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♪ [theme song plays] ♪

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[narrator] On June 22, 1940,

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Britain stood alone
against the Nazis.

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France had surrendered,
and Prime Minister

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Winston Churchill could
only crow defiance.

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[Churchill] We'll
fight on the beaches.

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We'll fight on the
landing grounds.

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We shall fight in the
fields and in the streets.

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We shall fight in the hills.

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We shall never surrender.

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[narrator] Britain
still had all the resources

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of its vast empire.

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Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, South Africa,

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India and a host of
other territories had

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all been quick to
declare war on Germany.

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But they were thousands
of miles away,

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across the oceans, and
their military power

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could not be brought to
bear where it mattered.

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Britain's situation
seemed hopeless.

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And Hitler had no doubt
that Britain would

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soon try to negotiate a peace.

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But Churchill quickly
showed how determined

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he was prepared to be in
the war against the Nazis.

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[foghorn]

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A powerful squadron of
two French battleships

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and two battle cruisers
was lying in the port

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of MerselKebir in
French North Africa.

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If the French ships
fell into German hands,

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the British Navy's position
in the Mediterranean

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would become impossible.

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So on July 3, a
Royal Navy task force

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demanded that the French
ships either join it

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or sail to a neutral
port to be interred.

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The French refused.

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So the British opened fire
on their former allies.

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[canon fire]

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They destroyed or
severely damaged

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three of the battleships.

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Almost 1,300 French
sailors were killed.

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But Churchill's ruthlessness
didn't seem to impress Hitler.

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On July 19, he returned
in triumph to Berlin

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and was greeted by more
than a million people.

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That day he made a
speech in the Reichstag,

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the German parliament, offering
peace terms to Britain.

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His offer seemed generous.

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Britain could keep its empire.

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In return, Hitler wanted
a free hand in Europe.

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His plan was to conquer the
countries of the East in order

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to win Lebensraum, room to
live for the German people.

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But Churchill would
have none of it.

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The British would fight on.

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This would, as he put
it, be their finest hour.

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Churchill's defiance
was immensely popular.

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King George VI
wrote in his diary,

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"Personally, I feel
happier now that we have no

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more allies to be
polite to and pamper."

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[gunshot]

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But it was difficult to
see how Britain could turn

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the tables and
actually win the war.

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The British army might
have survived Dunkirk,

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but it had lost almost
all its tanks, artillery,

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and transport in the evacuation.

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It had just 25 divisions,
armed mainly with rifles,

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to resist the vast armoured
columns of the world's

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most fearsome war machine.

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So there was little be done
except dig in and wait.

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Coastal defences were
prepared and concrete

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strongpoints build all
across southern England.

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Signposts on roads
were removed to make it

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harder for any invaders
to find their way around.

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Large open areas were
littered with obstacles

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to deter airborne troops.

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The volunteer defines force,
the home guard was recruited.

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It was made up of men
who were otherwise

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ineligible to fight, often
because of their age.

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By the end of June 1940,
almost one and a half

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million volunteers
had signed up.

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But there were few weapons
with which to arm them.

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Hitler, meanwhile, was
getting on with his invasion

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plans, code named
Operation Sea Lion.

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Some 20 divisions would
be landed on a broad

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front along England's
south coast.

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Barges were gathered from
all over Northwest Europe.

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These were hurriedly converted
into makeshift landing craft.

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Troops were trained
for beach landings.

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But for all Hitler's
bravado, those planning

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Sea Lion were worried.

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Hitler might dismiss the
English Channel as just

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another river to be crossed.

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But Britain's Navy was still
the largest in the world.

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It might be stretched thin
by its worldwide commitments,

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but the Royal Navy's home fleet
far outnumbered the German.

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The German naval chief,
Admiral Erich Raeder,

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had no confidence that he
could seize control of the

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English Channel for long
enough to get the army across.

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But the Germans did
have one area of

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apparent massive superiority.

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The Luftwaffe far outnumbered
Britain's Royal Air Force.

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The Luftwaffe's commander,
Hermann Goering,

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had little doubt that he
could establish air control

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over the Channel long enough
for Sea Lion to take place.

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On July 10, the
Luftwaffe began attacking

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shipping in the Channel.

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[explosions]

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In response, the British
had two of the most

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outstanding of the new
breed of single engine

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multi gun mono planes.

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The Supermarine Spitfire
and the Hawker Hurricane.

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The Spitfire was slightly
faster and more agile

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than its German rival,
the Messerschmitt Bf109,

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which escorted the
German bombers.

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It would be used
to intercept these.

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The Hurricane would prove
a lethal bomber kill.

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But in July 1940, Air Vice
Marshal Hugh Dowding,

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the head of Fighter Command,
had less than 700 fighters.

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Against them were 2,600
German fighters and bombers.

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The odds against the
RAF were daunting.

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Dowding knew that he could
not take on the Luftwaffe

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every time it came
over the Channel.

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So when the Germans began
hitting British shipping,

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he did nothing.

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Instead he would only
use the RAF to stop the

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Luftwaffe from establishing
the air supremacy

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needed for invasion.

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So he would only take
on its big attacks.

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To help him, the British
had one crucial innovation.

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Radar.

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By the 1930s, scientists
in both Britain and Germany

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knew that objects well
beyond human sight could

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be detected by bouncing
radio pulses off them and

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measuring the time it took
for the signals to return.

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In Britain, a team of scientists
led by Robert Watson-Watt

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began developing radar
as a means of detecting

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approaching aircraft
at long range.

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Their work was seized
upon by Dowding.

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He made radar the core
of the world's first

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integrated air defines system.

