1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:04,920 75 years ago this week, Britain came under the heaviest 2 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:06,400 attack in its history. 3 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:09,400 This was Hitler's Blitzkrieg, or lightning war. 4 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:14,280 During the bombing campaign, the Luftwaffe devastated towns 5 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:18,200 and cities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. 6 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:22,560 But it was the nation's capital that suffered the most from the Blitz. 7 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:26,800 'Night after night, London is left a sea of fire.' 8 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:30,440 I'm Shane Richie, and this is my home city. 9 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:33,160 Today, I'm seeing London as I've never done before, 10 00:00:33,160 --> 00:00:36,960 finding out how it endured almost nine months of heavy bombing. 11 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:40,880 I can remember walking home and glass scrunching under my feet. 12 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:43,640 You can't think straight, you just want to get home, 13 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:45,800 if your home is still there, that is. 14 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:49,360 Discovering how its people survived the relentless attacks. 15 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:51,920 Would you get hundreds of people making their way down here? 16 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:53,720 - 15,000, every night. - 15,000?! 17 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:58,240 And taking a flight I know I'll never forget. 18 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:01,040 75 years ago, this was the route, the actual route that 19 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:04,840 we're on right now, headed towards London, that the Germans took. 20 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:16,800 # London pride has been handed down to us 21 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:20,080 # London pride is a flower that's free 22 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:23,520 # London pride means our own dear town to us 23 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,760 # And our pride it forever will be. # 24 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:28,920 'I'm a Londoner through and through. 25 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:32,120 'I might travel around, but today I'm coming home.' 26 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:34,400 How are you, darling? 27 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:35,520 How are you? 28 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:40,360 You grew up in Harlesden? And you went Brondesbury in Kilburn? 29 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,520 - I went to a proper school, what you talking about?! - Yeah, you're a posh boy! 30 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:46,080 'A lot of people tend to recognise me from a certain TV drama, 31 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:50,320 'but I'm not actually an East Ender myself. Nah, this is my manor.' 32 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:53,880 Now, literally, 200 yards up the road is where I used to live, 33 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,080 Harlesden, northwest London. 34 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:57,240 About the age of ten, 35 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:00,160 I would come tearing down here on a skateboard, knowing everybody. 36 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:02,400 A lot of shops are still very much the same 37 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:05,400 and the great smells of Asian and Caribbean food. 38 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:08,000 And, of course, there'd be street parties, not too often, 39 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,760 but my mum would work and clean a lot of these offices 40 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:14,000 and some of the shops along here. 41 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:17,080 And it still feels like home, still feels like home. 42 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:20,760 As a child of Irish immigrants, 43 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:23,280 I'm not that familiar with the story of the Blitz. 44 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:26,040 My mum and dad only arrived from Dublin in the '60s, 45 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:28,760 so they had no direct experience of it themselves. 46 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:31,720 As a kid, I had no real interest in the past. 47 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:39,160 No, my mind was on the future, a future in entertainment. 48 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:45,080 'The Gwalia Working Men's club was kind of my dad's office and my second home.' 49 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:47,160 There it is. Oh, it's all coming back. 50 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:48,200 Look at this. 51 00:02:50,640 --> 00:02:53,280 'And this is Carol, my old mate from back in the day.' 52 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:56,760 My favourite blonde in the whole wide world! Hello, sweetheart. 53 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:00,880 - How are you? - My first love. - Oh, my goodness. 54 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:04,440 My first love, and you're still only in your 40s, ain't you, girl? 55 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:07,760 - It hasn't changed a bit. - You used to collect the glasses, didn't you? 56 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:10,880 Yeah, I done so much here. This was my introduction to showbiz. 57 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:13,760 - Do you remember Gerry. - Gerry! - Friend of your father. 58 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:15,720 Yeah, everyone was a friend of my dad's. 59 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:18,800 What do you remember about the Blitz? Ha-ha! I'm joking. 60 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:20,920 'Now, to be honest with you, I know very little, 61 00:03:20,920 --> 00:03:22,800 'in fact, nothing about the Blitz.' 62 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:26,040 So, I am slightly nervous, if I'm being honest, 63 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:30,160 and excited about the prospect of going all over London to find 64 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:32,880 out how London coped during the Blitz. 65 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:39,480 Night and day, day and night, indiscriminate attacks continue. 66 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:41,000 Like a scene from Dante's Inferno, 67 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:44,960 the first act tells of destruction wrought by a deadly foe which 68 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:46,680 tries also to destroy the soul 69 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:50,200 and break the morale of a nation by savage barbarism. 70 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:58,480 By September 1940, World War II was just over a year old. 71 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:00,520 The Nazis were in the ascendency. 72 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:05,600 They had taken Holland and Belgium, moved into France, 73 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:07,840 and were on Britain's doorstep. 74 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:10,360 The country was preparing itself for the worst. 75 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:16,280 All summer, the Luftwaffe had been attacking British airfields, 76 00:04:16,280 --> 00:04:19,320 engaging the RAF in a series of aerial battles. 77 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:27,960 History's greatest drama is being performed in the London 78 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:29,400 theatre of war... 79 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:31,960 But on September 7, later to become known 80 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:36,000 as Black Saturday, Hitler's bombers headed straight for the capital. 81 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:37,320 AIR-RAID SIRENS BLARE 82 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:41,280 London is an open city, a city open for battle. 83 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:45,760 This was the start of Blitzkrieg, 84 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:49,280 a devastating campaign that would last until May 1941. 85 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:54,080 Londoners bore the brunt of the so-called Blitz. 86 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:57,800 Night after night, London is left a sea of fire. 87 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,000 And their city would never be the same again. 88 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:16,840 75 years on, I'm planning to fly the actual route 89 00:05:16,840 --> 00:05:20,200 taken by the Luftwaffe during that first night of bombing. 90 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:26,720 I'm taking off from Biggin Hill airfield. 91 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:31,720 During the war, this was used as a base for Spitfires. 92 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:34,560 'But today, I'll be taking a different kind of flight, 93 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:39,040 'along with aerial archaeologist Chris Going and pilot Bill Giles.' 