Mentioned in Dispatches
A podcast from the Western Front Association
Dr Tom Thorpe · Dr Tom Thorpe, Western Front Association
Show overview
Mentioned in Dispatches has been publishing since 2018, and across the 8 years since has built a catalogue of 313 episodes. That works out to roughly 120 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a fortnightly cadence.
Episodes typically run twenty to thirty-five minutes. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-GB-language History show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed yesterday, with 20 episodes already out so far this year. The busiest year was 2021, with 52 episodes published. Published by Dr Tom Thorpe, Western Front Association.
From the publisher
A podcast hosted by Dr Tom Thorpe on all aspects of the Great War from the UK's leading First World War history society The Western Front Association (www.westernfrontassociation.com).
Latest Episodes
View all 313 episodesEp393 – Roger Casement, Reginald ‘Blinker’ Hall and the Irish Revolution – Rory Carroll
Ep392 – Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade – Janet Skeslien Charles
Ep391 – Morale in Salonika – Dr Jake Gasson
Ep390 – Walking the Western Front – Briana Gervat
Ep389 – Rory O’Connor and the Irish Revolution – Gerard Shannon
Ep388 – The sinking of HMS India – Rachel Clarke
Ep387 – Shellshocked soldiers returning from the Battlefield – Patrick Taylor
Ep386 – Framing the Great War – Drs Aimee Fox, Mike Finch & David Morgan-Owen
Ep385 – The Barnbow Disaster – Antony Bell
Ep384 – The Saxons in Flanders, 1914-8 – Andrew Lucas
Ep383 – Smith Dorien saving the British army – Charles Barrington
Ep382 – Three sons for the Kaiser – Hazel Strouts
Ep381 – Britain, oil and Baku in 1918 – Nick Higham
Ep380 – Henry Tudor in Ireland – Linden MacIntyre
In this podcast interview, Linden MacIntyre discusses his exploration of Sir Hugh Tudor, a deeply controversial figure in the Irish War of Independence. He explains the motivations behind writing An Accidental Villain and examines Tudor’s transformation from a respected British Army officer into a central figure in Britain’s coercive policy in Ireland. The conversation explores Tudor’s relationship with Winston Churchill, his role in militarising the Royal Irish Constabulary and the creation of the Black and Tans. Linden also reflects on the complexity of Tudor’s character, questioning whether he was a willing architect of repression or a man caught in circumstances beyond his control.
Ep379 – The memorial to the US 42nd Division – Dr Monique B. Seefried
Ep378 – Guards Division, 1915-17 – David Griffiths
In this episode of the Western Front Association’s Mentioned in Dispatches, David Griffiths discusses his new book The Guards 1915–17: An Elite Division at War. The book is the first major history of the Guards Division in nearly a century, drawing on war diaries and memoirs to follow the unit through Loos, Flers-Courcelette, Morval and Pilckem Ridge. Griffiths also examines the culture, reputation and experiences of an elite force under the pressure of modern war. Published by Helion & Co.
Ep377 – Administration of Death – Kelsey Moriarty
In this episode of the Western Front Association’s Mentioned in Dispatches, Kelsey Moriarty examines the bureaucratic and cultural processes that reshaped grief during and after the First World War. Her thesis Kafka in the Trenches: Death, Bureaucracy, and the Written Record in Britain 1914–1920 explores how official letters, forms and memorials affected the experience of mourning. From government notices of death to the rise of street shrines, her research highlights how state systems collided with private grief and altered the citizen–state relationship.
Ep376 – War Memorials in Devon – Dr Todd Gray
In this episode of the Western Front Association’s Mentioned in Dispatches, historian Dr Todd Gray discusses his award-winning book Lest Devon Forgets. The book explores the creation, meaning and controversies surrounding the county’s Great War memorials, shedding light on how communities in the wake of the conflict grappled with loss, identity and memory. Published by Stevens Books.
Ep375 – Burial of L-Cpl John Street – Mike Jackson
In this episode of the Western Front Association’s Mentioned in Dispatches, Mike Jackson tells the story of his great-uncle, Lance Corporal John Street, who fell in 1917 and whose sacrifice went unrecognised for more than a century. On 10th April 2025, Street will finally be laid to rest with full military honours near the battlefield where he died. Jackson, a retired training manager and military history researcher, describes his work with the Ministry of Defence’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre to ensure that his relative’s story is remembered.
Ep374 – Angel Down – Daniel Kraus
In this episode of the Western Front Association’s Mentioned in Dispatches, acclaimed author Daniel Kraus discusses his novel Angel Down — a haunting, formally ambitious reimagining of the First World War told through a single, continuous sentence. The book explores themes of survival, selfishness, the supernatural and the staggering human cost of mechanised slaughter, immersing readers in the moral chaos of war. Published by Simon & Schuster