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WW1 Digger History Podcast

WWI Digger Stories Podcast reproduces the diaires, memoirs and letters of the real participants in the war that changed the course of the 20th Century. What was it like to be in the trenches, on the ships or behind the big guns where death stalked in infinite ways and it was impossible to make friends unless you were prepared to lose tham at any moment.

This podcast is formatted with each diairy or memoir forming a series, usually taking the listener through the war from beginning to end, from raw recruit to returning veteran, as it was experienced by the soldier and in his (or her, when I include Nurses stories) own words.

Episode 1.3 Definitions

Mar 31, 2016

PLM: is the Paris Lyon Mediterrannee Railway;

QM: means Quartermaster;

Backshee: means false;

PH: is a kind of hooded gas mask. I am not sure what “PH” stands for;

Nick: means steal;

Fromelles: refers to the front line sector south of Armentieres. The Battle of Fromelles took place on 19th July, 1916;

Shaking: means...


Episode 1.2 Definitions

Mar 31, 2016

“Don” Company: in this case is “D” Company of the 3rd Battalion, AIF. In the Great War, the Military alphabet differed quite a bit to later years: The four companies are A for Ack, B for Beer, C for Charlie and D for Don. Len refers to a mate as “Toc” Oates and his CO later in the war as “Don Toc Emma”....


Episode 1.1 Definitions

Mar 31, 2016

AIF: is The Australian Imperial Force

The “strong”: means the news of the war. I wouldn’t have understood the Light horseman either!

Liverpool Camp: is now an industrial estate on the eastern bank of the Georges River in the suburb of Liverpool, NSW.

Marmalades: was a derisive term at the Liverpool Camp which was...


Mar 30, 2016

"Righto Don Company, over you go".

In this episode, Len takes your on a train trip through 1916 France, then into the trenches of the Western Front for the first time. We here about life in the trenches near Fromelles before the famous battle and anecdotes about the Aussie digger mates he has made. Len takes us through...


Mar 18, 2016

In this episode, Len Jones describes life in the trenches at Gallipoli before the withdrawal and the Battalion's time in Egypt and on the Suez Canal. Len is sniped at and nearly blown up. He also just about bayonets a Brigadier General. He finishes with the trip to France and the "mob" landing at Marseilles. He...