94 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:41,760 So, got a busy day ahead of us today, I understand. 95 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:44,400 You're going to be wearing your Luftwaffe uniform for today. 96 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:46,520 Oh, lovely! Home from home, really. 97 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:47,800 The bombers who caused 98 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:51,560 so much damage that night certainly had a definite plan of attack. 99 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:54,200 In fact, they literally had it all mapped out, 100 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,560 as these actual German intelligence photos show. 101 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:01,400 So, it's 7th September 1940, 102 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,320 we've been at war just over a year. 103 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:08,120 These are surviving German target documents 104 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,200 and these would have been the documents they were briefed on. 105 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:15,720 What I want to show you is that date there. 106 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:18,840 Well, that's like 4th June 1939. 107 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:23,720 But this is months before the war actually started. 108 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:27,600 - It's three months before, before the war. - So they've done their homework? 109 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:31,600 They were taking clandestine spy photos. 110 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:36,640 There was a special unit based near Berlin which flew this kind of stuff. 111 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:42,120 And the head of it, interviewed in the '70s, said, "We photographed 112 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:46,800 "every blade of grass from Hull to the south coast before the war." 113 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:51,360 You see that number there, 45? 114 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:57,600 That designates dock targets, the docks, the economic heart of the UK. 115 00:06:57,600 --> 00:06:59,720 London, Liverpool had to be strangled. 116 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:02,200 It's interesting, you know, you talk about numbers. 117 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:07,040 And, of course, we're looking at people's homes here, 118 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:08,480 it seems very cold. 119 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,880 The fact is, in London, the docks 120 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:15,960 and the people who serviced the docks are intertwined, they're going to be. 121 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:20,160 So, although you could draw a little red rectangle around "the docks"... 122 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:23,720 - Still a lot of housing. - There's an awful lot of housing in there. 123 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:28,040 And the people who lived in those houses were right in the firing line. 124 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,640 The Germans may have planned a precision bombing campaign, 125 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:34,520 but it turned out to be anything but. 126 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:39,600 All of this looks utterly precise, these are the designated targets, 127 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:41,720 this is what you're going to attack, and so on. 128 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:44,120 In truth, it wasn't like that. 129 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:47,120 What you ended up with is something far more messy. 130 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:51,600 There is the Isle of Dogs, that's the designated sort of target. 131 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:56,880 And this shows you the bomb fall of the first 24 hours of the Blitz. 132 00:07:56,880 --> 00:08:01,880 Those red dots represent one or more bomb impacts, and what you can 133 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:05,280 see here is a phenomenon that later got called creepback. 134 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:07,560 You're getting people who are starting to drop 135 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:11,920 ordnance before they actually hit the dock area. 136 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:15,880 You could get quite a heavy concentration within a mile or two 137 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:20,160 of a target. But a mile or two is a long way in London. 138 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:23,400 Looking at this map, Chris, it just seems like anyone who 139 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:26,320 was in London and the surrounding areas was a target. 140 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:30,000 'Well, that was a really strange feeling with Chris talking me 141 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:31,400 'through those maps. 142 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:35,360 'I mean, he's talking about numbers, all I'm looking at is the people 143 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:37,160 'that lost their lives or their property 144 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:38,560 'throughout this whole Blitz.' 145 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:45,680 And now I'm about to take a similar route that the German aircraft 146 00:08:45,680 --> 00:08:48,960 would have done back in the day, I'm about to do it in a little plane. 147 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:51,360 And I really have got mixed feelings about it. 148 00:08:56,560 --> 00:08:58,760 Like the German pilots back in 1940, 149 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:01,840 we'll be travelling in from the southeast of the country, and 150 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:06,240 using the Thames to guide us towards the target, London's Docklands. 151 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:10,200 MUSIC: Mars, The Bringer Of War by Holst 152 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:38,080 And we're up, making our way towards London. 153 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:44,160 The air crew who would be flying these attacks would be really barely 154 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:46,760 out of their teens, they'd be 19, 20 years old. 155 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:52,480 And war to them, to some degree, is, is an adventure still. 156 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:04,800 This is the route, the actual route that we're on right now, 157 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:08,320 heading towards London, that the Germans took. 158 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:09,640 Whay-ay, and it's a bit bumpy. 159 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:14,160 This is our run? 160 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:16,680 This is where they had lined up on the target, 161 00:10:16,680 --> 00:10:20,520 which would be the docks on the Isle of Dogs, and they'd be coming in. 162 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:25,800 The first bombs being dropped were being dropped more or less now. 163 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:39,800 So, Chris, how many planes would be in formation now? 164 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:45,360 The two formations were about 600 or 700 aircraft altogether. 165 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:47,240 600 or 700?! 166 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:49,800 So you had this massive formation in the sky, 167 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:53,600 like black flies hanging as it approached London. 168 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:58,160 I mean, the civilian population had a grandstand view, it had been 169 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:01,600 a beautiful day, it had been football, people out in the parks. 170 00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:05,240 It was around tea-time. It had been unusually hot. 171 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:07,880 I think the temperature was in the late 70s, 80s, 172 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:11,640 and, boy oh boy, you know, here came the Luftwaffe. 173 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:17,720 AIR-RAID SIREN BLARES 174 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:21,480 The first air-raid sirens sounded at 4.43pm. 175 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:24,240 There was a break for two hours at 6.30, 176 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:27,600 and then a further eight hours of bombing continued until dawn. 177 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:34,480 The codename for the operation was Lichts Meer, which meant 178 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:37,920 sea of light, and the intention clearly was to 179 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:39,360 bring London to its knees. 180 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:43,160 I can't even imagine the reaction of being a child 181 00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:46,040 and playing out in the streets or in the fields, 182 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:50,440 and then seeing the shadows of the German aircraft coming over London. 183 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:55,200 As a child it must have been frightening. Your worst nightmare. 