Memorial Day - "The Young Dead Soldiers Do Not Speak"
Battles of the First World War Podcast
Release Date: 05/25/2026
Second Marne - The Period of Waiting
Battles of the First World War Podcast
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,...
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New Jersey’s Role in World War I - with LTC (Ret.) Richard Wasserman
Battles of the First World War Podcast
***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...
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Matz - La Mort du Sergent Jules Héme
Battles of the First World War Podcast
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: and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.
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Second Marne - Friedensturm
Battles of the First World War Podcast
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: and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns. ...
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Memorial Day - "The Young Dead Soldiers Do Not Speak"
Battles of the First World War Podcast
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...
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Citizen of the Shadows - The Lives and Lies of Lothar Witzke
Battles of the First World War Podcast
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...
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There Will Come Soft Rains - with Briana Gervat
Battles of the First World War Podcast
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. ...
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John McCrae: Beyond Flanders Fields - with Susan Raby-Dunne
Battles of the First World War Podcast
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...
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The French Army in the First World War, a Discussion: Pt 7, Pt 1
Battles of the First World War Podcast
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...
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British Doctrine in the Great War with Phil Watson
Battles of the First World War Podcast
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 with your ideas! Be sure to watch...
info_outlineA 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:
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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