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00:00May the 28th, 1940.
00:13After only 18 days of fighting, the Allied armies in Europe have been smashed by the Nazis.
00:21A German invasion of Britain now looks inevitable.
00:25The five men of the British war cabinet consider their options.
00:32The former Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, and the Foreign Secretary, Lord Halifax, are
00:37arguing for peace talks with the Nazis.
00:40This seems entirely sensible.
00:45Britain might hang on to her independence and most of the empire.
00:51Winston Churchill has been Prime Minister for just two and a half weeks.
00:55He is contemptuous.
00:57Hitler would produce Britain to a slave state with a puppet government.
01:03Labour's Clement Attlee backs Churchill.
01:07His deputy, Arthur Greenwood, a figure forgotten in history, is with them too, and so the decision
01:13is made.
01:14Britain will fight on.
01:16Churchill then calls together the full cabinet.
01:24If this Long Island story of ours is to end at last, he says, let it end only when each
01:33one of us lies choking in his own blood on the ground.
01:38It's a pause.
01:39A great roar.
01:40People are in tears.
01:43This is a blood pact, drawing in not only the men in the room, but everybody.
01:50Britannia, the old conqueror island, isn't going to go down easily.
01:57And together, fight to the end.
02:04Ã la main.
02:11A grand습니다.
02:26It's ten past midnight on Monday the 27th of May 1940 and the telephone is ringing at the home of a chartered accountant called Basil Smith.
02:51It's the Admiralty calling. Operation Dynamo is underway.
02:59Basil Smith set off for the boathouse where his 24-foot motor launch, Constant Nymph, was moored.
03:07Everything unnecessary, china, cutlery, pots and pans, had already been stripped out and stored.
03:13He was just waiting for his naval permit.
03:16He said the officer in charge didn't seem to think there was any tremendous hurry.
03:21Across the channel, the British and French armies, hundreds of thousands of men, were in full retreat.
03:36Their only chance of escape was by seat.
03:38German bombers were trying to close down the nearest port still held by the Allies, Dunkirk.
03:52After a 20-mile march, Private Fred Barker and his platoon clambered to the top of the sand dunes.
04:03We stood stock still in astonishment, he said.
04:07There were lines and lines of thousands of men, all waiting to be evacuated.
04:17Suddenly, some of the men around him were seized by panic and began to run down the beach towards any boat they could see.
04:24Their officer roared at them to stop.
04:26Stand fast, stand fast, form ranks, he shouted.
04:31But more men began desperately to run down the beach.
04:35The officer then pulled his revolver and threatened to shoot the next man who broke the line.
04:40Basil Smith was now heading out to sea with a full tank of fuel and a crew of two naval ratings.
04:57Four months in the Navy, never been to sea, took to it like ducks to water.
05:04But what it was they were actually going to be doing, he had no idea.
05:08Whatever it was, he'd been assured, by the pleasant-voiced man from the Admiralty, it would be dangerous.
05:21The men on the Dunkirk beaches could only be reached by the shallowest craft.
05:28Thousands were standing here in rows, four deep, waiting day and night to be rescued.
05:33When the tides came in, they were up to their necks in water.
05:38One young private said he counted three tides.
05:42We had to keep our cigarettes and matches in our helmets to keep them dry, said another.
05:47It was blazing hot and we had nothing to drink.
05:50The little ships were coming to the rescue.
06:00A motley flotilla of hundreds of yachts, cockleboats, fishing smacks and pleasure cruisers,
06:07with names like the Richmond, the Resolute and Queen Bodicea, and no fewer than 11 boats called the Skylark.
06:17Basil Smith reached Dunkirk at dusk.
06:27Strafed by fighter planes, the little ships and hundreds of rowing boats
06:31tirelessly ferried exhausted men from the beaches to the larger ships waiting to take them home.
06:37Under heavy shelling, men fell overboard, some were crushed to death, many drowned.
06:53Constant Nymph helped to get around 900 soldiers off the beach before she had to be abandoned.
07:01Basil Smith sailed home on a merchant ship, still under heavy fire.
07:05Plenty of hot tea and bread and butter and jam and a chance to light a pipe
07:13made me perfectly indifferent to anything Jerry did.
07:18Basil Smith had just defined the spirit of Dunkirk.
07:29Over nine days, the flotilla of 900 naval and civilian craft
07:35rescued over a third of a million men from the beaches of northern France.
07:40It was a resounding military defeat, but it was also a kind of miraculous deliverance.
07:46On Tuesday, the 4th of June, Winston Churchill turned the Dunkirk spirit into a founding legend of modern Britain.
08:05We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills, we shall never surrender.
08:19The British Empire now stood alone, against the might of the German military machine.
08:35But who was the we Churchill spoke of?
08:40Who was British, but who wasn't?
08:42As darkness fell on the 10th of June, 1940, Italian ice cream shops and cafes were attacked during riots in Edinburgh, Manchester and London.
09:05The French Empire, the British Empire, the French, the British Empire, the British Empire, the British Empire.
09:09The British Empire, the British Empire, the British Empire, the British Empire.
09:10Mussolini had just joined forces with Hitler.
09:13Britain was now at war with Germany and Italy.
09:18There were 18,000 Italians registered as living in Britain.
09:23And when he was asked what should be done about them,
09:27Churchill replied,
09:28Collar the lot!
