120 Christmas at War 2024, Chat with Cecili Howard and Ken Cooke

Chat with Cecili who was a young girl in WWII Britain. A Christmas catch up with D-Day veteran Ken Cooke, 98.  Plus another helping of festive tales of WW2. Please do subscribe or follow in your listening app as it helps me with the search rankings.  Show notes and photos:https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/120-Christmas-At-War-2024-Sicily-interview-and-Ken-Cooke Episode shortlist - Full episode listing for the podcast https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/about/ Buy Me a Coffeehttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/fightingthrough Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FightingThrough Reviews: Please review in your usual app or on my website here: https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/reviews/new/ Follow me on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/FightingThroughPodcast YouTube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnlqRO9MdFBUrKM6ExEOzVQ?view_as=subscriber Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulCheall        

Bill's sobering police tour around defeated post-WWII Germany takes in sights and experiences of Oberhausen, Essen and Duisberg, including a poignant and memorable 1945 Christmas.  Hear the complete book, now ON THIS PODCAST, STARTS EPISODE 107. Fighting Through from Dunkirk to Hamburg, by Bill Cheall. The story of one British man's second world war.  Please do subscribe or follow in your listening app as it helps me with the search rankings.  Show notes and photos: https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/119-Post-war-Germany-Oberhausen-Essen-Duisberg Episode shortlist - Full episode listing for the podcast https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/about/ Buy Me a Coffeehttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/fightingthrough Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FightingThrough Reviews: Please review in your usual app or on my website here: https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/reviews/new/ Follow me on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/FightingThroughPodcast YouTube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnlqRO9MdFBUrKM6ExEOzVQ?view_as=subscriber Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulCheall "When Bill Cheall joined up in April 1939, he could not have imagined the drama, rewards and near continuous action that lay in store. First and foremost a Green Howard (a Northern regiment), as a member of the British Expeditionary Force he saw the sharp end of Hitler’s May 1940 Blitzkrieg and was evacuated exhausted from Dunkirk. His next move was to North Africa, courtesy of the Queen Mary, to be part of Monty’s 8th Army.  After eventual victory in Tunisia, the Sicily invasion followed. Alongside a number of other battle-hardened units, the Green Howards were then ordered back to England to form the vanguard of the Normandy Invasion. In the fierce fighting that followed the D-Day landing on GOLD Beach, he was wounded and evacuated. His comrade Sergeant Major Stan Hollis, won the only VC to be awarded on 6 June 1944. Once fit, Bill returned to the war zone and he finished the war with the East Lancs as a Regimental Policeman in devastated occupied Germany. For all this he earned seven medals and a wounded-in-action stripe. Bill experienced many adventures during those action-packed years. Unlike too many, he survived to share these with the reader. Told with humility and humour, Fighting Through From Dunkirk to Hamburg is, by any measure, a superb fighting soldier’s memoir. Bill passed away peacefully in 1999 following a battle with prostate cancer."      

