0:00:02 > 0:00:06September 3rd 1939, and families all over the country flock to their radios.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10- WINSTON CHURCHILL:- 'I have to tell you now that 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 > 0:00:21In that brief moment, life in our country changed forever.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23World War II had begun.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26But 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 -
0:00:39 > 0:00:42farming, factory work, even flying Spitfires
0:00:42 > 0:00:44to the nation's auxiliary firemen,
0:00:44 > 0:00:46who worked through the terror of countless air raids,
0:00:46 > 0:00:51this is the story of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53This is How We Won The War.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06I'm travelling across the UK to find out more about how different
0:01:06 > 0:01:10regions played their part in Britain's war effort.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13I'll be discovering how ordinary citizens went to incredible
0:01:13 > 0:01:16efforts throughout the war years.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20Our capital city's in my rear mirror now. I've left London behind,
0:01:20 > 0:01:24continuing my journey by venturing into the south and west of England.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30The corridor that runs between London
0:01:30 > 0:01:33and South Wales was home to some of the most important
0:01:33 > 0:01:36and varied contributions to the war effort on the Home Front.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41On today's programme, I'll be learning how a 23-year-old agent
0:01:41 > 0:01:45carried out deadly missions in occupied France.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48The Gestapo would be questioning people, punching people.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50It was pretty awful.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52But Violette was in the thick of it.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56..discovering how a natural food created quite a buzz...
0:01:56 > 0:01:59They would use it as a valuable commodity to trade
0:01:59 > 0:02:02a little bit of extra meat or a butter ration.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04..and revealing the ingenious ideas
0:02:04 > 0:02:07dreamt up to help keep the country clothed.
0:02:07 > 0:02:12- These shoes were made from old felt hats and deckchair canvas.- Brilliant.
0:02:20 > 0:02:21By the summer of 1940,
0:02:21 > 0:02:23thousands of aircraft had been mobilised
0:02:23 > 0:02:28for the Battle of Britain - one of the largest air battles in history.
0:02:28 > 0:02:34Factories across the UK worked flat out to produce aeroplanes, but with
0:02:34 > 0:02:37so many pilots engaged in active combat duty, more were needed to do
0:02:37 > 0:02:43the vital job of getting planes from the production line to the RAF bases.
0:02:43 > 0:02:48Pilots too old or infirm to fly for the RAF saw an opportunity to do their bit.
0:02:48 > 0:02:54Richard Poad is Chairman of the Maidenhead Heritage Centre.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57So they started lobbying and saying, "We know how to fly an aeroplane,
0:02:57 > 0:03:02"there must be something we can do, however small, in this war."
0:03:02 > 0:03:04The Air Transport Auxiliary - or ATA -
0:03:04 > 0:03:08was soon given the job of ferrying new aircraft.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12Amongst their pilots was a retired admiral and two one-armed men,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15but it wasn't just the elderly or injured wanting in on the act.
0:03:15 > 0:03:21Pauline Gower had 2,000 hours' flying experience, and as the daughter of an MP,
0:03:21 > 0:03:25she was well-placed to lobby for women to be allowed to join up.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27The principle was conceded very early on - it was conceded
0:03:27 > 0:03:30in the autumn of 1939,
0:03:30 > 0:03:35despite a lot of vocal opposition from the establishment,
0:03:35 > 0:03:37who thought women should stay in the kitchen, basically.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41On the 1st of January 1940,
0:03:41 > 0:03:44eight women joined the ranks of the ATA pilots.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46- NEWSREEL:- These women are in the news at home
0:03:46 > 0:03:48because they've undertaken a somewhat unusual war job.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51Their work is to ferry new aircraft of the Royal Air Force
0:03:51 > 0:03:54from factory to aerodrome.