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[beeping]

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Known as Chain Home,
this was a string of 21

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300 foot tall radar masts
sited along the south

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and east coasts of Britain.

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These could pick up aircraft
at a range of 120 miles and

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give their distance,
direction, height, and numbers.

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The information would
be passed back to RAF

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Fighter Command's
headquarters at Bently Priory,

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just outside London.

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There, it would be assessed
and warning of an impending

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raid passed to Fighter
Command's operation room.

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Moonshine one
four sky blue take

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target one channel "G" George.

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[soldier] Roger.

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[narrator] Controllers would
then alert the nearest RAF

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airfields and scramble the
necessary number of fighters.

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The question was,
would radar make up for

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Germany's massive
superiority in numbers?

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The stage was now set
for what would become

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known as the Battle of Britain.

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Since June 10, 1940,
the German Luftwaffe had

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been battering British shipping
in the English Channel.

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[explosion]

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The Luftwaffe's
commander, Reichsmarshal

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Hermann Goering, was
determined to lure the

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British air force into combat.

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But Britain's Air Chief
Marshal Hugh Dowding

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refused to take the bait.

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He used his fighters
sparingly, knowing that

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the real battle
was still to come.

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As this first phase of the
Battle of Britain began,

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the Luftwaffe had a massive
superiority in numbers.

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It had 1,100 single
engine fighters available

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to the Royal Air Force's 700.

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Almost all the German
fighters were the excellent

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Messerschmitt Bf109E
with a top speed of around

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350 miles an hour.

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About two thirds of the
British fighters were Hawker

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Hurricanes, slower than
the 109s, but more agile.

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The remainder were
Supermarine Spitfires,

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with a top speed
similar to the 109s.

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[engine sputtering]

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For their assault, the Germans
had over 1,300 medium bombers,

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Dornier Do17s, Heinkel
He111s, and Junkers Ju88s,

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each carrying about
4,000 pounds of bombs.

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Goering selected August 13
as Adlertag, Eagle Day,

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for the start of
his main assault.

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His aim was to destroy
RAF fighters in the air,

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and the RAF's airfields and
Britain's aircraft factories.

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Softening up attacks
were made the day before.

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These concentrated on
the airfields and the

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radar towers along
the south coast.

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One station on the Isle of
Wight was put out of action,

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and several were
damaged, but these were

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working again within hours.

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Goering did not believe
that radar had a significant

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role to play in
the battle, and so

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these attacks were not repeated.

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It was a big mistake.

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Adlertag dawned cloudy,
so the main assault

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was postponed until
the afternoon.

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When it came, radar
gave ample warning.

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Calling, planes heard
three miles southwest.

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[narrator] None the less,
most of the RAF airfields

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in the south were hammered.

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[gunshots]

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But by the end of the day, none
had been put out of action.

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The Luftwaffe lost 46
aircraft. Britain, just 13.

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The Luftwaffe mounted
its largest attack of the

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whole battle on August 15.

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Waves of heavily
escorted German bombers

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forced their way through
to the RAF airfields.

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The RAF was so overstretched
that some pilots

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flew seven sorties that day.

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By the time the raids died
away, some 90 German aircraft

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had been shot down for the
loss of 42 British fighters.

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The battle continued
with equal ferocity

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over the next few days.

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Both sides became
increasingly exhausted.

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Dowding tried to rotate
his pilots to rest them,

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but he simply did not
have enough of them.

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Many were being sent
into battle with just

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ten-hour flying experience.

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The Luftwaffe was suffering too.

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Its pilots were shocked
and increasingly

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demoralised by the
resilience of the British.

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The RAF fighters always
seemed to be waiting for them.

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As the fighting wore
on for 12 solid days,

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the British losses began
to creep up to match

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those of the Germans.

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The Royal Air Force
was close to breaking.

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To turn the screw,
Goering began using

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his bombers to attack
at night as well.

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But this decision had
an unexpected outcome.

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On the night of August 24,
a flight of Heinkel

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bombers lost its way and
bombed the city of London.

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It was the first attack
on a non-military target.

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The next night 81
British bombers

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responded by raiding Berlin.

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[explosions]

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Hitler was infuriated and
demanded massive retaliation.

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This came on the
evening of September 7.

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German bombers attacked
the London docks

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and surrounding areas.

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More than 450 people
died and thousands

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of homes were destroyed.

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But in fact, this was Goering's
second crucial mistake.

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By switching from the
RAF's airfields just

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at the moment when it
seemed about to break,

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he gave it the
respite it needed.

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Had Goering continued
to attack the airfields,

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00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:43,960
the RAF could not have
continued to defend the skies.

250
00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:49,760
Instead, on September 15,
British radars picked up

251
00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:52,800
another massive
assault on London.

252
00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:56,320
The first wave of
100 bombers and

253
00:17:56,360 --> 00:17:59,320
four hundred fighters
was intercepted.

254
00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:03,320
Fighting raged all the
way from the coast.

255
00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:12,160
In the afternoon, another
fleet of 150 bombers

256
00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:14,840
renewed the attack.

257
00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:17,720
Winston Churchill was
at the Fighter Command

258
00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:19,360
headquarters that day.

259
00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:21,880
After he heard controllers
calling in reinforcements

260
00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:23,920
from neighbouring
groups, he asked,

261
00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:26,560
"What other reserves
have we got?"

262
00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:33,000
The reply was, "There are none."

263
00:18:35,120 --> 00:18:37,560
[explosion]

264
00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:43,440
But it was obvious that
the Luftwaffe had failed

265
00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:47,160
to gain control of the
air, and on September 17,

266
00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:50,840
Hitler postponed
Operation Sea Lion.

267
00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:55,000
The Battle of Britain
did not really end.

268
00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:56,640
It died away.

269
00:18:56,680 --> 00:18:59,080
Hitler now tried a new tactic.

270
00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:05,040
By October 5, the daylight
raids stopped and the

271
00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:08,920
Germans concentrated on bombing
Britain's cities by night.

272
00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:15,120
This was the so called Blitz.

273
00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:19,840
London was attacked every night
but one up to November 12.

274
00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:23,640
On November 10,
the centre of the

275
00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:26,400
city of Coventry
was obliterated.

276
00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:36,600
The Blitz continued into
1941, with the last major raid

277
00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:40,080
being made on London
on the night of May 10.

278
00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:46,760
More than 50,000 civilians
were killed in the Blitz,

279
00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:50,520
but there was never any
question of Britain cracking.

280
00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:58,280
Victory in the
Battle of Britain was

281
00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:01,320
a moment of huge
national relief.

282
00:20:01,360 --> 00:20:04,840
Pilots had come from all over
the empire to join the RAF,

283
00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:07,240
and from countries
occupied by the Nazis,

284
00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:09,680
like Poland and Czechoslovakia.

285
00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:12,480
Churchill summed up
the nation's gratitude.

286
00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:15,120
[Churchill] Never in the
field of human conflict was

287
00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:20,160
so much owed by
so many to so few.

288
00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:25,760
[narrator] But for
Hitler, this was no more

289
00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:29,160
than an irritating setback.

290
00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:33,600
Britain, he was convinced,
could never be a serious threat.

291
00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:36,240
So he now turned
to Eastern Europe.

292
00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:38,360
For Britain, there was
now a chance to rebuild

293
00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:42,600
with a view, one day, to
taking the fight to the enemy.

294
00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:46,120
But to do that, Churchill
would need help.

295
00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:51,320
[applause]

296
00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:57,200
Britain may have won
the Battle of Britain,

297
00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,240
but it was still
immensely vulnerable.

298
00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,000
Night after night,
its cities were

299
00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:11,840
hammered by the Nazis' Blitz.

300
00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:21,360
Its supply lifelines at sea
were under constant assault.

301
00:21:23,360 --> 00:21:25,920
Churchill needed more help.

302
00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:31,560
And there was only one
country that could provide it.

303
00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:34,240
The United States.

304
00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:43,520
By 1940, the U.S. had recovered
from the Great Depression

305
00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,240
and the economy
was booming again.

306
00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:48,480
It had immense
reserves of manpower

307
00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:52,040
and unrivalled
industrial strength.

308
00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:55,120
But the people of the
United States were utterly

309
00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:59,760
opposed to becoming involved
yet again in Europe's wars.

310
00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:03,680
In July 1940, a poll showed
that only 8% of them

311
00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:06,520
were willing to enter the war.

312
00:22:08,120 --> 00:22:11,680
Undeterred, Churchill
lobbied the U.S. president,

313
00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:14,160
Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

314
00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:18,280
Roosevelt had long
admired Churchill for his

315
00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:21,560
outspokenly anti-Nazi views,
and the two men shared

316
00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:24,080
an interest in naval affairs.

317
00:22:24,120 --> 00:22:25,880
Roosevelt had been
Under Secretary for

318
00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:28,280
the U.S. Navy in 1917.

319
00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:32,080
After he became
president, Roosevelt kept

320
00:22:32,120 --> 00:22:34,000
in touch with Churchill.

321
00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:36,280
The two began a
correspondence, Churchill

322
00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:39,880
signing himself,
"former Naval person."

323
00:22:41,120 --> 00:22:43,280
For all his avuncular
image, Roosevelt had no

324
00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:45,520
illusions that German
aggression would one day

325
00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:47,800
suck America into the war.

326
00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:49,720
So he began the long
job of preparing

327
00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:51,960
American public opinion.

328
00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:55,680
I am a Pacifist,

329
00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:59,680
but I believe you and I
will act

330
00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:04,920
together to protect and
to defend our science,

331
00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:10,760
our culture, our American
freedom

332
00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:14,480
and our civilization.

333
00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:20,680
[narrator] In July 1940,
he got approval for a massive

334
00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:23,880
expansion of the U.S. Navy,
including the building of

335
00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:28,920
six large battleships and a
new class of aircraft carriers.

336
00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:33,920
The following month,
Congress agreed that the

337
00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:36,280
National Guard and
other reserves should be

338
00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:39,440
called up for one
year's active duty.

339
00:23:41,120 --> 00:23:43,520
And in September, a
large expansion of the

340
00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:47,760
150,000 strong U.S. Army
was agreed, with a limited

341
00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:51,760
number of conscripts
being chosen by lottery.

342
00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:57,160
The first number, drawn
by the Secretary of War,

343
00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:02,200
is serial number 158.

344
00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:06,400
[narrator] That
same month, Roosevelt

345
00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:08,840
announced a deal under
which the U.S. would supply

346
00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:12,520
Britain with 50 World War I
destroyers, in return

347
00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:15,720
for 99-year leases on
bases in Newfoundland

348
00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:18,480
and the Caribbean.

349
00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:21,080
The British Navy,
desperate for more escorts

350
00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:23,880
to fight the U-boats,
began taking them over

351
00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:26,800
within days of the
deal being signed.

352
00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:31,000
The clearest sign that
Roosevelt was slowly winning

353
00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:34,280
the argument came in the
November 1940 presidential

354
00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:37,920
election, when he convincingly
defeated the isolationist

355
00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:42,880
Wendell Wilkie with 27
million votes to 22 million.