Chapter 22/23 Bill recovers from his wounds and gets back into training in England. He returns to the battlefront to his comrades in WW2 Germany and witnesses first hand the devastation caused by allied bombing and the uprooting of the displaced peoples of Europe, during the second world war.  Hear the complete book, now ON THIS PODCAST, STARTS EPISODE 107. Fighting Through from Dunkirk to Hamburg, by Bill Cheall. The story of one British man's second world war.  Please do subscribe or follow in your listening app as it helps me with the search rankings.  Show notes and photos: https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/118-Ch-22-Back-to-Duty-Bill-Chealls-complete-war-memoirs Episode shortlist - Full episode listing for the podcasthttps://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/about/ Buy Me a Coffeehttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/fightingthrough Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FightingThrough Reviews: Please review in your usual app or on my website here: https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/reviews/new/ Follow me on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/FightingThroughPodcast YouTube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnlqRO9MdFBUrKM6ExEOzVQ?view_as=subscriber Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulCheall "When Bill Cheall joined up in April 1939, he could not have imagined the drama, rewards and near continuous action that lay in store. First and foremost a Green Howard (a Northern regiment), as a member of the British Expeditionary Force he saw the sharp end of Hitler’s May 1940 Blitzkrieg and was evacuated exhausted from Dunkirk. His next move was to North Africa, courtesy of the Queen Mary, to be part of Monty’s 8th Army.  After eventual victory in Tunisia, the Sicily invasion followed. Alongside a number of other battle-hardened units, the Green Howards were then ordered back to England to form the vanguard of the Normandy Invasion. In the fierce fighting that followed the D-Day landing on GOLD Beach, he was wounded and evacuated. His comrade Sergeant Major Stan Hollis, won the only VC to be awarded on 6 June 1944. Once fit, Bill returned to the war zone and he finished the war with the East Lancs as a Regimental Policeman in devastated occupied Germany. For all this he earned seven medals and a wounded-in-action stripe. Bill experienced many adventures during those action-packed years. Unlike too many, he survived to share these with the reader. Told with humility and humour, Fighting Through From Dunkirk to Hamburg is, by any measure, a superb fighting soldier’s memoir. Bill passed away peacefully in 1999 following a battle with prostate cancer."      

D-Day plus 1 to D plus 30. The Green Howards fight through France the next few weeks after the invasion.  Hear the complete book, now ON THIS PODCAST, STARTS EPISODE 107. Fighting Through from Dunkirk to Hamburg, by Bill Cheall. The story of one British man's second world war.  Please do subscribe or follow in your listening app as it helps me with the search rankings.  Show notes and photos: https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/117-Ch-20-D-Day-contd-Bill-Cheall-WW2-memoirs Episode shortlist - Full episode listing for the podcast https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/about/ Buy Me a Coffeehttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/fightingthrough Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FightingThrough Reviews: Please review in your usual app or on my website here: https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/reviews/new/ Follow me on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/FightingThroughPodcast YouTube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnlqRO9MdFBUrKM6ExEOzVQ?view_as=subscriber Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulCheall "When Bill Cheall joined up in April 1939, he could not have imagined the drama, rewards and near continuous action that lay in store. First and foremost a Green Howard (a Northern regiment), as a member of the British Expeditionary Force he saw the sharp end of Hitler’s May 1940 Blitzkrieg and was evacuated exhausted from Dunkirk. His next move was to North Africa, courtesy of the Queen Mary, to be part of Monty’s 8th Army.  After eventual victory in Tunisia, the Sicily invasion followed. Alongside a number of other battle-hardened units, the Green Howards were then ordered back to England to form the vanguard of the Normandy Invasion. In the fierce fighting that followed the D-Day landing on GOLD Beach, he was wounded and evacuated. His comrade Sergeant Major Stan Hollis, won the only VC to be awarded on 6 June 1944. Once fit, Bill returned to the war zone and he finished the war with the East Lancs as a Regimental Policeman in devastated occupied Germany. For all this he earned seven medals and a wounded-in-action stripe. Bill experienced many adventures during those action-packed years. Unlike too many, he survived to share these with the reader. Told with humility and humour, Fighting Through From Dunkirk to Hamburg is, by any measure, a superb fighting soldier’s memoir. Bill passed away peacefully in 1999 following a battle with prostate cancer."      

