1 00:00:01,287 --> 00:00:03,039 (Gulls cry) 2 00:00:05,727 --> 00:00:08,161 This is Coast. 3 00:00:42,767 --> 00:00:46,237 The wild islands of the British lsles. 4 00:00:46,967 --> 00:00:50,357 Splinters of land, oceans of water. 5 00:00:51,287 --> 00:00:55,724 At times the sea protects, at others it attacks! 6 00:00:56,327 --> 00:01:02,084 Rocky islets rise like sparkling jewels, ripe for the taking, 7 00:01:02,127 --> 00:01:04,402 a tempting target for invaders. 8 00:01:06,087 --> 00:01:11,081 From hostile incursions to the welcome influx of wildlife. 9 00:01:13,967 --> 00:01:18,722 We'll reveal surprising stories of invasions around our shores. 10 00:01:21,407 --> 00:01:25,082 My base of operations is on the Channel lslands, 11 00:01:25,127 --> 00:01:30,565 where remarkably some German strongholds are still unexplored. 12 00:01:32,127 --> 00:01:35,722 Now l'm gearing up for an invasion of my own. 13 00:01:36,607 --> 00:01:39,758 l'm breaking into a sealed Nazi bunker. 14 00:01:40,327 --> 00:01:43,160 Nobody's seen this for more than 60 years. 15 00:01:45,847 --> 00:01:49,078 And the team are gearing up for invasions too. 16 00:01:49,607 --> 00:01:55,637 Out on the lsle of Man, Ruth is bracing herself for a mighty sea-born assault. 17 00:01:55,687 --> 00:01:57,518 The leather-clad clans are gathering. 18 00:02:01,287 --> 00:02:02,766 The TT is in town. 19 00:02:05,927 --> 00:02:12,958 On a tiny Scottish isle Andy is hunting for animal invaders - little furry ones! 20 00:02:13,207 --> 00:02:15,641 The amazing thing is is that this entire colony, 21 00:02:15,687 --> 00:02:18,360 hundreds of individuals from one pregnant female. 22 00:02:20,007 --> 00:02:27,641 And Tessa is flying back to the First World War as she's blown away by aerial invaders. 23 00:02:27,687 --> 00:02:29,200 Beware the Zeppelins! 24 00:02:29,247 --> 00:02:34,321 Terrifying dogfights to the death, pitting bi-planes against airships. 25 00:02:42,447 --> 00:02:46,326 These stories tell of the lnvaders of the lsles. 26 00:02:50,887 --> 00:02:56,405 My island destination sits in the firing line between England and France. 27 00:02:56,447 --> 00:02:58,438 l'm heading to Guernsey. 28 00:03:06,087 --> 00:03:12,401 Guernsey's the ideal place to recall both the risks, and the rewards of invasion. 29 00:03:14,047 --> 00:03:18,484 lts islanders made good money from historic battles with France. 30 00:03:19,487 --> 00:03:26,837 l'll be exploring how swashbuckling Guernsey sailors ran rings around Napoleon's navy. 31 00:03:28,447 --> 00:03:33,999 But in the Second World War the people felt the full force of Hitler's invading army. 32 00:03:35,447 --> 00:03:37,039 (Whooping) 33 00:03:38,487 --> 00:03:43,959 Now the heavens explode each year to mark the end of German occupation. 34 00:03:45,567 --> 00:03:52,678 Guernsey is celebrating its liberty, a night that burns bright with the memories of invasion. 35 00:03:54,607 --> 00:03:59,761 ln June 1 940 it wasn't friendly fire that lit up the skies. 36 00:04:02,087 --> 00:04:07,241 The dark hand of the Third Reich was about to grasp the lsle of Guernsey. 37 00:04:08,487 --> 00:04:14,756 With invasion inevitable islanders had a stark choice.' stay or go. 38 00:04:16,927 --> 00:04:20,476 l've got here a copy of the Guernsey newspaper, The Evening Press, 39 00:04:20,527 --> 00:04:24,600 dated Wednesday June 1 9th, 1 940. 40 00:04:24,647 --> 00:04:30,722 lt reads: ''Evacuation Of Children: Parents must report this evening''. 41 00:04:30,767 --> 00:04:34,123 Well, these parents were being given just a few hours to decide 42 00:04:34,167 --> 00:04:36,965 whether to stay or to leave the island. 43 00:04:37,007 --> 00:04:41,797 The following morning that quayside over there was packed with people queuing up 44 00:04:41,847 --> 00:04:43,838 to board ships back to England. 45 00:04:46,247 --> 00:04:52,038 Seven-year-old Paulette Tapp's mother was dead, and her father was away fighting, 46 00:04:52,087 --> 00:04:55,762 so her grandmother decided Paulette should be evacuated. 47 00:04:55,807 --> 00:04:56,876 (Gulls cry) 48 00:04:56,927 --> 00:04:58,485 ls this you in this photograph? 49 00:04:58,527 --> 00:05:02,805 Well, this is my grandmother, and that was me when l was three years old. 50 00:05:02,847 --> 00:05:05,520 - Did she go with you? - No, no, no. l was on my own. 51 00:05:05,567 --> 00:05:08,286 Completely on my own. There was nobody. 52 00:05:08,327 --> 00:05:12,081 While Paulette left for an uncertain future in England, 53 00:05:12,127 --> 00:05:15,517 on Guernsey, a little boy remained on the quayside. 54 00:05:15,567 --> 00:05:17,842 - Very good to meet you. - How do you do? 55 00:05:17,887 --> 00:05:20,799 Stanley Bichard was the middle one of three boys... 56 00:05:22,607 --> 00:05:26,316 ..who with their mum and dad were about to experience invasion. 57 00:05:28,487 --> 00:05:34,039 Just days after the evacuations Guernsey's harbour was bombed, many were killed. 58 00:05:35,967 --> 00:05:38,800 Two days later the island was occupied. 59 00:05:39,407 --> 00:05:42,444 The German invaders took their pick of the houses, 60 00:05:42,487 --> 00:05:45,957 including the one next door to Stanley's family. 61 00:05:47,127 --> 00:05:48,685 - Strange neighbours. - Yeah. 62 00:05:48,727 --> 00:05:52,879 And the week after, they came in and they knocked the back door, into my mum, and said, 63 00:05:52,927 --> 00:05:55,805 ''We'd like you to do some washing for the Germans.'' 64 00:05:55,847 --> 00:05:59,044 So my mum said, ''No, l don't do washing for German soldiers.'' 65 00:05:59,087 --> 00:06:01,317 They said, ''You will wash for the soldiers 66 00:06:01,367 --> 00:06:04,484 or you will vacate your premises by the end of the week.'' 67 00:06:04,967 --> 00:06:08,516 And, of course, there's five of us in the family - where are we going? 68 00:06:11,127 --> 00:06:15,086 Many island children had gone to seek safety on the mainland. 69 00:06:16,327 --> 00:06:21,401 Seven-year-old Paulette, travelling alone, was evacuated to Cheshire, 70 00:06:21,447 --> 00:06:23,438 to be looked after by nuns. 71 00:06:24,167 --> 00:06:30,322 This homesick little girl was about to acquire a very special guardian angel. 72 00:06:30,727 --> 00:06:37,485 Remember, in this country, the gift must be based on your ability to give. 73 00:06:37,527 --> 00:06:41,042 NlCK: First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was coaxing American women 74 00:06:41,087 --> 00:06:43,078 to do their bit for the war effort. 75 00:06:43,727 --> 00:06:46,195 Mrs Roosevelt sought a young pen pal. 76 00:06:46,887 --> 00:06:50,516 She received a letter from a lonely girl in Cheshire. 77 00:06:51,727 --> 00:06:53,763 ''Dear Mrs Roosevelt, 78 00:06:53,807 --> 00:06:57,641 Well, first of all, l hope you are well and in good health. 79 00:06:57,687 --> 00:07:01,123 YOUNG PAULETTE: Please give my best regards to President Roosevelt. 80 00:07:01,167 --> 00:07:04,398 Thank you very much for the pretty green dress, it fits me just fine, 81 00:07:04,447 --> 00:07:06,438 and l love the blouse to go with it. 82 00:07:06,487 --> 00:07:08,557 Your loving foster child Paulette. '' 83 00:07:09,887 --> 00:07:14,597 NlCK: Meanwhile, guardian angels were in short supply on Guernsey. 84 00:07:14,647 --> 00:07:17,684 As the occupation wore on rations were meagre. 85 00:07:18,527 --> 00:07:21,837 Four ounces of meat a week for the family of five. 86 00:07:21,887 --> 00:07:25,516 - That's nothing. - Eggs were very hard to come by, 87 00:07:25,567 --> 00:07:29,276 because everybody killed the chickens to have food for eating it. 88 00:07:29,327 --> 00:07:33,240 ''We had a lovely supper, lemonade cakes and biscuits. 89 00:07:34,047 --> 00:07:36,436 Then for tea we all had a bar of chocolate.'' 90 00:07:36,807 --> 00:07:39,879 - Remember being hungry? - Oh, yeah. Yeah. 91 00:07:43,087 --> 00:07:45,078 Yes, a few times. 92 00:07:46,367 --> 00:07:49,040 lt must have been difficult for your mother knowing that. 93 00:07:49,087 --> 00:07:53,160 Mum and Dad, they suffered a lot at different times. Yeah. 94 00:07:54,167 --> 00:07:56,886 How do you feed a family of five when you've got nothing? 