184 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:05,560 London has the misfortune to have this river running through it, 185 00:12:05,560 --> 00:12:08,840 which is a very distinctive set of curves. 186 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:11,640 I can actually see it now, when you're up this high, 187 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:15,880 how the river gives away all the landmarks around London. 188 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:18,800 So when the moonlight was shining, or even if it's only half moon, 189 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:22,360 you only had to glimpse a little bit... 190 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:25,680 - And you knew exactly where you were. - And you know where you were. - Right. 191 00:12:25,680 --> 00:12:27,800 'Bombing wasn't just confined to the East End. 192 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:31,360 'As the Blitz wore on, my own neighbourhood became a target too.' 193 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:36,560 We're now coming to a part of London which I know really well. 194 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:42,240 So, Chris, Willesden Junction, because it's such a big junction, 195 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:44,040 would have been one of the main targets? 196 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:46,440 It won't necessarily have been anything other than 197 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:49,680 a target of opportunity, which meant, if you couldn't drop 198 00:12:49,680 --> 00:12:54,360 your bombs on your designated target, it would be your secondary target. 199 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:56,800 You could unload on railway marshalling yards... 200 00:12:56,800 --> 00:13:00,720 I've just gone over me mum's house. Can't believe it, eh? 201 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:05,120 Strange coming over now, flying over from Harlesden, Stonebridge, Willesden, Neasden, 202 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:09,000 and knowing that this was a bomb target 75 years ago. 203 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,400 And my mum and dad never talked about it. 204 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:15,160 I'm not even sure my school spoke about it. 205 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:17,440 I think all schools should know about it now. 206 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:28,360 Before I went on this flight over London I was very blase about it. 207 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:31,600 I thought, "It's a job, I'm going to do a documentary about the Blitz." 208 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:34,760 But this is very different, this has opened my eyes and I'm going to 209 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:38,000 talk to people that lived through it, that smelt it, that breathed it. 210 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:41,840 And hopefully, at the end of it, I'm going to know a lot more about it. 211 00:13:52,560 --> 00:13:55,640 'The way to find out more is to get back on the ground 212 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:58,320 'and visit places like Stepney. 213 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:00,640 'Now, this is where the real East Enders live. 214 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:04,280 'And it was one of the districts worst hit during those first days of bombing. 215 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:11,240 'I'm trying out a phone app that uses historical data to map all the bombs that fell here.' 216 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:16,800 So, if I do this, and I scan around like this, 217 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:20,680 a little logo comes up and it's a bomb and I'm actually standing now 218 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:24,640 on the corner of Shandy Street and White Horse Lane... 219 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:31,600 ..and a bomb actually hit the corner of this road right now. 220 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:33,640 Now, if I scan round, 221 00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:36,600 you can actually see the old building there on the far left. 222 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:38,360 And this one is a fairly new building. 223 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:41,600 And whatever was there before was hit. 224 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:44,400 Now, if I press this little button here, 225 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:47,160 we can see what sort of damage was done in the area. 226 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:51,280 This is incredible. It's almost like Stepney was wiped out. 227 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:57,000 Everywhere you walk around this area is practically a bombsite. 228 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:00,920 Just everywhere. 229 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:08,360 'It's hard to imagine living through such destruction. 230 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:11,400 'But hundreds of thousands of people did. 231 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:13,520 'Trudy Goodman was one of them. 232 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:15,720 'She grew up in Stepney and had to move out 233 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:19,120 'when her family home was destroyed at the start of the Blitz. 234 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:22,560 'At 95, she still remembers it vividly.' 235 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:25,800 Thank you so much for inviting us into your lovely house, my darling. 236 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:29,080 - Now, you were in Stepney... - Yes... - ..at the start of the Blitz. - Yes. 237 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:30,600 What was that like? 238 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:34,880 - I was 19... - Right. - ..on the 1st of September, when Poland was invaded. 239 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:39,520 I was 25 when the war finished. That was quite a slice out of my life. 240 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:42,120 Yeah. So, what are your memories of the Blitz? 241 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:45,880 Burning wood, smoke, dust... 242 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:48,600 and the incessant noise. 243 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:52,560 This time of the year, when the barbecues are out in the gardens, 244 00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:56,640 the smell of burning wood, that brings it back. 245 00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:59,920 I can remember walking home 246 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:02,400 and glass crunching under my feet. 247 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:05,560 You can't think straight, you just want to get home. 248 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:08,240 If your home is still there, that is. 249 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:12,400 I can't remember a lot after that until I went into the fire service. 250 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:15,920 - Is that right, you were in the fire service? - Yes. - Do you have a picture at all? 251 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:18,480 - Yes, I do. - Let me have a look at this... 252 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:21,600 I'm going to try and guess which one is you, OK? 253 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,560 - I think you're the prettiest one. - Naturally! - Of course. 254 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:26,280 SHE LAUGHS 255 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:29,720 - It's the pretty one right at the end. The last one here. - Well done. - See? 256 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:32,000 I recognise a pretty lady when I see one. 257 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:35,280 And so, what did you actually do then, for the fire service? What was your job? 258 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:40,120 - Well, mainly in the control room. - OK. - A telephonist with a switchboard. - OK. 259 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:43,560 You've got the old hooter, the horn, coming up like that... 260 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:46,800 and the earphones. And the plug... Pfft! Pfft! 261 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:49,200 And that was four days on and four days off. 262 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:52,360 - But when you did get spare time, what would you like to do? - Dance. 263 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:56,120 - Really? - Yes, on your leave days, I was at the Astoria, dancing. 264 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:59,720 - Did you really? - Yeah, you should see me jive and jitterbug! 265 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:03,760 That's why I've got such short legs, I wore them down! 266 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:05,840 It's up to you whether you tell me or not 267 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:08,920 - but I can imagine there was a lot of GIs, yeah? - Oh, of course! 268 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:11,000 - But not too romantic. - No? 269 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:14,840 I got to my marriage as a virgin, but how I got there I don't know! 270 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:19,000 SHANE LAUGHS I had a great time fighting! 271 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,960 God bless 'em! 272 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:27,000 But I can remember the back of an open Jeep. All the GIs packed in. 273 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:31,280 As I'm crossing the road in my uniform, 274 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:35,840 "Ho-ho!" They said. "So round! So firm! So fully packed!" 275 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:38,480 And I had no idea what they were talking about. 276 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:40,440 I just thought they were being saucy. 277 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:45,720 - Actually, it was the advert for Lucky Strike cigarettes. - Oh, really? - Yeah! 278 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:49,000 - They were really talking about you. - Yes! 279 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:52,400 It's still fully packed but it's not firm! 280 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:58,320 Well, I've just come face-to-face with what they call the Blitz spirit. 281 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:01,680 And Londoners, well, they certainly needed plenty of it. 282 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:05,280 Because they faced death and destruction day after day. 283 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:11,320 I've come to the London Metropolitan Archive, 284 00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:15,560 which keeps details of every bomb incident logged during those years. 285 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:18,640 I'm starting by looking closer to home, 286 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:21,360 at log books of air raids over Harlesden. 287 00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:25,400 This is really weird looking at this because I can see roads that 288 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:28,640 I played in as a child in the late '60s and '70s. 289 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:33,840 I had no idea growing up that they were actually part of that 290 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:39,600 whole thing... The Grand Junction Canal! That took a pounding? Why? 291 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:42,840 What did the Germans know was going on in Harlesden? 292 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:46,960 Apart from a great reggae scene, but that didn't happen until the '70s and '80s. 293 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:50,160 - HE GASPS - Oh! Now, there's one where I went to school. 294 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:55,320 I've just found this one and there's damage to Stonebridge recreation ground. 295 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:59,040 And there was homes damaged, one person was killed 296 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:01,880 and two were injured. 297 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:04,520 And that's where I went to school. 298 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:06,400 (Blimey!) 299 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:11,760 'As well as the air raid reports, 300 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:15,240 'the archives contain visual records of the Blitz. 301 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:18,200 'I still can't really get my head round how London could 302 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:21,160 'function with so many bombs raining down every night. 303 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:25,800 'So, I've asked historian and author Juliet Gardiner to take me through it.' 304 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:28,000 Juliet, what have we got here? 305 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,480 These are actually rather tragic documents 306 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:33,560 because what they are, they were compiled by the LCC, 307 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:36,600 the London County Council Architect's Department. 308 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:39,600 And they show the bomb damage. 309 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:43,840 They are colour-coded and everything that is black is showing 310 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:48,560 houses or offices or shops or whatever it was, totally destroyed. 311 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:53,920 - All right. - Purple, they were damaged beyond repair. 312 00:19:56,680 --> 00:20:01,360 - NEWSREEL: - 1940, any morning after in London. 313 00:20:01,360 --> 00:20:04,440 AIR-RAID SIRENS BLARE 314 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:10,320 'Yet with each dawn's fresh havoc, wonderful how habit survives. 315 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:13,840 'It's hard to kill the regular life of a great city. 316 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:17,680 'Hard to kill the habit of off-to-work in the morning.' 317 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:20,840 Oh, and you've got Stepney here, where I met a lovely lady, Mrs Goodman. 318 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:24,920 - This is where she was from. - I mean, Stepney generally REALLY did take it. 319 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:28,680 Terrifying. And that first night in September, 320 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:32,280 there were just walls of flames all over the East End. 321 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:36,200 So, we do know that the first night was particularly bad. 322 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:38,000 But then it didn't let up? 323 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:42,720 - It certainly didn't let up. For 57 consecutive nights... - 57? 324 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:45,360 ..London was bombed. And they had to go to work, of course. 325 00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:48,000 I mean, if they hadn't gone to work, war production would have 326 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:50,720 ground to a halt and the Germans would have got their way 327 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:55,360 because Britain would no longer have been able to prosecute the war. 328 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:58,840 - NEWSREEL: - The air raid wardens stay at their posts. 329 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:00,920 Doctors and nurses worked on steadily, 330 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:04,720 as the bombs crashed all around them. 331 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:07,560 Rescue squads laboured night and day. 332 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:11,200 This was life in the Blitz. 333 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:16,040 I mean, that to me is just one of the amazing stories of the Blitz. 334 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:18,920 People made this enormous effort to get to work, 335 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:22,080 clambering over debris, masonry, all that sort of thing. 336 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:25,800 I mean, their own homes might have been damaged but they knew perfectly 337 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:30,400 well that it was essential to keep Britain's war production going. 338 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:33,480 - NEWSREEL: - A Britain standing alone, yet learning with each dawn, 339 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:37,080 new lessons on how to go on as though nothing was happening. 340 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:41,160 For Britain, like the number 15, just had to go on. 341 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:52,520 Talking to Juliet has really made me aware of Londoners' 342 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:55,600 daily struggle for survival during the Blitz. 343 00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:59,040 But how did they try to protect themselves when the bombs fell? 344 00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:01,720 Well, one method was to take cover in a shelter, 345 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:05,880 named after the government minister in charge of air raid policy. 346 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:10,600 - NEWSREEL: - In this demonstration test, the Anderson shelter successfully withstood the blast 347 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:14,240 of a 500lb bomb, even though the building close by was wrecked. 348 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:16,520 And here's an actual shelter that was bombed. 349 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:20,160 All that happened was that the protective earth was blown off. 350 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:22,880 Without it, there might have been serious consequences. 351 00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:26,160 The Anderson shelter was a curved corrugated steel tube 352 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:28,160 that could be set up in people's gardens, 353 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:31,320 half-buried in the ground, with earth heaped on top. 354 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:33,400 - NEWSREEL: - That one would have been near. 355 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:36,120 But there's no need for anyone to be so uncomfortable. 356 00:22:36,120 --> 00:22:39,320 The government distributed 1.5 million shelters before the war 357 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:43,680 and in total, over 3.5 million shelters were produced. 358 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:45,840 It was left to the people to construct their own. 359 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:48,240 Although, there was no shortage of advice. 