0:00:02 > 0:00:03On first glance, this doesn't look
0:00:03 > 0:00:05like much - a scrap of paper
0:00:05 > 0:00:06and some dried petals -
0:00:06 > 0:00:08but when I tell you
0:00:08 > 0:00:09that it's a poppy picked from
0:00:09 > 0:00:12the Flanders battlefield in 1917
0:00:12 > 0:00:14and sent by a wounded soldier
0:00:14 > 0:00:15to a loved one at home,
0:00:15 > 0:00:18it becomes a poignant and evocative
0:00:18 > 0:00:19witness to the First World War.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23Such small pieces speak loudly
0:00:23 > 0:00:26about the courage, loss and heroism of conflict.
0:00:26 > 0:00:31In this programme, we're about to hear some remarkable untold stories
0:00:31 > 0:00:34of lives overshadowed by war.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37Welcome to a special edition of The Antiques Roadshow
0:00:37 > 0:00:39from the National Memorial Arboretum.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27Last year, we appealed for stories
0:01:27 > 0:01:30of sacrifice and service in the face of war,
0:01:30 > 0:01:32and that triggered hundreds of responses from viewers,
0:01:32 > 0:01:35eager to share their families' accounts.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38These aren't stories of military commanders.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42Instead, we're focusing on often unpublished yet significant actions
0:01:42 > 0:01:45of men and women on the front line and on the home front,
0:01:45 > 0:01:50whose lives were changed for ever by their wartime experiences.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53We can share a few of those with you tonight.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58Our backdrop is the National Memorial Arboretum,
0:01:58 > 0:02:01near Lichfield in Staffordshire, which was opened ten years ago.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04Part of the Royal British Legion, it's a living tribute
0:02:04 > 0:02:06to those who've lost their lives in conflicts
0:02:06 > 0:02:09since the beginning of the 20th century.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17At the centre is the striking Armed Forces Memorial,
0:02:17 > 0:02:20a tribute to all the men and women who've died
0:02:20 > 0:02:22since the end of the Second World War.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24There are 16,000 names here
0:02:24 > 0:02:27and that number's still growing.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34When you see all these names
0:02:34 > 0:02:37so beautifully carved here,
0:02:37 > 0:02:40you get just a sense of the scale of the loss of life -
0:02:40 > 0:02:44it's almost overwhelming - and people travel
0:02:44 > 0:02:46from all over the country to come here.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48Often they have no grave to visit,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52but they can come and see the names of loved ones on the wall.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02We've only time to feature a fraction of the wider story
0:03:02 > 0:03:05depicted here, but our small team of experts,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Graham Lay, Paul Atterbury,
0:03:08 > 0:03:12Hilary Kay and Bill Harriman, are here to meet our invited guests
0:03:12 > 0:03:16for this special Remembrance edition of The Antiques Roadshow.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21This is one of the most fantastic groups of medals
0:03:21 > 0:03:25that it's ever been my privilege to record on The Antiques Roadshow,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28and I'm guessing that this is the recipient,
0:03:28 > 0:03:29and can you tell me about him?
0:03:29 > 0:03:31He was my mother's first cousin.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34He was relatively old at the beginning of the war.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38He joined the Army, who kicked him out because he'd got flat feet,
0:03:38 > 0:03:40and so he went and joined the Navy and became...
0:03:40 > 0:03:43- They didn't mind flat feet, then? - No, no, apparently not.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46And he became a naval mine disposal officer.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49As you know, it's a pretty hairy occupation.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52- Yes.- And it earned him his George Cross.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55I can tell from this group that he must have been an extremely
0:03:55 > 0:03:58- distinguished mine disposal officer. - Yes, he was.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01Here we have what is often known as the Civilian's Victoria Cross,
0:04:01 > 0:04:03the George Cross,
0:04:03 > 0:04:07and also, remarkably, with it, the George Medal,
0:04:07 > 0:04:10two of the highest accolades for gallantry -
0:04:10 > 0:04:14that isn't in the face of the enemy - that the country can bestow.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17You have to do exceptional things just to get one,
0:04:17 > 0:04:19but to get two... So, what did he do?
0:04:19 > 0:04:22Well, I was going to say, "take mines to pieces"!
0:04:22 > 0:04:25But the George Cross, in his citation,
0:04:25 > 0:04:28it was one of those mines
0:04:28 > 0:04:30with a delayed fuse that ticks,
0:04:30 > 0:04:32and it was damaged,
0:04:32 > 0:04:35and as soon as he started working on it -
0:04:35 > 0:04:39he had to pick the remains of the mechanism out with his fingers -
0:04:39 > 0:04:42- the thing started ticking again. - Oh!
0:04:42 > 0:04:45And he just had time to - as he described to me -
0:04:45 > 0:04:47dive into his trench, before it blew up.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52- And fortunately for him, he was under the blast.- Yes.
0:04:52 > 0:04:58And it blew his eardrums out and he was pretty shaken by it.
0:04:58 > 0:04:59I'm not surprised!
0:04:59 > 0:05:02They're not exactly small things, are they, mines?
0:05:02 > 0:05:07We can actually see one here, a huge sphere, packed with explosives.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10- And he was mere yards away from it when it went up.- Absolutely.
0:05:10 > 0:05:15This must have been some time in 1942, I would guess.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19For me, as a little boy who was about five then, I remember
0:05:19 > 0:05:22being deeply impressed because he could blow smoke out of both ears.
0:05:22 > 0:05:27Yes, that would have impressed me as a little boy as well, I have to say!
0:05:27 > 0:05:30Well, I think it's lucky that a lot more wasn't fractured,
0:05:30 > 0:05:34and I think more to the point, it's very lucky that he managed to defuse
0:05:34 > 0:05:36these mines, because they caused huge problems,
0:05:36 > 0:05:41mainly with civilian morale, and jobs like this were so important
0:05:41 > 0:05:43because they knew that once the air raid had gone,
0:05:43 > 0:05:46there would be somebody there, sweeping up the nasties
0:05:46 > 0:05:50that had been left, ticking away. So that's obviously why he was given
0:05:50 > 0:05:53these two very, very, important awards.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57I've said that this is the most fantastic group of medals
0:05:57 > 0:06:00that it's ever been my privilege to see on the Roadshow.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Have you ever thought what the value of it might be?