D -1 to D-Day. Bill and his comrades cool their heels on board ship whilst the invasion is postponed. They land under horrific fire with the first wave of troops on Gold beach. Hear the complete book, now ON THIS PODCAST, STARTS EPISODE 107. Fighting Through from Dunkirk to Hamburg, by Bill Cheall. The story of one British man's second world war.  Please do subscribe or follow in your listening app as it helps me with the search rankings.  Show notes: https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/116-D-Day-Bill-Chealls-WWI-memoirs Episode shortlist - Full episode listing for the podcast https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/about/ Buy Me a Coffeehttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/fightingthrough Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FightingThrough Reviews: Please review in your usual app or on my website here: https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/reviews/new/ Follow me on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/FightingThroughPodcast YouTube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnlqRO9MdFBUrKM6ExEOzVQ?view_as=subscriber Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulCheall "When Bill Cheall joined up in April 1939, he could not have imagined the drama, rewards and near continuous action that lay in store. First and foremost a Green Howard (a Northern regiment), as a member of the British Expeditionary Force he saw the sharp end of Hitler’s May 1940 Blitzkrieg and was evacuated exhausted from Dunkirk. His next move was to North Africa, courtesy of the Queen Mary, to be part of Monty’s 8th Army.  After eventual victory in Tunisia, the Sicily invasion followed. Alongside a number of other battle-hardened units, the Green Howards were then ordered back to England to form the vanguard of the Normandy Invasion. In the fierce fighting that followed the D-Day landing on GOLD Beach, he was wounded and evacuated. His comrade Sergeant Major Stan Hollis, won the only VC to be awarded on 6 June 1944. Once fit, Bill returned to the war zone and he finished the war with the East Lancs as a Regimental Policeman in devastated occupied Germany. For all this he earned seven medals and a wounded-in-action stripe. Bill experienced many adventures during those action-packed years. Unlike too many, he survived to share these with the reader. Told with humility and humour, Fighting Through From Dunkirk to Hamburg is, by any measure, a superb fighting soldier’s memoir. Bill passed away peacefully in 1999 following a battle with prostate cancer."      

Hear the complete book, now ON THIS PODCAST, STARTS EPISODE 107. Bill returns home via bombed-out Liverpool.  He trains hard and prepares for D-Day, witnessing some awful happenings in England before the invasion even begins. Fighting Through from Dunkirk to Hamburg, by Bill Cheall. The story of one British man's second world war.  Please do subscribe or follow in your listening app as it helps me with the search rankings.  Show notes and photos: https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/115-Chapters-15-16-17-England-Scotland-Preparing-for-D-Day Episode shortlist - Full episode listing for the podcast https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/about/ Buy Me a Coffeehttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/fightingthrough Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FightingThrough Reviews: Please review in your usual app or on my website here: https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/reviews/new/ Follow me on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/FightingThroughPodcast YouTube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnlqRO9MdFBUrKM6ExEOzVQ?view_as=subscriber Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulCheall "When Bill Cheall joined up in April 1939, he could not have imagined the drama, rewards and near continuous action that lay in store. First and foremost a Green Howard (a Northern regiment), as a member of the British Expeditionary Force he saw the sharp end of Hitler’s May 1940 Blitzkrieg and was evacuated exhausted from Dunkirk. His next move was to North Africa, courtesy of the Queen Mary, to be part of Monty’s 8th Army.  After eventual victory in Tunisia, the Sicily invasion followed. Alongside a number of other battle-hardened units, the Green Howards were then ordered back to England to form the vanguard of the Normandy Invasion. In the fierce fighting that followed the D-Day landing on GOLD Beach, he was wounded and evacuated. His comrade Sergeant Major Stan Hollis, won the only VC to be awarded on 6 June 1944. Once fit, Bill returned to the war zone and he finished the war with the East Lancs as a Regimental Policeman in devastated occupied Germany. For all this he earned seven medals and a wounded-in-action stripe. Bill experienced many adventures during those action-packed years. Unlike too many, he survived to share these with the reader. Told with humility and humour, Fighting Through From Dunkirk to Hamburg is, by any measure, a superb fighting soldier’s memoir. Bill passed away peacefully in 1999 following a battle with prostate cancer."