360 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:50,960 - NEWSREEL: - A cup of tea and a biscuit just before turning in 361 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:55,440 and now to spend a comfortable night undisturbed by the Blitzkrieg. 362 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:59,080 - Martin, thank you so much, buddy, I'm Shane. - A pleasure, Shane. Very good to meet you. 363 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:02,640 'I've never seen an Anderson shelter up close. I've only ever seen pictures. 364 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:06,440 'So, I've come to south London to meet Martin Stanley. 365 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:08,760 'He's got one in his back garden!' 366 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:12,920 In the war, these beautiful houses stretched all the way down this street. 367 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:16,200 One bomb fell there, blew all that whole terrace down. 368 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:18,440 How many houses would have been there, do you think? 369 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:22,520 - It must be, what, approaching 20, I would think? - What, and one bomb would have devastated... 370 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:24,880 One bomb in the middle blew the lot down. Absolutely. 371 00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:28,760 'At Martin's house, I have also arranged to meet Joan Longley. 372 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:30,440 'She was three when the war started 373 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:33,920 'and regularly took cover in an Anderson shelter with her family. 374 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:37,800 'But she hasn't seen one for more than 70 years.' 375 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:41,920 Yes, in my back garden, in Charlton, in southeast London, 376 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:46,160 - but this is not like my air-raid shelter. - What was yours like? 377 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:48,880 - Well, it wasn't covered with lovely plants. - OK. 378 00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:51,760 It was a bare garden, where we had trampled all over it. 379 00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:55,480 There were nine children in my family, cold, damp, horrible. 380 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:59,000 It wasn't gentrified at all. Some people gentrified their shelters. 381 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:02,960 - We didn't. - So, how bad was your area, where you grew up, affected? 382 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:06,200 Quite a lot. There were bombs everywhere. Incendiaries mostly. 383 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:08,520 But a family down the road got killed 384 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,160 because they didn't have a strong door on it. 385 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:13,120 If we had to go and see this shelter here, 386 00:24:13,120 --> 00:24:15,680 how do you feel about going in for the first time in 70 years? 387 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:18,440 Very interested to see how it affects me, actually. 388 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:21,640 - All right, follow me, Joan. - OK. - Do you want to hold my hand, sweetheart, 389 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:24,720 cos it is a bit bumpy, all right? Mind your head. 390 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:29,640 - Oh, gosh! - What are you thinking? - It's jolly small! - It is, isn't it? 391 00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:32,280 - It's a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be. - Yes! 392 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:35,040 If they were like this - and you say you'd get NINE of you in here? 393 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:37,960 You'd get nine of us in here but we had an earth floor, 394 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:40,440 we had no concrete like this has got. 395 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:44,360 This corrugated iron went right down into the ground. 396 00:24:44,360 --> 00:24:47,920 And we would sit on either side, almost knees touching. 397 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,320 I don't think ours was as long as this. 398 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:53,320 - So, you think yours might have been smaller? - Yes. Smaller than this. 399 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:54,600 This looks much bigger. 400 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:57,960 So, this is a bit of a posh one, as far as shelters go? Is that right, Martin? 401 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:00,600 Yeah, it was, the house was owned by a builder in the war. 402 00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:03,200 Obviously very concerned about the safety of his family. 403 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,520 So, he built this shelter with a concrete base 404 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:08,640 and a little bit bigger than normal. This was a high-class shelter. 405 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:12,320 It probably saved his family's life because there was a bomb very close by. 406 00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:14,640 How does it feel for you being down here right now? 407 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:18,480 - It feels all right, actually. - Yeah? - I thought it might be a bit of a shock. 408 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:20,800 But I'm actually quite pleased to be here. 409 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:22,520 It's cos it's such a long way in the past. 410 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:24,760 - I'm not thinking, "Oh, dear, how dreadful." - No. 411 00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:27,280 I'm thinking how lucky we were to be safe. 412 00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:29,080 In the war, it would still have been dark. 413 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:32,160 - You weren't allowed candles, even to find your way to the shelter. - No. 414 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:35,400 - And it'll have been pretty scary. - We were all scared. 415 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:37,600 I think we were probably more scared than we showed 416 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:40,120 because children became very used to it. 417 00:25:40,120 --> 00:25:43,880 But we'd huddle together to keep warm but it was cold, 418 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:47,960 dark, spiders... We didn't like that very much as kids. 419 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:50,080 And around you, just imagine sitting in it 420 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:53,320 and hearing bombs dropping and the ground would shake. 421 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:55,920 And the worst thing, really, was looking out to see 422 00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:59,520 - if your house was still there because nobody expected it to be. - Of course. 423 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:02,920 So, one of my big brothers or sisters would look out just 424 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:06,160 - to make sure. "It's still there, Mum!" You know? - Oh, wow... 425 00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:09,920 As soon as it was over and you could go outside, we would often jump 426 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:13,440 on top of the roof and triumphantly "King of the castle" kind of stuff. 427 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:15,640 And think, "We are alive!" 428 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:19,760 So, there was a lot of triumph, erm, between life and death, 429 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:24,440 that we...you knew, even as a child, that you had survived something. 430 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:26,800 And that was very, very important. 431 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:30,240 - Because that gave you, that feeling lasted for life. - Yeah... 432 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:33,520 MUSIC FADES OVER HER VOICE 433 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:36,560 It was lovely meeting Joan. And when she was telling me about her mum 434 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:40,080 and nine children all in that cramped little space, 435 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:43,080 and immediately I thought, "Blimey, how would I cope?" 436 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:45,880 Me and my wife, and having FIVE children down there. 437 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:49,760 So, and I don't know if she was getting a bit emotional... 438 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:52,520 At the time, I just found it a bit eerie. 439 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:55,360 Imagine being down there with, you know, all lights off 440 00:26:55,360 --> 00:26:59,040 and the blackout and being woken in the middle of the night as a child, 441 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:02,840 being brought to that shelter and not knowing what was going to happen when you came out. 442 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:06,320 But what a lovely lady. And... 443 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:09,880 God, we had no idea, really, it was going to be like that, though. 444 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:21,360 Some historians argue that the government should have spent 445 00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:23,720 the money building deep shelters. 