Sound Escape Theatre

Boswell's Galloping Farmers 6: Proud Troopers

Final episode of a six part audio drama based on the memoir of Alexander (Sandy) Barclay, who fought in the infamous Gallipoli campaign of 1915. By turns brutal, horrific and funny, the series tells of the real experiences of the men who volunteered as cavalrymen in the Ayrshire Yeomanry, only to have their horses taken away. They were retained in trench warfare  and sent to Gallipoli (now in modern day Turkiye), where they were out manned, out gunned and outflanked at every turn. By now, the soldiers are becoming aware that they are being evacuated, secretly and without letting the enemy know. Sandy himself is on the edge of exhaustion having gone for days and nights without sleep. Finally, he makes a mistake that could have him court-martialled and such is his state of mind that he can't even remember it. He and his fellows reflect on the campaign and they wonder — what was the point? In remembrance of Boswell's Galloping Farmers.

Boswell's Galloping Farmers 5: The Glasgow Keelie

Episode 5 of a six part audio drama based on the memoir of Alexander (Sandy) Barclay, who fought in the infamous Gallipoli campaign of 1915. By turns brutal, horrific and funny, the series tells of the real experiences of the men who volunteered as cavalrymen in the Ayrshire Yeomanry, only to have their horses taken away. They were retained in trench warfare and sent to Gallipoli (now in modern day Turkiye), where they were out manned, out gunned and outflanked at every turn. Sandy Barclay's story covers the Christmas period of 1915, when both the weather and fighting broke men's spirits. His own endurance is stretched to the limit, but he is still capable of acts of extreme bravery which he shrugs off in this compelling memoir. Sleeplessness becomes the norm...

Boswell's Galloping Farmers 4: Nobody Loves a Grenadier

Episode 4 of a six part audio drama based on the memoir of Alexander (Sandy) Barclay, who fought in the infamous Gallipoli campaign of 1915. By turns brutal, horrific and funny, the series tells of the real experiences of the men who volunteered as cavalrymen in the Ayrshire Yeomanry, only to have their horses taken away. They were retained in trench warfare  and sent to Gallipoli (now in modern day Turkiye), where they were out manned, out gunned and outflanked at every turn. Sandy Barclay, recounting his experiences at the front, was only too aware that the life expectancy of a bomber was expressed in days rather than months. Despite this, and the dangers that he and his fellows faced, their role made them very unpopular with some of the officers.  In his typical way, Sandy shrugs off the comments and reprimands and concentrates on doing his job. 

Boswell's Galloping Farmers 3: To Kill A Louse

Episode 3 of a six part audio drama based on the memoir of Alexander (Sandy) Barclay, who fought in the infamous Gallipoli campaign of 1915. By turns brutal, horrific and funny, the series tells of the real experiences of the men who volunteered as cavalrymen in the Ayrshire Yeomanry, only to have their horses taken away. They were retained in trench warfare and sent to Gallipoli (now in modern day Turkiye), where they were out manned, out gunned and outflanked at every turn. As the campaign progresses, the fighting becomes more desperate. Sandy and the men serving with him come to realise that being shot at, bombed and shelled is bad enough. But the men in the opposing trenches are not the only enemy they have to face. As the weather turns, and the winter kit has still not arrived, they are in real danger of freezing to death. Add to that the problem of the lice... "The Medical Officer came up with another solution – he sent out an order that every man had to shave all of the hair off his body, since the lice liked to hang on to hair."

Boswell's Galloping Farmers 2: Over the Top

Episode 2 of a six part audio drama based on the memoir of Alexander (Sandy) Barclay, who fought in the infamous Gallipoli campaign of 1915. By turns brutal, horrific and funny, the series tells of the real experiences of the men who volunteered as cavalrymen in the Ayrshire Yeomanry, only to have their horses taken away. They were retained in trench warfare  and sent to Gallipoli (now in modern day Turkiye), where they were out manned, out gunned and outflanked at every turn. Sandy recounts his experiences in this compelling drama series: "I was stuck in my firing position with legs akimbo and I also couldn't get to the bomb lying with its fuse fizzing about 4 feet away from me. Nobody else had seen it – the observers had their eyes glued to their periscopes and Fraser was also looking to the sky trying to focus on the bomb which should have been flying through the air. The bomb had a sixty-two second fuse from the time it was lit, with the burn down we allowed before firing to make sure it blew up where it was aimed, I reckoned we had about ten seconds left...."