0:00:02 > 0:00:03September 3rd, 1939...
0:00:03 > 0:00:06and families all over the country flock to their radios...
0:00:06 > 0:00:10NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN: '...no such undertaking has been received,
0:00:10 > 0:00:15'and that, consequently, this country is at war with Germany.'
0:00:17 > 0:00:20In that brief moment, life in our country
0:00:20 > 0:00:22changed forever. World War II had begun.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25But victory wouldn't be assured by military might alone.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31The Blitz, evacuation, rationing, the loss of loved ones...
0:00:31 > 0:00:36The war on the Home Front meant that everyone had to do their bit.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39From the country's women, who took on everything - farming,
0:00:39 > 0:00:42factory work, even flying Spitfires,
0:00:42 > 0:00:44to the nation's auxiliary firemen,
0:00:44 > 0:00:47who worked through the terror of countless air raids,
0:00:47 > 0:00:51this is the story of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54This is How We Won The War.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06I'm travelling across the UK, on a journey to discover how
0:01:06 > 0:01:10different regions made unique contributions to the war at home.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13I'll be looking at the lives of ordinary citizens
0:01:13 > 0:01:17and the incredible efforts they went to throughout the war years.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21Today, I've arrived in the UK's biggest county - Yorkshire.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24Starting on the edge of the North York Moors, I'll pass through Hull,
0:01:24 > 0:01:27before making my way south to Sheffield.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32On today's programme, I'll be discovering how a hero
0:01:32 > 0:01:36led a city through dark times, only to feel the long arm of the law...
0:01:36 > 0:01:39He was a cheerleader for the local population.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42Obviously somebody who people looked up to.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44..hearing how a fighter squadron got a morale boost
0:01:44 > 0:01:47from unusual quarters...
0:01:47 > 0:01:49They went off on a mission and they shot down six enemy aircraft,
0:01:49 > 0:01:53and they all thought, "Wow, this is really making a difference here."
0:01:53 > 0:01:58..and meeting two women who endured unimaginable conditions
0:01:58 > 0:02:00to keep our troops well protected.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04We knew the boys were wanting what we were doing,
0:02:04 > 0:02:07so we just got on with it.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19Yorkshire's factories were producing many vital supplies
0:02:19 > 0:02:21- for the war effort. - STEAM WHISTLE BLOWS
0:02:21 > 0:02:26The mills in Bradford were producing material for parachutes.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30Spitfire gears came from Meltham. Top-secret midget submarines were built in Huddersfield.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33But, of course, all these products, and the people that made them,
0:02:33 > 0:02:37depended on transportation, to stop the war effort grinding to a halt.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39MUSIC: "Coronation Scot" by Vivian Ellis
0:02:41 > 0:02:44'I've come to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway in Pickering
0:02:44 > 0:02:47'to find out how trains kept us on track during the war.'
0:02:52 > 0:02:54They were very much part of the war effort.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56Munitions were moved by rail.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59The raw materials to build all the aerodromes were moved by rail.
0:02:59 > 0:03:04All the troops, of course, were moved by rail, so it was a huge logistical exercise.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06About 500,000 extra trains were run during the war
0:03:06 > 0:03:10just to move troops around the country.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Across Britain, locomotives were saving lives -
0:03:13 > 0:03:15moving evacuees to safe havens,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18while special ambulance trains ferried the injured.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21But the railway workers were risking their lives,
0:03:21 > 0:03:24as the tracks soon became a target for Hitler's bombs.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27There were 395 people actually killed while they were working
0:03:27 > 0:03:32on the railway during the Blitz and nearly 2,500 were injured.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34And, unlike many occupations,
0:03:34 > 0:03:37the railways kept going through the air raids.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39And you imagine working up, for example, in a signal box.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43They're built high up in the air so the signalman can see what's going on around him.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46You imagine working in one of those in the middle of an air raid,
0:03:46 > 0:03:50and yet thousands of railway men and women did just that sort of thing.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53In some ways, of course, it's impossible to imagine
0:03:53 > 0:03:57the sheer pressure the country's railway staff faced,
0:03:57 > 0:04:02carrying out back-breaking work under the constant threat of attack.
0:04:02 > 0:04:07'But I've been offered the chance to get some idea of what daily life was like on the railways.'
0:04:07 > 0:04:11Duncan, this is an absolute beauty. When was it built?
0:04:11 > 0:04:12It was built in the '30s,
0:04:12 > 0:04:16for the Southern Region, as a heavy freight engine.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18So it definitely saw some wartime service?
0:04:18 > 0:04:19Oh, yeah, absolutely.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22All locos like this were used all over the Southern Region.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25They did munitions, participated in the retreat from Dunkirk.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29They also participated in transporting troops
0:04:29 > 0:04:33and supplies down, in readiness for the D-Day landings.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36- So it definitely played its part? - Oh, absolutely, yes.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38- Can we get on board? - Course we can, yes.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40After you... Fabulous.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46STEAM WHISTLE BLOWS
0:04:53 > 0:04:55There, I'm a fireman for a day!
0:04:59 > 0:05:03It's a timeless experience, this. There's nothing about this
0:05:03 > 0:05:06that has changed in, what, 70 or 80 years?
0:05:06 > 0:05:08Yes, 70 or 80 years, still exactly the same.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12The principle is, burn the coal, boil the water, use the steam.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14- We're getting up some speed now, aren't we?- Yes.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22One of the things that strikes me, Duncan,
0:05:22 > 0:05:26is just how vulnerable trains were during the war to bombing and so on.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28Oh, absolutely, yeah.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30You're in a situation, with locos like this,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33where there was absolutely no cover, whatsoever.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35- Yeah.- They didn't run with any lights on.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39The lights were off, so the only light they could see, when they were actually being attacked,
0:05:39 > 0:05:41was the light from the fire.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43What drivers and firemen would do was, they would fire,
0:05:43 > 0:05:46then shut the door straight away, and try and make sure
0:05:46 > 0:05:48there was no light coming from the locomotive, whatsoever.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50They were very experienced railwaymen,
0:05:50 > 0:05:55so they could tell you where every signal was, they could tell you where every piece of track was.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57They could feel it all through their feet,
0:05:57 > 0:06:00so they knew where they were without even looking out.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02STEAM WHISTLE BLOWS
0:06:02 > 0:06:06Now, there's many an old timer that would say the railways won the war.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08What would you say to that?
0:06:08 > 0:06:10Absolutely. Without any shadow of a doubt.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12Without machines like this and other machines,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15many of which were used during the war, we'd have lost.
0:06:15 > 0:06:16No doubt about it.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Very much the unsung heroes of the whole job, I feel,
0:06:19 > 0:06:20the men that worked on the railway.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23They worked in extremely hard, difficult conditions,
0:06:23 > 0:06:25in all sorts of weathers.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27Never moaned about it, never complained about it,
0:06:27 > 0:06:28and just got on with it.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30Without them, we'd have lost.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37York Station was a strategically important
0:06:37 > 0:06:40interchange on the East Coast line during the war.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44But on the 29th April, 1942, disaster struck.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50In retaliation for an RAF attack on the German medieval port of Lubeck,
0:06:50 > 0:06:53the Luftwaffe launched raids on cultural cities,
0:06:53 > 0:06:58the targets apparently plucked from the Baedeker tourist guide to Great Britain.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01The devastation wrought upon the city that night would be recorded
0:07:01 > 0:07:06in detail by York citizens, as part of the Mass Observation Project.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08Started just before the war broke out,
0:07:08 > 0:07:14it's a collection of almost 300,000 pages of personal writings from civilians.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19Diarist Noel Fish was living in York when the attack began.
0:07:19 > 0:07:24"28th April, 1942. I am awakened at 3am by Susan.
0:07:24 > 0:07:29"There are planes overhead and a bomb has just dropped not very far away.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31"A few moments later the sirens begin wailing
0:07:31 > 0:07:33"and we know that our turn has come.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35We dress and go downstairs.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38"Over the city, the sky is brightly lit
0:07:38 > 0:07:40"with the whitish blue light of incendiaries,
0:07:40 > 0:07:44"which soon changes to a red glow, as the buildings catch alight.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48"The raid lasts for about an hour, and when it is over
0:07:48 > 0:07:52"I go down into the city to see if there is anything I can do to help.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55"The station buildings and the parcels office is ablaze.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58"The Minster seems to have escaped damage,
0:07:58 > 0:08:01"and towers majestically in the red glow of the fires.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04"The streets are littered with glass and debris,
0:08:04 > 0:08:07"and as there does not appear to be anything I can do to assist,
0:08:07 > 0:08:09"I return home to bed."
