Battles of the First World War Podcast

From hero to zero.

On the evening of July 14th, 1918, French soldiers of the 366eme Regiment d'Infanterie led a historic raid into the German trenches opposite them. One of the Poilus, Sergeant Joseph Darnand, led a squad that captured not just German prisoners but an intelligence gold mine. Postwar, Darnand would be called an "artisan de la victoire"--an artisan of victory.

By the end of the Second World War however, Darnand would be called something else: traitor.

Ron Howard & Adam Pearce's new podcast is here! Victoria Cross Hunters: In search of Valour

2027 Meuse-Argonne & Aisne-Marne Battlefield Tours

The BFWWP is on Patreon! Join the BFWWP community while supporting the podcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com.

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Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

A recent trip to the American Civil War battlefield of Fredericksburg, VA inspired this short episode of one remarkable man who lived in that city and went on to serve his country during the First World War: Dr. Urbane Bass.

Champagne - 93rd Division in the Fight: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/battles-of-the-first-world-war-podcast/id1119044000?i=1000478892689

Champagne - "Les Enfants Perdus:" 93rd Division Operations on the Champagne Front: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/battles-of-the-first-world-war-podcast/id1119044000?i=1000485397109

Oise-Aisne - The Black Devils: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/battles-of-the-first-world-war-podcast/id1119044000?i=1000488258778

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

New Ypres League member Kirsten Note joins the podcast to discuss her work as a battlefield archaeologist, where she has assisted the Commonwealth Graves Commission (CWGC) in recovering the remains of fallen soldiers of the Great War.

Find out more about the New Ypres League in this episode:

The New Ypres League with Roger Steward & Prof Mark Connelly

Please consider joining the New Ypres League and supporting remembrance efforts:

www.newypresleague.com

The BFWWP is on Patreon! Join the BFWWP community while supporting the podcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com.

Follow us on BlueSky and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com.

Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

New Ypres League member Rosie Barron joins the podcast to discuss her work as part of the Joint Casualty & Compassionate Centre, aka the MOD War Detectives.

Join us for a fascinating conversation with someone whose daily work is to help identify the missing and unknown soldiers of the Great War and beyond.

Note: This podcast was recorded on August 20th, 2026, the day after news broke that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (Harry and Meghan) would be moving back to the UK, so that's why the references to them are in there.

Other podcasts on the New Ypres League:

What is the New Ypres League?

Ypres Day 2026

Demarcation Stones Fundraiser

Please consider joining the New Ypres League and supporting remembrance efforts:

www.newypresleague.com

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com.

Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

Battles of the First World War Tours, part of the BFWWP, is excited to offer two WW1 battlefield tours for summer 2027:

Meuse-Argonne

July 01 - 07, 2027

A journey through the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the largest military operation conducted by the United States in its history.

Aisne-Marne

July 07 - 13, 2027

A journey through the Aisne-Marne Offensive, aka the 2nd Battle of the Marne, where the American Expeditionary Force served as part of the international force that stopped the Germans.

Contact the Battles of the First World War Tours team via email at verdunpodcast@gmail.com.

Join us in walking in the footsteps of the Doughboys, and together we will honor their memory in an experience you will not forget.

Support the BFWWP on Patreon! BFWWP patrons receive early and ad-free access to all episodes, as well as access to other exclusive features.

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FaceBook

and the BFWWP website: www.firstworldwarpodcast.com.

Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

New Ypres League member Christopher Sims joins the podcast to discuss his four decades of working for the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) as the Senior Cemetery Associate for World War I Flanders Field American Cemetery, in Waregem, Belgium. During his career with the ABMC, Christopher also authored a reference work titled "The Soldiers of the American Military Cemetery Flanders Field."

Join us for a conversation on preserving the memory of the American fallen in Flanders Fields.

ABMC's web page for Flanders Fields American Cemetery

Find out more about the New Ypres League in this episode:

The New Ypres League with Roger Steward & Prof Mark Connelly

Please consider joining the New Ypres League and supporting remembrance efforts:

www.newypresleague.com

The BFWWP is on Patreon! Give back to the podcast you enjoy.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

Lady Lucy French, great granddaughter of BEF commander Field Marshal Sir John French, Roger Steward, Chairman and co-founder of the New Ypres League, Ypres Battlefield Tours guide, and author, join the podcast to discuss the Ypres Day commemoration events scheduled for the weekend encompassing the 31st of October, 2026.

Please consider joining the New Ypres League and supporting remembrance efforts:

www.newypresleague.com

If you're in Ypres, Belgium, contact Roger for tour details -

Ypres Battlefield Tours: www.ypresbattlefieldtours.be

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

Following the discussion of German plans for their next great offensive, we turn now to French and Allied plans to meet this next attack.

Allied Supreme Commander Marshal Ferdinand Foch and French Army commander GEN Philippe Pétain intended to respond to this next attack differently: as soon as the Germans overextended themselves, a swift Allied counterattack would follow.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

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***Technical note: My apologies on the audio reverb that may be heard in this episode.

A concise history revealing New Jersey's vital industrial, military, and civilian contributions to America's World War I effort.

During World War I, New Jersey played a prominent role in the manufacturing of war-related munitions, created the infrastructure necessary to train and mobilize troops, and supplied a portion of the manpower necessary to fight overseas.

Without the support of New Jersey's industrial base, the war effort of the United States may very well have failed. Contributions from New Jersey ranged from artillery rounds from Amatol, fuses from Bloomfield, shells from Lyndhurst, gun carriages (Singer), aircraft engines (Duesenberg), Handley Page Bombers from Elizabeth, and ship building (New York Shipbuilding and ELCO).

Over 140,000 New Jerseyans served during the war, and the state was home to 38 military installations by the end of the war, including Camp Dix. Troops from New Jersey included National Guard units activated and assigned to the 29th Division that trained at Camp McClellan, Alabama, and National Army soldiers (draftee) assigned to the 78th Division that trained at Camp Dix. New Jersey-based units from the 29th and 78th Infantry Divisions would fight in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. Women, too, underwent training in New Jersey, in preparation to serve in the Army Signal Corps, while women from the state volunteered to serve with aid organizations including the Red Cross, and raised money for the war effort.

In the post-war years, over 160 monuments were constructed across New Jersey to memorialize the war dead and honor the veterans who served in the Great War, including several of the famous "Spirit of the American Doughboy" statues produced by E. M. Viquesney. New Jersey mothers and widows would travel in pilgrimages to the battlefields and cemeteries of France, such as the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, as well as to Brookwood cemetery in Great Britain to visit the graves of their loved ones in the 1930s as part of the Gold Star Mothers and Widows Pilgrimage.

This book will for the first time reveal the full extent of New Jersey's pivotal role in America's war effort during the Great War, and will shed light on prominent figures and their connections to New Jersey, such as Dr. Fred Albee, the father of bone grafting, Cecil Dorrian, the first American female War Reporter in World War I, Amabel Roberts, the first American nurse from New Jersey to die during the war in France, and Lillian Marx, who danced and sang in Newark during war support donation events.

Where to buy: https://www.brooklinebooks.com/9781955041478/the-war-to-end-all-wars/

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

The story behind an often erroneously captioned photograph of the First World War, and remembering the man in it.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

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This episode will visit the German strategic situation in June 1918 and the resulting plans for their next offensive, which would be called "Friedensturm:" the Peace Offensive.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

A short exploration of the American poet Archibald MacLeish's connection to the First World War, and his poem "The Young Dead Soldiers Do Not Speak."

The Young Dead Soldiers Do Not Speak

Nevertheless they are heard in the still houses: who has not heard them?

They have a silence that speaks for them at night and when the clock counts.

They say, We were young. We have died. Remember us.

They say, We have done what we could but until it is finished it is not done.

They say, We have given our lives but until it is finished no one can know what our lives gave.

They say, Our deaths are not ours: they are yours: they will mean what you make them.

They say, Whether our lives and our deaths were for peace and a new hope or for nothing we cannot say: it is you who must say this.

They say, We leave you our deaths. Give them their meaning.

