- 6/4/2025
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00:00and let's roll camera please matt please climb back three two one shift five four three two one
00:10we're doing a video and it's based on um chorus line it's a dream actually come true
00:16a couple quicker ones again british pop icon will young is a singer and actor
00:24pleasure guys can't fall asleep really nice and there's nothing i can do
00:33what people best know me for is being a singer uh i won a show called pop idol the winner
00:41of pop idol 2002 is
00:46will apparently the first thing i said to my friend when i came off stage was think of all
00:54the free parties we can go to which is hysterical not like oh my dreams come true you know i've
01:01dreamt of this since i was four so i think we can get some free sausage rolls out of this
01:07the instant success was very rare you know it doesn't happen like that very often
01:12like my first gig was wembley i mean that's just that's bonkers alongside a career of sold out
01:18shows and hit albums will has gone on to become a successful actor of stage and screen well i was
01:25going to act before i was going to sing what i love about acting is you can get all these emotions out
01:33you feel so alive i love it will grow up in hungerford in berkshire
01:41growing up was my mother annabelle my father robin my sister emma four years older than me
01:48and my twin brother rupert who was 10 minutes younger than me very important when you're a twin
01:54growing up i was more familiar with my mother's parents they were called mimi and bobby we used to
02:00drive past their house and they would be playing ping pong in their dressing gowns in the morning with
02:06the garage doors open on my dad's side i never knew my father's father digby young um he died quite
02:14young he was australian and as far as i know i think he was imprisoned during the war for the entire
02:20war and i know very little about that whole lineage it's weird going from doing music you know in a pop
02:30video but having ancestry in the back of my mind while i'm dancing around i've got more and more excited
02:38by this i think that's because i know nothing i wonder who these people are i'm just desperate to be a
02:45viking am i a viking that's a yes
02:58so
03:12we are going to see my aunt wiggy who is my father's sister and she is fountain of all knowledge
03:36on family history i'm really looking forward to seeing her
03:47hi there you're on your crutch i'm still on my crutches i am good to see you i haven't been here
03:54i know come on in so this is your grandfather my father digby digby i actually don't know that much
04:02about digby no i shouldn't think you would i know but it's funny isn't it because you think 45 years
04:06i might well no because he died very young at age 50 so you wouldn't have been in existence how old were
04:14you i was 17 when he died i know this picture because i have this picture i think i think daddy
04:21gave it to me so i've sort of lived with it but i've never really thought about it he was charming
04:28absolutely charming he could go into a room in one second flat he would know everybody yeah
04:34he was born in australia and he had an aunt who sponsored him to come to england to train to be a
04:44doctor where did he go to university he went to university college oxford and when war came he joined
04:52the raf he was shot down and unfortunately he was a prisoner of war for five years
04:58did you know that i knew he was in a prisoner of war camp yes for the whole of the war he was in the
05:06style of gluth camp where they had the great escape from it's difficult to imagine i wish he'd
05:12written about it which i would have liked to have known they don't talk about these things i mean
05:17they don't want to relive it what was his physical and mental health like well his mental health i
05:23only know that my mother's comment was he was lazy as hell and she could have put a clutch of eggs
05:29underneath him and he would have hatched them um he he did like a drink or two he wasn't terribly well
05:37after the war and unfortunately he died i have got the death certificate and it sort of says barbiturate
05:45poisoning and i think what happened he went to the pub behind had a drink or two took sleeping pills
05:52and they were very dangerous in those days and forgot he took it took more and and that was it and um
05:59which was sad yeah yeah he looks quite thoughtful i feel like there's a lot going on in the eyes
06:05and he looks a kind man oh he was very kind yeah yeah very kind and um and good fun
06:13now these are two of the most wonderful miniatures gosh they are wonderful this man was sir aritas
06:21william young your great great great great grandfather yes i thought he was governor of tasmania
06:28well i think that was his son it's just weird to see the portrait that's really odd because you don't
06:33think of that we're so used to seeing photos aren't we now like well that's all they had was those
06:38portraits was it yes i wonder if they were flattering i wonder of the uh well they look quite good looking
06:44they do he hasn't got bald no he hasn't gone bald no almost he's going there nearly there i want to
06:51know what he was up to that's what i want to know he was governing prince edward island in canada oh he
06:59was a governor there he was a governor there and this was his wife it says lady young nay sarah cox
07:07married 1798 to sir aritas william young at wexford married 1798 i mean that is
07:17a hell of a long time ago yeah it's crazy crazy isn't it it's weird opening a door to
07:23the young's quite far back it's a little bit overwhelming actually
07:33will wants to investigate the young line starting with the grandfather he never knew digby digby never
07:40spoke about what happened to him in the war and died tragically early aged just 50. will's keen to
07:47unravel the mystery of digby's capture and his time as a prisoner he's heading to oxford where digby
07:54studied and where will himself once lived do you want to know something interesting i mean i think
08:02it's interesting is that i worked in a cafe four buildings up from here and i used to park my little
08:09mini the original mini literally behind that building that's so weird isn't it
08:14i didn't even know he came here it's here it's here
08:25we're at the grand cafe this is where i used to work
08:30i was like the pot wash guy i was useless absolutely useless i was never a waiter because
08:36i was too bad but on my last week they um they made they upgraded me to wait and i actually saw
08:43something the other day uh someone had said in another place i worked that they got fired and they
08:50said you're the worst waiter we've had since will young worked here which i thought was really unfair
08:55will is meeting historian simon slight at university college where digby started
09:09hello great to meet you i'm simon will this way right this way here we go
09:16simon i'm really interested to know more about my grandfather digby who came from australia
09:22to here and i know you have information yes well i've got some documents that will hopefully be
