0:00:03 > 0:00:06Hello and welcome to this historic airfield in Cambridgeshire.
0:00:06 > 0:00:08Now part of the Imperial War Museum,
0:00:08 > 0:00:12it's dedicated to the stories of people who've lived through conflict.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14Throughout Remembrance Week, we're honouring courage,
0:00:14 > 0:00:15celebrating heroes
0:00:15 > 0:00:19and remembering those who've suffered life-changing injuries.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21This is how the people remember.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32All this week I'm exploring some of the treasures here,
0:00:32 > 0:00:35with former Army officer Andy Torbet.
0:00:36 > 0:00:41And celebrities from the worlds of entertainment and broadcasting
0:00:41 > 0:00:44tell us the role their families played during the war.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52On today's programme, courage and sacrifice.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54We meet a man who is only alive today
0:00:54 > 0:00:58thanks to the bravery of another on the battlefield.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02My brother and I would not be here now, nor would my father have been.
0:01:02 > 0:01:07And I think that that is something which has a profound impact on you.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10Straight from Albert Square, June Brown,
0:01:10 > 0:01:14who plays Dot Cotton in EastEnders, shares her wartime memories with us.
0:01:17 > 0:01:22And on the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War,
0:01:22 > 0:01:25we hear some VE Day memories.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28We ran into the street and everybody was cheering and yelling.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30It was heaven, absolute heaven.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50Good morning from the Imperial War Museum in Duxford.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53Today, we're hearing about the extraordinary bravery
0:01:53 > 0:01:57of people who put themselves in harm's way to protect others.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59We have some stories of great courage,
0:01:59 > 0:02:03both on the battlefield and on the home front.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06Our guest today is the actress June Brown, a very familiar face
0:02:06 > 0:02:10from EastEnders, where she plays the long-suffering Dot Cotton.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12June, welcome to the programme.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16Tell us about your war years. Where were you during the war?
0:02:16 > 0:02:20I wasn't a brave warmonger, as they say.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22I lived in a backwater, really.
0:02:22 > 0:02:27I lived in East Anglia at the time. We were 12 miles from the sea.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31So I didn't have to go through all the bombing that
0:02:31 > 0:02:33the people in London did, and the big cities.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36Well, you say that, June, but you actually came under fire
0:02:36 > 0:02:38a few times. You saw some action!
0:02:38 > 0:02:40JUNE LAUGHS In a strange sort of way, yes.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44I was waiting for a trolleybus - I think I must have been about 15 -
0:02:44 > 0:02:46halfway down the hill that I lived in
0:02:46 > 0:02:49and I looked up to see if it was coming round the corner
0:02:49 > 0:02:55and I saw a German fighter coming down the road, machine gunning.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59Well, fortunately for me, there was a little cobbler's shop
0:02:59 > 0:03:03attached to a residential house right by the trolleybus stop.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05And it had a lot of steps.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10And I ran up the steps and flattened myself against the door, because...
0:03:10 > 0:03:13I didn't go in - I wasn't a customer.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15And then when it had gone, I just came down
0:03:15 > 0:03:17and waited at the bus stop again.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21And you, like so many children, had to leave home, didn't you?
0:03:21 > 0:03:23You had to be evacuated.
0:03:23 > 0:03:24Well, I WAS evacuated.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27I didn't have to be. It was the choice of my parents
0:03:27 > 0:03:29and we were...
0:03:29 > 0:03:33It was after Dunkirk, you see, and we were expecting an invasion.
0:03:33 > 0:03:38And I went with only two of my form, and one teacher -
0:03:38 > 0:03:41lovely Miss Midgley, the Latin teacher - to Leicester.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44I know you've got some wonderful stories to tell.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46You're going to tell us more about that in a moment.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49But as we heard, June was one of thousands of children
0:03:49 > 0:03:54evacuated during World War II, to keep safe from the bombs.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56But there were lulls during the bombing -
0:03:56 > 0:03:59and, with youngsters missing home, parents were faced with the choice
0:03:59 > 0:04:02of leaving their children in safer parts of the country
0:04:02 > 0:04:05or bringing them back to the potential danger of the cities.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08Historian Richard Van Emden has been finding out about
0:04:08 > 0:04:11the agonising decision one family had to make.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17As Germany invaded Poland, the British government
0:04:17 > 0:04:21swung into action to empty cities of their most vulnerable inhabitants.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25Nearly 800,000 children were evacuated
0:04:25 > 0:04:28and sent to safer places around Britain.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30But this safety came at a price.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33Families were torn apart.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35Young children were removed from their parents
0:04:35 > 0:04:39to be placed far away, with new and unfamiliar families.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43While children stayed with their host families,
0:04:43 > 0:04:47the Luftwaffe pounded Britain's cities for over a year.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51But when the bombing eased, parents faced a difficult choice.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55Was it safe for children to come home or should they stay away?
