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Paul Reed

@sommecourt.bsky.social
3K followers 214 following 1.3K posts

Military Historian, author and Battlefield Guide. Occasional wargamer. Host of the Old Front Line #WW1 #podcast. www.oldfrontline.co.uk

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Reposted by Paul Reed
Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Understanding The Losses on D-Day: my latest #WW2 #Substack: ww2revisited.substack.com/p/understand...
ww2revisited.substack.com
Understanding the Losses on D-Day
Analysing British and Commonwealth fatalities: 6th June 1944.
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 20h
The BBC have released this extended clip from the 2001 documentary’Forgotten Battlefield’ featuring The Diggers, on the BBC YouTube channel - and it’s already gone to 2M views! youtu.be/xuApAxqWRi0?...
youtu.be
Breathtaking WW1 battlefield uncovers a soldier untouched since the war | BBC Timestamp
YouTube video by BBC Timestamp
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 22h
It’s about that time when I come into town for a decent coffee and the latest copy of @wssmagazine.bsky.social.
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Sadly not, no. I did a podcast on it here: oldfrontline.co.uk/2023/04/01/f...
oldfrontline.co.uk
Forgotten Battlefield: The Reunion
More than twenty years after the BBC made a film about the work of ‘The Diggers’ called ‘Forgotten Battlefield’, in this special edition of the podcast we bring together thr…
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
The Missing of 1914: Belgium & France. We explore the 1914 campaign and the memorials to the missing, then use a specially developed AI tool to analyse the data: revealing the costliest days, hardest-hit regiments, ages, origins and military experience of the men who disappeared.
oldfrontline.co.uk
The Missing of 1914
Between August and December 1914, the British Expeditionary Force fought its first battles of the First World War across Belgium and northern France and some 19,000 officers and men were missing. From Mons and Le Cateau to the Retreat and the First Battle of Ypres, thousands of men were killed and never recovered, becoming part of the great story of the…
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Reposted by Paul Reed
Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
In this latest QnA: Why were reserve troops still at risk on the Western Front? Did Britain have real-life "Saving Private Ryan" stories? Why do some CWGC graves contain multiple burials? And how were breastwork trenches attacked and defended?
oldfrontline.co.uk
Questions and Answers Episode 60
In this episode of The Old Front Line Podcast, we answer another fascinating selection of listener questions that explore the realities of life, death, remembrance and battlefield tactics on the Western Front during the First World War. How much safer were soldiers when they left the front line? We examine the British Army's system of rotating troops through front-line, support and reserve positions, and ask whether moving away from the trenches really improved a soldier's chances of survival, or whether artillery, snipers and long-range shellfire meant danger was never far away.
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
You’re mentioned in this press release? It mentions an organisation, perhaps they thanked them? Seems strange they acknowledge you and don’t say thanks? www.iwm.org.uk/sites/defaul...
iwm.org.uk
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
As I said on Substack, I wish you were still involved, Mark!
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Good to see some reasoned and informed points on IWM from @markurban.bsky.social - this is a Substack worth reading: markurban.substack.com/p/secrets-of...
markurban.substack.com
Secrets of the Museum
What I learned on the board of the IWM
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
All ready for @tomjmegan.bsky.social #FestiveTankChallenge2026 in December! Can’t wait!
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Understanding The Losses on D-Day: my latest #WW2 #Substack: ww2revisited.substack.com/p/understand...
ww2revisited.substack.com
Understanding the Losses on D-Day
Analysing British and Commonwealth fatalities: 6th June 1944.
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Reposted by Paul Reed
Tom Isitt @tomisitt.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
It’s not too late to sign up for this wonderful event. I’ve done an all-new, mountain-specific presentation, and will be giving my talk while dressed thematically. @ntwf.bsky.social
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Really interesting.
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Reposted by Paul Reed
Slightly out of focus @normandy661944.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
My latest Substack article looks at the death of an AFPU photographer on his first assignment, during the Dieppe raid in 1942. insharpfocus.substack.com/p/fatal-assi...
insharpfocus.substack.com
Fatal Assignment at Dieppe
The death of AFPU Sergeant Holloway during Operation Jubilee
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Thank you, I really appreciate that.
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Thanks, a terrible loss, but I don’t see that there was an attempt to actively save one of them as per SPR?
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
What’s Beechey’s, please? 🤔
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
In this latest QnA: Why were reserve troops still at risk on the Western Front? Did Britain have real-life "Saving Private Ryan" stories? Why do some CWGC graves contain multiple burials? And how were breastwork trenches attacked and defended?
oldfrontline.co.uk
Questions and Answers Episode 60
In this episode of The Old Front Line Podcast, we answer another fascinating selection of listener questions that explore the realities of life, death, remembrance and battlefield tactics on the Western Front during the First World War. How much safer were soldiers when they left the front line? We examine the British Army's system of rotating troops through front-line, support and reserve positions, and ask whether moving away from the trenches really improved a soldier's chances of survival, or whether artillery, snipers and long-range shellfire meant danger was never far away.
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Reposted by Paul Reed
Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
My latest #WW2 Substack: the 2nd Essex in Normandy. Read it here: ww2revisited.substack.com/p/2nd-essex-...
ww2revisited.substack.com
2nd Essex in Normandy June 1944
An infantry battalion beyond the beaches.
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Reposted by Paul Reed
Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
The Thiepval Memorial is more than stone and names. In this episode of The Old Front Line, we explore the village that shaped the Somme battlefield, the genius of Edwin Lutyens, the stories behind 72,000 missing soldiers, and walk the ground at Thiepval today.
oldfrontline.co.uk
Somme: Mighty Thiepval
The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing is the largest British war memorial in the world and one of the most powerful places where we remember the sacrifice of the Missing on the Western Front. In this episode, we explore the story behind "Mighty Thiepval" and uncover why this iconic monument continues to resonate more than a century after the Battle of the Somme.
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
How interesting! Hope the trip to Bayeux goes well.
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
My latest #WW2 Substack: the 2nd Essex in Normandy. Read it here: ww2revisited.substack.com/p/2nd-essex-...
ww2revisited.substack.com
2nd Essex in Normandy June 1944
An infantry battalion beyond the beaches.
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Thanks, Mark!
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Thanks, I will have to look into this.
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Thanks to all who joined me this evening for a @oldfrontline.bsky.social Podcast Supporters Evening where we looked at the Old Contemptibles in the 1914 Campaign. (Photo from Doug at Colour History)
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Did you know I’ve started a #WW2 #Substack? Have a read of the welcome post and there are some others on there too: ww2revisited.substack.com/p/ww2-revisi...
ww2revisited.substack.com
WW2 Revisited - Start Here!
Welcome to a new Second World War Substack.
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Those look really nice.
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
The Thiepval Memorial is more than stone and names. In this episode of The Old Front Line, we explore the village that shaped the Somme battlefield, the genius of Edwin Lutyens, the stories behind 72,000 missing soldiers, and walk the ground at Thiepval today.
oldfrontline.co.uk
Somme: Mighty Thiepval
The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing is the largest British war memorial in the world and one of the most powerful places where we remember the sacrifice of the Missing on the Western Front. In this episode, we explore the story behind "Mighty Thiepval" and uncover why this iconic monument continues to resonate more than a century after the Battle of the Somme.
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
#Arnhem82: Many years I go I acquired a #WW2 map case which belonged to S/Sgt Raymond Picton, a Glider Pilot who was killed when German tanks attacked his positions in Oosterbeek #OTD in 1944. He likely had the case with him on D-Day, maybe it came back from Arnhem too?
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Reposted by Paul Reed
Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
In this Old Front Line Q&A: Was the Hawthorn Mine fired early for military reasons or Geoffrey Malins' camera? Did WW1 veterans judge the 1940 defeat? Can you excavate a trench beneath your garden? And what happened when a soldier's remains were found in the 1920s?
oldfrontline.co.uk
Questions and Answers Episode 59
In this latest Old Front Line Q&A, we tackle four fascinating questions that take us from the opening moments of the Battle of the Somme to the long legacy of the Western Front landscape. We begin at Hawthorn Ridge on 1 July 1916 and ask whether the famous mine was detonated ten minutes early to help the attack, to provide Geoffrey Malins with the perfect filming opportunity, or for a combination of both.
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Losses on the Road to Dunkirk: my latest #WW2 #Substack: ww2revisited.substack.com/p/losses-on-...
ww2revisited.substack.com
Losses on the Road to Dunkirk
Analysing deaths in the BEF May-June 1940
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Was there a short lived Independant Brigade that used it perhaps?
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
In the Great War that was the Divisional symbol of the 62nd (West Riding) Division, I wonder if a new West Riding formation took up in 1939?
