Fighting Through WWII Stories & History

Part Two, Episode Fifty anniversary special Celebrate Dunkirk 80 with this special episode. Take a trip down the Second World War memory lane of Dunkirk, D-Day, Lancasters, tanks, the Blitz, POW's, the WW1 battle of Gallipoli and much more. Old stories, new stories and bloopers. Full show notes, links and photos Feedback/reviews  in Apple Podcasts - Thank you.  Web site home page Twitter page Face...

Celebrating Episode 50! Take a trip down the Second World War memory lane of Dunkirk, D-Day, Lancasters, tanks, the Blitz, POW's, the WW1 battle of Gallipoli and much more. Old stories, new stories and bloopers. Full show notes, links and photos Feedback/reviews  in Apple Podcasts - Thank you.  Web site home page Twitter page Facebook page YouTube channel More great unpublished history! Second wor...

Another helping of soldierly stories wrapped up in rhyme. We've got a poignant verse written to a soldier by his tank comrades whilst he was laid up wounded in a military hospital. A poem written by German soldier Heinrich to his girlfriend. He never came back from the front but his loving lines have been re-enacted for us by Kessie and Rolf. And there's a recce mission for us all to work together...

"We went up the line in the trenches at Vimy Ridge. We prepared our emplacement for a raid by the Canadians, to capture prisoners to gain information for the big attack that was to come. We were to fire gas shells during the early hours, followed by smoke, to give the Canadians cover. "I was first in line but I had to stop for a few moments to feel for my boot in the mud, empty the mud out, and pu...

Part Two of D-Day Through German Eyes, How the Wehrmacht Lost France by J Trigg. A reflection on how the war was lost by the Germans and won by the Allies from D-Day onwards during WW2. Please note that some of the narrative in this episode is quite gory, more so than on previous episodes. If you don't like imagery of blood, body parts and violent death scenes, I recommend you don't listen on this...

Stories about the German side of the Second World War. "There was a vast number of ships, absolutely vast. I can tell you that my throat went dry painfully dry, and my hands began to shake. I wasn't the only man to be affected that way, one of the very young lads began to retch as if he was going to be sick. It was the effect of pure fear." "For a couple of days the two sides just existed on oppos...

Accounts of my trip to Normandy - including Gold beach and Omaha. An exclusive preview of the new British Normandy Memorial which is dedicated to the 22,000 British, French and other foreigners killed during the World War two Normandy campaign. Some excellent D-Day passages from a book I've been reading about the D-Day landings, D-Day the Battle for Europe. "There was little sleep that night. The...

Flt Lt Sidney Stevens was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) during WWII raids bombing industrial Germany in 1943. "This thing was bumping up and down and sometimes you could lose 600 feet and you'd just drop vertically ... "I came out of the clouds and the German fighter was there waiting for me ... DFC citation: Pilot Officer Sidney George STEVENS (149614), Royal Air Force Volunteer Re...

HMS Exeter was sunk in Pacific waters during the second world war. Ray Fitchett made a recording of his tale of survival in Japan – abandoning ship in shark infested waters followed by three years' captivity as a POW of the second world war. Hear the terrifying tale of how he survived. "They decided to put some of us down the coal mine but I didn't fancy that. So I went to the tail end of the queu...

Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings with memoirs about the tough training for D-Day and stories about Landing Craft Tanks delivering their cargo of hardware and humans to the battle-strewn WWII beaches. "We had delivered to Juno and Gold and were returning our Landing Craft Tank to England. We were close to our shores when we pancaked down so hard in the sea that we broke our...

A final dose of fun and adventure with war hero Wilf Shaw. "We're done for" said Wilf's mate as a cloud of desert dust appeared on the horizon, signifying the approach of a very large force of enemy troops. "One day, on board ship, they decided to run a Battalion boxing tournament and Sgt O'Grady asked the assembled company for volunteers - not a single hand was raised - until Jeff nudged me and s...

The extraordinary turns of events that brought four Brits to the shores of Dunkirk at the same time as a Frenchman. More great unpublished history - of the Second World War. Links - Not supported by all podcast players: Fred Bates interview on YouTube https://youtu.be/g4365J5p5xY Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/FightingThroughPodcast   Feedback/reviews  in Apple Podcasts - Thank you - https...

A bonus episode with listener feedback on the Capt Stan Perry interviews, episodes 37-38 plus end of year WW2 history quiz! Links - Not supported by all podcast players: Show notes link here Facebook page Best podcast for World War 2 history and the second world war Link to feedback/reviews  in Apple Podcasts - Thank you. 