0:06:03 > 0:06:04Well, vaguely, but...
0:06:04 > 0:06:06Obviously, you can't put a monetary value
0:06:06 > 0:06:10on the sheer naked courage of somebody who sits on an explosive
0:06:10 > 0:06:13and twiddles around with the fuse, knowing that any minute,
0:06:13 > 0:06:17he might be spread into atoms. But it has a commercial value,
0:06:17 > 0:06:20particularly in the current market, which is very, very buoyant.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24And I can see that if those were put to auction,
0:06:24 > 0:06:28being, as we know, only one of eight known groupings of these
0:06:28 > 0:06:31two medals, I can see that making £100,000.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33Good God!
0:06:35 > 0:06:38They're not for sale, I'm afraid.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42Oh, I'm sure that Uncle Geoffrey would be very, very pleased to know
0:06:42 > 0:06:45that all these years afterwards, people thought so much
0:06:45 > 0:06:48of the tokens that he was given for such gallant work
0:06:48 > 0:06:52- and I'm humbled to see them, absolutely humbled.- Delighted.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Anyone interested in the history of the First World War as I am,
0:06:58 > 0:07:04inevitably thinks about the Royal Flying Corps, what it was like,
0:07:04 > 0:07:08those extraordinary experiences of aerial fights in that period.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10This really takes me straight into it - you know,
0:07:10 > 0:07:13here is one of those great moments.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17Two German Albatrosses, an RE8 about to be in great trouble,
0:07:17 > 0:07:22and of course that great hero - or whatever he is - the Red Baron.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26- Yes, that's right. - So, is there a background to this?
0:07:26 > 0:07:28My father started at the beginning of the war.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31He volunteered to join, he'd just left school
0:07:31 > 0:07:33and he was going to Cambridge,
0:07:33 > 0:07:35but he decided that he should serve his country.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37Just out of patriotism?
0:07:37 > 0:07:40- Yes, literally. And...- It was his duty.- He was an 18-year-old.
0:07:40 > 0:07:4118, at that point.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45When he got his commission, they just asked if he'd like
0:07:45 > 0:07:48to join the Royal Flying Corps, which was a newly developed thing.
0:07:48 > 0:07:49He thought that would be great.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51Anyway, he loved flying,
0:07:51 > 0:07:53he only had 55 minutes - according to his log book -
0:07:53 > 0:07:57dual control, before he was allowed to go up on his own,
0:07:57 > 0:07:58which was amazing.
0:07:58 > 0:08:03- I think it's an insight into how it was, because we were very short of pilots.- Yes.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06At that point in the war, the aeroplane still wasn't taken very seriously.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08And people were just flung up into the air,
0:08:08 > 0:08:12they had no parachutes, aeroplanes were very easily destroyed,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15- they burst into flames very quickly. - That's right.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18And so death was very, very quick and very unpleasant.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21And I think that the life expectancy at the worst
0:08:21 > 0:08:22was something like two weeks.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25- Terrible, isn't it? Yes. - But he came through.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28He came through, yes. He was lucky, but he was also a very skilful pilot.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31- This is him, presumably.- Yes, yes.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34- Gosh, he looks young, doesn't he?- He was young.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38He was awarded the MC by the King and heard somebody whisper, "Doesn't he look young?"
0:08:38 > 0:08:41- Well, they all were. - He was very young, yes.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44So we've got two pictures of him here.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49- Are these his, as well? - Yes, this is his actual helmet and one of the goggles.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51So, tell me about this moment of drama.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Well, he'd already prepared what he would do.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57Usually, the English planes rushed for home and they were shot down,
0:08:57 > 0:09:01so he decided that he wouldn't do that. He would rush for home
0:09:01 > 0:09:04a little way, but when they got close enough, he'd turn the plane
0:09:04 > 0:09:06and go into the middle of them.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10But the Red Baron chased him and was shooting him hard,
0:09:10 > 0:09:13so he put himself into a spin, which was a very dangerous thing to do,
0:09:13 > 0:09:15and managed to pull out
0:09:15 > 0:09:18and the Red Baron thought he'd got him, and had flown away.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20- But he lived to tell the tale. - He did.- So many didn't.
0:09:20 > 0:09:25The Red Baron was an extraordinary phenomenon, Von Richthofen, he was such a skilled pilot.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27And in fact, in the end,
0:09:27 > 0:09:30he was killed on 21st April 1918,
0:09:30 > 0:09:33and it's thought he was actually shot down by ground fire,
0:09:33 > 0:09:36- not by the attacking aeroplanes. - Really?
0:09:36 > 0:09:37- And it was the end of the legend. - Yes.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39But of course, this image is
0:09:39 > 0:09:43so lively about what it must have been like,
0:09:43 > 0:09:45and looking at it, as I did, at the beginning,
0:09:45 > 0:09:48I thought - that aeroplane has had it, it's full of holes.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50It never flew again when he got it back.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53- But he did. That's the key thing.- He did, yes.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55Did he commission this painting?
0:09:55 > 0:09:58He did, yes. He explained exactly how it was.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01And Ralph Gillies Cole captured that moment.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04The painting is a great image,
0:10:04 > 0:10:07it's a wonderful evocation of First World War flying.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11- I don't know what he paid for it in 1979 when he commissioned it, do you?- No idea.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13It's probably worth £500-£800,
0:10:13 > 0:10:15- something like that, as a painting. - Yes.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19Helmets, goggles, they're worth £200 or £300.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23A propeller tip as a photograph frame was actually quite well known
0:10:23 > 0:10:27at the time, again, you're looking at £50, £80, £100 for the item.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30- But this is not to do with the story.- No.- No.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35It is about taking us into those extraordinary days when people
0:10:35 > 0:10:38lived extraordinary lives and frequently died in a horrible way.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40- But he came through.- Yes.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44- His star was watching him. Thank you.- Thank you very much.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51When we recorded this programme, back in September,
0:10:51 > 0:10:54I met an extraordinary woman, Zdenka Fantlova,
0:10:54 > 0:10:55who brought us our smallest item,
0:10:55 > 0:11:00which represents the darkest episode of the Second World War.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03Zdenka, yours is an incredible story
0:11:03 > 0:11:05of survival against the odds.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09You were 19 when you were taken to Terezine Concentration Camp,
0:11:09 > 0:11:13or Theresienstadt as it's known.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15You were then taken...