356
00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:46,200
[applause]

357
00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:49,760
At the end of the year,
Roosevelt spoke to the

358
00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:54,160
American people, setting out
the four essential freedoms

359
00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:56,080
which he believed were
at stake, and which

360
00:24:56,120 --> 00:24:58,520
Britain was fighting to uphold.

361
00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:01,880
Freedom of speech and
religion and freedom

362
00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:04,720
from want and from fear.

363
00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:07,840
To save these, the
United States must become

364
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:10,440
the arsenal of the democracies.

365
00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:12,960
In other words,
it must arm Britain.

366
00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:17,840
We shall send you in
ever increasing numbers,

367
00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:21,560
ships, planes, tanks, guns.

368
00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:25,520
That is our purpose
and our pledge.

369
00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:30,200
[narrator] But some
Americans remained

370
00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:33,320
implacably opposed
to helping Britain.

371
00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:38,600
One of the most outspoken
was the American

372
00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:41,200
ambassador in London,
Joseph Kennedy,

373
00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:44,600
father of the future
president John F. Kennedy.

374
00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:47,000
A Boston Irish
businessman who had made

375
00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:49,640
his fortune booze smuggling
during Prohibition,

376
00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:52,280
Kennedy hated the
British and seized every

377
00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:54,520
opportunity to claim
that they would shortly

378
00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:56,600
be forced to surrender.

379
00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:03,320
However, Kennedy's virulence
was counterbalanced

380
00:26:03,360 --> 00:26:06,160
by the growing admiration
many Americans felt for

381
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:08,560
the bravery shown by
the British people

382
00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:10,800
during the Blitz.

383
00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:16,640
In particular, the
broadcasts by the CBS London

384
00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:21,000
correspondent Ed Murrow helped
to change public opinion.

385
00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:27,880
[Murrow] This is London.

386
00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:30,400
I remember the evening
of Sunday, December 29.

387
00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:32,560
It was just like any
other winter evening.

388
00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:36,440
The first bombers were over
London at about 6:30.

389
00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:45,440
Soon the fires hissed from
the top story windows.

390
00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:51,120
Hitler once boasted,
"I will rub out their cities."

391
00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:55,280
This is what he meant.

392
00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:01,840
[narrator] Encouraged
by his electoral success,

393
00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:04,560
in January 1941
Roosevelt introduced his

394
00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:07,200
so called Lend Lease Bill.

395
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:15,520
The United States would
supply weapons and

396
00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:18,640
war material to Britain
and China, which was

397
00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:22,320
still struggling desperately
against the invading Japanese.

398
00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:25,000
Payment would be delayed.

399
00:27:30,120 --> 00:27:32,600
Roosevelt likened Lend
Lease to lending a neighbour

400
00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:34,880
a hose to put out a fire.

401
00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:38,280
You would worry about
the payback later.

402
00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:40,200
Roosevelt was also being canny.

403
00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:43,480
It also meant that unlike
in 1917, if America

404
00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:45,640
had to enter the war,
it already would have

405
00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,600
a substantial weapons industry.

406
00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:53,880
American war preparations
didn't end there.

407
00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:56,360
Roosevelt secretly
authorised U.S. military staffs

408
00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:58,720
to discuss a common
strategy with the British

409
00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:01,880
should America enter the war.

410
00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:09,520
By April 1941, he felt
confident enough to take

411
00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:12,720
another step to
help Britain at sea.

412
00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:16,680
He greatly extended the
Pan American security zone,

413
00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:19,480
the area within which U.S.
warships would protect

414
00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:22,280
U.S. merchant vessels.

415
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:29,000
In May, U.S. troops set
up bases in Greenland,

416
00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:31,720
and in July, U.S. Marines
were sent to replace the

417
00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:34,360
British garrison in
Iceland, which was there

418
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:37,520
to deprive the Germans
of its harbours.

419
00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:44,800
The U.S. Navy also began
providing limited

420
00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:47,480
convoy escorts,
particularly for

421
00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:50,960
U.S. ships carrying
Lend Lease materials.

422
00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:58,680
Hitler now gave his
submariners strict instructions

423
00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:02,040
not to sink American
ships, as he didn't want to

424
00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:05,240
provoke the United
States into war.

425
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:10,720
But inevitably,
there were clashes.

426
00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:15,040
On September 4, 1941, a
British aircraft attacked

427
00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:17,520
a German submarine.

428
00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:21,280
Thinking that the strike
had come from the nearby

429
00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:25,760
U.S. destroyer Greer, the
U-Boat fired a torpedo at it.

430
00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:31,480
The Greer responded with
depth charges and there

431
00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:34,600
was a running battle
which lasted three hours.

432
00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:36,680
[explosion]

433
00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:43,280
Neither vessel was sunk, but
the tension was mounting.

434
00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:48,240
On November 17, the
destroyer USS Kearney

435
00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:52,960
was hit by a torpedo while
on convoy duty off Iceland.

436
00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:57,800
The U-Boat commander
claimed it was an accident.

437
00:29:57,840 --> 00:29:59,840
He had been firing at
a British ship and the

438
00:29:59,880 --> 00:30:02,640
Kearney had got in the way.

439
00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:07,680
But 11 U.S. sailors were
dead and the destroyer

440
00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:11,240
only just made it back
to port in Rekyavik.

441
00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:16,400
Roosevelt protested and
the U.S. press was outraged.

442
00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:18,960
However, the American
public remained resolutely

443
00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:21,800
opposed to going to war.

444
00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:27,320
Within weeks, at the end
of 1941, the situation

445
00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:30,320
was reversed in a single day.

446
00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:38,640
But in the meantime, Britain
would have to fight on alone.

