1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:04,240 - AIR RAID SIREN - 75 years ago this week, 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:08,280 Britain came under the heaviest attack in its history. 3 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:11,680 This was Hitler's Blitzkrieg, or lightning war. 4 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:13,960 During their nine-month bombing campaign, 5 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:15,880 the Nazis devastated cities and towns 6 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:19,800 across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. 7 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,280 London bore the brunt of the initial raids. 8 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:25,600 But soon after, the Luftwaffe 9 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:29,520 began attacking other industrial centres. 10 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:31,240 I'm David Harewood. 11 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:33,600 And in this programme I'm finding out why 12 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:36,200 my home city of Birmingham became a target. 13 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:42,240 People genuinely thought that English society might end any day now. 14 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:46,880 I'll meet some of those who lived through the heaviest bombing of the war. 15 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:51,400 - So this is actually one of the German incendiary bombs? - Yes. 16 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:54,840 I'll discover the personal tragedies that history often forgets. 17 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:59,400 And I said to my auntie, "Is that true, what I've just heard? 18 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:03,360 "That Mum and Dad are dead?" And she just says, "Yes". 19 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:07,680 And I'll experience a view of my city that will stay with me forever. 20 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:11,280 Where I grew up as a child was right in the heart of it, 21 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:14,720 right in the middle of it, and that's quite fascinating. 22 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:37,680 I'm a Brummie, and extremely proud of it. 23 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:39,840 But like many people, I've never delved 24 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:42,240 into my city's history. 25 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:45,760 I've built an acting career appearing in dramas like Homeland, 26 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:50,800 playing fictional characters often caught up in terrifying global events. 27 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:53,600 But today's story is all too real. 28 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:55,880 And it couldn't be any closer to home. 29 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:00,760 'I now split my time between London and Los Angeles. 30 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:03,960 'But for a few days at least, I'm back in the West Midlands.' 31 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:07,840 I'm hoping this journey will educate me about the past 32 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:10,080 and reconnect me with my roots. 33 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:14,040 You know, I've obviously been back to Birmingham many times 34 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:16,680 to visit my family, Mum or Dad... 35 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:19,120 But it's strange, really. This is probably the first time 36 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:21,920 I feel I'm really coming back to visit the city. 37 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:24,640 I don't know if I've done that... 38 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:28,080 ..ever. 39 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:33,160 AMERICAN VOICEOVER: This is my kind of town. 40 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:39,000 I grew up in 1970s Birmingham. 41 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:42,880 An exciting, confident place, with its sights set on the future. 42 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:45,760 I found the city exciting. 43 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:48,680 The modern buildings reflect its position as 44 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,200 the nation's industrial powerhouse. 45 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:54,640 You feel as if you've been projected into the 21st century. 46 00:02:55,640 --> 00:03:00,440 The city has always seemed to be changing, developing, regenerating. 47 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,520 'Apart from the Small Heath district, that is. 48 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:06,800 'This area, where I grew up, has hardly altered at all.' 49 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:11,400 It's really strange to be back in the place where it all started. 50 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:15,120 Actually, THIS was my house. 51 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:17,400 This particular street, this stretch of the street, 52 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:21,440 was just full of kids round about my age, 53 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:28,560 and we were forever playing hide-and-seek until midnight, 54 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:30,600 the wee small hours. 55 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:33,760 And one of the best places to hide was... 56 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:37,320 ..up there. 57 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:42,280 So we used to basically get up like this, and make our way 58 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:49,160 to the top of the wall and hide there for literally hours. 59 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:53,800 Like, 20 of us would just kind of cycle up to Small Heath Park 60 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:58,680 and just play all day long in the park, 61 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:02,680 just great memories of camaraderie, of friendship. 62 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:06,320 There were Irish kids, Indian kids, black kids, Jamaican kids, 63 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:07,840 all just playing together. 64 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:11,800 28 bus, I used to get that to school. 65 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:19,200 Interesting, really. As a kid growing up, you know, 66 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:21,880 I never really had a sense of... 67 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:24,760 of anything other than this place 68 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:27,040 just being a great place to play, but... 69 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:30,920 God, there used to be this gorgeous girl who used to live.. 70 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:34,360 I think she used to live...in... 71 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:37,960 She used to live just opposite us. Absolute stunner. 72 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:40,360 Can't remember what her name was. 73 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:45,080 Used to... I think we'll stop right there! 74 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:46,520 Stop right there. 75 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:49,600 # Back to life, back to reality. # 76 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:52,520 'Happy times. And innocent times. 77 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:54,680 'Like all kids, I lived in the moment, 78 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:59,320 'and I certainly wasn't interested in dull stuff, like local history.' 79 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:04,520 The city I grew up in was all about clubs, music, girls. 80 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:06,880 I never really had a sense, growing up, of the war, 81 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:09,080 or the damage that Birmingham went through. 82 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:11,520 I mean, my parents got here in the '60s. 83 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:14,520 I wonder if they had any sense of the destruction 84 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:16,720 that Birmingham had gone through. 85 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:25,640 Probably not. By then, Birmingham's population was changing rapidly 86 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:29,200 with thousands of new arrivals who had never experienced the Blitz, 87 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:33,040 coming from the Caribbean and beyond, helping to rebuild Britain. 88 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:37,120 Birmingham's town planners were also busy, 89 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:40,000 clearing the bomb-damaged Victorian housing 90 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:42,040 to create a new city for a new age. 91 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:47,960 'By the time me, my sister and my two brothers arrived, 92 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:51,040 'the Birmingham of the Blitz had almost disappeared.' 93 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:54,800 - Hi, Mum. - Hi! You all right? 94 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:57,840 'Still, the war had been over for barely 20 years 95 00:05:57,840 --> 00:06:00,280 'when my parents pitched up in Birmingham. 