0:11:15 > 0:11:18You survived six different camps...
0:11:18 > 0:11:20- Yes.- ..ending up at Belsen.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24The first camp, Terezine,
0:11:24 > 0:11:27you survived there because of love.
0:11:27 > 0:11:28Is that right?
0:11:28 > 0:11:34The whole war is because of love, from beginning to the end.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36Now, tell me about that. Love of whom?
0:11:36 > 0:11:38Because when you are 19, you take it seriously,
0:11:38 > 0:11:44your boyfriend is the whole interest in your life and he was there.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47But very early in the time,
0:11:47 > 0:11:52he was shipped to the East by a transport,
0:11:52 > 0:11:57and this was almost deadly because nobody knew where the people went.
0:11:57 > 0:12:02Before the transport, he made his way to the women's camp...
0:12:03 > 0:12:05..brought a ring...
0:12:05 > 0:12:07Now, this is the ring here.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10..which he made himself. I don't know how.
0:12:10 > 0:12:15- It's terribly fine. - He engraved it with his name, Arno,
0:12:15 > 0:12:2013th of June, 1942.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24Slipped it on my finger and said, "This is our engagement ring,
0:12:24 > 0:12:28"it will protect you, and if we survive the war,
0:12:28 > 0:12:30"I'll find you somewhere".
0:12:30 > 0:12:34Kissed me and was out of the door and gone.
0:12:34 > 0:12:41This ring for me was a symbol of love and hope,
0:12:41 > 0:12:43and I was absolutely determined -
0:12:43 > 0:12:46it doesn't matter what comes,
0:12:46 > 0:12:49I'll have to survive so that we can meet again
0:12:49 > 0:12:51and live together for ever.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55That was, you know, that was this idea.
0:12:55 > 0:12:56But he didn't survive, did he?
0:12:56 > 0:12:59No. I didn't know that, only after the war.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01He was one of the transports...
0:13:03 > 0:13:06Thousand young men up to 30,
0:13:06 > 0:13:08taken to Poland,
0:13:08 > 0:13:10lined up and machine-gunned.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13And he risked his life to make this ring.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Yes, and me, too. Because it was not allowed -
0:13:16 > 0:13:19this was against the rules to have anything,
0:13:19 > 0:13:20ring or earrings or anything,
0:13:20 > 0:13:24you have to give it up, and I had to hide it.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28And when I came to Auschwitz, there was a girl
0:13:28 > 0:13:31who had an engagement ring under the tongue,
0:13:31 > 0:13:34they took her away and she lost her life.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36And I had it on my finger and somebody said,
0:13:36 > 0:13:40"For heaven's sake, take it away, because a piece of metal
0:13:40 > 0:13:43"has no value, just throw it away".
0:13:43 > 0:13:45And I knew I can't throw it away,
0:13:45 > 0:13:49I would have lost the ground under my feet.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51And I put it under my tongue as well,
0:13:51 > 0:13:54was determined - put my life on the line,
0:13:54 > 0:13:57so that come what may...
0:13:57 > 0:13:58We've got a picture of Arno here.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01- Is this him, here? - That's right.
0:14:01 > 0:14:06That was just prior to being taken to the camps.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08- So that's you and him together? - Yes, yes.
0:14:08 > 0:14:13And you know, promise of loving and living together for ever -
0:14:13 > 0:14:15you know how it is.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18But for me it was very important. Nothing else mattered.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23At the end of the war, you ended up in the infamous Belsen camp...
0:14:23 > 0:14:24That's right, yes.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27..where so many, many people died.
0:14:27 > 0:14:32And when it was liberated - when the British soldiers came to Belsen -
0:14:32 > 0:14:35you were in a barrack which was right at the end of the camp,
0:14:35 > 0:14:38- away from where the British soldiers were.- Yes.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41And you thought that even though the camp had been liberated,
0:14:41 > 0:14:42you would die there.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45I never thought I would die, it never occurred to me.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47You were close to death, though.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51I was skin and bones, and 20,000 corpses lying around me
0:14:51 > 0:14:54and I never thought I'd be one of them.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57And yet, I could have been.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00And it was the last moment,
0:15:00 > 0:15:03a line between life and death when you feel you're going,
0:15:03 > 0:15:06and then the member of the British Army appeared
0:15:06 > 0:15:08and he saved my life.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11Tell me about that. What happened?
0:15:11 > 0:15:14Because he...
0:15:14 > 0:15:17wanted me to stay where I was,
0:15:17 > 0:15:20and I said, "I can't," and I spoke the language.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22You spoke English to him.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25And asked him if he can't leave me there, he should shoot me,
0:15:25 > 0:15:30it would be quicker. And he suddenly changed, you know,
0:15:30 > 0:15:35the whole face changed, like in a film.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38He was a human. And he said, "All right, stay here
0:15:38 > 0:15:42"and I'll come in the morning and pick you up," and I believed him
0:15:42 > 0:15:44and he did come.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48He put me in a sheet, pushed me
0:15:48 > 0:15:54in between four stretchers in a military ambulance and off we went.
0:15:54 > 0:16:00And all I had - my naked life and the ring on a string on my neck.
0:16:00 > 0:16:01It was all I had.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03And he saved my life,
0:16:03 > 0:16:08and I never had a chance to say thank you because he disappeared.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10And after the war, I lived in Australia,
0:16:10 > 0:16:13there was no chance looking for him, and at least,
0:16:13 > 0:16:17this opportunity, I would like to say thank you, wherever he is.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23Well, I mean, it sounds like if he hadn't intervened,
0:16:23 > 0:16:25that would have been it.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29That would have been it. One of the many.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34But now I live another life
0:16:34 > 0:16:36and I'm grateful for every single day.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44Of all the gardens and memorials here,
0:16:44 > 0:16:48I think this has to be the most poignant.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51We're in the eastern woodland, where next to a tribute
0:16:51 > 0:16:54to the Royal Army Medical Corps sits this moving reminder
0:16:54 > 0:16:58of an uncomfortable aspect of the First World War.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01It's called Shot At Dawn and it commemorates over 300 British
0:17:01 > 0:17:06and Commonwealth soldiers who were shot for desertion or cowardice.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09It's a sad reflection of the desperation of war,
0:17:09 > 0:17:11particularly when you think that many of them were underage
0:17:11 > 0:17:14when they volunteered, just boys.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18In 2006, they were all posthumously pardoned
0:17:18 > 0:17:22after a long and vigorous campaign by their descendants.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25And it's a fitting backdrop for our next story.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28Well, we're standing here, in front of what, for many years,
0:17:28 > 0:17:31some people have felt a very controversial memorial.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33Why have you brought us here?