09:26able to shed some light on his story okay right i'm presuming this is a birth document when born and
09:34where february the 2nd 1916 at rose park where's that that's a suburb in adelaide oh he was in
09:42adelaide why are the youngs in australia how did they get to australia yeah so essentially the answer
09:49is that they were colonial administrators so your three times great grandfather sir henry edward fox
09:57young was in fact governor of the colony of south australia in the 1840s into the early 1850s
10:06and then was governor of tasmania after that time so they are kind of elite members of colonial society
10:13so that's why they were in south that will make sense as you say adelaide that's why they were in adelaide
10:18that's it where are we going next on this journey of digby well we're going to move countries and
10:26indeed continents next yep and we're going to come here where we're sitting now to oxford yeah i mean
10:32that's cool he sat here he sat here so what we have here is an entry register for the university college
10:41oxford so i presume is this something you would sign that's on your first year so you would be signed
10:47in and he was studying medicine here was he yes physiology well i didn't know this was his handwriting
10:53i mean it tells me one thing is that's why i have such awful handwriting and so does my father well one
10:59might say uh the handwriting of a future doctor that's true no offense to doctors this is just amazing
11:07let's move on to the next document very serious it says athletes 1937 yes digby was particularly
11:17good at one particular sport um and here we have a newspaper article you might like to have a look at
11:24but i mean this is just brilliant this is i think this is one of the best things i've ever done
11:29uh so it says the mercury hobart monday march the 8th 1937 the unique feature of the intervarsity
11:37swimming contest is the fact that two melbourne men are the respective captain simon fraser of cambridge
11:44and digby young of oxford experts are of the opinion that young would be the fastest sprinter
11:50in england if he concentrated on the cruel stroke instead of various strokes well that's quite
11:58impressive isn't it and interesting isn't it that it's being reported back in australia yeah
12:04so i guess with a sense of pride no indeed so yeah uh our boys are doing well that's right
12:10good on him well done would you like to know about his degree outcome yes uh he got a fourth class degree
12:18did he i didn't even know there was such a thing it was sometimes termed a sporting fourth oh right
12:25yeah go on yeah it may have been that he spent somewhat too long in the pool and not enough time
12:30in the library uh but uh it's not a degree classification that is now given out but a fourth
12:37class degree was awarded well done digby so he gets his well done for turning up degree no disrespect
12:45digby did he then go on to continue his studies he did he went to st mary's okay in london to continue
12:51his medical training his studies were also somewhat interrupted have a look here so it says here sergeant
12:59u slash t under training and training plt pilot that's right for five years raf vr so that's royal
13:12air force volunteer reserve and the date 4th the 12th 1937 so this is when he was still here that's
13:19right it's before he's finished his training uh in the medical profession must have been very exciting
13:25i suppose for him i would have thought so yeah yeah okay so then it says here this is fourth of
13:31the eighth 1939 discharge that must mean on appointment to com raf so he's now joined the royal
13:40air force full time he'd done his sort of voluntary raf alongside his studies alongside his studies
13:47and then war comes along and he's they're like do you want to do it and he's off yes he was young
13:5523 years yeah it's a daring thing to do for a young man i mean i'd literally just discovered britney
14:00spears at that age wow
14:07well i mean i have so many questions like where was he stationed where did they fly from what were his
14:14missions where did he go i know that he came down but i don't know if he was shot down where was that
14:19you know i literally know none of that so interesting isn't it because you know i've never really
14:24thought about him as my grandfather it's a weird thing to say but i'm beginning to see him as my
14:29grandfather which is really quite moving for me you know it's like he's coming to life so i sort of
14:37my appetite's been whetted now you know i want to know more digby joined the royal air force full-time
14:49in 1939 a month before the outbreak of world war ii the raf was desperately recruiting pilots and crewmen
14:58for the coming conflict the average age of air crews was just 20 years old
15:03will's heading to the raf museum in cosford where he's hoping aviation historian victoria taylor
15:11can shed light on digby's time as a pilot is this a bomber this is a bomber and it is the bomber
15:20that your grandfather flew this is a hanley page hampton bomber and if you'd like to take a look
15:25yeah i'd absolutely love to thank you oh it's not big actually is it it's three foot wide and he
15:33would have been in there yes so that's the pilot seat right there you see all the levers on the
15:38side that's the throttle and then of course that big stick in the middle is the control column so
15:43that's what you use to actually pilot the aircraft i mean it just looks so rudimentary yes i mean it's
15:50just mind-blowing so here we've got some really nice photographs of the hampton and you can start
15:55to see its unusual shape so it is an unusual shape isn't it this aircraft was actually nicknamed the
16:02flying suitcase and it's got this really thin part of the fuselage here and you've got the chunky bit
16:07round the nose yes how many crew would there be well normally in a hampton there was about four yes so
16:12obviously you would have had digby as the pilot yeah he would have had his navigator yeah who also served
16:17as a bomb aimer you would have also had your wireless operator and then your rear gunner right at the
16:21back so i know that digby joined the raf um but what was his war so let me show you something
16:33wow is he in this picture he is indeed he's in the front row yeah there he is yeah he's got quite a posh
16:43hat on he is because he's a pilot officer oh so this is 61 bomber squadron october 1940 do we know
16:53what kind of operations digby went on we do indeed we have all of them here my nerves can't go
17:02so these are the war diaries of 61 squadron okay we've got young here attack on h324
17:11temple hoff aerodrome the raid was made in cooperation with six aircraft and marked the
17:16first british attack on berlin yeah on berlin on berlin the route was almost 1200 miles there and back
17:24bombed the target but cloud prevented observation of the results this is an attack on bill in
17:31temple hoff aerodrome temple hoff is actually the nerve center of german aviation in berlin at this time
17:38so this is an important this is an important target and it's a heavily defended target because