96 00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:03,120 'Surely they had some sense of what had gone on here?' 97 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:06,320 So, when you arrived, was there any kind of physical evidence, 98 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:09,760 - any bomb damage, any...? - Not in the '60s, when I first came, 99 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:11,040 we didn't get that. 100 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:13,320 I mean, there were still remnants of what happened, 101 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:16,760 - like when we lived in Oldknow Road, remember? - Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. 102 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:19,960 We didn't know what that was, but then we found out 103 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:23,520 it was the remnants of a shelter in the back... 104 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:25,840 in the bottom of the garden. 105 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:31,160 Was there a sense that, you know, the city was on the up, 106 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:34,880 or was it quite, as you say, it was quite poor? 107 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:37,760 It was quite poor, to be truthful. It was quite poor. 108 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:40,480 I was surprised when I first came here to see that people were, 109 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:43,040 literally, as poor as we were in the Caribbean 110 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:46,280 and most people lived in one room. 111 00:06:46,280 --> 00:06:48,920 - Not a whole house? - No, no! Not like today, 112 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:51,800 when you have kids and you want a whole house. 113 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:54,120 Most... A lot of people lived in one room. 114 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:57,080 But what a lot of things that they did do then that you don't see 115 00:06:57,080 --> 00:06:59,200 much of now, they did a lot of sharing. 116 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:01,040 How do you mean by the sharing? 117 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:04,440 A cup of sugar or something like that. You know, people did get on, 118 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:06,200 people did help each other. 119 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:10,680 I suppose that could've been, again, a hangover from rationing, you know. 120 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:12,400 Yeah, I suppose so. 121 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:16,080 Well, it was lovely seeing my mum, 122 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:19,720 but as I suspected, she didn't really know too much about the war. 123 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:21,600 I guess, coming here in the '60s, 124 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:24,440 the Blitz really wasn't part of her story, 125 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:26,800 so it's going to be really interesting for me to go on 126 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:29,200 this journey to see if I really do have any connection 127 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:30,960 to that part of Birmingham's history. 128 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:37,000 To find out, I need to go back to November 1940, when another 129 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:42,280 Midlands city, Coventry, was flattened by Nazi bombers. 130 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:46,280 Words are hopelessly inadequate to describe the horror and indignation 131 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:49,840 felt all over the civilised world at this wanton devastation. 132 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:54,920 The Germans claimed this was revenge for the Allied bombing of Munich. 133 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:59,120 But it also marked a shift in their tactics, 134 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:03,440 widening the Blitz from London to other UK cities. 135 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:07,440 Coventry's harrowing experience was broadcast around the world, 136 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:09,040 but less well known is that 137 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:11,760 Birmingham's turn came just five days later, 138 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:14,400 with three consecutive nights of raids that 139 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:16,360 also killed hundreds of people. 140 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:19,160 Why did my city make it onto Hitler's target list? 141 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:24,560 I'm meeting up with aerial archaeologist Chris Going. 142 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:27,160 He has rare intelligence documents that the Germans 143 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:29,920 prepared before the war started 144 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:33,880 and they show precisely why Birmingham had to be bombed. 145 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:39,240 The single most important factory here in the Small Heath 146 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:45,160 part of town is this - it's the Birmingham Small Arms factory. 147 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:48,640 Close by, you've also got the Singer works. 148 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:51,160 Now, where are you on this map? 149 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:55,280 I lived on a place called Oldknow Road. It's right... 150 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:59,360 Hang on, let's find it. There it is. There it is. There it is. 151 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:01,920 It's actually just at the end of the road. 152 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:06,240 So, I would've been almost smack in the middle of a target. 153 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:10,160 You're wedged between two of the most important industrial 154 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:12,520 targets in Birmingham. 155 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:14,360 - Astonishing. - It is. 156 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:18,680 Birmingham wasn't the only important industrial centre 157 00:09:18,680 --> 00:09:20,080 in the Luftwaffe's sights. 158 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:22,640 As the Blitz went on, they attempted to bring war production 159 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:26,280 to a halt by attacking Nottingham, Sheffield and Newcastle. 160 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:29,760 But alongside Coventry, Birmingham felt the full force. 161 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:35,000 Those first three nights of bombing left a trail of destruction 162 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:39,640 and the Nazis themselves took photographic evidence of their success. 163 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:43,880 - This is the day after those attacks. - Wow. 164 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:47,480 A is "zerstorung" - destruction. 165 00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:52,080 They got the Singer works. Here's the BSA works. 166 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:56,160 When this photograph was taken, which was on the 23rd, 167 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:59,000 they would be... They'd still be bringing up the bodies. 168 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:02,880 It's astonishing to know that, actually, I grew up... 169 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:08,360 the house I grew up in was a target area for the German Luftwaffe. 170 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:10,480 - I had no idea about that. - Absolutely. 171 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:15,640 ..1005... 172 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:18,160 'Now I've seen those German documents and photos, 173 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:20,880 'I want to view my city as their pilots did 174 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:25,440 'so Chris and I have come to Wellesbourne Mountford Airfield in Warwickshire 175 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:29,320 'to fly the actual routes the Luftwaffe took back in November 1940. 176 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:33,520 'Our pilot today is Bill Giles.' 177 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:37,640 OK, is everyone happy, comfortable, secure? 178 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:39,760 - Yes. - All good? - All good. - Great. 179 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:45,840 I've actually been flying quite a lot this year. 180 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:51,280 But about this time on a 747 or whatever, I'm normally fast asleep, 181 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:56,240 but taking off in something as small as this is really quite something. 182 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:14,880 Wow, look at that! Beautiful! 183 00:11:16,560 --> 00:11:17,800 Fantastic visibility. 