THE STORY OF THE SOMME 26 | One Year On - Major William Orpen

Welcome to THE STORY OF THE SOMME podcast series, which tells the story of the Somme Offensive in the words of those fighting on the Western Front and their families back home. The series was commissioned by the DEPARTMENT FOR DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT and developed in partnership with the FIRST WORLD WAR CENTENARY BATTLEFIELD TOURS PROGRAMME and CHROMERADIO. It was first released to accompany the SOMME100 VIGIL at Westminster Abbey, held through the night of 30 June/1 July 2016 to mark the centenary of the opening of the Battle of the Somme. In this podcast, WAR ARTIST, MAJOR WILLIAM ORPEN, describes returning to the Somme in the summer of 1917, a year after the launch of the Somme Offensive. Orpen was appointed an Official War Artist for the British Army in 1916. He made several visits to the Somme, including the one in the summer of 1917. SOURCE | An Onlooker in France, William Orpen PRODUCTION | ChromeRadio for the DEPARTMENT FOR DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT | Producer - Catriona Oliphant | Narrator - Nicholas Rowe | The Last Post played by LSgt Stuart Laing, Welsh Guards on a First World War bugle.