09:29within two weeks
09:354,000 Italians were rounded up
09:38most of them ended up
09:40in hastily organised internment camps
09:42to be interned in Britain is like paradise
09:46when compared with a Nazi concentration camp
09:48so there shouldn't be any complaints here
09:50even if the internees have literally
09:51to make their own bids
09:53and take in each other's washing
09:54the final destination
09:58for many Italians
10:00was the Isle of Man
10:01they were fenced in
10:06with barbed wire
10:07and patrolled by armed guards
10:10interned in parades
10:12of Victorian guest houses
10:14almost all of the Italians
10:19who were interned
10:20had done nothing more threatening
10:22to national security
10:23than to introduce the British
10:25to ice cream, olive oil
10:27and coffee you could actually drink
10:29George Orwell complained
10:31that you couldn't get a decent meal in London
10:32because the head chefs
10:34of the Savoy
10:35the Café Royal
10:36and the Piccadilly
10:37had all been locked up
10:39but it wasn't just Italians
10:48over 10,000 men and women
10:51of Italian, German and Austrian origin
10:54were interned here
10:55one refugee said
10:59put Viennese people together
11:01for long enough
11:02and they will do two things
11:04found a university
11:05and open a patisserie
11:07and that's just what they did here
11:10there were cake shops
11:12there were language lessons
11:13in French, Portuguese
11:15Hebrew and Italian
11:17lectures in history and literature
11:20workshops from great Berlin theater directors
11:23for a short period of time
11:29one of the great centers
11:32of European intellectual life
11:34was the Isle of Man
11:36by now the Luftwaffe
11:47was preparing for Operation Sea Lion
11:50the invasion of Britain
11:51stage one
11:53destroy the RAF
11:55on the 16th of August 1940
12:08Winston Churchill
12:10and his chief of staff
12:11General Hastings Ismay
12:13stopped off here
12:14at RAF Uxbridge
12:15on their way to Chequers
12:17this was 11 Group HQ
12:20Fighter Command
12:21responsible for air defense
12:23in the southeast of England
12:25Churchill took every chance
12:29he could get
12:30to stomp down here
12:31and watch Fighter Command
12:32in action
12:33each day
12:43as the battle in the sky
12:44developed
12:45the German attacks
12:46were plotted
12:47almost minute by minute
12:49on this giant map board
12:51the formations of attacking aircraft
12:55were shown by wooden blocks
12:57marked with the approximate number of planes
12:59their course was tracked
13:01by color-coded arrows
13:03corresponding to the room's master clock
13:05now it looks
13:13very complicated
13:15but in fact
13:15this was
13:16a masterpiece
13:17of clarity
13:18it's a dusty old room now
13:20but this is really
13:22about information processing
13:24and the truth is
13:25we were better at it
13:26than they were
13:27Plotting the enemy attacks
13:32day and night
13:33were members of the
13:34Women's Auxiliary Air Force
13:36or WAFs
13:37they were known
13:38as the beauty chorus
13:39above them
13:41is what Churchill
13:42called
13:42the dress circle
13:44and up here
13:49the senior commanders
13:50were playing
13:50a deadly game
13:52of chess
13:52with the Germans
13:53taking split-second decisions
13:55about when to send squadrons
13:57up to fight
13:57timing was critical
14:05fights in the air
14:06were won by a narrow margin
14:08of advantage
14:09so getting clear
14:10of the ground
14:11and up to the correct height
14:12for battle
14:13could mean the difference
14:14between life and death
14:16by August 1940
14:23squadrons could be
14:25scrambled and in the air
14:27within 90 seconds
14:28this beautifully efficient system
14:33was masterminded
14:34by the head of fighter command
14:35Sir Hugh Dowding
14:37also known as Stuffy
14:38if a democracy
14:42has any advantage
14:44in fighting a war
14:45it's that some people
14:46are prepared to take on
14:47and challenge
14:48the supreme leaders
14:49Stuffy Dowding
14:51was exactly the kind
14:52of stubborn
14:54flinty old
14:55so and so
14:55quite prepared
14:56to challenge
14:57Churchill
14:57of key moments
14:58he'd built up
15:00fighter command
15:01almost from nothing
15:02in the 1930s
15:03and was fiercely protective
15:04of his men
15:05and machines
15:06this entirely novel
15:08command and control system
15:10was his idea
15:11they called it
15:12Dowding's system
15:14now there was only one question
15:16would it work
15:17at 1700 hours
15:27on the day of Churchill
15:28and Ismay's visit
15:29radar detected
15:31a hundred enemy aircraft
15:33crossing the south coast
15:34their target
15:35the airfields
15:37of fighter command
15:38RAF squadrons
15:43were scrambled
15:43immediately
15:44as he watched
15:46the attacks
15:46building up
15:47on the plotting table
15:48General Ismay
15:50a grizzled
15:51old army hand
15:52said he felt
15:53sick with fear
15:55but the attacks
16:04intensified
16:05it seemed as if
16:06the RAF
16:06had nothing
16:07left in reserve
16:09and Churchill
16:10became absorbed
16:12by the drama
16:1322 British aircraft
16:22were shot down
16:23that day
16:248 pilots lost
16:25but 72
16:27enemy aircraft
16:29were destroyed
16:29Dowding's system
16:33was keeping
16:34the Luftwaffe
16:35at bay
16:36and the legend
16:37of the Battle of Britain
16:38was born
16:39as Churchill
16:51continued his journey
16:53to Chequers
16:53with General Ismay
16:54he said
16:55don't talk to me
16:58I have never been
17:00so moved
17:01but a few moments later
17:04Churchill himself
17:05broke the silence
17:06never in the field
17:08of human conflict
17:09has so much
17:10been owed
17:10by so many
17:12to so few
17:13later that evening
17:15when he got home
17:16the General quoted
17:17those words
17:18to his wife
17:19and four days later
17:20in a morale-boosting speech
17:21to the House of Commons
17:23Churchill himself
17:24used them again
17:25never in the field
17:29of human conflict
17:30was so much owed
17:31by so many
17:33to so few
17:34all our hearts
17:36go out
17:36to the fighter pilot
17:38Churchill needed good words
17:41his own position
17:42was hardly secure
17:43one British reaction
17:45to defeat in Europe
17:46was a shift to the left
17:48even in the strangest places
17:50this is
17:52Osterly Park
17:53West London
17:54left-wing guerrillas
17:57are in action
17:58they're led by a revolutionary
18:03called Tom Wintringham
18:04a veteran of the international brigades
18:07in the Spanish Civil War
18:09here at Osterly Park
18:13Wintringham
18:13used his Spanish experience
18:15to build a volunteer
18:16fighting force
18:17to confront the Nazis
18:19when they arrived
18:20in England
18:20Britain was
18:27hopelessly unprepared
18:29most of the army's equipment
18:31had been left behind
18:32at Dunkirk
18:33there were just
18:34463 tanks
18:36in the whole country
18:37Hitler
18:40had thousands
18:41at his disposal
18:42how would we fight back?
