The

The The

The Hey, folks, this is Mike with the Battles of the First World War podcast.

Joining us today are Roger Stewart and Professor Mark Connolly here today to talk about their new project, the New Iper League.

More on that in just a moment.

Roger and I first met in 2022 when he guided myself and my friend Ryan around the Iper battlefields.

Roger came recommended by Bart P, also a good friend.

Roger works as a battlefield guide in the Iper area, and folks, he gives a fantastic day tour that I highly recommend.

You may have heard Roger's name before as I reviewed his first book titled Studenten Friedhof to Soldaten Friedhof, a history of Langermark German Cemetery and Self-Guided Tour here on the podcast.

His second book is reclaiming the salient, resurrecting the Great War battlegrounds of Flanders Fields. And that has been out for over a year now.

Professor Mark Connolly is a professor of modern British history at the University of Kent, Canterbury, in the UK.

From the University of Kent website, quote, Mark has broad interests in modern military history and warfare, culture, and society.

He is particularly interested in the commemoration of the two world wars with a specialism in the work of the Imperial, now Commonwealth, War Graves Commission.

He is also interested in popular perceptions of war and the armed forces in Britain and the Commonwealth from the mid-19th century."

Professor Connolly is the author of numerous articles and books, and some of his books include the recent postcards from the Western Front, pilgrims, veterans, and tourists after the Great War,

and the Great War, memory and ritual, commemoration in the city

and East London, 1916 through 1939. He also contributed to Cambridge University Press's 2017 release

of the British Army and the First World War, part of the Armies of the Great War series of books.

Professor Connolly and Roger join us today on the podcast to talk about that new IPRA League.

So folks, if you're new to the history of the First World War, then we'll start with just a few basics here.

IPRA, Y-P-R-E-S, is named EPR, I-E-P-E-R today.

IPRA, EPS, or Wipers, as it was called by the millions of British Tommies who served there

...