0:03:54 > 0:03:59But if the new recruits expected the same jobs as their male colleagues, they'd be wrong.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02Women would fly less powerful machines.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04This wasn't equality at this stage.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07The women were going to be stuck on old fashioned aeroplanes,
0:04:07 > 0:04:10and the first winter they nearly froze to death,
0:04:10 > 0:04:11flying endless Tiger Moths.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15Open cockpit aeroplanes. Horrid!
0:04:15 > 0:04:18As demand for aircraft continued to increase,
0:04:18 > 0:04:21so did the workload of ATA pilots.
0:04:21 > 0:04:26Soon, women graduated from Tiger Moths to Hurricanes and Spitfires.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30It was clear that women could fly the aircraft just as well as men.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32And for the Government, the female pilots had the added
0:04:32 > 0:04:36benefit of being a valuable propaganda tool.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38They milked it all they could.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42In 1944, one of the ladies, Maureen Dunlop,
0:04:42 > 0:04:45actually made the front cover of Picture Post,
0:04:45 > 0:04:48and she's the face of ATA from now on.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51From architects to actresses and mapmakers to mathematicians,
0:04:51 > 0:04:55women signed up to fly with the ATA.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58Also amongst them was the pioneering pilot Amy Johnson,
0:04:58 > 0:05:03who, in 1930, had become the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10The Air Transport Auxiliary was headquartered at White Waltham.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14No better place, then, to meet two of the 168 pioneering women
0:05:14 > 0:05:19who flew as ATA pilots - Molly Rose and Joy Lofthouse.
0:05:19 > 0:05:24Joy was only 16 when she received a crash course in flying His Majesty's aircraft.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28We had our nine days' technical training,
0:05:28 > 0:05:30we learnt about what went on under the hood
0:05:30 > 0:05:35and a lot about the weather, because the weather was our biggest danger.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38And we had a little exam after the technical training,
0:05:38 > 0:05:43and then we went and for the time I saw, and went in, an aeroplane.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47After further training, it was chocks away for the ATA pilots
0:05:47 > 0:05:50as they ferried aircraft around the country.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53Just finding their way from A to B could be tricky.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56You couldn't call it navigation even, because we didn't have...
0:05:56 > 0:06:00We didn't have any instrument flying, and we didn't have any radio.
0:06:00 > 0:06:01It was map reading, really.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04One drew on a line on a map and set it up on the compass,
0:06:04 > 0:06:07and allowed for the wind, and flew along it.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12It was no good diving down and looking at the railway stations
0:06:12 > 0:06:16because all the labelling of the railway stations were down,
0:06:16 > 0:06:20as indeed they were on the signposts on the roads.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24- But actually I never took one to the wrong place, did you?- No, no!
0:06:25 > 0:06:29ATA pilots would face flying through barrage balloons
0:06:29 > 0:06:32and dodging friendly fire from anti-aircraft guns.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35And if that wasn't enough, they'd often find themselves
0:06:35 > 0:06:38in the cockpit of an aircraft type they'd never flown before.
0:06:38 > 0:06:45What they were doing in a single day would be the same as you and me driving a Model T Ford,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48and then getting in a Formula One racing car, and jumping out of
0:06:48 > 0:06:52that into a transit van, and jumping out of that into a 44-tonne truck.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Pilots would get a bible explaining how to fly different aircraft.
0:06:58 > 0:07:03In a copy Richard has, there's just one-and-a-half pages given to flying a Hurricane.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05- That's amazing, let me have a look. - Very small print.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09Quite often, you'd be sent off on a day's work and presented with an
0:07:09 > 0:07:12aeroplane you'd never seen in your life before, so you'd ask your mate
0:07:12 > 0:07:17over a cup of coffee, "Have you ever flown this thing called a Defiant?"
0:07:17 > 0:07:20Survival odds seemed to be stacked against ATA pilots
0:07:20 > 0:07:23but neither Molly or Joy let that worry them.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27When you're that age, you're quite sure you're capable of coping with anything.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31I think from sort of 19 to 25
0:07:31 > 0:07:34is the most assured time of anyone's life.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38When you think what the youth do nowadays, bungee jumping
0:07:38 > 0:07:43and jumping out of aeroplanes, the young are always rather stupid.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49Molly would fly over 37 different types of aircraft
0:07:49 > 0:07:51during her time with the ATA.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55But you both had the opportunity to fly the Spitfire.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57Joy, what was that like as a pilot?
