Latest / Kvetch & Release / 610 CKTB| Major Fred Tilston, VC – The Pharmacist Who Refused to Fail

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610 CKTB| Major Fred Tilston, VC – The Pharmacist Who Refused to Fail · Kvetch & Release

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: One of my faves. Regular Tuesday contributor John Litkey is here. John.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Happy Rememberance Stay twenty twenty five and to you.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: As well, Happier Emmerance Day. How important day? Hey? Do
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: you remember Blockbuster video?
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Sure? Of course, yeah, Wayne Heisinge.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I remember when I was younger, my parents bring
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  Speaker 2: me there on a Friday night and walking through the
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  Speaker 2: aisle trying to figure out what it was that was
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  Speaker 2: going to be the highlight of the weekend. Yeah, But
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  Speaker 2: Blockbuster was actually when the term was originated. It was
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  Speaker 2: a British Royal Air Force bomb. It was a four
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  Speaker 2: thousand to eight thousand pounds high capacity explosives and the
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  Speaker 2: reason that it was called a blockbuster was because it
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  Speaker 2: was designed to destroy an entire block And that's where
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  Speaker 2: I want to start things offering now if you don't
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  Speaker 2: mind you.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, because I want to hear this story about that
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  Speaker 1: and also Major Frederick Tilsen.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly, and that's where I want to talk about things
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  Speaker 2: right now. Let's go and we're talking about Major fred Tilston.
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  Speaker 2: He is a Windsor hero. He wasn't born here, but
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  Speaker 2: he served in our Essex Scottish Regiment. It's now the
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  Speaker 2: Essex Scottish Kent Regiment. And let me tell you this guy,
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  Speaker 2: this is a story that should have been in Band
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  Speaker 2: of Brothers. Before he even saw any action, he was
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  Speaker 2: already injured. Twite it once been training again. He was
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  Speaker 2: hit by a jeep landmine while he was in his jeep.
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  Speaker 2: It damaged his ear drums at lodge, shrapnel in his
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  Speaker 2: eye made him partially blinded. But this guy, let me
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  Speaker 2: tell you. When he went into battle. It was March first,
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  Speaker 2: nineteen forty five, so we're just three months away from
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  Speaker 2: the end of World War Two. This guy led a
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  Speaker 2: direct assault to preach the Hochewoldt Forest, which was the
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  Speaker 2: main defensive line of the Germans on the other side
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  Speaker 2: of the Rhineland River. So it was a very important battle.
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  Speaker 2: Without this battle being breached, maybe World War two wouldn't
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  Speaker 2: have gone the way that it was. The ground was
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  Speaker 2: way too soft for tanks at this point, so he
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  Speaker 2: had to advance his men five hundred meters across open
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  Speaker 2: muddy ground, through barbed wire, straight through a storm of
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  Speaker 2: German machine gun fire. As he was doing this, he
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  Speaker 2: got shot in the head. He kept going. He led
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  Speaker 2: the charge. He was personally went forward and the way
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  Speaker 2: that the victoria he received a victoria cross the way
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  Speaker 2: that it's described. He personally silenced a machine gun post
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  Speaker 2: which he ran right straight up to it with a
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  Speaker 2: hand grenaden, threw it in by himself no defense. He
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  Speaker 2: then was wounded a second time. He got shot in
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  Speaker 2: the thought. He got back up and he kept moving forward.
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  Speaker 2: He organized his men. Then the ammunition crisis hit. His
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  Speaker 2: troops said, no ammo whatsoever. And this is a guy
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  Speaker 2: who was a like he was a statistician at best.
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  Speaker 2: Like he was an administrator. That was his rule, okay,
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  Speaker 2: but he ended up in this role now and he saw,
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  Speaker 2: oh no, we've got no ammo. So he ran back
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  Speaker 2: and forth six times across this machine gun and mortar
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  Speaker 2: Leyden battlefield. It's insane, and he brought grenades. He brought
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  Speaker 2: ammo back and back and forth. It was on his
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  Speaker 2: third time though, that there was a shell block and
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  Speaker 2: his injuries were catas gralh. He lost both of his
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  Speaker 2: legs at this point, he lost his eye, one of
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  Speaker 2: his eyes, and he was just lying there in this
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  Speaker 2: bell crater and they came to take him away and
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  Speaker 2: he refused all medical attention. Called his last remaining officer
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  Speaker 2: over and he gave defensive orders and he told him,
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  Speaker 2: we have to hold this line. We will do everything
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  Speaker 2: we can. And it was only upon giving the orders
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  Speaker 2: to this man that he was willing to be taken
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  Speaker 2: away from the battlefield. And it just showcases exactly who
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  Speaker 2: this man was. I mean, he was a sales manager
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  Speaker 2: at Stirling Drug. That's what he started out as before
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  Speaker 2: the war. But when the call of duty happened, he
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  Speaker 2: needed it and he went forward and he enlisted. And
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  Speaker 2: when he returned to work, what's most amazing, it was
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  Speaker 2: exactly one year of the day that he was wounded
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  Speaker 2: in the battlefield and he returned to his civilian job
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  Speaker 2: at Stirling Drug. He was quickly promoted to vice president
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  Speaker 2: and then he immediately became a champion of the war amps.
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  Speaker 2: He was promoted to an honorary colonel of his unit.
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  Speaker 2: The armories here in Windsor, Essex is named after him,
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  Speaker 2: the Major FA Tilston vs. The Armory. He's one of
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  Speaker 2: sixteen people who received a Victoria Cross during World War Two.
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  Speaker 2: So you know, when we think about Blockbuster not just
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  Speaker 2: a video store, you know, it's actually a very very
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  Speaker 2: meaningful word and a meaningful man and I have to
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  Speaker 2: admit that I didn't know about Major Tilton before this
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  Speaker 2: radio segment. I wanted to do a bunch of research
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  Speaker 2: and figure out exactly who this man was. And this
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  Speaker 2: is this is a story that you know, we talked about,
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  Speaker 2: Blockbuster make this a movie because I have, I have
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  Speaker 2: pulled back a lot of the facts that could be
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  Speaker 2: told right now. But this guy's story, it's amazing, and
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  Speaker 2: he's so humble, and he came back and one of
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  Speaker 2: his great quotes is when he talks about losing his legs,
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  Speaker 2: he says, you don't walk with your legs, you walk
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  Speaker 2: with your head. It's a mind over matter experience. And
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  Speaker 2: I wish my therapist had told me that one before.
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  Speaker 1: You know, we're hearing so many stories. You know, Dave
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  Speaker 1: Trafford and his podcast gave us the great story about
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  Speaker 1: William Barker, Billy Bishop's best friend, and I was unaware
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  Speaker 1: of this story about Major Fred Tilsen as well. So
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  Speaker 1: you know what an incredible generation. You know, they never
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  Speaker 1: looked for credit, They never you know, there was no
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  Speaker 1: social media. Look what I'm doing. They served their country
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  Speaker 1: with dignity, then went back into private life, and they
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  Speaker 1: really were true heroes who never asked for anything.
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  Speaker 2: I think that's the truth of it. And what I
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  Speaker 2: found most interesting I looked into how the reception in
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  Speaker 2: Windsor was at the time when he came forward and
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  Speaker 2: the logo boy Scouts put out a call to all
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  Speaker 2: of the people on Olatt Avenue or Main Street going
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  Speaker 2: from the riverfront up to our main grand arc that
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  Speaker 2: we have. They asked everyone, hey, put flags out, but
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  Speaker 2: put out any like, you know, anything displays that you
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  Speaker 2: can do to support the guy. And they were very
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  Speaker 2: disappointed at the time, back in nineteen forty five, because
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  Speaker 2: only three or four houses actually participated in a grand
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  Speaker 2: procession of army greet And this is a time where
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  Speaker 2: there were no mall right, so the main street was
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  Speaker 2: the actual main street. And you know, I find that
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  Speaker 2: to be so interesting that even at the time of
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  Speaker 2: the war, we weren't willing to celebrate it or celebrate
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  Speaker 2: the people. Not the war, celebrate the people. And here
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  Speaker 2: we are today, twenty twenty five. I mean it's a
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  Speaker 2: number of years later.
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  Speaker 1: Well, this was a fit celebrate to people. Yeah, this
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  Speaker 1: was an absolutely fantastic story, and we celebrate him, his
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  Speaker 1: story and his memory. John Man, you nailed it today, buddy,
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  Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you, Gene, John Lidkey, you never know
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  Speaker 1: what to expect from him, and wasn't that man. I
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  Speaker 1: have goosebumps just listening to that story. Remember in Sday
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty five, here on six n CKTB Niagar's News
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  Speaker 1: and Talk on Jean vilitis