0:05:01 > 0:05:05I've come to Warrington to meet 82-year-old Eric Brady.
0:05:05 > 0:05:06Hello, Eric.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10'His life was changed for ever by a decision his parents made.'
0:05:12 > 0:05:16Eric was six years old when he and his sister Kitty
0:05:16 > 0:05:19were sent from their home in London to the Welsh valleys.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22When you left home, what was your initial reaction?
0:05:22 > 0:05:28Kitty went off in one direction and I went off in another
0:05:28 > 0:05:31to different foster parents.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35And that was the first time that Kitty and I had ever been separated
0:05:35 > 0:05:38like that, and I think it was at that point
0:05:38 > 0:05:41that evacuation began to be realistic to me.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49While Eric struggled to fit in with his host family,
0:05:49 > 0:05:52Kitty loved her new life.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56Can you describe the relationship between Kitty and her foster family?
0:05:56 > 0:05:59She was very happy where she was.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04She and her foster parents became very close.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10So much so that they asked if they could adopt Kitty
0:06:10 > 0:06:12if her mum and dad were killed in the Blitz.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19My mother seemed to resent this
0:06:19 > 0:06:24as the foster parents stealing Kitty.
0:06:25 > 0:06:30Eric's mother decided to bring Eric and Kitty back to London in 1942.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34They returned to school in Catford.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37A few months later, Eric was with his classmates in the dining hall
0:06:37 > 0:06:40when an air-raid siren sounded.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45Kitty appeared in the doorway
0:06:45 > 0:06:50when there was this very loud noise of the aero engines right overhead
0:06:50 > 0:06:53and the teacher screamed to us to get under the tables,
0:06:53 > 0:06:56cos there was no time to go to the shelter.
0:06:56 > 0:07:01And then there was a bang as the bomb hit the roof.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05I remember Kitty was at the door and she saw me, cos where
0:07:05 > 0:07:10I was was not too far from the door, and she came running towards me...
0:07:13 > 0:07:16..and then the bomb exploded
0:07:16 > 0:07:19and that was the last thing I remember.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26A German aircraft had dropped an enormous bomb onto the school.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29Eric and Kitty were trapped beneath tonnes of wreckage.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35So this is the footage at that time. Mm.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38So where were you, abouts?
0:07:38 > 0:07:39Right under the rubble, there.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45Does it feel almost surreal to know that,
0:07:45 > 0:07:47when this footage was being taken, you are there.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49Yeah, indeed.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51All under the rubble, like that.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54I mean...many other children, of course.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00After seven hours,
0:08:00 > 0:08:04Eric was miraculously found alive and taken to hospital.
0:08:04 > 0:08:09The initial prognosis the doctors gave to my father
0:08:09 > 0:08:14on that first interview was that if I lived, which was doubtful,
0:08:14 > 0:08:17then I'd be permanently crippled for life.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23When Eric regained consciousness, all he could think about
0:08:23 > 0:08:26was what had happened to his sister.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28I didn't know, really, where Kitty was.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32In fact, when I began to come round in hospital,
0:08:32 > 0:08:35my mother was coming in to see me every day.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38Er...I kept asking for Kitty.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41And then days passed.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45And, er, the sister's office had a big window
0:08:45 > 0:08:47that looked into the ward
0:08:47 > 0:08:51and I could see my mother talking to the sister
0:08:51 > 0:08:53and then my mother came back.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56And, um, she said Kitty was dead.
0:08:57 > 0:09:03And, um, she'd been found a few yards away from me.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05So Mum and I cried together.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07And that was it.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09Kitty was dead.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18The attack on the school resulted in the largest number of children
0:09:18 > 0:09:20killed by one bomb in the whole of the war.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24Decades later, Eric discovered his mother
0:09:24 > 0:09:27had kept a secret from him about that terrible day,
0:09:27 > 0:09:30which his brother, Eddie, revealed to him.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35Eddie and I were talking about the school
0:09:35 > 0:09:37and I said what my mother had told me,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40that Kitty had been found a few yards away from me.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44And Eddie said, "No, that isn't right.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48"She was found lying on top of you, all down your right-hand side,
0:09:48 > 0:09:52"shielding you." It was Kitty who'd shielded me.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56Took the blows that would have killed me.
0:09:56 > 0:09:57Sorry.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07A memorial in Catford pays tribute to the lives of the 38 children
0:10:07 > 0:10:10and six teachers who were killed.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13How did it make you feel to find out years later
0:10:13 > 0:10:15that Kitty had saved your life?
0:10:15 > 0:10:18She could have run to the shelters herself and been saved.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22But she didn't - she came running to me.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26To have given up the chance of safety herself just to get to me.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29It made me think what a terrific girl Kitty was.
0:10:33 > 0:10:34Never forgotten it.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42Incredible to think that little girl saved her brother's life.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44Now, June, when you were evacuated,
0:10:44 > 0:10:48did you feel safer being away from Ipswich?
0:10:48 > 0:10:50Not really, no,
0:10:50 > 0:10:54cos it wasn't very dangerous in Ipswich, you see, at the time.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57It never was. There was only one raid on the docks.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59No, I was quite happy.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01There were one or two incidents, of course,
0:11:01 > 0:11:05because we lived with a very nice couple who didn't have any children.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07They'd taken these three girls - they were very quiet.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10And one day they decided they'd give us a treat
0:11:10 > 0:11:11and take us to the theatre
0:11:11 > 0:11:15and we went to see the musical comedy The Maid Of The Mountains.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18I'll start to sing you the song if you like, but I won't.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22And anyway, it was in three acts and after the second act,
0:11:22 > 0:11:25the warning sounded, the air-raid warning,
0:11:25 > 0:11:29and our Mr and Mrs Miller thought as they were in charge of us
0:11:29 > 0:11:33they'd better take us home to that Anderson shelter in the garden,
0:11:33 > 0:11:36which was corrugated steel, I suppose.
0:11:36 > 0:11:41And we were walking home and they were bombing Coventry
0:11:41 > 0:11:45and it was red - the sky was full of flames and red -
0:11:45 > 0:11:48and we could see the tracer bullets.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50Well, the ack-ack guns they were.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53And planes in the searchlights.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55So it was one of those awful situations, you know,
0:11:55 > 0:11:57where people are dying and killed.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59You'd been evacuated. You were a child.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01How long were you away from home? Did you miss home?
0:12:01 > 0:12:05Oh, very little time, you see. I mean, we were home for Christmas.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08We'd gone, I think, probably about September.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12I don't think we were there longer than September, October, November,
0:12:12 > 0:12:14cos that was when it was, Coventry - November.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18And we went home for Christmas, you see, cos we felt we were safer
0:12:18 > 0:12:21in Ipswich, where there weren't any air raids.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23Only one later on. Only once we went...
0:12:23 > 0:12:26Well, we'd go down the shelter if there were warnings,
0:12:26 > 0:12:28cos the planes were always passing over us,
0:12:28 > 0:12:30but in the end we got to...
0:12:30 > 0:12:32Poor mother, she'd say, "Come in the sh..."
0:12:32 > 0:12:35"No, Mother, we're too tired. No, we're going to stay in bed.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37"No, we don't want to get up, Mother. No, we're too tired."
0:12:37 > 0:12:39So we wouldn't get up.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41So, when you were back home in Ipswich,
0:12:41 > 0:12:44do you remember seeing planes flying overhead?
0:12:44 > 0:12:49Well, mostly they flew overnight. We were a pathway, you see,
0:12:49 > 0:12:52and they flew over us, so we got warnings because of it.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56But I did see duels in the sky
0:12:56 > 0:12:58between the Spitfires and Messerschmitts
0:12:58 > 0:13:02and also their bombers and, you know, if they shot one down,
0:13:02 > 0:13:04one saw that happen,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07and the pilot in the Spitfire would do a victory roll.