0:07:57 > 0:08:00Oh, that was my favourite. As I'm sure it was a lot of people.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02And it was so manoeuvrable.
0:08:02 > 0:08:03It was a tiny cockpit,
0:08:03 > 0:08:09you only practically breathed on the controls and she responded,
0:08:09 > 0:08:12and it was the nearest thing to having wings oneself.
0:08:14 > 0:08:19Between them, the ATA pilots moved an incredible 309,000 aeroplanes -
0:08:19 > 0:08:23that's more than 140 every single day of the war.
0:08:23 > 0:08:28To suddenly find yourselves up in the sky, on a day like this,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31on your own, with a lovely great big aeroplane underneath you...
0:08:31 > 0:08:33And they paid us for it!
0:08:33 > 0:08:35Well, absolutely, yes!
0:08:36 > 0:08:39I'd have done it for nothing!
0:08:40 > 0:08:45Without them, the course of the war would have been radically different.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48And there's at least one story of somebody arriving at an airfield
0:08:48 > 0:08:50under attack with a brand-new Hurricane,
0:08:50 > 0:08:55and one of the pilots saying, "Thank God, you've brought us something to fly."
0:08:55 > 0:08:59So it's absolutely inestimable, they were a fabulous bunch.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01I think it was great organisation.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04It was incredible how it was formed so suddenly,
0:09:04 > 0:09:07and one was very proud to have been part of it.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10An opportunity of a lifetime.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13I'm just thankful that I ever got in,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16and I'm very proud to have been part of it.
0:09:16 > 0:09:21The women of the ATA were clearly in a league of their own.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24Their bravery and confidence inspired the nation.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28They risked their lives day to day, not just to keep the RAF
0:09:28 > 0:09:31in the air but, more importantly, to keep Britain in the war.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38Not all contributions to the war effort were as glamorous
0:09:38 > 0:09:42as the ATA girls, but that didn't make them any less important.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44When rationing was introduced,
0:09:44 > 0:09:47sugar was one of the most missed foodstuffs in Britain.
0:09:47 > 0:09:52A natural alternative would create a buzz in back gardens across
0:09:52 > 0:09:55the country, but honey wasn't just used to satisfy the nation's sweet tooth.
0:09:55 > 0:10:00Joy Simpson is from the Swindon Beekeepers' Association.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04It was a very effective healer of wounds
0:10:04 > 0:10:07and also a preventer of scarring after burns.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11And so it was used in medication quite a lot.
0:10:11 > 0:10:15In 1943, with the benefits of the nation producing honey becoming clear,
0:10:15 > 0:10:18the Ministry of Food announced a sweetener.
0:10:19 > 0:10:24Every beekeeper could claim 10lbs of sugar for feeding his bees
0:10:24 > 0:10:28in winter, and 5lbs for feeding bees in the spring.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32And this feeding was to keep the bees going if the weather was inclement,
0:10:32 > 0:10:36or if they hadn't got enough honey stores in a hive.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40With a hive able to produce up to 60 pounds of honey a season
0:10:40 > 0:10:43for little cost, the nation was soon busy beekeeping.
0:10:43 > 0:10:48But with wood and metal in short supply, potential honey farmers
0:10:48 > 0:10:52had to get creative when it came to building a home for their workers.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56I've heard that hives were made from pallet wood,
0:10:56 > 0:11:01from anything that could be scavenged, from ammunition boxes
0:11:01 > 0:11:04and people were very ingenious I think in those times.
