Winter in Flanders

Winter in Flanders

Author: Paul Reed January 31, 2026 Duration: 49:30
In this episode, we explore the four brutal wartime winters in Flanders during the First World War, focusing on the Western Front around Ypres from 1914 to 1918. Beginning with the establishment of the British front line at Ypres in late 1914, we examine how soldiers endured cold, mud, and constant danger during the Great War’s earliest winter, including the famous Christmas Truce of 1914. Using firsthand accounts, battalion war diaries, and casualty records, we analyse how Christmas on the W...

Imagine standing on a quiet French field, the same earth that once shook with the fury of the First World War. The Old Front Line is your guide to that landscape, hosted by military historian Paul Reed. This isn't a dry lecture from a distant studio; it's an audio journey built on a lifetime of dedication. Paul draws from more than forty years of research, weaving together the poignant first-hand accounts of veterans he met with his own unique perspective gained from living for over a decade right in the heart of the Somme battlefields. Each episode of this podcast feels like walking alongside him, tracing the contours of history that are still etched into the land. You'll hear the human stories behind the maps and monuments, understanding the conflict through the very ground where it was fought. It’s a deeply personal and evocative exploration, connecting the peaceful present with the tumultuous past. For anyone fascinated by history, landscape, or the powerful echoes of the Great War, this series offers an unparalleled, grounded perspective that only someone with Paul Reed's intimate experience can provide.
Author: Language: en-gb Episodes: 100

The Old Front Line
Podcast Episodes
Questions and Answers Episode 34 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:13
For our latest questions submitted by podcast listeners, we examine what my first visit to the battlefields of the Great War with my school meant to me, ask what the Wiltshire Regiment did in the First World War, what so…
Questions and Answers Episode 33 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:52
Our latest questions from podcast listeners discuss what role German steel helmets, Stahlhelm, had on the First Day of the Somme, how did Great War veterans feel about WW2, how were women who fell pregnant from British s…
Return to the Somme [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:38
As the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme approaches, we walk part of the battlefield across the iconic Mash Valley, visit Ovillers Military Cemetery and walk through Ovillers village to the far end of the valley fac…
Questions and Answers Episode 32 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:51
Our latest questions from listeners range from could Britain have stood back from conflict in 1914 and not been part of the Great War, how accurate was the final dugout scene in the film 1917, what duties did Royal Field…
The MOD War Detectives [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:23
In a Trench Chat special we speak to the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre Commemorations team - otherwise known as 'The MOD War Detectives' - who work to recover and identify the dead on the former battlefields of…
Questions and Answers Episode 31 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:55
Our listeners have a few intriguing questions: Is there still live ordnance in the moat at the Ypres Ramparts? What exactly was the role of Inland Waterways Transport during the First World War? How would the French port…
Live from The Arras Memorial [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:36
In this episode we travel to the Arras Memorial to the Missing, where we explore the powerful story of over 35,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers with no known grave. In this episode, we uncover the personal histories…
Questions and Answers Episode 30 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:19
In this episode we discuss the improvised gas masks used by British and Commonwealth soldiers in 1915, the advancement in medical treatment during the Great War, whether soldiers were told in advance about the explosion…
Forgotten Memoirs of the Great War Part 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:21
In this episode we start a look at some of the Forgotten Memoirs of the First World War, starting with Percy Croney's 'Soldiers Luck' published in the mid-1960s. Croney was a 1914 volunteer who served with the Essex Regi…
Questions and Answers Episode 29 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:51
In this episode of podcast listeners questions we ask: what Great War items would you take to a Desert Island, how was cause of death accurately reported or not by the military authorities, how did men on the front line…