18:47we want large numbers
18:48of men
18:48on the 14th of May
18:511940
18:52the Secretary of State
18:53for War
18:54Antony Eden
18:55broadcast an appeal
18:56for volunteers
18:57in the next 24 hours
19:06a quarter of a million men
19:08came forward
19:09Colonel Montmorency
19:11who was in Calcutta
19:13in 92
19:14emerged from his retirement
19:15for the war
19:17he wasn't very pleased
19:19with all he heard
19:20and all he saw
19:21but whatever he felt
19:23he tightened his belt
19:24and organised a call
19:25for Colonel Montmorency
19:28to begin with
19:29they didn't have weapons
19:30and they didn't have uniforms
19:32most marched with golf clubs
19:35pickaxe handles
19:36guns they carved out of wood
19:39even pikes
19:41the local
19:43defence
19:44volunteers
19:45or
19:45LDV
19:47were soon known
19:48as the
19:48look
19:49duck
19:50and vanish
19:51brigade
19:51or the long
19:52dentured
19:53veterans
19:54they were soon
19:55renamed
19:56the home guard
19:57we know them better
19:59as dad's army
20:00and they were
20:02mocked
20:03from the start
20:04frustrated by the old
20:24boys in charge
20:25Winteringham
20:26decided to show
20:27his men
20:28what he'd learned
20:28in Spain
20:29tactics of guerrilla
20:31warfare
20:31this one's known
20:32as the monkey crawl
20:33here is Ricky
20:35the Spaniard
20:35showing them
20:36how it's done
20:37here they were taught
20:39amongst other things
20:40methods of dealing
20:42with the dive bomber
20:43Winteringham
20:45also wrote
20:46a best-selling book
20:47which mixed
20:48his left-wing
20:48principles
20:49with recipes
20:50for homemade grenades
20:51and Molotov cocktails
20:53another member of the team
21:18was the surrealist artist
21:20and camouflage expert
21:21Roland Penrose
21:22who had his own
21:23special mixture
21:24soot and flour
21:29which makes
21:30a good paste
21:31which sticks
21:33to the face
21:34and he
21:36enlivened his lectures
21:38with a slideshow
21:39featuring pictures
21:41of his girlfriend
21:42the photographer
21:43and model
21:44Lee Miller
21:45cunningly camouflaged
21:46in a variety
21:48of nude poses
21:49Tom Winteringham's belief
22:01that the war
22:02would bring socialism
22:03wasn't far off the mark
22:05but his revolutionary zeal
22:08was too much
22:09for the old guard
22:09and just three months
22:13after it opened
22:14Austerley Park
22:16was taken over
22:16by the regular army
22:18it was a compliment
22:20of sorts
22:22but it wasn't the same
22:23Winteringham's dream
22:25of a people's army
22:26primed for total war
22:28was over
22:29the 7th of September
22:441940
22:45a beautiful afternoon
22:47at 4.15
22:55Londoners look up
22:57and see what they've
22:58been dreading
22:59for months
23:00almost a thousand
23:04German aircraft
23:05were advancing
23:06up the Thames
23:07this flying terror
23:10stretched 20 miles
23:12wide across the sky
23:13600 fighter planes
23:16escorting
23:17350 bombers
23:19an American journalist
23:25had heard them
23:2620 minutes earlier
23:27over Kent
23:28at first
23:29we couldn't see
23:30anything he said
23:31but soon the noise
23:33had grown
23:33to a deep
23:34full roar
23:35like the far away
23:37thunder
23:37of a giant
23:38waterfall
23:39then they came
23:40into view
23:41like clouds
23:42of insects
23:43moving
23:44northwest
23:45towards the capital
23:47London's docks
24:01were their main target
24:03warehouses
24:11and wharves
24:12were soon ablaze
24:14the burnt
24:17toffee smell
24:18from the Tate and Lyle
24:20sugar barges
24:21blazing on the Thames
24:22spread through the air
24:23the firefighters
24:25called for help
24:26from all round
24:26the country
24:27send all the bloody
24:29pumps you've got
24:30said one
24:30the whole bloody
24:32world's on fire
24:33they came back
24:39the next night
24:40and the next
24:42and the one
24:43after that
24:44the first
24:45offensive
24:45of the London
24:46Blitz
24:47went on
24:48for 76
24:49days and nights
24:51broken by only
24:52one quiet night
24:53up to a point
24:59Britain was ready
25:00for this
25:01some public
25:02shelters
25:03had been prepared
25:04but they proved
25:05grossly inadequate
25:06in spittle fields
25:17the locals
25:18took over
25:18the vaults
25:19of the strongest
25:20building
25:20they could find
25:21this basement
25:24was supposed
25:24to have space
25:25for up to
25:265,000 people
25:27sheltering
25:28but on the first
25:29night
25:29it opened
25:30twice that number
25:32crammed themselves
25:33in down here
25:34no water
25:38no proper
25:39lighting
25:40no ventilation
25:40no sanitation
25:41no privacy
25:42it quickly became
25:44a lice ridden
25:45stinking underworld
25:47and yet
25:50in this
25:51dark and dirty
25:52chaos
25:53something rather
25:54wonderful happened
25:56street lamps
25:57aglow
25:58and newsboys
25:59calling
26:00someone decided
26:02to try and make
26:03the shelter work
26:04his name
26:05was Mickey Davis
26:07but he was better
26:08known as Mickey
26:09the Midget