0:11:04 > 0:11:09Britain was beekeeping, but the government soon noticed honey yields
0:11:09 > 0:11:12didn't tally with the amount of sugar it was supplying.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15Worried the sugar was ending up on the black market,
0:11:15 > 0:11:18a deterrent was devised which had an unexpected side effect.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22The government decided in order to keep a tight rein
0:11:22 > 0:11:26on the supply of the sugar, that they would colour the sugar green.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30And what unexpectedly happened was that sometimes the honey
0:11:30 > 0:11:32would turn out green itself.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35And was not very popular.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38The green sugar plan was quickly abandoned.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41As a free antiseptic and sweetener for wartime treats,
0:11:41 > 0:11:44nothing could top honey.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48For hive owners, there was another benefit of the sticky stuff.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52They would use it as a valuable commodity to trade and swap say with
0:11:52 > 0:11:56the local butchers, for a little bit of extra meat, or a butter ration.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59Sidney Lewis worked at an RAF base
0:11:59 > 0:12:03and was one of the nation's amateur beekeepers during the war.
0:12:03 > 0:12:07As a four-year-old, his daughter Jean would help bottle and label
0:12:07 > 0:12:09their honey before it was sold to locals.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11But Sidney's beekeeping adventures
0:12:11 > 0:12:14didn't get off to the best of starts.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18Unfortunately, the hive he had was a bit of a problem,
0:12:18 > 0:12:20because he went to take the honey off,
0:12:20 > 0:12:22and the bees got inside his veil.
0:12:22 > 0:12:28He had to go into the outhouse, and take all his clothes off.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31Unfortunately, he was stung very badly.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35Dr Watson from Wootton Bassett said he was lucky to be alive,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38cos there was so much poison in his body.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42Incredibly, Sidney persevered with his honey hobby.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46Soon, he had 24 hives, and was selling his produce widely.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50When the family moved to the Wiltshire village of Clyffe-Pypard,
0:12:50 > 0:12:52Sidney gained a new group of customers -
0:12:52 > 0:12:56men he would later be reprimanded for even speaking to,
0:12:56 > 0:13:00but who would leave him with an artistic wartime souvenir.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02There were some prisoners of war
0:13:02 > 0:13:04that lived in a house in the village.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08He got talking to them, and they said, "Well, what do you do?"
0:13:08 > 0:13:10He said, "Well, I keep bees", and they said,
0:13:10 > 0:13:13"Well, we'd really love some honey, but we haven't got any money."
0:13:13 > 0:13:15And my dad said, "Well, what can you do?"
0:13:15 > 0:13:18And one of them said, "I can paint."
0:13:18 > 0:13:23And they painted him some labels for his honey pots.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26And I thought they were so beautiful,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29and my father did and my mum, that they
0:13:29 > 0:13:33couldn't put them on the honey pots, and I've still got them.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37Demand for honey dropped
0:13:37 > 0:13:40when sugar came off the ration list in the 1950s.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44Today, it's a hobby that's making a resurgence, but the wartime years
0:13:44 > 0:13:47would prove the height of amateur honey production.
0:13:47 > 0:13:53Honey was a luxury during the war, a really nice golden luxury to have.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04Food wasn't the only thing rationed during the war.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06In June of 1941,
0:14:06 > 0:14:10the government was forced to introduce the rationing of clothes,
0:14:10 > 0:14:13and the idea was two-fold, firstly it would ensure that everybody
0:14:13 > 0:14:17got their fair share, but secondly, and most importantly,
0:14:17 > 0:14:19it would free up valuable workers and factory space
0:14:19 > 0:14:22for the war effort.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25To prevent their families wandering around in tattered clothes
0:14:25 > 0:14:27and hole-ridden boots,
0:14:27 > 0:14:31the mothers of Britain broke out their sewing needles, and declared,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34"Use it up, wear it out, make it do and do without."
0:14:34 > 0:14:37The National Federation of Women's Institutes
0:14:37 > 0:14:40played its part in giving wartime women tips and tricks.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43Their honorary archivist is Anne Stamper.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47I caught up with her at the National Needlework Archive in Berkshire.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50We should probably start, I suppose, at the beginning with this.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52Is that a ration book, a clothing book?
