The Old Front Line

On the Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, this Somme Extra looks at some of the background to 1st July 1916, we take a walk from outside Albert to La Boisselle and Mash Valley, visiting Ovillers…

In this episode we walk from the Menin Road, along Maple Avenue to Sanctuary Wood British Cemetery, visiting the grave of Gilbert Talbot and a private memorial to an officer killed nearby. We also se…

This week we are once again back on the Somme, this time to visit the battlefield at Serre where the men from the Northern Pals battalions had their baptism of fire on 1st July 1916 - the First Day o…

In this episode we walk from the village of Locre (now Loker) to Kemmel Hill in Flanders. Along the way we discuss men who were Shot at Dawn, an Irish Nationalist MP Willie Redmond, life behind the l…

We return to the Somme this week and walk the ground from Dantzig Alley Cemetery to Mametz Wood, looking at the Manchester Pals, Generals killed on front line and the Welsh Volunteers who fought and …

In this week's episode, we step beyond the British sector of the Western Front to one of the most iconic French battlefields of the Great War - Verdun. Here we walk the ground between the 'lost' vill…

In this week's episode we travel to another 'Forgotten Battlefield' of the Great War and walk the area around Loos, on the site where the 'Lone Tree' was located in 1915.  Walking from Le Rutoire Far…

In this episode we walk the Somme battlefields between Trônes Wood and the village of Guillemont. We follow the story of Noel Chavasse VC & Bar, the son of a Royal Academy artist, Raymond Asquith who…

In this episode we start in the village of Wulverghem and walk via Ration Farm, and some battlefield cemeteries, up onto the Messines Ridge. This weeks WW1 object is a collection of 'Fragments From F…

In this episode we walk the battlefields of the Somme between the villages of Hebuterne and Gommecourt where men of the 56th (London) Division fought on 1st July 1916. We look at the stories of two v…

In this episode we move to Gallipoli, a battlefield in Turkey where British and Commonwealth soldiers landed on 25th April 1915. Here we visit Lancashire Landing Cemetery, walk down to W Beach and lo…

In this episode we walk the battlefields of the Somme, taking a journey from Auchonvillers up onto the Hawthorn Ridge near Beaumont-Hamel, where the fighting raged on 1st July 1916, the First Day of …

In this episode, published on the 103rd Anniversary of the Battle of Arras, we talk about some of the history of the battle and remember two veterans who were there in 1917: George Butler of the Mach…

In this episode we look at Battlefield Archaeology carried out by the Diggers near Ypres in 2001-2002, examine an original piece of recovered archaeology and visit the Advanced Dressing Station bunke…

In this first Episode of the Old Front Line, Military Historian Paul Reed takes you on a walk across the Somme battlefields at Pozières, the scene of heavy fighting in 1916. We visit the cemetery and…