Bill trains in the desert heat before invading Sicily, experiencing bombardment and action around the Primasole bridge and Catania airport, before cooking a meal for Generals Eisenhower and Montgomery! Hear the complete book, now ON THIS PODCAST, STARTS EPISODE 107. Fighting Through from Dunkirk to Hamburg, by Bill Cheall. The story of one British man's second world war.  Please do subscribe or follow in your listening app as it helps me with the search rankings.  Show notes and photos:https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/114-Chapters-13-14-Sicily-WW2-history Episode shortlist - Full episode listing for the podcast https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/about/ Buy Me a Coffeehttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/fightingthrough Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FightingThrough Reviews: Please review in your usual app or on my website here: https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/reviews/new/ Follow me on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/FightingThroughPodcast YouTube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnlqRO9MdFBUrKM6ExEOzVQ?view_as=subscriber Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulCheall "When Bill Cheall joined up in April 1939, he could not have imagined the drama, rewards and near continuous action that lay in store. First and foremost a Green Howard (a Northern regiment), as a member of the British Expeditionary Force he saw the sharp end of Hitler’s May 1940 Blitzkrieg and was evacuated exhausted from Dunkirk. His next move was to North Africa, courtesy of the Queen Mary, to be part of Monty’s 8th Army.  After eventual victory in Tunisia, the Sicily invasion followed. Alongside a number of other battle-hardened units, the Green Howards were then ordered back to England to form the vanguard of the Normandy Invasion. In the fierce fighting that followed the D-Day landing on GOLD Beach, he was wounded and evacuated. His comrade Sergeant Major Stan Hollis, won the only VC to be awarded on 6 June 1944. Once fit, Bill returned to the war zone and he finished the war with the East Lancs as a Regimental Policeman in devastated occupied Germany. For all this he earned seven medals and a wounded-in-action stripe. Bill experienced many adventures during those action-packed years. Unlike too many, he survived to share these with the reader. Told with humility and humour, Fighting Through From Dunkirk to Hamburg is, by any measure, a superb fighting soldier’s memoir. Bill passed away peacefully in 1999 following a battle with prostate cancer."      

Chapters 10 The Desert (Egypt), 11 Back to the Green Howards, 12 Wadi Akarit, Into Battle WW2. Hear the complete book, now ON THIS PODCAST, STARTS EPISODE 107. Fighting Through from Dunkirk to Hamburg, by Bill Cheall. The story of one British man's second world war.  Please do subscribe or follow in your listening app as it helps me with the search rankings.  Show notes and photos:https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/113-Chapters-10-11-12-Egypt-Wadi-Akarit-Into-Battle-WWII Episode shortlist - Full episode listing for the podcast https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/about/ Buy Me a Coffeehttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/fightingthrough Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FightingThrough Reviews: Please review in your usual app or on my website here: https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/reviews/new/ Follow me on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/FightingThroughPodcast YouTube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnlqRO9MdFBUrKM6ExEOzVQ?view_as=subscriber Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulCheall "When Bill Cheall joined up in April 1939, he could not have imagined the drama, rewards and near continuous action that lay in store. First and foremost a Green Howard (a Northern regiment), as a member of the British Expeditionary Force he saw the sharp end of Hitler’s May 1940 Blitzkrieg and was evacuated exhausted from Dunkirk. His next move was to North Africa, courtesy of the Queen Mary, to be part of Monty’s 8th Army.  After eventual victory in Tunisia, the Sicily invasion followed. Alongside a number of other battle-hardened units, the Green Howards were then ordered back to England to form the vanguard of the Normandy Invasion. In the fierce fighting that followed the D-Day landing on GOLD Beach, he was wounded and evacuated. His comrade Sergeant Major Stan Hollis, won the only VC to be awarded on 6 June 1944. Once fit, Bill returned to the war zone and he finished the war with the East Lancs as a Regimental Policeman in devastated occupied Germany. For all this he earned seven medals and a wounded-in-action stripe. Bill experienced many adventures during those action-packed years. Unlike too many, he survived to share these with the reader. Told with humility and humour, Fighting Through From Dunkirk to Hamburg is, by any measure, a superb fighting soldier’s memoir. Bill passed away peacefully in 1999 following a battle with prostate cancer."        