17:43it really is the heart of the third reich it's like a film what else have we got here oh here we go
17:50attack target a17 oil refinery hanover young was unable to find the target and attacked
17:59kloppenberg aerodrome so they diverted did they to go for another something else they did because
18:05sometimes especially when you've not got navigational aids that are really effective
18:09you do have to go wherever you can attack there's another attack here on target b58 an electric
18:15power station in berlin young one of the squadron's most experienced pilots oh yeah
18:24failed to return yeah my god it's just there in black and white it's just one sentence
18:35i feel quite teary even though i know that something happened to him it's really weird to see that one
18:44sentence yeah we've got some really staggering statistics on this 51 of bomber command airmen died
18:51during the second world war it goes up to 72 of them were either killed seriously wounded or taken
18:58prisoner and as a result it became the allied air unit with the worst attrition rate throughout the
19:03second world war really yeah i mean i do want to know what's happened to him i have no idea sure okay
19:11well you're ready to find out then yeah here is something that might give you a clue oh my god
19:16oh hang on this is all in german so this may help shed some light here we go here we go the pilot
19:25officer oh it's a statement gave the following statement on the abandonment of his flight the
19:31aircraft had been deployed against berlin and suffered engine failure on the return flight as the
19:38crew believed that they would no longer be able to reach their home port they prepared to bail out at this
19:43moment the aircraft had already sunk lower as flak fragments hit the machine they parachuted in
19:52unharmed and immediately went to the nearest location to surrender oh that's what happened
19:58okay so here's a question when you're coming down with their engine failure how the hell do you
20:03get out of the plane it wasn't a given was it no absolutely not and you've also got to bear in
20:08mind you've got to get out with your parachute you've got to try and make sure you're not getting
20:12caught on anything and he's got to make it so that everybody can get out safely before him was
20:17which must be such a lonely experience that's terrifying but ultimately it is a testament to his
20:23flying skills that everybody not only gets out but also they're all uninjured it's quite remarkable
20:32so they gave themselves up they're captured by the germans and then where is digby taken to digby was
20:39actually transferred to eight different camps during the second world war so he saw a lot of
20:44that prism of war system but the place where he spent the most time was at stalagluf three
20:52the idea of him having engine failure at night not knowing where he's landing trying to get his crew
21:00out getting himself out this is hardcore stuff it shows the measure of the man actually
21:15will is on his way to jargon in poland
21:19until the end of the war this area was part of germany and the site of the prisoner of war camp
21:24stalagluft three will wants to find out what happened to digby at the camp victoria told me
21:33that you know the longest period of time and where he ended up was stalagluft three uh from 1943 to 1945
21:41you can't even imagine what what that's like it sort of seems extraordinary that i never did want to
21:48know more but i don't think that was out of sort of like not caring it just sort of he was you know
21:53a man that was never in my life
22:02in world war ii 170 000 british pow's were held in camps across europe around 10 000 of them were bomber
22:11command air crew like will's grandfather digby in 1943 he was taken to stalagluft three expert
22:21marek lazars is showing will the remains of the camp it's quite strange for me to be walking exactly
22:28the same there are tracks that my grandfather that's the exact path yes they walked through from
22:34the from the train station straight to the to the camp exactly the same road
22:42we are just following now this road and everything on the right is the east compound wow yeah and
22:49you see all these barracks here that's where he was actually he lived in in in barrack 64.
22:56so we're going to turn off the perimeter so we're sort of in a way going through
23:00our imaginary fence yes so there's still i can see a fair amount of foundations if you take a look
23:08yeah in front of us you see some bricks and structures yes this was the compound's kitchen
23:22in your compound that was your life you didn't they didn't mix did they no no no no they were not
23:29allowed to cross the compounds so the guards were allowed to fire if you approach the pediment oh really
23:38one honorable
23:40now we are approaching the area where hut 64 was of course most of the foundations were removed
23:48if you look closer over there oh yes we have a big piece of the chimney of the of the smokestack
23:54last remaining bit so we are actually standing in the middle of the block 64. yeah here we are and you
24:01And you can see all the chimney stacks, which would have been so necessary.
24:05I mean, it must have been absolutely freezing.
24:08It was.
24:09It was.
24:10There was a stove in every room, but these were not enough to heat the whole room.
24:16Even with a stove in a room, normally during the winter, they slept with all the clothes
24:22on.
24:23And there was a constant shortage of the fuel.
24:25I mean, it's amazing to be in the spot over 80 years later, knowing this is
24:31where my grandfather would have been for two years.
24:35Exactly.
24:37At the camp, Digby would have shared a room with nine or more POWs.
24:42Will is meeting historian Midge Gillies in a replica of one of the huts.
24:48You might be interested in this.
24:49This is from an Australian newspaper, if you'd like to have just a look at that.
24:54Prisoner of war.
24:56In a letter to a friend in Melbourne, Digby pilot of the RAF and now prisoner of war in
25:01Germany states, this is a letter from there at this time.
25:05By the time this reaches you, your summer will probably be over in the war too.
25:08I came to this country on November the 14th and am more or less settled in now after years
25:13of practice at doing nothing.
25:15I'm now getting a chance to put it into full use.
25:19Life here is like a camping holiday.
25:23Because he's saying after years of practice at doing nothing, which must have been actually
25:29pretty unbearable, really.
25:32It was the biggest challenge that a lot of POWs faced.
25:35Your grandfather was an officer, so he didn't have to work.
25:38So every day was just this huge gap that had to be filled.
25:43So he could write letters?
25:46Yes.
25:47The Red Cross was very good at getting letters through.
25:52Obviously it was harder at different points in the war.
25:55The Red Cross also supplied lots of sports equipment, which I think would have been important
26:00to your grandfather.
26:01Yes, because he was very sporty.
26:03And you could play almost any sport that you could imagine here.