0:17:33 > 0:17:37Because that man proves that this is the right thing to do.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40My dear Uncle Frank, Frank Handley Ridgwell,
0:17:40 > 0:17:43was condemned to death on the 10th February 1916
0:17:43 > 0:17:44for allegedly sleeping on duty.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48He had done a second sentry duty for a sick friend,
0:17:48 > 0:17:50a young officer inspected him,
0:17:50 > 0:17:52claimed that he was asleep.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56He was given a ten-minute court martial, sentenced to death.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58No defence counsel.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01It took a fortnight for that sentence to be confirmed,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04he was given back his rifle, sent back to the front
0:18:04 > 0:18:07knowing he might be shot by the enemy, or his own people behind him.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10That sentence was commuted to five years' penal servitude.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13He worked off that five-year penal servitude
0:18:13 > 0:18:17by extraordinary bravery at the front,
0:18:17 > 0:18:21for which he received a certificate of honour from his regiment.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25He was shot twice - once through his left breast pocket by his pay book,
0:18:25 > 0:18:27through the photograph of his sister,
0:18:27 > 0:18:31my dear Auntie Cis, who I was brought up next to - there's the bullet hole -
0:18:31 > 0:18:33and once through his other tunic pocket,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36where the bullet bounced off his cigarette case.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39He then served with great distinction.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42He was captured by the enemy, ill treated in prison,
0:18:42 > 0:18:45escaped, was protected by Belgian citizens,
0:18:45 > 0:18:48whom he loved dearly for it,
0:18:48 > 0:18:49made his way to the coast,
0:18:49 > 0:18:52was arrested by the British authorities as a deserter -
0:18:52 > 0:18:54his pay book proved that he wasn't -
0:18:54 > 0:18:56and he was shipped home in uniform
0:18:56 > 0:18:59and was discharged as the private he began.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02- Good grief. What an extraordinary career!- He was 24.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05And there's the record of his actual sentencing,
0:19:05 > 0:19:07of the commuting of that sentence
0:19:07 > 0:19:12and of the wiping off of that sentence, all in a few lines.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15How did you feel when you found out,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18presumably as young man,
0:19:18 > 0:19:20that your uncle had been...
0:19:20 > 0:19:21Immensely proud of him.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25The fact that he had been convicted of cowardice?
0:19:25 > 0:19:27No, of sleeping.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31As I knew him, I knew that couldn't be right.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35The critical thing to bear in mind, if I may say so,
0:19:35 > 0:19:39is that sentences to death increased rapidly before every great campaign.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41- Of course. - This was the General Staff
0:19:41 > 0:19:44strengthening the resolve of what were called the poor bloody infantry.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47- And this was as a deterrent, wasn't it?- Of course.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51That man was sentenced to death three months before the Battle of the Somme began,
0:19:51 > 0:19:54in which he served with great distinction.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56Now, during his very brief trial...
0:19:56 > 0:19:57Yes.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00..if it can be called a trial - presumably he...
0:20:00 > 0:20:04I know you said he wasn't represented by legal...
0:20:04 > 0:20:07- That's the evidence of all these trials.- He didn't even have
0:20:07 > 0:20:09- a soldier's friend?- I gather not.
0:20:09 > 0:20:10Well, he may have done,
0:20:10 > 0:20:12but frankly, if I may be blunt,
0:20:12 > 0:20:16it was the word of a young officer against a grocer's assistant.
0:20:16 > 0:20:21I see. So you think it might have been a class aspect?
0:20:21 > 0:20:23Oh, I'm sure it was, I'm sure it was,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26and I would venture to suggest
0:20:26 > 0:20:28that most of these extraordinary young men
0:20:28 > 0:20:32were the victims of a military class system as well.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35If I had a fraction of his courage,
0:20:35 > 0:20:37I'd be a very fortunate man.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49The unveiling of new memorials is a regular feature at the arboretum.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52On the day we visited, His Royal Highness the Duke of York,
0:20:52 > 0:20:55in his role as Colonel in Chief of the Yorkshire Regiment,
0:20:55 > 0:20:58was there for a dedication ceremony.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01Your Royal Highness, this is a fitting place to talk to you,
0:21:01 > 0:21:05given your role and your service in the armed forces.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09I've seen some of the names from the Falklands campaign.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12Of course you, as everyone will know, were in the Falklands,
0:21:12 > 0:21:16so it must have poignancy for you, seeing the names of people you knew.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20It does, and it brings back the sorts of thoughts
0:21:20 > 0:21:21that one was going through then.
0:21:21 > 0:21:28I mean, there was huge anxiety of what it was.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30Were we doing the right thing?
0:21:30 > 0:21:34And of course, we were going to recover British territory.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36But it's a memory now,
0:21:36 > 0:21:38and this is what's so weird.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42I mean, it's going to be 30 years next year.
0:21:42 > 0:21:47That's an awfully long time ago, but it's still very fresh as a memory,
0:21:47 > 0:21:48if you understand what I mean,
0:21:48 > 0:21:53and I always think about the people who I was serving with.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57There was great camaraderie about what we were doing.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00There are moments of...
0:22:00 > 0:22:02hilarity that I remember.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04We were under one missile attack one day
0:22:04 > 0:22:07when a friend of mine and I
0:22:07 > 0:22:11were trying to fix, or finish, a Rubik's cube.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14Those were the days when this cube thing, you know...
0:22:14 > 0:22:16- I remember it very well! - You remember it very well.
