"In the hot desert, while on guard, some of us drank the rusty water from the radiators of the Bren Gun carriers. I would lie on my back - mouth under the drain plug of the carrier!
"I didn’t get far before Jerry had me in range and dropped a few mortars all around me. I froze, as each bomb seem to get nearer. I could feel the heat off them as they exploded …".
"They were all court martialled and two or three were sentenced to be shot!".
Revealing highlights of letters Private Fred Zilken sent to comrade Wilf Shaw over a number of years after WWII.
Great, unpublished history!
Please take my MOBILE survey! I’d be grateful for any feedback on the Fighting Through Podcast, or even early comments on the survey itself. Replies are completely anonymous. Only 9 simple questions, so do please take a shufty! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/699R789
Link to feedback/reviews Thank you.
Full show notes at www.FightingThroughPodcast.co.uk.
Please note that photos below may or may not display depending on which listening platform you’re using.
Below: Fred Zilken proudly wears the 50th Infantry Division TT badge, denoting the catchment areas of the battalion, the Rivers Tyne, Tees and Humber in Yorkshire. Drawn Sicily 1943.
Below: Signal platoon outside Marston House 1941, WW2. Fred top right.
So, a pic of Fed exists after all!
A WW2 history podcast on Bill Cheall's war diary and memoirs.
103 Matt Cain interview on Lady of Mann, Dunkirk Little Ship, Manxmen in WW2
102 Arctic Convoy with Armageddon in the Arctic Ocean
101 Legacy of D-Day WWII, AKA Get off the beach, lads! AKA New Tank Tracks, Coffee and Donuts!
100 D-Day 80th anniversary special – Gold, Omaha and more
99 Omaha Heroes and their WW2 stories
98 World War II Snipers Part TWO - The Men, Their Guns, Their Story
97 World War II Snipers Part ONE - The Men, Their Guns, Their Story
96 Christmas at War with the V1 missiles - 2023
95 Bob Metcalfe memoirs PART TWO Dunkirk/N Africa/Sicily/Italy WW2
94 Bob Metcalfe memoirs PART ONE Dunkirk/N Africa/Sicily/Italy
93 The 82nd airborne Part 2, letters from Sicily and Italy WW2
92 The 82nd airborne Part 1, letters from Sicily/Italy
91 Kisses on a Postcard - Child evacuees of WW2 - Interview with Dominic Frisby
90 Alf Blackburn Part 2, British Infantry War Memoirs, WWII
89 Alf Blackburn Part 1, British Infantry War Memoirs, WWII
88 Christmas/Hogmanay at War 2022 WWII
87 German Boy Soldier 2 - Save the Last Bullet
86 Mighty Eighth podcast preview USAAF WW2 V2
85 Bill Turner, POW, and the Cockleshell Heroes, WW2 Commandos
84 Canadian Lance Corporal David Johnson, Italy WW2
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