“The Battalion: Citizen Soldiers at War on the Western Front” A Discussion with Dr. Ian Isherwood
Battles of the First World War Podcast
Release Date: 02/09/2025
Second Marne - Blücher-Yorck
Battles of the First World War Podcast
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. ...
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Remembering Victoria Cross Recipients with Ron Howard and Adam Pearce
Battles of the First World War Podcast
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...
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Fighting the Kaiser’s War: The Saxons in Flanders 1914/1918
Battles of the First World War Podcast
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:” 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...
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Searching for John DeWitt - A Discussion with John Chase, MD
Battles of the First World War Podcast
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...
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Demarcation Stones Fundraiser with Roger Steward and Dr Dominiek Dendooven
Battles of the First World War Podcast
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: 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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Second Marne - Directive No. 4
Battles of the First World War Podcast
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...
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“Bicycling My Grandfather’s WW1 Journey” - A Discussion with Brett Hawkes
Battles of the First World War Podcast
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: and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns. ...
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Ypres - Demarcation Stone Fundraiser
Battles of the First World War Podcast
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: 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,...
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“An Unladylike Profession” by Chris Dubbs - American Women War Correspondents in WW1
Battles of the First World War Podcast
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: “An Unladylike Profession” by Chris Dubbs - Edith Wharton’s articles: Mary Roberts Rinehart’s “Kings, Queens and Pawns - An American Woman at the Front:” Nellie Bly articles: The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast. Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me...
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“Loaned for the Summer” - A Discussion with Craig DeSteiguer
Battles of the First World War Podcast
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: The BFWWP is on Patreon:...
info_outlineDr. 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:
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.
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