95 00:07:59,327 --> 00:08:03,161 Paulette had a full stomach but an empty heart. 96 00:08:03,567 --> 00:08:07,321 Her gran on occupied Guernsey couldn't get letters out. 97 00:08:08,607 --> 00:08:12,600 My only person that l really loved was my grandmother. 98 00:08:12,647 --> 00:08:17,437 l missed her cuddles and hugs, you know, because we didn't get many. 99 00:08:18,247 --> 00:08:22,081 They were good, the nuns, but we didn't have the love. 100 00:08:22,727 --> 00:08:26,481 Paulette's safe surroundings were tinged with sadness. 101 00:08:27,447 --> 00:08:32,237 For young Stanley the lush landscape of Guernsey may have been a war zone, 102 00:08:32,287 --> 00:08:34,642 but it was still his playground. 103 00:08:35,327 --> 00:08:39,798 A favourite prank was pelting passing cars with lumps of turf. 104 00:08:39,847 --> 00:08:44,079 l was just along there somewhere, a lovely turf about as big as my hand there. 105 00:08:44,127 --> 00:08:49,281 So when the car came, the window was open, l didn't know it was a German. 106 00:08:49,327 --> 00:08:53,843 l wasn't being brave or anything like that, but l spiffed the turf over the edge. 107 00:08:53,887 --> 00:08:57,436 lt went straight through the window and hit the officer straight in the face. 108 00:08:57,927 --> 00:09:02,079 And, of course, there was a squeak of the tyres and we hid. 109 00:09:02,127 --> 00:09:04,163 We were a bit petrified then. 110 00:09:04,207 --> 00:09:07,438 The headmaster of the school said they were going to take hostages, 111 00:09:07,487 --> 00:09:09,603 because they thought it was an act of sabotage. 112 00:09:09,647 --> 00:09:13,003 lt wasn't sabotage. lt was a game, like, you know? 113 00:09:13,287 --> 00:09:17,200 And we got away with it by writing a letter of apology to the commandant. 114 00:09:17,247 --> 00:09:19,238 They let us get away with it. 115 00:09:20,287 --> 00:09:22,755 German rule ground on for nearly five years. 116 00:09:24,327 --> 00:09:30,800 By the end the invaders were as much prisoners as the islanders - both were starving. 117 00:09:31,327 --> 00:09:35,479 STANLEY: After D-Day in Normandy there was nothing coming in at all, 118 00:09:35,527 --> 00:09:38,087 and, also, the Germans were suffering. 119 00:09:38,127 --> 00:09:40,766 - A lot of cats went missing during the war. - They ate them? 120 00:09:40,807 --> 00:09:43,765 - Yeah, and dogs. They had my dog. - They ate your dog? 121 00:09:43,807 --> 00:09:47,516 Oh, yeah. But you couldn't buy anything cos nothing was coming in. 122 00:09:49,007 --> 00:09:54,001 The desperate days ended on the 8th of May, 1 945. 123 00:09:56,007 --> 00:09:59,044 With the war over Paulette came home. 124 00:10:00,007 --> 00:10:04,762 But she's never met Stanley to share their different experiences of invasion. 125 00:10:06,047 --> 00:10:11,758 ls it better to leave home and be fed or to stay with your family and go hungry? 126 00:10:11,807 --> 00:10:13,957 l couldn't let my children go. 127 00:10:14,007 --> 00:10:16,680 l'd want them with me, l would try and do everything l could. 128 00:10:16,727 --> 00:10:19,287 lf somebody had been able to cuddle me, you know. 129 00:10:19,327 --> 00:10:22,239 And you miss that, don't you, when you're children? 130 00:10:22,287 --> 00:10:23,356 BOTH: Yeah. 131 00:10:23,407 --> 00:10:26,877 So, really, in that way, l suffered more emotionally, 132 00:10:26,927 --> 00:10:29,680 - and you suffered more with your food. - Without a doubt. 133 00:10:29,727 --> 00:10:31,718 Come for a little cuddle. 134 00:10:39,287 --> 00:10:43,439 Guernsey still counts the human cost of occupation. 135 00:10:44,887 --> 00:10:48,721 But elsewhere, there are invasions we're happy to see. 136 00:10:52,607 --> 00:10:57,681 Migrating birds re-colonise some remote outposts each year. 137 00:10:58,687 --> 00:11:01,963 Perfect perches to breed and feed. 138 00:11:07,287 --> 00:11:09,278 (Squawking) 139 00:11:13,647 --> 00:11:16,445 Seabirds come and go as they please, 140 00:11:16,487 --> 00:11:21,561 but journey to Scotland and you'll discover an odd group of animal invaders, 141 00:11:21,607 --> 00:11:23,916 trapped on the outcrop of Coreisa. 142 00:11:29,247 --> 00:11:35,163 Andy Torbet is in search of creatures living like Robinson Crusoe, 143 00:11:35,207 --> 00:11:37,641 castaways on a forgotten isle. 144 00:11:39,047 --> 00:11:43,598 The tiny island of Coreisa is a pinprick of rock out there. 145 00:11:44,007 --> 00:11:48,364 lt's only five miles from the shore, but, for most, it might as well be Mars. 146 00:11:50,807 --> 00:11:55,642 AND Y: No scheduled boats go there, so you have to find a local willing to take you. 147 00:11:57,207 --> 00:12:04,124 l'm seeking four-legged invaders discovered on a small isle near here in 1 964 148 00:12:04,167 --> 00:12:06,158 by an inquisitive explorer. 149 00:12:08,407 --> 00:12:13,197 This is Gordon Corbett, a curator of mammals at the Natural History Museum in London. 150 00:12:14,007 --> 00:12:18,762 He'd heard whispers of a mysterious creature living on an island in these waters - 151 00:12:18,807 --> 00:12:20,923 a colony that had no place being there. 152 00:12:23,127 --> 00:12:28,121 Locals thought they might be rats, but Gordon had his own suspicions. 153 00:12:28,767 --> 00:12:33,522 He travelled out to the island to catch one and take a specimen back to London. 154 00:12:33,887 --> 00:12:38,403 This is the animal he caught. He'd found a freshwater vole. 155 00:12:38,447 --> 00:12:42,156 How had this shy river creature crossed miles of seawater? 156 00:12:42,847 --> 00:12:45,281 How had it survived marooned on the island? 157 00:12:47,087 --> 00:12:52,923 lt was astonishing to discover water voles on tiny isles off Western Scotland. 158 00:12:53,887 --> 00:12:59,200 Normally, they thrive in freshwater avoiding the perils of the open seas. 159 00:13:00,647 --> 00:13:05,163 So how did water voles get to this rocky outcrop, Coreisa? 160 00:13:07,687 --> 00:13:11,362 Did a pregnant female find herself on a passing boat? 161 00:13:11,407 --> 00:13:13,967 Or were they washed out on sea currents? 162 00:13:14,447 --> 00:13:18,998 However it happened, once ashore, these invaders were quite alone. 163 00:13:20,047 --> 00:13:22,197 People pass by the island but er... 164 00:13:22,247 --> 00:13:27,765 but it's very rarely that l ever see anybody go on the island or even looking in on it. 165 00:13:27,807 --> 00:13:30,241 No, it's pretty well untouched, aye. 166 00:13:33,287 --> 00:13:36,996 The island of Coreisa is about the size of three football pitches. 167 00:13:37,767 --> 00:13:40,725 There's little shelter and no running water. 168 00:13:43,327 --> 00:13:46,205 But for the next two days this is home. 169 00:13:47,607 --> 00:13:49,245 And l've got company. 170 00:13:50,167 --> 00:13:55,082 Scientists from Aberdeen University are studying how, over generations, 171 00:13:55,127 --> 00:13:58,437 the voles have adapted to this alien environment. 172 00:13:59,327 --> 00:14:02,603 Helping me get settled is biologist Matt Oliver. 173 00:14:03,287 --> 00:14:07,041 Well, interestingly the water voles here have a very different behaviour 174 00:14:07,087 --> 00:14:10,762 and eco-type from water voles in the Scottish mainland. 175 00:14:10,807 --> 00:14:13,560 We've got very little fresh water on this island at all, 176 00:14:13,607 --> 00:14:17,395 and instead the water voles have a more mole-like existence. 177 00:14:17,447 --> 00:14:20,644 They live in burrows underneath the ground, eating roots and shoots. 178 00:14:20,687 --> 00:14:24,236 And they don't have many competitors so they've got a free rein of the place. 179 00:14:24,287 --> 00:14:27,199 And l can see just from sitting here lots of vole signs, 180 00:14:27,247 --> 00:14:29,636 so you're not far away from a vole right now. 181 00:14:31,007 --> 00:14:34,920 These shy creatures aren't too keen to meet us, 182 00:14:34,967 --> 00:14:40,246 so team leader Stuart Piertney is laying a trap baited with tatties and carrots. 