Letters of Love in WW2

From 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 real people that lived through it.

Three months after they wed, Cyril and Olga Mowforth 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 Mr Bates vs The Post Office and 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.

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Episodes

Extra: Memories of Cyril and Olga

“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....

Aug 25, 2020•10 min•Ep. 11

Extra: The importance of the letters to the family

"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 Letters o...

Aug 18, 2020•9 min•Ep. 10

Extra: The family on Cyril and Olga's wartime experiences

"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 Lett...

May 07, 2020•8 min•Ep. 9

8. VE Day: Grief and Relief

As 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 ...

Jul 25, 2019•36 min•Ep. 8

7. Bergen-Belsen: Sorrow and Shock

As 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 #Le...

Jul 18, 2019•51 min•Ep. 7

6. Germany: On the Approach

Cyril 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 WW...

Jul 11, 2019•40 min•Ep. 6

5. D-Day: Visitations

As 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 Pries...

Jul 04, 2019•37 min•Ep. 5

4. El Alamein: Silence and Roses

Frustrations 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 Sa...

Jun 27, 2019•48 min•Ep. 4

3. Siege of Tobruk: Battlefields and Reality

The 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 S...

Jun 20, 2019•34 min•Ep. 3

2. North Africa: Lost Messages

Cyril 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...

Jun 13, 2019•34 min•Ep. 2

1. At Sea: Optimistic Goodbyes

When 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...

Jun 06, 2019•29 min•Ep. 1

The history of the Second World War told through one couple's letters

This 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 . Hoste...

May 23, 2019•2 min

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