184 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:24,440 'The Blitz raids on Birmingham were mainly at night 185 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:28,120 'and I'm wondering how the crews would have navigated in the dark 186 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:30,800 'with limited geographical landmarks to go by.' 187 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:34,480 Early in the war, 188 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:38,560 they had a system which transmitted an acoustic signal 189 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:41,320 so if you flew to the left of the directional beam 190 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:45,200 they wanted you to fly along, you got an interrupted beep noise 191 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:49,280 and if you flew to the right of it, you got another tone. 192 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:52,400 When you were flying directly along the access of the beam 193 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:57,680 they wanted you to fly down, you got a continuous tone in your headphones. 194 00:11:57,680 --> 00:12:02,080 So then you had a couple of other developments later in 1940. 195 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:06,360 British scientists effectively took on German scientists 196 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:12,280 to outwit the navigational processes they had 197 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:14,600 and what that meant, of course, ironically, 198 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:19,480 was as the German bombing accuracy lessened, 199 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:24,360 so the risk to the population at large grew. 200 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:39,040 I can actually start to see, if I'm not mistaken, Birmingham, right? 201 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:42,760 You can see Birmingham ahead of us. We're coming from the south-east. 202 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:44,920 You can see the Post Office Tower. 203 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:49,640 Also, you were saying that New Street Station was a target. 204 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:53,600 New Street Station was a target in October. 205 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:56,240 That is smack bang right in the middle of the town, isn't it? 206 00:12:56,240 --> 00:13:00,760 It's bang in the middle. A beam was put right across it. 207 00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:05,680 I had no idea just how exposed everybody would have been, 208 00:13:05,680 --> 00:13:08,320 but you really see that from this perspective. 209 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:11,320 Well, it's interesting that you say that. 210 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:14,840 In December 1940, the Birmingham Post reported 211 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:18,200 that the bombing of Birmingham was as random as ever, 212 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:22,960 that the bombs were so scattered across the city, 213 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:27,120 they couldn't quite fathom what they were aiming at. 214 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:39,840 There, on your right, is Small Heath. 215 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:42,600 Here we are flying over the mighty Blues' ground, 216 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:44,200 was a gorgeous sight that is! 217 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:49,920 We're really going to fly directly over my road now, 218 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:52,840 which is this road here, Oldknow Road. 219 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:55,520 You can see my house, I know exactly where it is. 220 00:13:55,520 --> 00:14:00,600 And this is the Singer factory, which was badly attacked in November 221 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:04,040 and there, that whole complex just to the south of the railway line, 222 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:09,040 - is the BSA works. - We are a stone's throw from the BSA works. 223 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:10,960 You are absolutely seconds away. 224 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:26,600 I had no idea growing up just how surrounded my road was 225 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:32,320 by major Second World War manufacturing plants. 226 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:36,320 It's easy to feel quite detached from up here, 227 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:42,240 I guess, thinking as a bomber to think that down there, 228 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:45,840 there are people working in factories, 229 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:52,040 working on things that really are going to destroy your countrymen. 230 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:53,840 You're not thinking about people, 231 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:56,720 you're just thinking about buildings, shapes in the dark. 232 00:14:56,720 --> 00:15:00,160 You'd probably just be thinking about your target. 233 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:06,120 Get in, drop my ordnance and get home to my loved ones. 234 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:11,320 There is no personal feeling at all, you're just coming in, doing a job 235 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:12,920 and trying to get home. 236 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:25,240 'So I've now seen Birmingham from the point of view of the bombers. 237 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:28,360 'But what about those who were bombed? 238 00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:32,840 'I've come to meet a survivor of the Blitz, Barbara Johnson.' 239 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:36,840 - Hello, David. - Hello, how are you? - Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you. 240 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:39,600 'Barbara was only five when the war started. 241 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:42,880 'She now visits schools, talking about her experiences 242 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:44,560 'and she has a treasure chest 243 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:47,320 'full of memorabilia from Birmingham's Blitz.' 244 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:54,840 My God! So, who would carry one of these around, then? 245 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:58,760 The wardens or the ARP men. 246 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:01,880 So you would hear that sound and everybody would run 247 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:03,440 and put their masks on? 248 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:05,040 Yes, put the gas mask on. 249 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:09,720 - So this is actually one of the German incendiary bombs? - Yes. 250 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:14,080 The majority of times, when they went off, they lost the tail, 251 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:17,400 but, fortunately for me, I've got one whole. 252 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:20,880 Sparks came out of there and set fire to buildings. 253 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:23,960 There's all the holes and sparks would come out of there. 254 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:29,320 - This is a child's gas mask, under fives. - Look at that! 255 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:34,560 And this one is for anybody over five and adults. 256 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:37,400 Issued to all civilians. 257 00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:40,520 But we can't take them out the plastic cases 258 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:44,400 - because there's asbestos in the bottom. - Oh, right. Asbestos! 259 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:47,120 Asbestos. And we had them on our faces. 260 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:52,600 'Barbara was among nearly two million British children evacuated 261 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:56,720 'when the war started and one of 25,000 from Birmingham. 262 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:02,040 'The idea was to remove them from the area of danger 263 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:06,880 'and place them in safe havens. It didn't always work out that way.' 264 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:13,840 When I was five, I went on an evacuation to Evesham with my sister. 265 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:19,840 I was only there for a short while because I started wetting the bed 266 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:23,800 and the gentleman that we were there with, 267 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:28,480 he used to get his belt off and he used to lash the back of my legs. 268 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:30,480 - What?! - Every morning. 269 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:37,040 And in the end, he said I couldn't sleep in his bed any more 270 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:41,600 and he put me in a cubbyhole on a bag of straw 271 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:43,160 with a pillow and a blanket 272 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:46,360 and that's where I was to sleep, a five-year-old. 273 00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:49,680 And my sister was eight, she was at school 274 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:53,720 and she was able to write a letter home to Mum 275 00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:58,720 and she put in there that we were being treated badly 276 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:02,760 and so, in September '41, my mum came over to Evesham 277 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:04,400 and fetched us back. 278 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:10,360 'Like many evacuees, Barbara returned to the city 279 00:18:10,360 --> 00:18:14,040 'just as the German bombing campaign was getting started. 