The Old Front Line

The 'Crimson Coast' extended along the Northern French coast where the British Base Hospitals were located during the Great War. Here men shattered by wounds were treated, in the massive Base Depots …

In this episode we walk the Somme from Ovillers to Mouquet Farm; 'Moo-Cow Farm' or 'Mucky Farm' as the soldiers called it. Here we examine the attacks by Australian, Canadian and finally British unit…

On 31st July 1917 the Third Battle of Ypres - or the Battle of Passchendaele as it is often called - began with an attack on a forteen mile front near the city of Ypres. In this Anniversary episode w…

the heart of the Loos Battlefield. Here we look at the fighting in this part of the Western Front, the background to the Missing, and examine some stories of those commemorated here: from a Major-Gen…

As the Battle of the Somme continued, it took the British Army into the 'Horseshoe of Woods' that characterised the next phase of the fighting here in July 1916. As the 105th Anniversary of the Somme…

The Great War went from a mobile war in 1914 to a static conflict with hundreds of miles of trenches across France and Flanders. How did trench warfare come about, what were the trenches that crisscr…

In this episode, we look at how the Northumbrian Territorials were thrown into battle at Ypres in April 1915, look at Wieltje as a front line village, and walk the ground where the opening phase of t…

Today is the 105th Anniversary of the First Day of the Battle of the Somme. The battle began on this day at 7.30 am, when the British soldiers went Over The Top on a perfect summer's morning. On this…

High Wood was one of the most fought-over corners of the Somme battlefields in 1916. We take a walk from Caterpillar Valley Cemetery via Longueval, to stand beneath the dark trees of the wood. We lea…

South of the city of Ypres in Belgium, a large area of woodland was swallowed up in the fighting of 1914. For the next four years, the British and Commonwealth forces held the line in and around Ploe…

In this 'Trench Chat' we talk to Canadian Tour operator Samantha Cowan about battlefield tourism coming to the Great War battlefields from Canada. What inspires Canadians to come? What does Vimy mean…

The story of the Northern Pals battalions who marched to war in 1914 is forever linked to the Somme, but their war continued and in May 1917 they found themselves up against a 'dark wood' - Oppy Wood…

Located at the heart of the Somme battlefields, the town of Albert, known as 'Bert to the troops, was the route to the front line - all roads led there in 1916. Here we look at what the town meant to…

It's War Graves Week! The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintain all cemeteries and memorials from both World Wars worldwide. This week sees the first War Graves Week and the focus is on the gra…

In this latest Trench Chat, we are joined by Richard Fisher of the Vickers Machinegun Collection & Research Association to talk about the Machine Gun Corps, Graham Seton Hutchison ('Hutchy') and did …

Something slightly different this week: we look at the village of Bazentin-le-Petit on the Somme battlefields through the lens of three classic memoirs of the Great War. These include Robert Graves G…

The Ancre Valley cuts across the northern Somme battlefield like a deep scar; in 1916 attack after attack saw heavy losses here. Our walk takes us from the small village of St Pierre Divion, to a bri…

In the quiet village of Montbrehain in Northern France, Australians who had fought at Gallipoli, and in some of the key battles on the Western Front, went into battle for the last time on a misty mor…

In this Trench Chat Special, we speak to Professor Peter Doyle about his upcoming book on the story of an iconic Great War artifact, the Princess Mary's Christmas Box. Peter explains the history behi…

Located just off the main road on a route into Flanders, and sheltered by tall trees, this is Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery. It was once one of the largest British cemeteries from the Great War, wit…