183 00:14:40,287 --> 00:14:42,881 - Put a bit of extra bedding material in. - OK. 184 00:14:42,927 --> 00:14:45,805 - Yep. - The door closes behind them, simple as that. 185 00:14:46,767 --> 00:14:48,962 And it doesn't do the vole any harm to be trapped? 186 00:14:49,007 --> 00:14:52,522 Absolutely not. These guys think of these as little, sort of mini-hotel rooms. 187 00:14:52,567 --> 00:14:55,206 They really like the idea. They can get a good feed. 188 00:14:55,247 --> 00:14:58,603 We know that because from one day to the next we'll be catching the same voles. 189 00:14:59,887 --> 00:15:03,675 With the traps set we work on our own survival strategy. 190 00:15:11,367 --> 00:15:13,358 (Low chatter) 191 00:15:23,167 --> 00:15:25,442 Good morning, and good news. 192 00:15:25,487 --> 00:15:29,002 The water voles have checked into the traps overnight, 193 00:15:29,047 --> 00:15:30,924 so now it's rise and shine for them too. 194 00:15:31,967 --> 00:15:34,879 Right. Let's process this little guy and see what we've got. 195 00:15:34,927 --> 00:15:36,246 OK. 196 00:15:36,287 --> 00:15:38,847 - So the first job is to get him out of the trap. - Yep. 197 00:15:40,567 --> 00:15:42,000 And there he is. 198 00:15:42,047 --> 00:15:44,117 They're much bigger than l thought they'd be. 199 00:15:44,167 --> 00:15:46,806 They've got hardy tails, so you can keep hold of them with that, 200 00:15:46,847 --> 00:15:49,361 and he's as happy as Larry in the hand there. 201 00:15:49,407 --> 00:15:53,764 Just want to grab him by the tail first, make sure he doesn't give you a bit of a nip. 202 00:15:53,807 --> 00:15:55,001 There we are. 203 00:15:55,927 --> 00:16:00,000 The amazing thing is, is that this entire colony from one pregnant female. 204 00:16:00,527 --> 00:16:04,122 So hundreds of individuals from just one. 205 00:16:05,327 --> 00:16:09,684 ln essence these guys are all related: it's all brothers and uncles and aunties. 206 00:16:09,727 --> 00:16:13,322 Theory would predict when you've got a small isolated population like this, 207 00:16:13,367 --> 00:16:17,121 they should have lost their genetic variation, which should make them not very fit. 208 00:16:17,167 --> 00:16:19,397 They should be prone to the effects of parasites, 209 00:16:19,447 --> 00:16:21,597 but you can see that's really not the case at all. 210 00:16:21,647 --> 00:16:25,560 These guys are looking healthy, so they seem to be bucking the trend one way or another. 211 00:16:27,367 --> 00:16:33,397 The researchers expected in-breeding to produce sickly animals prone to infection, 212 00:16:33,447 --> 00:16:35,438 but, in fact, they are thriving. 213 00:16:37,287 --> 00:16:39,960 The team are unravelling the genetic puzzle 214 00:16:40,007 --> 00:16:44,717 of how a healthy colony may have flourished from just one female. 215 00:16:48,567 --> 00:16:54,597 The findings could help preserve endangered species that have dwindled to a few individuals. 216 00:16:56,927 --> 00:17:00,442 As for the descendants of the original water vole invader, 217 00:17:00,487 --> 00:17:06,005 they may have become inmates on this island, but l can think of worse places to be marooned. 218 00:17:14,807 --> 00:17:16,718 (Gulls cry) 219 00:17:17,367 --> 00:17:22,885 NlCK: ln our fights for survival we've created some remarkable artificial islands. 220 00:17:24,887 --> 00:17:28,641 Forts that helped keep foreign aggressors at bay. 221 00:17:34,927 --> 00:17:39,364 But some in the British lsles have suffered conquest in living memory. 222 00:17:40,487 --> 00:17:42,478 l'm on Guernsey. 223 00:17:45,807 --> 00:17:48,560 ln the Second World War on the Channel lslands, 224 00:17:48,607 --> 00:17:51,565 attackers soon became defenders. 225 00:17:54,407 --> 00:17:57,956 The invaders of these isles left a grim legacy. 226 00:17:59,407 --> 00:18:02,797 German bunkers that outlasted the Third Reich. 227 00:18:06,327 --> 00:18:11,481 Some 1,000 Nazi fortifications were embedded in the rock of Guernsey - 228 00:18:12,927 --> 00:18:18,638 potent symbols of the propaganda value to be gained by occupying British Crown Territory. 229 00:18:19,487 --> 00:18:22,763 Hitler wouldn't give up the Channel lslands without a fight. 230 00:18:23,287 --> 00:18:26,882 Now l'm gearing up for an invasion of my own. 231 00:18:26,927 --> 00:18:32,047 Many of these tombs of tyranny were sealed at the end of the last war, 232 00:18:32,087 --> 00:18:37,719 but one of the bunkers is about to be re-opened for the first time in over 60 years. 233 00:18:38,207 --> 00:18:40,357 l'm going to be a Nazi tomb raider. 234 00:18:44,247 --> 00:18:46,203 On a beach-side golf course 235 00:18:46,247 --> 00:18:50,320 they're excavating the entrance to the forgotten underground bunker. 236 00:18:54,327 --> 00:18:58,206 To see what could lie in store l'm visiting another site. 237 00:18:59,407 --> 00:19:03,923 This gun emplacement was only re-opened in 201 0. 238 00:19:05,047 --> 00:19:08,960 My guide is bunker specialist Paul Bourgaize. 239 00:19:13,087 --> 00:19:15,885 - Chilly and dark, isn't it? - Just watch these steps there. 240 00:19:15,927 --> 00:19:21,160 We're in a small square room. What have we got over here? 241 00:19:21,287 --> 00:19:23,278 This is actually a fortress telephone. 242 00:19:23,327 --> 00:19:26,205 - So this is a hand-cranked telephone? - Yep. 243 00:19:26,247 --> 00:19:27,646 So what does this say? 244 00:19:27,687 --> 00:19:31,077 ''Achtung! Feind hort mit'' was a warning you'd find above all phones. 245 00:19:31,127 --> 00:19:33,800 And it basically says, ''Warning, the enemy is listening.'' 246 00:19:33,847 --> 00:19:36,566 So it was just, ''Watch what you're saying.'' 247 00:19:41,007 --> 00:19:43,043 - Very smooth, isn't it? - Yes. 248 00:19:43,967 --> 00:19:47,004 lt's approximately a tonne of steel that's moving there. 249 00:19:47,087 --> 00:19:49,237 Top-quality German engineering. 250 00:19:50,687 --> 00:19:55,807 This portal cut into the concrete was the firing position for an anti-tank gun. 251 00:19:56,247 --> 00:20:00,240 lts crew were charged with repelling a possible beach invasion. 252 00:20:02,007 --> 00:20:07,764 Historians on Guernsey are re-discovering the secrets of fortifications across the island. 253 00:20:08,967 --> 00:20:13,006 The digger's scoop has just revealed the top of the doorway. 254 00:20:14,967 --> 00:20:17,800 Nobody's seen this for more than 60 years. 255 00:20:22,967 --> 00:20:24,958 Buried for decades. 256 00:20:25,967 --> 00:20:30,438 Now we're the first to enter a forgotten lair of Hitler's Army. 257 00:20:32,247 --> 00:20:37,799 This was once a staircase that a six-foot man could walk down. 258 00:20:38,167 --> 00:20:42,365 Now...it's like a cave entrance. 259 00:20:48,727 --> 00:20:54,199 lncredible. Look at this on the roof, miniature stalactites of rust. 260 00:20:55,607 --> 00:21:00,840 Very nasty gunk all over the floor. This seems to be oil more than water. 261 00:21:00,887 --> 00:21:05,642 Because this is a personnel bunker these are the hooks for the beds or the bunks. 262 00:21:05,687 --> 00:21:07,439 Still original, all fixed to the walls. 263 00:21:07,487 --> 00:21:11,196 - These hooks were where the bunks... - That's where the bunks would have been. 264 00:21:11,247 --> 00:21:16,037 There would have been a chain hanging down from the ceiling there, attached to those hooks. 265 00:21:16,087 --> 00:21:18,965 Suspended. These are like a ship's bunks. Did they fold away? 266 00:21:19,007 --> 00:21:21,157 They did fold away, yes. 267 00:21:21,207 --> 00:21:27,965 Up to ten men slept in this windowless tomb, theirjob to man the gun emplacements. 268 00:21:28,007 --> 00:21:30,043 This is smaller. What was this space for? 269 00:21:30,087 --> 00:21:33,159 Yeah, this is ventilation escape shaft as well. 270 00:21:33,207 --> 00:21:37,246 - Where did you escape? There's no way out. - Yeah, this is the escape shaft here. 271 00:21:38,167 --> 00:21:40,044 lt would have been tricky to get out of here. 272 00:21:40,087 --> 00:21:42,237 - You've got a steel door. - Yeah. 273 00:21:42,287 --> 00:21:47,281 You'd have had two rows of steel girders across there in those recesses, 274 00:21:47,327 --> 00:21:48,919 that had to be pulled out. 275 00:21:48,967 --> 00:21:51,925 You've then got a brick wall that needs to be demolished, 276 00:21:51,967 --> 00:21:56,119 and then the whole of the escape shaft which goes right up to the surface was filled with sand. 277 00:21:56,167 --> 00:21:58,681 All that had to come in before anybody could go out. 278 00:21:58,727 --> 00:22:00,683 Why did they make it so difficult to get out? 279 00:22:00,727 --> 00:22:03,321 Well, they don't want people coming in either, so... 280 00:22:03,367 --> 00:22:06,484 So this was a last resort, if you were completely trapped down here... 281 00:22:06,527 --> 00:22:09,200 - A gas attack, anything like that... - You'd dig your way out. 282 00:22:09,247 --> 00:22:10,521 Absolutely. 283 00:22:10,567 --> 00:22:16,278 This up here, by the looks of it, was some sort of newspaper or article, but it's all in German. 284 00:22:16,607 --> 00:22:20,441 - The second word is ''Fuhrer''. - That's very exciting that. 285 00:22:20,487 --> 00:22:23,524 lt translates as ''Sworn to the Fuhrer''. 286 00:22:24,207 --> 00:22:25,606 Perhaps it was a picture... 287 00:22:25,647 --> 00:22:28,844 - Maybe a picture of Hitler. - Definitely a possibility. 288 00:22:35,047 --> 00:22:39,598 You might think the soldiers who once sheltered in these dank vaults 289 00:22:39,647 --> 00:22:42,684 would want to purge the island from their memories. 290 00:22:43,647 --> 00:22:49,756 But some, like Fritz Kunz, who was stationed in a bunker, still return to Guernsey. 291 00:22:50,487 --> 00:22:57,199 ln 1 943, aged just 1 7, Fritz found himself in charge of a gunnery crew. 292 00:22:59,127 --> 00:23:06,886 All the other soldiers came to Russia, and l was the only who knows the gun. 293 00:23:07,447 --> 00:23:09,802 And so became commander of the camp. 294 00:23:09,847 --> 00:23:12,566 - But you were lucky not to go to Russia. - Of course. 295 00:23:12,607 --> 00:23:15,644 Yeah, that was good. The Eastern Front was a bad place to be. 296 00:23:15,687 --> 00:23:21,478 Yes. We came here and we think... we came in the paradise. 297 00:23:21,527 --> 00:23:22,755 - Really? - Yes. 298 00:23:22,807 --> 00:23:24,525 - You thought it was paradise? - Yes. 299 00:23:25,567 --> 00:23:29,321 What did you think when you saw the bunker being opened over there? 300 00:23:29,367 --> 00:23:31,278 How did you find that? 301 00:23:31,327 --> 00:23:34,478 Oh, it was...awful. 302 00:23:35,167 --> 00:23:37,158 lt was a horrible thing. 303 00:23:38,527 --> 00:23:42,281 Do you remember when Guernsey was liberated? 304 00:23:42,327 --> 00:23:45,046 - Yes. - What happened? 305 00:23:45,087 --> 00:23:47,237 lt was... (Big sigh of relief) 306 00:23:47,287 --> 00:23:50,279 - lt's...going out. - A huge relief. 307 00:23:50,327 --> 00:23:55,720 - OK, it's... Now it is peace. - Finished. 308 00:23:55,767 --> 00:23:57,758 Finished. 309 00:24:11,487 --> 00:24:16,356 We're on a journey to explore invasions of our isles. 310 00:24:17,687 --> 00:24:21,726 lt's a story they know all too well on the lsle of Man. 311 00:24:33,447 --> 00:24:38,077 This island has been occupied by the Norse, the Scots... 312 00:24:39,487 --> 00:24:41,478 ..and the English. 313 00:24:45,967 --> 00:24:48,720 Today, though, it's fiercely independent. 314 00:24:49,647 --> 00:24:54,198 Surprising, then, that the Manx people open their arms to one race 315 00:24:54,247 --> 00:24:57,842 that lays siege to their isle every year. 316 00:24:59,927 --> 00:25:03,761 Ruth Goodman is bracing herself for an epic invasion. 317 00:25:05,847 --> 00:25:08,759 Out there beyond the sea the leather-clad clans are gathering. 318 00:25:12,607 --> 00:25:17,237 An army is assembling from around Britain and far beyond. 319 00:25:17,527 --> 00:25:21,406 They mount their two-wheeled chariots bound for the lsle of Man. 320 00:25:23,367 --> 00:25:26,962 The locals ready to do battle - for business. 321 00:25:27,007 --> 00:25:30,477 Burgers, buns, beer - the TT is in town. 322 00:25:33,087 --> 00:25:37,797 For two weeks in early summer the sound of high-speed combustion 323 00:25:37,847 --> 00:25:42,796 and the smell of leather cover the island - whatever the weather. 324 00:25:43,407 --> 00:25:46,365 Day and night, wave after wave of boats 325 00:25:46,407 --> 00:25:50,764 disgorge disciples of the most dangerous bike-fest on earth. 326 00:25:51,567 --> 00:25:53,922 TTstands for Tourist Trophy, 327 00:25:53,967 --> 00:26:00,839 and these days it attracts over 30,000 tourists who bring around 1 0,000 motorbikes. 328 00:26:02,087 --> 00:26:03,759 So what's in it for the bikers, 329 00:26:03,807 --> 00:26:08,722 and how do the locals feel about this friendly invasion of their small isle? 330 00:26:16,487 --> 00:26:19,877 The hotels can't accommodate the sudden influx of bodies. 331 00:26:21,487 --> 00:26:25,275 Bikers are berthed in private houses all over the island. 332 00:26:26,607 --> 00:26:29,041 Everybody mucks in to keep the TTon track. 333 00:26:33,207 --> 00:26:37,359 And the restaurants stock up for a briefly-lived bonanza. 334 00:26:37,407 --> 00:26:40,797 - He's huge. - That's the female. 335 00:26:40,847 --> 00:26:45,602 - Oh, it's a female. How can you tell? - And that's the male. 336 00:26:45,647 --> 00:26:47,842 That bit there carries the eggs. 337 00:26:47,887 --> 00:26:52,085 - Beautiful colour. - This is probably our busiest time. 338 00:26:52,127 --> 00:26:54,925 lt's a big part of the year - eat and drink, isn't it? 339 00:26:54,967 --> 00:26:57,242 - Yeah, party time. - Party time. 340 00:26:57,287 --> 00:26:59,278 As long as they eat it we'll catch it. 341 00:27:01,967 --> 00:27:06,119 Look at that. lt's like one enormous giant prawn. Delicious. 342 00:27:08,007 --> 00:27:13,798 Every bite, lick and chip swells the bank balance of the lsle of Man. 343 00:27:13,847 --> 00:27:17,362 This is an invasion any island would welcome. 344 00:27:17,887 --> 00:27:21,323 So how did this small self-contained community 345 00:27:21,367 --> 00:27:24,564 come to host the world's ultimate motorbike road race? 346 00:27:27,647 --> 00:27:32,801 l'm heading for a private viewing of some rare film that takes us right back to the beginning. 347 00:27:33,687 --> 00:27:39,000 This little picture palace is about as old as the TT- a century and counting. 348 00:27:40,007 --> 00:27:43,716 l'm meeting social historian and TTexpert Matthew Richardson. 349 00:27:43,767 --> 00:27:45,246 - Hi. - Hello. 350 00:27:45,287 --> 00:27:46,436 What's this? 351 00:27:46,487 --> 00:27:50,162 This is some early footage of one of the first TT races on the lsle of Man. 352 00:27:50,207 --> 00:27:53,836 Ooh, blinking 'eck. He just picked himself up and got back on the bike. 353 00:27:53,887 --> 00:27:57,323 - l mean, that's a pretty low-speed crash. - lt's...it's all relative. 354 00:27:57,367 --> 00:28:01,201 The 1 91 1 Junior TT, the winner won at just over 40 mph. 355 00:28:01,247 --> 00:28:04,239 The current lap record is just over 1 30 mph. 356 00:28:05,047 --> 00:28:07,845 They still look like pushbikes with motors on, don't they? 357 00:28:07,887 --> 00:28:10,196 They were. Technology was very primitive. 358 00:28:11,887 --> 00:28:17,200 The TTraces began after speed regulations were imposed on British roads in 1 903. 359 00:28:17,807 --> 00:28:20,605 A 20-mile-an-hour limit was set on the mainland. 360 00:28:21,167 --> 00:28:25,524 The self-governing lsle of Man had no such restrictions. 361 00:28:25,567 --> 00:28:29,526 The only limits were the power of the bikes and the skill of the riders. 362 00:28:30,647 --> 00:28:34,799 MATTHEW: ln the early days it wasn't all about speed, it was very much a trial of reliability. 363 00:28:34,847 --> 00:28:37,645 One of the early riders comments that although he won the race 364 00:28:37,687 --> 00:28:39,678 he had to stop to mend a puncture. 365 00:28:40,407 --> 00:28:44,002 Pushing the bikes to breaking point year after year 366 00:28:44,047 --> 00:28:49,121 created the TT's global reputation for thrills and spills. 