The dramatic WWII diary of a 5th Scottish Para in France, Italy and beyond. The secret story of a WW2 mutiny by British soldiers. And what a great new set of revelations we're about to learn about the war! There'll be some paradoxical encounters with Greek resistance fighters and legal hysterics on the back of a mutiny by the British soldiers. Great Unpublished History! World War Two Links - Not s...

Capt Stanley Perry was in the British tank regiment the Sherwood Rangers and saw a lot of action in Normandy and Germany. He survived battles, bombs and booby traps to tell of his amazing WWII exploits some 75 years later!  Great Unpublished History! Second World War. Links - Not supported by all podcast players: Facebook page Link to feedback/reviews  in Apple Podcasts - Thank you.  Show notes li...

PART TWO. Continuing with Part two of Capt Stanley Perry's WW2 interview. Recommended you listen to Part one, episode 36, first.  Stan was in the British tank regiment the Sherwood Rangers and saw a lot of action in Normandy and Germany. He survived WWII battles, bombs and booby traps to tell of his amazing exploits some 75 years later!  Great Unpublished History!  Second World War. Links - Not su...

Interview with Freddie Linacre, a British veteran of the North Africa campaign and POW in World War 2.  Soldiers survived or were killed or captured. Learn how one man nearly did all three.  Hear the painful tricks POW's pulled to get out of work duties.  Learn how being a Catholic POW, even in Italy, guaranteed you an even harder existence!  Great Unpublished History!  Links - Not supported by al...

Hear the WWII diary Anne Cheall wrote on holiday in Wales in July 1943. A brief sojourn before returning to the bomb making factory. Paul tries out his foreign language skills. The secret sayings and proverbs which guided Anne throughout her life. Links - Not supported by all podcast players: Facebook page Best podcast for World War 2 history and the second world war Link to feedback/reviews  at A...

A Wren's Story, by Audrey Johnson - the memoirs of a WREN in a signals team during WW2, based in N Ireland. How Anne Cheall made the best of limited rations with her wartime recipes. More great unpublished history - of the Second World War. Links - Not supported by all podcast players: Link to feedback/reviews  at Apple Podcasts - Thank you. Full show notes here Feedback/reviews  in Apple Podcasts...

Anne Cheall describes her life as a civilian in WW2, as a 17 year old. How she staved off the threat of hunger, the dangers of working in a bomb factory, the humour from working for a German boss, and how she stood in as a surrogate agony aunt for one of her friends who thought she was pregnant! More great unpublished history  Links - Not supported by all podcast players: Facebook page Best podcas...

Volker, born 1944, tells some fascinating tales about the dangers his Dad faced in returning to his home country ahead of the advancing Russians, as WW2 ended. Many family stories include a daring escape from Stalingrad and escape from a train bound for Siberia. More great unpublished history - of the Second World War. Links - Not supported by all podcast players: Facebook page Link to feedback/re...

Two WW2 servicemen. Two accounts of the same very special voyage upon the iconic Queen Mary in 1943, taking allied troops from Scotland to Egypt.  "I relieved Tommy as lookout on the quarter deck, he reported Queen Mary sighted with HMS Curacao in the fare of her. What happened in the next few moments was too quick to be true, unfortunately it was true. "For three days, I didn't care whether I liv...

The cracking story of Brian Asquith, who was a Rifleman in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps and was captured at Dunkirk in 1940, WWII. A dangerous but heart-warming adventure in war-time Poland. Learn how the Polish people and the human race come out on top despite deadly dealings by the Nazis. "Suddenly through the haze we saw a flight of 20 large planes in arrow formation at about 10,000 feet. As the...

28 Wilf Shaw RIP Tribute It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of WWII veteran Wilf Shaw in hospital on 21 March 2018. His family advise that he passed away very peacefully in the early hours in hospital. He had enjoyed exceptional health for his age until a few weeks ago, when the breathing difficulties he had had trouble with during the past eighteen months worsened quite dramatic...

92 year-old Royal Marine Roy Bennett remembers his WWII Juno beach landing and more: "There was a horrendous noise as we landed, people were dying leaving the landing craft ..." Bill Cheall re-visits France and Gold beach on the 50th anniversary of D-Day in 1994. "We arrived 50 years later at 12.15 hrs and it was still drizzling with rain, and windy, just like it was on D-Day, WW2". More great unp...