0:00:03 > 0:00:08Thousands of people pass it every day, unaware it even exists -
0:00:08 > 0:00:11let alone what it commemorates.
0:00:12 > 0:00:16For 50 years, this white stone plaque has marked the weekend
0:00:16 > 0:00:22President John F Kennedy visited the Sussex village of Forest Row
0:00:22 > 0:00:26for a political summit at the height of the Cold War.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33The Sussex summit is almost like an Indian summer.
0:00:33 > 0:00:38Here is John F Kennedy, unknown to him, of course, but his last visit
0:00:38 > 0:00:42to Britain, to Europe. He's going to be assassinated a few months later.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49I was the one person that had that key to the room that had
0:00:49 > 0:00:53the hotline to the President in. It crossed my mind to open it
0:00:53 > 0:00:55and go in and say, "Hi, there!"
0:00:57 > 0:01:02I was very impressed with JFK when I got to be working with him.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06Such a nice guy - he was very pleasant, would chat with you.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09As far as Dallas was concerned,
0:01:09 > 0:01:13there were some nasty people out there
0:01:13 > 0:01:17that not only didn't like him - hated him.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32REPORTER: President Jack Kennedy is an hour late arriving at Gatwick Airport.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34He'd been making an unscheduled visit to
0:01:34 > 0:01:36the grave of his sister Kathleen in Derbyshire.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39Few things are unscheduled in this tightly packed,
0:01:39 > 0:01:41heavily protected trip. Premier Harold Macmillan only has
0:01:41 > 0:01:4524 hours of the President's time and a lot to talk about.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49The nuclear test ban talks and the mixed NATO fleet are high on the list.
0:01:49 > 0:01:54June 1963, and the world was a precarious place.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58It was the height of the Cold War -
0:01:58 > 0:02:01the USA and Soviet Union facing one another
0:02:01 > 0:02:03in a nuclear arms race.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08And it was in this tense atmosphere that President John F Kennedy
0:02:08 > 0:02:12flew into Gatwick for talks at Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's
0:02:12 > 0:02:18country estate, Birch Grove, just outside East Grinstead in Sussex.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21Back to Birch Grove and those talks. The main achievement,
0:02:21 > 0:02:25agreement to go all out for a test ban treaty with Khrushchev.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28- GORDON BROWN:- One was older, one was younger,
0:02:28 > 0:02:31one in a sense enjoyed the playboy life and the other
0:02:31 > 0:02:33was very demure,
0:02:33 > 0:02:37but they understood that each other faced huge problems.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40The big question, will agreement at Birch Grove lead to
0:02:40 > 0:02:42agreement in Moscow?
0:02:42 > 0:02:46President Kennedy's visit to Sussex came just a few days after
0:02:46 > 0:02:49perhaps the most famous speech of his political career.
0:02:49 > 0:02:54His historic address to hundreds of thousands in Berlin.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is...
0:03:02 > 0:03:04Ich bin ein Berliner.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09I think this is a major period of his life,
0:03:09 > 0:03:13because he's given this speech in Berlin which many people
0:03:13 > 0:03:17remember as one of the significant events of the Cold War,
0:03:17 > 0:03:19defying the Soviet Union.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23He goes to Ireland, which is a visit about his family heritage,
0:03:23 > 0:03:26and then he comes to see his old friend Harold Macmillan.
0:03:26 > 0:03:32Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown's admiration for JFK's political legacy
0:03:32 > 0:03:37resulted in him becoming a close friend of the Kennedy family.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41And in doing so he was able to learn more about the special
0:03:41 > 0:03:45relationship that had developed between the older and experienced
0:03:45 > 0:03:50Harold Macmillan and younger and more dynamic John F Kennedy.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54Macmillan, in particular, was determined to build
0:03:54 > 0:03:57a friendship with Kennedy because he knew that Britain's
0:03:57 > 0:04:00place in the world depended on a relationship with America,
0:04:00 > 0:04:04that he had feared that - having being such a great friend of Eisenhower - he might lose.