26:09he was hunchbacked
26:11and only 3 foot
26:123 inches tall
26:13and he was in
26:14the shelter
26:15from the first
26:15night
26:16mickey established
26:23a democratically
26:24elected
26:24shelter committee
26:25a penny a week
26:27levy to pay
26:28for cleaning
26:28and a scheme
26:30to pay for free
26:30milk for the
26:31children
26:32soon this
26:38budding
26:39underground
26:39welfare state
26:40was being known
26:41as Mickey's shelter
26:43and British government
26:44officials
26:45were introducing
26:45visiting American
26:47politicians to it
26:48as a practical
26:49example
26:50of democracy
26:51blitz style
26:53in the first month
27:02of the blitz
27:03a quarter of a million
27:04Londoners lost their homes
27:0612,000 were badly
27:09injured
27:096,000 killed
27:12the blitz was the first
27:30sustained attempt
27:31to break a country's
27:32morale
27:33and make it surrender
27:34by bombing its civilians
27:36this was now a people's war
27:42and civilians
27:43became the heroes
27:45we've been bombed
27:47dive bombed
27:49high level bombed
27:50machine gunned
27:52been through two
27:53invasion scares
27:54the last lot we had
27:56we had the house
27:57down about our ears
27:58but we're still
28:00sticking it
28:00and we're going to
28:01stick it
28:02but for how long
28:05Britain badly
28:07needed help
28:08on the morning
28:12of the 29th of August
28:131940
28:14a young man
28:16hailed a cab
28:17to Euston station
28:18to catch the boat
28:19train to Liverpool
28:20with his luggage
28:22was a large
28:22black metal box
28:24his name was
28:34Edward Taffy Bowen
28:35son of a Swansea
28:37steel worker
28:37and a research scientist
28:39in the top secret
28:40field of radar
28:41Taffy Bowen
28:49was off
28:49on one of the most
28:50important secret
28:51missions of the war
28:52his metal case
28:54contained virtually
28:55every military
28:57breakthrough
28:58made by British
28:59science
28:59it really was
29:00in 1940
29:01the ultimate
29:03box of tricks
29:04and now the taxi
29:07driver
29:08insisted on tying
29:09it to the roof
29:10of the cab
29:11no time to argue
29:13so off they went
29:14Bowen was part
29:18of the Tissard
29:18mission
29:19named after
29:20its brilliant
29:20leader
29:21the scientist
29:22Henry Tissard
29:23he was proposing
29:24an historic exchange
29:26of military
29:27and scientific secrets
29:28between Britain
29:29and the United States
29:31the Americans
29:32were still
29:32officially neutral
29:33but only they
29:35had the manufacturing
29:36power
29:36to make the weapons
29:37we needed
29:38to win the war
29:39Henry Tissard
29:42Henry Tissard
29:46persuaded Churchill
29:47to let him offer up
29:49the deepest secrets
29:50of British science
29:51in his words
29:52everything
29:53the Americans
29:54wanted to know
29:55and this was material
29:57the Americans
29:58didn't understand
29:59and desperately wanted
30:01in the words
30:02of the US Army's
30:03chief of staff
30:04a gold mine
30:06but if it was a gift
30:08it was a gift
30:09with a hook
30:10in it
30:10because Churchill
30:11desperately hoped
30:13that it would help
30:14lure the Americans
30:15themselves
30:15into the war
30:17the most highly
30:23classified item
30:24in Taffy Bowen's box
30:25was the intriguingly
30:27named
30:27cavity magnetron
30:29this device
30:32would revolutionise
30:33radar technology
30:34it had the potential
30:36to help decide
30:37the outcome
30:38of the war
30:38at Euston station
30:41a porter
30:42grabbed the metal box
30:43stuck it on his shoulder
30:44and vanished
30:46into the Russia crowds
30:47Taffy Bowen
30:53was a long distance runner
30:55but he struggled
30:56desperately
30:56to keep an eye
30:58on this priceless cargo
30:59at last
31:00to his intense relief
31:02it was safely delivered
31:04to a first class compartment
31:05on the Liverpool train
31:07but they weren't safe yet
31:16as the boat sailed
31:17for North America
31:18Liverpool suffered
31:19one of the first
31:20night time bomb attacks
31:21of the war
31:22the captain had instructions
31:24to throw the box overboard
31:26if the ship
31:26came under attack
31:27one American historian
31:33later called it
31:34the most valuable cargo
31:36ever brought
31:37to our shores
31:37over the next three months
31:43there was a wary
31:44exchange of information
31:45as the British
31:46opened their box
31:47of magic
31:47and waited to see
31:48what the Americans
31:49would offer in return
31:50it was a kind of
31:52intellectual strip tease
31:54in the end
31:56the British
31:56didn't see anything
31:57very interesting
31:59but by then
31:59it didn't matter
32:00Britain had virtually
32:01run out of options
32:03and so far as most
32:04American scientists
32:05were concerned
32:06the Tizard mission
32:07had effectively
32:09ended
32:09US neutrality
32:11from now on
32:12it could only be
32:13a matter of time
32:14before America
32:15came to the rescue
32:17of the old world
32:18couldn't it?