447
00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:45,200
And luckily, it had an
astonishing weapon to hand.

448
00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:57,440
It looks like just another
mansion in the English

449
00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:00,320
countryside, a bit run down.

450
00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:04,720
But Bletchley Park once
contained a secret that

451
00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:08,400
fundamentally affected the
course of World War II.

452
00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:12,920
Because it was at Bletchley
that Britain worked out

453
00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:16,680
how to read Germany's
most secret codes.

454
00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:23,520
Since the mid-1930s, all
the German armed forces

455
00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:26,000
and intelligence
departments had adopted

456
00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:29,600
a standard machine for
encoding their messages.

457
00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:36,920
The Cypher Machine E,
better known as Enigma.

458
00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:43,480
It was developed in the
early 1920s as a handy tool

459
00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:47,120
for businessmen to keep
commercial messages secret.

460
00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:52,880
It was powered by a battery,
and its encoded messages

461
00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:55,400
were transmitted in Morse
code to be decoded on

462
00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:59,200
a second Enigma machine
at the receiving end.

463
00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:04,120
The critical element of the
machine was three rotors

464
00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:06,720
which could be set to
scramble the message in a way

465
00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:08,400
which could only
be unscrambled by

466
00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:11,400
another machine with
the same settings.

467
00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:17,000
The rotors could be replaced
and set differently.

468
00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:22,160
As a result, each letter
typed could come up in

469
00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:25,840
any one of 150 million ways.

470
00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:30,400
Given the almost infinite
number of settings,

471
00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:32,280
it was not surprising
that the Germans remained

472
00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:34,440
convinced throughout
the war that

473
00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:37,480
Enigma was uncrackable.

474
00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:43,960
It was the Poles who
took the first steps

475
00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:46,800
in solving this baffling puzzle.

476
00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:53,880
They knew of the existence
of the Enigma machine

477
00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:57,640
and assembled a team of top
mathematicians to crack it.

478
00:32:57,680 --> 00:32:59,120
Marian Rejewski,

479
00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:01,720
Jerzy Roszickzi

480
00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:05,120
and Henry Zigalski.

481
00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:09,880
But the team could not
decipher messages without

482
00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:13,240
knowing the internal
wiring of the rotors.

483
00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:18,400
The solution was supplied
by French intelligence,

484
00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:21,240
which sent its Polish
allies material gathered by

485
00:33:21,280 --> 00:33:24,680
a spy in the German
army's cipher department.

486
00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:28,440
Amongst this was
an Enigma manual.

487
00:33:28,480 --> 00:33:31,000
The Poles were able to
reconstruct an Enigma machine

488
00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:34,960
and began laboriously
decoding messages.

489
00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:42,480
By July 1939, Hitler
was sounding increasingly

490
00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:45,120
threatening towards Poland.

491
00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:50,040
Britain and France had
promised to come to its aid.

492
00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:54,880
It was clear that
war was coming.

493
00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:57,400
So intelligence officers
from the three allies

494
00:33:57,440 --> 00:34:00,000
met in Warsaw.

495
00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:03,200
There, the British and
French were astonished at

496
00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:05,280
how much the Poles
had done in decoding

497
00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:08,400
Enigma. And the Poles
agreed to send two of their

498
00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:11,880
reconstructed
machines to London.

499
00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:14,120
Just two weeks after
they were handed over,

500
00:34:14,160 --> 00:34:16,880
Poland was invaded.

501
00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:26,960
By the time Poland fell
to the Germans, the Polish

502
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:29,800
cryptographers had
destroyed all evidence

503
00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:32,320
of their work on Enigma.

504
00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:36,320
Some were captured
and tortured, but none

505
00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:39,280
revealed what they
had been up to.

506
00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:46,680
The task was now taken up
by the British at their

507
00:34:46,720 --> 00:34:48,480
Government Code
and Cypher School,

508
00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:51,560
at Bletchley Park, near London.

509
00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:57,000
Its head was Commander
Alistair Denniston.

510
00:34:57,040 --> 00:34:59,400
Denniston recruited a
strange collection of

511
00:34:59,440 --> 00:35:02,040
mathematicians, chess
masters and crossword

512
00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:05,920
puzzle experts to
continue the decoding.

513
00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:13,200
Among these experts was Alan
Turing, a Cambridge don.

514
00:35:13,240 --> 00:35:15,760
In 1936, Turing had
described the idea of a

515
00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:19,480
universal computing
machine, a machine that he

516
00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:21,720
believed would one day
be able to solve all

517
00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:23,840
mathematical problems.

518
00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:27,720
He used his ideas to
design decryption machines

519
00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:30,840
known as "Bronze Goddesses."

520
00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:36,120
The raw material for
Bletchley came from the

521
00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:39,960
British Y service, a chain
of radio listening stations

522
00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:43,680
which monitored and recorded
German transmissions.

523
00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:48,640
The messages were
fed into Beltchley's

524
00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:51,120
Bronze Goddesses
and permutations run

525
00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:54,160
until at last the key was found.

526
00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:01,480
Once a message had been
decrypted, it was translated,

527
00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:06,280
analysed and passed on to
the appropriate authority.

528
00:36:08,720 --> 00:36:10,480
From the moment he
became Prime Minister

529
00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:13,320
and learned of Bletchley's
work, Winston Churchill

530
00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:16,920
understood its
extraordinary importance.

531
00:36:18,720 --> 00:36:21,200
He referred to Bletchley's
output as his ultra

532
00:36:21,240 --> 00:36:26,080
secret information, and
Ultra became its codename.

533
00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:32,080
The distribution of Ultra
was tightly controlled.

534
00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:34,440
Senior commanders were
shown only that information

535
00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:38,120
which directly concerned
their operations.

536
00:36:40,600 --> 00:36:43,000
The need to keep the source
of intelligence secret

537
00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:46,840
was so great that Churchill
insisted that no action could

538
00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:50,000
be taken on the basis of
Ultra material unless a

539
00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:52,520
cover plan had been developed
to convince the Germans

540
00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:57,080
that the intelligence must
have come from another source.

541
00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:04,760
The third critical element
of the Bletchley operation,

542
00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:07,200
after decoding and
assessing the material,

543
00:37:07,240 --> 00:37:09,720
was keeping control of it.

544
00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:16,640
Often Ultra revealed
vital information about

545
00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:19,320
German plans and actions.

546
00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:22,960
News of forthcoming attacks
and other intelligence

547
00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:27,920
was filed away in a
massive card index system.

548
00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:30,080
This was constantly
mined for answers

549
00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:33,120
to questions great and small.

550
00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:36,800
By the end of the war,
Bletchley was decoding

551
00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:38,920
much of the German
traffic almost as fast as

552
00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:40,720
it was being sent.

553
00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:42,880
It was jokingly said that
it would have been quicker

554
00:37:42,920 --> 00:37:46,960
for a German commander to ring
Bletchley to get his orders.

555
00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:52,240
It was at sea that the
Allies first became aware

556
00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:55,720
of how vital information
from Ultra could be.

557
00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:04,360
An early example of its
potential came on June 8, 1940.

558
00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:09,320
The British aircraft carrier
Glorious was covering

559
00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:12,480
the convoys withdrawing
Allied troops from Norway,

560
00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:15,040
when Bletchley decoded
signals showing the German

561
00:38:15,080 --> 00:38:17,560
battlecruisers
Scharnhorst and Gneisenau

562
00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:20,200
were approaching its position.

563
00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:23,600
A warning was passed to
Royal Navy headquarters,

564
00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:25,840
but unaware of how accurate
the information was

565
00:38:25,880 --> 00:38:30,280
likely to be, this
chose not to pass it on.

566
00:38:30,320 --> 00:38:33,040
[explosions]

567
00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:41,520
The Glorious was
intercepted and sunk.

568
00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:45,080
The British Navy had
learned the hard way just

569
00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:48,920
how important the new source
of intelligence could be.

570
00:38:50,680 --> 00:38:53,840
It was not a mistake
it would make again.

571
00:39:03,120 --> 00:39:05,400
Bletchley also performed
a critical role in the

572
00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:07,720
build up to the
Battle of Britain.

573
00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:12,520
It had provided a clear
picture of the Luftwaffe's

574
00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:15,640
order of battle, and the
overall strategy being

575
00:39:15,680 --> 00:39:18,800
adopted by its leader,
Hermann Goering.

576
00:39:21,400 --> 00:39:23,680
This information convinced
the head of British

577
00:39:23,720 --> 00:39:26,720
Fighter Command, Air Vice
Marshal Hugh Dowding that

578
00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:29,440
his tactic of committing
his fighters bit by bit

579
00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:32,560
rather than in large
numbers was the correct one,

580
00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:35,400
a tactic that played a
crucial part in preserving

581
00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:38,600
the RAF's narrow winning margin.

582
00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:46,640
As Britain continued its
lonely fight into 1941,

583
00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:50,480
it had at last found a
way of fighting back.

584
00:39:52,640 --> 00:39:56,000
Bletchley Park was
ready for action.

585
00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:01,080
The major breakthroughs
had been made.

586
00:40:01,120 --> 00:40:02,720
The systems for exploiting them

587
00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:05,960
put in place and well tested.

588
00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:11,760
In the coming years,
Ultra and the work of

589
00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:16,520
Bletchley Park would prove
vital to the Allied successes.

590
00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:20,200
But as the Battle of Britain
and the Blitz ground on,

591
00:40:20,240 --> 00:40:23,040
these were still a long way off.

592
00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:29,080
Churchill still needed
more immediate results.

593
00:40:30,040 --> 00:40:32,560
And by early 1941 he
thought that he had

594
00:40:32,600 --> 00:40:35,400
at last found a way to get them.

595
00:40:50,600 --> 00:40:53,440
Nazi Germany might
now control most of

596
00:40:53,480 --> 00:40:56,160
western Europe, but
Britain's prime minister,

597
00:40:56,200 --> 00:40:59,040
Winston Churchill,
now decided to take

598
00:40:59,080 --> 00:41:01,000
the war to the Germans.

599
00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:04,000
We shall not flinch
from the supreme child.

600
00:41:04,040 --> 00:41:05,800
All will come right.

601
00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:08,240
[narrator] Even before
France had surrendered

602
00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:10,920
he was looking for ways
of striking back, and of

603
00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:13,000
keeping resistance
alive in the countries

604
00:41:13,040 --> 00:41:15,320
which had been overrun.

605
00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:21,600
Just as the last troops
were being taken off

606
00:41:21,640 --> 00:41:23,680
the beaches of
Dunkirk, Churchill was

607
00:41:23,720 --> 00:41:26,160
already planning ahead.

608
00:41:27,520 --> 00:41:29,600
He wrote to his chiefs
of staff, demanding the

609
00:41:29,640 --> 00:41:32,160
formation of raiding
forces which could attack

610
00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:35,000
the coasts of occupied Europe.

611
00:41:36,400 --> 00:41:38,600
Within a few days, a call
for volunteers had been

612
00:41:38,640 --> 00:41:42,720
circulated to create
a force of 5,000 men.

613
00:41:45,640 --> 00:41:48,640
They were to be called
Commandos, after the

614
00:41:48,680 --> 00:41:51,400
highly mobile Boer units
which had fought the

615
00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:53,520
British for three
years in South Africa

616
00:41:53,560 --> 00:41:55,960
at the turn of the century.

617
00:41:56,920 --> 00:42:00,560
Ten commando units each
of 500 men were set up.

618
00:42:02,520 --> 00:42:05,480
They began practising
attacks from the sea.

619
00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:07,240
[gunshots]

620
00:42:10,240 --> 00:42:12,760
One unit was ordered to
specialise in parachuting

621
00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:15,080
and using assault gliders.

622
00:42:15,120 --> 00:42:16,880
This soon became the
basis of the separate

623
00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:19,360
Parachute Regiment.

624
00:42:24,040 --> 00:42:25,920
Admiral Sir Roger
Keyes was appointed

625
00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:28,800
Director of Combined Operations.

626
00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:32,600
Churchill instructed him
to prepare to mount three

627
00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:35,280
major raids as soon as
the threat of an invasion

628
00:42:35,320 --> 00:42:38,000
of Britain had passed.

629
00:42:38,040 --> 00:42:40,800
One of Keyes' first tasks
was to develop ships

630
00:42:40,840 --> 00:42:43,640
which could land his new troops.

631
00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:47,760
Three cross Channel
ferries were converted

632
00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:50,560
so as to carry landing craft.

633
00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:58,400
On March 4, 1941, two
Commando units and a

634
00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:00,440
demolition squad
were landed on the

635
00:43:00,480 --> 00:43:03,360
Lofoten Islands off
Northern Norway.

636
00:43:06,560 --> 00:43:08,960
Their main objective
was to destroy factories

637
00:43:09,000 --> 00:43:12,640
which converted fish oil into
glycerine for explosives.

638
00:43:17,320 --> 00:43:19,680
The Commandos achieved
total surprise and

639
00:43:19,720 --> 00:43:22,560
landed without a
shot being fired.

640
00:43:24,840 --> 00:43:28,560
A German armed trawler
in the harbour was seized.

641
00:43:28,600 --> 00:43:32,280
They quickly destroyed the
factories and fish oil tanks.

642
00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:34,440
[explosions]

643
00:43:40,200 --> 00:43:42,480
One officer could not
resist using the local

644
00:43:42,520 --> 00:43:46,800
post office to send a
telegram to A. Hitler, Berlin.

645
00:43:46,840 --> 00:43:49,600
It read, "Reference your
last speech, I thought

646
00:43:49,640 --> 00:43:51,760
you said that wherever
British troops land on the

647
00:43:51,800 --> 00:43:55,000
continent of Europe, German
soldiers will face them.

648
00:43:55,040 --> 00:43:57,720
Well, where are they?"

649
00:44:00,320 --> 00:44:02,280
The Commandos then
rounded up 60 Norwegian

650
00:44:02,320 --> 00:44:05,160
collaborators and
225 German prisoners

651
00:44:05,200 --> 00:44:08,640
before returning
without any losses.

652
00:44:12,680 --> 00:44:16,520
With them, they also took
115 Norwegian volunteers.

653
00:44:16,560 --> 00:44:18,440
These would then join
the Free Norwegian

654
00:44:18,480 --> 00:44:20,560
forces in Britain.

655
00:44:27,200 --> 00:44:29,520
The Lofoten raid was an
enormous public relations

656
00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:33,720
success and a huge boost
for British morale.

657
00:44:36,360 --> 00:44:38,440
But its most important
result was one which

658
00:44:38,480 --> 00:44:41,400
could not be publicised,
the capture of a set of

659
00:44:41,440 --> 00:44:44,600
rotors for an Enigma machine.

660
00:44:44,640 --> 00:44:46,360
Although the machine had
been thrown overboard

661
00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:49,880
from the armed trawler,
its crew forgot the spares.

662
00:44:49,920 --> 00:44:52,000
They were to give invaluable
help to the cryptographers

663
00:44:52,040 --> 00:44:56,120
of Bletchley Park in breaking
the German naval codes.

664
00:45:01,720 --> 00:45:04,840
Then in December 1941,
four Commando units

665
00:45:04,880 --> 00:45:07,600
landed at the Norwegian
port of Vaagso

666
00:45:07,640 --> 00:45:10,960
and were immediately involved
in heavy fighting.

667
00:45:14,680 --> 00:45:16,360
The approach to Vaagso
was covered by the

668
00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:18,760
small island of Maaloy,
on which the Germans

669
00:45:18,800 --> 00:45:21,120
had placed artillery.

670
00:45:25,240 --> 00:45:28,480
This was quickly overrun,
but across the water

671
00:45:28,520 --> 00:45:31,680
in Vaagso, the
fighting was intense.

672
00:45:42,720 --> 00:45:44,680
It took several hours
for the main German

673
00:45:44,720 --> 00:45:47,280
garrison to be subdued.

674
00:45:54,120 --> 00:45:56,360
The Commandos then blew
up several factories

675
00:45:56,400 --> 00:45:59,840
and sank eight ships
before withdrawing.

676
00:46:04,040 --> 00:46:06,880
These raids convinced
Hitler that sooner or later

677
00:46:06,920 --> 00:46:10,320
the British would
attempt to retake Norway.

678
00:46:12,480 --> 00:46:14,960
So for the remaining
four years of the war,

679
00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:18,760
he kept some 250,000
troops there.

680
00:46:18,800 --> 00:46:22,560
Troops which might have
proved vital on other fronts.