446 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:27,560 If you didn't have a garden, the Anderson version was of no use. 447 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:31,640 So instead, many Londoners were forced to make their own arrangements, 448 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:34,920 sheltering in shop basements, schools and churches. 449 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:40,280 - NEWSREEL: - Now they are going into the public shelters. 450 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:43,120 This is not a pleasant way to spend the night. 451 00:27:43,120 --> 00:27:47,280 But the people accept it as their part in the defence of London. 452 00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:49,600 Tube stations were another popular option. 453 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:53,360 At first, the government tried to discourage this, by shutting them at night. 454 00:27:53,360 --> 00:27:56,200 But then people just bought tickets before closing time 455 00:27:56,200 --> 00:28:01,920 and refused to come out. The results were sometimes disastrous. 456 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:06,400 Five weeks into the Blitz, Balham tube station took a direct hit, 457 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:10,240 with the blast penetrating almost 30 feet below ground. 458 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:13,440 68 people were killed. 459 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:20,720 'I've come to one of the less well-known options 460 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:23,600 'chosen by Londoners to shelter from the bombs. 461 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:26,200 'A set of disused chalk and flint mines 462 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:28,640 'in the Kent suburb of Chislehurst. 463 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:31,360 'Walking down into the dark with archaeologist 464 00:28:31,360 --> 00:28:34,520 'Rod Legear, I really have no idea what to expect.' 465 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:36,880 All right, so, where are we now then, Rod? 466 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:39,040 This is just the entrance hall. 467 00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:43,760 The first thing people would have seen coming in is the notice board, 468 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:48,280 - with 17 rules on it, which everybody had to abide by. - OK. 469 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:51,960 "No admission or re-entry to the Dormitory Section after 9:30pm." 470 00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:55,760 - People came here quite regularly? Would they have had their own little pitch? - Oh, yes. 471 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:59,040 They were given a pitch number where their bunk was and that was theirs 472 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:01,120 for all the time they were coming down here. 473 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:03,960 So, "Pitches must not be changed, exchanged or sold." 474 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:08,240 There wasn't, like, a little black market going on, where people would sell their pitches? 475 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:11,280 Well, in those days, you know, there were lots of spivs about. 476 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:15,720 And, "Organised concerts can be held only by permission." That is brilliant. 477 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:17,960 That, there, was the ticket office. 478 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:20,560 You mean, they got charged to come down here? 479 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:22,600 Sixpence a week, children thruppence. 480 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:25,560 And there was a contribution to the sanitation fund, 481 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:28,040 which pays the wages of the poor chaps 482 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:31,040 emptying the dustbin and chemical toilets. 483 00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:36,040 The earliest mention of these mines is actually around 1250 484 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:40,040 and it's believed they were still working until the 1830s. 485 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:43,160 Before the war, they were used to cultivate mushrooms. 486 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:45,840 Once the Blitz started, they became shelters. 487 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:50,840 Word soon spread and more people came from surrounding areas. 488 00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:53,120 Initially, they were run by volunteers. 489 00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:57,480 But then the government stepped in, installing ventilation and electricity. 490 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:01,320 It just gets a bit low here and then it gets back to full height. 491 00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:04,480 - Did you get hundreds of people making their way down here? - Yeah, 15,000. 492 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:08,400 - 15,000?! - Every night. Yeah. - All coming down here? - Yeah. 493 00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:12,600 It went up to about 16,000 a night, 1944, 494 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:15,760 - when the V1s and V2s started coming down. - Wow! 495 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:18,520 16,000 people all walking along. 496 00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:21,760 It's a complete underground town, really. 497 00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:24,120 Yeah... Which way we going now, Rod? 498 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:26,720 - Because it's just like one big labyrinth. - It is. 499 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:30,760 - I mean, how big are the caves? - Erm, there are several miles of them. 500 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:33,640 - Right. - They cover quite an area. - OK. 501 00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:35,880 So, it must have been very bewildering to people 502 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:38,920 - when they first came down here. - Were they given maps at all? - No. 503 00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:41,560 - None at all. - No? And where would the pitches start? 504 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:44,000 They started back there. They're all numbered. 505 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:46,320 So, that would be pitch number 52. 506 00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:49,080 So, you'd find that number and you'd set up just here, would you? 507 00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:53,320 - Yeah, up to three people. Well, you'd have a three-tier bunk in a tunnel this size. - Yeah. 508 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:56,680 - How did people find out about it initially, though? - Word of mouth. 509 00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:58,800 - Really? - It wasn't advertised at all. 510 00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:02,560 Erm, in fact, when an article appeared in a newspaper, 511 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:04,720 it upset the people down here 512 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:07,840 because they thought lots more people are going to be coming down here! 513 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:11,520 - And crowding it. - Right! I bet it was a real community spirit down here. 514 00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:14,080 Oh, I think there was. Yeah, there definitely was. 515 00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:17,240 I'll tell you what, it must have been great being a child down here. 516 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:18,800 Oh, it was fantastic, 517 00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:21,440 - it was a complete adventure playground for them. - Yeah. 518 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:25,080 - They had their own Scouts, Cubs, Brownies, Guides... - Really? 519 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:27,400 And the older children had a youth club down here. 520 00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:31,080 One of my favourite things from the wartime is some of the carvings. 521 00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:37,280 - Here's some of my favourites here. - (Wow!) - A few faces. A bird. 522 00:31:37,280 --> 00:31:40,280 - They'd have taken time to do, though, wouldn't they? - They would. 523 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:43,200 Yes, and you find things like this all over the caves, 524 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:44,400 in different parts. 525 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:52,240 - What's down here? - Erm, the cinema was just round the corner. - Oh, right! 526 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:58,120 - They've got a cinema here! - There's a chap who was a film enthusiast... 527 00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:00,320 - Right. - Had his own projector 528 00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:03,320 and he wanted to do something for the morale of people. 529 00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:06,160 So, he asked the Caves Committee, which ran the place, 530 00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:09,480 if he could come down here and set up the cinema. 531 00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:13,680 Which he did, just over here. You had a screen at the end. 532 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:15,440 And it became a very popular cinema. 