367 00:28:49,727 --> 00:28:53,117 Go anywhere in the world, people might not be sure where the lsle of Man is, 368 00:28:53,167 --> 00:28:56,159 but there's a fair chance they'll have heard of the TT Races. 369 00:29:00,887 --> 00:29:04,846 They say to understand someone you should walk a mile in their shoes. 370 00:29:05,807 --> 00:29:08,526 l'd never normally wear trousers at the beach... 371 00:29:09,687 --> 00:29:12,155 Or ride a mile in their leathers. 372 00:29:12,207 --> 00:29:15,165 But then tights and bikes don't really mix. 373 00:29:17,967 --> 00:29:23,997 l'm joining the tribe that has taken over the island, for a ride with one of the race's royals. 374 00:29:26,887 --> 00:29:31,005 Sidecar passenger Rose Hanks was the queen of the TTin the '60s... 375 00:29:32,927 --> 00:29:35,202 ..and Roy was her prince. 376 00:29:36,927 --> 00:29:41,842 Roy Hanks has been TTracing since 1 966, a sidecar legend. 377 00:29:42,447 --> 00:29:48,397 Now Rose has agreed to turn her husband over to me, and she is a hard act to follow. 378 00:29:48,887 --> 00:29:53,085 ln 1 968 Rose became the first woman ever to get on the podium. 379 00:29:53,407 --> 00:29:57,002 - There she is, proud moment, yeah. - Absolutely. Rose was the first. 380 00:29:57,287 --> 00:30:00,677 l remember when l first met her... she impressed me then. 381 00:30:00,727 --> 00:30:04,276 But when she was dressed in black leather she was even better-looking and... 382 00:30:04,327 --> 00:30:05,919 (Ruth laughs) 383 00:30:06,767 --> 00:30:10,885 Rose's skill in the sidecar made her a star in the '60s. 384 00:30:10,927 --> 00:30:15,318 Today she's happiest steering the family bike business out of the limelight. 385 00:30:16,207 --> 00:30:20,803 Cos there wasn't so many girls around doing it you got more attention so... 386 00:30:20,847 --> 00:30:22,565 And now they want you to wear make-up. 387 00:30:22,607 --> 00:30:25,485 l says, ''No, l don't wear make-up when l'm racing.'' 388 00:30:26,287 --> 00:30:28,960 They were good days they were, the best. 389 00:30:29,007 --> 00:30:30,963 That was the year she was presented to... 390 00:30:31,007 --> 00:30:32,281 BOTH: Prince Phillip. 391 00:30:32,327 --> 00:30:34,204 See the mop of hair there, see? 392 00:30:34,247 --> 00:30:36,636 - Yeah. - Not on Prince Phillip but on Rose. 393 00:30:37,887 --> 00:30:43,007 For riders like Rose the glamour of the TT goes hand-in-glove with the danger. 394 00:30:49,887 --> 00:30:53,800 The infamous mountain course is considered the world's most lethal. 395 00:30:54,767 --> 00:30:58,237 Over 1 30 riders have been killed on the road. 396 00:31:01,847 --> 00:31:06,921 Sometimes l get a bit worried and concerned how dangerous it could be and has been. 397 00:31:08,887 --> 00:31:10,878 But once l'm on my bike racing... 398 00:31:13,607 --> 00:31:15,598 ..l'm 21 again. 399 00:31:17,927 --> 00:31:19,918 RUTH: Who wouldn't want to be 21 again? 400 00:31:20,647 --> 00:31:27,120 l'm along for the ride, Roy's at the handlebars. The tarmac of the TTbeckons. 401 00:31:36,687 --> 00:31:44,116 From my sidecar seat the future rolls out ahead, but echoes of the past are never far behind. 402 00:31:47,167 --> 00:31:49,158 Wow, what a view. 403 00:31:51,927 --> 00:31:56,000 Now l can see why bikers enjoy overtaking the island each year. 404 00:31:58,127 --> 00:32:00,561 Oh, marvellous (Laughs) 405 00:32:16,767 --> 00:32:19,839 NlCK: We're exploring invaders of the isles. 406 00:32:25,207 --> 00:32:30,281 Even in peacetime small islands face a threat from bigger neighbours. 407 00:32:32,487 --> 00:32:37,003 The invasion of new ideas can destroy traditional lifestyles. 408 00:32:38,367 --> 00:32:41,677 Historically, better prospects overseas 409 00:32:41,727 --> 00:32:45,766 have stripped Scottish islands of their brightest and best. 410 00:32:50,447 --> 00:32:55,601 The pain of separation is still raw to the lost community of Stroma. 411 00:33:00,607 --> 00:33:04,316 People clung on here until 1 962. 412 00:33:09,767 --> 00:33:13,646 John Manson and his family were the last to leave Stroma. 413 00:33:15,087 --> 00:33:18,397 Now John's heading back to the deserted isle. 414 00:33:20,167 --> 00:33:24,957 See the ruin in the middle? That one on the right-hand side is my grandfather's house. 415 00:33:26,167 --> 00:33:30,479 His past life is lost in the sea mist. 416 00:33:30,527 --> 00:33:34,645 The weather today makes the island more dreich-looking than... 417 00:33:34,687 --> 00:33:38,600 Dreich meaning dilapidated and not good-looking. 418 00:33:40,887 --> 00:33:45,563 Helen Adams lives on the mainland now but she was born on Stroma. 419 00:33:46,247 --> 00:33:50,286 She hasn't been back since the mid-'60s, for good reason. 420 00:33:51,247 --> 00:33:57,686 Stroma is an idyllic island, and for anyone who visits it or lives in its vicinity, 421 00:33:57,727 --> 00:34:01,003 l would say it's where the earth meets the sky. 422 00:34:01,047 --> 00:34:02,719 lt's on the edge of the world. 423 00:34:03,887 --> 00:34:08,722 l feel very confident in thought that l will never return to Stroma, 424 00:34:08,767 --> 00:34:11,679 because it was a wonderful island for me, 425 00:34:11,727 --> 00:34:15,800 and l have this romantic bubble contained within my head. 426 00:34:16,127 --> 00:34:18,721 And that bubble l don't ever wish to burst. 427 00:34:26,207 --> 00:34:30,564 lt feels a wee bit funny to walk on the island again but it's lovely to be here. 428 00:34:31,247 --> 00:34:34,603 Everything seems a wee bit smaller than it used to do. 429 00:34:35,807 --> 00:34:38,162 The...the pier here l... 430 00:34:38,847 --> 00:34:41,441 You always think it's wider when you're younger. 431 00:34:43,247 --> 00:34:47,286 HELEN: l had a wonderful life on Stroma - never, ever lonely. Never. Never. 432 00:34:47,967 --> 00:34:52,518 A home of plenty: Mum baked and cooked and made... 433 00:34:52,887 --> 00:34:54,798 ..tables creaking with goodies. 434 00:35:05,207 --> 00:35:11,760 This is our family home that we left in...1 962. 435 00:35:12,527 --> 00:35:15,360 lt was the last house that anybody lived in here on the island. 436 00:35:16,807 --> 00:35:21,562 That's my bedroom there. lt wasn't like that in 1 962. 437 00:35:25,287 --> 00:35:28,245 That's...that's the table we used to eat off. 438 00:35:30,127 --> 00:35:38,284 My mother and father slept in the box bed here, and...my bedroom was here. 439 00:35:40,647 --> 00:35:42,638 Not a very good bedroom now. 440 00:35:44,287 --> 00:35:49,998 You could look out the window, see the sea views, ships passing. 441 00:35:51,527 --> 00:35:55,918 lt's sad when you come and look where you lived. Aye, sad. 442 00:35:57,487 --> 00:35:59,478 A lots of islanders have died off. 443 00:36:00,967 --> 00:36:05,199 They got less on the island when we were living here, 444 00:36:05,247 --> 00:36:11,766 and now they're getting less on the mainland through them dying away and that, you know. 445 00:36:11,807 --> 00:36:14,241 lt's sad... 446 00:36:14,287 --> 00:36:18,121 lt's sad to speak about it sometimes but you have to speak about it. 447 00:36:18,167 --> 00:36:20,920 You have to speak about it, but it's sad to speak about it. 448 00:36:31,047 --> 00:36:32,321 School was lovely. 449 00:36:33,407 --> 00:36:37,719 JOHN: Girls at this school learned to cook and the boys learned woodwork. 450 00:36:39,927 --> 00:36:43,203 lt's still in remarkably good nick, the building itself. 451 00:36:45,407 --> 00:36:50,401 There would be about...what, 20 pupils, and we had a really good teacher. 452 00:36:50,447 --> 00:36:54,360 She was a Miss Manson. And she taught us a little poem: 453 00:36:54,927 --> 00:36:59,478 Good, better, best, never let it rest... 454 00:37:00,207 --> 00:37:03,836 Until your good is better and your better's best. 455 00:37:04,367 --> 00:37:09,646 And that was a motto which she wanted us to carry for the rest of our lives. 456 00:37:11,967 --> 00:37:15,004 l would leave the island in 1 951 to go to the high school, 457 00:37:16,687 --> 00:37:21,886 and l can still see that wistful look upon my mother's face as she packed the case 458 00:37:21,927 --> 00:37:26,284 for her only child to go to the ends of the earth. 