0:08:14 > 0:08:17York's railway station was heavily pounded by the Luftwaffe
0:08:17 > 0:08:19during the attack.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23800 passengers were rescued from the Kings Cross to Edinburgh train,
0:08:23 > 0:08:24which had just arrived.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27But two railway workers weren't so fortunate.
0:08:28 > 0:08:33One was station master William Milner, working a late shift.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37His daughter Brenda was 13 on the night the planes flew overhead.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43And I recall my mother shouting, "Come on, they're here."
0:08:43 > 0:08:45And the bombs were dropping at the same time
0:08:45 > 0:08:47as the siren was sounding.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53We had an Andersen air raid shelter out in the garden,
0:08:53 > 0:08:56but usually that had water standing in it,
0:08:56 > 0:09:00so my mother and I sat under the oak dining table and stayed there,
0:09:00 > 0:09:03with the budgerigar in his cage.
0:09:03 > 0:09:08By six o'clock that morning, William still hadn't returned home.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11Brenda's mother cycled to the station.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15She went onto the bridge, which goes over the platforms,
0:09:15 > 0:09:17and a huge pile of rubble,
0:09:17 > 0:09:21and somebody said, "I'm sorry, I'm afraid Billy's under there."
0:09:22 > 0:09:26An experienced first-aider, William had been helping get passengers from trains
0:09:26 > 0:09:29when he decided he would need his kit.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32It was a decision that would cost him his life.
0:09:32 > 0:09:37He went back into the office and the building was burning by that time
0:09:37 > 0:09:40and it collapsed on him. He never got out.
0:09:41 > 0:09:46Fearing the worst, William's wife faced travelling home to break the news to Brenda.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50She simply said, "I don't think you've got a daddy any more."
0:09:54 > 0:09:55And then later that morning,
0:09:55 > 0:09:59one of his workmates came and told us they'd found his body.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05He was clutching the first aid box.
0:10:08 > 0:10:13William was identified by his watch chain with twelve tags -
0:10:13 > 0:10:16one for each year he'd qualified as a first-aider.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20He was just one of many railway workers killed during the war,
0:10:20 > 0:10:24a young life cut tragically short in the line of duty.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29He wouldn't have thought about what he was doing, I think,
0:10:29 > 0:10:34apart from, he needed his first aid equipment and he'd go and get it.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37He wouldn't really think, "Will I get out?"
0:10:37 > 0:10:42So he was very courageous and brave.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47The York raid left 92 residents dead
0:10:47 > 0:10:50and over 9,000 buildings destroyed or damaged.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53It was the worst bombing the city would experience.
0:10:54 > 0:10:59William Milner's gallant actions are commemorated in a plaque at the station,
0:10:59 > 0:11:02a testament to the bravery ordinary people were able to summon
0:11:02 > 0:11:04in the face of absolute terror.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11Less than an hour's drive from York
0:11:11 > 0:11:15is another place which was ravaged by the German bombing campaign.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17It's thought that outside of London,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20Hull was the most blitzed city in Britain.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23Just like York, Hull had its fair share of heroes.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26One man would help steer the city and its people
0:11:26 > 0:11:28through its darkest days.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31He'd rise to the top of Hull's civic circles,
0:11:31 > 0:11:34but would suffer a dramatic fall from grace.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37I've come to meet local journalist, Angus Young,
0:11:37 > 0:11:40to find out more about this remarkable man.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45This man, Robert Tarran's been a subject of your investigations. Tell us a bit more about him.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48Yes, he was certainly a leading member of Hull's
0:11:48 > 0:11:51good and great, if you like. He was a councillor,
0:11:51 > 0:11:54he became Sherriff of Hull during the war,
0:11:54 > 0:11:57he was Chief Air Raid warden during the war.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00A very well-connected businessman,
0:12:00 > 0:12:03who went on to big things nationally, as well.
