THE STORY OF THE SOMME 5 | Keeping an Eye on the Germans - Sergeant Alexander Paterson

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, SERGEANT ALEXANDER PATERSON recalls being sent out to gather intelligence. Alexander Paterson enlisted in the Rifle Brigade on 8 September 1914, arriving in France in 1915. He was wounded in the later stages of the Somme Offensive and honourably discharged from the army in early 1917. He was awarded both the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Military Medal for gallantry in action. Source | IWM, Lives of the First World War - https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org/ PRODUCTION | ChromeRadio for the DEPARTMENT FOR DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT | Producer - Catriona Oliphant | Narrator - Nicholas Rowe | Reader - Sophia El-Salahi, The Charter School | The Last Post played by LSgt Stuart Laing, Welsh Guards on a First World War bugle.