The Old Front Line

Paul Reed
  • 4.9 (466)
  • HISTORY
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The Old Front Line

Walk the battlefields of the First World War with Military Historian, Paul Reed. In these podcasts, Paul brings together over 40 years of studying the Great War, from the stories of veterans he interviewed, to when he spent more than a decade living on the Old Front Line in the heart of the Somme battlefields. 

  1. Questions and Answers Episode 26

    2 DAYS AGO

    Questions and Answers Episode 26

    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. Got a question about this episode or any others?...

    38 min
  2. Somme: Tara-Usna Hills

    22 MAR

    Somme: Tara-Usna Hills

    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 or email the podcast. Send us a text Support the show

    55 min
  3. Questions and Answers Episode 25

    15 MAR

    Questions and Answers Episode 25

    In this episode we cover subjects from how the British and Commonwealth soldier named the 'Battle of the Somme' in 1916 to how Irish soldiers on the front line in France thought about the Easter Rising in Dublin in April 1916, to the flooding of the Yser Plain in 1914 and how infantry signallers went over the top in the Great War. Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast. Send us a text Support the show

    38 min
  4. Live From Ypres: Bayernwald Trenches

    8 MAR

    Live From Ypres: Bayernwald Trenches

    From a recently recorded livestream on the battlefields of Ypres in Flanders, join us on a walk around the reconstructed First World War trenches in Bayernwald - 'Bavarian Wood' - called Croonaert Wood on the British trench maps. You can watch the livestream from the Bayernwald Trenches on the Old Front Line YouTube Channel. Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast. Send us a text Support the show

    1h 2m
  5. Questions and Answers Episode 24

    1 MAR

    Questions and Answers Episode 24

    This weeks subjects include how trenches in the First World War got their names, what happened to the pay of Missing soldiers and were men who were Prisoners of War paid at all, why did the Western Front stop at the Swiss border, and what happened to the soldiers and units positioned on the flanks of big attacks and operations? Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast. Send us a text Support the show

    35 min
  6. Walking Cambrai: Gouzeaucourt 1917

    22 FEB

    Walking Cambrai: Gouzeaucourt 1917

    We visit the Hindenburg Line battlefields of 1917 where the Battle of Cambrai was fought. We see the battlefield around Metz-en-Couture, visit the cemetery here and grave of Patrick Shaw-Stewart, and then walk down in Gouzeaucourt seeing a rare British bunker from WW1 and a memorial to the 11th Engineers of the US Army, ending on the high ground where the Welsh Guards counter-attacked in December 1917. The book mentioned was Children of the Souls by Jeanne MacKenzie. Got a question abou...

    57 min
  7. Questions and Answers Episode 23

    15 FEB

    Questions and Answers Episode 23

    Our latest Questions and Answers cover the military importance of Ypres in WW1, the French Cemetery and Memorials at Notre Dame de Lorette in Northern France, weather on the landscape of the Western Front, and the role of Women in the British Army in France and Flanders. Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast. Send us a text Support the show

    37 min
  8. WW1 on Film: Our World War

    8 FEB

    WW1 on Film: Our World War

    Our World War was a three-part BBC Drama series for the Great War Centenary in 2014 covering the fighting at Mons in 1914, the Somme in 1916 and the Battle of Amiens in 1918. It pioneered a new approach to film making about the Great War but a decade on is it still relevant and what does it tell us about the Great War? The Paddy Kennedy interview is in the archives of the Imperial War Museum. Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord S...

    52 min
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    4.9
    out of 5
    466 Ratings

    About

    Walk the battlefields of the First World War with Military Historian, Paul Reed. In these podcasts, Paul brings together over 40 years of studying the Great War, from the stories of veterans he interviewed, to when he spent more than a decade living on the Old Front Line in the heart of the Somme battlefields. 

    Information

    • Creator
      Paul Reed
    • Years Active
      2020 - 2025
    • Episodes
      233
    • Rating
      Clean
    • Copyright
      © 2025 The Old Front Line
    • Show Website
      The Old Front Line

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