0:22:16 > 0:22:21And just as the missile attack was taking place, we completed it,
0:22:21 > 0:22:24and we were told everybody had to lie on the floor,
0:22:24 > 0:22:26because on deck, we had to take cover.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30And we were lying on the deck with a completed Rubik's cube between us,
0:22:30 > 0:22:32and I always thought,
0:22:32 > 0:22:34I wonder what people would think
0:22:34 > 0:22:36if something ghastly had happened and we'd been hit
0:22:36 > 0:22:39and all they'd found was two bodies and a Rubik's cube.
0:22:39 > 0:22:45Small things like that stick in one's mind. So, I mean, it's remarkable,
0:22:45 > 0:22:50and it brought home to me how fragile we are as a human being.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54How important is it, do you think, to have a place like this
0:22:54 > 0:22:57of national remembrance?
0:22:57 > 0:22:59I think it's very important,
0:22:59 > 0:23:02because we remember on Remembrance Sunday,
0:23:02 > 0:23:05or on 11th November every year,
0:23:05 > 0:23:08those that have died in the service of their country,
0:23:08 > 0:23:10but actually, there's more to it than that.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12There's more about actually allowing
0:23:12 > 0:23:16those who have lost friends and loved ones
0:23:16 > 0:23:17to be able to come somewhere
0:23:17 > 0:23:21where they can know that they are never forgotten.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24- Your Royal Highness, thank you very much.- You're very welcome.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35This very interesting collection of objects clearly relates
0:23:35 > 0:23:38to the conflict in the Falklands.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40Yes, Glamorgan was in the thick of the action
0:23:40 > 0:23:42from the very first day.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46And on 12th June, just two days before the surrender,
0:23:46 > 0:23:50Glamorgan was ordered to go inshore to support 45 Commando
0:23:50 > 0:23:53in their attack upon the Two Sisters Ridge.
0:23:53 > 0:23:58But 45 Commando took longer than anticipated to take the mountain.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01The Navy is not in the business of leaving soldiers in the lurch,
0:24:01 > 0:24:06so we stayed on the gun line until 45 Commando had completed.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10We then started to hurry back towards the aircraft carriers
0:24:10 > 0:24:15and I saw, at eight miles, coming from what I thought was Eliza Cove,
0:24:15 > 0:24:19a fast-moving contact which I interpreted as an Exocet missile.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22- You were navigating officer. - Navigator on the bridge.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25And about 20, 30 seconds later,
0:24:25 > 0:24:28I saw the faintest of blips coming from the land.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30It wasn't there the next sweep,
0:24:30 > 0:24:33and my heart breathed a sigh of relief, and then the next sweep
0:24:33 > 0:24:36there was a firm echo and the next sweep another firm echo,
0:24:36 > 0:24:38and in my heart of hearts
0:24:38 > 0:24:41I just knew it was an Exocet missile.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45And so I gave the order "Starboard 35", a pre-planned manoeuvre
0:24:45 > 0:24:49to turn the quickest way, to take it at a ten-degree inclination,
0:24:49 > 0:24:51to try to bounce it off the ship's side.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53But we hadn't completed the turn,
0:24:53 > 0:24:56and we were heeling at 14 degrees, and you can see...
0:24:56 > 0:24:58This is the actual bridge clinometer,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01- which is at the moment set at 14 degrees.- That's at 14 degrees.
0:25:01 > 0:25:06And presumably that's quite an amount of heel, is it?
0:25:06 > 0:25:08That's really a significant amount of heel,
0:25:08 > 0:25:10and that lowered the ship's side just enough
0:25:10 > 0:25:13so the missile just clipped the upper deck
0:25:13 > 0:25:17and then skidded along the upper deck whilst being deflected upwards.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20It exploded just short of the hangar
0:25:20 > 0:25:22and blew a large hole in the upper deck
0:25:22 > 0:25:24and a hole in the next deck down,
0:25:24 > 0:25:27and the missile body went through the hangar door
0:25:27 > 0:25:30into the fully fuelled and fully armed helicopter,
0:25:30 > 0:25:32which promptly blew up.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34We were the only ship to survive being hit.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36Turning the ship gave the damage-control teams
0:25:36 > 0:25:38the chance to save the ship.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41And they need all the credit they can get.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44But, sadly, we lost 14 members of our ship's company.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47But it could have been so much worse.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49- How many men in the company? - Just under 500.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53The Argentine marine who actually pressed the fire button
0:25:53 > 0:25:55on the Exocet launcher,
0:25:55 > 0:25:59he contacted the HMS Glamorgan website and apologised,
0:25:59 > 0:26:02and I responded to his contact
0:26:02 > 0:26:04and said he doesn't have to apologise
0:26:04 > 0:26:08because he was doing his duty, just as we were doing ours.
0:26:08 > 0:26:13And I went out to Argentina a few years ago with my wife
0:26:13 > 0:26:16and I met Jose in Rosario,
0:26:16 > 0:26:20and he was a very nice man, nice family, and...
0:26:20 > 0:26:23- So you bear him no ill will? - No ill will, whatsoever,
0:26:23 > 0:26:26because, you know... It's the politicians I'm not so keen on.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30But I have a great respect for the Argentine service personnel,
0:26:30 > 0:26:32who did their duty.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34Well, I think one of our themes today is remembrance,
0:26:34 > 0:26:37but I think the sub-theme that you've brought out from that,
0:26:37 > 0:26:40- that's just as important, is reconciliation.- Yes.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44- No point in winning the war if you can't win the peace. - I'll drink to that.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53We're standing in an area of the arboretum today
0:26:53 > 0:26:56that relates to the Far East, prisoners of war,
0:26:56 > 0:26:58and we're standing in front of
0:26:58 > 0:27:01a section of the Burma-Thailand railway.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04You've also brought along
0:27:04 > 0:27:06this Japanese sword
0:27:06 > 0:27:09which, from the covering of the scabbard, relates to the Second World War.
0:27:09 > 0:27:14It can't be yours, because you're not old enough. So whose was it?
0:27:14 > 0:27:17This was brought back by my father, Captain Charles MacDonald,
0:27:17 > 0:27:20from Burma, where he was a Japanese prisoner of war.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23And why was he a prisoner? Why was he taken prisoner?