0:04:09 > 0:04:14Fast forward 50 years, and the starting point for our story
0:04:14 > 0:04:18is here in Lewes, at the Sussex County Records Office.
0:04:18 > 0:04:24# How many roads must a man walk down
0:04:24 > 0:04:29# Before they call him a man... #
0:04:29 > 0:04:33With the help of Brighton historian Paul Elgood,
0:04:33 > 0:04:36we've found the original police files
0:04:36 > 0:04:41detailing JFK's visit to Sussex in the summer of 1963.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46Even half a century later there is still information that we're not
0:04:46 > 0:04:50allowed to see. Sensitivities still run high, I suppose.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56# The answer is blowin' in the wind. #
0:05:01 > 0:05:05There were three jets before you even start, two American helicopters,
0:05:05 > 0:05:10two Presidential cars alone,
0:05:10 > 0:05:12100 members of the press.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16Brighton's two largest hotels were completely booked out.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20Every hotel within Sussex seemed to have been booked up.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22It was absolutely enormous.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26Two helicopters for the President went straight to Birch Grove
0:05:26 > 0:05:28and landed within the estate.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30Other helicopters were used to connect to Brighton
0:05:30 > 0:05:34and they landed on the Hove lawns, the Brunswick lawns.
0:05:35 > 0:05:40Birch Grove, the house, really acted like a stage for a play,
0:05:40 > 0:05:44with all the comings and goings of an international summit.
0:05:44 > 0:05:49So this is the map of the Birch Grove estate,
0:05:49 > 0:05:50with the house marked on it,
0:05:50 > 0:05:57the perimeter wall and access road, and the Red Lion public house, where the Secret Service were based.
0:05:58 > 0:06:03Using the Sussex Police files as our starting point, we've decided
0:06:03 > 0:06:05to track down some of the eyewitnesses
0:06:05 > 0:06:10present during JFK's last visit to Britain.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12This is interesting. This is the Sunday morning,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15and at 8.15 it records that President Kennedy
0:06:15 > 0:06:19left Birch Grove for Forest Row, which was when he went to church.
0:06:21 > 0:06:27News JFK was attending Mass brought out hundreds of local onlookers.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30This was an amazing moment for the visit.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33It was the only opportunity the general public really had
0:06:33 > 0:06:38to see Kennedy close up. He came out in his bubble-top car
0:06:38 > 0:06:43and drove the two or so miles into Forest Row to go to Mass.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48The vehicle they used was the same vehicle that Kennedy was
0:06:48 > 0:06:55later in on November 22nd 1963 in Dallas, so they were very much seeing
0:06:55 > 0:07:00the same scene that became a part of history a few months later.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03Amongst the hundreds of local people gathered waiting to see
0:07:03 > 0:07:09the President were Lillian Shawcross and Doreen Mahoney.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Both still live in Forest Row today.
0:07:12 > 0:07:17You see the roofs of the houses, and because we'd got to get a better view
0:07:17 > 0:07:20my mother and I stood on the side of the bath
0:07:20 > 0:07:22and we could see right across here.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25So you could look across and you saw the President arrive with
0:07:25 > 0:07:26security men?
0:07:26 > 0:07:30Yes, yes, and then, after the service, when they came out
0:07:30 > 0:07:35he came up to the crowd here and we still got a very good view.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37Did you shout or wave, or...
0:07:37 > 0:07:40No, we were too interested in just watching.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43No, I think we had a better view than a lot of the people up here.
0:07:43 > 0:07:48He was in quite a big car, a dark car, and there was quite a lot of security.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50People were out there trying to keep people back.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52Everybody was very excited,
0:07:52 > 0:07:57waving and shouting, and it was very nice.
0:07:57 > 0:07:58Very nice indeed.
0:07:58 > 0:08:03Exciting really, because we'd never had anybody that big round Forest Row.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05He was a lovely man.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07He was a lovely man. I think everybody loved him, really.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15Two miles away from all the hustle and bustle
0:08:15 > 0:08:17of the Presidential visit...
0:08:19 > 0:08:21..police constable Peter Etheridge
0:08:21 > 0:08:24was patrolling East Grinstead High Street.
0:08:24 > 0:08:29He'd been left out of the Sussex Police operation to protect JFK
0:08:29 > 0:08:32and was quietly a bit miffed.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35But his luck was about to change.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38Everyone else seemed to be rushing about and doing things
0:08:38 > 0:08:41and I felt neglected, if you like.
0:08:41 > 0:08:46I was on patrol in East Grinstead High Street and Ken Hutchinson,
0:08:46 > 0:08:49a detective sergeant, drove up alongside - "Quick, jump in.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51"Have you got a civvy jacket?"
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Well, I hadn't got one, I'd got one at home, so he whipped me home
0:08:54 > 0:08:57and got a civvy jacket. I had no idea what it was for.
0:08:57 > 0:09:02Drove me down to Birch Grove, where Prime Minister Macmillan lived, and took me in.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05All these people, all American,
0:09:05 > 0:09:10all with lovely blue barathea uniforms with gold braid,
0:09:10 > 0:09:14and he said, "This is Detective Sergeant..."
0:09:14 > 0:09:16- elevating my rank, of course -
0:09:16 > 0:09:18"Detective Sergeant Etheridge."
0:09:18 > 0:09:21And, would you believe it, they all shook my hand.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25"Pleased to meet you, sir, pleased to meet you," and,
0:09:25 > 0:09:31"We're off to lunch - here's the key to the room with the hotline in."
0:09:31 > 0:09:33And gave me this key,
0:09:33 > 0:09:39and they were gone and I was left in Macmillan's house all on my own.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44Now retired and living in Chichester, Peter's brief stint
0:09:44 > 0:09:48in charge of security remains one of his career highs.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51So I wandered all round Harold Macmillan's house, really.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54I could hear voices in the distance -
0:09:54 > 0:10:00I think that might have been in the kitchens. I can't remember now how I knew it was JFK's bedroom,
0:10:00 > 0:10:03or to be his bedroom.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05I think it must have had his name on door,
0:10:05 > 0:10:08but I went in and sat on the bed and bounced up and down,
0:10:08 > 0:10:12looked in Macmillan's... I didn't pry
0:10:12 > 0:10:17but I'd got to do something with the time I was there. Looked in Macmillan's medicine cabinet
0:10:17 > 0:10:22and he seemed to suffer from much the same ailments I now suffer from.
0:10:22 > 0:10:27And...I suppose - I didn't look at my watch, but I suppose -
0:10:27 > 0:10:29after, well, over an hour,
0:10:29 > 0:10:33I heard voices, went downstairs and my moment of glory was over.
0:10:38 > 0:10:4250 years on from JFK's Presidential visit,
0:10:42 > 0:10:47and Birch Grove has been transformed back into the quintessential
0:10:47 > 0:10:50Sussex estate it was in 1963.
0:10:53 > 0:10:59Its new owners are Dr James Hay and his wife Fitri, and they've
0:10:59 > 0:11:04spared no expense returning the house to its former glory.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08I did understand that Harold Macmillan had actually
0:11:08 > 0:11:12owned his own family home rather than go to Chequers for many
0:11:12 > 0:11:19of his diplomatic meetings, so I was aware of that, but when we came
0:11:19 > 0:11:23and saw Birch Grove I became really aware as to the significance of how many -
0:11:23 > 0:11:27not just John F Kennedy - but incredibly important people,
0:11:27 > 0:11:29Khrushchev, De Gaulle -
0:11:29 > 0:11:32a whole string of very important people had come here.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36The room we're sitting in here we have completely remodelled
0:11:36 > 0:11:40but we've kept it, I think, in the traditional style Harold Macmillan
0:11:40 > 0:11:44tried to achieve when he built the place in the early 1920s. Is that fair?