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
When Britain Went to War: the first British casualties of #WW2. Read it now on my #Substack: ww2revisited.substack.com/p/when-brita...
ww2revisited.substack.com
When Britain Went to War
The first British deaths of World War 2
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Reposted by Paul Reed
Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I recently started a #WW2 Substack. It’s all free and the latest article for #Arnhem82 is about the British and Commonwealth casualties at Arnhem: ww2revisited.substack.com/p/the-cost-o...
ww2revisited.substack.com
The Cost of Operation Market Garden
Analysing the losses at Arnhem 1944
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Reposted by Paul Reed
Tom Egan @tomjmegan.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
🚨 #FestiveTankChallenge2026 🚨 Warning Order! Folks, 2026 #FestiveTankChallenge is the StuG. ANY scale & variant - completed between 21st-31st Dec 2026. Here’s my kit - 1/48 Tamiya Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.G Hope you get involved - stash those kits! #Wargaming #Scalemodels
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Reposted by Paul Reed
Rebecca Rideal @rebeccarideal.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Thank you for all the lovely feedback to our series so far! We have so many exciting episodes coming up. If you’re able to give a five star review, it’d be most appreciated. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ podfollow.com/buriedevidence
podfollow.com
Buried Evidence
Is true crime our latest obsession, or just history's oldest guilty pleasure?A brand-new exploration of historical true crime through the ages, exposes why we should be looking over our shoulders to t...
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Ooh, nice one. I’ve got a late war Stug ready to paint but I’ll get an early war version for this!
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
In this Old Front Line Q&A: Was the Hawthorn Mine fired early for military reasons or Geoffrey Malins' camera? Did WW1 veterans judge the 1940 defeat? Can you excavate a trench beneath your garden? And what happened when a soldier's remains were found in the 1920s?
oldfrontline.co.uk
Questions and Answers Episode 59
In this latest Old Front Line Q&A, we tackle four fascinating questions that take us from the opening moments of the Battle of the Somme to the long legacy of the Western Front landscape. We begin at Hawthorn Ridge on 1 July 1916 and ask whether the famous mine was detonated ten minutes early to help the attack, to provide Geoffrey Malins with the perfect filming opportunity, or for a combination of both.
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Unfortunately there are Nazis on this site, too. I don't know of any platform where that isn't an issue and if you want to educate and reach people it is a matter of being in places where people can find you. I can't comment about payments as what I'm doing there is free.
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Reposted by Paul Reed
Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Season 10 begins in Wadhurst, Sussex, exploring a village war memorial, war graves and the devastating losses of 9 May 1915: showing how the history of the Great War can be found on your own doorstep.
oldfrontline.co.uk
The Great War Around Us
We begin Season 10 of The Old Front Line with a journey into The Great War Around Us: the First World War history that can still be found in the places where we live. In this episode, we visit the East Sussex village of Wadhurst and explore how the impact of the Great War can still be discovered more than a century later.
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I wish I had time to do a WW2 podcast but with a full-time job, and essentially a second one with the OFL podcast, there’s not room right now. And instead of doom scrolling I thought I’d write some stuff and quite like the Substack interface!
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I’m not sure that’s true. The defeat at Arnhem itself is much complex than just the issue of rations ending up in German hands.
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
It’s too big a subject and too complex for just one post here but it’s something I may return to on the Substack at some point.
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
It’s an argument, but the war wasn’t going to be won on the Scheldt and Montgomery saw an opportunity to get into Germany much sooner than expected. The outcome wasn’t what he wished for, the Scheldt was eventually cleared and it helped pave the way for Op Veritable in 1945.
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I recently started a #WW2 Substack. It’s all free and the latest article for #Arnhem82 is about the British and Commonwealth casualties at Arnhem: ww2revisited.substack.com/p/the-cost-o...
ww2revisited.substack.com
The Cost of Operation Market Garden
Analysing the losses at Arnhem 1944
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
#Arnhem82: today in 1944 Operation Market Garden began. The Air Armada took elements of three Airborne divisions deep into enemy territory and filled the skies as men dropped between Eindhoven & Arnhem, as seen in these private photos of the time.
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Sunset at Courcelette British Cemetery - where Canadians fought #OTD in 1916. #Somme110
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Courcelette was captured by the Canadians 110 years ago today: discover more on the @oldfrontline.bsky.social #YouTube Channel. #Somme110 youtu.be/ajz1LtVUReQ?...
youtu.be
Canada on the Somme 1916
YouTube video by Old Front Line
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Paul Reed @sommecourt.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Season 10 begins in Wadhurst, Sussex, exploring a village war memorial, war graves and the devastating losses of 9 May 1915: showing how the history of the Great War can be found on your own doorstep.
oldfrontline.co.uk
The Great War Around Us
We begin Season 10 of The Old Front Line with a journey into The Great War Around Us: the First World War history that can still be found in the places where we live. In this episode, we visit the East Sussex village of Wadhurst and explore how the impact of the Great War can still be discovered more than a century later.
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