26:06Is there a risk when you hear about these kind of things that we can sort of look at life
26:12in a prisoner of war camp through slightly rose-tinted spectacles then?
26:16I think that's a really astute thing to say, and people at home sometimes did think that
26:22it must have been so easy being there, because you're not on the front line.
26:25And it sounds quite nice, doesn't it, you know, having all these opportunities.
26:28But the reality was that he was in for so long, and I think that the kind of mental side
26:35of that is really difficult to imagine, the boredom and thinking, these are the best years
26:40of my life which are being taken from me.
26:42And I sort of also got a sense of, you know, he was a young man, you know, full of purpose
26:48at university, then trained to be in the RAF, then a pilot in the RAF, then going out
26:52on sorties, and then boom, nothing.
26:56Yeah.
26:57Well I think the fact that he did have a knowledge of medicine was really important, and gave
27:03him a certain standing in the camp, and he could actually do some good.
27:08Because I'm nosy, I see this, what is it?
27:11So we've actually got some first-hand accounts of what was going on, and this one's particularly
27:16interesting in talking about your grandfather's role.
27:19Oh, gosh.
27:21This is a treat and a half.
27:23It says, from the memoir of T.D. Kalman, for all his many privations, Digby was one of the
27:31fittest and most cheerful men in the camp.
27:33Oh, that's so sweet.
27:35My dad's very cheerful.
27:37Digby was an Australian who had been studying medicine in England.
27:40He was considered an authority and was very much in demand when the annual Repatriation
27:46Commission visited a camp.
27:48Digby was always glad to describe the symptoms of some suitably chronic disease which qualified
27:54for repatriation.
27:56I do not know whether any of Digby's clients ever fooled the Repatriation Commission, but
28:01many tried.
28:02Tell me about the Repatriation Commission.
28:04Yeah.
28:05So that was three doctors, two from a neutral power, say Switzerland, and a German, and you
28:11could go towards them and say, you need to send me home because I've got TB.
28:14Yeah.
28:15And Digby was very good at saying, these are the kinds of temperatures someone suffering
28:21from TB would be experiencing.
28:23So if you were careful, you could put a thermometer under your pillow and then dip it in your tea
28:29or your hot water bottle.
28:31Too many people got home that way, but it was a way of kind of pushing back against what
28:35you were suffering.
28:36So it was quite an important role.
28:38And was Digby here until the end of the war?
28:42So this extract will give you further indication of what happened to him towards the end.
28:48This is from the memoir of William Ash.
28:50By January 1945, we could hear the Russian guns booming.
28:55We knew that it was now just a matter of time until the camp was overrun.
28:59We were then given an hour or so to collect our few possessions.
29:03The plan was to herd us out onto the road in a forced march back into Germany to keep us
29:07out of the hands of the Russians.
29:09I thought the Germans had just abandoned.
29:12No.
29:13But no, there's a directive here, isn't there?
29:14Exactly, yes.
29:15So the Red Army, the Soviet Red Army is coming in from the east and the Allies are approaching
29:22from the west.
29:23And the POWs knew this because they had hidden radios.
29:26And then Hitler commanded that the POWs be marched towards Berlin.
29:30And was that with an idea of keeping Berlin safe?
29:33It was to use them as a human shield, as we would say today.
29:38So it may be nice to think of walking through the gates, but it wasn't because...
29:42No, because you don't know where you're going.
29:44No, and it's chaos out there.
29:49By January 1945, Germany was losing the war.
29:54As Allied soldiers closed in from the east and west, German forces fell back towards Berlin
30:00and the country began to fall apart.
30:03Marching in temperatures as low as minus 20, Digby and his fellow POWs faced a dangerous
30:10journey.
30:11We marched for hours, then days in the ice.
30:14The guards had been given orders to shoot anyone who got out of line.
30:18And at the back of the column was a line of vicious, snarling guard dogs ready to fall
30:22on anyone who lagged behind.
30:25When one dropped in the snow, the other one would dissuade him from going to sleep.
30:29An icy slumber seemed to be an excellent idea, but would have meant never waking up again.
30:35I mean, this is just, this is the worst conditions almost probably of their whole time here.
30:41Yeah, yeah.
30:42I mean, that is, that's hell, isn't it?
30:45That's hell on earth.
30:46Yes, yes.
30:47They would have been absolutely freezing and they were suffering from frostbite and dysentery
30:52in many cases as well.
30:54And there were tracts of blood behind the people as they marched.
30:57It was really, really grim.
30:59I can't believe I never knew about this.
31:01And there's one other document that mentions him specifically.
31:04Gosh, this is just awful.
31:07One German guard was close to death from frostbite and gangrene.
31:10His only hope was to have his foot amputated.
31:13Oh no, this is, this operation was done with no proper instruments or anaesthetic by a prisoner
31:19called Digby Young, who had to rely on some medical training as a student before the war.
31:24All he had to work with was some alcohol and a few kitchen knives.
31:28It was a terrible thing, but he managed to save the man's life.
31:31I mean, that is extraordinary.
31:33That's extraordinary, isn't it?
31:34Yes, yeah.
31:35He can't have done anything like that before.
31:39And with just some alcohol and some kitchen knives and to one of your captors.
31:47What a very, very remarkable man he was, and obviously one of principles.
31:53Yeah.
31:54The remarkable thing about this, and there is a sadness that comes with it, is that I think
32:01he was perceived as a bit of a loser after the war.
32:07Oh, that's astonishing.
32:08Yeah, by some of the family.
32:10Mm-hmm.
32:11This is the proper telling of a really decent man.
32:17Yeah, well, more than that, extraordinary, I think.
32:20Yeah, extraordinary man.
32:21Yeah.
32:21Which I don't think has passed down to me through my father and hasn't for my father.
32:26So this means so much to, you know, me and my dad, sorry.
32:31Mm-hmm.