We were young, they say. We have died. Remember us.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

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and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

Authors Paul Friedland and Robert Hornick join us on the podcast to discuss their thoroughly researched, well-argued and thrilling biography of a now-forgotten German spy during WW1.

One of the most notorious German spies of the twentieth century, Lothar Witzke lived a life that reads like a thriller. Convicted of espionage in 1918, he was the only German spy sentenced to death by the United States during World War I. After the war, he was pardoned by President Calvin Coolidge, only to be later accused of responsibility for one of the most spectacular acts of sabotage in US history: the Black Tom munitions depot explosion.

After being repatriated to Germany, Witzke lived in Latin America and China as a German expat and later joined the Nazi party. He ran espionage squads in Great Britain during World War II and became a prominent businessman in Hamburg after the war. He was killed in Hamburg in 1962, possibly by an East German agent as payback for suspected double agent work on behalf of the British.

With Citizen of the Shadows, the first full biography of Witzke, Paul Friedland and Robert Hornick trace Witzke's morally complicated life and show readers how an infamous spy thrived in the interwar years and after. They probe his trial, conviction, and pardon, and analyze whether Witzke was really involved in the Black Tom explosion. In doing so, the authors uncover that many of the details of Witzke's life—long assumed to be true—were lies.

Where to buy: https://utpress.org/9798895270332/citizen-of-the-shadows/

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

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and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

In 2022, just as the world began to open after the isolation of a global pandemic, Briana Gervat set out to walk the length of the Western Front. Beginning at the border that France shares with Switzerland she went into the wild in search of hope and in search of peace. For 500 miles, she climbed over the mountains of the Vosges, through the battle-scarred landscapes of Verdun, the Marne, and the Somme, all the way to the North Sea in Belgium. It was not only a journey of thirty-six days, but a journey through a history that we have learned nothing from, only how better to repeat it.

Join us for a discussion of travel, France, WW1 history, and the feeling of connection and renewal that travel brings.

Where to buy: https://a.co/d/06vEtvyk

Briana Gervat's website: https://www.theperegrinepilgrim.com/

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

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and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

Author, historian, and battlefield guide Susan Raby-Dunne joins us to discuss her book "John McCrae: Beyond Flanders Fields."

Most Canadians are familiar with John McCrae through his iconic poem "In Flanders Fields," which was penned on the battlefields of the First World War and remains a symbol of remembrance to this day. Although he will always be remembered as a war poet, the Guelph, Ontario, native was a physician, a university professor, and a veteran of the Second Boer War before he ever laid eyes on the carnage at Flanders Fields. Citing rarely seen diary entries and letters, as well as never-before-published photos of McCrae's early life, military historian and McCrae enthusiast Susan Raby-Dunne tells the complete story of John McCrae—a man whose final chapter of life made him immortal, but who accomplished so much and helped so many in the decades before.

Canadian War History Tours: https://canadianwarhistorytours.ca/

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

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Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

Part 7 of the ongoing discussion continues to look at the French Army in 1917. We look at the state of the French Army going into 1917, where the army itself was in good shape but its leadership was an entirely different story. The rising star of GEN Robert Nivelle and the politics around his ascension is discussed, as well as the offensive that bears his name and destroyed his career.

The indiscipline of the French Army is visited through the question of "Were there mutinies in 1917, or were they more like military labor strikes?" The replacement of Nivelle with GEN Philippe Petain is reviewed as well, but we will get into his leadership of the army and approach to warfighting in the Pt 2 episode. Join us for a fascinating discussion.

Joining us for this discussion are:

Steve Marsdin, a student and researcher of the 1914 Battle of the Frontiers and its effects,

Jim Smithson, author of "A Taste of Success: The First Battle of the Scarpe. The Opening Phase of the Battle of Arras 9-14 April 1917" and two guide books on the Arras battlefields

Suggested reading to expand on this episode -

"Flesh and Steel During the Great War" by Michel Goya: https://www.casematepublishers.com/9781473886964/flesh-and-steel-during-the-great-war/

Great War Group: https://greatwargroup.com/

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

British Army veteran and University of Wolverhampton PhD candidate Phil Watson joins the podcast for a fascinating discussion on British doctrine in the Great War. (Which YES, they did have a doctrine.)

Phil has a couple of questions for the listeners as well, in the interest of generating discussion:

Regarding the "chateau generals," why were chateaus the place for generals?

Regarding the idea of mission command and decentralized leadership, were some BEF officers not used to using initiative?

Email Phil directly at lancerwatson@live.co.uk with your ideas!

Be sure to watch Phil's talk with the WFA regarding doctrine here as well: https://youtu.be/Y6-LUxYewwU?si=_VyEkG7VpqIfXRD_

Link to 1909 Field Service Regulations:

https://share.google/ypOICUrlYnog7vGbz

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

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and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

Independent historians Eric and Tom Langie, a father and son duo, come on the podcast to discuss the extraordinary life of their ancestor Henri Langie and the book they have written about him, "Henri Langie: From War Volunteer in WW I to Honorary Major in WW II."

Henri went from a schoolteacher to a stretcherbearer and officer in WW1, to professiona soldier and later a battalion commander and POW during WW2, to becoming a beloved "Kleine Bompa" in his peaceful years of retirement.

Henri lived a truly extraordinary life, and this is a story you will enjoy.

Where to buy (Europe): https://www.bravenewbooks.nl/site/?r=userwebsite/bookdetails&id=22023848

Where to buy the book (UK): https://amzn.eu/d/04alvcqy

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Author Antony J. Bell comes on the podcast to discuss his novel "A Penny a Shell."

From the author's website:

"In a WWI munitions factory, the lives of three women converge on a dangerous production line where a single spark means the difference between a bonus and a burial.

Eliza Wren, a desperate mother, races to pay a looming debt to save her family from eviction. Sarah Jennings, a defiant outcast, endures the factory's poison to fund an escape from a life of cruelty. Lucy Atkinson, a grieving daughter, works to honor her brother's memory and support her broken parents.

Driven by the promise of a "penny a shell" bonus, the women push themselves and their machinery to the breaking point. But as the pressure from watchers with stopwatches mounts and the equipment begins to fail, they must decide what they are willing to risk for survival.

Based on the true, forgotten story of the Barnbow Lasses, A Penny a Shell is a powerful and moving tribute to the quiet courage and fierce solidarity of the women who fought their own war on the home front."

Where to buy: https://antonyjbell.com/books/a-penny-a-shell/

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

The guns of Blücher-Yorck were still smoking when the Germans reoriented and hastily launched a new offensive between Montdidier and Noyon. The goal was to straighten the line between two bulging German salients, seize more of the Soissons rail line, and continue to drive towards Paris.

But the French Army had other ideas: unleashing GEN Charles Mangin.

A lot will be learned in the Battle of the Matz, and it will be applied on the Marne weeks later.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

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and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Steven Girard, US Army veteran and veteran battlefield guide, comes back on the podcast to discuss the American Expeditionary Force's Tank Corps during the First World War.

Suggested reading:

Treat 'Em Rough: The Birth of American Armor 1917–20 - https://www.casematepublishers.com/9781612006680/treat-em-rough/

Pershing's Tankers: Personal Accounts of the AEF Tank Corps in World War I - https://www.kentuckypress.com/9780813176048/pershings-tankers/

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

Dr. Eric Story, a Historian-in-Residence at Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University in London, Ontario in Canada, and Adjunct Professor at Wilfred Laurier University, joins us on the podcast to discuss the struggles faced by disabled Canadian veterans after the First World War. We begin the talk with a broad look at what Canadian veterans faced in the 1920s, and then look at the efforts of George Hincks and Marshall McDougall to raise awareness of disabled veterans' struggles.

Read more about George Hincks and Marshall McDougall here:

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/wwi-amputee-veterans-hike-9.6975252

Follow Dr. Story's work on BlueSky: @westernuhistory.bsky.social & @ericstory.bsky.social

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

Independent historian Alfons Philippi of Germany joins the podcast to discuss his German-language book on the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, Die Vergessenne Schlacht (The Forgotten Battle). We also discuss the family history that led him to write the book, as well as the impact of 20th century history on his family.

Link to Die Vergessene Schlacht: https://amzn.eu/d/03UW7TY

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

The battlefield of the Second Battle of the Marne was shaped by an earlier German offensive in late May and early June of 1918: Unternehmen Blücher-Yorck. Looking to draw away French reserves from the Flanders and Picardy areas, German GEN Erich Ludendorff aimed a new German attack in a sector where the French were particularly vulnerable: the Chemin des Dames.

Early and stunning success by German forces in the attack, however, led to overconfidence and the creation of a swollen and tenuous salient. This salient would become the battlefield for the 2nd Battle of the Marne.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

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and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Adam Pearce and his uncle Ron Howard have spent the past few years visiting the graves of the UK's and British Commonwealth's Victoria Cross recipients. They hope to raise awareness of not just the recipients of the British Army's highest award for valor, but of the other men buried with them in Commonwealth War Graves cemeteries on the Old Front Line and elsewhere around the world.

Also, to British listeners in general and Nottinghamshire residents in particular, my apologies on butchering the pronunciation of Nottinghamshire. (Throws palm over face.) I knew better too, but brain-dumped in the moment.

Links to some topics brought up in the conversation:

Chelsea Pensioners: https://chelsea-pensioners.co.uk/

Covenant With Death, by John Harris: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/covenant-with-death_john--harris/566512/#isbn=0751557129

Victoria Cross headstone photo credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:VCstone.jpg

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

Authors and historians Andrew Lucas and Jürgen Schmiseschek come on the podcast to discuss their collaborative work on the Saxon Germans on the Flanders front during the Great War.

Where to buy "Fighting the Kaiser's War:"

https://royalsaxonarmy.co.uk/index.php/our-publications/13-fighting-the-kaiser-s-war

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

Author and grandson John Chase, MD comes on the podcast to discuss his book based on the letters his grandfather, John DeWitt, wrote home during the First World War.

From Hellgate Press: When recently retired orthopedic surgeon Dr. John Chase stumbles upon a hidden trove of over 80 letters from his grandfather, John DeWitt, written from the trenches of World War I, he embarks on a life-changing journey. These letters reveal the untold story of DeWitt, a 21-year-old trench runner who faced the brutal realities of war with unmatched bravery.

As Chase delves into these long-forgotten letters, he uncovers heart-wrenching tales of heroism, silent suffering, and the immense personal cost of war that DeWitt never spoke of. Each letter paints a vivid picture of resilience and sacrifice, offering a deeply personal glimpse into a chapter of history.

Searching for John DeWitt is more than a historical narrative; it's a gripping family saga that bridges generations. Through this emotional and eye-opening journey, Chase honors his grandfather's legacy and sheds light on the silent burdens carried by veterans. This book uncovers an untold story of valor and the unbreakable strength of family bonds in the face of war.

Join Dr. John Chase in Searching for John DeWitt and discover a hidden legacy of heroism. Experience the intimate and powerful world of a soldier in the Great War, and uncover a story that will stay with you long after the last page is turned.

"I realized my grandfather's notes home were like the North Atlantic icebergs…beneath the surface was a more important story, not just about my grandfather, but about an entire generation of young men now for the most part forgotten."

Where to buy:

https://www.hellgatepress.com/product/searching-for-john-dewitt-john-chase-md/

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

Founders of the New Ypres League Dr Dominiek Dendooven and Roger Steward join the podcast to discuss a worthy remembrance project for the old Ypres battlefields: replacing and restoring the demarcation stones that marked the limit of German advances throughout the Great War.

Where to donate -

New Ypres League vzw: www.newypresleague.com

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

In the prelude to the prelude of the Second Battle of the Marne in 1918, we set the clock back to December 1917 to look at the position of the Allies at that point in the war. Specifically, we look at French Army commander General Philippe Petain's Directive No. 4 issued that month. In this short memo Petain advocated for a defense in depth strategy on the front lines, as Entente forces began to prepare for the inevitable German onslaught on the Western Front.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Cape Ann, Massachusetts resident Brett Hawkes comes on the podcast to discuss his long bicycle trips through France, where he followed in his Doughboy grandfather's WW1 footsteps.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

This is a quick episode to make listeners aware of a fundraising drive by the New Ypres League to restore some of the post-WW1 demarcation stones in the Ypres, Belgium area.

Where to donate: https://www.newypresleague.com/

There will be a talk released in early December where the New Ypres League will go into more details about their fundraiser, but for now we wanted to get the word out as soon as possible.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Educator and First World War enthusiast Kristin Stelfox comes on the podcast to discuss some of the first and pathbreaking American women war correspondents who covered the first years of the war.

New Ypres League: https://www.newypresleague.com/

"An Unladylike Profession" by Chris Dubbs - https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/an-unladylike-profession-american-women-war-correspondents-in-world-war-i/54181957/#isbn=1640126791

Edith Wharton's articles: https://modjourn.org/issue/bdr474765/

Mary Roberts Rinehart's "Kings, Queens and Pawns - An American Woman at the Front:" https://a.co/d/7jd6Bb8

Nellie Bly articles: https://nellieblyonline.net/1912-1915/

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

Writer Craig DeSteiguer joins us to tell the story of his grandfather John Horace Merriman, who was deeply affected by his First World War-era service.

"Death in the Trench"

Let me sing no whispers of war.

Let me tear my eyes, of all death…that lay.

Let me hold the hand of their last breath.

Let me pray their soul is gone….to home.

Let me sing no whispers of war.

For when I too shall come home,

To whispered songs no more…. of that war.

"Loaned to the Summer" - Where to buy:

https://a.co/d/iHhnW5I

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

We have dates for the 2026 Meuse-Argonne Battlefield Pilgrimage!

The trip is from July 02 - 08, 2026.

This next visit will be one where we really plan to put boots on the ground: we will be walking in the paths of some individual Doughboys in 2026. This is a new feature of Lost Battalion Tours, and we're excited to share it with you!

A sample of the 2026 itinerary:

Day 2

- "Malancourt to Montfaucon:"

- 79th Division's first combat tour 26-30 SEP 1918

- In the footsteps of Major Harry Dravo Parkin

- Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery

- Guided visit

- Retreat ceremony at 1630

Day 4

- 42nd Div breaks the Kriemhilde Stellung: "…or a list of 5,000 casualties"

- Visits to La Tuilerie Farm Site, Musarde Farm, Côte de Chatillon

- In the footsteps of Medal of Honor recipient Private Thomas Neibauer

- Meuse-Argonne breakout, 2nd Division Race to the Meuse: "I am going across that river…"

- La Sartelle Farm, Villemontry Overlook, East bank at crossing site, Warmont/Belle Fontaine Farms

- In the footsteps of USMC Corporal Elton Mackin

Contact us at lostbattaliontours@gmail.com for pricing and other information. Come join us!

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

In the final days of the Aisne-Marne Offensive, American forces pursued the retreating Germans to the River Vesle in August 1918. During the battles for possession of the key village of Bazoches-sur-Vesle, an American son of Russian-Jewish immigrants would distinguish himself by looking out for his friends and soldiers.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

NYT bestselling author Daniel Kraus comes on the podcast to talk about his novel set in the Meuse-Argonne battle "Angel Down."

From Simon & Schuster:

Private Cyril Bagger has managed to survive the unspeakable horrors of the Great War through his wits and deception, swindling fellow soldiers at every opportunity. But his survival instincts are put to the ultimate test when he and four other grunts are given a deadly mission: venture into the perilous No Man's Land to euthanize a wounded comrade.

What they find amid the ruined battlefield, however, is not a man in need of mercy but a fallen angel, seemingly struck down by artillery fire. This celestial being may hold the key to ending the brutal conflict, but only if the soldiers can suppress their individual desires and work together. As jealousy, greed, and paranoia take hold, the group is torn apart by their inner demons, threatening to turn their angelic encounter into a descent into hell.

Angel Down plunges you into the heart of World War I and weaves a polyphonic tale of survival, supernatural wonder, and moral conflict.

Where to buy "Angel Down" in the UK -

https://titanbooks.com/72777-angel-down/

Where to buy "Angel Down" in the US -

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Angel-Down/Daniel-Kraus/9781668068458

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

Historian Michel Gravel comes back on the podcast to discuss an incredibly interesting gentleman named John Stevenson Youngson.