0:14:52 > 0:14:57Yes, that's a clothing ration book, and the allocation was enough
0:14:57 > 0:15:01to give you one new outfit for the year.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03'And this is how it all worked out.
0:15:09 > 0:15:10'Total, 66.'
0:15:10 > 0:15:14You really had to watch your rationing rather closely.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18The WI came up with a whole range of ingenious ways
0:15:18 > 0:15:22of re-purposing household bits and bobs into fabulous fashions.
0:15:22 > 0:15:28These were shoes, and these shoes were made from old felt hats
0:15:28 > 0:15:29and deckchair canvas.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33The government also did their bit.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36'Why feed moths with hubbie's battered gardening hat when,
0:15:36 > 0:15:37'with a little ingenuity,
0:15:37 > 0:15:41'you can turn hubbie's hat into a hat for his sweet little wife.'
0:15:43 > 0:15:47Now this is interesting! The easy cot. What's an easy cot?
0:15:47 > 0:15:49This is a wonderful idea.
0:15:49 > 0:15:54You put two dining room chairs back to back, with a gap,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57and you can hang this little hammock for the baby between them,
0:15:57 > 0:15:58and the advantage of it was,
0:15:58 > 0:16:01you could carry it if there'd been an air raid,
0:16:01 > 0:16:04you could take this out into the air raid shelter.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08Making the most of what you could get was the name of the game.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11Point free blackout material was used for clothing,
0:16:11 > 0:16:15while parachute silk was highly prized for wedding dresses.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17But when it came to substitute stockings,
0:16:17 > 0:16:20the technique was a bit harder to stomach.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22The usual thing was to use gravy browning,
0:16:22 > 0:16:26mix it up so that you've got a sort of brown goo,
0:16:26 > 0:16:31and put that on your legs, and then they would get a friend with
0:16:31 > 0:16:35an eyebrow pencil to draw a line down the back of their legs so...
0:16:35 > 0:16:38- Just straight up the back?- Yeah, so it looked like they'd got seams
0:16:38 > 0:16:39and they were wearing stockings.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42Do you think it was ever effective, did it ever fool anybody?
0:16:42 > 0:16:43Probably not!
0:16:44 > 0:16:47Make Do And Mend wasn't the only way
0:16:47 > 0:16:49to keep your family clothed during the war.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52Up and down the country, women, children and men
0:16:52 > 0:16:56picked up needles, unravelled wool, and got knitting.
0:16:56 > 0:17:01# I'm knitting a singlet for Cecil A nice woolly singlet for Cecil. #
0:17:01 > 0:17:06Well, this is a proper hive of activity, isn't it? Hello, ladies.
0:17:06 > 0:17:07ALL: Hello!
0:17:07 > 0:17:10Joyce! Come and show me what you've got here.
0:17:13 > 0:17:14What on earth are those?
0:17:14 > 0:17:16Men's swimming costume.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18That's a man's swimming costume!
0:17:18 > 0:17:22Now, come on then, what do we think about that? Today's fashion.
0:17:22 > 0:17:23Are you going to model that?
0:17:23 > 0:17:26I would but I think they're a bit small for me!
0:17:26 > 0:17:30Across the country, people were also using their crafting skills
0:17:30 > 0:17:32to bring comfort to others.
0:17:32 > 0:17:36Who remembers knitting during the war? Hands up over here.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38What were you knitting?
0:17:38 > 0:17:39Teddies.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42- Not unlike the one you've got there. - Teddies like that.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44Let's have a look at him. He's lovely.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47I think the teddies went up to London to children that were
0:17:47 > 0:17:50involved in hospitals or in the blitz.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52I mean, it didn't matter quite what they looked like,
0:17:52 > 0:17:54just something to cuddle, just to hold.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57Another thing we made was little eye patches.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59And so I made this last night.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01Can I have a quick look?
0:18:01 > 0:18:04And I used to love doing those. That was for the hospitals.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07- So that's it?- That's it!
0:18:07 > 0:18:12At home or in air raid shelters, knitting was a productive way
0:18:12 > 0:18:15to keep busy, and our troops would soon be seeing the benefits.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17This is extraordinary, woollies for the RAF.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20Have we got woollies for anybody else?
0:18:20 > 0:18:23And then there's Royal Navy, Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen,
0:18:23 > 0:18:25and again, new woollies that one is.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29And that is where the comforts associations came in.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32Women joined comforts associations to knit for troops.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36Ration coupons spent on wool were returned to the groups.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38This is a cap muffler.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40Now this is proper...
0:18:40 > 0:18:43Commandos were often photographed in these, weren't they?
0:18:43 > 0:18:45Oh yes, when you see the cockleshell heroes running up
0:18:45 > 0:18:48the beach on the old film, that's what they're all wearing.
0:18:48 > 0:18:49There we are.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52And then when you take it off, if it gets a bit nippy in the evening,
0:18:52 > 0:18:55you can just give it a quick flick like that and it turns into a scarf.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57Brilliant.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59Troops were soon the grateful recipients
0:18:59 > 0:19:02of all manners of knitted goods from the associations,
0:19:02 > 0:19:06from socks and scarves to body belts and balaclavas.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09Dear old balaclava, this bit here went
0:19:09 > 0:19:12over your shoulders inside your collar, keep you warm.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15You could imagine, on watch on an arctic convoy in particular,
0:19:15 > 0:19:19or at the front, that would be a much prized item, wouldn't it?
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Oh, yes. Anything, anything that would keep you warm.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30What's your take on the contribution of knitting?
0:19:30 > 0:19:33We should be doing it now, a lot more than we do.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37In America, they knit for their servicemen overseas
0:19:37 > 0:19:38even to this day.
0:19:38 > 0:19:42But it's a bit of home, and it lifts morale.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48Muriel Friend was a domestic worker from Hassocks in Sussex
0:19:48 > 0:19:51who was used to having to make do and mend.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54As part of the Mass Observation project, she was one of hundreds of
0:19:54 > 0:19:59British civilians to keep a diary of their everyday life during the war.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02Muriel's writings offer a rare glimpse of a woman
0:20:02 > 0:20:05looking for something else in wartime Britain.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10'Tuesday 11th of June.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14'Had a letter from HJ saying he will come Sunday.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16'Wrote at dinner time asking him
0:20:16 > 0:20:20'to get out of train at Burgess Hill and I will meet him there.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25'Thursday 13th of June.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28'Machined many of my garments making various repairs.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31'Even machined ladders in silk stockings,
0:20:31 > 0:20:33'a hint I read in The Mirror.
0:20:33 > 0:20:34'Quite effective!
0:20:36 > 0:20:38'Sunday 16th of June.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41'Met the 10.35 train at Burgess Hill.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44'H was on it.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48'After lunch we found a footpath and wandered around.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51'We found a tree trunk to sit on.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53'It was quite peaceful to have his arm round me
0:20:53 > 0:20:56'and a shoulder to lean on.
0:20:56 > 0:21:01'In fact, after telling myself very sternly I was not going to allow
0:21:01 > 0:21:06'any lovemaking, I found my behaviour was quite opposite to my resolve.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09'When he whispered "Happy?"
0:21:09 > 0:21:14'I found that I was wordlessly happy and finding comfort in the contact.'
0:21:19 > 0:21:22I've now travelled further along the south coast,
0:21:22 > 0:21:25past the port cities of Southampton and Portsmouth
0:21:25 > 0:21:29to the location of one of the most secret operations of the war.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33From this small field some of the most dangerous, and lonely,
0:21:33 > 0:21:36missions of World War II were flown
0:21:36 > 0:21:40by men and women belonging to a top secret organisation.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42Well, David, to the untrained eye,
0:21:42 > 0:21:45this looks like any old bit of Sussex countryside,
0:21:45 > 0:21:48but there's a lot more to this field that meets the eye, isn't there?
0:21:48 > 0:21:50There certainly is.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54This is RAF Tangmere that was famous during the Battle of Britain
0:21:54 > 0:21:57because of its location on the south coast,
0:21:57 > 0:21:59but at night, operating from here,
0:21:59 > 0:22:03there were aircraft, small Lysander aircraft that flew the SOE.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07Now, the SOE is one of the great untold stories
0:22:07 > 0:22:09in many quarters of the war.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11What did it stand for and what did it do?
0:22:11 > 0:22:14Well, it stood for the Special Operations Executive,
0:22:14 > 0:22:17and it was set up in July 1940,
0:22:17 > 0:22:21and its aim was to carry out espionage and sabotage
0:22:21 > 0:22:26behind enemy lines, or as Churchill said "to set Europe ablaze."
0:22:26 > 0:22:28Michael Buckmaster's father Maurice
0:22:28 > 0:22:32was one of the bosses recruited to lead operations.
0:22:33 > 0:22:38He was Head of French Section, therefore very responsible
0:22:38 > 0:22:43for all the operations of the agents in France,
0:22:43 > 0:22:47Occupied France, co-ordinating their coming and going.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51SOE agents recreated their missions and training in this footage.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55In mansions stretching from the Highlands to the New Forest
0:22:55 > 0:22:58they were taught how to kill with their bare hands,
0:22:58 > 0:23:01derail trains and escape from handcuffs.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04Agents would be parachuted into occupied territory,
0:23:04 > 0:23:07but when there was no time for parachute training,
0:23:07 > 0:23:11Lysander aircraft would prove perfect for the job.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15Then they realised because of their short take-off and landing ability,
0:23:15 > 0:23:20they'd be very useful to take agents into and out of fields in France.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24Unable to use lights, pilots flew under a full moon,
0:23:24 > 0:23:27navigating by its reflection on roads and rivers.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30Resistance workers would signal their landing spot
0:23:30 > 0:23:32by flashing Morse code.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34Pilots spent just four minutes on the ground
0:23:34 > 0:23:36before flying back home.
0:23:36 > 0:23:41Their job was done, but the agent's mission was just beginning.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43They had to find out what was happening
0:23:43 > 0:23:48in the way of active resistance against the German occupation,
0:23:48 > 0:23:53and in certain cases, there were key operations to blow up
0:23:53 > 0:23:56certain factories and particularly the railways.
0:23:56 > 0:24:01The SOE was proving effective, but the average life expectancy
0:24:01 > 0:24:05of a wireless operator in France was just six weeks.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08For other SOE operatives, it wasn't much better.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11They weren't in uniform, so if they were captured they would,
0:24:11 > 0:24:14they would almost certainly be tortured and killed.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17They weren't protected by the Geneva Convention.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19In a word, they were spies.
0:24:19 > 0:24:24Women were particularly valued as SOE undercover operatives.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27Very often the men, had given themselves away a little bit
0:24:27 > 0:24:31by one or two of their exploits, and it was more difficult
0:24:31 > 0:24:35to pin down who the women might be and where they were operating.
0:24:35 > 0:24:40Violette Szabo was one of the daring young agents dropped into France.
0:24:40 > 0:24:45In 1940, after a whirlwind romance, she married Etienne,
0:24:45 > 0:24:47a dashing French legionnaire officer.
0:24:47 > 0:24:49Two years later he was killed in action.
0:24:49 > 0:24:54Violette's daughter, Tania, recalls the effect this had on her mother.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57She was absolutely shattered. She adored him. She loved him.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00He was everything that she could dream of.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02She was so proud of him.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05The loss of Etienne was one reason Violette signed up
0:25:05 > 0:25:09as an SOE agent in 1944.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12First of all, there was absolutely the sense of revenge.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14Er, there's no doubt about that,
0:25:14 > 0:25:17but there was also the fact that her father had been
0:25:17 > 0:25:21in the First World War, her brothers were in the Second World War.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23And so she wanted to do her bit.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26And here was this wonderful opportunity. She took it.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29And it was exciting. To begin with.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32Leaving two-year-old Tania in England, Violette's first mission
0:25:32 > 0:25:35took her to Rouen to check on a betrayed resistance movement,
0:25:35 > 0:25:38and organise destroying a viaduct.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41She was undercover in a treacherous environment.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44The Gestapo would be questioning people, punching people.
0:25:44 > 0:25:49Checking their papers, arresting people. It was pretty awful.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51But Violette was in the thick of it.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54Arrested twice whilst attempting to complete her mission,
0:25:54 > 0:25:56Violette was warned by a member of the resistance
0:25:56 > 0:25:59working for the Vichy Government that it was time to get out.
0:25:59 > 0:26:04She got out, went back to London and discovered only once
0:26:04 > 0:26:08she got back that the viaduct had been blown.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12Gaining promotion, Violette was soon on her way back to France.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15Along with another agent, they'd been tasked with disrupting
0:26:15 > 0:26:18German reinforcements on their way to Normandy.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21On the 10th of June the pair were ambushed,
0:26:21 > 0:26:24and a previous injury from parachute training would prove disastrous.
0:26:24 > 0:26:29They were running through fields of corn and Violette tripped
0:26:29 > 0:26:33and er, sprained that weakened ankle from her parachute jump.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35And she couldn't walk.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37Violette's fellow agent escaped,
0:26:37 > 0:26:42but she was captured by the Gestapo, questioned and tortured daily.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44A rescue plan was hatched,
0:26:44 > 0:26:47but before it could be implemented, Violette was moved to Paris,
0:26:47 > 0:26:50then on to the Ravensbruck concentration camp.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52Conditions were unimaginable.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54There were no more of the uniforms with the stripes
0:26:54 > 0:26:56that you see in so many pictures.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59Some of the women still had theirs, and they guarded them,
0:26:59 > 0:27:03and would fight anybody because you had to be like that in Ravensbruck.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06You guarded your food, you guarded everything.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09With the Germans recognising the war's end was fast approaching,
0:27:09 > 0:27:13Heinrich Himmler ordered that all British and American agents
0:27:13 > 0:27:15should be executed.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18And so Violette, who was very weak by this time,
0:27:18 > 0:27:23but still standing was taken into a little, narrow er,
0:27:23 > 0:27:27alleyway at Ravensbruck and shot in the nape of the neck.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31Violette was just 23 when she died.
0:27:31 > 0:27:36She was young, brave and beautiful. And she did a very good job.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40SOE agents like Violette gave their lives
0:27:40 > 0:27:43carrying out solitary, daring work.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47I think what set them apart was they volunteered to do this,
0:27:47 > 0:27:51knowing the risks, knowing that the chances were
0:27:51 > 0:27:53that they would not come back.
0:27:54 > 0:27:59Violette Szabo's bravery and courage has been justly celebrated.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02Just like many other thousands of young men and women,
0:28:02 > 0:28:04she made the ultimate sacrifice,
0:28:04 > 0:28:07she gave up her life not just for her country,
0:28:07 > 0:28:09but for the cause of freedom.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14Next time I'll be discovering how women took control of balloons
0:28:14 > 0:28:16protecting our skies,
0:28:16 > 0:28:18taking an evacuee back to the home
0:28:18 > 0:28:20that kept him safe throughout the war....
0:28:20 > 0:28:25We went through that door, and that became from that minute, home.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29..and exploring the site of one of the war's most daring escapes.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32The British guards who were guarding that very camp
0:28:32 > 0:28:34gave the prisoners, the escape prisoners a push start.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd