Hello everyone welcome back to the history hit warfare podcast I'm your host James Rogers and for this episode I've delved deep into the history

archive to pull out an episode from the fantastic chalk valley history festival. Chalk Valley is the largest festival dedicated entirely to history

and it's taking place from the 23rd to the 27th of June this year with a stage sponsored by History Hit.

This episode is from when Lynn McDonald, one of the world's leading oral historians and

war reporters, took to the stage to talk about the First World War and specifically Pashondale.

Lynn, who sadly passed away earlier this year at the age of 91,

was working at the BBC back in the 1970s and by chance worked with a group of First World War veterans. She heard their stories and

knew the importance of recording their histories. Overall she racked up 1,500 hours of half thousand hours of recordings.

And as such, Lynn has done more than anyone

to keep the history of the First World War alive.

So I'm honored to say that here is Lynn McDonald

on her perspective of the First World War and the part which was introducing this talk

to see that I'm expected to give you a fresh insight into the Battle of Passional.

I think all I can give you is my own insights such as it is,

because despite much revisionism over the years. I have changed it very little. As you can see I'm

very old and there's certain you can also see that there's certain disadvantages

in being very old however there was one great advantage which is that when I was

starting this work,

there were still soldiers of the First World War around.

So I was able to go to the horse's mouth, so to speak.

And the horses nayed obligingly. And that was really how I

started. Before that I had no idea even of being a historian of anything.

...