Tales from the Battlefields

In this episode we talk to historian and author Neil Barber about the 6th Airborne Division. We discuss the men that landed on D Day and how Neil got to know them and discover their incredible stories of bravery. We hear about Wally Parr, the Para who used a German gun to shoot at the enemy, and the Frenchman who wasn’t bothered about the battle going on outside his home and went back to bed! We also listen to an emotional “last letter home” from Stan Eckert, read by 17 year old Charlie. Stan and his brother were both killed in action are buried together in Ranville Cemetery. We remember them, and many others.

In this episode we visit the garden of an ancient Abbey near Caen in Normandy, the scene of the murder of 20 Canadian soldiers in the days following D Day in June 1944. Who were these young men? We pay tribute to each and every one of them…and discover how a bereaved Mother refused to move from her home as she expected her son to come through the kitchen door one day. And we look into the story of the SS Officer, Kurt Meyer, who was held responsible for these murders. Who was he? Why was he released from a military prison after just 8 years and what happened when he returned home? And how did a Chestnut tree become the unmarked grave of some of these lads?

In this episode we travel to La Boisselle and follow the fortunes of the Tyneside Scottish volunteers on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, 1st July 1916. Who were these men? What happened to them as they went “over the top” at 7.30am on this disastrous day? Who was the 16 year old “Boy Soldier”?  And what happened to their Commanding Officers in No Man’s Land? This episode was recorded on the battlefield, as we walk through the village and discuss their brave actions with Newcastle City historian Martin Talbot.

In this episode we discover the story of Lt Charles Potts, Tunnelling Officer at the Birr Cross Roads beneath the Menin Road near Ypres. Wounded in both legs, awful shell shock. What is his story? And we follow the trail of 2 brothers who joined the Royal Flying Corps and died within a few days of each other. And the incredible story of a decorated Officer who had to supervise the execution of a deserter, and was wounded 4 times whilst serving on the Western Front for 4 years. What is his story? We also visit the Greek Island of Rhodes and discover the grave of soldier who served in the Great War as a 14 year old, was evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk in 1940 but died in a tragic accident after the fighting had stopped.

In this episode we travel to the Somme battlefield of 1st July 1916 and follow in the footsteps of the 36th Ulster Division on that day. We learn, through the eyes of the soldiers who were there, what happened as they charged into the Schwaben Redoubt. We discover what the veteran’s thoughts were when they returned in 1930 and what happened when war returned to the area in 1940. What became of the caretaker of the Ulster Tower? And we walk across No Man’s Land and discover 2 battlefield cemeteries. What did we find along the way?