Michel's works can be found here:

https://ysec.fr/?s=Michel+Gravel&post_type=product

Michel's GoFundMe for "La place Joseph Kaeble, VC, MM," in Neuville-Vitasse, France:

https://gofund.me/17574db1

Regarding Michel's medals: when he mentions his medal collections increase in value, it's not monetary value. Rather their value increases in that the medal group is complete and the story behind them is available.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

My good friend Xavier Lewis comes on the podcast to discuss his dissertation topic.

General Edmond Buat had an idea and devised a plan to defeat the German army on the Western front in World War I. A study of his diary, the notes he wrote and his later writings on German generals Ludendorff and Hindenburg, shows how his plan and the Réserve Générale de l'Artillerie Lourde (Heavy Artillery General Reserve, "RGAL") he created constitute an incipient form of operational art as well as the basis for the French Army's offensives in the summer of 1918.

Xavier's research considers how Buat's diary, his writings, and notes reveal his role in developing the plans for the 1918 offensives and how the RGAL was conceived as an instrument specially adapted for them. It also shows how those plans represented an important conceptual shift in operational thinking to find a new way to expel the German army from French territory. It focuses on the ideas behind the creation of the RGAL, not on the political, industrial and procurement aspects and seeks to plug a gap identified by historian Sir Michael Howard who complained that: "British military historians […] found it difficult to focus on an analysis of the operations themselves."

Do listen for a great conversation.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

Pete Owen, LTC USMC (Ret.) comes on the podcast to talk about his book "To the Limit of Endurance: A Battalion of Marines in the Great War."

From Texas A&M University Press:

"Scholars and historians offer several theories for the crippling losses suffered by the American Expeditionary Forces on the battlefields of World War I: inexperience, poor leadership, hasty expansion of duties, and others. But until now, most of these studies have focused at the division level or higher.

Now, with To the Limit of Endurance, Peter F. Owen offers a tautly worded, historically rigorous, and intensely human survey of the agonizing burden shouldered by the Second Battalion of the Sixth Regiment of U.S. Marines from its formation in Quantico, Virginia, in 1917 until the cessation of hostilities in November of the following year.

In places like Belleau Wood and Soissons, these young men, led by dedicated officers, died in staggering numbers—primarily because of the outmoded tactics they had learned. Owen shows how the battalion regrouped after these campaigns, however, and embarked on a period of intense retraining. By the time of the closing weeks of the war, the adjustments they had made allowed them to mold themselves into a coldly efficient military machine.

Drawing on a treasure trove of surviving first-hand accounts, Owen expertly combines these individual observations with military records and archival sources to create a mosaic that provides not only a case study of how one organization grappled with transformation but also a tightly focused, ground-level view of the lives—and deaths—of these courageous American military men. The grueling, ultimately triumphant odyssey of the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines will appeal to military historians, professional soldiers, and interested general readers."

Where to buy "To the Limit of Endurance: A Battalion of Marines in the Great War" -

https://www.tamupress.com/book/9781623491567/to-the-limit-of-endurance/

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

Tennessee State Park Rangers Nate Dodson and Tanner Wells come on the podcast to discuss the upcoming Great War Expo II at York State Park in Pall Mall, TN.

On April 5th, 2025, the second annual Great War Expo will be held at Sgt. Alvin C. York State Historic Park in Pall Mall, TN. This is an educational event highlighting all things WW1 at the homesite of one of its more well known soldiers. Experience informative lectures, participate in living history demonstrations, meet authors and vendors, and interact with organizations from across the nation that preserve and share WW1 history.

I was there last year, and it was a great time. You're just steps away from Alvin York's house, sharing WW1 history with other enthusiasts. What could be better?

So if you are nearby or can get up to Pall Mall, TN, you are in for a great experience.

Link: https://tnstateparks.com/parks/event_details/sgt-alvin-c-york/#/?event=great-war-expo-ii

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

Part 6 of the ongoing discussion continues to look at the French Army in 1916, and this time we focus on events and developments outside of the Verdun battlefield.

This episode will focus on the French Army's experience in 1916 outside of the Verdun battlefield.

Joining us for this discussion are:

Bart Debeer, who co-wrote a Dutch-language Western Front Guide for Beginners with a friend

Bryn Hammond, whose blog "Vingt Frong" aims to "awaken interest in the French experience of the First World War in an English-speaking audience," and author of the book "Cambrai 1917: The Myth of the First Great Tank Battle,"

Jim Smithson, author of "A Taste of Success: The First Battle of the Scarpe. The Opening Phase of the Battle of Arras 9-14 April 1917" and two guide books on the Arras battlefields,

Do listen in for the few moments when four grown men struggle with a microphone. :P

Great War Group: https://greatwargroup.com/

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

Dr. Isherwood returns to the podcast to talk about his new book "The Battalion: Citizen Soldiers at War on the Western Front."

From Casemate Publishers:

"How did ordinary citizens become soldiers during the First World War, and how did they cope with the extraordinary challenges they confronted on the Western Front? These are questions Ian Isherwood seeks to answer in this absorbing and deeply researched study of the actions and experiences of an infantry battalion throughout the conflict. His work gives us a vivid impression of the reality of war for these volunteers and an insight into the motivation that kept them fighting.

The narrative traces the history of the 8th Battalion The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment), a Kitchener battalion raised in 1914. The letters, memoirs and diaries of the men of the battalion, in particular the correspondence of their commanding officer, reveal in fascinating detail what wartime life was like for this group of men. It includes vivid accounts of the major battles in which they were involved – Loos, the Somme, Passchendaele, the German Spring Offensive, and the final 100 Days campaign.

The battalion took heavy losses, yet those who survived continued to fight and took great pride in their service, an attitude that is at odds with much of the popular perception of the Great War. Ian Isherwood brings in the latest research on military thinking and learning, on emotional resilience, and cultural history to tell their story."

Follow the First World War Letters of H.J.C. Peirs, a digital history project at Gettysburg College:

https://www.jackpeirs.org

Where to buy "The Battalion: Citizen Soldiers at War on the Western Front" -

https://www.casematepublishers.com/9781526774224/the-battalion/

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

Before the First World War officially began, the killing was already underway.

In the small French village of Joncherey, two men would meet for a brief but violent moment on August 2nd, 1914, the day before war was officially declared. The moment would turn them into eternal brothers, transformed by their explosive meeting. French Corporal Jules André Peugeot and German Lieutenant Albert Otto Walther Mayer would soon be the first military deaths of their nations.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

The group is back!

Part 5 of the ongoing discussion looks at the French Army in 1916, the first of a two- or three-part series on this crucial year of WW1. This episode will focus on the French Army's experience in its most trying battlefield crucible: the Battle of Verdun.

Joining us for this discussion are:

Christina Holstein, author of several incredible guides to the Verdun battlefield, amongst other published works and articles,

Alex Lyons, the man who spends his free time telling us the story of his Poilu great-grandfather on Twitter,

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

This is a recording of our monthly talks on Patreon. Jake is a great friend of mine whom I've known for years, thanks to the podcast!

Jake joined us to go on the 2024 Meuse-Argonne tour with Lost Battalion Tours, as well as a pilgrimage to where his dad fought during the Second World War. Dr. Clint Heacock, another great friend, joined us for Jake's very moving day.

Hope you enjoy this one.

Lost Battalion Tours: lostbattaliontours@gmail.com

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

Author David Borys comes on the podcast to discuss his book "Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867," which takes readers on a riveting exploration spanning one hundred and fifty years of Canadian forces.

"Punching Above Our Weight" is a photograph-rich history of 150 years of the Canadian military traces the evolution of the country's armed forces from a small, underfunded, poorly trained militia to the modern, effective military it is today. From the Red River Resistance and the Boer War through the world wars to modern peacekeeping and the long war in Afghanistan, David A. Borys details the conflicts and operations that Canadian soldiers have served in. He highlights the key battles, among them Amiens, the Scheldt Estuary, and Operation Medusa; the significant people, including Louis Riel, Arthur Currie, and Guy Simonds; and the decisive moments, such as the passing of conscription in August 1917, Canada's declaration of war in 1939, and the peacekeeping crises of the 1990s, that came to define the scope of Canada's participation in international conflicts and cement its global reputation.