0:11:44 > 0:11:48When I see the house, really, there is something about...
0:11:48 > 0:11:55There's a feeling like so welcome, so homely, and I said, "Yes."
0:11:55 > 0:12:00Dr Hay, do you sometimes wander around and feel the hand of history on your shoulder?
0:12:00 > 0:12:04I think you can't escape it in here, you're very aware of it.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06When we have guests that come here,
0:12:06 > 0:12:10one of the questions they always ask is, "Which was the room that Kennedy slept in?"
0:12:10 > 0:12:14If they stay with us, that's the room they all want to be in.
0:12:25 > 0:12:30Having now completed their two-year renovation of Birch Grove,
0:12:30 > 0:12:33the Hays are slowly collecting artefacts
0:12:33 > 0:12:37from the Sussex Summit of 1963.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41This purports to be from the nearby inn, the Red Lion,
0:12:41 > 0:12:46which is maybe a quarter of a mile from here. Here we can see
0:12:46 > 0:12:49the date is the 30th June 1963,
0:12:49 > 0:12:53and we can see John F Kennedy's signature here,
0:12:53 > 0:12:55and Washington, DC.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59And below that is Harold Macmillan's signature.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02But it's said that they never actually visited it
0:13:02 > 0:13:06so why the signatures happen to be... But they are authentic signatures
0:13:06 > 0:13:12within the visitors' book, so it gives us a good topic of conversation.
0:13:12 > 0:13:19So the mystery could be, did John F Kennedy and Harold Macmillan nip out for pint in their local pub?
0:13:19 > 0:13:25Seemingly Harold was known to favour this particular pub
0:13:25 > 0:13:28and his local brew, so maybe the two of them sneaked out.
0:13:30 > 0:13:36But exactly what was discussed by President John F Kennedy and Harold Macmillan,
0:13:36 > 0:13:4350 years ago in these rooms behind me, remains a closely guarded secret.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47The personal discussions between Harold Macmillan and John F Kennedy
0:13:47 > 0:13:49we know very little about.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53We don't know what was discussed behind closed doors.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56Harold Macmillan hinted but didn't go into depth within his memoirs
0:13:56 > 0:14:01and, tragically, JFK never had the opportunity to write his memoirs.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09But now, half a century on, we've located someone
0:14:09 > 0:14:14who WAS behind those closed doors at Birch Grove.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17I was 20.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22My grandfather and I were close.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26Most Sundays we'd go for long walks through the woods together,
0:14:26 > 0:14:28and he would discuss politics.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30So I was fully aware
0:14:30 > 0:14:35and I had been through the Cuban missile crisis with my grandfather.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38The Earl of Stockton, Harold Macmillan's grandson,
0:14:38 > 0:14:41lived at Birch Grove and witnessed all the comings
0:14:41 > 0:14:45and goings of the Sussex Summit of 1963.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48When he told us that Jack was coming,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51I was terribly pleased cos I'd met him three times before.
0:14:51 > 0:14:58So this visit was to be both a planning session
0:14:58 > 0:15:01and a celebration.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04And in the run-up to it,
0:15:04 > 0:15:08there was talk that they should go Chequers
0:15:08 > 0:15:12and the Queen even suggested she would...
0:15:12 > 0:15:15Windsor Castle and all this kind of thing.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18And I think it was my grandmother who said,
0:15:18 > 0:15:21"No, Harold, he's coming to our home."
0:15:23 > 0:15:26You've got to remember that these times politicians didn't meet
0:15:26 > 0:15:29as they do now in summits like the G8 and G20.
0:15:29 > 0:15:30They had to steal this time
0:15:30 > 0:15:34from other things because there were no formal summits that
0:15:34 > 0:15:37they're going to be at unless they create these events themselves.