0:27:23 > 0:27:27Well, he volunteered to go into Burma behind the enemy lines,
0:27:27 > 0:27:31for the second Wingate expedition, which was going to liberate Burma,
0:27:31 > 0:27:33and he led a nine-man patrol
0:27:33 > 0:27:36which was to live off the land and gather information
0:27:36 > 0:27:39which would be fed back, which would help the British re-invade Burma.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42Because they were living off the land, they were short of food,
0:27:42 > 0:27:45and they went into a Burmese village for supplies.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48They were told to come back the next day. My father was suspicious.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50He thought they were being set up.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52Indeed they were - as he and his sergeant and an Indian soldier
0:27:52 > 0:27:55went into the village to get supplies,
0:27:55 > 0:27:58a machine gun opened up on them at very close range.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00And my father went to the ground,
0:28:00 > 0:28:03the Indian soldier and the sergeant ran into the jungle.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07My father then charged the machine-gun nest, threw a grenade,
0:28:07 > 0:28:09and the last thing the Indian soldier saw of him
0:28:09 > 0:28:13was him falling down to the ground with a cry,
0:28:13 > 0:28:15and so he had apparently been killed in action.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18And was that reported back?
0:28:18 > 0:28:19That was reported back,
0:28:19 > 0:28:24and so for five months my mother thought that he had been killed in action.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28And then it started to filter through that perhaps he had survived,
0:28:28 > 0:28:30he may have been wounded, possibly a prisoner of war,
0:28:30 > 0:28:34and by that time he was in Rangoon jail at the southern end of Burma.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37Now, you've brought one or two other objects.
0:28:37 > 0:28:38Who does this show?
0:28:38 > 0:28:43That's my father and mother on their wedding day, Boxing Day 1940.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46They got married very quickly because he was being sent overseas,
0:28:46 > 0:28:49and she didn't see him for another five years!
0:28:49 > 0:28:52- Five years! - Five years. Can you imagine it?
0:28:52 > 0:28:54And what's this little... luggage label?
0:28:54 > 0:28:57I think this is the most poignant.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00My mother received this a few months after he'd disappeared,
0:29:00 > 0:29:04- which simply says "Kit of a deceased officer"...- Oh, my goodness.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07..which is pretty final.
0:29:07 > 0:29:12I wonder how she would have coped with thinking he had been killed.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15I think she was an amazingly tough character,
0:29:15 > 0:29:17and I think she hoped against hope
0:29:17 > 0:29:20he would survive, that he'd be protected by God in some way,
0:29:20 > 0:29:22and of course, indeed he was.
0:29:22 > 0:29:24And you've also brought along this postcard.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26Yes, this is remarkable.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29I think her first knowledge that he was still alive
0:29:29 > 0:29:31came in a short press cutting in the paper
0:29:31 > 0:29:34about his lone attack on the Japanese position.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37And the very next day she sent this postcard, via the Red Cross.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41- And what does it say?- Well, amazing. "Darling, first card to you.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47"All overjoyed at news after five months missing. Have faith.
0:29:49 > 0:29:51"You're in my heart always."
0:29:51 > 0:29:55HE CLEARS HIS THROAT I'm afraid I get a bit choked!
0:29:55 > 0:29:58- I can see, I can see. - "All my love, Mary."
0:29:58 > 0:30:00But, I mean, this is amazing history,
0:30:00 > 0:30:02absolutely extraordinary history,
0:30:02 > 0:30:06and, you know, you can imagine,
0:30:06 > 0:30:09it's so sort of straightforward.
0:30:09 > 0:30:13There's clearly great love, but it had to be written in capital letters,
0:30:13 > 0:30:17you could only have a certain number of words, and she had to convey...
0:30:17 > 0:30:21her overpowering sense of happiness and relief that he'd survived.
0:30:21 > 0:30:25He was the very first Far East prisoner of war
0:30:25 > 0:30:26to arrive back in this country.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30He was only eight stone, and he was a bigger frame than me.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32And my mother,
0:30:32 > 0:30:35I suppose probably rather proudly,
0:30:35 > 0:30:37marched down Oxford Street with him,
0:30:37 > 0:30:39and it stopped the traffic.
0:30:39 > 0:30:41- Stopped the traffic?- It did.
0:30:41 > 0:30:45People were so horrified, because they'd never seen anything like this.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48I have to say that this is one of the stories today
0:30:48 > 0:30:51that has really moved me personally.
0:30:52 > 0:30:54It really has.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08Christopher Wren said, "I build for eternity,"
0:31:08 > 0:31:12and St Paul's Cathedral, perhaps, during the Second World War,
0:31:12 > 0:31:16became an icon that focused the nation's pride,
0:31:16 > 0:31:20particularly during the Blitz period,
0:31:20 > 0:31:23and civilians were incredibly important
0:31:23 > 0:31:26in preserving St Paul's during that time.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29Tell me about somebody who was involved.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33My grandfather, Alfred Henry Sharr, had joined St Paul's Cathedral
0:31:33 > 0:31:36as a maintenance man in 1935,
0:31:36 > 0:31:39but coming up to the beginning of 1939,
0:31:39 > 0:31:41the Dean and Chapter said that,
0:31:41 > 0:31:46with war imminent, they had to try and protect St Paul's as best as possible.
0:31:46 > 0:31:48Didn't Winston Churchill say
0:31:48 > 0:31:51that St Paul's must be protected at all costs?
0:31:51 > 0:31:54That came in 1940 during the Blitz
0:31:54 > 0:31:57because there were so many near misses.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59A bomb had hit near the south tower
0:31:59 > 0:32:03and gone down some 90 feet before they managed to dig it out.
0:32:03 > 0:32:08- My goodness.- But my grandfather was part of the team that became
0:32:08 > 0:32:11St Paul's Watch, and they ended up with some 280 people.
0:32:11 > 0:32:16Their main tasks were to guard against incendiaries, bombs,
0:32:16 > 0:32:18act as fire watchers.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22- They were all volunteers.- They were indeed.- All civilians.- Yes.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26And here is an image of your grandfather
0:32:26 > 0:32:30actually abseiling down the dome of St Paul's!
0:32:30 > 0:32:32I can't see much evidence of health and safety.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35I think it was invented just after that photograph.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38Perhaps BECAUSE of this photograph!
0:32:38 > 0:32:40I suppose that the most famous incident
0:32:40 > 0:32:44which involved an attack, really, on London
0:32:44 > 0:32:48was that night of 29th December, that extraordinary Blitzkrieg,
0:32:48 > 0:32:54when 100,000 incendiary bombs like this...
0:32:54 > 0:32:56- This is an incendiary bomb? - Still with its fuse in.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59Still got its fuse in, but nothing else, one presumes.
0:32:59 > 0:33:05And these were dropped in clusters, so they created absolute havoc,
0:33:05 > 0:33:08and there was a firestorm on that night.
0:33:08 > 0:33:10That was the big raid
0:33:10 > 0:33:14when they considered they were after St Paul's Cathedral. It was iconic.
0:33:14 > 0:33:18You're right, Churchill had decreed that it must be saved at all costs.
0:33:18 > 0:33:22At that point, they put in far more firefighters
0:33:22 > 0:33:28into St Paul's, they put hoses on ropes to pull them up into the dome
0:33:28 > 0:33:29so they could fight fires.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32And that night was the night of the spring tide,
0:33:32 > 0:33:35the lowest tide on the Thames,
0:33:35 > 0:33:39hence they couldn't get the water out of the Thames to fight any fires.
0:33:39 > 0:33:41And I suppose if there's one image that sums up
0:33:41 > 0:33:45St Paul's and its position
0:33:45 > 0:33:48as a survivor...
0:33:48 > 0:33:53it is this picture taken by Herbert Mason.
0:33:53 > 0:33:57It was taken the morning after 29th December,
0:33:57 > 0:33:59on the morning of 30th December,
0:33:59 > 0:34:03with St Paul's caught in the first ray of the rising sun.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06And there was a huge discussion about this.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10Would it serve to inspire the people or to depress them?
0:34:10 > 0:34:13And it wasn't printed until the following day,
0:34:13 > 0:34:16on 31st December, because it was decided
0:34:16 > 0:34:20that actually it embodied the spirit of Londoners
0:34:20 > 0:34:23to survive the Blitz.
0:34:23 > 0:34:27- And Christopher Wren was right - he did build for eternity.- Indeed.
0:34:39 > 0:34:44Meet Whacker. He's probably the oddest object we've seen today.
0:34:44 > 0:34:48He's a mascot for a bombing crew during the Second World War,
0:34:48 > 0:34:50and he was actually injured in action himself.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53Look, he's got a shrapnel hole here
0:34:53 > 0:34:57and on the back, a swastika for every bombing raid the crew went on.
0:34:57 > 0:35:01Now, lots of people wrote in to us about mascots.
0:35:01 > 0:35:03I think one of the most unusual
0:35:03 > 0:35:06is your story of a mascot, Robin, and it was a cat.
0:35:06 > 0:35:11A cat called Pyro, who was the pet cat of my father, Bob Bird,
0:35:11 > 0:35:14and they served together in a secret wing of the RAF
0:35:14 > 0:35:19called the Experimental Seaplane Research Centre at Helensburgh.
0:35:19 > 0:35:23- Taking reconnaissance pictures? - Pictures of flying boats,
0:35:23 > 0:35:26such things as the Barnes Wallis bouncing bomb and ways of sinking U-boats.
0:35:26 > 0:35:30And where did Pyro the cat come into it all?
0:35:30 > 0:35:35Pyro wandered into the base and made a home in the darkroom,
0:35:35 > 0:35:37and Bob didn't see it there
0:35:37 > 0:35:41and actually nearly cut its tail off when he closed a sliding glass door.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44And this is Bob and the cat, here, is it?
0:35:44 > 0:35:47This is Bob and the cat. Bob took it to the medical officer,
0:35:47 > 0:35:49who repaired the cat's tail,
0:35:49 > 0:35:50and they became friends.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53The cat used to follow Bob, so Bob took him flying with him,
0:35:53 > 0:35:55in the flying jacket.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58- And this is his flying jacket here. - It is. To keep Bob warm
0:35:58 > 0:36:01and as a lucky mascot to chase the gremlins away.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03So everything worked smoothly when Pyro was in the plane.
0:36:03 > 0:36:09Until one day, when Bob was flying at 20,000 feet in extreme cold,
0:36:09 > 0:36:15and he was changing his camera lens and his fingers froze to the camera.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18Bob took his fingers off the camera, but they were frostbitten.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22And he warmed them on Pyro, and when he was hospitalised afterwards,
0:36:22 > 0:36:25the medical officer said, "Pyro's repaid his debt.
0:36:25 > 0:36:27"You saved his tail and he saved your fingers."
0:36:27 > 0:36:30My goodness! Air crews were superstitious.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33They were flying in such dangerous circumstances,
0:36:33 > 0:36:36and these mascots became terribly important to them.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38All the crew welcomed him,
0:36:38 > 0:36:40even though he shouldn't have been there, really.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43Pyro was the even more secret bit of the secret wing.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47He was sworn to secrecy. He never spoke about his war, Pyro.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50- Kept his lips firmly sealed. - He did.- Quite right.
0:36:55 > 0:36:59This is the photograph of a very young man.
0:36:59 > 0:37:00Who is he and how old was he?
0:37:00 > 0:37:02He's my grandad and his name was Edward,
0:37:02 > 0:37:07or Teddy, and he is 19, roughly, in that photo.
0:37:07 > 0:37:09And what was his war?
0:37:09 > 0:37:11His war, really, was...
0:37:11 > 0:37:14He had quite a safe job, and I know that he was doing
0:37:14 > 0:37:16some engineering on aircraft
0:37:16 > 0:37:20and doing things around England, based around England.
0:37:20 > 0:37:23So in the 1940s, in the middle of the Second World War,
0:37:23 > 0:37:25- he was ground crew.- That's correct.
0:37:25 > 0:37:27And he then put himself forward,
0:37:27 > 0:37:30because he realised they were losing lots of air crew
0:37:30 > 0:37:32and that they needed more men.
0:37:32 > 0:37:37He felt that he needed to do his duty and help win this war.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40- So what did he do?- He volunteered
0:37:40 > 0:37:44as an air gunner, and he did this in secret, without my nan knowing.
