The Old Front Line

In this episode we travel to the last major battlefield of the Great War on the Western Front - the Sambre Canal. Here we follow the story of the infantry and the engineers who attacked the Canal on 4th November 1918, including the 2nd Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment. We also see what remains of the battlefield today. The interview with Josh Grover MM is on the IWM website here: Josh Grover MM interview [https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80010219]. Recommended Book: Decisive Victory by Derek Clayton [https://amzn.to/3E7Lmnt]. Thread on the Great War Forum: Royal Sussex Regiment at Lock No 1 [https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/201967-95-years-ago-crossing-the-sambre-canal-2nd-sussex/]. Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server [https://discord.gg/GVvCKSy29n] or email the podcast [oldfrontlinepodcast@gmail.com]. Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/942766/open_sms] Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/oldfrontline]

Our questions and answers in this episode look at what happened to trench systems when they met a road, was the Battle of the Somme a victory, how France remembers the Great War, and the role of the Army Service Corps in the conflict. Somme Book Recommendations: Gary Sheffield Forgotten Victory [https://amzn.to/4hVZKwV] and also Paddy Griffith Battle Tactics on the Western Front [https://amzn.to/4lmTYHQ]. Book Recommendations: Michael Young Postcards of the Army Service Corps [https://amzn.to/3E5UzN7] and Michael Young Army Service Corps 1902-1918 [https://amzn.to/3Yh9VFc]. Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server [https://discord.gg/GVvCKSy29n] or email the podcast [oldfrontlinepodcast@gmail.com]. Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/942766/open_sms] Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/oldfrontline]

Continuing our journeys along the roads which crisscross the landscape of the Western Front, we travel to Flanders in Belgium, and take the old Roman road between the city of Ypres and the town of Menin which follows the story of four years of conflict here in the First World War and discuss once more the 'culture' of The Old Front Line. Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server [https://discord.gg/GVvCKSy29n] or email the podcast [oldfrontlinepodcast@gmail.com]. Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/942766/open_sms] Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/oldfrontline]

This week we discuss the background to the names British soldiers gave their German counterparts - names like Fritz and Bosch - we examine the role Portugal had on the Western Front and discuss where they are memorialised, look out how modern development has changed The Old Front Line and who was Princess Patricia of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry? You can find the Old Front Line YouTube Channel here: Old Front Line on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@oldfrontline]. Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server [https://discord.gg/GVvCKSy29n] or email the podcast [oldfrontlinepodcast@gmail.com]. Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/942766/open_sms] Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/oldfrontline]

In this episode for the fifth anniversary of the Podcast we travel back to the Somme and look at the story behind the naming of Tara and Usna Hills overlooking La Boisselle, and discuss two First World War objects found in a Somme junk sale. Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server [https://discord.gg/GVvCKSy29n] or email the podcast [oldfrontlinepodcast@gmail.com]. Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/942766/open_sms] Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/oldfrontline]