0:15:37 > 0:15:42And the fact it's in the house of Harold Macmillan shows that there is a very personal dimension to this.
0:15:42 > 0:15:50So, a large number of Secret Service and Department of Defense and CIA appeared
0:15:50 > 0:15:54and the whole place was searched from top to bottom
0:15:54 > 0:15:57and it was clear that there wasn't
0:15:57 > 0:16:03the accommodation for the Presidential backup, so they requisitioned
0:16:03 > 0:16:06two hotels in Brighton.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08A large number of helicopters appeared
0:16:08 > 0:16:14and they ran a shuttle service from the cricket ground, and I managed
0:16:14 > 0:16:19to hitch a ride and went down to Brighton and back in, er, Marine One,
0:16:19 > 0:16:26as it's called, which was a very noisy, bumpy old Sikorsky,
0:16:26 > 0:16:31once described to me like flying on a chandelier on a...
0:16:31 > 0:16:34On a chandelier in an earthquake.
0:16:37 > 0:16:421963 was a pivotal year for Soviet-American relations.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46With each superpower testing their nuclear arsenal in a show
0:16:46 > 0:16:50of strength and intimidation, the stakes were sky-high.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55There was a degree of almost father-son relationship between the two of them.
0:16:55 > 0:17:02That was reinforced by the Cuban missile crisis
0:17:02 > 0:17:07because my grandfather was speaking to Jack three or four times a day.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13Mr Macmillan was home from Russia and the Cold War had
0:17:13 > 0:17:16undoubtedly thawed a little as a result of his enterprising visit.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19Jack had had no exposure to the Soviets of any kind.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22He found Khrushchev very difficult to deal with.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26But the Prime Minister's dignified calm in the face of a calculated rebuff
0:17:26 > 0:17:29caused Khrushchev to think again.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31And my grandfather said, "You've got to stand up to him,
0:17:31 > 0:17:36"but you've got to be careful not to provide him with an excuse to do something stupid."
0:17:36 > 0:17:39The Earl of Stockton witnessed first-hand
0:17:39 > 0:17:45some of the less formal talks held that weekend at Birch Grove.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47When they were talking about "the nuclear",
0:17:47 > 0:17:50as my grandfather always called it, there was a man called
0:17:50 > 0:17:53Sir John Cockcroft, who was the nuclear scientist.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56John was a lovely, blunt Yorkshireman.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00We were having a drink before lunch and my grandfather said,
0:18:00 > 0:18:04"How many H Bombs would it take, Sir John, to take out the United Kingdom?"
0:18:05 > 0:18:10He said, "Five, Prime Minister, but make it seven to be on the safe side."
0:18:13 > 0:18:17History is made again in an historic room of the White House.
0:18:17 > 0:18:22One month after Birch Grove, the Soviet Union, United States
0:18:22 > 0:18:25and Britain all agreed to the Partial Test Ban Treaty,
0:18:25 > 0:18:30bringing a halt to the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere.
0:18:37 > 0:18:42Wherever President Kennedy went, he was surrounded by a security bubble.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50In charge of the Secret Service operation for the Sussex Summit
0:18:50 > 0:18:52was this man.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00Here he is with JFK the previous year in Florida.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06This photo shows him with Jackie Kennedy on a trip to India.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09His name is David Grant.
0:19:13 > 0:19:18As well as being in Sussex in 1963, David Grant was also the agent
0:19:18 > 0:19:21tasked with arranging the advance security for
0:19:21 > 0:19:26President John F Kennedy's fateful visit to Dallas four months later.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29But could we trace Mr Grant 50 years on?
0:19:29 > 0:19:32Luck, it seems, was on our side.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37You see, we've managed to find out that former Secret Service agent
0:19:37 > 0:19:39David Grant is still very much alive
0:19:39 > 0:19:42and living just outside Washington, DC.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48One of the things I remember about him was his humility.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52He was not impressed with himself, really, he was
0:19:52 > 0:19:58impressed a lot by people around him. And he was a bit shy in addition to
0:19:58 > 0:20:01what the general concept is.