32:32They were quite emotional about it.
32:33Yeah.
32:34Very sweet, you know, amazing.
32:35And you had no idea of this?
32:38No, I didn't, it's just, I just think it's, I feel like history has been a bit unkind
32:44to him.
32:45Mm-hmm.
32:46So it's nice that history's being kind.
32:51Yeah, well, it's good that you found the truth, isn't it?
32:53Yeah.
32:54Really important.
32:55So I really appreciate it.
32:56Thank you very much.
32:57And I know my dad would as well, and my aunt, so thank you.
33:02Big B and his fellow POWs were taken over 100 miles further into Germany to yet another prison
33:09camp, Starlake 3A, near the town of Lukenwalde.
33:13I'm on the route of the final march of my grandfather to Luckenwalder,
33:22which is a long drive.
33:26I really want to know how he got home from here.
33:34Here in the town, Will is hoping that Midge can fill him in
33:38on the last days of Digby's war.
33:40So, I know my grandfather ended up in Camp Stalag 3A.
33:46What happened next?
33:48Well, things got worse.
33:50Oh, no, don't tell me that.
33:52I thought it was going to get better.
33:53I thought there was going to be a sort of jubilation.
33:55No.
33:56Here we are, balloons, have some nice hot soup.
33:59No, none of that.
34:00So, conditions are really appalling.
34:02Sanitation is just grim.
34:05There's very little food.
34:06The Germans are very, very jumpy
34:08because they know the Russians are on their way.
34:11And then, suddenly, the German guards just melt away
34:16and they're replaced by the Russians
34:18and they put guards on the camp gates.
34:21So, it's clear that the Allied POWs are still prisoners.
34:25Why?
34:26They were waiting for commands to tell them what to do with the POWs.
34:31Oh, God.
34:32It's at that point where your grandfather was thinking
34:36he's got to make a big decision about what to do next.
34:38Yeah.
34:39So, he's there with Tommy Kalman, who he knows from Salaglov III.
34:43His old mucker.
34:44Yes.
34:45And they think about how can they get away from this camp.
34:49So, this document will tell you a bit more.
34:52I'm just going to say you couldn't make this up.
34:54I just want to say that.
34:55This is like a film.
34:56Yes.
34:57The Russian officer responsible for the administration of the camp
35:01was Captain Medvedev, a very cultured Russian, who spoke fluent French.
35:05He also liked his liquor.
35:07Before we were all stupefied, I had obtained what I wanted,
35:10namely two passes for the main gate signed by Medvedev.
35:14Without these, there was no way out of the camp.
35:17The price I paid was very high, the biggest hangover of all time,
35:20and my Rolex watch.
35:21When we presented our passes, I expected the worst, but my fears were unfounded.
35:24A moment later, we were peddling down the road to Jutterborg.
35:28Digby, like a small boy, was weaving from side to side of the road,
35:32thoroughly enjoying the physical sensation of bicycling.
35:36You know, it's quite sweet, isn't it?
35:38Yes, because they...
35:39Chums.
35:40Yes, and they shared this really intense moment of their life together.
35:43Yeah.
35:44So, they... they got out.
35:46Yes.
35:47So, at that point, they're going into the unknown, which is really dangerous.
35:50They got to the Americans and then found their way back on a...
35:54a flight to the UK, and they were home again.
35:57It's exhausting.
35:59I mean, it is exhausting.
36:00Yeah.
36:01Do we know anything else about what happened to Digby straight after the war?
36:06Yes, we do, and he had a really interesting career.
36:09Did he?
36:10Mm-hmm.
36:11I think he'll be really impressed by this.
36:12OK.
36:13This is his record after the war.
36:15Well, there's a lot of information here.
36:16He's done a lot.
36:17Advanced Flying School instructor, and he becomes Squadron Leader.
36:21Yes, yes.
36:22So, he gets up to Squadron Leader flying jets.
36:25Yes, which is incredibly impressive.
36:28Because that would have been... must have been quite modern then.
36:30Yeah, right at the start of that technology.
36:32Yeah.
36:33Can you imagine the progression from the type of...
36:35Yes, of course, from the bomber.
36:37Yes.
36:38No offence to his bomber.
36:39No, but, you know, and to fly these amazing, really fast, technically advanced aeroplanes.
36:46And he stayed in the RAF until 1958.
36:49Mm-hmm.
36:50He didn't back down, did he?
36:52He liked the adventure.
36:53No, exactly.
36:54I mean, he's already served his country, and yet he's carrying on.
36:57He's straight back in there.
36:59That makes me really happy because I think he really did find his vocation.
37:03Mm-hmm.
37:04It's completely not how I saw him at all.
37:07Mm-hmm.
37:08I didn't know he went on to do any of this.
37:09No.
37:10I mean, I think that's an awful lot to be proud of.
37:12I'm just amazed that I never knew of it, which probably meant my dad and my aunt didn't
37:20know about it, his children.
37:23So I feel quite honoured in a way.
37:25Now I feel like I've got another grandfather.
37:29I didn't feel like I had a right, really, to claim another grandfather, because I didn't
37:33know him.
37:34All he was was a picture and an early death, of which it was potentially quite sad circumstances.
37:41And now the picture and the death is not even part of his story to me.
37:47Now I feel like I do have two grandfathers, and there's something quite extraordinary about that.
37:58Having explored Digby's life, Will now wants to push further back up the young family tree.
38:03He's seen portraits of his four times great-grandparents, Aretus William Young and Sarah Cox,
38:10and learned that Aretus was a colonial governor in Canada.
38:15He's come to Hereford to meet genealogist Rachel King.
38:19She's taking him through some of the extensive detective work, which has uncovered generations
38:25of the young lion.
38:27Now, I have these two ancestors here, rather glorious portraits.
38:32Sarah and Aretus.