459 00:37:30,727 --> 00:37:36,040 This was another of our hobbies, watching ships passing. The picture always changes. 460 00:37:36,087 --> 00:37:39,557 lt's another ship, it's another boat or whatever is coming. 461 00:37:39,607 --> 00:37:44,601 But it was a great hobby for all the islanders - telescope and watching the ships passing. 462 00:37:45,367 --> 00:37:51,556 People have this idea that they used to say, particularly when l was at the high school, 463 00:37:51,607 --> 00:37:55,122 ''Oh, you know you're cut off, you're cut off by the sea.'' 464 00:37:57,087 --> 00:38:01,478 An islander is never cut off because it's the very opposite the islander feels. 465 00:38:01,807 --> 00:38:04,526 lt's the sea which connects us with the mainland. 466 00:38:06,847 --> 00:38:12,046 JOHN: lslanders left, seals multiplied, birds multiplied. 467 00:38:12,647 --> 00:38:14,922 Wildlife use it as their home now. 468 00:38:19,687 --> 00:38:23,680 Parents realised as parents do, they want the best for their families. 469 00:38:23,727 --> 00:38:28,482 That, l think, that was the reason why the people drifted to the mainland and elsewhere. 470 00:38:30,807 --> 00:38:36,837 When l think of Stroma it makes me feel young again and it certainly restores my soul. 471 00:38:51,327 --> 00:38:54,524 NlCK: Fragile isles face many perils. 472 00:38:58,087 --> 00:39:01,762 But some, like Guernsey, rise to the challenge. 473 00:39:05,007 --> 00:39:11,799 For centuries the islanders succeeded in turning the threat of war into a money-making venture. 474 00:39:14,567 --> 00:39:19,516 Towers like this that pepper the shore are some 200 years old - 475 00:39:20,247 --> 00:39:25,924 defences against possible invasion by the French running rampant under Napoleon. 476 00:39:27,567 --> 00:39:33,005 The islanders learnt that during times of war different rules apply. 477 00:39:34,047 --> 00:39:37,164 Rules that can be bent to your advantage. 478 00:39:39,967 --> 00:39:44,995 As the threat of invasion rose, riches rolled in with the waves. 479 00:39:45,887 --> 00:39:50,483 Guernsey became a ''treasure island'' thanks to the ill-gotten gains 480 00:39:50,527 --> 00:39:53,280 of the infamous Guernsey privateers. 481 00:39:56,807 --> 00:39:59,765 Described as the ''Despair of France'', 482 00:39:59,807 --> 00:40:05,484 these private warships were fast and heavily armed with determined crews. 483 00:40:07,287 --> 00:40:11,485 Guernsey was the ideal base for privateers to strike 484 00:40:11,527 --> 00:40:14,644 at rich cargo vessels sailing the English Channel. 485 00:40:16,047 --> 00:40:20,962 But how could these Guernsey bandits get away with plundering booty 486 00:40:21,007 --> 00:40:23,282 from the big boys of Europe? 487 00:40:25,727 --> 00:40:28,958 l'm searching for evidence of their exploits. 488 00:40:30,287 --> 00:40:34,166 Some locals still benefit from those long-lost wars. 489 00:40:35,207 --> 00:40:39,883 Peter de Sausmarez is a descendant of a famous Guernsey privateer. 490 00:40:41,247 --> 00:40:45,399 To the family he's Grande Matthieu - Great Matthew. 491 00:40:46,447 --> 00:40:50,360 - This is the Grande Matthieu... - Centre-stage in your portrait gallery here. 492 00:40:50,407 --> 00:40:53,763 Well, very important, yes. We're all descended from him. 493 00:40:53,807 --> 00:40:58,597 And of course he was the one who sowed the seeds of the family recovery and fortune again. 494 00:40:59,007 --> 00:41:02,317 And what evidence do you have that he was involved in privateering? 495 00:41:02,367 --> 00:41:07,441 Well, l've got a few letters he wrote, and these are examples of letter books. 496 00:41:07,487 --> 00:41:10,957 - Yes. - But these ones we found of 1 7... 497 00:41:11,007 --> 00:41:13,123 - 1 2. - ..1 2. So very early on. 498 00:41:13,167 --> 00:41:16,239 - So Matthew is in at the beginning. - Right at the beginning. 499 00:41:16,287 --> 00:41:18,517 And here is a letter here saying, 500 00:41:18,567 --> 00:41:21,718 ''l'm writing you on behalf of Thomas de Marchant 501 00:41:21,767 --> 00:41:25,806 to offer him a privateer ship of eight guns and to recruit some sailors.'' 502 00:41:25,847 --> 00:41:31,683 You had to have weapons of inducement, and we've got some rather fine examples here. 503 00:41:31,727 --> 00:41:33,843 This is what the seamen would be using. 504 00:41:34,647 --> 00:41:37,115 This is interesting because this is French. 505 00:41:38,327 --> 00:41:43,276 You can see it's very basic and very simple, but one thing is absolutely tip-top, is the blade. 506 00:41:43,327 --> 00:41:46,046 - Look at that. - All the effort has been put into this blade. 507 00:41:46,087 --> 00:41:47,759 lndeed, yes. 508 00:41:47,807 --> 00:41:50,924 lf you can imagine people coming aboard and waving these, you know. 509 00:41:50,967 --> 00:41:54,323 - (Laughter) - Either like that or slash, l think. 510 00:41:55,007 --> 00:41:59,922 - Shall we put it back in the scabbard now? - Perhaps it would be safer there, wouldn't it? 511 00:41:59,967 --> 00:42:01,923 - Yeah. - Very good. 512 00:42:01,967 --> 00:42:05,198 - l think you'd make quite a good privateer - Do you think? 513 00:42:05,247 --> 00:42:06,839 lt would be quite fun, wouldn't it? 514 00:42:10,607 --> 00:42:13,565 Strong-arm tactics soon built up fortunes. 515 00:42:14,407 --> 00:42:18,116 The gains may have been ill-gotten but these weren't pirates. 516 00:42:19,207 --> 00:42:21,323 The privateers had powerful friends. 517 00:42:23,847 --> 00:42:29,126 The British, worried about French invasion, welcomed attacks on the foreign ships. 518 00:42:30,167 --> 00:42:34,558 So much so, the Privateers got a contract from the King. 519 00:42:35,007 --> 00:42:40,559 This is a ''Letter of Marque'', basically a pirate's licence to operate legally. 520 00:42:40,607 --> 00:42:45,158 lt's dated, ''the year of our Lord one thousand, eight hundred and four.'' 521 00:42:45,207 --> 00:42:46,799 1 804. 522 00:42:46,847 --> 00:42:52,683 At the top up here is a wonderful portrait of King George lll, 523 00:42:52,727 --> 00:42:56,515 and down on the bottom is the King's royal seal. 524 00:42:56,567 --> 00:43:06,124 Now, this letter allows the bearer to ''lawfully apprehend, seize and take all ships, 525 00:43:06,167 --> 00:43:10,160 vessels and goods belonging to the French Republic.'' 526 00:43:10,967 --> 00:43:14,243 This is a royal permit to plunder. 527 00:43:19,087 --> 00:43:24,559 The Crown encouraged Guernsey boatmen to be a thorn in the side of the French. 528 00:43:25,207 --> 00:43:29,120 And the privateers had home advantage against passing ships. 529 00:43:30,007 --> 00:43:34,478 Skipper Roger Perrot has local knowledge of these treacherous seas. 530 00:43:35,687 --> 00:43:40,886 What would it have been like trying to navigate through these islands under sail, 531 00:43:40,927 --> 00:43:45,205 no engines, without an electronic chart plotter like the one you've got here? 532 00:43:45,247 --> 00:43:49,206 Well, just hell. l mean, l would not have liked to have been sailing a really big ship 533 00:43:49,247 --> 00:43:52,045 around here in privateering time. 534 00:43:52,087 --> 00:43:56,239 But they were brilliant sailors. We're armchair sailors really, aren't we? 535 00:43:57,527 --> 00:44:00,200 This is a really dangerous part of the world. 536 00:44:00,687 --> 00:44:04,646 l mean, we're going to go over some really rather nasty rocks in a moment. 537 00:44:04,687 --> 00:44:07,201 - Those rocks are quite close, aren't they? - Yeah. 538 00:44:11,727 --> 00:44:13,319 Fear not! 539 00:44:16,287 --> 00:44:21,122 Daredevil sailors giving the French a bloody nose in the Napoleonic Wars. 540 00:44:21,767 --> 00:44:24,759 Was that how the islanders regarded the privateers? 541 00:44:26,087 --> 00:44:30,717 ln terms of Guernsey's society it was considered to be an honourable profession until the 1 820s, 542 00:44:30,767 --> 00:44:33,201 which is way after the end of the Napoleonic War. 543 00:44:33,247 --> 00:44:35,602 So would privateers have been celebrated on shore? 