Trench Talk - Chris Sams and the Battle of Jutland
Send us a textWelcome to the first Trench Talk of Season 7!It's a real pleasure to be joined by naval historian and writer Chris Sams as we talk about the Battle of Jutland in 1916. The long-awaited showdown between the Royal Navy and the Kriegsmarine turned into an unexpectedly bad day for the British. We look at what happened that afternoon off the coast of Denmark and talk about other naval matters in this fascinating and wide-ranging conversation.Chris' book on the German navy can be found here.Support the podcast:https://www.patreon.com/footstepsofthefallenhttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/footstepsblog
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1:03:02
"I can't find the damned things!" - Ploegsteert to Le Gheer
Send us a textWelcome to the first episode of 2025!Today, we head to Belgium and walk a less-trodden route south of Plugstreet Wood towards the hamlet of Le Gheer. From the village of Ploegsteert, we head south and east across the farmer's fields to discover the long-lost history of this part of the battlefield. These seemingly bare fields tell the story of the rank and file of the Allied infantry who fought and died in this so-called quiet sector of the front. There is much to be found if one knows where to look.We meet the famous (latterly very famous) 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers commander, a certain Mr W.S Churchill, hear the sad story of an officer's death through an appalling piece of treachery, discover the unpleasant and dangerous work of "pond duty", and contemplate how McKenna's bridge got its name.Support the podcast:https://www.patreon.com/footstepsofthefallenhttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/footstepsblog
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1:00:07
Out of money and out of luck - life beyond the trenches
Send us a textWelcome to the final episode of 2024!One of the great misnomers of WW1 is that soldiers spent all their time in the trenches fighting. Fighting battles took up a tiny amount of soldiers' time, so what did soldiers do when not in the line?In this episode, we look at life behind the lines, where soldiers had the opportunity to spend their pay on treats to make soldiering more bearable. Many soldiers indulged in the age-old vices of women and gambling; gambling was technically illegal, but thousands of francs were known to change hands through unscrupulous soldiers using loaded dice to stack odds firmly in their favour. We look at the ubiquitous concert parties, hear about the leave lottery endured by soldiers, and discover why being a competent "anchor-man" was a financially enviable position. We also hear the sad story of Basil Radford, "Gilbert the Filbert", one of Edwardian theatre's greatest dandies who met a terrible end on the battlefields of France. Footsteps of the Fallen will be back in 2025!Support the podcasthttps://www.patreon.com/footstepsofthefallenhttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/footstepsblog
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1:01:53
Feeding Tommy
Send us a textA famous saying asserts that an army marches on its stomach, and in this episode, we examine food and drink for men on the front line. The challenge of feeding an army was immense, and the war office employed science to calculate the exact calorific intake needed by a soldier to survive.Feeding the men was one thing; feeding them something palatable was something else. We look at trench rations, from the infamous Army Biscuits to cans of "dog vomit," and see that the culinary life of a soldier in the trenches was not a happy one. Occasionally, however, comfort came in mysterious ways, as men of the Hampshire Regiment found out when the Germans shelled the canal near Cuinchy and provided an unexpected and welcome treat. Alcohol played an essential part in soldiers' lives from all sides, and we discover more about the daily rum ration, "Pinard", and celebratory German beer mugs. We learn the origin of the phrase "to be on the fiddle", and hear about how excessive alcohol consumption caused huge problems for the Germans advancing in March 1918. Support the podcast:https://www.patreon.com/footstepsofthefallenhttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/footstepsblog
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57:35
Liquid fire
Send us a textIn the early hours of the 30th July 1915, men of the Rifle Brigade and Kings Royal Rifle Corps were attacked near Hooge by German soldiers using a new and appalling weapon of war - liquid fire. The subsequent counter-attack that afternoon by the British was a military disaster that could have been avoided had the protests of senior commanders in the line been listened to.We examine what happened that day, discover the story of the man who won the first VC for the new armies, and meet the enigmatic and eloquent "Student in Arms."Support the podcast:https://www.patreon.com/footstepsofthefallenhttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/footstepsblog