280 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:17,200 'There was another unforgettable experience... 281 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:18,720 'for all the wrong reasons.' 282 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:22,880 We were all down the shelter and my dad didn't go to war 283 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:26,960 because he had a bit of a heart defect from rheumatic fever 284 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:31,320 so he used to do fire watching and he'd come and tapped the shelter 285 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:34,720 and Mum got out, but she never used to leave us 286 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:37,480 and she never came back and I thought, "Where has she gone?" 287 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:41,960 And then, on the evening, when Dad came home from work... 288 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:47,080 Sorry. When my mum and dad came home from work, 289 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:52,840 my mum sat us down and said, "Nana and Grandad have gone to heaven." 290 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:57,680 She didn't say they were killed, she just said they went to heaven. 291 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:01,720 - So do you actually have a picture of your grandparents? - Yes, I have. 292 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:05,120 - Oh, it's up there. - There it's there. - Right here. 293 00:19:05,120 --> 00:19:07,520 That's the only one I've got. 294 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:10,480 Louisa and Harry. 295 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:14,360 She was 68, he was 72. 296 00:19:14,360 --> 00:19:18,440 I feel as though I was robbed of my grandparents. 297 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:20,760 I loved them so much. 298 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:22,440 Before doing this programme, 299 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:24,440 I really didn't know to what extent 300 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:26,800 Birmingham had been affected by the Blitz 301 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:29,080 so this has been a real revelation to me. 302 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:32,080 I had no idea it was hit quite so hard. 303 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:37,720 Yes, because of the situation that we made everything in Birmingham - 304 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:41,640 Spitfires, bombs, you name it, we made it. 305 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:44,400 But it's a shame that Birmingham was forgotten. 306 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:51,880 It was quite an amazing experience in there, talking to Barbara. 307 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:54,640 She obviously still feels deeply the scars of war 308 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:57,800 and it's strange, I kind of decided to do this programme 309 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:00,040 because I thought maybe it would be interesting. 310 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:02,840 Actually, now, I feel as though I'm doing the programme 311 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:05,320 not just for myself, but for people like Barbara, 312 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:06,760 giving her a voice, really. 313 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:14,360 I've learned two things on this journey so far. 314 00:20:14,360 --> 00:20:17,040 Firstly, that Birmingham's wartime citizens suffered more 315 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:19,640 than the rest of the country realised 316 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:22,920 and secondly, that many of us born in the city afterwards 317 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:25,560 are equally unaware of what they actually went through. 318 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:31,640 One thing I do remember from growing up in Small Heath, though, 319 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:34,040 is the sound of motorbikes coming from the BSA plans 320 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:35,720 just over the railway. 321 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:39,720 At its peak, BSA took up the whole 322 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:42,440 of the Armoury Road industrial estate. 323 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:45,720 It was the largest motorcycle producer in the world, 324 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:50,000 but the company started by making weapons and, during the war, 325 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:54,640 it turned out more than half the country's rifles and machine guns. 326 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:57,320 One of the jobs now being turned out in huge quantities 327 00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:00,920 by munition workers is the Sten gun. 328 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:03,760 This is a light automatic, which can eventually be manufactured 329 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:05,720 at a cost of under £2. 330 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:09,640 In wartime, factories like this in and around Birmingham 331 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:11,520 were working around the clock, 332 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:14,240 making the weapons our troops needed so badly. 333 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:18,800 'Today, BSA's motorbikes are long gone, 334 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:21,120 'but it's still in the armoury business 335 00:21:21,120 --> 00:21:23,280 'and factory manager David Williams 336 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:26,160 'is giving me a reminder of its illustrious past.' 337 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:28,680 - All right, Dave, if you'd like to come this way. - Right. 338 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:31,120 It'll be up on the top rack somewhere along here. 339 00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:34,080 Here you are - Lee-Enfield carbine. 340 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:41,800 This is the type of gun used at the beginning 341 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:44,080 of the Second World War. 342 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:48,320 The Lee-Enfield, as you can see, the condition is actually perfect. 343 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:50,280 - It's got some weight to it, hasn't it? - Yeah. 344 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:53,560 It's a five shot because it's got one shot in the mag, 345 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:57,400 three in the bag and you bolt, shoot, fire, bolt, shoot, fire, 346 00:21:57,400 --> 00:21:59,400 five shots and refill your mag. 347 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,160 So, these would have been used by soldiers 348 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:04,600 fighting in the Second World War. 349 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:06,120 Yeah, they started with these. 350 00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:09,400 The Lee-Enfield was one of the most famous guns for the Second World War 351 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:11,160 and it carried all the way through. 352 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:14,520 You can make that gun today, do exactly the same thing 353 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:18,040 and it would be a lot lighter with different materials. 354 00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:20,320 Brilliant Brummie engineering, that. 355 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:26,800 'As a Brummie, I can't help but feel pride in the skills 356 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:28,920 'of the local craftsmen and engineers 357 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:30,560 'that are so in evidence here. 358 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:36,040 'But it was those same skills that made the city a target. 359 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:38,440 'Carl Chinn is a local historian.' 360 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:43,120 This is a fascinating photo, David, because it's taken in April 1940. 361 00:22:43,120 --> 00:22:45,200 We've got the King, King George V, 362 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:48,560 with Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, coming to the BSA. 363 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:50,160 Morale was crucial. 364 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:52,080 Britain is preparing for war 365 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:55,960 and one of the main centres of gun production in the country 366 00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:59,240 was the Birmingham Small Arms - the BSA. 367 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:01,240 Do you know, I've only just got... 368 00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:04,160 Birmingham Small Arms, I've only just got it in my head. 369 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:08,240 You're not on your own because, as Brummies, we tend to think BSA - 370 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:11,960 motorcycles or bikes, but particularly motorbikes, don't we? 371 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:15,760 And it grew into lots of different fields, hence why we tend 372 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:20,360 to overlook the fact that it remained a major producer of weaponry. 373 00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:21,800 By the end of the Second World War, 374 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:25,320 400,000 people in Birmingham were involved in munitions work. 375 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:28,200 That was a higher proportion than anywhere else in the country. 376 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:31,000 Do you think the people, the workers and the factories, 377 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:33,280 realised how important their efforts were? 378 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:35,880 I'm certain they knew how important their efforts were, 379 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:38,840 but I think the people of Birmingham have been overlooked so long 380 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:41,200 in their contribution to the war effort 381 00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:44,760 that it's important that that contribution is recognised. 382 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:47,480 As well as armaments, 383 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:51,760 Birmingham was a massive producer of military vehicles and aircraft. 384 00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:55,320 At its height, the Spitfire plant in Castle Bromwich 385 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:58,000 turned out 50 planes a week. 386 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,840 Producers of British aircraft have already proved 387 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:03,040 that they turn out the best planes in the world. 388 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:04,680 They're now intent on proving 389 00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:07,760 that Britain is first in quantity as well as in quality. 390 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:09,240 These are Spitfires in the making 391 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:11,520 and everybody knows what they have done for Britain, 392 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:13,760 thanks to the skill of British workers 393 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:15,920 as well as to the pilots themselves. 394 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:20,320 'It's incredible to think how much manufacturing was actually going on, 395 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:22,160 'but I've seen the target maps 396 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:24,840 'and I'm wondering how people kept working 397 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:27,360 'when the threat of bombing was so real.' 398 00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:29,600 The idea that you were a target 399 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:32,800 and you were going to get bombed every night, 400 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:35,200 were people kind of frightened? 401 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:37,880 There must been a hell of a lot of fear amongst... 402 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:39,720 Obviously there was fear and that spirit 403 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:41,520 that kept the people of Birmingham going 404 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:43,960 was the same spirit that was shown across the country, 405 00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:46,000 particularly in working class neighbourhoods 406 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:48,160 cos it was the working-class neighbourhoods 407 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:49,920 across Britain that were targeted 408 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:52,400 because the factories were cheek-by-jowl with housing. 409 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:55,160 So, you know, you're there in the factories, 410 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:56,600 you hear the air raid sirens. 411 00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:59,240 Would everyone just immediately drop tools? 412 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:00,360 In many of the factories, 413 00:25:00,360 --> 00:25:02,480 they didn't run into the shelter straightaway. 414 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:04,280 It was whether they could feel 415 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:07,040 that the air raid was coming closer and closer, 416 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:09,520 that's what happened at the BSA on 19th November. 417 00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:12,600 The air raid began at 7.23pm and the sirens were sounded, 418 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:16,480 - but workers kept on working in the new building. - It's extraordinary. 419 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:20,280 Sadly, when the two bombs dropped at 9.25pm 420 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:24,000 and hit the southern end of the new building, it destroyed it. 421 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:27,320 Can you imagine it, David? All the machinery smashed all the place. 422 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:28,960 Pretty heavy machinery as well. 423 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:32,840 Heavy machinery crushing people, trapping people, killing people. 424 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:36,320 It must have been like a scene from Dante's Inferno. 425 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:40,200 The bombing of the BSA on 19th November 426 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:44,560 was one of the worst tragedies of the Birmingham Blitz. 427 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:47,680 The factory's own archive contains a harrowing account 428 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:49,080 written by an employee. 429 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:54,840 "Hundreds of workers at once make their way to the shelters 430 00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:57,960 "but others, like myself, just take it as the siren - 431 00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:00,960 "just the same siren we have heard scores of times in the past 432 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:04,400 "and continue with our work. 433 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:06,840 "Perhaps they will be driven off before they reach us. 434 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:09,440 "Perhaps this, perhaps that. 435 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:13,000 "But there is work to do... and money to be made. 436 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:14,120 "So we just carry on. 437 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:17,280 "Some workers shout out remarks - 438 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:20,040 "one saying, 'Coming early to see us tonight?' 439 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:24,840 "Another, more serious, says, 'Looks like a bad night coming.' 440 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:29,440 "The guns are still going, planes still rumbling overhead. 441 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:31,320 "Then comes a dull thud. 442 00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:34,880 "Bright light stabs the darkness for a second. 443 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:36,000 "Then a rumbling noise, 444 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,160 "as though the whole building has been crushed 445 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:40,040 "with a pair of huge pincers. 446 00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:46,640 "The one thing I had always thought would never happen had happened. 447 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:48,320 "A bomb had hit the outside wall 448 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:50,600 "and the whole building had collapsed, 449 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:52,000 "like a pack of cards. 450 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:57,800 "I think of my wife, Margaret, and I wonder what she will do 451 00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:00,440 "when they tell her that I am gone." 452 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:05,840 I never knew the factories of Birmingham, 453 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:07,120 especially Small Heath, 454 00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:09,640 were so vital to the war against the Nazis. 455 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:13,520 But there's much more to my old neighbourhood than industry - 456 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:17,360 in fact, it's home to something that, for me, 457 00:27:17,360 --> 00:27:20,280 will always be priceless. 458 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:23,840 So, when I was growing up, my first love, 459 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:28,080 apart from the girl cross the road, and probably Julie Lynch, 460 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:32,320 was, is, and still remains the mighty Birmingham City. 461 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:37,200 Like the BSA factory, the ground is in Small Heath, 462 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:40,200 and I am wondering if they were still playing matches during the war 463 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:43,240 and if, in fact, the ground itself was bombed. 464 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:46,560 Onto the hallowed turf. 465 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:52,080 # Keep right on to the end of the road 466 00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:54,240 # Keep right on to the end... # 467 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:56,560 I've arrange to meet sports historian Matt Taylor 468 00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:59,280 and, I have to say, it's great to be back at St Andrews. 