Podcasts about mametz wood

Imagine you are a Scottish soldier and you're handed a pair of wire cutters, then told to cross no man's land and open the wire in front of the German trenches in the midst of one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War.   Those were the orders given to Private James Arthur Heysham Johnstone of the 5th Battalion (Scottish Rifles)—known as the Cameronians—near Mametz Wood on the night of July 19-20, 1916. It was less than three weeks into the 141-day Somme offensive and the losses had already been staggering.

In this episode, I describe the uncoordinated attacks around Thiepval, Ovillers, La Boisselle, Contalmaison, Mametz Wood and Trônes Wood, in the first two weeks of July 1916. We then look at the night attack which captured Bazentin Ridge, early on 14 July. Next come the fighting for Pozières, High Wood, Longueval, Delville Wood and Guillemont.

We return to the Somme this week and walk the ground from Dantzig Alley Cemetery to Mametz Wood, looking at the Manchester Pals, Generals killed on front line and the Welsh Volunteers who fought and died at Mametz Wood in July 1916. Our object this week is a unique photograph taken by an officer on the Somme.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/oldfrontline)

Between the 3rd and 12th of July 1916, the British struggled to capture Mametz Wood. This episode covers the grinding fight conducted almost exclusively by the 17th and 38th (Welsh) Divisions.   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. We're also on Twitter! Follow us at @WW1podcast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen.

Rob Hudson is a photographer based in Cardiff and was our first interviewee as part of the Ffoton project. We interviewed him on location at BlackMill wood near Bridgend that inspired his enigmatic and poetical work on Mametz Wood: a battle where so many Welsh Soldiers perished during World War 1.

Lecture on Siegfried Sassoon given at the Imperial War Museum, London, 12th November 2011. How did Siegfried Sassoon, whose first patriotic outpourings are almost more Brooke-like than those of Rupert Brooke himself, come to write the bitter war-satires for which he has become famous? Many factors went into the making of 'Mad Jack' - the death of his younger brother at Gallipoli in November 1915, the loss of his great love, David Thomas, and his 'dear' bombing sergeant, Mick O'Brian, in early 1916, and the first day of the Somme, which he witnessed on 1 July that same year. But it was the gruesome aftermath of the battle of Mametz Wood which finally brought home to him the grim realities of war. Presented by the Siegfried Sassoon Fellowship with support from The Wilfred Owen Association.

Colin Hughes, author of David Jones: the man who was on the field (1979), discusses his friendship with poet and artist David Jones and his research on the Battle of Mametz Wood.