the British trenches in front of Beaumont-Hamel and Serre and later much closer to the fighting in 1918. We visit cemeteries, see original graffiti and end our walk close to the final approach to the battlefield.

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In this special edition we look at how trace to service men and women who fought and died in the Great War. We cover a number of questions covering different aspects of how to trace your WW1 Ancestors from many different nations, but in particular from Britain and the Commonwealth. 

USEFUL LINKS:

Western Front Association Pension Files website

Grand Memorial - Tracing French WW1 Records

French War Diaries - WW1

Long, Long Trail website - Chris Baker

London Gazette - WW1 Notices

The British Newspaper Archive

QMAAC WW1 Records

British Nurses Records WW1

VAD Red Cross Records WW1

Women's Land Army website

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In this episode, we examine five iconic objects from the First World War which came to define the experience of Trench Warfare. These objects include barbed wire, helmets, duckboards, and trench periscopes. There is also a surprise artefact that millions of men carried onto the battlefield.

If you are interested in Trench Warfare also check out The Western Front: WW1 Trench Warfare, Why Was there Trench Warfare in WW1? and Five Weapons of Trench Warfare.

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Based on this weeks questions we look at the difference between Ordnance Survey and Trench maps, recommend some WW1 Channels and videos to look at on YouTube, look at how to study a particular regiment and examine souvenirs brought home by veterans.

Old Front Line Recommends on YouTube: click here to watch the playlist.

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We return to the Arras Battlefields of April 1917 and walk from Athies to the high ground at Point du Jour, seeing where men of the 9th (Scottish) Division, including troops from the South African Brigade fought. We visit cemeteries along the way and see the memorial Cairn overlooking the fields where so much sacrifice took place in the Great War.

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This week we look at the subject of Army Pay - how were men paid, who paid them and in what currency when On Active Service? We ask why men changed their names when joining up, answer a question about the Ypres Buglers and IWGC Gardeners in WW2, and why were the Germans seemingly allowed to have all the high ground in 1914?

Caitlin DeAngelis' podcast War Graves Gardeners is available on all podcast platforms.

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As the seasons change along The Old Front Line we take a winter walk across one part of the Somme battlefields, walking along the tracks from near Courcelette to Thiepval and the Ancre Valley.

The WW1 Cemeteries website mentioned can be found here: www.ww1cemeteries.com.

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We begin at the Battle of Loos in 1915, looking at the casualty figures for the opening stage of the attack and comparing them to the Somme, we then discuss what units formed in WW1 were still part of the Army in WW2, discuss soldiers and their medals and were there examples of 'stolen valour' and examine collectables of the Great War and discuss fakes and what to collect.

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The film Oh what A Lovely War! based on Joan Littlewood's play was released in 1969 and influenced a whole generation of people in what the Great War stood for. But what does the film really tell us about the First World War and what is its value more than 50 years on?

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