45 - War Hospital

47 - Oh What a lovely War

What happens when three historians watch a key play about the First World War?

This month we took a field trip to see Oh What A Lovely War at the Leeds Playhouse. As a result we discuss the nature of the performance, the changing image of Douglas Haig, and wonder whether audiences were supposed to sing along.

References
Alan Clark, The Donkeys (1961)
John McCrae, In Flanders Field (1915)
William Phillpot, Bloody Victory: The Sacrifice on the Somme and the Making of the Twentieth Century (2010)
Dan Todman, The Great War in Myth and Memory (2005)
Oh! What a lovely war (Original London Cast) (1983)

46 - Egyptian Encounters

What opportunities did the First World War provide for cultural tourism?

This month Angus, Jessica and Chris speak to Allison Bennett, winner of the 2023 Gail Braybon Award for her work on war-time cross-cultural sexual encounters during the First World War. Along the way we discuss #MeToo, and the post-war legacies of these encounters for families, and the popularity of the Pyramids and camels as a tourist attractions.

References:
Gallipoli
Peter Stanley, Bad Characters
Alexia Moncrieff, Expertise, Authority and Control
Alan Beyerchen and Emre Spencer (eds.), Expeditionary Forces in the First World War
Tomas Irish, Universities at War
Rudyard Kipling, Kim
The Arabian Nights

45 - War Hospital

What happens when you turn a First World War medical process into a computer game? This month Angus, Jessica, and Chris take control of wartime medicine in the game War Hospital. Along the way we discuss the importance of evacuation, difficult ethical decisions, and why Chris' conscience is completely clear. If you listen to this episode and share it on social media you can also win a free copy of the game! References: War Hospital (2024) An Unequal Burden , Jessica Meyer (2019) Regeneration , Pat Barker (1991)

44 - The Grizzled

What happens when you turn the French experience of the war into a cooperative game?

This month Jessica, Angus, and Chris played The Grizzled a cooperative game focused on guidinga group of French soldiers through the war. Along the way they discuss the morale boosting merits of different drinks, the differencebetween physical and mental traumas, and whether they are now obliged to design their own British version.

References:
The Grizzled

Meyer, Jessica, Kempshall, Chris, Pöhlmann, Markus: Life and Death of Soldiers , in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War

Kempshall, Chris: Le Poilu , in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War

Meyer, Jessica, Kempshall, Chris, Pöhlmann, Markus: Life and Death of Soldiers , in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War

Smith, Leonard V. Between Mutiny and Obedience: The Case of the French Fifth Infantry Division During World War I (2003)

Tardi, Jaques Goddam this war! (2013)

War Hospital

43 - Women at War

What happens when you set a telenovela in First World War France?

This month Chris, Angus and Jessica review the Netflix limited series Les Combattantes(Women at War). Along the way, we discuss untranslatable words, the relationship between war atrocities and propaganda, recreational drug use, and the excellent communication links of a small-town convent.

References:
Women at war,(2022)
The Bonfire of Destiny,(2019)
RH Mottram, The SpanishFarm, (1924)
John Horne and Alan Kramer, German Atrocities, 1914: A history of denial (2001)
Lukasz Kamienski, Shooting Up: A history of drugs in warfare (2016)