Dan Hill

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2,263 appearances 13 recordings 1 series first heard Jun 2026 last heard 2d ago

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

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 13 in all, peaking in Aug 2026 with 5.

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

A whole sequence of signals are devised for that purpose.

Now, in this instance, there's a situation where a couple of conflicting and, in fact, as it turns out, incorrect signals are seen, which seems to suggest that actually the leading troops, particularly in the area that we today know as New Fowler Memorial Park, so on the other side of Beaumont Hamel with the approaches to it,

seem to have possibly been spotted in the front line and therefore as a result second and even third waves are ordered up to advance across no man's land support them and then push on into the village unfortunately the signal that may have been seen believed to be two white flares white on white along with some kind of shining metallic things in no man's land

either from the 1st Essex or the South Wales borderers, have been put together and said, yes, this must be a sign that our lads have captured the front line.

And in fact, the 1st Battalion of the Newfoundlanders are going to be ordered over the top.

And tragedy unfolds from the very moment of that order, because one, they're going over about 45 minutes later.

Vast majority of the element surprise, if there was any in the first place, is absolutely gone now.

Because of the heavy casualties taken in those leading two waves, the front lines and even some of the support lines of the communication trenches are absolutely clogged with wounded.

The Germans have absolutely no doubt about the direction that the attack's going to come from.

And even some of the new founders on the ground realize that everything has gone terribly wrong.

But they've been given the order.

And so they go over the top and basically get blown to pieces in just a number of minutes.

Nine out of ten of the lads attacking are going to be cut down in No Man's Land, the vast majority of which before they even reach their own front line.

It really is one of the true and sadly avoidable tragedies of the 1st of July.

Just miscommunication, fog of war, confusion in battle, perhaps a little bit of optimism about what might have been achieved, but the reality is yet one more battalion completely wiped off the army's order of battle.

Yeah, and they really do have probably the toughest nut to crack on the 1st of July.

Not only have they got the village of Thierval off to their right flank to be directly attacked by 32nd Div, but directly to their front and sighted on a big piece of high ground.

And it's about 200 by 300 yards.

Kind of an oblong shape is something called the Schwabenridau.

This is an all-round defensive position with views right across to the far side of the River Onkra, which really splits, if you like, the attacks around Beaumont Hamel of the 29th Division with those guys of the 36th Ulsters.

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