In a small military plot in a cemetery on the south coast, is a single grave bearing three names: Jim, Simon, and Smith - all Privates in the South African Native Labour Corps. They died on 21st February 1917, and next Wednesday marks the 107th anniversary of the sinking of their ship, the SS Mendi, off St Catherine’s Head on the Isle Of Wight. It was the largest loss of life for non-combatants in the entire first world war.

On 18th September 1916, a unit of the 1st battalion King’s Shropshire Light Infantry formed part of an attack on the Quadrilateral, a heavily defended trench system, north-west of Morval on The Somme. For one Private James Blower, MM, of Shrewsbury, the Battle of Flers-Courcelette would be his final action.

Flight Lieutenant Lee, Major Gable, and a young Dutch schoolgirl and messenger for the resistance, Adrientje Ruston-Hepburn, are the topic of today's podcast.

On 5th August 1916, Lt George Butterworth of the 13th Durham Light Infantry was shot by a sniper during a trench raid near Pozieres. It might’ve been the early end of the life of just another young officer in WW1, but unknown to most of his fellow officers and men, George Sainton Kaye Butterworth was a celebrated composer.  Hear more about Butterworth and others: Coles, Bliss and Vaughan Williams.

14th January 2024 is the 108th anniversary of the death of Pte Joe Strudwick of the 8th Battalion the Rifle Brigade (the Prince Consort´s Own). He died in action at Boezinge in Belgium, aged 15 years and 11 months. He is remembered for being one of the youngest casualties of World War One. This is his story, but also the story of other Teenage Tommies, and those who served well into their 70s and 80s, and those who died at the start of the war, and, as the conflict drew to a close - in an episode entitled The Young, Old, First & Last.

A short review of Season Two with a look at some future plans, some responses to listener feedback and some news updates.

On October 24th 1942, 88 RAF Lancasters from 5 Group took off at lunchtime from bases all over north and eastern England. Their target was the industrial complex of Milan, but this was the first daylight bombing raid, and for one aircraft, G for George, the anti-aircraft fire would prove all too deadly.

In late May 1916, in the small French village of Villeret, the Germans executed four allied soldiers. They had been hiding behind enemy lines since August 1914, disguised as local farm labourers. Who were they? Who hid them? And who betrayed them to the Germans? This is Part 2 of the story of Private Robert Digby, 1st Battalion, The Hampshire Regiment, one of the Villeret Four.

In late May 1916, in the small French village of Villeret, the Germans executed four soldiers: two British and two Irish. They had been hiding behind enemy lines since August 1914, disguised as local farm labourers. Who were they? Who hid them? And who betrayed them to the Germans? This is the story of Private Robert Digby, 1stBattalion, The Hampshire Regiment, one of the Villeret Four.

In a small churchyard in a sleepy Sussex village, lies a young RAF squadron leader, Ronald Sansom who died in an air crash in 1942, on the banks of the River Wye in Wales.  At the request of Winston Churchill, the circumstances of the crash, and the death of Squadron Leader Sansom, his crew and four civilian observers remained secret until long after the war was over. But what was the secret, and why was it so important?