Mike – Page 15 – Battles of the First World War Podcast

Episode 39: Verdun – Fury in the Desert

With terrible losses and plummeting morale, the French 2nd Army strains to hold the Right Bank after the fall of Fort Vaux. The German 5th Army continues its attacks, focusing on the Ouvrage de Thaiumont – Fleury – Fort Souville ridge line just three miles northeast of Verdun.

In the blazing heat of June, the French and Germans fight desperately in the artillery-plowed lunar landscape. The French fight to hold the line. The Germans fight to break it.

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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.

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Episode 38: Verdun – Vaux

With a new attack on the Right Bank at Verdun, the Germans surround and lay siege to Fort Vaux. But this fort, commanded by the tenacious Major Raynal, will not be surrendered as easily as Fort Douaumont. Raynal and the other poilus trapped inside the fort will put up an epic defense that will last five days.

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Episode 37: Verdun – Dogfights Over Death Ground

While the Battle of Verdun raged on the ground, it raged in the sky as well. Control of the airspace over the battlefield shifted hands several times during the course of the fighting.

All of the famous pilots met and fought at Verdun: the great Guynemer, Navarre, Nungesser, the Lafayette Escadrille on the French side and and the magnificent Oswald Boelcke as well. Planes dived, clashed and shot at each other over the trenches as the German and French air services fought for control of the skies.

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

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Links to 8000ft Media and Battlefield Partnerships

Hi Folks,

Here are the links to Ross Barnwell’s 8000ft Media and Andy Robertshaw’s Battlefield Partnerships:

http://8000ftmedia.com/

http://battlefieldpartnerships.com/

Check them out! 8000ft Media has some great short videos to watch, and Battlefield Partnerships hosts WW1 battlefield tours as well as some research services.

Episode SA6: An Interview with 8000ft Media

What an opportunity! Last week Mr. Ross Barnwell and Mr. Andy Robertshaw came on to the BFWWP to speak about their short film project, Beaumont-Hamel, and WW1 topics in general. What a conversation! Sadly the last three minutes were lost, which has put your host in a funk. Sigh.

Ross Barnwell is one of the two young entrepreneurs behind 8000ft Media, a media company that specializes in factually accurate historical storytelling. 8000ft Media also focuses on film and photography, creating virtual reality, audio, video gaming, Facebook Live talks & lectures, and Facebook advertising. Ross and his business partner Daniel Gandolfi are currently working on a short film titled Beaumont-Hamel, named after the infamous village on the 1916 Somme battlefield. The film will focus on the wartime cinematographer Geoffrey Malins’ experiences as he took 8,000ft of frontline footage on the Somme, the most famous of which is the explosion of the Hawthorn Ridge mine on the morning of the 1st of July, 1916.

Andrew Robertshaw is a historian, broadcaster, and educator. As a leading authority on trench warfare and medical care in the First World War, Andy has been the historical consultant for such films as Steven Spielberg’s Warhorse and the recent action powerhouse Wonder Woman. As the director of Battlefield Partnerships Ltd, Andy also provides battlefield tours, consulting for various television programs, family records searches, and a frankly stunning idea called “Trenches for Teachers,” where trench systems can be brought to schools for a more realistic experience to give to students on what the Great War was really like. All of this amazing work in history comes from a gentleman who began his career as a teacher.

The websites are:

https://www.8000ftmedia.com/

http://battlefieldpartnerships.com/

Hope you enjoy! It was a pleasure to speak with them.

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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.

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

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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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