469 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:03,360 So, this isn't where the current squad 470 00:28:03,360 --> 00:28:05,040 come onto the pitch, though, is it? 471 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:06,240 No, they used to, though, 472 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:08,200 and actually, the ground has changed a lot. 473 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:10,080 It's a lot smaller than it used to be. 474 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:12,520 It was much bigger before the war - in actual fact, 475 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:16,560 Birmingham had one of their biggest attendances in February 1939, 476 00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:21,000 when 66,000 came to watch an FA Cup fifth round tie against Everton. 477 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:23,360 - Did we win? - No, I'm afraid you didn't. 478 00:28:23,360 --> 00:28:27,160 And also Birmingham got relegated from the First Division that season. 479 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:28,440 Keep right on. 480 00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:29,840 When Britain entered the war, 481 00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:32,040 the government banned professional football, 482 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:35,040 but it soon realised the game was vital for morale, 483 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:36,960 so they relaxed the regulations. 484 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:39,720 Wartime football could be chaotic. 485 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:42,000 Many stars had been called up to serve abroad. 486 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,760 Those still at home played for the nearest club to their barracks. 487 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:47,360 But travel was restricted 488 00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:50,960 and games were often called off because of air raids. 489 00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:53,160 Plenty of matches did go ahead, though, 490 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:54,880 and in cities like Birmingham, 491 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:57,520 they must have come as a welcome diversion. 492 00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:01,360 So, Birmingham got relegated at the start of the war. 493 00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:04,440 Were they still playing football throughout the course of the war? 494 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:06,240 Well, they were, but not at St Andrews. 495 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:08,400 It was actually quite a controversial incident, 496 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:11,640 because it was up to the local chief of police 497 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:13,360 to decide if he considered 498 00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:14,960 that there was too much danger 499 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:17,960 in putting on forms of entertainment and he decided 500 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:19,720 it was in such a dangerous position - 501 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:23,440 very close to the city centre, close to munitions and arms works 502 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:26,200 and it was very close to the railway lines. 503 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:29,680 And he decided, basically, not to allow the ground to open. 504 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:33,720 And how was that taken amongst the people of Birmingham? 505 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:35,000 Well, they weren't happy. 506 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:36,960 Directors made complaints 507 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:40,960 and supporters wrote letters to the local paper, saying things like, 508 00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:43,920 "The chief constable is killing our Saturday afternoons." 509 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:47,640 It even led to questions in Parliament. 510 00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:53,080 - I've got a copy here of a Hansard, from February 1940. - Here we go. 511 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:56,240 "Is my Right Honourable Friend aware 512 00:29:56,240 --> 00:29:58,720 "that Birmingham is the only town in England 513 00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:01,800 "where first-class football is disallowed, 514 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:04,440 "that all sections of the public in Birmingham are desirous 515 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:05,880 "that it should be permitted?" 516 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:09,920 So, basically, people were unhappy that, as you say, 517 00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:12,560 they couldn't watch their Saturday afternoon sport, right? 518 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:14,560 Yeah, that's right, and in the end, 519 00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:16,320 it was basically only the pressure 520 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:18,400 which, I think came right from the centre, 521 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:20,160 came from the Home Secretary, 522 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:23,120 and the fact that Birmingham was the only ground which was closed 523 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:25,080 at this time, the only first-class ground, 524 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:28,520 which, in the end, made the chief constable change his mind. 525 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:33,360 So Birmingham played their first match of the war just after that. 526 00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:36,320 And was the ground actually hit during the war? 527 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:38,520 It was, actually, the chief constable was right. 528 00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:40,480 It was hit on numerous occasions. 529 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:42,880 Eddie Hapgood, who was an Arsenal player 530 00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:46,440 and an England player in the war, came to play a match here 531 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:49,480 and he talked about "bomb-scarred St Andrews", 532 00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:52,280 and he said this was the most bomb-damaged ground 533 00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:54,440 - of the Second World War. - Wow. 534 00:30:57,200 --> 00:30:59,560 This journey into Birmingham's wartime past 535 00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:01,760 gets ever more fascinating, 536 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:04,880 but no story on how the Midlands suffered during the Blitz 537 00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:09,160 is complete without travelling 20-odd miles east, to Coventry. 538 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:14,520 When I was a kid, getting the bus to here from Small Heath 539 00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:17,840 was as easy as going into Birmingham City Centre. 540 00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:22,040 I know the place really well, but I've never seen it like this. 541 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:26,960 We are coming in from the angle 542 00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:32,040 that most of the bombers from air fleets two and three 543 00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:35,840 would have flown on the night attacks. 544 00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:45,480 And the first attack which took place, 545 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:48,920 the night of the 14th and 15th of November, 546 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:53,880 was on Coventry, but the shock of this night attack, 547 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:57,400 the destruction that it inflicted on the town, 548 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:01,920 really changed the regional mood, as well as anything else. 549 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:08,440 On the 14th November, 1940, it became a city of destruction. 550 00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:12,640 For three nights, the German bombers attacked in their fullest force. 551 00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:16,440 This is introduced new word into the vocabulary of mass murder - 552 00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:18,120 "to coventrate". 553 00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:21,680 - There, you can see the modern cathedral. - Yeah. 554 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:27,480 - And you can see the nave of the burned-out cathedral. - Yes. 555 00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:30,880 And this whole area, the 14th and 15th of November, 556 00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:32,840 would have been a sea of flame. 557 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:38,760 The 11-hour raid on Coventry left the city in ruins. 558 00:32:38,760 --> 00:32:42,200 The bombs destroyed more than 2,000 homes, 559 00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:45,280 damaged nearly two-thirds of the city's factories, 560 00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:47,960 and killed over 500 of its people. 