544 00:44:35,647 --> 00:44:39,686 Oh, yes, absolutely, and most of the ships were made in Guernsey as well. 545 00:44:39,727 --> 00:44:44,562 l suppose privateering was considered to be more of a middle-class occupation. 546 00:44:44,607 --> 00:44:47,963 And when you sort of became nouveau riche and moved up an echelon, 547 00:44:48,007 --> 00:44:52,523 then you went into the Navy, the Royal Navy, where you could still make a lot of money. 548 00:44:58,647 --> 00:45:04,324 Many of the islanders shared the spoils of the privateers'plundering raids, 549 00:45:04,367 --> 00:45:07,404 as local historian Annette Henry knows. 550 00:45:07,927 --> 00:45:11,283 They weren't exactly following the principles of Fair Trade, were they? 551 00:45:11,327 --> 00:45:12,840 Not really, no, but it... 552 00:45:12,887 --> 00:45:14,923 ln times of war you have to do what you can, 553 00:45:14,967 --> 00:45:17,276 and living on an island we needed to make money. 554 00:45:17,327 --> 00:45:20,637 - And was it lucrative? - lt was incredibly lucrative. 555 00:45:20,687 --> 00:45:25,044 One could amass a fortune of... well, there's one instance in 1 799 556 00:45:25,087 --> 00:45:31,799 of a Mr LeMessurier amassing a fortune of £21 2,000 Sterling then in 1 799. 557 00:45:31,847 --> 00:45:37,046 Equate that to today's terms - we're looking at a quarter of a billion pounds in one year. 558 00:45:37,767 --> 00:45:39,837 lt was said that a fifth went to the Sovereign, 559 00:45:39,887 --> 00:45:43,118 two-thirds of the remainder went to the owner of the ship of war, 560 00:45:43,167 --> 00:45:46,125 and the remainder went to the captain and crew. 561 00:45:46,167 --> 00:45:50,558 The Sovereign was very happy to issue as many Letters of Marque's as possible. 562 00:45:58,287 --> 00:46:02,838 The Privateers played a dangerous game in their tiny boats, 563 00:46:02,887 --> 00:46:07,119 dodging the warring giants on both sides of the Channel. 564 00:46:07,167 --> 00:46:11,558 But when peace settled on the seas their game was up. 565 00:46:20,047 --> 00:46:26,043 Victory at Waterloo in 1 81 5 made defences against the French redundant. 566 00:46:27,487 --> 00:46:30,638 Calm descended on home waters. 567 00:46:32,007 --> 00:46:36,876 Our global trade thrived because the Royal Navy reigned supreme. 568 00:46:37,887 --> 00:46:41,516 The British Empire was envied by foreign powers, 569 00:46:41,567 --> 00:46:45,719 but our islands seemed impregnable to sea-born attack. 570 00:46:46,367 --> 00:46:52,806 Then, early in the 20th century, the sky came crashing in on Great Yarmouth. 571 00:46:56,807 --> 00:47:01,244 Tessa is about to relive a tale of terror from above. 572 00:47:04,527 --> 00:47:09,078 TESSA: ln 1 91 5 we looked across the North Sea and trembled. 573 00:47:09,687 --> 00:47:13,236 The Great War was tearing the continent apart. 574 00:47:14,527 --> 00:47:19,237 And here on the quiet shores of Norfolk a terrifying new style of attack 575 00:47:19,287 --> 00:47:22,802 was about to be unleashed by aerial invaders. 576 00:47:23,487 --> 00:47:27,560 On the night of the 1 9th of January, 1 91 5, 577 00:47:27,607 --> 00:47:31,236 townsfolk on the dark streets of Great Yarmouth 578 00:47:31,287 --> 00:47:35,963 were transfixed by an eerie noise from the fog bank above. 579 00:47:38,687 --> 00:47:43,966 An eyewitness described the sound as 20 bicycles charging down a hill, 580 00:47:44,007 --> 00:47:46,567 then a brilliant flash appeared in the sky. 581 00:47:47,007 --> 00:47:51,080 A searchlight from a flying machine illuminated the streets, 582 00:47:51,127 --> 00:47:53,721 followed by a string of bomb blasts. 583 00:47:53,767 --> 00:47:57,601 On that foggy night many people couldn't believe their eyes, 584 00:47:57,647 --> 00:48:01,242 but later the local paper left no doubt. 585 00:48:03,327 --> 00:48:05,795 A Zeppelin air raid. 586 00:48:05,847 --> 00:48:08,077 The first on British shores. 587 00:48:08,407 --> 00:48:13,959 With that attack on Great Yarmouth, the Germans unleashed three years of terror. 588 00:48:14,007 --> 00:48:19,479 Aerial warfare was invented as the invaders out-smarted Britain's defenders. 589 00:48:20,487 --> 00:48:23,843 Our planes were primitive with poor communications. 590 00:48:24,367 --> 00:48:27,518 How could our islands resist the Zeppelins? 591 00:48:27,967 --> 00:48:31,437 Suddenly the nation's streets had become the front line, 592 00:48:31,487 --> 00:48:34,797 bombs rained down with fatal consequences. 593 00:48:36,007 --> 00:48:41,684 Martha Taylor, a 72-year-old spinster was killed here. She died instantly. 594 00:48:42,407 --> 00:48:48,403 Martha and fellow casualty Samuel Smith were the first Britons to die in an air raid. 595 00:48:48,927 --> 00:48:54,365 The night attack on Great Yarmouth woke Britain up to a new weapon of terror. 596 00:48:55,247 --> 00:49:01,720 Zeppelins were long-range killing machines carrying over a thousand pound of bombs. 597 00:49:02,167 --> 00:49:06,558 They had hit Norfolk first, but the Germans had a bigger prize. 598 00:49:06,607 --> 00:49:08,916 ln the summer they struck London. 599 00:49:08,967 --> 00:49:14,360 95 died there by the year's end, and fear spread across the land. 600 00:49:15,567 --> 00:49:20,846 Historian Graham Mottram knows why we struggled to shoot down the airships. 601 00:49:22,367 --> 00:49:27,077 We were only, what, 1 1 years after the Wright Brothers' first flight. 602 00:49:27,127 --> 00:49:29,118 So aircraft was still very limited. 603 00:49:29,167 --> 00:49:31,965 We had, l think, it was 93 aeroplanes, 604 00:49:32,007 --> 00:49:34,805 something like that at the outbreak of the First World War. 605 00:49:34,847 --> 00:49:39,204 And, of course, the art of anti-aircraft gunnery was still very, very primitive. 606 00:49:39,247 --> 00:49:42,637 We were looking at trying to modify artillery pieces 607 00:49:42,687 --> 00:49:46,805 to try and shoot high in the air in the hope of bringing these things down. 608 00:49:48,127 --> 00:49:53,838 The Zeppelins'night-time blitz would strike along the length and breadth of Britain, 609 00:49:53,887 --> 00:49:56,765 killing hundreds during the First World War. 610 00:49:57,847 --> 00:50:01,999 We scrambled to invent air defences from scratch. 611 00:50:03,207 --> 00:50:06,802 The Royal Flying Corps were fighting on the Western Front, 612 00:50:06,847 --> 00:50:11,967 so early protection of home shores relied largely on Royal Navy aircraft. 613 00:50:14,287 --> 00:50:20,157 They flew from coastal airstrips, and the Navy also tried a desperate new tactic. 614 00:50:20,207 --> 00:50:24,485 The aim was to intercept the airship raiders over the water, 615 00:50:24,527 --> 00:50:27,200 which meant taking off from the sea. 616 00:50:29,287 --> 00:50:32,996 You've got this 60-foot-long barge. On it there's a wooden deck, 617 00:50:33,047 --> 00:50:35,720 and on that wooden deck we put a Sopwith Camel. 618 00:50:36,167 --> 00:50:40,001 Towing it quickly across the North Sea into the teeth of the strong wind 619 00:50:40,047 --> 00:50:42,880 meant there was enough flying wind across the deck. 620 00:50:42,927 --> 00:50:44,679 - You get lift-off. - You get lift-off. 621 00:50:44,727 --> 00:50:48,436 Let go of the piece of string that secures the aircraft at the back of the boat 622 00:50:48,487 --> 00:50:50,205 and it leaps into the air. 623 00:50:50,247 --> 00:50:54,923 - This is effectively a very early aircraft carrier. - That is precisely what it is. 624 00:50:54,967 --> 00:50:57,686 A lot of the Zeppelin attacks, of course, occurred at night. 625 00:50:57,727 --> 00:51:01,197 What were the challenges of flying in the dark? 626 00:51:01,247 --> 00:51:06,401 Enormous. You know, we've got these little frail aeroplanes, unreliable engines, 627 00:51:06,447 --> 00:51:09,086 People got disorientated in the dark, 628 00:51:09,127 --> 00:51:12,483 often flying with a torch to be able to read the instruments. 629 00:51:12,527 --> 00:51:16,805 There were fatalities, it was extremely dangerous. 