0:20:01 > 0:20:06In fact, one of the things I remember about him, vividly,
0:20:06 > 0:20:14is in a motorcade in an open car he was for ever kind of fixing his hair
0:20:14 > 0:20:18a little bit. He'd do it every time and you could count on it.
0:20:18 > 0:20:25He was a heck of a guy. Just a real gentleman and I think he was
0:20:25 > 0:20:29one of our great presidents, or would have been had he survived.
0:20:29 > 0:20:37So what was your role in setting up the Sussex Summit of 1963?
0:20:37 > 0:20:44I was assigned to go there and represent the Secret Service
0:20:44 > 0:20:47and the President and the White House, the United States,
0:20:47 > 0:20:50to do preliminary advance work for the President's visit
0:20:50 > 0:20:55to Birch Grove House and a meeting with Prime Minister Macmillan.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57I remember Brighton, of course,
0:20:57 > 0:21:02where we stayed, and I remember Birch Grove. Very good memories.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04Very good memories.
0:21:04 > 0:21:09I was particularly fond of the Prime Minister's wife, Lady Dorothy Macmillan,
0:21:09 > 0:21:15who was very gracious and kind to me and helped me in every way she could.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19I remember one of my dear friends saying, middle of the night,
0:21:19 > 0:21:23and he was working, this little beautiful grey-haired lady
0:21:23 > 0:21:26popped in with a big tray of food, sandwiches, and it was her.
0:21:28 > 0:21:29Was it a success?
0:21:29 > 0:21:34My impression that it was quite successful - they were very happy on British side
0:21:34 > 0:21:37and I know they were happy on the American side.
0:21:41 > 0:21:46EARL OF STOCKTON: He shook hands with us, and he said,
0:21:46 > 0:21:49"I guess I'll be seeing you all in Washington soon."
0:21:49 > 0:21:52You know...
0:21:52 > 0:21:56And I think almost his last words to Harold were,
0:21:56 > 0:21:59"We must do this again, and soon."
0:21:59 > 0:22:00Um...
0:22:00 > 0:22:05And he got into the helicopter and it dipped slightly
0:22:05 > 0:22:07as it flew down the Wealden valley.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11But, unknown to both men,
0:22:11 > 0:22:16the Sussex Summit was to be the last time they would meet.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20Two or three months later, Macmillan is leaving office.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22After that, Kennedy is assassinated.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26It is Kennedy's last visit to Europe and his last visit to Britain.
0:22:29 > 0:22:35At 12.30pm on November 22nd 1963,
0:22:35 > 0:22:37three gunshots ring out
0:22:37 > 0:22:40from a sixth-floor window of a school book depository
0:22:40 > 0:22:43overlooking the Presidential motorcade.
0:22:48 > 0:22:49First reports are confusing.
0:22:51 > 0:22:56A message came over the portable radio equipment that I had
0:22:56 > 0:22:59that he had been hit - not shot, hit.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05Within seconds, the Presidential limousine is accelerating
0:23:05 > 0:23:08away to the nearest hospital.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12As he was waving back, he was... The shot rang out
0:23:12 > 0:23:16and he slumped down in his seat and his wife reached up toward him...
0:23:16 > 0:23:21President Kennedy and Governor John Connally of Texas were shot today
0:23:21 > 0:23:25from an ambush as President Kennedy's motorcade left the centre of Dallas...
0:23:30 > 0:23:33I went to the Dallas hospital,
0:23:33 > 0:23:37and Mrs Kennedy obviously was very upset.
0:23:37 > 0:23:42But, yeah, that's when I first found out he had been mortally wounded.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53I think, even though I was only 12 at the time,
0:23:53 > 0:23:58I can remember, vividly, being in a room with my mother -
0:23:58 > 0:24:01my father was out, my brothers were out -
0:24:01 > 0:24:05and then the television broadcast
0:24:05 > 0:24:08the news of the shooting
0:24:08 > 0:24:11and then appeared to go back to normal programmes.
0:24:11 > 0:24:16And then the news came of the death, and you were so aware -
0:24:16 > 0:24:20and I remember thinking at the time this was a blow against democracy -
0:24:20 > 0:24:23it was a shooting that would actually change the way people saw the world.
0:24:25 > 0:24:26Did you mourn?
0:24:32 > 0:24:36Yes. Not only because it was him,
0:24:36 > 0:24:41but, remember, my grandfather retired by then from ill health.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47But this consciousness that it was the end of an era
0:24:47 > 0:24:49and what might have been.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55Just as he had been in charge of the advance security
0:24:55 > 0:24:58for the Sussex Summit, Secret Service agent David Grant
0:24:58 > 0:25:02was the one who had also conducted the advance recce for Dallas.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07On that fateful morning in Dallas in November '63,
0:25:07 > 0:25:12why didn't you have the bubble top on the car?
0:25:12 > 0:25:16Exposure. The President's staff wanted it off for exposure.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19Er...
0:25:19 > 0:25:23You can't argue with them unless you got a good argument.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28After he had passed away...
0:25:32 > 0:25:36..there was a problem with the Dallas people
0:25:36 > 0:25:39who wanted to do an autopsy there.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42Said by Texas law it had to be done there and we said,
0:25:42 > 0:25:45"No, you are not going to touch him here."
0:25:45 > 0:25:50So we pushed the Dallas people aside
0:25:50 > 0:25:54and put the President in a hearse
0:25:54 > 0:25:58that we had obtained and said that
0:25:58 > 0:26:00any autopsies that are going to be done
0:26:00 > 0:26:04are going to be done at the Naval Hospital in Bethesda.
0:26:06 > 0:26:07Events unfolded swiftly.
0:26:07 > 0:26:11While David can be seen here loading the President's body onto
0:26:11 > 0:26:16a flight to Washington, across town his killer, Lee Harvey Oswald,
0:26:16 > 0:26:19had fled the book depository, taking refuge in a cinema.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23Recognised by a local police officer, Oswald shot him dead,
0:26:23 > 0:26:27tried to escape, but was overpowered and arrested.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31David caught up with Lee Harvey Oswald
0:26:31 > 0:26:33at Dallas Police Headquarters.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38Arrogant, sneer on his face.
0:26:41 > 0:26:46As far as whether he admitted anything,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49said anything, in my presence, he was asked...
0:26:49 > 0:26:53Well, one, he was asked, "Why did you shoot the President?"
0:26:53 > 0:26:59- Point blank, and he just shook his head.- Said nothing?- Said nothing.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02And I mean they had him, you know,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05Dallas had him for murder of the police officer.
0:27:05 > 0:27:10He was going to go to the electric chair because of that but he admitted...
0:27:10 > 0:27:14To my knowledge, he admitted nothing about killing the President.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24It should never have had happened. A beautiful personality,
0:27:24 > 0:27:30a man who was becoming... a great president, I do believe.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49Anyone that was there has got a degree of guilt that they feel
0:27:49 > 0:27:55but I don't feel responsible for him being assassinated.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58I regret deeply him being assassinated
0:27:58 > 0:28:00and wish that it had never happened,
0:28:00 > 0:28:03and wish I could have done something to prevent it but I couldn't.
0:28:10 > 0:28:15Back in Sussex at Birch Grove, when told of Kennedy's death,
0:28:15 > 0:28:19Harold Macmillan, who had just resigned due to ill health,
0:28:19 > 0:28:21made this entry in his diary.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29"Alas, I was never to see my friend again.
0:28:29 > 0:28:35"Before those leaves had turned and fallen, he was snatched by an assassin's bullet."
0:28:54 > 0:28:57Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd