Author: Mike

Randy Gaulke, WW1 historian and founder of Knee Deep in History Tours, returns to the podcast to talk about the state of the German Army in October 1918. 

 

Join Randy at Knee Deep Into History:

 

Randy’s bibliography:

 

Asprey, Robert B. The German High Command at War: Hindenburg and Ludendorff Conduct WW1.

 

Lengel, Edward G., Editor. A Companion to the Meuse-Argonne Campaign. Wiley Blackwell, 2014.

 

McEntee, Girard Lindsley, Col. US Army (Retired). Military History of The World War: A Complete Account of the Campaigns on all Fronts Accompanied by 456 Maps and Diagrams. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1943.

 

Moyer, Laurence. Victory Must be Ours: Germany in the Great War, 1914-1918. Hippocrene Books, New York.

 

United States War Office. Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions of the German Army which Participated in the War (1914-1918), London Stamp Exchange LTD., 1989.

 

Watson, Alexander. Enduring the Great War: Combat Morale and Collapse in the German and British Armies, 1914 – 1918. Cambridge University Press, 2009.

 

Zabecki, David T. The German 1918 Offensives: A Case Study in the Operational Level of War.

Routledge, Oxon and New York, 2006.

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 verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Check out this episode!

Part 2 of the ongoing discussion looks at misconceptions about the French Army, and French personalities of the war we should know about but, for reasons, do not. We wrap up with some advice on visiting the French battlefields of the Great War: guide books, how to prepare, what to expect, etc.

 

This was another conversation that deeply impressed me with the breadth and depth of knowledge of the participants. Like I say in the introduction, grab a notebook and a pen, because you are about to learn a lot.

 

Joining us for this discussion are:

 

• Christina Holstein, author of several incredible guides to the Verdun battlefield, amongst other published works and articles,

• Alex Lyons, the man who spends his free time telling us the story of his Poilu great-grandfather on Twitter,

• Steve Marsdin, a student and researcher of the 1914 Battle of the Frontiers and its effects,

• Jim Smithson, author of “A Taste of Success: The First Battle of the Scarpe. The Opening Phase of the Battle of Arras 9-14 April 1917” and two guide books on the Arras battlefields,

• James Taub, Associate Curator at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, PA, and a public historian with a specialty in French history, and its presentation to American audiences.

 

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 verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes. 

 

Check out this episode!

LTG Hunter Liggett took command of the American Expeditionary Force’s 1st Army in October of 1918. He had his work cut out for him–1st Army desperately needed reorganizing, refitting, and retraining. 

 

Robert J. Laplander and I collaborated on creating an audiobook version of his book “Finding the Lost Battalion: Beyond the Rumors, Myths and Legends of America’s Famous WW1 Epic” and here it finally is. 

 

The audio version of “Finding the Lost Battalion” comes to you in podcast form, ready to download and provide nearly 36 hours of the retelling of America’s WW1 epic of devastating modern battle and indomitable bravery under horrific conditions. 

 

Purchase here for $25 USD:

 

https://battlesofthefirstworldwar.supportingcast.fm/

 

Also available through Spotify:

 

https://open.spotify.com/show/0qcRm8x3W7gpbFjOk78Z6L

 

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 verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

 

Check out this episode!

US Army National Guard officer and historian Jonathan Bratten comes on the podcast to discuss his book, “To the Last Man: A National Guard Regiment in the Great War, 1917-1919.” The regiment discussed is the 103rd Infantry Regiment, a unit in the 26th “Yankee” Division. 

 

Jonathan joins us to discuss the 103rd’s engagements in the Meuse-Argonne in October 1918.

Link to the book:

 

https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/combat-studies-institute/csi-books/to-the-last-man.pdf

 

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 verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Check out this episode!

This was so much fun to host–with the help of Alex Lyons, a fantastic group of WW1 enthusiasts were gathered for what will be the first of a multi-part series of discussions of the French Army and the French experience during WW1. 

 

France went to war in 1914 as a country of 40 million people. Its army went to war in 19th century uniforms of dark blue tunics and red trousers, calling up 8.5 million Frenchmen over the next four devastating years. When the guns went silent in November 1918, the Adrian-helmeted and horizon-blue clad PCFs– pauvre con du front, or poor bastards at the front–had seen 1.4 million of their brothers fall on the field of battle, with another 4.2 million wounded–a million of those wounded significantly disabled for the rest of their lives. 

 

Joining us for this discussion are:

• Bart Debeer, who co-wrote a Dutch-language Western Front Guide for Beginners with a friend
• Bryn Hammond, whose blog “Vingt Frong”  aims to “awaken interest in the French experience of the First World War in an English-speaking audience,”
• Alex Lyons, the man who spends his free time telling us the story of his Poilu great-grandfather on Twitter,
• Steve Marsdin, a student and researcher of the 1914 Battle of the Frontiers and its effects,
• Jim Smithson, author of “A Taste of Success: The First Battle of the Scarpe. The Opening Phase of the Battle of Arras 9-14 April 1917” and two guide books on the Arras battlefields,
• Dr. Rich Willis, author of the forthcoming “Fighting for the Butcher: British Troops Fighting in General Mangin’s Xe Armée, July-August 1918”

 

I’m really excited to present this first discussion on these fascinating topics, and I hope you enjoy this first talk. 

 

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 verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes. 

Check out this episode!

The second of a two-episode look at the Commander-in-Chief of the AEF, GEN John J. Pershing, from the personal to the professional.

 

Robert J. Laplander and I collaborated on creating an audiobook version of his book “Finding the Lost Battalion: Beyond the Rumors, Myths and Legends of America’s Famous WW1 Epic” and here it finally is. 

 

The audio version of “Finding the Lost Battalion” comes to you in podcast form, ready to download and provide nearly 36 hours of the retelling of America’s WW1 epic of devastating modern battle and indomitable bravery under horrific conditions. 

 

Purchase here for $25 USD:

 

https://battlesofthefirstworldwar.supportingcast.fm/

 

Also available through Spotify:

 

https://open.spotify.com/show/0qcRm8x3W7gpbFjOk78Z6L

 

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 verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes. 

Check out this episode!

The first of a two-episode look at the Commander-in-Chief of the AEF, GEN John J. Pershing, from the personal to the professional.

 

Link to Roger Steward’s upcoming book: 

 

https://www.helion.co.uk/military-history-books/reclaiming-the-salient-resurrecting-the-great-war-battlegrounds-of-flanders-fields.php?sid=018fc7cc39777a571b22a1bf97452b9e

 

Robert J. Laplander and I collaborated on creating an audiobook version of his book “Finding the Lost Battalion: Beyond the Rumors, Myths and Legends of America’s Famous WW1 Epic” and here it finally is. 

 

The audio version of “Finding the Lost Battalion” comes to you in podcast form, ready to download and provide nearly 36 hours of the retelling of America’s WW1 epic of devastating modern battle and indomitable bravery under horrific conditions. 

 

Purchase here for $25 USD:

 

https://battlesofthefirstworldwar.supportingcast.fm/

 

Also available through Spotify:

 

https://open.spotify.com/show/0qcRm8x3W7gpbFjOk78Z6L

 

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 verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes. 

Check out this episode!

This episode doesn’t have too much to do with the First World War, but it was really fun to do. My great friend Jake has been asking me to do this for a while, saying that the BFWWP community doesn’t know enough about me personally. So, we got together and made it happen. 

 

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 verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes. 

Check out this episode!

Great War historian and writer Alex Lyons joined me on an evening in the UK to let us into a very personal and ground-level account of a French soldier in the First World War: through the letters of his great-grandfather, Jules André Destrigneville.

 

Alex has been composing tweets of Jules’ letters, cross-referenced against unit histories, orders, and other soldiers’ accounts. He has also written articles for the Great War Group’s excellent publication, Salient Points. Having the time to talk with Alex about his great-grandfather’s experiences and the general experience of French soldiers in World War I was an immensely rewarding time, and I think you’ll enjoy it. 

 

Correction: deep into the episode Alex and I discuss some of the ranks in the French Army, specifically those of sous-officiers and officiers.

 

Sous-officiers are those of NonCommissioned Officers, and are the ranks of Caporal, Sergeant, and Adjutant and their various grades. Officiers are officer ranks, beginning at Sous Lieutenant and going all the way up to Général.

 

Follow Alex on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ri315e

 

Link for the Great War Group: https://greatwargroup.com/

 

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 verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes. 

 

Check out this episode!

Robert J. Laplander and I collaborated on creating an audiobook version of his book “Finding the Lost Battalion: Beyond the Rumors, Myths and Legends of America’s Famous WW1 Epic” and here it finally is. 

 

The audio version of “Finding the Lost Battalion” comes to you in podcast form, ready to download and provide nearly 36 hours of the retelling of America’s WW1 epic of devastating modern battle and indomitable bravery under horrific conditions. 

 

Purchase here for $25 USD:

 

https://battlesofthefirstworldwar.supportingcast.fm/

 

Also available through Spotify:

 

https://open.spotify.com/show/0qcRm8x3W7gpbFjOk78Z6L

 

Available for purchase as a gift as well. We do hope you will enjoy this unforgettable story.

 

Many thanks to Cullen Burke of the Cauldron Podcast: A History of the World Battle by Battle, who recorded the intro announcement and legal notes for us. Cullen has a voice made for this sort of thing. 

 

Cullen’s podcast:

 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cauldron-a-military-history-podcast/id1345505888

 

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 verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes. 

Check out this episode!