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Letters of Love in WW2
Extra: The family on Cyril and Olga's wartime experiences
Ep. 9
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"I really wish, like so many people, that you could have had an extra hour or two to ask these things of your parents."
Cyril and Olga's letters give a remarkable insight into the personal experiences of those that lived through the war - both on the frontline and at home. When the family found their many letters after they had passed, it helped bring them closer to the family they had lost and understand what they went through, forging a deeper connection with their past.
Leave a review to Letters of Love in WW2 on your favourite podcast app or get in touch on social media using #LettersOfLoveInWW2.
Sky HISTORY's Letters of Love in WW2 is written and produced by Anna Priestland, edited by Joel Porter and produced and directed by Sam Pearson.
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The history of the Second World War told through one couple's letters
01:50This is the history of WW2 told in way you've never heard it before: through the letters of a real-life couple who lived through it and the interviews with their family who found their correspondence many years later.Leave a review to Letters of Love in WW2 on your favourite podcast app or get in touch on social media using #LettersOfLoveInWW2.Sky HISTORY's Letters of Love in WW2 is written and produced by Anna Priestland, edited by Joel Porter and produced and directed by Sam Pearson.1. 1. At Sea: Optimistic Goodbyes
28:59When Sue Mowforth found a bundle of letters written by her belated parents, she was about to uncover the love story that made her family who they are today. In 1940, just three months after they wed, Cyril and Olga were forced apart by WW2. Unsure how long the war would last, the couple begin the long road without each other with optimism and longing for happier times.Leave a review of Letters of Love in WW2 on your favourite podcast app or get in touch on social media using #LettersOfLoveInWW2.Sky HISTORY's Letters of Love in WW2 is written and produced by Anna Priestland, edited by Joel Porter and produced and directed by Sam Pearson.2. 2. North Africa: Lost Messages
33:38Cyril and Olga face months of agonising delays in their letters to one another, and they get a taste of the frustrations to come. Olga, facing air raids at home in Sheffield, settles into her role in the Civil Defence emergency services.Leave a review of Letters of Love in WW2 on your favourite podcast app or get in touch on social media using #LettersOfLoveInWW2.Sky HISTORY's Letters of Love in WW2 is written and produced by Anna Priestland, edited by Joel Porter and produced and directed by Sam Pearson.3. 3. Siege of Tobruk: Battlefields and Reality
34:06The realities of war hit when, after a long gap in correspondence, Cyril reveals in one long letter that he has been involved in the siege of Tobruk. In England, Olga is aware there is heavy battle going on and has hopes Cyril is safe.Leave a review of Letters of Love in WW2 on your favourite podcast app or get in touch on social media using #LettersOfLoveInWW2.Sky HISTORY's Letters of Love in WW2 is written and produced by Anna Priestland, edited by Joel Porter and produced and directed by Sam Pearson.4. 4. El Alamein: Silence and Roses
47:34Frustrations are high for Cyril who suffers periods of illness and depression triggered by long periods of idleness. As the couple cross the eighteen-month mark of their separation, the sense of helplessness is forever on the surface.Leave a review of Letters of Love in WW2 on your favourite podcast app or get in touch on social media using #LettersOfLoveInWW2.Sky HISTORY's Letters of Love in WW2 is written and produced by Anna Priestland, edited by Joel Porter and produced and directed by Sam Pearson.5. 5. D-Day: Visitations
37:27As troops prepare for the invasion of Normandy, Cyril is suddenly sent back to British soil to retrieve a new, heavier, tank, surprising Olga for a short time. Based at the Catterick Army Camp, Olga gets a shock to have learnt that he had been sent back to France to aid the cleanup of Normandy.Leave a review of Letters of Love in WW2 on your favourite podcast app or get in touch on social media using #LettersOfLoveInWW2.Sky HISTORY's Letters of Love in WW2 is written and produced by Anna Priestland, edited by Joel Porter and produced and directed by Sam Pearson.6. 6. Germany: On the Approach
40:18Cyril joins the British Liberation Army as a Corporal, beginning the trek from Normandy across Belgium and Holland en route to Germany. The pace of his unit means that his letters become less frequent as he moves from “C” Squadron, 42nd Royal Tank Regiment of the 11th Armoured Division, 23rd Hussars to the newly formed “A” squadron. Leave a review of Letters of Love in WW2 on your favourite podcast app or get in touch on social media using #LettersOfLoveInWW2.Sky HISTORY's Letters of Love in WW2 is written and produced by Anna Priestland, edited by Joel Porter and produced and directed by Sam Pearson.7. 7. Bergen-Belsen: Sorrow and Shock
51:24As Olga gets a taste of Germany’s ‘Flying Bombs’ in Sheffield, Cyril knows the end of the war is coming as he drives the lead tank of his unit through Germany. As the couple reaches the five year point in their separation, Cyril’s unit becomes one of the first to liberate the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp — something he will never speak of and will likely haunt him his entire life. Leave a review of Letters of Love in WW2 on your favourite podcast app or get in touch on social media using #LettersOfLoveInWW2.Sky HISTORY's Letters of Love in WW2 is written and produced by Anna Priestland, edited by Joel Porter and produced and directed by Sam Pearson.8. 8. VE Day: Grief and Relief
36:14As Germany officially surrenders, Cyril and Olga find hope once again in the fact that their love has survived so many years apart. They will go one to start the family they always dreamed of, with neither of them ever forgetting, and barely speaking of the lost six years. The story would only come to life again when the letters are found after both their deaths.Leave a review of Letters of Love in WW2 on your favourite podcast app or get in touch on social media using #LettersOfLoveInWW2.Sky HISTORY's Letters of Love in WW2 is written and produced by Anna Priestland, edited by Joel Porter and produced and directed by Sam Pearson.