681
00:46:24,120 --> 00:46:26,560
But effective as they
were, Commando raids

682
00:46:26,600 --> 00:46:29,160
were not enough
to stop the Nazis.

683
00:46:29,200 --> 00:46:31,720
Churchill needed other
ways to hurt them,

684
00:46:31,760 --> 00:46:34,000
so he focused on the
resistance movements

685
00:46:34,040 --> 00:46:36,280
in the occupied countries.

686
00:46:41,400 --> 00:46:46,200
In July 1940, a Special
Operations Executive, SOE,

687
00:46:46,240 --> 00:46:51,240
was formed, as Churchill put
it, to set Europe ablaze.

688
00:46:51,640 --> 00:46:53,160
[explosion]

689
00:46:55,040 --> 00:46:57,120
Its objectives were to
encourage sabotage of

690
00:46:57,160 --> 00:47:00,080
the enemy war effort,
gather intelligence and

691
00:47:00,120 --> 00:47:04,480
prepare clandestine forces
to disrupt German defences.

692
00:47:10,080 --> 00:47:14,000
The bulk of SOE's activities
centred on France.

693
00:47:17,920 --> 00:47:20,240
Soon agents were recruited
in Britain to build up

694
00:47:20,280 --> 00:47:23,760
and coordinate the French
resistance networks.

695
00:47:23,800 --> 00:47:25,640
Radio operators
and couriers were

696
00:47:25,680 --> 00:47:28,360
also trained to support them.

697
00:47:34,000 --> 00:47:37,520
One problem was how to get
these teams into the country.

698
00:47:37,560 --> 00:47:39,400
Submarines, high
speed launches, and

699
00:47:39,440 --> 00:47:41,680
fishing vessels
were all tried out.

700
00:47:41,720 --> 00:47:43,440
But the German coastal defences

701
00:47:43,480 --> 00:47:46,040
proved difficult to penetrate.

702
00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:53,200
The answer was aircraft.
And in August 1940,

703
00:47:53,240 --> 00:47:56,360
a special RAF unit was set
up with Whitley bombers

704
00:47:56,400 --> 00:48:00,000
and short take-off and
landing Westland Lysanders.

705
00:48:05,800 --> 00:48:08,760
Agents and equipment
were either parachuted in

706
00:48:08,800 --> 00:48:10,680
from the bombers or flown in and

707
00:48:10,720 --> 00:48:13,400
brought out by the Lysanders.

708
00:48:18,120 --> 00:48:20,520
On moonlit nights,
a growing number of reception

709
00:48:20,560 --> 00:48:23,160
committees would be waiting,
as an increasingly

710
00:48:23,200 --> 00:48:27,320
widespread network of
resistance groups was built up.

711
00:48:33,480 --> 00:48:35,880
But all the while, they were
hunted by an increasingly

712
00:48:35,920 --> 00:48:39,760
sophisticated German
counter espionage system.

713
00:48:41,720 --> 00:48:44,080
This used direction finding
equipment to locate hidden

714
00:48:44,120 --> 00:48:48,120
radios and double agents
to infiltrate networks.

715
00:48:51,840 --> 00:48:55,440
The work of SOE agents
was desperately perilous

716
00:48:55,480 --> 00:48:58,680
and their life expectancy short.

717
00:48:58,720 --> 00:49:00,600
The slightest lapse
in concentration

718
00:49:00,640 --> 00:49:02,800
might betray them
to the Gestapo.

719
00:49:02,840 --> 00:49:05,680
Many suffered torture and death.

720
00:49:08,440 --> 00:49:11,040
But Churchill was
sure it was worth it.

721
00:49:13,920 --> 00:49:16,480
Keeping resistance alive in
the occupied countries gave

722
00:49:16,520 --> 00:49:20,960
hope to millions that liberation
would eventually come.

723
00:49:27,880 --> 00:49:30,280
The British Broadcasting
Corporation, the BBC,

724
00:49:30,320 --> 00:49:32,680
was also enlisted to
raise the hopes of those

725
00:49:32,720 --> 00:49:34,680
living under German rule.

726
00:49:34,720 --> 00:49:36,640
It broadcast the news
in all the languages

727
00:49:36,680 --> 00:49:39,240
of the occupied countries.

728
00:49:39,520 --> 00:49:43,320
[speaking in French]

729
00:49:43,360 --> 00:49:45,000
The German penalty
for listening to

730
00:49:45,040 --> 00:49:48,080
these bulletins was death.

731
00:49:48,120 --> 00:49:51,320
But people tuned in regardless.

732
00:49:51,360 --> 00:49:53,680
The BBC also played a
crucial role in transmitting

733
00:49:53,720 --> 00:49:56,240
coded messages to
resistance groups.

734
00:49:56,280 --> 00:49:59,800
These always came after
the nine o'clock news.

735
00:49:59,840 --> 00:50:04,320
[speaking in French]

736
00:50:11,160 --> 00:50:13,280
For the peoples of occupied
Europe, the prospect

737
00:50:13,320 --> 00:50:16,360
of liberation might only
be a distant dream,

738
00:50:16,400 --> 00:50:20,760
but in the middle of 1941,
it suddenly became more likely.

739
00:50:22,680 --> 00:50:27,680
For by then Britain was no
longer alone in fighting Nazism.

740
00:50:31,000 --> 00:50:33,480
It had gained a massive ally.

741
00:50:33,520 --> 00:50:35,400
But it wasn't America,
which Churchill

742
00:50:35,440 --> 00:50:37,880
had been assiduously
been courting.

743
00:50:37,920 --> 00:50:40,000
It was the Soviet Union.

9999
00:00:0,500 --> 00:00:2,00
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