Mentioned in Dispatches

In this episode of the Western Front Association’s Mentioned in Dispatches, Kelsey Moriarty examines the bureaucratic and cultural processes that reshaped grief during and after the First World War. Her thesis Kafka in the Trenches: Death, Bureaucracy, and the Written Record in Britain 1914–1920 explores how official letters, forms and memorials affected the experience of mourning. From government notices of death to the rise of street shrines, her research highlights how state systems collided with private grief and altered the citizen–state relationship.

In this episode of the Western Front Association’s Mentioned in Dispatches, historian Dr Todd Gray discusses his award-winning book Lest Devon Forgets. The book explores the creation, meaning and controversies surrounding the county’s Great War memorials, shedding light on how communities in the wake of the conflict grappled with loss, identity and memory. Published by Stevens Books.

In this episode of the Western Front Association’s Mentioned in Dispatches, Mike Jackson tells the story of his great-uncle, Lance Corporal John Street, who fell in 1917 and whose sacrifice went unrecognised for more than a century. On 10th April 2025, Street will finally be laid to rest with full military honours near the battlefield where he died. Jackson, a retired training manager and military history researcher, describes his work with the Ministry of Defence’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre to ensure that his relative’s story is remembered.

In this episode of the Western Front Association’s Mentioned in Dispatches, acclaimed author Daniel Kraus discusses his novel Angel Down — a haunting, formally ambitious reimagining of the First World War told through a single, continuous sentence. The book explores themes of survival, selfishness, the supernatural and the staggering human cost of mechanised slaughter, immersing readers in the moral chaos of war. Published by Simon & Schuster

In this episode of the Western Front Association’s Mentioned in Dispatches, researcher Gary Guess shares his work on the 12th (Service) Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment, known as the Teesside Pioneers. Recruited largely from Middlesbrough and surrounding towns, the battalion served with distinction in France, combining infantry courage with engineering labour under fire. Guess, who has spent six years uncovering their history and has a personal family connection, reveals the story of this remarkable unit.