Letters of Love in WW2
17 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 115 ratingsFrom North Africa, back to Britain and then through Europe, Letters of Love in WW2 tells a unique story of the Second World War from the perspective of two people that lived through it.
Three months after they wed, Cyril and Olga found themselves separated by the Second World War. Between 1940 and 1946, their love was kept alive on the pages of a thousand letters and postcards, found decades later by their family after they had both passed on. With their family’s poignant and emotional interviews bookending each episode and featuring the voices of Downton Abbey’s Amy Nuttall and Afropean author and broadcaster Johny Pitts, Letters of Love in WW2 gives an incredible first-hand insight into what it was like to live through this tumultuous period.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Extra: Interview with Ancestry genealogist Simon Pearce
September 01, 2020 05:00 - 22 minutes - 31.1 MB“We can learn so much not just from letters and correspondence but just from talking to family and keeping the stories alive.” Series director Sam Pearson interviews Ancestry's resident genealogist Simon Pearce. An expert in First and Second World War history, Simon is able to give insight into how you can start your search into your family record but also the importance of keeping your family story alive. Leave a review to Letters of Love in WW2 on your favourite podcast app or get in tou...
Extra: Memories of Cyril and Olga
August 25, 2020 05:00 - 10 minutes - 13.8 MB“He was doing 100 press-ups every morning.” The Mowforth family share some of their fond memories of Cyril and Olga. 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Extra: The importance of the letters to the family
August 18, 2020 05:00 - 9 minutes - 13 MB"It's massively important, historically, to find these letters. It's going to be one of the last eras where that's going to happen." The Mowforth family share their thoughts on what finding Cyril and Olga's correspondence means to them and the importance of forging such a deep connection with family members who, in some cases, they hardly knew. 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 Le...
Extra: The family's connection to Cyril and Olga's experiences
May 07, 2020 05:00 - 7 minutes - 10.6 MB"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 t...
Extra: The family on Cyril and Olga's wartime experiences
May 07, 2020 05:00 - 7 minutes - 10.6 MB"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 t...
8. Home at Last: Grief and Relief
July 25, 2019 23:00 - 36 minutes - 50.5 MBAs 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 to Letters of Love in WW2 on your favourite podcast app or get in touch on social media using #LettersOfLoveInWW2....
8. VE Day: Grief and Relief
July 25, 2019 23:00 - 36 minutes - 49.8 MBAs 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....
7. Bergen-Belsen: Sorrow and Shock
July 18, 2019 23:00 - 51 minutes - 94.2 MBAs 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 usi...
6. Germany: On the Approach
July 11, 2019 23:00 - 40 minutes - 73.9 MBCyril 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 Lov...
5. D-Day: Visitations
July 04, 2019 23:00 - 37 minutes - 68.6 MBAs 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...
4. El Alamein: Silence and Roses
June 27, 2019 23:00 - 47 minutes - 87.1 MBFrustrations 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 ...
3. Siege of Tobruk: Battlefields and Reality
June 20, 2019 23:00 - 34 minutes - 62.5 MBThe 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...
2. North Africa: Lost Messages
June 13, 2019 23:00 - 33 minutes - 61.7 MBCyril 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 direct...
1. At Sea: Optimistic Goodbyes
June 06, 2019 23:00 - 28 minutes - 39.8 MBWhen 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 #LettersOfLove...
The history of the Second World War told through one couple's letters
May 23, 2019 23:00 - 1 minute - 2.55 MBThis 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. ...
The Second World War told through one couple's letters
May 23, 2019 23:00 - 1 minute - 2.55 MBThis 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. ...
Trailer: Listen to Cyril & Olga's war in Letters of Love in WW2
May 23, 2019 23:00 - 1 minute - 2.55 MBReleased every Friday from 7th June, Letters of Love in WW2 is the brand new eight-part audio podcast series from TV channel HISTORY, revealing the remarkable story of a separated couple’s war told through their real-life love letters. Written by Anna Priestland, edited by Joel Porter and directed by Sam Pearson, you can download and subscribe to Letters of Love in WW2 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast or your favourite podcast app. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast...