Episodes

  • 195: A Halloween Horror at Ypres

    195: A Halloween Horror at Ypres
    Nov 9 2026
    In this week’s episode we return to Ypres and discover what happened to Private William Bowers on Halloween 1914, his battalion (1st Northamptonshire's) was part of the BEF trying to hold back the formidable German Army east of Ypres, close to the Menin Road. Their counter attack was successful. The Germans who weren't killed turned and fled....but William was missing in action. His wife Annie wrote several desperate letters to the War Office pleading for more information. But William remained “missing”. We discover the awfully sad impact his fate had on Annie.
    We also hear about some lads, from the same town, who met by accident on the battlefield and arranged to meet at home after the war…but did they? And we hear from Iain Forbes, who recently presented the Memorial Plaque and Service Medals for a Ypres victim to the Passchendaele Museum. What is his story?
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    55 mins
  • 194: One Day During the 100 Day Offensive – 23rd August 1918

    194: One Day During the 100 Day Offensive – 23rd August 1918
    Oct 28 2026
    In this episode we travel to the 1918 battlefield and discover how the Australians cleared St Martin’s Wood, between Amiens and Albert, in bitter hand to hand fighting. We follow their story through the eyes of the soldiers who were there, and learn about the incredible bravery of individual men, including Captain Harold Burke and Corporal John Payne. What is their story? And we find out how, during a lull in the fighting, the sound of a piano was heard. We visit the cemetery where many of the dead from this day are buried, and find the grave of another Australian who was awarded the Victoria Cross. We also look at this day from the German perspective.
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    44 mins
  • 193: A War Horse Story – Monchy Le Preux – April 1917

    193: A War Horse Story – Monchy Le Preux – April 1917
    Oct 23 2026
    In this episode we visit the Arras battlefield and discover the story of a cavalry attack in April 1917. We learn how the Northampton Yeomanry raced across open ground into a storm of artillery and machine gun fire. We tell the story through the eyes of the men who were there. We tell the story of Trooper Charles Law, and discover how his horse was killed but saved his life, and how Charles tried to save the life of a gassed German soldier, by offering him his gas mask. We walk the battlefield with Charles’ Grandsons, and hear what the tour meant to them. We also discuss another soldier who has been discovered and properly buried on the Ypres battlefield, over 100 years after his death. What is his story?
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    54 mins
  • 192: The 2026 ABF Frontline Walk

    192: The 2026 ABF Frontline Walk
    Oct 16 2026
    In this episode we follow the Army Benevolent “Frontline Walk” from the Somme to Ypres. Over 50 people walked 100K from the Lochnager Crater to the Menin Gate, via Vimy Ridge, to raise funds for this charity. Along the way, we discover stories of the men who served on the Western Front. We hear about the Heyworth brothers who are remembered at Arras, and discover an incredible coincidence that occurred when I visited the Thiepval Memorial. We talk to a fundraiser whose Great Uncle fought on the Somme and walk around a massive German cemetery. We also hear from several walkers and discover what the walk has meant to them.
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • 191: Beneath Flanders Fields with Simon Verdegem

    191: Beneath Flanders Fields with Simon Verdegem
    Oct 8 2026
    In this episode Battlefield Archaeologist Simon Verdegem talks about how he discovered the remains of Captain Henry Walker on the Ypres battlefield, 101 years after his death. How did he find him? How was he identified? What did the discovery mean to Simon and Walker’s relatives? We also discuss lots of other World War 1 battlefield issues and the role that archaeology plays in our understanding of the Western Front.
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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • 190: A Tour of the Ypres Salient: Messines Crater, Talbot House and the Wipers Times

    190: A Tour of the Ypres Salient: Messines Crater, Talbot House and the Wipers Times
    Oct 1 2026
    In this episode we travel to Ypres and visit some of the mine craters on the Messines Ridge. What did we discover? We find out through my eyes and the eyes of the soldiers who were there in June 1917. We then visit Talbot House in Poperinge and discover news about a new research project that is being undertaken to discover the stories of the boys who visited the house. We listen to some of their stories and discover what happened to them on the battlefield. We also discover the original copies of the “Wipers Times” in the House archives, and listen to part of the stage play that was performed in Ypres on the eve of the Centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele.
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    54 mins
  • 189: Woodbine Willie and A Victoria Cross – My Son My Son No Reward Can Be Too Great

    189: Woodbine Willie and A Victoria Cross – My Son My Son No Reward Can Be Too Great
    Sep 22 2026
    In this episode we learn about the famous Chaplain Woodbine Willie and how he buried the 2 Crutchley brothers who had died together during a trench raid. Who was he and how did he provide comfort to the bereaved parents back home? And we also visit the home of Captain Thomas Colyer-Fergusson, who was awarded the Victoria Cross at Ypres in July 1917. What artefacts did we find and what is his story? We discover personal letters that reveals both stories.
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    57 mins
  • 188: Killed on a Quiet Day in the Trenches

    188: Killed on a Quiet Day in the Trenches
    Sep 10 2026
    In this episode we discover the tragic stories of 2 soldiers, one from London and one from Australia, who both died from the effects of German trench mortar fire. But not during a famous battle. These were incidents that happened during a quiet period in the trenches. What happened to them? Lance Corporal Thomas Stevenson from New South Wales had been wounded and buried by shellfire at Fromelles but survived, only to die near Messines a year later. And Alf Stevenson from London died of gas poisoning on the Somme. But how?
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    51 mins