Borys also explores the challenges that the Canadian nation and its military have faced over those years, including major cultural and demographic shifts, a continual struggle for resources from generally disinterested governments, battlefield failures, and notorious and shocking scandals, along with ever-changing global threats. Punching Above Our Weight brings to light a new perspective on the Canadian military and its place in the world.

Where to buy "Punching Above Our Weight:"

https://www.dundurn.com/books_/t22117/a9781459754126-punching-above-our-weight

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

From University Press of Kansas: "Serpents of War" is the memoir of Pennsylvanian Major Harry Dravo Parkin, is a rare account of World War I as seen from the perspective of a battalion commander. As a mid-level officer responsible for the lives and welfare of over a thousand men, Parkin conveys the stress of command at a time when one innocent blunder could cost an officer his combat assignment, brings the inferno of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive to life in terrifying, gory detail, and recounts being taken prisoner by the Imperial German Army—a rare experience among American soldiers in 1918. In addition, Parkin provides a detailed account of the 79th Division's attack on Mountfaucon, a military action that remains controversial to this day. This is a book by a brave soldier, a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross for his heroism on the battlefield, and a gifted writer.

"Serpents of War" is an abridged edition of a nearly 200,000-word World War I memoir that resides in Gettysburg College's Musselman Library, enhanced by the contributions of two scholars of World War I and memory. Written in an unassuming but eloquent style, Parkin's narrative seldom strains for effect. It possesses a strong sense of setting, a knack for capturing the chaos and strange exhilaration of battle, and a sharp eye for the interpersonal, social dynamics of military life—the personality clashes and simmering feuds, as well as the moments of comradeship and accord. "Serpents of War" is an absorbing memoir that holds the reader's attention from beginning to end.

Dr. Trout's Travels in Harry Parkin's footsteps -

https://kansaspress.ku.edu/blog/2024/09/26/on-the-serpents-trail-following-the-footsteps-of-harry-dravo-parkin/

Where to buy "Serpents of War: An American Officer's Story of World War I Combat and Captivity" -

https://kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700635054/serpents-of-war/

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

An homage to Wilfred Owen, based on a visit to his grave in Ors, France in July 2024.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

Author Philipp Cross comes on the podcast to discuss his book "The Other Trench: The WW1 Diary and Photos of a German Officer," which contains the diary of his great-great-grandfather Alexander Pfeiffer.

"The Other Trench" website: https://www.theothertrench.com/

Where to buy "The Other Trench:"

https://www.goodreads.com/book/216124811-the-other-trench/get_a_copy

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Author Richard Sherman comes on the podcast to discuss his book and homage "Never Home - Remembering the Military Heroes Who Never Returned."

In 2017, professional photographer and Navy veteran Richard Sherman embarked on a journey to visit and photograph all 23 American overseas World War I and World War II cemeteries. After six years and eight trips to three continents, he published "Never Home: Remembering the Military Heroes Who Never Returned." The book features dramatic imagery of all 23 cemeteries—from Normandy to Manila—and more that 50 biographies of individuals who, even in death, have never made it home.

Never Home Heroes website:

https://www.neverhomeheroes.com/index

Buy the book here:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/2boxersinc/?etsrc=sdt

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

This episode was inspired by an afternoon walking tour hosted by the Mémorial de Verdun museum.

For five days in the beginning of June 1916, French Army CPT Charles Delvert and his 8th Company, 101st Infantry Regiment, defended the Retranchement R1 redoubt against ceaseless German attacks. This is their story, in Delvert's own words.

Reference map for episode:

https://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr/fr/arkotheque/inventaires/ead_ir_consult.php?fam=11&ref=FRSHD_AFGG_ead

Mémorial de Verdun museum: https://memorial-verdun.fr/en/

New Ypres League, where to join -

New Ypres League vzw: www.newypresleague.com

The BFWWP is now on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com or the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

Independent historian Pat Gang comes on the podcast to talk about Tennessee men who volunteered to fight in foreign armies before the United States entered World War I.

The men discussed:

Paul & Kiffin Rockwell

Charles Loring Clark

Zephaniah Porter Broom

James Clyde Lloyd

Dr. John W. Morris

New Ypres League, where to join -

New Ypres League vzw: www.newypresleague.com

Want to join Lost Battalion Tours in 2025?

Email us: lostbattaliontours@gmail.com

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Following up on a podcast discussion we had last year to help the push to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the US Army's Hello Girls of WW1, we have good news:

We are so close to reaching the numbers we need!

The Hello Girls of the WW1 US Army have never been officially recognized for the groundbreaking service they provided as America's first women soldiers. In this call to action, an incredible group of people come back on to talk about why the Hello Girls should receive the Congressional Gold Medal.

Joining us are:

Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, representing Missouri's Fifth Congressional District, and the original sponsor, H.R. 1572 Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2023:

(https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/1572/text)

Dan Dayton, Former Executive Director, U.S. World War I Centennial Commission

Catherine Bourgin, granddaughter of Hello Girl Marie Edmee LeRoux

Carolyn Timbie, granddaughter of Hello Girls Chief Operator Grace Banker

Chris Christopher, Captain, USN (Ret.), US WW1 Centennial Commission

Diane Boettcher, Captain, USN (Ret.), genealogical researcher

Support a Congressional Gold Medal for the WWI Hello Girls! Instructions are here:

https://ww1cc.org/hellogirls

US listeners, email or call your Congressional Representatives today!

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

In this stand-alone episode we are going up over the battlefields and the fronts to take a 10,000 meter (that's 30,000ft) view of the Great War, specifically prosecuting that war through the framework of coalition warfare. We're going to take a look at the challenges of command within a warfighting coalition.

New Ypres League, where to join -

New Ypres League vzw: www.newypresleague.com

Want to join Lost Battalion Tours in 2025?

Email us: lostbattaliontours@gmail.com

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

Historian Michel Gravel comes on the podcast to discuss his focus on First World War history: the efforts of Canadian soldiers in the battles between Arras and Cambrai, France in 1918.

There may be a few awkward cuts in the flow of the conversation as our internet connection was frequently unstable. Sorry about that.

Michel's works can be found here:

https://ysec.fr/?s=Michel+Gravel&post_type=product

Michel's GoFundMe for "La place Joseph Kaeble, VC, MM," in Neuville-Vitasse, France:

https://gofund.me/17574db1

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

A short recap of the recent six (6!) weeks spent in France and Belgium on the Old Front Line. Have you ever had an extraordinary and unforgettable day on a trip or vacation? This was extraordinary and unforgettable days every day for six weeks straight.

Special episode features: Neighborhood dads riding at dawn to mow their lawns, and one of the cats complaining that he can't get into my recording space.

Lost Battalion Tours - Get on our mailing list!

Email: lostbattaliontours@gmail.com

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/lostbattaliontours

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lostbattaliontours/

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

A short episode inspired by a visit to the German Soldatenfriedhof in Liny-devant-Dun, France.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

Author Bill MIlls comes on the podcast to discuss his book Agent of the Iron Cross: The Race to Capture German Saboteur-Assassin Lothar Witzke during World War I.

Spies, deception, intrigue, and sabotage: these are not the stories we usually think when we think WW1. They are part of this story, though.

Buy the book here: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538182086/Agent-of-the-Iron-Cross-The-Race-to-Capture-German-Saboteur-Assassin-Lothar-Witzke-during-World-War-I

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

A look at the United States' efforts in the First World War, the efforts of the American Expeditionary Force on the battlefield, and what the Doughboys showed and taught us.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

Former Tennessee Park Ranger David Brady comes on the podcast to speak further on the AEF's 30th Division, its 119th Infantry Regiment, and his great grandfather–a Doughboy who saw action with those units.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is a release of a former Patreon-only episode.

Elements of the German 8th Army push to outflank and encircle the Russian 2nd Army, while outmaneuvered Russian soldiers fight desperately yet resolutely.

The Russian 2nd Army is surrounded, sealing their fate. The only tactical victory of the First World War ends in a stunning Russian defeat.

More of Aislingeach's awesome music is here:

https://aislingeach.bandcamp.com/

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

Historian Pat Gang comes on the podcast to discuss the AEF 2nd Corps, the 27th (New York National Guard) and 30th (Tennessee National Guard) Divisions.

Pat's musings on football and history can be found here: https://www.volnation.com/forum/members/onemangang.535/

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

A short review of Ann Hood's "The Stolen Child," a new book to be released in May 2024.

Book link here: https://www.annhood.us/

Order it from your local bookstore so that you support your local businesses.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

This is a release of a former Patreon-only episode.

The German 8th Army receives two new leaders: Hindenburg and Ludendorff. They rush to stave off the Russian 2nd Army's invasion from Russian Poland to the south. A classic battle of maneuver, modernized with modern weapons and heavy casualties, plays out. Corps, divisions, and brigades collide with each other as each seeks to turn their enemy's flanks.

Aislingeach's awesome music is here!

https://aislingeach.bandcamp.com/

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

Ypres Battlefield Tours guide and author Roger Steward joins Professor Mark Connelly of the University of Kent, Canterbury, to discuss a new remembrance project: the New Ypres League.

A remembrance project aimed at preserving the memory of soldiers from all nations who fell in the Ypres Salient during the Great War, the New Ypres League is based on the original Ypres League that was present in Ypres in the years after the First World War.

Where to join -

New Ypres League vzw: www.newypresleague.com

If you're in Ypres, Belgium, contact Roger for tour details -

Ypres Battlefield Tours: www.ypresbattlefieldtours.be

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

A review of Lawrence Kaplan's new book, "Pershing's Tankers: Personal Accounts of the AEF Tank Corps in World War I," and a couple of excerpts from men of the AEF 301st Tank Battalion.

Book link here:

https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=Pershing%27s+Tankers

Order it from your local bookstore so that you support your local businesses.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

This is a release of a former Patreon-only episode.

The Germans and Russians are ready to fight, and each gives battle. The Russian 1st Army invades East Prussia from the east, and meets German 8th Army forces at Stallupönen. Both sides clash again at Gumbinnen, where the Germans suffer a stinging defeat that sets off a panic within 8th Army headquarters.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

This is a release of a former Patreon-only episode.

The beginning of World War I in the summer of 1914 saw Germany faced with fighting a two-front war. Its legions marched into France to defeat that nation first, while in the east just one field army was tasked with holding back an inevitable Russian invasion. This episode will set the stage for the opening of the Great War's Eastern Front.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

Author and historian Dr. Allison Finkelstein comes on the podcast to discuss her book, Forgotten Veterans, Invisible Memorials: How American Women Commemorated the Great War, 1917-1945.

From Dr. Finkelstein's website: In Forgotten Veterans, Invisible Memorials: How American Women Commemorated the Great War, 1917–1945, Allison S. Finkelstein argues that American women activists considered their own community service and veteran advocacy to be forms of commemoration just as significant and effective as other, more traditional forms of commemoration such as memorials. Finkelstein employs the term "veteranism" to describe these women's overarching philosophy that supporting, aiding, and caring for those who serve needed to be a chief concern of American citizens, civic groups, and the government in the war's aftermath. However, these women did not express their views solely through their support for veterans of a military service narrowly defined as a group predominantly composed of men and just a few women. Rather, they defined anyone who served or sacrificed during the war, including women like themselves, as veterans.

These women veteranists believed that memorialization projects that centered on the people who served and sacrificed was the most appropriate type of postwar commemoration. They passionately advocated for memorials that could help living veterans and the families of deceased service members at a time when postwar monument construction surged at home and abroad. Finkelstein argues that by rejecting or adapting traditional monuments or by embracing aspects of the living memorial building movement, female veteranists placed the plight of all veterans at the center of their commemoration efforts. Their projects included diverse acts of service and advocacy on behalf of people they considered veterans and their families as they pushed to infuse American memorial traditions with their philosophy. In doing so, these women pioneered a relatively new form of commemoration that impacted American practices of remembrance, encouraging Americans to rethink their approach and provided new definitions of what constitutes a memorial. In the process, they shifted the course of American practices, even though their memorialization methods did not achieve the widespread acceptance they had hoped it would.

Meticulously researched, Forgotten Veterans, Invisible Memorials utilizes little-studied sources and reinterprets more familiar ones. In addition to the words and records of the women themselves, Finkelstein analyzes cultural landscapes and ephemeral projects to reconstruct the evidence of their influence. Readers will come away with a better understanding of how American women supported the military from outside its ranks before they could fully serve from within, principally through action-based methods of commemoration that remain all the more relevant today.

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) awarded this book the 2022 Arline Custer Memorial Award for the best book written in the Mid-Atlantic region.

We have a promo code exclusively for BFWWP listeners! Use BATTLE24 to unlock a 30% discount on either format of the book when ordering directly from our website at:

https://www.uapress.ua.edu/9780817361211/forgotten-veterans-invisible-memorials/

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Part 4 of the ongoing discussion looks at the French Army in 1915: an often overlooked year, it was a year of "carnage, optimism, and learning," as Alex says in the talk. Fighting to keep pressure on the German invader and relieve pressure on the WW1 Russian Front, the French faced a long year where that optimism took several body blows; it was a year where the French Poilu learned this would be a long and terrible war.

This was a fascinating conversation as always, and you really need to listen for the part where Jim Taub talks about handling and firing a Chauchat light machine gun!

Joining us for this discussion are:

Alex Lyons, the man who spends his free time telling us the story of his Poilu great-grandfather on Twitter,

Steve Marsdin, a student and researcher of the 1914 Battle of the Frontiers and its effects,

Jim Smithson, author of "A Taste of Success: The First Battle of the Scarpe. The Opening Phase of the Battle of Arras 9-14 April 1917" and two guide books on the Arras battlefields

James Taub, Associate Curator at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, PA, and a public historian with a specialty in French history, and its presentation to American audiences.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

New year, new opportunity to see the AEF battlefields of France! That's right, Rob and I are launching the 2024 Lost Battalion Tours Meuse-Argonne Tour.

Tour dates are July 03 - 09, 2024, and we'll be visiting the following stops:

- Vauquois Hill and the 35th Division area,

- the Montfaucon Memorial

- Hill 285 and Le Chene Tondu in the Argonne,

- the Crown Prince's bunker complex,

- the German war cemetery near Apremont,

- Exermont,

- a Medal of Honor Day visiting the sites of Barkley, Woodfill, and York,

a complete tour of the Lost Battalion site (including both entrapment sites),

- the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery,

- site of SGT Henry Gunther's death (last US KIA),

- an "Indiana Jones" moment where we explore a new site for all of us,

- a day exploring the battlefield and town of Verdun,

- and so much more!

Special requests in case are also possible if there is something important to you that you would like to see.

Details in the episode – do give it a listen!

Or contact us at lostbattaliontours@gmail.com

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

An early Christmas gift for the BFWWP community--the battle of Fismes in summer 1918. This was a Patreon release, so you'll hear the old scores used in the episode.

Following the German Friedensturm offensive in July 1918, the Allies struck back with a counteroffensive that shifted the momentum of the war in the Allies' favor. Through the rest of July the Germans retreated from their Marne salient, steadily pursued by the French and American forces.

When the Germans retreated behind the River Vesle, American troops encountered obstacles not common to the Great War battlefield: the town of Fismes and its sister village of Fismette. Both would have to be cleared of German troops for the advance to continue.

August 1918 saw weeks of staggering violence as American Doughboys and German Frontkaempfer fought tooth and nail for the ruins of these towns.

Interested in the 2024 Lost Battalion Tours' Meuse-Argonne battlefield tour?

Email us: lostbattaliontours@gmail.com

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

The Hello Girls of the WW1 US Army have never been officially recognized for the groundbreaking service they provided as America's first women soldiers. In this call to action, an incredible group of people came on to talk about why the Hello Girls should receive the Congressional Gold Medal.

