Tales from the Battlefields

Terry Whenham

Podcast telling the unheard stories of men who served on the Western Front during World War 1. Listen to the stories of soldiers told by Terry Whenham, battlefield guide and researcher. I have been researching these stories for over 20 years and can now share incredible experiences of ordinary men and women. Who were these soldiers? How did they die? What is their legacy? How do we remember them?

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28 episodes
weekly
Avg 54 min
English

Episodes 28

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#173
May 5 · 53 min
173: Killed in Action, Buried by his Comrades and Back to Blighty
In this episode we explore the incredible story of Machine Gunner Robert Hynd, whose dead body was identified during the Battle of Arras and buried by his comrades. But it wasn’t him…he had been taken Prisoner of War and was in Germany. For 3 long months his parents thought he was dead until they received a post card from him. How did this happen? What was the impact on the family? We find out through the words of Robert himself. We also meet the sister of a casualty who describes, and draws, the battlefield in 1919. Helen McKie later became the only woman, in 1931, to sketch the future Fuhrer. We also discover some other incredible stories on the Arras battlefields.
#172
April 17 · 50 min
172: Following in the Footsteps of a Royal Fusilier at Arras
In this episode we travel to the 1917 Arras battlefield following in the footsteps of Sgt Fred Height, 9th Royal Fusiliers. Fred was killed on the first day of the battle and has no known grave. We follow his journey from his home in Northamptonshire to France, and walk the battlefield where his battalion advanced. We discover a possible grave for Fred in a nearby cemetery. We also talk to 15 year old Harry, who reads a poem he wrote after visiting the mine craters on the Somme battlefield.
#171
April 9 · 1 hr 10 min
171: The Canadians Success at Vimy Ridge with Samantha McCrea
In this episode we travel to Vimy Ridge and discover how the Canadian Divisions came together to storm the German defences on Easter Monday 1917. We talk to Canadian historian Samantha McCrae and she explains how a Canadian soldier was awarded the Victoria Cross for his brave actions, but was killed in the process. And how a medic gave his life treating the wounded. We also discover how the Canadians planned and executed the attack and why tunnels, a model of the battlefield, heavy artillery and even the weather played a part in their incredible success. What does this battle mean to Canadians today? We find out.
#170
April 3 · 53 min
170: Following in their Footsteps on a Battlefield Tour
In this episode we travel to the Somme battlefield of 1916 and 1918, and beyond, following in the footsteps of 5 soldiers. I tell their stories during a battlefield tour with their families. We learn how two of them were captured during the German Spring Offensive. One survived and one didn’t return home. We discover how a Northumberland Fusilier was killed and his grave lost. But did we find his final resting place? And the Ambulance Driver whose job it was to transport casualties to the medical units. But why did he end up on a charge? We also visit the Loos battlefield to discover a soldier killed on the first day of the battle. We also have another “battlefield coincidence.
#169
March 27 · 51 min
169: The Arras Cemeteries – Part 1
In this episode we wander around some the small and isolated cemeteries of the Arras battlefield. We discover a tank crew with touching headstones. What is their story? And the story of the 8th Baron of Lucas, who was an amputee but still became a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps. We discover the amazing coincidence when we opened the visitor’s book in Wancourt British Cemetery. And the driver who was killed by a “booby trap” following the German withdrawal from the Somme. We also look at what these men achieved in their lives and consider what they could have achieved had they survived the Great War.
#168
March 20 · 48 min
168: A Somme Walk around Martinpuich
In this episode we travel to St Pol and discover a memorial to the Unknown Warrior and the tragic story of 3 soldiers buried together who were “Shot at Dawn”. What is their story? We then walk the September 1916 Somme battlefield from Bazentin to Martinpuich and discover the “iron harvest” along the way and find out why so many Germans surrendered. Within a cemetery on the battlefield, we find 3 Newfoundland soldiers who were killed at Beaumont Hamel on 1st July 1916. But why are they buried so far away from where they fell?
#167
March 13 · 52 min
167: Ovillers – The First Few Days of July 1916
In this episode we broadcast live from the village of Ovillers, in the heart of the 1916 Somme battlefield. We discover a quiet field known as “Mash Valley”, and discover the horror and terror that men of the 8th and 12th Divisions saw here in the first few days of July 1916. We hear the words of the men who were there, and discover the stories of some of the men who are buried in Ovillers Military Cemetery. We also discover the story of a French soldier, killed in Ovillers in December 1914. We also learn the story of a Lt Colonel who took his own life after wishing he had died with his men, and visit the grave of Captain John Lauder, son of the famous entertainer Harry Lauder.
#166
March 5 · 46 min
166: A Conscientious Objector/Stretcher Bearer Part 2
In this episode we continue the story of Alfred Adams. Through his own words and others from both sides of the wire, we discover what happened on 21st March 1918. This was the first day of the German Spring Offensive. Alfred was wounded and captured on this day, and we find out what it was like to be surrounded by the enemy, forced to throw down your weapons and surrender, without knowing what will happen next. We follow Alfred’s journey from the battlefield, to a POW camp, to his final resting place in Cologne.

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