Dan Hill

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2,255 appearances 12 recordings 1 series first heard Jun 2026 last heard 5d ago

Dan Hill’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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WW1: Not So Quiet On The Western Front! · Episode 135: The Somme’s Northern Disaster · 6 Jul 2026 podcast

You can use ridges and particularly the reverse slope of ridges to protect and screen your troops whilst also having an observational advantage down over your enemy.

And more importantly, Spence, if you've been there a long time, you can do all of those things very, very scientifically.

And that's the thing.

And the mindset really plays into this in a huge way.

And we've discussed this a number of times in the past.

But the important thing to recognize here is that the Germans at this point in the war have switched over, with the exception, one very big exception of Verdun, to a largely defensive mindset.

And it's quite simply, we're not going anywhere.

As a result of that, it's let's put some effort into our defences, which is very different to the British offensive mindset, which is, well, why are we digging a big, deep underground bunker with beautifully carved steps because we're moving forwards next week?

Well, the Germans aren't thinking that way.

They're thinking we're here to stay.

We're going to put the effort in.

And we see that all up and down the Somme region.

We see sighting of machine guns in very scientific ways.

We see people, engineers coming up and figuring out exactly where the right angles of approach are.

We see very elaborate barbed wire systems laid out.

We see deep trenches, well constructed, well riveted.

We see multiple lines, sometimes up to seven or even eight lines deep in certain areas of the Somme.

Very, very difficult to assault.

And this whole 1914 onwards time is really, it's the opportunity for the Germans to develop that defensive doctrine, develop that style and develop those physical defenses in the Somme region.

As a result, the lads that are going to be attacking here on the morning of the 1st of July are going to have a very, very tough nut to crack.

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