Chapters 8/9 - I Am Posted. Bill cools his heels in Britain before finding out he's going to do some travelling - on the Queen Mary ship - to the Middle East. Hear the complete book, now ON THIS PODCAST, STARTS EPISODE 107. Fighting Through from Dunkirk to Hamburg, by Bill Cheall. The story of one British man's second world war.  "When Bill Cheall joined up in April 1939, he could not have imagined the drama, rewards and near continuous action that lay in store. First and foremost a Green Howard (a Northern regiment), as a member of the British Expeditionary Force he saw the sharp end of Hitler’s May 1940 Blitzkrieg and was evacuated exhausted from Dunkirk. His next move was to North Africa, courtesy of the Queen Mary, to be part of Monty’s 8th Army.  After eventual victory in Tunisia, the Sicily invasion followed. Alongside a number of other battle-hardened units, the Green Howards were then ordered back to England to form the vanguard of the Normandy Invasion. In the fierce fighting that followed the D-Day landing on GOLD Beach, he was wounded and evacuated. His comrade Sergeant Major Stan Hollis, won the only VC to be awarded on 6 June 1944. Once fit, Bill returned to the war zone and he finished the war with the East Lancs as a Regimental Policeman in devastated occupied Germany. For all this he earned seven medals and a wounded-in-action stripe. Bill experienced many adventures during those action-packed years. Unlike too many, he survived to share these with the reader. Told with humility and humour, Fighting Through From Dunkirk to Hamburg is, by any measure, a superb fighting soldier’s memoir. Bill passed away peacefully in 1999 following a battle with prostate cancer." Please do subscribe or follow in your listening app as it helps me with the search rankings.  Show notes and photos:https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/112-Chapters-8-9-I-Am-Posted-Queen-Mary-voyage Episode shortlist - Full episode listing for the podcast https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/about/ Buy Me a Coffeehttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/fightingthrough Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FightingThrough Reviews: Please review in your usual app or on my website here: https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/reviews/new/ Follow me on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/FightingThroughPodcast YouTube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnlqRO9MdFBUrKM6ExEOzVQ?view_as=subscriber Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulCheall          

Chapters 5,6,7, The Aftermath,  Reorganisation, Training. Bill recovers from Dunkirk and the Green Howards re-equip and reorganise for war. Hear the complete book, now ON THIS PODCAST, STARTS EPISODE 107. Fighting Through from Dunkirk to Hamburg, by Bill Cheall. The story of one British man's second world war.  "When Bill Cheall joined up in April 1939, he could not have imagined the drama, rewards and near continuous action that lay in store. First and foremost a Green Howard (a Northern regiment), as a member of the British Expeditionary Force he saw the sharp end of Hitler’s May 1940 Blitzkrieg and was evacuated exhausted from Dunkirk. His next move was to North Africa, courtesy of the Queen Mary, to be part of Monty’s 8th Army.  After eventual victory in Tunisia, the Sicily invasion followed. Alongside a number of other battle-hardened units, the Green Howards were then ordered back to England to form the vanguard of the Normandy Invasion. In the fierce fighting that followed the D-Day landing on GOLD Beach, he was wounded and evacuated. His comrade Sergeant Major Stan Hollis, won the only VC to be awarded on 6 June 1944. Once fit, Bill returned to the war zone and he finished the war with the East Lancs as a Regimental Policeman in devastated occupied Germany. For all this he earned seven medals and a wounded-in-action stripe. Bill experienced many adventures during those action-packed years. Unlike too many, he survived to share these with the reader. Told with humility and humour, Fighting Through From Dunkirk to Hamburg is, by any measure, a superb fighting soldier’s memoir. Bill passed away peacefully in 1999 following a battle with prostate cancer." Please do subscribe or follow in your listening app as it helps me with the search rankings.  Show notes: https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/111-Chapters-5-6-7-The-Aftermath-Reorganisation-Training-for-WW2 Episode shortlist - Full episode listing for the podcast https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/about/ Buy Me a Coffeehttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/fightingthrough Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FightingThrough Reviews: Please review in your usual app or on my website here: https://www.fightingthroughpodcast.co.uk/reviews/new/ Follow me on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/FightingThroughPodcast YouTube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnlqRO9MdFBUrKM6ExEOzVQ?view_as=subscriber Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulCheall