Bodmin Keep War Stories

Despite being a volunteer force, 5DCLI (Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry) took part in some of the fiercest and bloodiest battles of World War two in North-West Europe. We'll hear verbatim from the diaries of some of the DCLI soldiers about their brave exploits. One was shot through the breast pocket but through remarkable luck, survived. Another, although small in stature, was large in spirit. And other 5DCLI men bore witness to the atrocities of the Holocaust, acting as guards during war crime trials after the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany. 

We also hear from two more recent volunteer soldiers including a single mum for whom the experience of volunteering with the Territorial Army, transformed her life for ever. 

From refugees fleeing the ravages of war-torn Europe in World War I to modern asylum seekers, Cornwall has welcomed people seeking sanctuary across the generations. 

Cornwall's proximity to the French coast made the county a natural destination for those seeking sanctuary over 100 years ago. In this episode we hear how Cornish folk shouldered the burden of the First World War effort by welcoming refugees from Belgium, and later Jewish people escaping persecution. 

In the Second World War, hundreds of children made Cornwall their temporary home as young evacuees in World War II. Many of them spent their formative years in villages by the sea before having to return to their home cities which had been ravaged by bombing raids. 

And today, local people still welcome those fleeing war and persecution and support them in securing a safe and healthy life for themselves and their families.  

The huge contribution of servicemen and women of colour through the centuries and across the world bolstered British forces in nearly every conflict, and in supporting the building of the British Empire. But so often that skill and loyalty has been overlooked and at times even resented.

In this episode military historian Barry Renfrew explains just how vital the contribution of soldiers of colour has been throughout British military history. Author Kate Werran tells the incredible story of a World War II gun battle between black and white soldiers in Launceston. Bodmin Keep's trainee curator Isabella Hogan tells the real story of the infamous Siege of Lucknow in India in 1857 and Black Voices Cornwall co-founder Marcus Alleyne reveals what it was like to be a black serviceman in the Royal Navy in more recent times.

War leaves mental scars as well as physical ones and for many veterans, the battle does not always end when the fighting stops. In this episode we chart the changing attitudes to mental health conditions caused by the impact of conflict; from Florence Nightingale's pioneering support for traumatised soldiers in the Crimean War to present day veterans who, even now, can take years to reach out for help for themselves and their families. And we'll hear about a powerful film - Combat Stress 100 - in which former servicemen and women speak out for the first time about their crippling mental health conditions. Trigger warning. This podcast contains reference to military trauma and PTSD

Two world wars, intelligence training, an influx of Americans and a mishap with a hungry dog and a crocodile handbag - all part of the rich history of Bodmin Keep.

When the building was first erected in 1859 it was a blueprint for a modern and healthy training centre. Since then, thousands of troops have come here to ready themselves for duty, before being despatched to all corners of the globe. It's been a depot, a training centre, a spy school and a home for 100s of GI's.

In this episode, we'll find out why Winston Churchill raised eyebrows when he paid a visit to Bodmin Keep, we'll hear what impressionable posh boys learned from their more streetwise room mates, and we'll discover exactly how much a typical soldier could tuck into for breakfast at the barracks.

Two men whose fathers served here during the years of National Service recall how the barracks could be a Boy's Own adventure for those not forced into lengthy drills. And Bill Stevens, who was adjutant in the 1950s, recalls what could have been a very expensive and embarrassing mistake.

It's now more than 20 years since the ban on gay people serving in the armed forces was lifted. But what was it like for gay and lesbian people serving before that? We hear about the lives of gay men in the two great wars, how the army was an escape from society's heterosexual norms for lesbians and what museums are doing today to make their collections more representative of everyone who has served their country - gay or straight. And a gay soldier tells us how joining the army gave him the strength to finally become his real self.

Bodmin was alive with Russians at the height of the Cold War when the town became home to a school for spies! Hundreds of Britain's brightest young men came to learn Russian in order to translate Soviet radio transmissions for GCHQ. Playwrights Alan Bennett, Michael Frayn and Dennis Potter were among those who passed through as part of their National Service. Flamboyant Russian lecturers staged avant garde plays in the local church and one even married a local girl.   

Cornwall's maritime might and strategic coastal location made it far from remote when it came to D-Day operations. Find out how the county experienced an invasion of its own - from thousands of American GIs. Hear which celebrities visited soldiers at Bodmin Keep during training for the Normandy Landings. And discover how a sleepy Cornish village was transformed forever after being chosen as an embarkation point by troops leaving Britain to liberate France from the Nazis.

It's 40 years this year since the Berlin Wall came down. Many fragments of it were taken by souvenir hunters. One of the biggest pieces in Britain ended up at Bodmin Keep museum in Cornwall. In this episode we'll hear from soldiers and civilians who were there when the wall went up at the height of the Cold War, and when it came down again amid huge celebrations in 1989. 

Hear about the essential role military musicians played in wartime, from issuing vital commands on the battlefield to keeping up morale among troops and, just like other soldiers, carrying out acts of extreme bravery and daring.

There's a cheeky version of a favourite wartime song, a cross-dressing music hall star who encouraged young men to sign up for the First World War; and the story of how a legendary American entertainer came to Bodmin to entertain the troops in 1943. And we'll hear a newly recorded version of a recently rediscovered First World War tune, the DCLI Boys.