533 00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:18,960 I know Sweeney Todd, The Barber was very popular. The old black-and-white one. 534 00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:21,520 - Yeah, yeah. - Which the canteen managers hated 535 00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:26,040 because their sales of sandwiches went down whenever it was shown! So... 536 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:42,360 Seeing the cinema in the caves is a reminder that 537 00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:45,600 even in the midst of the bombings, people wanted entertainment. 538 00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:48,720 If only to be distracted from the horrible reality. 539 00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:51,440 Well, being a bit of a luvvie myself, I'm wondering how 540 00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:54,960 London's official entertainment industry coped with the demand. 541 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:57,480 I was once told a joke about the war, 542 00:32:57,480 --> 00:32:59,360 about this couple sitting having dinner. 543 00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:01,200 Just then, the air-raid siren went off. 544 00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:03,080 They quickly started to run out the house! 545 00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:05,640 But the woman ran back inside the house and the husband said, 546 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:08,840 "Where you going?" She went, "I've gone to get my teeth! My false teeth!" 547 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:11,240 He said, "They're dropping bombs, not pies!" 548 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:13,240 Probably better ones than that, isn't there? 549 00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:16,000 'Yeah, OK, well, if there were better jokes, 550 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:18,200 'this was one of the places to hear them. 551 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:21,760 'London's Drury Lane Theatre was the headquarters of ENSA, 552 00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:24,880 'the Entertainment National Service Association. 553 00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:27,920 'But, as advertising manager Mark Fox explains, 554 00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:31,800 'the theatre itself was damaged during one of the raids.' 555 00:33:31,800 --> 00:33:35,280 So, Mark, this particular theatre was hit by a bomb, wasn't it? 556 00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:38,520 - It got a direct hit. - Right. - But we were really, really lucky, 557 00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:42,600 cos the nose cone didn't actually... 558 00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:44,680 erm...make impact. 559 00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:48,960 So, there you go. That's the actual nose cone there, which got detached from the bomb. 560 00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:54,400 Which was why the building survived. It actually went straight through, right down through the building. 561 00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:56,440 Was there many people here at the time? 562 00:33:56,440 --> 00:34:00,840 There were people in the building. And this photo shows chaps that were all on duty as fire watchers. 563 00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:04,280 - People positioned on the roofs. Like ARP wardens. - Just looking at the skies? 564 00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:07,600 Watching the skies. You read the stars' autobiographies of the day, 565 00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:11,640 - Tommy Trinder and all the rest of it... - Yeah. - They talk about sitting on top of those buildings 566 00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:13,360 and doing their fire watch duty. 567 00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:17,840 It was bad news for the theatre at the time, in that it took all of those seats out. 568 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:22,520 But we weren't actually operating as a day-to-day business with 569 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:25,640 a big show and lots of audiences coming in by that time. 570 00:34:25,640 --> 00:34:29,920 We had already been turned over to ENSA, at that point. 571 00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:34,520 I always thought it was, you know, like, the big shows, like Vera Lynn going abroad, 572 00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:38,920 - to entertain the troops. But ENSA weren't just about that, were they? - It was a lot more than that. 573 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:42,480 Yeah, I mean they DID all of that and through the whole course of 574 00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:45,440 the war, they did organise foreign tours and all the rest of it. 575 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:47,800 But it was also about civilian entertainment. 576 00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:50,000 It was actually about keeping morale going here. 577 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:53,480 It was people that were, erm, just jobbing actors and... 578 00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:56,520 They got dispensation, so they didn't have to join up. 579 00:34:56,520 --> 00:35:00,320 That they could carry on doing that as well. As well as the big stars. 580 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:02,920 It was Gracie Fields who first started saying, 581 00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:05,240 "We need to go over to the people in France." 582 00:35:05,240 --> 00:35:08,560 Jack Buchanan, you know, huge star and acting manager at the time. 583 00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:12,000 - George Formby. - Oh, George Formby was like the pop star of his day, wasn't he? - Yeah. 584 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:14,440 He would go even to air-raid shelters 585 00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:18,040 and perform for the people that were down there, sheltering. 586 00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:20,680 # All the ladies are fond of me 587 00:35:20,680 --> 00:35:22,760 # But last night one of them gave a shout 588 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:24,920 # When she saw me pulling my bayonet out 589 00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:27,080 # While guarding the Home Guard's home. # 590 00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:30,440 So, there was like a team of actors and comedians and singers 591 00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:33,400 and all kinds of performers that would go out and do these shows? 592 00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:36,160 It was every area of the profession. There was a whole unit. 593 00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:39,240 One of the units, they just used to do a car. 594 00:35:39,240 --> 00:35:42,280 And they'd actually have a small piano that would actually fit in. 595 00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:46,360 - So, the pianist and the piano would go out with a driver. - Brilliant! 596 00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:49,320 And the driver would actually then drive off to wherever 597 00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:51,600 they were going. So, they could perform anywhere. 598 00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:53,880 So, Mark, in spite of all the carnage that was 599 00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:56,880 going on around London at the time, we've got that great British 600 00:35:56,880 --> 00:35:59,480 - tradition where the show must go on. - Definitely. 601 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:00,960 People were living in the moment. 602 00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:04,200 They didn't know what's going to happen from one day to the next. 603 00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:08,320 Whether they were going to have a home, whether they were going to see their family again. 604 00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:12,440 And, you know, a lot of people still look back on that as actually being 605 00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:16,480 - the best time. - They do, don't they? - Because of that living in the moment thing. 606 00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:20,480 And so, for the business, it was actually quite a good time because there could be big shows 607 00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:24,320 that would happen with big audiences still wanting to come and get there all the time. 608 00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:28,000 # Rule Britannia You've never any need to roam 609 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:32,240 # While I'm guarding, guarding, guarding the Home Guard's home. # 610 00:36:32,240 --> 00:36:34,840 APPLAUSE 611 00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:41,320 So, it's nearly the end of my Blitz journey, 612 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:44,960 and where better to wrap things up than back where I began? 613 00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:47,960 At my favourite working men's club in Harlesden. 614 00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:50,720 Here, I've arranged to meet a group of Londoners who were 615 00:36:50,720 --> 00:36:52,920 all small children at the start of the war, 616 00:36:52,920 --> 00:36:55,440 and lived through the darkest days of the bombings. 617 00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:58,280 So what are your earliest memories of the Blitz? 