Meuse Argonne – The Lost Battalion, Pt 2: The First Day (featuring Robert J. Laplander)

Having established a perimeter on a steep hillside in the Charlevaux Ravine, a force of some 700 men under US MAJ Charles Whittlesey digs in to await reinforcements and further orders. 

 

Soon realizing they are surrounded, Whittlesey puts out an order: No falling back. The position is to be held at all costs. The Germans put that order to the test on October 3rd, 1918. 

 

The only book you need to read on the Lost Battalion: 

 

https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B06X6N13V8&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_BYXX2G0SGFR7DK0MB2X7

 

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!

Meuse Argonne – The Lost Battalion, Pt 1: Into the Charlevaux (featuring Robert J. Laplander)

On October 1st, 1918, fresh from being relieved from encirclement in the Small Pocket on l’Homme Mort, the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 308th Infantry Regiment are ordered to attack into the Argonne yet again. 

 

Led by MAJ Charles Whittlesey, the two battalions plunge into the Ravin d’Argonne, and on October 2nd, the Americans break through the German lines and into Charlevaux Ravine. The story of the Lost Battalion has begun.

 

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!

A WW1 Battle on American Soil? A Discussion on the “Creek Draft Rebellion” of 1918

Listener discretion advised: This episode contains some language, as well as racial terms and themes that are considered offensive. These terms and themes are being used here in the context of the First World War era. 

 

Ok, so the episode title is a lackluster attempt at clickbait. But if I have gotten you to click on to this episode, do please stay. What follows is an interesting discussion on a now little-known incident that occurred In Henryetta, Oklahoma during June of 1918. Labeled the  “Creek Draft Rebellion” by sensationalist journalists, a dispute between Creek Nation Native Americans and a local merchant was soon morphed into an anti-government and anti-conscription uprising. 

 

Historian and Oklahoma native James Gregory joins me in a discussion of the context of the events surrounding the so-called rebellion, the event itself, the aftermath, and whether the rebellion really happened at all. 

 

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. Spread the word! Tell your friends to subscribe to the podcast. 


Check out this episode!

CEMA in Action: “In Soldier’s Clothes” Photos by James Valls

Photos by James Valls of the cast and crew of “In Soldier’s Clothes” already putting CEMA trenches through their paces.

A film inspired by the true story of Dorothy Lawrence, a woman who posed as a British soldier during the Great War in order to report from the front.
Dorothy Lawrence, as played by Lucinda Turner, making her way through the line.
Follow “In Soldier’s Clothes” at the following accounts:
Instagram – @insoldiersclothesfilm
Facebook – @insoldiersclothesfilm

Follow “In Soldier’s Clothes” at the following accounts:
Instagram – @insoldiersclothesfilm
Facebook – @insoldiersclothesfilm

Breaking Ground at CEMA: Photos by Tommy Pengilley

Ground breaks at the Centre for Military Archeology in Kent, England! Photos by Tommy Pengilley.

Reworking some old paintball trenches. 🙂
Scrapes in the earth will soon become replica trenches of the Railway Wood trench system that could be found in the Ypres Salient.
Local crew building the line. God, what I’d give to be there.
Duckboards
Duckboards and trench supports.
Construction of a firestep.

The Centre for Experimental Military Archaeology (CEMA): The New Project by Andy Robertshaw and Ross Barnwell

Come join the conversation on the new Centre for Experimental Military Archaeology (CEMA) being developed by Mr. Andy Robertshaw and Mr. Ross Barnwell. This is a new project that promises to bring history not only alive, but interconnected with today’s global world. 

 

Mr. Robertshaw is a former teacher turned historian and historical consultant for such films as Peter Jackson’s They Shall Not Grow Old and Sam Mendes’ recent hit 1917. And he also played a role in Steven Spielberg’s film Warhorse, which I did not know about until now!

 

Ross Barnwell is the creative force behind 8000ft Media, which produced the short film Beaumont-Hamel, named after the infamous village on the 1916 Somme battlefield. The film focused on 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. 

 

To learn more about CEMA, check out the following link:

 

https://www.cema.education/

 

Follow Andy, Ross, and their team breaking ground through their Instagram account: 

https://www.instagram.com/cemahistory/

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!

A Review of Richard Merry’s Book “The Great War in the Argonne Forest: French and American Battles, 1914–1918”

A short review of Richard Merry’s new book, “The Great War in the Argonne Forest: French and American Battles, 1914–1918.”

 

Book link here:

 

https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/The-Great-War-in-the-Argonne-Forest-Hardback/p/18595

 

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 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!

Champagne – Blanc Mont, Pt 4 (with thanks to Steven Girard)

The raw and untested AEF 36th Division relieves the bled-out AEF 2nd Division on Blanc Mont ridge. These Texas-Oklahoma Doughboys will continue to push past the bloody ridge to keep the pressure on the slowly-retreating German Army. 

 

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!

Champagne – Blanc Mont, Pt 3 (featuring Steven Girard)

Having seized part of Blanc Mont and ground beyond, the Marines and Doughboys of the 2nd Division AEF sought to continue to push back the ruptured German lines. They faced days of unimaginable bloodletting as the Germans fought doggedly for every meter of ground.

 

Be sure to check out “Fix Bayonets! First World War Podcast,” where I have teamed up with Nicole Chicarelli of The War Project on Instagram and Cullen Burke of the Cauldron Podcast (A History of the World Battle by Battle) to tell the story of WW1 from three views: strategic, tactical, and most importantly…human.

 

Fix Bayonets! First World War Podcast: https://feeds.simplecast.com/7FISmQ37

 

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!

Champagne – Blanc Mont, Pt 2 (featuring Steven Girard)

On October 3rd, 1918, the Doughboys and Marines of the 2nd Division, AEF, hurled themselves against a hitherto impregnable German fortress: Blanc Mont ridge, the key to German defenses in Champagne. 

 

Podcast promo! If you’re interested in a daily podcast that gives you a short episode on anything from the history of the US penny to the Tunguska Event of 1908, then you need to head over to Gary Arndt’s “Everything Everywhere” podcast. 

 

Everything Everywhere podcast: https://everythingeverywherepodcast.libsyn.com/rss

 

Also, very excited to announce that I have teamed up with Nicole Chicarelli of The War Project on Instagram and Cullen Burke of the Cauldron Podcast (A History of the World Battle by Battle) to launch a new podcast project called “Fix Bayonets! First World War Podcast.”

 

The story of WW1, from three view: strategic, tactical, and most importantly…human.

 

Fix Bayonets! First World War Podcast: https://feeds.simplecast.com/7FISmQ37

 

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!