April 2018 – Battles of the First World War Podcast

Episode 36: Verdun – Back to the Right Bank

With the capture of Hill 304 and le Mort Homme on the Left Bank, the Battle of Verdun shifts back to the Right Bank with a disastrous French attempt to retake Fort Douaumont and ensuing German attacks on the lines there.

GEN Petain is promoted in order to have a more ideologically favorable General Robert Nivelle take over French efforts at Verdun. After the attempt to retake Douaumont by the French fails, the Crown Prince and his 5th Army press on with new attacks aimed at breaking through French lines. Fort Vaux is surrounded and cut off by the Germans.

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Episode SA5: Seicheprey – Cherry Blossoms in Spring

Seicheprey is a little hamlet in the Woëvre, and in April of 1918 it was the scene of the first clash between the newly-arrived American Doughboys and the battle-hardened German soldier.

The Germans set out to teach the Americans a lesson: that they shouldn’t hope to tangle with the German soldier. In return the Americans, despite having a lot to learn, would teach a lesson or two of their own.

Having been overshadowed by titanic clashes elsewhere on the Western Front at the time, the Battle of Seicheprey was a stark and brutal introduction to the American Expeditionary Force of what modern industrial warfare was truly like.

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Episode 35: Verdun – Firepower Kills

The Battle of Verdun widens as the Germans now launch attacks on the Left Bank of the River Meuse.

The battles for le Mort Homme and Hill 304 rage as the French and Germans fight bitterly for every inch of ground.

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Episode SA4: Seicheprey – Doughboys in the Woëvre

In April of 1917 the United States of America formally entered the Great War on the Allied side.

As American Doughboys arrived in France, they would need training and mentoring to prepare for warfare on a scale hitherto unseen. American leadership was adamant however that they remain their own separate army with their own sector of the Western Front. In January 1918, the Americans took over part of the St. Mihiel Salient in the Woëvre, and the stage was set for the first encounter between the Germans and the Americans.

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Episode 34: Verdun – Metastasis

The Battle of Verdun grinds forward as the Germans press their attack on broken French lines following the capture of Fort Douaumont. French Army leadership determines that the lines at Verdun will be held whatever the cost.

General Philippe Petain comes in as commander of French forces and resistance stiffens. The battlefield spreads as the Germans realize they will now need to attack the Left Bank of the Verdun Salient in order to secure their hard-won gains on the Right Bank.

The BFWWP is now on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

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