Joining us are:

Ms. Catherine Bourgin, granddaughter of Hello Girl Marie Edmee LeRoux

Mr. Daniel Dayton, Executive Director of the World War I Centennial Commission

Dr. Allison S. Finkelstein, Senior Historian at Arlington National Cemetery

Ms. Claudia Friddell, award winning author of "Grace Banker and Her Hello Girls Answer the Call"

COL Linda Jantzen, United States Army Signal Corps, Retired

Carolyn Timbie, granddaughter of Grace Banker, Chief Operator of the 1st women's telephone unit that sailed to France in March, 1918

Ms. Phyllis J. Wilson, President of the Military Women's Memorial in Arlington, VA

Support a Congressional Gold Medal for the WWI Hello Girls! Instructions are here:

https://ww1cc.org/715-valor-medals/valor-medals-meet-the-heroes/7321-hello-girls-congress.html

US listeners, call your Congressional Representatives today!

Interested in the 2024 Lost Battalion Tours' Meuse-Argonne battlefield tour?

Email us: lostbattaliontours@gmail.com

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

Historian, novelist, and documentary filmmaker Dr. Elizabeth Cobbs joins the podcast to discuss her 2019 book on the story of the US Army Signal Corps' "Hello Girls," the American Army's first female soldiers.

Book link: http://elizabethcobbs.com/the-hello-girls

Elizabeth Cobbs' website: http://elizabethcobbs.com/

Support a Congressional Gold Medal for the WWI Hello Girls!

https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/715-valor-medals/valor-medals-meet-the-heroes/7321-hello-girls-congress.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

Interested in the 2024 Lost Battalion Tours' Meuse-Argonne battlefield tour?

Email us: lostbattaliontours@gmail.com

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

Historian Peter Belmonte joins the podcast to discuss his latest collaboration with Alexander Barnes on lesser known aspects of the United States' participation in the First World War. The story of how the AEF was supplied with "bullets, bandages, and beans" is just as fascinating as the tales we've often heard from the front.

Book link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63389152-bullets-bandages-and-beans

Johnson Hagood's "The Services of Supply: A Memoir of the Great War" Link: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Services_of_Supply/4LoBAAAAMAAJ?hl=en

Interested in the 2024 Lost Battalion Tours' Meuse-Argonne battlefield tour?

Email us: lostbattaliontours@gmail.com

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

In the last days of the First World War, the Americans continued to pursue and batter German forces as they retreated behind the River Meuse. Even as armistice negotiations began, the AEF continued attacking.

It kept doing so until the guns fell silent at 11:00 am on the 11th of November, 1918.

Interested in the 2024 Lost Battalion Tours' Meuse-Argonne battlefield tour?

Email us: lostbattaliontours@gmail.com

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

Dr. Clint Heacock of the Mindshift Podcast joins us to discuss his second-favorite subject, the First World War. Today he talks to us about the life and experiences of Phillip Gibbs, a British war correspondent during the Great War.

Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/

"Now It Can Be Told" by Philip Gibbs: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3317

Interested in the 2024 Lost Battalion Tours' Meuse-Argonne battlefield tour?

Email us: lostbattaliontours@gmail.com

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

In the last days of WW1, some AEF commanders in the Meuse-Argonne embarked on a rash, dangerous, and deadly race for a coveted battlefield prize.

Interested in the 2024 Lost Battalion Tours' Meuse-Argonne battlefield tour?

Email us: lostbattaliontours@gmail.com

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

James Gregory and Steve Girard come on the podcast to discuss James' latest article in the US Army's Infantry journal "Cottonbalers in the Wood: The Forgotten Role of the 7th Infantry Regiment at Belleau Wood."

Read the article here:

https://www.moore.army.mil/infantry/magazine/issues/2023/Summer/PDF/Summer23_INFMag.pdf

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

LTG Hunter Liggett's patience, preparations, and plans all come together on November 1, 1918, when his new attack is launched.

The AEF breaks through.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

AEF 1st Army's corps shape the battlefield as they fight to secure jump-off points or divert enemy forces for LTG Hunter Liggett's next attack plan. The 78th, 89th, 3rd, and 26th Divisions fight sharp battles within their sectors.

Interested in next year's Meuse-Argonne battlefield tour?

Email us: lostbattaliontours@gmail.com

Robert J. Laplander and I collaborated on creating an audiobook version of his book "Finding the Lost Battalion: Beyond the Rumors, Myths and Legends of America's Famous WW1 Epic" and here it finally is.

The audio version of "Finding the Lost Battalion" comes to you in podcast form, ready to download and provide nearly 36 hours of the retelling of America's WW1 epic of devastating modern battle and indomitable bravery under horrific conditions.

Purchase here for $25 USD:

https://battlesofthefirstworldwar.supportingcast.fm/

Also available through Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/0qcRm8x3W7gpbFjOk78Z6L

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

A look at the American Air Service during the Meuse-Argonne offensive.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

From Dr. Williams' website: When W. E. B. Du Bois, believing in the possibility of full citizenship and democratic change, encouraged African Americans to "close ranks" and support the Allied cause in World War I, he made a decision that would haunt him for the rest of his life. Seeking both intellectual clarity and personal atonement, for more than two decades Du Bois attempted to write the definitive history of Black participation in World War I. His book, however, remained unfinished. In The Wounded World, Chad Williams offers the dramatic account of Du Bois's failed efforts to complete what would have been one of his most significant works. The surprising story of this unpublished book offers new insight into Du Bois's struggles to reckon with both the history and the troubling memory of the war, along with the broader meanings of race and democracy for Black people in the twentieth century.

Drawing on a broad range of sources, most notably Du Bois's unpublished manuscript and research materials, Williams tells a sweeping story of hope, betrayal, disillusionment, and transformation, setting into motion a fresh understanding of the life and mind of arguably the most significant scholar-activist in African American history. In uncovering what happened to Du Bois's largely forgotten book, Williams offers a captivating reminder of the importance of World War I, why it mattered to Du Bois, and why it continues to matter today.

Where to buy:

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-wounded-world-w-e-b-du-bois-and-the-first-world-war-chad-l-williams/18402495?ean=9780374293154

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Part 3 of the ongoing discussion looks at the French Army in 1914: its readiness for a potential conflict with Germany, its underlying preparation and strategy for war, and its performance in the battles that raged in the summer and autumn of that year.

Joining us for this discussion are:

Christina Holstein, author of several incredible guides to the Verdun battlefield, amongst other published works and articles,

Steve Marsdin, a student and researcher of the 1914 Battle of the Frontiers and its effects,

Jim Smithson, author of "A Taste of Success: The First Battle of the Scarpe. The Opening Phase of the Battle of Arras 9-14 April 1917" and two guide books on the Arras battlefields

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

In this episode we discuss the book "The Darkest Year: The British Army on the Western Front 1917" by Helion & Co Ltd, the 4th in a series of books looking at the development of the BEF on the Western Front throughout the First World War.

Joining us for this discussion are:

Dr. Spencer Jones, Senior Lecturer in Armed Forces and War Studies at the University of Wolverhampton

Dr. Michael LoCicero, independent scholar and Helion & Co Publishing and Series Editor

Alexander Falbo-Wild, historian, researcher, and professional military educator

James Taub, Associate Curator at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, PA whose focus is the "British, French, and American experience of 1914-18 with particular focus on the average fighting man"

Link to the book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59558585-the-darkest-year

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

A firsthand look at what it meant to attack and take an enemy position during WW1.

Many thanks to Alex Lyons for the inspiration for this episode. Thanks, man!

Link to Henri Desagneaux's memoir:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22219805-a-french-soldier-s-war-diary-1914-1918

The BFWWP is now on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com or the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

Steven Girard, US Army veteran and veteran battlefield guide, comes back on the podcast to discuss the American Expeditionary Force's 2nd Division during the First World War.

Note: The 2nd Division was organized at Bourmont, France.

Villages & towns of note:

Landres-et-St. Georges

Imécourt

Mouzon

Koblenz, Germany

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

The story behind a famous photograph from the First World War of the men of 10th (Service) Battalion Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in the Arras sector in 1917.

Chris Baker's article:

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/10th-scottish-rifles-trench-raid-and-an-oft-used-photograph/

Many thanks to Chris for permission to use his article.