0:13:07 > 0:13:12And tell us about the shelter that your aunt built in her garden.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Well, we had a really good shelter.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17It was a beach hut from Felixstowe.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22Well, since the beaches were mined all during the war
0:13:22 > 0:13:25because, maybe, of invasion - stop them getting in -
0:13:25 > 0:13:27Uncle decided to take it
0:13:27 > 0:13:30and put it in the garden as an air-raid shelter.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35So, Uncle Eric and Uncle Bill dug the hole, put in the wooden hut
0:13:35 > 0:13:37and covered it with the other earth
0:13:37 > 0:13:39and that was supposed to be our bomb shelter.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41Well, it might have stopped the shrapnel,
0:13:41 > 0:13:43but I don't think it would have stopped the bombs.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46And do you remember being inside it? Oh, yes, that was the day
0:13:46 > 0:13:50when I'd seen these bombs drop out of these planes
0:13:50 > 0:13:53flying across the sky that I thought were Spitfires
0:13:53 > 0:13:55and I thought, "Aren't they lovely?"
0:13:55 > 0:13:59And the bomb bays opened and the bombs started falling
0:13:59 > 0:14:02and I just thought, "Well, I'd better get inside."
0:14:02 > 0:14:05And do you know, I was really frightened
0:14:05 > 0:14:07once I was in the shelter.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10I didn't make a noise - you didn't make any noises
0:14:10 > 0:14:13or moan or cry or groan. Oh, no, stiff upper lip.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15I was probably a bit white and a bit trembly
0:14:15 > 0:14:17and she was a bit ashamed of me
0:14:17 > 0:14:20but, you see, I couldn't see what was going on.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23But it's just being in that confined space and not being able to see.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27Incredible memories, June. So vivid all these years later, as well.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29We'll talk to you more later on.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32But now, when the First World War began,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35it was during an age of Empire.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38The men fighting for Britain came from across the world,
0:14:38 > 0:14:41but one country stood out for the sheer numbers of soldiers
0:14:41 > 0:14:43it sent to fight.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47As many as one in six soldiers fighting with the British Army
0:14:47 > 0:14:50were from India - more than the number from Wales,
0:14:50 > 0:14:52Scotland and Ireland combined.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55It's a contribution that often goes overlooked.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02Throughout history, man has waged war upon man.
0:15:02 > 0:15:03But in times of conflict,
0:15:03 > 0:15:06selfless acts of bravery shine through.
0:15:07 > 0:15:12One man who knows this only too well is Ian Henderson,
0:15:12 > 0:15:15whose grandfather's life was saved by an Indian soldier.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20My brother and I would not be here now, nor would my father have been.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24And I think that that is something which has a profound impact on you
0:15:24 > 0:15:26when you think about it.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37As war broke out across Europe, British forces on the Continent
0:15:37 > 0:15:40were vastly outnumbered by the advancing German army.
0:15:43 > 0:15:44To hold the line,
0:15:44 > 0:15:48Britain called on the armies of the nations of the Empire.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51Many answered the call - a million from India.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00Jaimal Singh is the grandson of one of those Indian soldiers.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05His grandfather was in the second Ludhiana Sikh regiment.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10After finishing his schooling,
0:16:10 > 0:16:16he was taken in the Army and was a quite a senior officer.
0:16:16 > 0:16:17And very handsome.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23In 1914, Jaimal's grandfather, Manta Singh,
0:16:23 > 0:16:26left his family in the Punjab, to help the British war effort.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32He was enlisted to fight in the first major offensive
0:16:32 > 0:16:37on the Western Front - the bloody Battle of Neuve Chapelle.
0:16:39 > 0:16:45His regiment was called in the North of France to fight the Germans.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48The weather conditions wasn't very good -
0:16:48 > 0:16:52wet and all the dirt.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57As the battle raged, Manta Singh's regiment came under attack.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02His commanding officer, George Henderson, was in the firing line.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05They were advancing successfully against the Germans
0:17:05 > 0:17:07but they overran their position
0:17:07 > 0:17:10and my grandfather was caught by enfilading fire
0:17:10 > 0:17:13and shot through both legs above the knee.