561 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:51,640 This place of guilds and crafts and medieval ceremony, 562 00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:56,720 into a rich trade town, into a great centre of industry, 563 00:32:56,720 --> 00:32:59,960 into a burnt, bombed city, 564 00:32:59,960 --> 00:33:01,960 it didn't die. 565 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:06,840 In front of the wing, you can see all of those buildings are post-war. 566 00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:09,840 Yes, Chris, you can really see they are all modern buildings. 567 00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:13,400 I hadn't really, um...got an appreciation of that, 568 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:15,280 just how much of it is post-war. 569 00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:17,480 From this vantage point, 570 00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:21,520 it's obvious that most of Coventry's centre has had to be replaced. 571 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:24,760 But, to be honest, I couldn't see many pre-war buildings 572 00:33:24,760 --> 00:33:27,160 during my flight over Birmingham, either. 573 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:30,120 There is a definite feeling amongst the people I've talked to that, 574 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:32,680 whilst Coventry's suffering caught Britain's attention, 575 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:37,200 Birmingham's experience was somehow hidden from public view. 576 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:42,320 Is that true? And, if so, was there any official reason? 577 00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:47,800 I am at the BBC Birmingham newsroom to meet media historian Mike Temple. 578 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:50,920 - ARCHIVE REPORT: - The martyred city of Coventry - 579 00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:53,480 amid the wholesale wreckage of a noble city, 580 00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:56,640 crushed by the force of hundreds of tons of bombs, 581 00:33:56,640 --> 00:34:00,120 the steeple of her one-time beautiful 14th century cathedral 582 00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:03,920 looks down on a scene of indescribable desolation. 583 00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:07,800 I've remember going to Coventry as a kid and seeing, you know, 584 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:11,560 the destruction of the cathedral and reading about it. 585 00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:13,320 But I don't remember hearing anything 586 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:15,280 about the destruction of Birmingham. 587 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:17,360 Well, many people didn't, because, of course, 588 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:20,200 Coventry and London were the two cities that were highlighted 589 00:34:20,200 --> 00:34:22,240 and, you know, the experiences of Birmingham 590 00:34:22,240 --> 00:34:26,000 were largely hidden behind a sort of...a wartime censorship. 591 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:28,560 So was there official censorship? 592 00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:32,520 Cos I was under the impression that the reason that Birmingham 593 00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:35,360 was not reported was because they had Spitfires there, 594 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:38,120 the BSA factory, they had all the munitions factories there. 595 00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:42,280 Certainly, Birmingham was a key strategic target 596 00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:46,960 for the Germans, a key industrial powerhouse, 597 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:49,400 if you like, of the UK and the Midlands. 598 00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:52,720 So this was an official reason, but, of course, 599 00:34:52,720 --> 00:34:55,360 another reason was not to spread fear and despondency. 600 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:56,560 So, in a sense, 601 00:34:56,560 --> 00:34:59,320 it was almost what you might call positive censorship, right? 602 00:34:59,320 --> 00:35:01,360 Yeah, that was a good way of putting it. 603 00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:03,920 It was not censorship in the sense that someone was standing 604 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:05,560 over your shoulder all the time. 605 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:07,760 There was a great deal of self-censorship as well. 606 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,480 These pictures from the north-east area... 607 00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:15,880 There, we have a reference to "the north-east area", 608 00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:19,000 an example of the sort of voluntary censorship that was taking place. 609 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:23,320 Birmingham, typically, was described as "a Midlands town". 610 00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:26,640 Manchester...the Manchester Guardian was not even allowed to report 611 00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:28,240 that Manchester had been hit. 612 00:35:28,240 --> 00:35:31,120 It was "an inland town in north-west England". 613 00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:34,840 All this was supposedly designed so that the enemy wouldn't know 614 00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:36,760 how successful or otherwise they had been. 615 00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:40,520 What we are seeing is massive destruction in Coventry, 616 00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:46,640 almost apocalyptic scenes of death and destruction - 617 00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:49,320 if we contrast these with the pictures from Birmingham, 618 00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:50,720 which don't have sound, 619 00:35:50,720 --> 00:35:54,480 we see a slightly different view of the world. 620 00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:57,040 So, what we're seeing here in Birmingham is not images 621 00:35:57,040 --> 00:35:58,280 of death and destruction - 622 00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:01,320 what we are seeing is images of "life will go on", if you like. 623 00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:04,160 They are the phlegmatic British population - 624 00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:06,400 we'll carry on, they'll move house, 625 00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:10,440 they'll collect their water, they will get by. 626 00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:12,840 These pictures are for different purposes. 627 00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:14,800 Look, Joey still survives. 628 00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:17,760 We will go on, the British way of life will continue. 629 00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:20,520 Why would those pictures be broadcast like that? 630 00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:23,320 It was necessary to create that myth, if you like, 631 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:25,000 of the British people all together, 632 00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:29,720 the fact that whatever Jerry threw at us, we could take it. 633 00:36:29,720 --> 00:36:33,880 We have to remember that in 1939, and especially by 1940, 634 00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:36,200 it looked like Britain was losing the war. 635 00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:40,440 The British people were in a situation where the mightiest, 636 00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:43,440 perhaps the evilest political force world has ever known, 637 00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:46,480 were poised at the other side of the Channel, ready to invade. 638 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:49,000 HE SPEAKS IN GERMAN 639 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:54,320 People genuinely thought that English civilisation, 640 00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:57,640 English society, might end any day now. 641 00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:01,760 Inevitably, in that particular time, there has to be some sort of control 642 00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:04,040 over what's been said and what is being done. 643 00:37:04,040 --> 00:37:06,480 The myth, if you like, of we're all in it together 644 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:08,760 is essential at a time of total war. 645 00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:11,440 I had no idea 646 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:14,080 that the way Birmingham's Blitz experience was reported 647 00:37:14,080 --> 00:37:18,080 was a key part of Britain's propaganda war. 648 00:37:18,080 --> 00:37:19,880 No idea at all. 649 00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:25,160 In my fictional role as head of counter-terrorism, 650 00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:30,080 I learned all about covering up information for the greater good. 651 00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:31,920 And I suppose the government of the day 652 00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:34,880 were just doing exactly the same, thinking that, you know, 653 00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:36,280 in order to keep up morale, 654 00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:38,680 they should keep people relatively in the dark 655 00:37:38,680 --> 00:37:41,240 about what was really, really going on. 656 00:37:41,240 --> 00:37:42,960 But that was then. 657 00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:45,240 And I think it's about time 658 00:37:45,240 --> 00:37:47,480 Birmingham's contribution to the war effort 659 00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:51,200 received a bit of acknowledgement, really. 