The Old Front Line

In the first of a three-part series marking the 110th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, we explore the fighting in the northern sector of the battlefield on 1 July 1916.
This episode examines the attacks at Serre, Beaumont-Hamel and Thiepval, where some of the most dramatic and costly actions of the opening day unfolded. We look at the ground over which the soldiers advanced, the plans behind the attacks, the units involved, and how the battle developed. From the struggles of the Pals Battalions attacking Serre to the devastating losses suffered below the heights of Thiepval, we trace the story of the men who fought there and assess the outcomes of their efforts.
Along the way, we examine the key commanders, the challenges posed by the terrain and German defences, and the human cost of the battle, exploring the casualties suffered and the legacy left behind on this iconic section of the Western Front.
The episode concludes with a virtual walk across the modern battlefield, following the route of the attacks and contemplating that story, that legacy of 1 July 1916 today.
Main Image: Troops waiting, some still asleep, in a support trench shortly before zero hour, Beaumont Hamel. (IWM Q64). Image by Royal Engineers No.1 Printing Company.
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For this episode of the Old Front Line podcast, we open the virtual mailbag once again for another Questions & Answers special covering some fascinating and lesser-known aspects of the First World War. From observation balloons hanging silently over the trenches to trench foot, white feathers and booby traps in No Man’s Land, this episode explores the realities of life on the Western Front beyond the better-known battles.
We begin by looking at the observation balloons - the so-called Balloonatics - that became such a familiar feature of the wartime landscape. Who manned these vulnerable aerial observation posts? What was life like for the crews suspended high above the battlefield? How many balloons lined the front by 1916, and were they more effective over the flat plains of Flanders than the broken ground of the Somme?
We also examine the infamous White Feather campaign and the pressure placed on young men to enlist, alongside the Derby Scheme which allowed men to attest for service before being called up later. How widespread was the practice, and what impact did it have on those who experienced it?
Inspired by an episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, we then investigate whether anti-personnel minefields really existed in the trenches of the Great War, and explore the grim world of booby traps and explosive devices hidden one the battlefield.
Finally, we answer a question from Australia concerning trench foot and the long-term effects suffered by soldiers who returned to duty after treatment. How badly could damaged feet affect a man’s ability to march, and what happened when he rejoined his battalion?
Join us for another deep dive into the forgotten details and human stories of the First World War.
The book mentioned in the introduction is Jon Woolcott's Tattooed Hills: Journeys to Chalk Figures published in 2026. 
Main Image: The Medical Officer of the 12th Battalion ,East Yorkshire Regiment conducts a foot inspection in a support trench near Roclincourt, 9 January 1918. (IWM Q10622). Image by Thomas Keith Aitken.
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In this special edition of the podcast we explore a lesser-known theatre of conflict from the First World War in Northern Italy with historian Tom Isitt. Tom's new book - Thunder in the Mountains - follows a journey he made across those battlefields and with him we discover the unique challenges of mountain warfare, the diverse nations involved, and personal stories from the battlefield.
We examine the Battlefields on the Izonzo, discuss some of the highest points of the Great War in the Dolomites and move to the involvement of German troops in Italy, including Erwin Rommel at Caporetto in 1917, and the arrival of British forces who fought here until the end of the war.
You visit Tom Isitt's website and order the book here: Thunder in the Mountains.
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In this wide-ranging listener Q&A episode of Old Front Line, we dive into some intriguing and human questions thrown up by the Great War.
We begin with the fate of the missing. With hundreds of thousands of men listed as “missing” across the Western Front, is there any real evidence that some chose to disappear, seizing the chaos of war to start new lives elsewhere? We explore the realities of desertion, the systems used to record the dead, and whether the idea of men slipping away into anonymity holds up under historical scrutiny.
From there, we head to the contested borderlands of Alsace-Lorraine. Annexed by the German Empire after the Franco-Prussian War, the region produced soldiers who often found themselves fighting for Germany despite deep cultural ties to France. Were these men treated with suspicion? Were they deliberately dispersed among regiments, and how did questions of identity and loyalty shape their wartime experience?
We also turn to the modern landscape of the First World War, answering a question about relationships with landowners across the former front lines. What happens when cemeteries and forgotten sites lie on private land? Do landowners welcome visitors, and how connected do they feel to the history beneath their fields? 
Finally, we tackle casualty comparisons. While 1 July 1916 stands as the British Army’s darkest day on the Battle of the Somme, what were the equivalent days of devastation for the French and German armies? From the Battle of the Frontiers to the Offensive in the Champagne, we examine when losses peaked and what that tells us about the wider war.
As always, this episode blends thoughtful listener questions with grounded historical analysis, uncovering the personal stories and bigger truths behind the conflict.
Research by David O'Mara: Casualties in 1914 and 1915.
315eRI on Substack: The Day Flesh Met Steel.
Main Image: The Dawn: Propaganda Poster During the First World War with Two Women Representing Alsace and Lorraine by Henri Royer. 
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Step into one of the most chaotic and little-known battles of the First World War in 1916 with this episode of The Old Front Line, as we explore the Battle of the St Eloi Craters (March–April 1916).
Fought in the shattered landscape south of Ypres, this battle saw the devastating use of underground mines transform the battlefield into a nightmarish maze of mud-filled craters. We examine how British tunnelling companies detonated massive charges beneath German lines, and how the newly arrived Canadian Corps struggled to hold and understand the ground they had inherited.
At the heart of this episode are powerful first-hand accounts. We hear the experiences of Donald Fraser, whose vivid testimony captures the confusion and brutality of crater fighting, and Harold McGill, medical officer with the 31st Battalion, who provides a harrowing insight into the challenges of treating the wounded in such extreme conditions.
Main Image: Actions of St. Eloi Craters. Troops of the Northumberland Fusiliers, 3rd Division, wearing German helmets and gas masks captured at St. Eloi, 27th March 1916. Image taken by Ernest Brooks (IWM Q494)
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