618 00:36:58,280 --> 00:36:59,800 I was born in '35, 619 00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:04,920 so in '39, '40, I was about five years old. 620 00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:08,840 And where I lived off of Church Street in Marylebone, 621 00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:14,440 the whole middle section was attacked with incendiaries, 622 00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:16,560 and the whole lot went up. 623 00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:22,000 My first recollections was my aunt waking me up. 624 00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:26,360 She said, "There's all incendiary bombs at the bottom of the garden." 625 00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:30,000 And as I looked through the bedroom window, 626 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:33,200 I could see all the fires alight. 627 00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:35,360 All along the bottom. 628 00:37:35,360 --> 00:37:38,200 Though I was so young, I thought to myself, 629 00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:41,960 "If only I could have a good night's sleep." 630 00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:44,480 What about you, Gordon, what's your earliest memories? 631 00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:50,000 My earliest memories were when I started school, which was 1941. 632 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:51,800 Right. 633 00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:55,000 And as I went into the school, the end of the school was still 634 00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:58,920 alight from overnight incendiary bombing. 635 00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:02,160 Can you imagine today, going into a school with half of it alight? 636 00:38:02,160 --> 00:38:06,040 - Whereabouts was this? - This was at Lyon Park School in Alperton. 637 00:38:06,040 --> 00:38:10,320 I was three, just over three and a half when the war broke out. 638 00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:15,560 In 1941, when I started school, every time the siren went off, 639 00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:17,680 down the bottom of the field we went, 640 00:38:17,680 --> 00:38:21,320 where they had got all these Anderson shelters. 641 00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:22,480 With a candle. 642 00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:25,080 Can you imagine a candle today? And your book. 643 00:38:26,240 --> 00:38:30,200 And you'd no sooner get down there, and the siren would go to finish, 644 00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:34,840 and then start again. And we were in and out of the shelter all day. 645 00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:38,560 It was horrendous, really. How we learned anything, I don't know. 646 00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:40,200 So, you're all children at the time. 647 00:38:40,200 --> 00:38:43,680 This is probably a strange thing to ask, 648 00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:46,400 but was there something exciting about it? 649 00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:47,520 Of a sort. 650 00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:51,240 It was one of those things that, well, this is the norm. 651 00:38:51,240 --> 00:38:57,640 It got to be a game towards the end, especially with the V2s. 652 00:38:57,640 --> 00:38:59,240 V1s, I should say. 653 00:38:59,240 --> 00:39:02,960 Because you could hear them coming, that low drone. 654 00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:06,440 And all of a sudden, the engines would cut out, 655 00:39:06,440 --> 00:39:13,000 and you could see it just taking a dip to fall down to the earth. 656 00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:16,000 Being a child, then I knew it was dangerous. 657 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:20,400 So I used to run for a shelter or to get out of the way. 658 00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:24,680 But it became, as I say, a game. 659 00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:29,680 The sound of the siren, it never leaves you. 660 00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:33,440 You remember it for a very long time. 661 00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:38,400 But the relief you feel when the all-clear goes, 662 00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:43,280 and you know, "Oh, everything's all right again." 663 00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:45,680 Listening to this generation is humbling. 664 00:39:45,680 --> 00:39:48,560 Not only did they survive the nine months of the London Blitz, 665 00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:51,080 they survived six years of war. 666 00:39:51,080 --> 00:39:53,080 They were never beaten. 667 00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:54,560 They were never cowed. 668 00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:56,640 And they will always be heroes. 669 00:39:56,640 --> 00:39:59,240 These are what the King gave out to everybody. 670 00:39:59,240 --> 00:40:01,720 - This is incredible. Do you mind if I read this out? - Yes. 671 00:40:01,720 --> 00:40:03,240 8th of June, 1946. 672 00:40:03,240 --> 00:40:06,800 "Today, as we celebrate victory, I send this personal message 673 00:40:06,800 --> 00:40:09,400 "to you and all other boys and girls at school. 674 00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:13,240 "For you had shared in the hardships and dangers of a total war. 675 00:40:13,240 --> 00:40:16,680 "And you have shared no less than the triumph of the Allied Nations. 676 00:40:16,680 --> 00:40:19,560 "I know you will always feel proud to belong to a country which was 677 00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:22,080 "capable of such supreme effort. 678 00:40:22,080 --> 00:40:25,280 "Proud too of parents and elder brothers and sisters, 679 00:40:25,280 --> 00:40:30,240 "who by their courage, endurance and enterprise, brought victory. 680 00:40:30,240 --> 00:40:33,440 "May these qualities be yours as you grow up 681 00:40:33,440 --> 00:40:36,440 "and join in the common effort to establish among the nations 682 00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:40,360 "of the world unity and peace." Signed, King George. 683 00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:43,640 And on the back, it's all different, important war dates. 684 00:40:43,640 --> 00:40:46,280 Oh, you've kept this for so long. 685 00:40:46,280 --> 00:40:47,320 It's all there. 686 00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:55,760 On this journey around London, talking about the Blitz, 687 00:40:55,760 --> 00:40:58,440 I'm trying to think about what I've learned most about it all. 688 00:40:58,440 --> 00:41:01,120 One thing comes to the top every time, 689 00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:04,160 and that's people's courage, bravery. 690 00:41:04,160 --> 00:41:07,440 And they just got on with it. They just got on with it. 691 00:41:07,440 --> 00:41:10,080 Because basically, what else could they do? 692 00:41:10,080 --> 00:41:11,480 What else could they do? 693 00:41:17,960 --> 00:41:21,800 Around 20,000 Londoners lost their lives in the Blitz. 694 00:41:21,800 --> 00:41:24,800 Thousands more were killed throughout the war. 695 00:41:24,800 --> 00:41:28,080 Add to that the vast amount of injuries and the number of people 696 00:41:28,080 --> 00:41:33,000 made homeless, and you realise what a battering our capital took. 697 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:35,880 But London is a tough, resilient place. 698 00:41:35,880 --> 00:41:37,680 It's big part of who I am. 699 00:41:37,680 --> 00:41:40,320 And looking down for a final time, 700 00:41:40,320 --> 00:41:42,640 I now feel I know it better than I ever did. 701 00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:49,960 There's something I love about my city, Chris. 702 00:41:49,960 --> 00:41:52,320 How it moves with the times 703 00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:55,760 and it's constantly evolving, constantly changing. 704 00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:57,760 It's renewing itself all the time. 705 00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:03,360 The Second World War gave the London authorities an opportunity to 706 00:42:03,360 --> 00:42:07,160 clear and renew. After the destruction, 707 00:42:07,160 --> 00:42:10,880 they seized the opportunity to replan. 708 00:42:10,880 --> 00:42:14,560 And much of what you see now is, of course, 709 00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:19,120 a consequence of the destruction which was carried out in 1940/41. 710 00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:23,800 So it has shaped what we can see of the town today. 711 00:42:23,800 --> 00:42:26,840 It's clear that London has healed and regrown. 712 00:42:26,840 --> 00:42:29,800 And nowhere shows this more than the Isle of Dogs. 713 00:42:29,800 --> 00:42:31,320 As we saw, this area 714 00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:34,560 was the first to suffer a pummelling by the Luftwaffe. 715 00:42:34,560 --> 00:42:37,720 Today, it is a global centre of business and finance, 716 00:42:37,720 --> 00:42:41,720 the skyscrapers, a towering symbol of the city's ability to 717 00:42:41,720 --> 00:42:44,760 renew itself, no matter what. 718 00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:48,280 And you know, looking over the city now, 719 00:42:48,280 --> 00:42:51,440 and I see a city of the 21st century, a thriving city. 720 00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:54,600 But in the back of my mind, as I'm looking down, I'm thinking 721 00:42:54,600 --> 00:42:56,360 how it survived the Blitz. 722 00:42:58,280 --> 00:43:02,920 It sounds like a cliche, but how a phoenix rises from the ashes. 723 00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:04,680 It's amazing, the people I've met. 724 00:43:04,680 --> 00:43:07,840 They were talking about their London, and what it meant to them. 725 00:43:07,840 --> 00:43:11,600 And now, I get it, I totally get it. 726 00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:14,800 But I honestly feel like I've found an old friend.