The battlefield of the Second Battle of the Marne was shaped by an earlier German offensive in late May and early June of 1918: Unternehmen Blücher-Yorck. Looking to draw away French reserves from the Flanders and Picardy areas, German GEN Erich Ludendorff aimed a new German attack in a sector where the French were particularly vulnerable: the Chemin des Dames.

Early and stunning success by German forces in the attack, however, led to overconfidence and the creation of a swollen and tenuous salient. This salient would become the battlefield for the 2nd Battle of the Marne.

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Adam Pearce and his uncle Ron Howard have spent the past few years visiting the graves of the UK's and British Commonwealth's Victoria Cross recipients. They hope to raise awareness of not just the recipients of the British Army's highest award for valor, but of the other men buried with them in Commonwealth War Graves cemeteries on the Old Front Line and elsewhere around the world.

Also, to British listeners in general and Nottinghamshire residents in particular, my apologies on butchering the pronunciation of Nottinghamshire. (Throws palm over face.) I knew better too, but brain-dumped in the moment.

Links to some topics brought up in the conversation:

Chelsea Pensioners: https://chelsea-pensioners.co.uk/

Covenant With Death, by John Harris: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/covenant-with-death_john--harris/566512/#isbn=0751557129

Victoria Cross headstone photo credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:VCstone.jpg

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)

Authors and historians Andrew Lucas and Jürgen Schmiseschek come on the podcast to discuss their collaborative work on the Saxon Germans on the Flanders front during the Great War.

Where to buy "Fighting the Kaiser's War:"

https://royalsaxonarmy.co.uk/index.php/our-publications/13-fighting-the-kaiser-s-war

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on BlueSky at @WW1podcast.bsky.social:

https://bsky.app/profile/ww1podcast.bsky.social

and the BFWWP website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.

Please review the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes! :)