0:37:44 > 0:37:46- So he volunteered.- He volunteered.
0:37:46 > 0:37:51And when we talk about going into the bombers as a gunner,
0:37:51 > 0:37:54that was THE most dangerous job,
0:37:54 > 0:37:56whether you were a rear gunner or wherever it was.
0:37:56 > 0:37:59You were very, very easily picked off
0:37:59 > 0:38:03by the Messerschmitts or whoever was defending the target.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06It was my nan's nightmare. And they'd discussed it,
0:38:06 > 0:38:11and she said that was the one thing that she was afraid of him doing.
0:38:11 > 0:38:13So this is a photograph
0:38:13 > 0:38:16- of your grandfather Teddy and your nan on their wedding.- Yes.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18Maisie and Teddy
0:38:18 > 0:38:20on their wedding day.
0:38:20 > 0:38:22The entries in the logbook finish in 1942.
0:38:22 > 0:38:26- Yes.- What happened?
0:38:26 > 0:38:31He was shot down in a Halifax with the rest of his crew.
0:38:31 > 0:38:35- So all the crew were...- All the crew were dead, yes.- Extraordinary.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38And there are the terrible formal letters that come through,
0:38:38 > 0:38:41advising, you know, "Lost in action, presumed killed",
0:38:41 > 0:38:45and then a confirmation that he was in fact known to be killed,
0:38:45 > 0:38:47not just missing.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50But then what about this? What is this?
0:38:50 > 0:38:52It's the letter he left,
0:38:52 > 0:38:59explaining to my nan why he felt he had to put himself forward,
0:38:59 > 0:39:01that would go to her in case anything happened.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05I can tell you that, holding this in my hands, actually,
0:39:05 > 0:39:07the hair on the back of my neck is rising,
0:39:07 > 0:39:12because this, to me, is an incredibly powerful document.
0:39:12 > 0:39:17Now, this letter has been obviously treasured and loved,
0:39:17 > 0:39:19and it starts...
0:39:19 > 0:39:23It's dated 2nd May 1942, written in Croft,
0:39:23 > 0:39:25which was where he was based then,
0:39:25 > 0:39:27and it starts, "Dearest, it's now 7pm."
0:39:27 > 0:39:32And I'd like you to take the story up. I don't know if I can read it.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35- I'll try.- You try.- I'll try.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38So, you've got it transcribed there.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40Read a little bit out to me.
0:39:40 > 0:39:46"When you read this letter, one of two things would probably have happened.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49"Either I shall be home, off operations,
0:39:49 > 0:39:51"or I shall be missing.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54"That is why I want to write this letter, dearest.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58"Now this is where I have to confess to deceiving you, darling.
0:39:58 > 0:40:00"I've never done it before, and I hope
0:40:00 > 0:40:02"I never will have to do it again.
0:40:02 > 0:40:04"I hope you understand..."
0:40:04 > 0:40:08Sorry. "..but I couldn't help it.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10"The main thing was
0:40:10 > 0:40:15"that I didn't say what aircraft I was flying in.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18"Well, they were the big, four-engined Halifaxes.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21"Understand, darling, I was to fly over Germany
0:40:21 > 0:40:25"of a night and also sometimes of a day.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28"It was the one thing you dreaded, wasn't it?
0:40:28 > 0:40:30"That was the reason I didn't tell you.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33"I hadn't the heart, darling. I love you too much.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36"At the moment, there are only two months to go
0:40:36 > 0:40:39"before our baby comes into this world.
0:40:39 > 0:40:43"If you do happen to get this letter in unhappy circumstances...
0:40:46 > 0:40:48"..which I pray to God you won't,
0:40:48 > 0:40:52"remember, darling, unhappy moments often turn into happy ones,
0:40:52 > 0:40:55"and never give up hope.
0:40:55 > 0:40:58"Remember, don't give up, and keep your chin up, darling.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00"Au revoir - not goodbye - beloved.
0:41:00 > 0:41:04"Yours, with all my love, my dearest, Teddy."
0:41:08 > 0:41:10Sorry.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16Sorry.
0:41:18 > 0:41:20That's quite some letter.
0:41:24 > 0:41:29There's not really much more one can say about that, actually.
0:41:29 > 0:41:31We've only really read a part of it,
0:41:31 > 0:41:35- because it is an incredibly powerful document.- It is, yes.
0:41:35 > 0:41:40Um, and it's all about...
0:41:40 > 0:41:42- the ones that are left behind.- Yes.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44It's...incredibly powerful stuff,
0:41:44 > 0:41:47and I'm very, very moved
0:41:47 > 0:41:50and delighted that you've been able
0:41:50 > 0:41:53- to share it with us. - Thank you for allowing me.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16I should think just about every family has a link
0:42:16 > 0:42:19to someone who is commemorated here at the arboretum.
0:42:19 > 0:42:23And incidentally, it's open every day, except Christmas Day,
0:42:23 > 0:42:24and entrance is free.
0:42:24 > 0:42:26Before we go, I just want to share one more
0:42:26 > 0:42:30evocative item that's been brought along today with you.
0:42:30 > 0:42:32It's a telex
0:42:32 > 0:42:36that was sent on V-J Day, Victory over Japan Day,
0:42:36 > 0:42:3915th August, 1945.
0:42:39 > 0:42:40It says,
0:42:40 > 0:42:44"Most immediate, all concerned home and abroad,
0:42:44 > 0:42:46"splice the mainbrace."
0:42:46 > 0:42:48It was sent by the Admiralty,
0:42:48 > 0:42:50and what it meant was "The war is over!"
0:42:50 > 0:42:52Now, just imagine what it felt like
0:42:52 > 0:42:56to the troops, the airmen, the sailors, receiving that.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59All the suffering, all the carnage, had come to an end.
0:42:59 > 0:43:04It's just one of the fascinating and moving things we've seen today.
0:43:04 > 0:43:08You can see more of what we filmed on our website, if you want a look.
0:43:11 > 0:43:12We'll be back on the road
0:43:12 > 0:43:14with our usual Antiques Roadshow next week.
0:43:14 > 0:43:18But from everyone at the National Memorial Arboretum, bye-bye.