0:12:03 > 0:12:08Tarran had established a building company, employing 10,000 people from scratch.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12As well as local civil projects,
0:12:12 > 0:12:14it picked up Ministry of Defence contracts when war broke out,
0:12:14 > 0:12:17constructing air fields and coastal defences.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21But there was more to Robert Tarran than bricks and mortar.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25He was in charge of an air raid warden corps,
0:12:25 > 0:12:27of 4,000 volunteer civil defence staff.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31So, a small army of staff to command
0:12:31 > 0:12:33through an extremely difficult, testing time.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36A lot of air raid wardens were killed during the war.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38He had to maintain public morale
0:12:38 > 0:12:41when the infrastructure was, literally, battered.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48On the 7th of May, 1941, the Luftwaffe launched
0:12:48 > 0:12:51a series of devastating raids upon the city.
0:12:51 > 0:12:56By the end of the war, 1,200 people in Hull had been killed
0:12:56 > 0:12:59and 85,000 buildings damaged or destroyed.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Throughout, Tarran was at the forefront,
0:13:03 > 0:13:05tackling fires and maintaining morale.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07But that wasn't the limit of his wartime efforts.
0:13:07 > 0:13:12He also had to organise mass evacuations into the surrounding countryside,
0:13:12 > 0:13:15where people slept rough in farms and outlying countryside
0:13:15 > 0:13:18and then returned to the city the next day, to find out if
0:13:18 > 0:13:21their house was still there, whether their whole street was still there.
0:13:21 > 0:13:26He actually slept in a pig sty on one occasion out on an outlying farm
0:13:26 > 0:13:30just to, basically, lead by example, if you like.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34In August, 1941, Robert Tarran proudly welcomed
0:13:34 > 0:13:37King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to the city,
0:13:37 > 0:13:43showing them how Hull's citizens were demonstrating resilience in the face of devastation.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46He was a cheerleader for the local population.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50He was obviously a leader, obviously somebody who people looked up to.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54With 152,000 people made homeless, housing was a major problem,
0:13:54 > 0:13:58but Tarran would come to the rescue yet again.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02He obviously saw a city in ruins around him
0:14:02 > 0:14:08and he was a building entrepreneur, a building dynamo, if you like,
0:14:08 > 0:14:12and there was an opportunity there for him to re-build Hull.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17In 1944, Churchill announced the Emergency Factory-Made
0:14:17 > 0:14:21Housing Programme, designed to solve the housing crisis,
0:14:21 > 0:14:25by building half a million prefabricated temporary houses.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28NEWSREEL: This showhouse can be seen in Milbank, near the Tate Gallery, London.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32Tickets of admission obtainable from your local authority.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35Robert Tarran would improve on the government's original design for prefabs.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39'Jerry Noble has brought me to one of the few still standing,
0:14:39 > 0:14:42'at Eden Camp Modern History Museum in Malton.'
0:14:42 > 0:14:46Welcome, Jules, to the 1940s.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49This is a prefabricated house,
0:14:49 > 0:14:51or the "prefabs", as they were known.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55- The kitchen is in advance of what many people would have lost in the bombing?- Absolutely.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59'Tarran's houses could be built in a week,
0:14:59 > 0:15:02'and were a gleaming godsend for their new inhabitants.'
0:15:02 > 0:15:03This is nice!
0:15:03 > 0:15:06This is the lounge, living room.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09This is the lounge, with lovely corner windows, very bright.
0:15:09 > 0:15:14'But the pristine prefabs weren't the perfect answer to the housing crisis.'
0:15:14 > 0:15:18They ended up costing as much, if not more,
0:15:18 > 0:15:20than a traditionally-built house.
0:15:20 > 0:15:21- Seriously?- Seriously.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25Doesn't that defeat the whole object of the throw-up prefab?
0:15:25 > 0:15:30In a way, it does, but it did go together quickly and efficiently,
0:15:30 > 0:15:35and that was one of the things that Robert Tarran was really strong at -
0:15:35 > 0:15:39getting the housing done for the people who really needed it.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41Let's continue our tour, Jerry.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46Ah, the bathroom!
0:15:46 > 0:15:47A fully-fitted bathroom.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50This would have been the height of luxury, wouldn't it?
0:15:50 > 0:15:53People wouldn't have been used to having their own bath.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56- This would be luxurious! - Absolutely lovely, wouldn't it?
0:15:56 > 0:16:00'Between 1945 and 1948,
0:16:00 > 0:16:05'nearly 160,000 temporary prefab houses would be built.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09'Of those, almost 20,000 were "Tarrans".'
0:16:09 > 0:16:11He was ingenious.
