Audio drama in production.

RMSP Arcadian

The story of Boswell’s Galloping Farmers tells how a volunteer regiment of mounted yeomanry from the Ayrshire farming community were retrained as grenadier infantry and sent to fight The Turks in Gallipoli.

Jill Korn and I are working on an ambitious adaptation of a memoir written by Sandy Barclay in 1975. Sandy was there and he captures the struggles, horrors and, yes, humour of daily life in the trenches during the last three months of 1915.

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Jill is writing the script with Martin Gallagher. I’m dealing with the audio and post production, and we hope to publish four episodes of the audio drama early in 2025.
It’s astounding to see the number of people it can take some others to produce an audio drama, and what that must cost. We’re doing it for the love of it.

I enjoy little better than Field Recording; collecting sounds for my effects from real life. Recently on a weekend away I took the chance to record the sounds of a 1900s steam ship to repurpose as RMSP Arcadian, the troop ship that took sandy and his mates through the Med to Gallipoli.

We need the help of actors, singers and musicians to bring the story alive, and we want to pay them for their work. Please click the image or this link to Jill’s Crowdfunder page, for more details and to make a donation towards helping those people feed their families. All of the money raised will go to the creative people who bring their skills to this project.

The featured image is licensed for use under Creative Commons CC0 License; text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.

Making Noises for Sound Effects.

They say the pictures are better on radio. That’s why I’m making noises for sound effects. I’m putting more sounds into By The Way stories. It’s all about helping to create the environment where the dialogue takes place and to immerse my listener in the story. I know it’s an indulgence, but here’s how I put together 14 seconds of audio to convey the horror of a gas attack during the Great War. The attack recounted took place at Reningelst on 18 April 1918.

The image is of a Gas Rattle similar to the one used to warn soldiers that a gas attack was underway. No one could blow a whistle while wearing a gas helmet.

PLAY THIS EPISODE NOW.

Hill 60 on the Western Front.

Here’s a bit of Extra Information about Hill 60 on the Western Front near Ypres. Hugh, the 20 year old Gunner Graham, was a Scottish soldier in the Royal Garrison Artillery who was awarded the Military Medal in 1918. This bit of his story is too good to bin. I’ve been able to include more of the fascinating research than would have fitted in the original script, which is why I dropped the scene. Here it is as an Extra Information short.

PLAY THIS EPISODE NOW.

Continue reading “Hill 60 on the Western Front.”

Gunner Graham

Gunner Graham in RGA uniform before he was mobilised

Gunner Graham was an extraordinary Scottish soldier in the Royal Garrison Artillery during WW1. He had just turned 20 years old when he was decorated for gallantry in 1918 with the Military Medal. The Medal represents a level of valour in combat only surpassed by that for the Victoria Cross. As an enlisted man Gunner Graham didn’t qualify for the Military Cross, which was reserved for officers at the time.  Listen to the story of his medal and how he overcame the endemic discrimination of the establishment.

PLAY THIS EPISODE NOW.

Continue reading “Gunner Graham”