660 00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:58,480 I am nearing the end of my Blitz journey, 661 00:37:58,480 --> 00:37:59,840 but before I finish, 662 00:37:59,840 --> 00:38:02,280 I want to catch up with Barbara Johnson, 663 00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:03,600 who I met earlier. 664 00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:05,840 Oh, hi. Don't get up... 665 00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:09,480 'She has invited me along to chat to some of her friends from BARA - 666 00:38:09,480 --> 00:38:13,040 'the Birmingham air raid survival group. 667 00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:14,680 'What stories they all have.' 668 00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:18,520 How often did you have to go down into the shelters? 669 00:38:18,520 --> 00:38:20,280 Was it every night, every other night? 670 00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:23,240 Went every night, because we lived up on the second floor, 671 00:38:23,240 --> 00:38:25,120 and, of course, when raids started, 672 00:38:25,120 --> 00:38:26,720 you want to be in your shelter 673 00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:27,880 as quickly as you could. 674 00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:30,840 I mean, the noise of the bombs falling 675 00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:32,400 must have been extraordinary. 676 00:38:32,400 --> 00:38:35,840 - Oh, yeah, yeah. Definitely. - Can you remember that? 677 00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:38,240 Yeah, quite frightening, really. 678 00:38:38,240 --> 00:38:41,840 So, whose decision was it to go down into the shelters? 679 00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:43,440 It was your parents'. 680 00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:45,720 My mum used to leave our coats 681 00:38:45,720 --> 00:38:47,680 and shoes ready for us 682 00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:50,840 to put them on and run to the shelters as fast as we could. 683 00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:57,040 My mum to make cocoa, she used to make six jugs of cocoa 684 00:38:57,040 --> 00:39:00,480 and we got my grandad's old box on wheels 685 00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:03,400 we used to go around with this box on wheels, 686 00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:05,920 giving drinks of cocoa to the firemen, 687 00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:09,040 because we had some hard winters during the war. 688 00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:12,520 And in the winters, I've even heard their sleeves crack, 689 00:39:12,520 --> 00:39:14,200 because they'd been frozen. 690 00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:17,360 'Like Barbara, Mary has some painful memories 691 00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:19,200 'of her wartime childhood.' 692 00:39:19,200 --> 00:39:22,920 So, my two elder sisters and myself, 693 00:39:22,920 --> 00:39:24,640 we were all evacuated. 694 00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:27,200 - You didn't get to choose where you went? - Oh, no, no. 695 00:39:27,200 --> 00:39:30,360 We just stood in the field, in a big, long row, 696 00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:34,280 and then people from the village just came along and said, 697 00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:36,920 "Come on, you can come with me. Come on, you can come with me." 698 00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:38,560 And that is how it worked. 699 00:39:38,560 --> 00:39:41,520 And they never thought, you know, "This is a family..." 700 00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:44,880 Oh, no. I mean, they didn't even ask our names. 701 00:39:44,880 --> 00:39:47,400 My two sisters went to other people 702 00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:49,760 and I went to a lady named Mrs Bree. 703 00:39:51,120 --> 00:39:53,680 That was terrifying, really, because I mean, 704 00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:56,040 I was still only five years of age. 705 00:39:56,040 --> 00:39:57,760 And then, one day, 706 00:39:57,760 --> 00:39:59,800 this gentleman stepped out of a car 707 00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:03,200 and he says, "I'm your uncle." 708 00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:06,840 I'd never seen him before, I hadn't got a clue who he was. 709 00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:10,040 And he says, "You're coming to live with us." 710 00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:13,720 I was really scared, because I didn't know the people. 711 00:40:13,720 --> 00:40:16,040 They just had one daughter 712 00:40:16,040 --> 00:40:19,800 and I thought, "Well, what's going to happen to me?" 713 00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:21,960 And I kept asking my aunt, 714 00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:25,440 "When's Mum and Dad coming to fetch me?" 715 00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:28,680 And she continually said, "Soon as the war is over, 716 00:40:28,680 --> 00:40:29,960 "they'll be coming. 717 00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:32,480 "They'll bring you a lovely pram and a doll." 718 00:40:32,480 --> 00:40:34,760 So, of course, that pleased me. 719 00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:38,560 So, I reached about 11 or 12. 720 00:40:38,560 --> 00:40:40,960 I was in the local fish and chip shop, 721 00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:44,760 and I overheard two ladies talking 722 00:40:44,760 --> 00:40:47,960 and they were sort of nodding in my direction. 723 00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:52,120 "Oh, that's the little girl whose mum and dad and sisters got killed." 724 00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:55,680 So, I just couldn't believe what I was hearing. 725 00:40:55,680 --> 00:40:59,720 So, I ran over home and I said to my aunt, 726 00:40:59,720 --> 00:41:02,000 "Is that true, what I've just heard - 727 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:03,880 "that Mum and Dad are dead?" 728 00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:05,960 And she just said, "Yes." 729 00:41:05,960 --> 00:41:09,440 And I just ran upstairs and I just sobbed and sobbed and sobbed, 730 00:41:09,440 --> 00:41:12,800 and I thought, "I'm never going to see them again", you know. 731 00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:15,800 It was terrible. It really was. 732 00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:18,640 How...how...? 733 00:41:18,640 --> 00:41:20,000 HE CLEARS HIS THROAT 734 00:41:25,240 --> 00:41:29,480 How long was it, um...until you met your sister? 735 00:41:29,480 --> 00:41:32,160 Time went on and, um... 736 00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:37,360 I just asked my aunt and uncle about my sisters, my two elder sisters. 737 00:41:37,360 --> 00:41:40,320 And they did eventually follow them up. 738 00:41:40,320 --> 00:41:44,280 But we never had anything in common, because we'd all been split up. 739 00:41:47,680 --> 00:41:49,800 - Thank you so much for that. - Thank you. 740 00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:52,280 Appreciate it. 741 00:41:54,080 --> 00:41:56,440 'I'm an actor, but when you hear stories like that' 742 00:41:56,440 --> 00:42:00,400 you realise that real life can be much more raw and emotional 743 00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:02,120 than any drama. 744 00:42:03,640 --> 00:42:07,160 I want to end my journey with a visit to The Tree Of Life - 745 00:42:07,160 --> 00:42:08,720 a monument that those ladies 746 00:42:08,720 --> 00:42:11,280 campaigned to have put on public display. 747 00:42:11,280 --> 00:42:14,760 On its base are the names of the victims of Birmingham's Blitz, 748 00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:17,000 including Barbara Johnson's grandparents. 749 00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:22,640 Oh, there they are - the names of her grandfather and grandmother. 750 00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:25,360 Having met Barbara yesterday 751 00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:28,280 'and held a picture of her grandparents, 752 00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:31,240 'I have some kind of physical connection to it, so...' 753 00:42:32,960 --> 00:42:34,480 Yeah, it's quite... 754 00:42:34,480 --> 00:42:36,960 It's quite moving, when you think about it. 755 00:42:40,520 --> 00:42:44,480 I've recognised it really is a tough resolve of people 756 00:42:44,480 --> 00:42:46,200 in this city 757 00:42:46,200 --> 00:42:48,040 and you look at how modern it is now, 758 00:42:48,040 --> 00:42:51,200 you look around and see how it is continuing to evolve 759 00:42:51,200 --> 00:42:52,440 and continuing to grow. 760 00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:54,600 It makes you feel enormously proud 761 00:42:54,600 --> 00:42:58,960 that...not only have we come through an incredibly traumatic experience, 762 00:42:58,960 --> 00:43:01,760 but we continue to move forward. 763 00:43:01,760 --> 00:43:03,840 It makes you feel enormously proud 764 00:43:03,840 --> 00:43:08,280 and I think we owe that generation of people 765 00:43:08,280 --> 00:43:10,440 a tremendous debt of gratitude, 766 00:43:10,440 --> 00:43:14,200 because they showed incredible strength 767 00:43:14,200 --> 00:43:17,000 and, if it weren't for them, perhaps, 768 00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:22,400 you know...we'd maybe be facing a very, very different history. 769 00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:39,440 # Why do you whisper, green grass? 770 00:43:39,440 --> 00:43:44,520 # Why tell the trees what ain't so? 771 00:43:44,520 --> 00:43:51,800 # Whispering grass, the trees don't have to know... #