630 00:51:18,167 --> 00:51:22,877 Even if the fighter planes could find a Zeppelin in the pitch darkness, 631 00:51:22,927 --> 00:51:27,284 it was still a David and Goliath struggle to destroy an airship. 632 00:51:28,087 --> 00:51:31,602 Look at its size compared to a fighter plane of the same period. 633 00:51:32,407 --> 00:51:34,398 lt's dwarfed by the Zeppelin. 634 00:51:35,367 --> 00:51:41,237 To lift men and bombs a vast quantity of lighter-than-air hydrogen gas 635 00:51:41,287 --> 00:51:44,723 was contained inside a massive frame. 636 00:51:46,847 --> 00:51:51,557 The metal skeleton held enough gas-bags to survive many hits from a machine gun. 637 00:51:54,047 --> 00:51:58,325 But the Zeppelin's greatest fear was fire! 638 00:51:58,367 --> 00:52:01,325 Their hydrogen gas was highly flammable. 639 00:52:03,127 --> 00:52:09,077 Could anyone conjure up a fiery ''magic bullet'' to save Britain from the Zeppelins? 640 00:52:09,727 --> 00:52:14,642 Tony Edwards knows the secret of the new incendiary ammunition. 641 00:52:16,127 --> 00:52:19,881 That was filled with phosphorous, and in the side of the bullet 642 00:52:19,927 --> 00:52:22,725 there was a very, very small hole filled with solder. 643 00:52:22,767 --> 00:52:28,205 When the bullet was fired, the bullet twisted up the barrel in the rifling, the solder melted, 644 00:52:28,247 --> 00:52:32,525 and as the bullet left the muzzle of the gun it was spewing phosphorous. 645 00:52:32,567 --> 00:52:34,922 Phosphorus ignites when in contact with the air. 646 00:52:35,167 --> 00:52:40,002 lt sets light and it leaves a smoke trail, so it's burning all the way to its target. 647 00:52:40,927 --> 00:52:45,079 Lethal to the Zeppelins, phosphorous is tricky stuff to handle. 648 00:52:46,727 --> 00:52:50,402 Chemist Stephen Ashworth has made up a phosphorous solution. 649 00:52:52,207 --> 00:52:57,327 Dip in a tissue, and when it dries out the phosphorous comes in contact with air, 650 00:52:57,367 --> 00:53:00,643 and it should spontaneously ignite. 651 00:53:00,687 --> 00:53:03,599 - lt's sort of like waiting for a magic trick almost. - Oh, yes. 652 00:53:04,727 --> 00:53:09,881 Oh, yes. That was extraordinary, out of nowhere. 653 00:53:09,927 --> 00:53:11,918 That's right. 654 00:53:13,887 --> 00:53:19,564 As well as phosphorous shells, by 1 91 6 our armoury also included bullets 655 00:53:19,607 --> 00:53:22,644 with an explosive nitro-glycerine core. 656 00:53:22,967 --> 00:53:26,721 Now we had the chemical weapons to kill the Zeppelins. 657 00:53:27,767 --> 00:53:30,804 But it would take brave men to try. 658 00:53:33,487 --> 00:53:39,801 l've got a precious album that belonged to Egbert Cadbury, a courageous Zeppelin hunter. 659 00:53:40,287 --> 00:53:42,881 Cadbury was based in Great Yarmouth. 660 00:53:42,927 --> 00:53:49,844 Originally he was a Navy pilot, but in 1 91 8 he was co-opted into the newly-formed RAF. 661 00:53:51,167 --> 00:53:54,603 On the night of the 5th of August, 1 91 8, 662 00:53:54,647 --> 00:53:59,243 Major Cadbury launched the last attack against the airship invaders, 663 00:53:59,287 --> 00:54:02,324 when the Germans unleashed the super Zeppelin. 664 00:54:02,967 --> 00:54:07,563 The L70, the most advanced Zeppelin yet. 665 00:54:08,447 --> 00:54:16,400 Almost 700 feet long with seven engines, capable of carrying 1 0,000 pounds of bombs. 666 00:54:17,607 --> 00:54:22,283 l've actually got a priceless recording of Major Cadbury recounting his struggle 667 00:54:22,327 --> 00:54:25,558 against the fearsome Zeppelin on that fateful night. 668 00:54:28,087 --> 00:54:31,204 We received warning from naval patrols at sea 669 00:54:31,247 --> 00:54:34,956 that hostile aircraft were approaching The Wash at great height. 670 00:54:36,607 --> 00:54:38,598 l immediately flew off in pursuit. 671 00:54:42,767 --> 00:54:46,362 Unbeknown to Cadbury he wasn't only taking on the super Zeppelin - 672 00:54:46,407 --> 00:54:50,719 at the helm was this man, Commander Peter Strasser, 673 00:54:50,767 --> 00:54:53,076 architect of the Zeppelin war on Britain. 674 00:54:53,167 --> 00:54:57,558 Desperate to prove the worth of his airships against aircraft. 675 00:54:58,767 --> 00:55:01,520 Today you can't fly planes like this at night, 676 00:55:01,567 --> 00:55:05,401 but we can relive Cadbury's hunt for the super Zeppelin. 677 00:55:06,687 --> 00:55:09,759 Despite being three times the length of a jumbo jet 678 00:55:09,807 --> 00:55:13,686 the L70 was not easy to find in pitch blackness. 679 00:55:14,487 --> 00:55:17,797 CADBURY: You sat in the cockpit and had to depend upon your eyesight 680 00:55:17,847 --> 00:55:20,077 to spot the airship against the starry sky. 681 00:55:21,047 --> 00:55:24,244 lt was rather like trying to find a fly in a darkened bedroom. 682 00:55:24,967 --> 00:55:27,322 TESSA: The airship was almost over the coast. 683 00:55:27,367 --> 00:55:30,564 To intercept it Cadbury knew he would have to push his plane 684 00:55:30,607 --> 00:55:33,679 to altitudes close to its physical limit, 685 00:55:33,727 --> 00:55:37,402 where the air was so thin the engine was at risk of stalling. 686 00:55:37,447 --> 00:55:42,362 ln an open cockpit at 1 7,000 feet there would have been a biting wind, 687 00:55:42,407 --> 00:55:45,001 the engine would have been rattling, spitting oil. 688 00:55:45,047 --> 00:55:48,198 lt would have been impossible to hear a Zeppelin over the racket, 689 00:55:48,247 --> 00:55:52,126 but miraculously Cadbury caught a glimpse of his prey. 690 00:55:54,087 --> 00:55:57,079 CADBURY: She looked simply immense as indeed she was, 691 00:55:57,127 --> 00:55:59,322 being 300 yards long from stem to stern. 692 00:55:59,887 --> 00:56:05,564 TESSA: Held aloft by 2.2 million cubic feet of flammable hydrogen. 693 00:56:05,607 --> 00:56:10,044 A tiny incendiary bullet could bring the super Zeppelin down. 694 00:56:10,087 --> 00:56:13,363 Gunner Bob Leckie made ready with his machine gun. 695 00:56:14,767 --> 00:56:17,918 CADBURY: Suddenly the darkness was ripped open. 696 00:56:17,967 --> 00:56:21,243 Bob Leckie gave her a few bursts of fire of tracer bullets. 697 00:56:26,047 --> 00:56:27,321 TESSA: A hit. 698 00:56:27,367 --> 00:56:31,679 CADBURY: And within a matter of seconds flames started to leap from her bows. 699 00:56:33,767 --> 00:56:38,283 And as l banked away she went blazing down to the clouds 2,000 feet beneath us. 700 00:56:41,127 --> 00:56:45,006 We lost sight of her as she continued her downward journey into the North Sea 701 00:56:45,047 --> 00:56:47,038 nearly three miles below. 702 00:56:50,607 --> 00:56:54,202 Strasser, the German Zeppelin Commander fell to his death, 703 00:56:54,247 --> 00:56:58,445 his ambitious plans for more audacious airship raids died with him. 704 00:57:01,087 --> 00:57:04,875 lt started over the Norfolk Coast and it ended there. 705 00:57:05,607 --> 00:57:10,158 Sir Egbert Cadbury went on to manage his family's chocolate empire, 706 00:57:10,207 --> 00:57:12,198 but he kept a souvenir. 707 00:57:13,647 --> 00:57:18,357 This is a cigarette case made from lightweight aluminium taken from the super Zeppelin. 708 00:57:18,407 --> 00:57:21,763 lt actually has Cadbury's signature inscribed on it. 709 00:57:22,887 --> 00:57:28,041 A small reminder of a largely forgotten first Blitz on Britain, 710 00:57:28,087 --> 00:57:32,319 when events on this coast shook the nation to its core. 711 00:57:40,927 --> 00:57:45,876 NlCK: Our island shores bear the scars of conflicts long past. 712 00:57:52,527 --> 00:57:58,079 But the dying sun hasn't quite obscured the age-old fears of invasion. 713 00:58:00,247 --> 00:58:04,160 For some the pain of conquest is a living memory 714 00:58:04,207 --> 00:58:07,040 that makes freedom something to cherish. 715 00:58:13,127 --> 00:58:19,839 Those who remember the long dark night of Nazi occupation celebrate their liberty. 716 00:58:19,887 --> 00:58:22,401 l'm proud to stand with them, 717 00:58:22,447 --> 00:58:27,567 and think of the price people paid facing the invaders of our isles.