In this stand-alone episode we are going up over the battlefields and the fronts to take a 10,000 meter (that’s 30,000ft) view of the Great War, specifically prosecuting that war through the framework of coalition warfare. We’re going to take a look at the challenges of command within a warfighting coalition.  New Ypres League, where to join -   New Ypres League vzw: www.newypresleague.com Want to join Lost Battalion Tours in 2025?   Email us: [email protected] ...

Historian Michel Gravel comes on the podcast to discuss his focus on First World War history: the efforts of Canadian soldiers in the battles between Arras and Cambrai, France in 1918.    There may be a few awkward cuts in the flow of the conversation as our internet connection was frequently unstable. Sorry about that.  Michel’s works can be found here:   https://ysec.fr/?s=Michel+Gravel&post_type=product   Michel’s GoFundMe for “La place Joseph Kaeble, VC, MM,” in...

A short recap of the recent six (6!) weeks spent in France and Belgium on the Old Front Line. Have you ever had an extraordinary and unforgettable day on a trip or vacation? This was extraordinary and unforgettable days every day for six weeks straight.    Special episode features: Neighborhood dads riding at dawn to mow their lawns, and one of the cats complaining that he can’t get into my recording space.    Lost Battalion Tours - Get on our mailing list! Email:...

A short episode inspired by a visit to the German Soldatenfriedhof in Liny-devant-Dun, France. 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 Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at [email protected]....

Author Bill MIlls comes on the podcast to discuss his book Agent of the Iron Cross: The Race to Capture German Saboteur-Assassin Lothar Witzke during World War I.   Spies, deception, intrigue, and sabotage: these are not the stories we usually think when we think WW1. They are part of this story, though.   Buy the book here: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538182086/Agent-of-the-Iron-Cross-The-Race-to-Capture-German-Saboteur-Assassin-Lothar-Witzke-during-World-War-I   The BFWWP is on...

A look at the United States’ efforts in the First World War, the efforts of the American Expeditionary Force on the battlefield, and what the Doughboys showed and taught 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 Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at...

Former Tennessee Park Ranger David Brady comes on the podcast to speak further on the AEF’s 30th Division, its 119th Infantry Regiment, and his great grandfather–a Doughboy who saw action with those units.   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 Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on...

This is a release of a former Patreon-only episode.    Elements of the German 8th Army push to outflank and encircle the Russian 2nd Army, while outmaneuvered Russian soldiers fight desperately yet resolutely.    The Russian 2nd Army is surrounded, sealing their fate. The only tactical victory of the First World War ends in a stunning Russian defeat.   More of Aislingeach’s awesome music is here:   https://aislingeach.bandcamp.com/ The BFWWP is on Patreon:...

Historian Pat Gang comes on the podcast to discuss the AEF 2nd Corps, the 27th (New York National Guard) and 30th (Tennessee National Guard) Divisions.    Pat’s musings on football and history can be found here: https://www.volnation.com/forum/members/onemangang.535/   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 Twitter at...

A short review of Ann Hood’s “The Stolen Child,” a new book to be released in May 2024.  Book link here: https://www.annhood.us/   Order it from your local bookstore so that you support your local businesses.    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 Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast...

This is a release of a former Patreon-only episode.    The German 8th Army receives two new leaders: Hindenburg and Ludendorff. They rush to stave off the Russian 2nd Army’s invasion from Russian Poland to the south. A classic battle of maneuver, modernized with modern weapons and heavy casualties, plays out. Corps, divisions, and brigades collide with each other as each seeks to turn their enemy’s flanks.    Aislingeach’s awesome music is here!   https://aislingeach.bandcamp.com/ ...

Ypres Battlefield Tours guide and author Roger Steward joins Professor Mark Connelly of the University of Kent, Canterbury, to discuss a new remembrance project: the New Ypres League.    A remembrance project aimed at preserving the memory of soldiers from all nations who fell in the Ypres Salient during the Great War, the New Ypres League is based on the original Ypres League that was present in Ypres in the years after the First World War. Where to join -   New Ypres League vzw:...

A review of Lawrence Kaplan’s new book, “Pershing’s Tankers: Personal Accounts of the AEF Tank Corps in World War I,” and a couple of excerpts from men of the AEF 301st Tank Battalion.   Book link here:   https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=Pershing%27s+Tankers   Order it from your local bookstore so that you support your local businesses.  The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.    Any questions, comments or concerns please contact...

This is a release of a former Patreon-only episode.    The Germans and Russians are ready to fight, and each gives battle. The Russian 1st Army invades East Prussia from the east, and meets German 8th Army forces at Stallupönen. Both sides clash again at Gumbinnen, where the Germans suffer a stinging defeat that sets off a panic within 8th Army headquarters.    The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.    Any questions, comments or concerns...

This is a release of a former Patreon-only episode.    The beginning of World War I in the summer of 1914 saw Germany faced with fighting a two-front war. Its legions marched into France to defeat that nation first, while in the east just one field army was tasked with holding back an inevitable Russian invasion. This episode will set the stage for the opening of the Great War’s Eastern Front.    The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.    Any...

Author and historian Dr. Allison Finkelstein comes on the podcast to discuss her book, Forgotten Veterans, Invisible Memorials: How American Women Commemorated the Great War, 1917-1945.   From Dr. Finkelstein’s website: In Forgotten Veterans, Invisible Memorials: How American Women Commemorated the Great War, 1917–1945, Allison S. Finkelstein argues that American women activists considered their own community service and veteran advocacy to be forms of commemoration just as significant and...

Part 4 of the ongoing discussion looks at the French Army in 1915: an often overlooked year, it was a year of “carnage, optimism, and learning,” as Alex says in the talk. Fighting to keep pressure on the German invader and relieve pressure on the WW1 Russian Front, the French faced a long year where that optimism took several body blows; it was a year where the French Poilu learned this would be a long and terrible war.     This was a fascinating conversation as always, and you really need...

New year, new opportunity to see the AEF battlefields of France! That’s right, Rob and I are launching the 2024 Lost Battalion Tours Meuse-Argonne Tour.  Tour dates are July 03 - 09, 2024, and we’ll be visiting the following stops:   - Vauquois Hill and the 35th Division area, - the Montfaucon Memorial - Hill 285 and Le Chene Tondu in the Argonne, - the Crown Prince’s bunker complex, - the German war cemetery near Apremont, - Exermont, - a Medal of Honor Day visiting the sites...

An early Christmas gift for the BFWWP community--the battle of Fismes in summer 1918. This was a Patreon release, so you'll hear the old scores used in the episode.   Following the German Friedensturm offensive in July 1918, the Allies struck back with a counteroffensive that shifted the momentum of the war in the Allies’ favor. Through the rest of July the Germans retreated from their Marne salient, steadily pursued by the French and American forces.   When the Germans retreated behind...

The Hello Girls of the WW1 US Army have never been officially recognized for the groundbreaking service they provided as America’s first women soldiers. In this call to action, an incredible group of people came on to talk about why the Hello Girls should receive the Congressional Gold Medal.   Joining us are:   Ms. Catherine Bourgin, granddaughter of Hello Girl Marie Edmee LeRoux Mr. Daniel Dayton, Executive Director of the World War I Centennial Commission Dr. Allison S. Finkelstein,...

Historian, novelist, and documentary filmmaker Dr. Elizabeth Cobbs joins the podcast to discuss her 2019 book on the story of the US Army Signal Corps’ “Hello Girls,” the American Army’s first female soldiers.    Book link: http://elizabethcobbs.com/the-hello-girls   Elizabeth Cobbs’ website: http://elizabethcobbs.com/   Support a Congressional Gold Medal for the WWI Hello Girls!   ...

Historian Peter Belmonte joins the podcast to discuss his latest collaboration with Alexander Barnes on lesser known aspects of the United States’ participation in the First World War. The story of how the AEF was supplied with “bullets, bandages, and beans” is just as fascinating as the tales we’ve often heard from the front.   Book link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63389152-bullets-bandages-and-beans   Johnson Hagood’s “The Services of Supply: A Memoir of the Great War” Link: ...

In the last days of the First World War, the Americans continued to pursue and batter German forces as they retreated behind the River Meuse. Even as armistice negotiations began, the AEF continued attacking.    It kept doing so until the guns fell silent at 11:00 am on the 11th of November, 1918.    Interested in the 2024 Lost Battalion Tours’ Meuse-Argonne battlefield tour?    Email us: [email protected] The BFWWP is on Patreon:...

Dr. Clint Heacock of the Mindshift Podcast joins us to discuss his second-favorite subject, the First World War. Today he talks to us about the life and experiences of Phillip Gibbs, a British war correspondent during the Great War.   Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/   “Now It Can Be Told” by Philip Gibbs: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3317 Interested in the 2024 Lost Battalion Tours’ Meuse-Argonne battlefield tour?    Email us: [email protected] ...