Major Fred Tilston, VC – The Pharmacist Who Refused to Fail

Jon Liedtke joined The Gene Valaitis Show on Niagara's 610 CKTB to discuss Major Fred Tilston, VC – The Pharmacist Who Refused to Fail: Uncovering Canada's Most Incredible Wartime Feat

Forget the spreadsheets and the political drama—we’re taking you to the brutal front lines of World War II. Meet Major Fred Tilston, VC, the Windsor-area pharmaceutical salesman who earned the Victoria Cross.

In 1945, during the crucial battle to cross the Rhine, his company was pinned down in the relentless Hochwald Forest. Wounded in the head, then again in the leg, Tilston refused to be evacuated, leading multiple separate, impossible charges that broke the German line.

Hear the story of the man who, despite his severe injuries, kept fighting until he collapsed, losing both legs but saving his company. A true "Blockbuster" hero whose courage changed the course of the battle. Don't miss the story of Major Fred Tilston, VC.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
One of my faves. Regular Tuesday contributor John Litkey is here. John.
Happy Rememberance Stay twenty twenty five and to you.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
As well, Happier Emmerance Day. How important day? Hey? Do
you remember Blockbuster video?

Speaker 1 (00:14):
Sure? Of course, yeah, Wayne Heisinge.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yeah, I remember when I was younger, my parents bring
me there on a Friday night and walking through the
aisle trying to figure out what it was that was
going to be the highlight of the weekend. Yeah, But
Blockbuster was actually when the term was originated. It was
a British Royal Air Force bomb. It was a four

(00:38):
thousand to eight thousand pounds high capacity explosives and the
reason that it was called a blockbuster was because it
was designed to destroy an entire block And that's where
I want to start things offering now if you don't
mind you.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
Yeah, because I want to hear this story about that
and also Major Frederick Tilsen.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Exactly, and that's where I want to talk about things
right now. Let's go and we're talking about Major fred Tilston.
He is a Windsor hero. He wasn't born here, but
he served in our Essex Scottish Regiment. It's now the
Essex Scottish Kent Regiment. And let me tell you this guy,

(01:20):
this is a story that should have been in Band
of Brothers. Before he even saw any action, he was
already injured. Twite it once been training again. He was
hit by a jeep landmine while he was in his jeep.
It damaged his ear drums at lodge, shrapnel in his

(01:40):
eye made him partially blinded. But this guy, let me
tell you. When he went into battle. It was March first,
nineteen forty five, so we're just three months away from
the end of World War Two. This guy led a
direct assault to preach the Hochewoldt Forest, which was the
main defensive line of the Germans on the other side

(02:02):
of the Rhineland River. So it was a very important battle.
Without this battle being breached, maybe World War two wouldn't
have gone the way that it was. The ground was
way too soft for tanks at this point, so he
had to advance his men five hundred meters across open

(02:24):
muddy ground, through barbed wire, straight through a storm of
German machine gun fire. As he was doing this, he
got shot in the head. He kept going. He led
the charge. He was personally went forward and the way

(02:44):
that the victoria he received a victoria cross the way
that it's described. He personally silenced a machine gun post
which he ran right straight up to it with a
hand grenaden, threw it in by himself no defense. He

(03:05):
then was wounded a second time. He got shot in
the thought. He got back up and he kept moving forward.
He organized his men. Then the ammunition crisis hit. His
troops said, no ammo whatsoever. And this is a guy
who was a like he was a statistician at best.

(03:27):
Like he was an administrator. That was his rule, okay,
but he ended up in this role now and he saw,
oh no, we've got no ammo. So he ran back
and forth six times across this machine gun and mortar
Leyden battlefield. It's insane, and he brought grenades. He brought

(03:50):
ammo back and back and forth. It was on his
third time though, that there was a shell block and
his injuries were catas gralh. He lost both of his
legs at this point, he lost his eye, one of
his eyes, and he was just lying there in this
bell crater and they came to take him away and

(04:12):
he refused all medical attention. Called his last remaining officer
over and he gave defensive orders and he told him,
we have to hold this line. We will do everything
we can. And it was only upon giving the orders
to this man that he was willing to be taken

(04:32):
away from the battlefield. And it just showcases exactly who
this man was. I mean, he was a sales manager
at Stirling Drug. That's what he started out as before
the war. But when the call of duty happened, he

(04:52):
needed it and he went forward and he enlisted. And
when he returned to work, what's most amazing, it was
exactly one year of the day that he was wounded
in the battlefield and he returned to his civilian job
at Stirling Drug. He was quickly promoted to vice president

(05:16):
and then he immediately became a champion of the war amps.
He was promoted to an honorary colonel of his unit.
The armories here in Windsor, Essex is named after him,
the Major FA Tilston vs. The Armory. He's one of

(05:36):
sixteen people who received a Victoria Cross during World War Two.
So you know, when we think about Blockbuster not just
a video store, you know, it's actually a very very
meaningful word and a meaningful man and I have to

(05:58):
admit that I didn't know about Major Tilton before this
radio segment. I wanted to do a bunch of research
and figure out exactly who this man was. And this
is this is a story that you know, we talked about,
Blockbuster make this a movie because I have, I have

(06:21):
pulled back a lot of the facts that could be
told right now. But this guy's story, it's amazing, and
he's so humble, and he came back and one of
his great quotes is when he talks about losing his legs,
he says, you don't walk with your legs, you walk
with your head. It's a mind over matter experience. And

(06:50):
I wish my therapist had told me that one before.

Speaker 1 (06:53):
You know, we're hearing so many stories. You know, Dave
Trafford and his podcast gave us the great story about
William Barker, Billy Bishop's best friend, and I was unaware
of this story about Major Fred Tilsen as well. So
you know what an incredible generation. You know, they never
looked for credit, They never you know, there was no

(07:16):
social media. Look what I'm doing. They served their country
with dignity, then went back into private life, and they
really were true heroes who never asked for anything.

Speaker 2 (07:28):
I think that's the truth of it. And what I
found most interesting I looked into how the reception in
Windsor was at the time when he came forward and
the logo boy Scouts put out a call to all
of the people on Olatt Avenue or Main Street going
from the riverfront up to our main grand arc that
we have. They asked everyone, hey, put flags out, but

(07:51):
put out any like, you know, anything displays that you
can do to support the guy. And they were very
disappointed at the time, back in nineteen forty five, because
only three or four houses actually participated in a grand
procession of army greet And this is a time where
there were no mall right, so the main street was

(08:13):
the actual main street. And you know, I find that
to be so interesting that even at the time of
the war, we weren't willing to celebrate it or celebrate
the people. Not the war, celebrate the people. And here
we are today, twenty twenty five. I mean it's a

(08:34):
number of years later.

Speaker 1 (08:37):
Well, this was a fit celebrate to people. Yeah, this
was an absolutely fantastic story, and we celebrate him, his
story and his memory. John Man, you nailed it today, buddy,
Thank you, thank you, Gene, John Lidkey, you never know
what to expect from him, and wasn't that man. I
have goosebumps just listening to that story. Remember in Sday
twenty twenty five, here on six n CKTB Niagar's News

(09:01):
and Talk on Jean vilitis