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BBC Radio 2 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Light Programme.

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Jeremy Vine: Songs My Son Loved: Series 2

Jeremy Vine: Songs My Son Loved: Series 2: Episode 4: Private Leon Spicer

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Private Leon Spicer

Episode 4

Episode 4: Private Leon Spicer

Songs My Son Loved: Series 2

BBC Radio 2 - Jeremy Vine, Songs My Son Loved: Series 2, Private Leon Spicer

Jeremy Vine meets the mother of a fallen soldier who remembers her son through music.

Jeremy Vine meets the mother of Private Leon Spicer, who was killed in Al Amarah, southern Iraq, by a roadside bomb.

As part of BBC Music Day, Jeremy Vine talks to the mothers of four soldiers who died in conflict and asks them to share their memories through the music their sons loved to listen to.

Private Leon Spicer overcame a serious leg injury that could have ruined his career, before heading out to Al Amarah in Iraq, serving with 1st Battalion The Staffordshire Regiment. He was killed, alongside two colleagues, when the Land Rover they were travelling in was hit by a roadside bomb.

His mother Bridie remembers a boy who was an enthusiastic altar server at his local church, and how he went on to earn the nickname 'the Birdman of Tamworth'. She fondly remembers the times they spent talking in the early hours, when Leon would return from a night out and insist she have cup of tea with him. 

The programme features a version of 'Homes of Donegal' by Daniel O'Donnell, which was especially recorded for Bridie. It also includes music from the Scissor Sisters, Elvis, and the Stone Roses.


Produced by Eleanor Kifvel.

Amazing music. Played by an amazing line up.

Radio 2: Amazing music. Played by an amazing line-up. The home of great music, entertainment and documentaries

Factual: Families & Relationships

Music

The mothers of four soldiers killed in action share their memories through music.

Jeremy Vine meets the mothers of four soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, who remember their sons through the music they loved.

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Songs My Son Loved: Series 2

Episode 4: Private Leon Spicer

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