38:34But I know nothing...
38:36Well, I don't know much about them.
38:37OK.
38:38Or, to be honest, the rest of the family leading on from them.
38:40Can you help, please?
38:42I have this beautiful scroll here.
38:45Ooh.
38:46We haven't had a scroll yet.
38:47Oh, yeah.
38:48We can have a little scroll.
38:49I'm going to let you do the honours.
38:50And this is your family tree.
38:52Oh, well, OK.
38:53I see Digby at the bottom.
38:55So you know who Digby is.
38:56Blimey.
38:57This goes a long way.
38:58Bloody hell.
38:59There are a lot of sirs, aren't there, I've noticed.
39:02So what about Colonel Sir Aretus William Young?
39:05Because he was in Canada, I think.
39:08Yeah.
39:09So he started his career in Ireland.
39:12He serves in Gibraltar and Sicily and Egypt.
39:16Then he gets this role called the protector of slaves.
39:21Have you heard of Demerara Sugar?
39:23Yes.
39:24Yeah.
39:25So he is sent out to Demerara, which is in present-day Guiana,
39:29to basically be the protector of slaves.
39:32The idea was that the protector of slaves would be looking out
39:36for the interests of enslaved people at Demerara.
39:39Sounds to me like that was more a sort of rubber stamp title.
39:45I think that's possibly fair.
39:47Yeah.
39:48We do have this article.
39:49Oh, my God.
39:50I love it when there's an article.
39:51Which does talk about him a little bit
39:54and what it was thought of how he was doing.
39:57November 1829, anti-slavery monthly reporter.
40:02In 1826, Colonel Young was appointed protector of slaves.
40:06We had hoped that from that period
40:08we might have been able to date a marked improvement
40:11in the condition of the slaves of this colony.
40:13Our disappointment, however, proved unspeakably great.
40:16Oh, dear.
40:17This gentleman, from whom certainly much had been expected,
40:21has shown himself to be as deeply imbued
40:24with some of the worst of those colonial prejudices,
40:27which it was the declared and special object of his appointment
40:31to counteract as the planters themselves.
40:34Well, that's damning, isn't it?
40:36Yeah.
40:37That's pretty damning.
40:38Would it make you feel any better if I told you
40:40he did actually get fired?
40:42Yes.
40:43Oh, yes.
40:44Yes.
40:45Which is how he ends up in Canada on Prince Edward Island,
40:47because he gets sent.
40:49I'm glad he got fired.
40:51That's awful.
40:52Shall we have a look a bit further back?
40:54Yes, let's move on.
40:56We can keep going up.
40:58Where are we going now?
41:00Oh, my gosh.
41:03This is just brilliant.
41:04They just had brilliant names then, didn't they?
41:07Elizabeth Le Dispenser.
41:09They sound like wrestlers.
41:11And then we go up to Hugh Le Dispenser, her father,
41:17and Eleanor Declare.
41:19It's just bonkers to see 18 times great-grandparents
41:23going back to 1326 when Hugh Le Dispenser died.
41:29It's a hell of a long time ago.
41:32Well, this chap, in particular,
41:35is somebody who's quite interesting.
41:37Hugh Le Dispenser?
41:39Yeah.
41:40So, Hugh Le Dispenser was one of the most important
41:43political figures of the 14th century,
41:46but very controversial.
41:48Oh, dear.
41:50Go on, tell me more.
41:51Well, one of the many castles which Hugh Le Dispenser owned
41:55was Goodrich Castle, which is not far from here.
42:00I would quite like to go and visit that castle.
42:03I think you should.
42:04Thank you so much.
42:05Will's ancestors have been traced back over 700 years
42:10to his 18 times great-grandparents,
42:13Hugh Le Dispenser and Eleanor Declare,
42:1614th century nobles during the reign of Edward II.
42:20Hugh's castle at Goodrich in Herefordshire still stands today.
42:27I think this castle's going to be quite big,
42:29and I'll tell you why, because there are signs to it,
42:32and there are brown signs which mean big,
42:36like, Stonehenge has brown signs.
42:39Have you noticed how my demeanour has changed?
42:42Just a little bit more uplifted,
42:44and a little bit more conceited, I think.
42:49I always, always thought there was a castle in me.
42:53Do you know what I mean?
42:55Ah, there it is. There it is.
42:58If there's a moat, I will cry, just to let you know.
43:10Is there a moat? It's sort of a... Is it a moat?
43:13That counts as a moat, doesn't it?
43:17It's a fixer-upper, yeah, but it's not undoable.
43:19There's probably a bit of damp.
43:22I wouldn't do a survey. There's no point.
43:27So happy.
43:29Do I look like I could be here?
43:31On... Yeah, on tray.
43:36Can I go in?
43:38I know why I'm asking. It's mine. It's mine.
43:41I've bought my handcuffs. I'm not leaving.
43:46Medieval historian Chris Given-Wilson
43:48is an expert on Will's 18 times great-grandfather, Hugh Dispenser.
43:54So who is Hugh Le Dispenser?
43:57The Dispensers, well,
43:59they weren't in the very top rank of the English nobility,
44:03but they were in the next rank.
44:05They were one of the peers of Parliament.
44:07So they are lords,
44:09they are above the knights, the gentry,
44:12but they are below the earls.
44:15But they most definitely had ambitions to move up to the top tier.
44:19How did he get to own this castle?
44:23He owned it briefly for about a year and a half.
44:26But this is the document.
44:27Yeah, you might have a little bit of trouble with this.
44:29I don't know how your Latin is.
44:31It's not great.
44:32But this is a document.
44:33Don't worry, we have a translation of it as well.
44:36Here we go.
