WW1 Digger History Podcast29 Kesä 2016

Episode 1.8 Blinkin' bleedin' mad

This episode covers much of 1917 including The 2nd Battle of Bullecourt and "Passchendaele" or the 3rd Ypres offensive. Len as usual provides great insight into the life of a digger on the western front. His description of signalling during the Battles of Polygon Wood and Broodseinde Ridge are awesome. You'll never forget the "s"es beers!

This episode covers Len's Chapter 8 of his memoirs and is quite long, but that is how he wrote it. Here is some of it:

"In charge of a sergeant, off we went, quite a mob, for Division was also sending up a wireless set. We were loaded with scopes and lamps and we were shelled all the way. Heavy stuff. We missed a lot of congestion going across country, but the ground! It was quite spongy, for underneath were mules, horses, Fritzes and Tommies of 1914 vintage on. And the stench rising from cracked, drying ground was pretty awful. Many of the division chaps, new to this smell, were not looking too good and one chap was promptly very sick over some brand new accumulators he carried. We had some narrow escapes, for we just had to plod on heavily laden. Anyway, he was 'sweeping' all over the place. Looking across to that dreadful Menin Road, I saw mules, men and ammo go up with a roar. Noise everywhere and up aloft scores of planes: Fritz planes, very aggressive. In fact, he seemed definitely to be 'on top', new Fokkers, etc. The dog fights fascinated us but on we went."

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Episode 2.36 The sports strike

In this episode, Percy continues officer training. He practices code, unfortunately no one seems to be able to break it. I guess that means he knew what he was doing. He spends his third Christmas awa...

2 Marras 201748min

Episode 2.35 A very manly letter

In this episode Percy is at Cambridge training to be an officer. He and Dorrie are busted by her Dad and have a lot of explaining to do. He visits his new sister-in-law, Mary near Londonderry in Irela...

22 Loka 201746min

Episode 2.34 Passchendaele One grows callous

Once the sighing whine of a shell in flight ended with a savage hiss and an explosion just behind our dug-out, and I felt the sandbag wall heave in several inches. "That one nearly smashed our dug-out...

7 Loka 201749min

Episode 2.33 Passchendaele Over the duckboards

Percy has finally left Blighty, crosses the channel and ... "After crossing the ridge we left the duckboards and struck off to the right through the sloppy slippery mud, picking our way in and out bet...

20 Syys 201745min

Episode 2.32 The party is over and so is the parting

Wouldn't you know it, Percy found his soul mate and then gets whisked back to war. Nevermind, he wants that promotion so he can afford a house for his "little girl" when the war is over. The parting i...

3 Syys 201744min

Episode 2.31 Dodging Dorothy's Dad

This one starts with Percy coming back from leave and within two days he looks up Dorothy, the jewel of a girl he met on the train. Not a slow worker, our Perce, they are engaged in less than a month!...

19 Elo 201741min

Episode 2.30 Percy finds a jewel

There were almost 13,000 war brides to diggers in WW1 according to the Australian War Memorial. Brother Vern found Mary in Ireland, but what about Percy? Well, our Casanova finally meets his "one and ...

11 Elo 201745min

Episode 2.29 Death of a brother

"He felt no pain and knew nothing of the terror of approaching the brink!" So wrote one of the Smythe brothers to Percy. Which brother dies? Well, you'll have to listen. That letter is read in this ep...

29 Heinä 201743min