7. Bergen-Belsen: Sorrow and Shock

“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.

"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 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.

"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 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.

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 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.

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 #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.

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 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.

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 Priestland, edited by Joel Porter and produced and directed by Sam Pearson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Sam Pearson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Sam Pearson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Sam Pearson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.