0:16:11 > 0:16:16He built masses of infrastructure for the war and -
0:16:16 > 0:16:20including these prefabs -
0:16:20 > 0:16:23he will be remembered forever, really, in Hull.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27Local hero Tarran had helped deliver new homes to a generation.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30But problems with some of his Ministry Of Defence contracts
0:16:30 > 0:16:33meant he was about to find a new home, too.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37Questions started to be raised about the company's finances
0:16:37 > 0:16:42and it led to, eventually, a police investigation.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46Tarran faced three charges in the end
0:16:46 > 0:16:49and, as the man who was responsible, ultimately, for the company,
0:16:49 > 0:16:53was found guilty on the charges of false accounting.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57There was public outcry at the verdict.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59I think there was widespread shock at the time.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03Here was a man who was a hero to the people of Hull during the war
0:17:03 > 0:17:07who, within two years of the war ending, was being sent to jail
0:17:07 > 0:17:09in Leeds to serve a sentence.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13Robert Tarran would eventually go on to win an appeal,
0:17:13 > 0:17:18but he'd never recapture the glory days spent in the company of royalty.
0:17:18 > 0:17:23He left Hull behind and moved to Scotland, where he died in 1955.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30The Luftwaffe brought horror to the people of Hull.
0:17:30 > 0:17:35But those tasked with protecting our skies were also deeply affected.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37Keeping spirits up was an incredible challenge.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41But members of an auxiliary RAF squadron, formed here in Yorkshire,
0:17:41 > 0:17:45would discover one of the quirkier ways to keep morale high.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49In 1936, 609 West Riding Squadron
0:17:49 > 0:17:52was formed at RAF Yeadon.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54The young civilian recruits all lived nearby
0:17:54 > 0:17:56and were fast called into action.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01They'd help with the evacuation of Dunkirk,
0:18:01 > 0:18:07but their relative inexperience saw heavy losses, and morale took a battering.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09The guys were flying
0:18:09 > 0:18:14several intercept missions every day. They weren't getting the rest.
0:18:14 > 0:18:15They were seeing their friends
0:18:15 > 0:18:19being shot down. In fact, people purposefully didn't make friends.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21The squadron soon moved to Biggin Hill,
0:18:21 > 0:18:24numbers bolstered by an influx of foreign,
0:18:24 > 0:18:27mainly Belgian, pilots.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29Two quirks of fate that would lead to salvation,
0:18:29 > 0:18:32in the form of a bearded beast.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36Now, just up the road from Biggin Hill was a pub called the Old Jail pub,
0:18:36 > 0:18:39whose landlady was a Belgian, and one evening,
0:18:39 > 0:18:44one of the Belgian pilots came back to the squadron with a young goat
0:18:44 > 0:18:47whom he'd been given by the landlady.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50And this goat was christened William
0:18:50 > 0:18:54and this was the start of his experience with 609 Squadron.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57William became the mascot of 609 Squadron
0:18:57 > 0:19:00and quickly settled into life on the base.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03He'd be fed cigarettes and drink beer, and everything,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06and he got worse as he got older.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09Rising through the ranks to become Wing Commander,
0:19:09 > 0:19:12William the goat earned the right to a salute.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14Morale was soon on the up - and so was the hit rate.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17The squadron commander, before they went off on one mission,
0:19:17 > 0:19:19saluted William. They went off on the mission,
0:19:19 > 0:19:23and during the course of that, shot down six enemy aircraft
0:19:23 > 0:19:26and they all thought, "Wow, this is really making a difference here."
0:19:26 > 0:19:29Wherever the squadron went,
0:19:29 > 0:19:33William followed - even when 609 was sent to France.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35On the one fateful occasion he was left behind,
0:19:35 > 0:19:38his absence was sorely felt.
0:19:38 > 0:19:43The squadron morale sank quite substantially and everybody was down in the dumps
0:19:43 > 0:19:46until the adjutant was tasked by the squadron commander
0:19:46 > 0:19:51to find William and get him back here as soon as possible.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54And it was written down in the squadron rules that he was
0:19:54 > 0:19:57never to leave the squadron ever again.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01609 became the first Typhoon squadron to celebrate 200 kills.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04But when it came to the commemorative ceremony,
0:20:04 > 0:20:08William the goat had his own ideas on how to celebrate.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11He decided to go on a bit of a rampage,
0:20:11 > 0:20:13drinking lots of beer,
0:20:13 > 0:20:16and other drinks besides, and his normal ration of cigarettes,
0:20:16 > 0:20:20eating everything in sight, ruining the flower arrangements,
0:20:20 > 0:20:24knocking young some ladies about. He didn't care what he did,
0:20:24 > 0:20:29because he was the top dog, and if he wanted to do something,
0:20:29 > 0:20:32then there wasn't going to be a right lot you could do to stop him.
0:20:32 > 0:20:37William the goat would end the war as a twice-decorated Air Commodore,
0:20:37 > 0:20:41earning an honorary Distinguished Service Order and Flying Cross.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44To his squadron, he was a goat like no other.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48I'm sure that having the relaxation of messing around with William
0:20:48 > 0:20:51at the end of the day, probably, probably helped,
0:20:51 > 0:20:56but most of the time, he was just his normal, cantankerous, naughty goat self.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07I'm now heading on to Sheffield, where discoveries in the 18th century led to the city
0:21:07 > 0:21:10becoming a world centre of high-grade steel manufacturing.
0:21:15 > 0:21:16In World War I, Britain had to import
0:21:16 > 0:21:19the massive amounts of steel needed from America.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21This time round, Britain needed to be more efficient,
0:21:21 > 0:21:25using its own factories and supplies.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28I've come to Sheffield's Kelham Island Museum
0:21:28 > 0:21:32to hear about one way we achieved just that.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36What was key about Sheffield was, it made about 70%
0:21:36 > 0:21:39of Britain's output of alloy steel
0:21:39 > 0:21:41at the beginning of the war.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44That went in to all types of things, but particularly importantly,
0:21:44 > 0:21:47it went into, for example, aero engines. And, as we know,
0:21:47 > 0:21:53a key aspect of the war in 1940 was the Battle of Britain.
0:21:53 > 0:21:58The Merlin engines which drove the Spitfires, there you have Sheffield alloy steel.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01So these alloyed steels were absolutely crucial to the war effort.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04And that made Sheffield really special.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07It was, if you like, the main arsenal of the Empire.
0:22:07 > 0:22:12'The mills in Sheffield also rolled out flat plates of steel
0:22:12 > 0:22:16'that would later arrive on the frontlines as tanks, trucks and ships.'
0:22:16 > 0:22:20Now, as we can see just looking at some of the old plant that's behind us,
0:22:20 > 0:22:23it's a very heavy, very dangerous industry.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26What were conditions like for most of the people employed in it?
0:22:26 > 0:22:28Well, put it this way - I don't think you or I
0:22:28 > 0:22:32would have liked to have worked in these plants.
0:22:32 > 0:22:37You had to be tough. It was hard work, it was hot, it was dangerous.
0:22:37 > 0:22:42Health and safety were not factors like they are today, so it was tough.
0:22:42 > 0:22:47Now, before the war, this was predominantly a male-orientated industry,
0:22:47 > 0:22:50- but of course, all that changes during the war.- Yes, it does.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54The key resource allocation of the war was manpower, of course.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58And the huge demands that the war made, so women became
0:22:58 > 0:23:01a crucial aspect of the change.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04They were drafted in to a whole range of different activities,
0:23:04 > 0:23:08into the steel plants, into the engineering plants.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11They very quickly adapted themselves to very difficult,
0:23:11 > 0:23:16dangerous work and made a huge contribution to the war effort.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18They were fantastic.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22'Kathleen Roberts and Kit Sollitt were just two of the Sheffield women that ended up
0:23:22 > 0:23:25'working in the unforgiving steel industry in Sheffield.'
0:23:25 > 0:23:28Was it a very intimidating environment for you?
0:23:28 > 0:23:31Ooh, it was. I was terrified, first day.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34I was set to work in the foundry,
0:23:34 > 0:23:38and the fella that was doing the job had been called up.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41And I said to this chap, "I'll never stick this,"
0:23:41 > 0:23:43and he said,
0:23:43 > 0:23:46"You'll have muscles like mine," and he showed me his biceps.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48I says, "I hope not."
0:23:48 > 0:23:51This was a pretty rude awakening to what had been,
0:23:51 > 0:23:55very much, a man's world. What was your experience like, Kathleen?
0:23:55 > 0:23:58My father worked in the steel works,
0:23:58 > 0:24:02so I had a bit of a background of what the steel industry was about.
0:24:02 > 0:24:07And he thought it was appalling women were having to work
0:24:07 > 0:24:09in the steelworks.
0:24:09 > 0:24:17And my first day into the rolling mills, I thought, "Oh, my goodness.
0:24:17 > 0:24:24"I'm going home. I just can't do this, there's no way I can do this."
0:24:24 > 0:24:30The noise nearly drove you mad, and the dirt and the oil.
0:24:30 > 0:24:35It wasn't a job for a woman, but I got on with it.
0:24:35 > 0:24:36I did it.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40Women like Kit and Kathleen kept the steel foundries
0:24:40 > 0:24:44and mills running around the clock to keep our troops supplied.
0:24:44 > 0:24:49But it wasn't only harsh conditions and long hours they had to deal with, there was also the danger.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52It's like the top of a volcano,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55the converter, when it was showering out.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58And I had to put a damp sack over me head.
0:24:58 > 0:24:59I'd go underneath it
0:24:59 > 0:25:03and get caught with some sparks from the slag coming out.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07And they sort of, like, burnt in your skin.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10I got loads of them on me arms and me feet.
0:25:10 > 0:25:15And you were lucky if you didn't get one on your face.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17Oh, there were many accidents.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21Fingers off, hands off...
0:25:21 > 0:25:24When there were big paring machines
0:25:24 > 0:25:29cutting in, the blades cutting in to sheets, there was no guard,
0:25:29 > 0:25:31and if you weren't very quick,
0:25:31 > 0:25:34you'd lose your hand, and things like that.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38There were some really nasty accidents happened.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41But you were also taking some pretty serious chances,
0:25:41 > 0:25:44because it was clearly a target for the German air force.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47When the sirens went, we worked through those.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49We never stopped the machines. You couldn't.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52Once they were going, you'd got to finish what you were doing,
0:25:52 > 0:25:54and that was it.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57- So no air-raid shelters for you?- No.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01In 2010, Sheffield's women of steel were honoured with a trip to 10 Downing Street
0:26:01 > 0:26:05and a letter of thanks from the Veterans' Minister -
0:26:05 > 0:26:10recognition at last for their extraordinary wartime efforts.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14We lost our youth, all of us, because we were all young women.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17So it was five lost years, really.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19Do you think the same way, Kathleen?
0:26:19 > 0:26:25Yes, I do. Yes. We worked jolly hard in our youth.
0:26:25 > 0:26:30And we did it, we never complained, we never asked for anything,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33we just did it.
0:26:33 > 0:26:39We knew the boys were wanting what we were doing
0:26:39 > 0:26:43and so, we just got on with it.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47And, when I think about it...
0:26:47 > 0:26:54it sort of brings a lump to my throat, that we did this, you know.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57Because it seemed impossible at the time.
0:26:57 > 0:26:58And...
0:27:00 > 0:27:02you know, we succeeded,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05and we showed the men a thing or two.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16The women who put their lives on hold,
0:27:16 > 0:27:19and on the line, to keep the nation fighting
0:27:19 > 0:27:21were part of a vast civilian army who, these days,
0:27:21 > 0:27:23are all too often forgotten.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27But like so many of their generation, they took it in their stride.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29They did what they did without complaint
0:27:29 > 0:27:32and without expecting anything in return.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35Women and steel proved to be a war-winning combination
0:27:35 > 0:27:36and, without their efforts,
0:27:36 > 0:27:41ultimate victory may well have been a very distant prospect.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44Next time, I'll be travelling on to the Midlands,
0:27:44 > 0:27:48where I'll be discovering how the factory workers of Birmingham
0:27:48 > 0:27:50provided just about everything our troops needed.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52You name it, we made it.
0:27:52 > 0:27:5650% of all small arms used by the British forces
0:27:56 > 0:27:58in the war were made by the BSA.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02I'll also be hearing how thousands of American paratroopers
0:28:02 > 0:28:05affected the pretty girls of Nottingham...
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Nearly all the men had gone to war, hadn't they?
0:28:08 > 0:28:12Anything in a uniform would be attractive to any of them.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15..and finding out about the war efforts of a group of women
0:28:15 > 0:28:19who kept essential supplies flowing on our waterways.
0:28:19 > 0:28:25We stuck on the mud, we broke ropes, we banged into things.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28We did everything you could conceivably imagine wrong.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd