Tales from the Battlefields

In this episode we travel to St Pol and discover a memorial to the Unknown Warrior and the tragic story of 3 soldiers buried together who were “Shot at Dawn”. What is their story? We then walk the September 1916 Somme battlefield from Bazentin to Martinpuich and discover the “iron harvest” along the way and find out why so many Germans surrendered. Within a cemetery on the battlefield, we find 3 Newfoundland soldiers who were killed at Beaumont Hamel on 1st July 1916. But why are they buried so far away from where they fell?

In this episode we broadcast live from the village of Ovillers, in the heart of the 1916 Somme battlefield. We discover a quiet field known as “Mash Valley”, and discover the horror and terror that men of the 8th and 12th Divisions saw here in the first few days of July 1916. We hear the words of the men who were there, and discover the stories of some of the men who are buried in Ovillers Military Cemetery. We also discover the story of a French soldier, killed in Ovillers in December 1914. We also learn the story of a Lt Colonel who took his own life after wishing he had died with his men, and visit the grave of Captain John Lauder, son of the famous entertainer Harry Lauder.

In this episode we continue the story of Alfred Adams. Through his own words and others from both sides of the wire, we discover what happened on 21st March 1918. This was the first day of the German Spring Offensive. Alfred was wounded and captured on this day, and we find out what it was like to be surrounded by the enemy, forced to throw down your weapons and surrender, without knowing what will happen next. We follow Alfred’s journey from the battlefield, to a POW camp, to his final resting place in Cologne.

In this episode we follow the journey of Conscientious Objector Alfred Adams, who didn’t want to fight but became a Stretcher Bearer. We discover his story through a narrative and a series of emotional letters that he sent to his wife Alice, at home in England. How did his strong religious belief help him deal with the awful conditions at Passchendaele? We find out how he used the letters to reassure Alice that he was safe and sound, sparing her the dreadful truth. Alfred’s Grandson Geoff Allen reads his powerful words, and attempts to make sense of his Grandfather’s thoughts from over 100 years ago.

In this episode we explore the story of the 3rd Battalion of the Monmouthshire Regiment during 7 days on the Ypres battlefield in May 1915. We discover what Ypres looked like before it was destroyed by shellfire. We learn of the tragic story of the father and son who died on the same day. And how almost the entire battalion was wiped out, mainly because of a terrific artillery bombardment on their shallow trenches. We discover how a young Officer saved the life of one of his men by using his body as a shield, and the Welshman who was captured but returned home and celebrated 50 years of marriage in 1969.