44:37Hugh Le Dispenser the Younger did take Elizabeth Common
44:42and did imprison her there,
44:45and they did detain her for one year and more
44:49until the 20th of April, 1325,
44:51on which day the said Hugh did manipulate her
44:54so that she, Elizabeth, unwillingly and against her will,
44:57did give the said Younger Hugh the manor of Castle Goodrich.
45:05So this is the kind of way in which I'm afraid
45:07your 18 times great-grandfather tends to operate.
45:10This is awful.
45:12He was a great accumulator of land, mostly by nefarious means.
45:18And how did he become a political figure?
45:21Well, in 1318, he became the King's Chamberlain.
45:24OK, so this is in the Anonymous Chronicle.
45:28The King held Parliament at York,
45:30and there the peers of the land chose Sir Hugh Dispenser
45:34for the office of Chamberlain at the King's pleasure.
45:37This Sir Hugh was full of evil and wrongdoing,
45:41and he was also greedy and covetous.
45:43No-one was able to approach the King without the consent
45:46of the said Sir Hugh,
45:48and even then only through making large gifts.
45:51Everyone feared him and hated him from the bottom of their hearts.
45:55Nevertheless, they did not dare say anything.
45:57The King loved him dearly with all his heart and mind above all others.
46:02Mm-hm.
46:03This is the classic description of a favourite, a royal favourite.
46:07And, I mean, as Chamberlain, you control access to the King.
46:12So he has got the King's ear.
46:15He has got the King's ear, but also he is malicious.
46:17He is out to exploit his power with the King in every possible way he can.
46:23Yeah, he is not a good man, is he?
46:25Oh, he's not a nice man. He's absolutely not a nice man.
46:28Is the King slightly blinded by Hugh?
46:31Well, one chronicler says that Hugh had bewitched the King.
46:35Ah.
46:36There were some suggestions that Edward II had a homosexual relationship.
46:41Yes.
46:42With his favourites.
46:43But it's almost impossible to prove.
46:45But it clearly allowed him to do a lot of stuff and get away with a lot of stuff.
46:49He got away with a tremendous amount.
46:51And people were not keen on him, were they?
46:54I mean, these accounts.
46:55He was very, very widely hated.
46:57And by 1321, there was such a movement of opposition against him that the King was obliged to send him and his father into exile.
47:07Oh, really?
47:08Yes.
47:09Where to?
47:10Ah, well, that's a good question.
47:11Have a look at this document.
47:13Hugh the son remained at sea as the Lord King had firmly commanded him to the protection of the sailors of the English Channel.
47:19Mm-hm.
47:20And he became a...
47:21Oh, God, he's off again.
47:22Huh.
47:23And he became a sea monster lying in wait for merchants who crossed the sea.
47:28He was master of the seas and no ship got through unharmed.
47:32He even attacked a great Genoese ship.
47:36And having killed the crew, he appropriated to himself the goods that were in the ship.
47:42It was said that there were £6,000 worth of goods which he just seized for himself.
47:47Just to put it in context, the annual income of the crown at this time is somewhere in the region of £60,000 to £70,000.
47:56So these are really very significant sums.
47:59He was basically a pirate.
48:01Yeah, greed obsessed.
48:02Yeah.
48:03Yeah.
48:04Sort of beyond Machiavellian.
48:06Yeah.
48:07Indeed.
48:08He's one of the great criminals of English history, actually.
48:10It's unbelievable.
48:11Meanwhile, after four months, Edward II recalls the Dispensers and he launches a war against his enemies.
48:20This is what is sometimes called the Dispenser War.
48:23And is he waging the war against the enemies of Hugh?
48:27And people who he regards as his enemies as well.
48:31Okay, I see.
48:32And the greatest of them all is his cousin, Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, who is the greatest lord in the land apart from the king.
48:39Okay.
48:40Who absolutely hates Hugh Dispenser.
48:42Yeah.
48:43And Hugh Dispenser hates him.
48:44And look what happened to Thomas of Lancaster.
48:49Head chopped off?
48:50Head chopped off.
48:51The king and Hugh Dispenser are completely victorious.
48:54Lots of people are put to death.
48:56About 20 lords.
48:58That's remarkable.
48:59Please tell me he gets his comeuppance.
49:01Okay, he gets his comeuppance.
49:05Edward II's queen, Isabella, hated Hugh Dispenser.
49:09She sailed to France and refused to return.
49:12Then, in 1326, raised an army to invade England.
49:17Many of the king's lords joined her side.
49:21Edward II and Hugh Dispenser flee to this part of the country.
49:27But they're captured.
49:28Edward II is imprisoned.
49:30And I hope you've got a strong stomach, Will.
49:33Yeah.
49:34Because this is going to show you what happened to your 18 times great-grandfather.
49:39Oh, he was courted, was he?
49:41Oh, yes.
49:42He was everythinged.
49:43They, I think, inflicted upon him the worst, most prolonged and most painful sort of death
49:52that they could possibly think of.
49:54You are joking.
49:55I am not.
49:56We'll go through it.
49:57He's held in Hereford Castle until the day of his execution, which is the 24th of November,
50:021326.
50:03He's stripped.
50:04He is put on a hurdle and dragged through the streets behind horses.
50:07OK.
50:08And they have put up this ladder, which is 50 feet high.
50:13Firstly, they hang him, but not till he's dead.
50:16Then they make him go up this ladder.
50:19Firstly, they castrate him.
50:20Oh, blimey.
50:21They've made a fire at the bottom of the ladder.
50:24They throw the genitals into the fire.
50:26Then, this is almost worse, they disembowel him.
50:29They slit open his stomach.
50:31You can see it there.
50:32Yeah.
50:33Pull out his entrails and throw them into the fire.
50:35Yeah.
50:36And then, finally, they bring him down, ahead him, cut his body into quarters and distribute
50:43it around the country.
50:47Now, you can't get much worse than that.
50:49Oh, God.
50:50You really can't.
50:51Leave it.
50:52I know.
50:53You kind of think no one deserves that.
50:54No one deserves it.
50:55Possibly if anyone does.
50:56Yeah.
50:57I mean, he was a bad man.
50:58He was a very bad man.
50:59But, you know, about a year after his execution, once Edward II has been deposed, Hugh's widow
51:05has permission from the government to establish a monument for Hugh in Tewkesbury Abbey.
51:12Oh, of course, there is a monument to him.
51:15There is.
51:16It's a lovely tomb.
51:17Is it?
51:18I'll go and see his tomb.
51:19Yeah.
51:20I don't think he deserves it from me, but I might offer up an apology to the people
51:26that you've heard.
51:27There you go.
51:28How about that?
51:29Okay.
51:30Thank you so much.
51:31Ah, pleasure.
51:32Just wonderful.
51:33I have a 18th great grandfather, Hugh Le Dispencer, who I didn't know I was related
51:40to and is so well known in late medieval history as being an evil person and literally changed
51:48the shape and direction of the country during his time.
51:54You know, that's, that's, I suppose that counts for something.
51:59At least he made his mark.
52:01Wills comes to see Hugh Dispencer's tomb at Tewkesbury Abbey, where Eleanor's family, the
52:10Declares, were once generous benefactors.
52:13He's meeting historian Kelsey Wilson-Lee.
52:16Obviously Dispencer was dispensed of in not a nice way.
52:23No.
52:24He's been killed.
52:25How's she managed to get him here?
52:29But of course she was quite a powerful lady, or that her family was powerful in their own
52:34right.
52:35That's right.
52:36She was able to come back here.
52:37She was able to recollect the pieces of her husband, which had been dispersed around,
52:43and to bring them here to be buried, here amongst her ancestors who were all buried in
52:48this extraordinary space.
52:50This stained glass was put in place around 1340, so not too long after Hugh's death.
52:57And if you spot the third knight in on the left, that's Hugh.
53:02So you can see his heraldic arms on his tabard with the green background.
53:07And there he is amongst some of the other patrons and kind of Clare family ancestors.
53:14Okay, so that really shows how much sway and clout they had.
53:21Absolutely.
53:22And if you make your way all the way around to the east window, you'll see a small figure
53:27in the bottom right, and that is thought to be Eleanor de Clare herself.
53:32Do you see with the blue and white stripes that come out?
53:34Oh, yes, I can.
53:35Yes.
53:36I mean, it's funny, isn't it?
53:37I've learnt about a man that has done horrific things in his life, and yet through his
53:43wife's connections and her family, yeah, they're kind of erasing history in a way.
53:48It's all right, you can still have a tomb.
53:50It's almost propaganda, isn't it?
53:52I think that's not an unfair comment.
53:55You know, a lot of what we think of as good people is not necessarily what real historical
54:01figures were.
54:02So just through here, this is what I wanted to show you.
54:09This...
54:10This one here.
54:11...is the tomb of your 18 times great-grandfather.
54:16Oh, God!
54:18This is something that his wife Eleanor probably built for him after his death.
54:24Eleanor is a woman who comes from a long line of incredibly powerful and influential women,
54:34and with that in mind, I have something to show you.
54:37Oh, gosh.
54:38This is my final gift.
54:39This is your final document.
54:40This is my final document.
54:41This is my final document.
54:43So, 18 times great-grandparents, Hugh Le Dispenser, Eleanor, de Clare, and then her parents,
54:50Gilbert de Clare, Joan of Acre, and then...
54:55Oh, no.
54:56Edward the First.
54:59He's your 20 times great-grandfather.
55:02No, you're joking.
55:03Mmm.
55:04You've made it up.
55:05Have you made it up?
55:06No.
55:07No.
55:08Yeah.
55:09That's...
55:10That's unbelievable.
55:12Edward the First was my 20 times great-grandfather.
55:17No.
55:18No.
55:21This is just amazing.
55:22I can't believe it.
55:24It's wonderful.
55:30Being related to a king, will it change my behaviour?
55:33I mean, the short answer is yes.
55:35Yes, it will.
55:37What you are beholding is essentially a future despot.
55:41You've seen Mr. Nice Guy.
55:43Now get ready for Mr. Nasty.
55:46I mean, this experience has been, I'm not joking, one of the most eye-opening, rewarding,
55:59fulfilling, soul-nourishing experiences I've ever had.
56:04I didn't expect it.
56:06My 20 times great-grandfather was Edward the First.
56:10That's just bonkers.
56:12And then we move to the man, the myth, the legend.
56:17The horror that is Hugh Le Dispenser, who's just an absolute monster of a man.
56:23But then, through money and privilege, gets resurrected and shoved in the abbey here.
56:29My grandfather, that was amazing, very emotional.
56:33Digby's history, for me, was steeped in disappointment and sadness.
56:37And I found out that it was anything but.
56:40And so I won't just, like, look at his portrait that I have in my study,
56:44and think, oh, there he is.
56:46I'll think, that's my grandfather.
56:48He was such a dude.
56:50You know, and that's a gift.
56:52That's a real gift.
56:54It meant so much to me, and I have tattoos over my body for,
56:59a lot of them related to family members.
57:02Um, and I wanted to get a tattoo for Digby.
57:06So, I got his plane and his squadron number.
57:11And what's lovely is it's next to my first tattoo I ever had.
57:15The young motto, sans peur, without fear.
57:18And I think Digby certainly showed no fear.
57:22You know, so thank you.
57:24Thank you so much.
57:31From BBC Sounds, a new drama documentary on the rise and fall of Bonnie Prince Charlie
57:36and the Jacobite Rebellion.
57:38Listen to Limelight, Pretend a Prince.
57:41And you, on BBC Four now, Carlos the Jackal speaks to Storyville.
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