32:19meanwhile the blitz
32:31went on
32:31not only in London
32:33on the night of
32:37November the 14th
32:381940
32:39in an operation
32:40called Moonlight
32:41Sonata
32:42Coventry became
32:43a target too
32:44it was the most
32:47intensive bombing
32:48raid the world
32:49had ever seen
32:50there was panic
32:54hysteria
32:56chaos
32:57one woman wrote
32:59to her daughter
33:00Coventry is a city
33:02of the dead
33:03utterly devastated
33:05they called it
33:09a reprisal
33:09in return for the
33:11systematic bombing
33:11of military objectives
33:12by the Royal Air Force
33:13German planes flew
33:15above the city
33:15of Coventry
33:16to broadcast
33:17death and destruction
33:17over the whole city
33:18Coventry lost
33:22a third of its
33:23houses
33:23most of its
33:24ancient centre
33:25and its cathedral
33:27other cities
33:36suffered terribly
33:37too
33:38Merseyside
33:40Tyneside
33:41Birmingham
33:42Bristol
33:43Hull
33:45in Clyde Bank
33:51just 7 out of
33:538,000 houses
33:55were left untouched
33:56in March 1941
34:00Plymouth was gutted
34:02by 300 bombers
34:03in a two-night assault
34:05Doreen Jessup
34:12Doreen Jessup
34:12was a 17-year-old ambulance driver
34:15who went into a Plymouth shelter
34:17just after a hit
34:18there were all these people
34:20there were all these people
34:21just sitting
34:22some with children
34:25still on their laps
34:26people with glasses
34:28and the glass
34:29still intact
34:30their hair
34:32lifeless and dusty
34:34they were all dead
34:36killed by the blast
34:40the taste of defeat
34:46was sapping confidence
34:48in Churchill's leadership
34:49some were pointing to
34:51Stalin's Russia
34:52engaged in a bloody struggle
34:54against the Nazis
34:55since 1941
34:56as an example of real
34:58fighting spirit
34:59on the 23rd of October 1942
35:09British Commonwealth forces
35:11were about to face
35:12their greatest test
35:13against the advancing
35:14German and Italian
35:15armies in North Africa
35:17between the two forces
35:26was a five-mile-wide
35:28lethal strip
35:29planted with half a million mines
35:32it was known
35:33as the Devil's Gardens
35:34Erwin Rommel
35:39the German military commander
35:41in North Africa
35:41was a dazzling strategist
35:44famous across the world
35:45as the Desert Fox
35:47even in Britain
35:52Rommel became
35:53a kind of popular hero
35:55Churchill said
35:56in the House of Commons
35:57he was a great general
35:59but Churchill
36:00badly needed
36:02a victory
36:02the man entrusted
36:07to deliver it
36:08was a rather spiky
36:10but occasionally
36:11brilliant general
36:12called Bernard Montgomery
36:14better known as Monty
36:15Monty was an absolutely
36:20infuriating
36:21self-publicist
36:22just the kind of man
36:25for the new age
36:26of the celebrity general
36:27he was said to be
36:29as quick as a ferret
36:30and about as likeable
36:32but he was a plain speaking
36:34and charismatic leader
36:36who cajoled
36:38and hectored
36:39and inspired his men
36:40in a way
36:41no British general
36:42had ever done before
36:43when he took over command
36:45of the 8th army
36:46or the Desert Rats
36:48he told them
36:48there'll be no more belly aching
36:50and no more retreats
36:52at 2140
37:02the Battle of El Alamein began
37:04with over 800
37:10Allied artillery guns
37:11assaulting the German
37:12and Italian lines
37:14the first round of shelling
37:19lasted for five and a half hours
37:22it was the most intense
37:24artillery attack
37:25since the First World War
37:27and the noise
37:28was so extreme
37:29that the gunner's ears
37:31poured with blood
37:32under cover of the bombardment
37:35British troops
37:36began to pick their way
37:38forward on foot
37:39through the heavily mined desert
37:41to create an 8 yard wide track
37:45along which
37:46the tank attack
37:47could begin
37:48heavy German fire
37:58meant that
37:58that job
37:59of trying to clear
38:01a safe path
38:02was incredibly difficult
38:04and slow
38:05the British tanks
38:06were becoming
38:07entangled
38:08in a sandblown
38:10bloody version
38:11of a London traffic jam
38:14Back in London
38:21Churchill
38:21was becoming
38:23angry
38:24and worried
38:25is it
38:26really
38:27impossible
38:28to find a general
38:30who can win
38:31a battle
38:32Montgomery knew
38:48he could afford
38:49to lose
38:49two or three tanks
38:51for every German tank
38:52destroyed
38:53and that's exactly
38:54what he did
38:5525,000 Germans
39:03and Italians
39:04were killed
39:05wounded
39:05or captured
39:06on the 4th of November
39:10Rommel began his retreat
39:12into Libya
39:13back in Britain
39:24the BBC news announcer
39:26was so excited
39:27he forgot
39:28the corporation's
39:29traditional neutrality
39:30here's some excellent news
39:32which has come
39:33during the past hour
39:35the Axis forces
39:36in the western desert
39:37are now in full retreat
39:39that'll show them
39:42there's plenty more
39:43where that came from
39:44and guide our love
39:56El Alamein
40:00was
40:01a great British victory
40:03and it was
40:04a turning point
40:05Churchill summed it up
40:08this is not
40:09the end
40:10it is not even
40:12the beginning
40:13of the end
40:14but it is perhaps
40:16the end
40:17of the beginning
40:17and he ordered
40:19the church bells
40:19to be rung
40:20across Britain