The BFWWP is now on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com or the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

This episode we are joined by the powerhouse team of Alex Churchill & Beth Moore to talk about the Great War Group that they created and run with their crack team. What a great conversation.

Join the Great War Group!

https://greatwargroup.com/

Check out Istoria Travel:

https://www.istoriatravel.org/

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Randy Gaulke, WW1 historian and founder of Knee Deep in History Tours, returns to the podcast to talk about the state of the German Army in October 1918.

Join Randy at Knee Deep Into History:

https://kneedeepintohistory.com/

Randy's bibliography:

Asprey, Robert B. The German High Command at War: Hindenburg and Ludendorff Conduct WW1.

Lengel, Edward G., Editor. A Companion to the Meuse-Argonne Campaign. Wiley Blackwell, 2014.

McEntee, Girard Lindsley, Col. US Army (Retired). Military History of The World War: A Complete Account of the Campaigns on all Fronts Accompanied by 456 Maps and Diagrams. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1943.

Moyer, Laurence. Victory Must be Ours: Germany in the Great War, 1914-1918. Hippocrene Books, New York.

United States War Office. Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions of the German Army which Participated in the War (1914-1918), London Stamp Exchange LTD., 1989.

Watson, Alexander. Enduring the Great War: Combat Morale and Collapse in the German and British Armies, 1914 – 1918. Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Zabecki, David T. The German 1918 Offensives: A Case Study in the Operational Level of War.

Routledge, Oxon and New York, 2006.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Part 2 of the ongoing discussion looks at misconceptions about the French Army, and French personalities of the war we should know about but, for reasons, do not. We wrap up with some advice on visiting the French battlefields of the Great War: guide books, how to prepare, what to expect, etc.

This was another conversation that deeply impressed me with the breadth and depth of knowledge of the participants. Like I say in the introduction, grab a notebook and a pen, because you are about to learn a lot.

Joining us for this discussion are:

Christina Holstein, author of several incredible guides to the Verdun battlefield, amongst other published works and articles,

Alex Lyons, the man who spends his free time telling us the story of his Poilu great-grandfather on Twitter,

Steve Marsdin, a student and researcher of the 1914 Battle of the Frontiers and its effects,

Jim Smithson, author of "A Taste of Success: The First Battle of the Scarpe. The Opening Phase of the Battle of Arras 9-14 April 1917" and two guide books on the Arras battlefields,

James Taub, Associate Curator at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, PA, and a public historian with a specialty in French history, and its presentation to American audiences.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

LTG Hunter Liggett took command of the American Expeditionary Force's 1st Army in October of 1918. He had his work cut out for him–1st Army desperately needed reorganizing, refitting, and retraining.

Robert J. Laplander and I collaborated on creating an audiobook version of his book "Finding the Lost Battalion: Beyond the Rumors, Myths and Legends of America's Famous WW1 Epic" and here it finally is.

The audio version of "Finding the Lost Battalion" comes to you in podcast form, ready to download and provide nearly 36 hours of the retelling of America's WW1 epic of devastating modern battle and indomitable bravery under horrific conditions.

Purchase here for $25 USD:

https://battlesofthefirstworldwar.supportingcast.fm/

Also available through Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/0qcRm8x3W7gpbFjOk78Z6L

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

US Army National Guard officer and historian Jonathan Bratten comes on the podcast to discuss his book, "To the Last Man: A National Guard Regiment in the Great War, 1917-1919." The regiment discussed is the 103rd Infantry Regiment, a unit in the 26th "Yankee" Division.

Jonathan joins us to discuss the 103rd's engagements in the Meuse-Argonne in October 1918.

Link to the book:

https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/combat-studies-institute/csi-books/to-the-last-man.pdf

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

This was so much fun to host–with the help of Alex Lyons, a fantastic group of WW1 enthusiasts were gathered for what will be the first of a multi-part series of discussions of the French Army and the French experience during WW1.

France went to war in 1914 as a country of 40 million people. Its army went to war in 19th century uniforms of dark blue tunics and red trousers, calling up 8.5 million Frenchmen over the next four devastating years. When the guns went silent in November 1918, the Adrian-helmeted and horizon-blue clad PCFs– pauvre con du front, or poor bastards at the front–had seen 1.4 million of their brothers fall on the field of battle, with another 4.2 million wounded–a million of those wounded significantly disabled for the rest of their lives.

Joining us for this discussion are:

I'm really excited to present this first discussion on these fascinating topics, and I hope you enjoy this first talk.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

The second of a two-episode look at the Commander-in-Chief of the AEF, GEN John J. Pershing, from the personal to the professional.

Robert J. Laplander and I collaborated on creating an audiobook version of his book "Finding the Lost Battalion: Beyond the Rumors, Myths and Legends of America's Famous WW1 Epic" and here it finally is.

The audio version of "Finding the Lost Battalion" comes to you in podcast form, ready to download and provide nearly 36 hours of the retelling of America's WW1 epic of devastating modern battle and indomitable bravery under horrific conditions.

Purchase here for $25 USD:

https://battlesofthefirstworldwar.supportingcast.fm/

Also available through Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/0qcRm8x3W7gpbFjOk78Z6L

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

The first of a two-episode look at the Commander-in-Chief of the AEF, GEN John J. Pershing, from the personal to the professional.

Link to Roger Steward's upcoming book:

https://www.helion.co.uk/military-history-books/reclaiming-the-salient-resurrecting-the-great-war-battlegrounds-of-flanders-fields.php?sid=018fc7cc39777a571b22a1bf97452b9e

Robert J. Laplander and I collaborated on creating an audiobook version of his book "Finding the Lost Battalion: Beyond the Rumors, Myths and Legends of America's Famous WW1 Epic" and here it finally is.

The audio version of "Finding the Lost Battalion" comes to you in podcast form, ready to download and provide nearly 36 hours of the retelling of America's WW1 epic of devastating modern battle and indomitable bravery under horrific conditions.

Purchase here for $25 USD:

https://battlesofthefirstworldwar.supportingcast.fm/

Also available through Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/0qcRm8x3W7gpbFjOk78Z6L

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

This episode doesn't have too much to do with the First World War, but it was really fun to do. My great friend Jake has been asking me to do this for a while, saying that the BFWWP community doesn't know enough about me personally. So, we got together and made it happen.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

Great War historian and writer Alex Lyons joined me on an evening in the UK to let us into a very personal and ground-level account of a French soldier in the First World War: through the letters of his great-grandfather, Jules André Destrigneville.

Alex has been composing tweets of Jules' letters, cross-referenced against unit histories, orders, and other soldiers' accounts. He has also written articles for the Great War Group's excellent publication, Salient Points. Having the time to talk with Alex about his great-grandfather's experiences and the general experience of French soldiers in World War I was an immensely rewarding time, and I think you'll enjoy it.

Correction: deep into the episode Alex and I discuss some of the ranks in the French Army, specifically those of sous-officiers and officiers.

Sous-officiers are those of NonCommissioned Officers, and are the ranks of Caporal, Sergeant, and Adjutant and their various grades. Officiers are officer ranks, beginning at Sous Lieutenant and going all the way up to Général.

Follow Alex on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ri315e

Link for the Great War Group: https://greatwargroup.com/

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

Robert J. Laplander and I collaborated on creating an audiobook version of his book "Finding the Lost Battalion: Beyond the Rumors, Myths and Legends of America's Famous WW1 Epic" and here it finally is.

The audio version of "Finding the Lost Battalion" comes to you in podcast form, ready to download and provide nearly 36 hours of the retelling of America's WW1 epic of devastating modern battle and indomitable bravery under horrific conditions.

Purchase here for $25 USD:

https://battlesofthefirstworldwar.supportingcast.fm/

Also available through Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/0qcRm8x3W7gpbFjOk78Z6L

Available for purchase as a gift as well. We do hope you will enjoy this unforgettable story.

Many thanks to Cullen Burke of the Cauldron Podcast: A History of the World Battle by Battle, who recorded the intro announcement and legal notes for us. Cullen has a voice made for this sort of thing.

Cullen's podcast:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cauldron-a-military-history-podcast/id1345505888

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.