Footsteps of the fallen

Send us Fan MailWelcome to our 199th podcast and the penultimate episode of Season 8!I'm in a nostalgic mood this evening, and we're looking at the Canadian masterpiece battle, the capture of Vimy Ridge, on Easter Monday, 1917.Through meticulous planning, shared intelligence and pure bloody-minded grit, the Canadians swept up Vimy Ridge and captured the strategic heights as part of the opening phase of the Battle of Arras.We look at the planning and the battle itself to find out what happened on that snow-swept day in April 1917.

Send us Fan MailWelcome to the latest podcast!It's a real pleasure to be joined by military historian, researcher and cycling battlefield guide, Jeremy Banning.In our wide-ranging discussion, we talk about meeting the many veterans Jeremy shared his time with, working on documentaries for the BBC, cycling the battlefields and the long-lasting friendship formed with the last Tommy, 111-year-old Harry Patch. 

Send us Fan MailWelcome to the latest episode!Today we travel to the Middle East and hear about the Battle of Megiddo, a little-known but stunning Allied success in September 1918. Meticulously planned and executed by General Allenby, the battle ended Turkish resistance in WWI and resulted in the capture of more than 75,000 Ottoman soldiers. 

Send us Fan MailWelcome to the latest episode.Today, we visit the battlefield at High Wood, one of the deadliest killing grounds of the Great War.  Over 8000 men died in the three months of fighting here and we discover what happened during those fateful months in 1916.

Send us Fan MailIn this latest episode, we visit one of the must-see locations on the Somme, the Newfoundland Park at Beaumont Hamel.  We hear the story of the fighting, discover what went so wrong for the men from Newfoundland and find out about the final capture of the village in November 1916. 

Send us Fan MailWelcome to the latest episode, in which we look at the opening salvos of the Great War, the so-called Battle of the Frontiers, in which the French suffered the greatest single-day loss of life of the entire War.

Send us Fan MailWelcome to the latest podcast.  In this episode, we begin by mulling over what it means to be English, and look at two of those bastions of Englishness - Test Match Special and the Shipping Forecast.We then follow the shipping forecast and look at the Battle of Dogger Bank, the January 1915 showdown between the Royal Navy and the German High Seas fleet.  We hear about the mysterious work of Room 40, German naval raids on the seaside towns of Northumberland and the battle itself, which was a pyrrhic victory for the Royal Navy. 

Send us Fan MailOn the afternoon of the 8th April 1917, a German plane flew over the small village of Achicourt near Arras, where preparations were underway for an attack to be made by the 56th Division the following day.The visit of the German plane set off a catastrophic chain of events that destroyed the village, killed countless soldiers and civilians, and resulted in one of the largest explosions ever seen on the Western Front to that point in the War.Support the podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/footstepsbloghttps:/www.patreon.com/footstepspod

Send us Fan MailIn our latest podcast, we present an overview of the Battle of Aubers, which was delivered to the Great War Group earlier in March.  What was supposed to be a gentle stroll across the Artois countryside turned into one of the worst days of casualties of the Great War for the British, with over 11,000 men being killed, wounded or missing for no material gain, and the offensive was abandoned after just one day.

Send us Fan MailWelcome to the latest podcast!In today's episode, we look at the work and perils of the Balloon Corps.  Vital for observation and artillery support, balloon work was one of the most dangerous jobs in the military, with a shockingly short life expectancy.We begin at Couin Military Cemetery, where a top hat and cane marked the grave of one of Edwardian theatre's most celebrated dandies (and also a balloon corps observer), Basil Radford, aka Gilbert the Filbert.  We hear about the role of balloons, their design, and question whether the so-called "Guardian Angel" lived up to its name.Support the podcast:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/footstepsbloghttps:/www.patreon.com/footstepspod