40:21in many cases
40:23the first time
40:24these bells
40:24had been rung
40:25since the war started
40:26later on
40:28Churchill said
40:29before Alamein
40:31we never had
40:33a victory
40:33after Alamein
40:35we never had
40:36a defeat
40:37he must have been
40:48most tiresome
40:49to play tennis
40:50against
40:50said Lady Moseley
40:52but it amused
40:53me to watch
40:54the he
40:57was a former
40:58Wimbledon player
40:59who would help
41:00Britain
41:00take the fight
41:01to the people
41:02of Germany
41:02he was
41:07an abrasive
41:08Oxford physicist
41:09and Churchill's
41:10favourite scientist
41:11Frederick Lindemann
41:15known to friends
41:17as Prof
41:17Churchill
41:20loved having
41:22a boffin
41:22on hand
41:23one of his
41:24favourite party tricks
41:25was to ask Lindemann
41:26to calculate
41:27the volume
41:28of champagne
41:29that Churchill
41:29had drunk
41:30in the course
41:31of his lifetime
41:31and then to work
41:33out the effect
41:34of decanting
41:35all of that champagne
41:36into whatever room
41:37they happened
41:38to be sitting in
41:38at the time
41:39would it
41:40lap at their ankles
41:41would they be
41:42wading in it
41:43would they be
41:45entirely submerged
41:47Churchill made
41:52an occasional splash
41:53in Prof's home movies
41:54Lindemann played doubles
41:57with Mrs Churchill
41:58and he always played
42:00to win
42:01Churchill used to say
42:04that Lindemann's brain
42:06was a wonderful
42:07piece of mechanism
42:09and now
42:10that mechanism
42:12was tuned
42:13to destruction
42:15in March 1942
42:23Lindemann sent a memo
42:24to Churchill
42:25based on his analysis
42:27of the effects
42:27of Nazi raids
42:28on Hull
42:29and Birmingham
42:30in 1940
42:31he calculated
42:33that every 40 tons
42:35of bombs
42:35dropped by British bombers
42:37on German cities
42:38would make
42:384,000 to 8,000 Germans
42:40homeless
42:41he concluded
42:42that there was
42:43little doubt
42:44that this would
42:45break the spirit
42:45of the people
42:46at the start
42:52of the war
42:52the RAF
42:53had tried
42:53to avoid civilian casualties
42:55Lindemann
42:56was justifying
42:58a U-turn
42:58in bombing policy
42:59his memo
43:02became known
43:03as the
43:03de-housing paper
43:05fellow scientist
43:07Henry Tizard
43:08had once been
43:09a great friend
43:10of Lindemann's
43:11the de-housing paper
43:13provoked
43:14a fierce battle
43:15between them
43:16Tizard's opening
43:18salvo
43:19was a direct hit
43:20I am afraid
43:22that I think
43:22the way you present
43:23the facts
43:24is extremely misleading
43:25Lindemann
43:29hit back
43:30mass bombing
43:31was the only way
43:32to hit the enemy
43:33hard
43:33and to open up
43:34a second front
43:35to take pressure
43:36off the Russians
43:37Tizard countered
43:40I think too
43:41that you have got
43:42your facts wrong
43:43but Lindemann
43:47had Churchill's ear
43:48and Britain
43:49now began
43:50diverting
43:51a huge proportion
43:52of her industrial
43:53resources
43:54into the bombing
43:55of German cities
43:56in fact
44:02Lindemann
44:03seems to have
44:04deliberately
44:04distorted
44:05the statistics
44:06about the effects
44:08of German bombing
44:08on Hull
44:09and Birmingham
44:10his de-housing
44:12memo
44:13fudged the numbers
44:14and overestimated
44:16what the bombers
44:16could achieve
44:17by around 600%
44:19it was a piece
44:20of shabby
44:21evidence tweaking
44:22to lend authority
44:24to his
44:24dodgy dossier
44:25and it would have
44:27horrendous consequences
44:29in February
44:41that year
44:42Arthur
44:43bomber
44:43Harris
44:44became head
44:45of bomber
44:45command
44:46like Lindemann
44:48Harris
44:48believed fervently
44:49in terror
44:50bombing
44:51but it came
44:51at a price
44:52his crews
44:53would suffer
44:53worse losses
44:54than almost
44:55any other
44:55fighting force
44:56and some of them
44:57called Harris
44:58simply
44:58butcher
44:59Arthur Harris
45:09was once
45:09stopped
45:10by a police
45:10constable
45:11for racing
45:12his Bentley
45:12at breakneck speed
45:14between his headquarters
45:15at High Wycombe
45:16and London
45:16you might have killed
45:18somebody sir
45:19said the constable
45:21young man
45:22replied Harris
45:24I kill thousands
45:26of people
45:26every night
45:27on the nights
45:33of February
45:34the 13th
45:35and 14th
45:361945
45:37one of the most
45:38beautiful cities
45:39in Europe
45:39was the target
45:40Dresden
45:43the intensive
45:45bombing
45:46unleashed
45:47a firestorm
45:4725,000
45:49people
45:50are believed
45:51to have suffocated
45:52or burned
45:52to death
45:53it's estimated
45:55that half a million
45:56men
45:57women
45:58and children
45:58were killed
45:59by British
46:00and American
46:00bombing
46:01in the course
46:01of the war
46:02in his memoirs
46:07Arthur Harris
46:07described the
46:08carpet bombing
46:09of Germany
46:10as a relatively
46:11humane method
46:12that saved
46:13the youth
46:14of this country
46:15from being
46:16mown down
46:17by the military
46:17as it was
46:19in the war
46:19of 1914
46:20to 18
46:21now
46:23there's no way
46:24of knowing
46:25those battles
46:26that the terror
46:28bombing avoided
46:29nor whether
46:30it shortened
46:31the war
46:32at all
46:32but what is
46:33certain
46:34is that it
46:35didn't break
46:35the spirit
46:36of the Germans
46:37any more
46:38than the blitz
46:39broke the spirit
46:39of Britain
46:40here is
46:46Larry Constantine
46:47the world
46:48famous
46:49brigadier
46:49Larry used
46:51to be just
46:51a summer
46:52visitor
46:52but when
46:53the war
46:53began
46:54he became
46:55a welfare
46:55officer
46:55to the
46:56Ministry
46:56of Labour
46:57hello
46:58everybody
46:58this is
46:59Larry Constantine
47:00war is in the air
47:02all West Indians
47:03will do their share
47:04in July 1943
47:06the man
47:07who helped
47:08the West Indies
47:09win their first
47:09test matches
47:10against England
47:11came down to London
47:12from his home
47:13in Lancashire
47:14he booked a room
47:21at the Imperial
47:22Hotel in Russell
47:23Square
47:24but when he
47:26and his family
47:27arrived
47:27the manager
47:28told them
47:29they could stay
47:29one night
47:30but no longer
47:31Larry Constantine
47:36refused to budge
47:37his boss
47:38at the Ministry
47:39of Labour
47:39Arnold Watson
47:40arrived and asked
47:41what was going on
47:42we can't have
47:44these niggers
47:45in our hotel
47:46said the manager
47:47he can stay
47:48tonight
47:49but he has to go
47:50tomorrow morning
47:50when Watson
47:52demanded to know
47:52her reasons
47:53she replied
47:54because of the
47:55Americans
47:56by the spring
48:02of 1944
48:03one and a half
48:04million Americans
48:05were in Britain
48:06preparing to
48:07liberate Europe
48:08about 130,000
48:14of them
48:14were black
48:15America
48:17in the 1940s
48:18still had
48:18racial segregation
48:19US military
48:21police were
48:21supposed to
48:22enforce laws
48:23keeping blacks
48:24and whites
48:24from socializing
48:25together
48:26but it wasn't
48:27easy
48:27there were
48:29flashpoints
48:30pub brawls
48:32even shootings
48:34despite their
48:40attachment
48:40to segregation
48:41the Yanks
48:42were convinced
48:43they were bringing
48:43democracy
48:44as well as
48:45military aid
48:46to a quaintly
48:47class-bound
48:48Britain
48:48the GIs
48:52certainly
48:53looked like
48:54the future
48:54they were
48:55taller
48:56louder
48:56better dressed
48:57and richer
48:58they had
48:59chocolate
49:00and cigarettes
49:00in their pocket
49:01and plenty
49:02of money
49:02for the pubs
49:03and clubs
49:04but they brought
49:05with them
49:06from America
49:06things that were
49:07worth more
49:08than the money
49:09millions of condoms
49:10and razor blades
49:11and stockings
49:12their comics
49:16were passed
49:17from hand
49:18to hand
49:19until they
49:19became ragged
49:20and their
49:22slang
49:22spread
49:23like a fever
49:24well this looks
49:29like an interesting
49:29corner
49:30hiya babe
49:32what you doing
49:34tonight
49:34ah watching
49:35what are you
49:36having
49:36you're really
49:38a heptomater
49:39hell of a
49:40slug of bourbon
49:41not surprisingly
49:43all this went
49:44down badly
49:44with British
49:45soldiers
49:45with their
49:46sparse pay
49:47packets
49:47and their
49:48baggier
49:48browner
49:49dowdier
49:49uniforms
49:50as wives
49:51and girlfriends
49:52ogled
49:53something better
49:54yes I better
49:55blow
49:56and there was
50:00a lot of
50:01ogling
50:01going on
50:02a young
50:08Canadian
50:09soldier
50:09wrote in his
50:10diary
50:10a lot of
50:11men were
50:12going to
50:12die
50:13everyone knew
50:14that Hyde Park
50:15and Green Park
50:16at dusk
50:16and after dark
50:17were a vast
50:18battlefield
50:19of sex
50:20if sex
50:26was the
50:26battlefield
50:27Piccadilly
50:28Circus
50:28was the
50:29front line
50:29in the
50:30near absolute
50:31darkness
50:32of the
50:32blackout
50:33the prostitutes
50:34of London
50:34would light
50:35matches
50:36or shine
50:36torches
50:37on their
50:38faces
50:38and then
50:39down
50:39towards
50:39their
50:40stockings
50:40and high
50:41heels
50:41they were
50:42known
50:43as the
50:43Piccadilly
50:44Commandos
50:45the Sunday
50:46pictorial
50:46newspaper
50:47described
50:48the mile
50:48around
50:48Piccadilly
50:49Circus
50:49as a
50:50spider's
50:51web
50:51of vice
50:52hello
50:54darling
50:54you like
50:56my little
50:56dog
50:56yes
50:57no
50:58and at
51:03the heart
51:04of it all
51:04was Rainbow
51:05Corner
51:06headquarters
51:07of the
51:07American
51:08Red Cross
51:09in the
51:09West End
51:09here
51:13at Rainbow
51:14Corner
51:15there was
51:16a barber
51:16shop
51:17hot showers
51:18ice cream
51:19sodas
51:20a shoeshine
51:21parlour
51:21and a
51:22jukebox
51:23there was a
51:24basement
51:24called
51:25Dunker's Den
51:26where you
51:26could devour
51:27doughnuts
51:28and coffee
51:29and much
51:30else
51:31fraternisation
51:32on the dance
51:33floor
51:33and off it
51:34see what I
51:34mean
51:35it was a
51:38hive of
51:3924-hour-a-day
51:40all-American
51:41action
51:42this was
51:46where
51:46the goods
51:47and attitudes
51:48from the
51:49United States
51:50that would
51:50later
51:50colonise
51:51the world
51:52first arrived
51:53in Britain
51:54the Americans
51:55invaded us
51:56right there
52:09the
52:1117th of
52:16November
52:161943
52:18a village
52:19postman
52:20in Dorset
52:21is doing
52:21his rounds
52:22today
52:23he's taking
52:24the same
52:24letter
52:25to every
52:25house
52:26the letter
52:28from
52:29Major General
52:30C.H. Miller
52:30was an
52:32eviction notice
52:33in order
52:34to give
52:35our troops
52:35the fullest
52:36opportunity
52:36to perfect
52:37their training
52:38in the use
52:39of modern
52:39warfare
52:40the army
52:41must have
52:42an area
52:42of ground
52:43particularly
52:44suited
52:45to their
52:45special needs
52:46that area
52:48of ground
52:49included
52:50the little
52:51parish
52:51of Tynum
52:52whose villagers
52:54were given
52:5428 days
52:56to pack up
52:57and go
52:58evacuation
53:05in the
53:06path
53:06of war
53:06has come
53:07to the
53:07peaceful
53:07southwest
53:08of England
53:08not the
53:09feverish
53:10exit
53:10from an
53:11enemy
53:11invader
53:11but an
53:12orderly
53:12removal
53:13out of
53:13cottages
53:14farms
53:14and
53:14village
53:14stores
53:15Tynum
53:22really
53:23was
53:24old
53:24England
53:25some
53:26of the
53:26villagers
53:26had never
53:27even left
53:28for a day
53:29trip
53:29to the
53:30nearest
53:30town
53:31never mind
53:32going to
53:32live
53:32somewhere
53:33else
53:33but old
53:34England
53:34was also
53:35intensely
53:36patriotic
53:37Bessie
53:40and Helen
53:41Taylor
53:41were hanging
53:42out the
53:42washing
53:42when the
53:43postman
53:43came
53:44with the
53:44eviction
53:44letter
53:45Helen
53:47Taylor
53:47said
53:47later
53:48we love
53:48Tynum
53:49but we
53:50also loved
53:51our
53:51country
53:51and if
53:52it was
53:53our
53:53duty
53:53to leave
53:54for the
53:55war
53:55effort
53:55so
53:56be
53:57it
53:57some
54:00villagers
54:00were hoping
54:01to be
54:01back
54:01for the
54:02harvest
54:02in May
54:03they would
54:05never
54:06return
54:06Tynum
54:07remains a
54:08military
54:08training area
54:09to this
54:10day
54:10invasion
54:13stretched
54:13its long
54:14lines
54:14of tanks
54:14and guns
54:15and vehicles
54:16down the
54:16rolling
54:17English
54:17road
54:17times
54:18have
54:18certainly
54:18changed
54:19since those
54:19days
54:19when
54:20invasion
54:20implied
54:21invasion
54:21of
54:21Britain
54:22by
54:24by
54:24by
54:24April
54:241944
54:25southern
54:26England
54:26had
54:26become
54:27one
54:27vast
54:28military
54:28camp
54:28the
54:30greatest
54:30invasion
54:31force
54:31in
54:31history
54:32was
54:32preparing
54:33for
54:33battle
54:33the
54:41location
54:42and
54:42timing
54:43of the
54:43attack
54:43had
54:44become
54:44the
54:44most
54:44crucial
54:45secret
54:45of
54:45the
54:46war
54:46on
54:52June
54:53the
54:536th
54:531944
54:54German
54:55troops
54:55finally
54:56faced
54:56the
54:57surprise
54:57assault
54:58on
54:58five
54:59Normandy
54:59beaches
54:59by
55:00American
55:01British
55:01and
55:02Canadian
55:02forces
55:03D-Day
55:05and
55:10so
55:10the
55:11secret
55:11the
55:12most
55:12important
55:13secret
55:13held
55:14the
55:15Germans
55:15were
55:16caught
55:16off
55:17guard
55:17but
55:18this
55:18was
55:19still
55:19a
55:20horrendously
55:20dangerous
55:21operation
55:22the
55:23huge
55:23allied
55:24armada
55:24was
55:25limited
55:25by the
55:26size
55:26of the
55:26landing
55:26craft
55:27and
55:27the
55:28size
55:28of
55:28the
55:28beaches
55:29in
55:30the
55:30first
55:30wave
55:31of
55:31the
55:31attack
55:32only
55:33nine
55:33allied
55:34divisions
55:34could
55:34reach
55:35France
55:35where
55:36they
55:36would
55:36be
55:36confronted
55:37by
55:3858
55:39German
55:39divisions
55:40after
55:46news
55:46of
55:46the
55:47heroic
55:47landings
55:48the
55:48liberating
55:49army's
55:50advances
55:50were
55:51frustratingly
55:52slow
55:52the
55:54Germans
55:57fought cleverly and bravely and hard from the hedgerows of Normandy to the banks of the Rhine
56:07the allied armies fought cleverly and bravely and hard from the hedgerows of Normandy to the banks of the Rhine the allied armies
56:10the
56:12Germans fought cleverly and bravely and hard from the hedgerows of Normandy to the banks of the Rhine the allied armies never had it easy
56:24May the 4th 1945 on Lunenburg Heath five German officers surrender the German armies of the north the war is over
56:33when victory in Europe finally came the people's joy knew no bounds
56:43but afterwards the full horror of the war dawned
57:03the British people were waking up to a new world order and there'd be little room for a British Empire or even an independent British voice in the post-war world
57:27Britannia's
57:32imperial red-jacketed adventurers had become the crumpled relieved Bolsheer democracy of the VT day celebrations
57:41and even as the people cheered and an excited young princess Elizabeth the future Queen mingled anonymously with the crowd
57:50one of the least likely empires in the history of the world
57:57is dying
58:02just 44 years after the death of Queen Victoria
58:06imperial Britannia's final flare was her finest hour
58:11she'd faced down defeat destruction and death and the British people had refused to fall apart
58:18instead they came together in a way they'd never really done before and sacrificed dreams and homes and lives
58:30to keep hope alive around the world until the final victory came
58:37and by doing all of that
58:39they made modern Britain
58:42and then they gave it
58:44to us
58:49there's a land on
58:54begin again
58:56and there's not a cloud in the sky
59:01where we'll never have to grieve again
59:07and we'll never say goodbye
59:12a
59:17a
59:19a
59:21a
59:23a
59:24a
59:25a
59:26a
59:33a
Recommended
58:31