0:17:13 > 0:17:18My grandfather, Manta Singh, was assistant to Henderson
0:17:18 > 0:17:22so it was his duty to look after him.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26Manta Singh, without hesitating, stopped and picked him up
0:17:26 > 0:17:30and the story goes that as my grandfather was quite a big man,
0:17:30 > 0:17:32he put him in a wheelbarrow to get him back.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37But while Manta Singh was carrying out this selfless rescue,
0:17:37 > 0:17:39he too came under fire.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44He was bringing him back to the safety line
0:17:44 > 0:17:48and, of course, while he was doing it he got shot in the leg.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57Jaimal's badly injured grandfather was then transported
0:17:57 > 0:18:00to surroundings which couldn't have been more different
0:18:00 > 0:18:02to the horrors of the trenches.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06The Royal Pavilion in Brighton
0:18:06 > 0:18:10was built as an extravagant residence for King George IV.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13But in 1914, it found a new purpose.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19This Regency palace was turned into a field hospital
0:18:19 > 0:18:23for the Indian soldiers injured on the Western Front.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27Jaimal has come to meet Kevin Bacon,
0:18:27 > 0:18:30a curator at Brighton's Royal Pavilion.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32Hello, Jaimal. I'm Kevin,
0:18:32 > 0:18:35and welcome to the Music Room of the Royal Pavilion.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38So, this was the room which was converted
0:18:38 > 0:18:42for the Indian wounded soldiers, as a hospital?
0:18:42 > 0:18:44That's correct. You may be interested in this photograph,
0:18:44 > 0:18:49which shows this room as it was used as a hospital ward in 1915.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53More than 12,000 Indian soldiers
0:18:53 > 0:18:56were brought here to Brighton to be treated.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02How come such a beautiful building
0:19:02 > 0:19:09was used as a hospital for Indian wounded soldiers?
0:19:09 > 0:19:12People often assume that because of the Indian influence
0:19:12 > 0:19:13on the exterior of the Pavilion,
0:19:13 > 0:19:17which looks very much like an Indian Mughal palace,
0:19:17 > 0:19:19that this is why it was used for Indian patients.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22The real reason is a little bit more complicated.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25Britain was utterly dependent on those Indian troops
0:19:25 > 0:19:26fighting for its cause.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30And using the Pavilion as a hospital was really to show how well
0:19:30 > 0:19:32the Indian men were treated under British care.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39Looking at these people who are in the bed here,
0:19:39 > 0:19:42they are quite happy. I would feel very proud
0:19:42 > 0:19:44if my grandfather would have been in this room.
0:19:47 > 0:19:48While he was in Brighton,
0:19:48 > 0:19:51Manta Singh received the very best of care
0:19:51 > 0:19:54but it wasn't enough to save him from his injuries.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00Unfortunately, my grandfather died of the wounds
0:20:00 > 0:20:05and he died on the 20th of March, 1915.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13Manta Singh's sacrifice had an extraordinary legacy.
0:20:13 > 0:20:18The descendants of Captain Henderson have never forgotten his bravery.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21Hello, Jaimal. Hello, Ian.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25And later in the programme, we'll be reuniting the two grandsons.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27Wasn't too good before, was it?
0:20:36 > 0:20:40Every year, nearly half a million people visit the museum.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42Some of them are veterans,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45others are the children or grandchildren of veterans.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49Here's a flavour of some of the people we've met today.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55Well, it's the sense of history about the place, of course,
0:20:55 > 0:20:57and all of my very happy memories.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59It was a very happy station, Duxford.
0:21:03 > 0:21:04This is where I was born.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08I mean, where I live now in Australia, well, you know,
0:21:08 > 0:21:12coming back to a place where I was actually born is really good.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15Yeah, really sort of a bit nostalgic, really.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21It's just so interesting. There's so much going on here
0:21:21 > 0:21:24and every time you come up here, there's always something different.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27There's things here that I read about when I was in school
0:21:27 > 0:21:29and that I thought I'd never get a chance to see
0:21:29 > 0:21:31and here they're all in one place.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34Really came along just to show my grandson
0:21:34 > 0:21:35some of the old aircraft.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37Just let him have a...
0:21:37 > 0:21:40Spike in his interest in maybe aviation - I don't know.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42It's quite nice - I like looking at the old planes
0:21:42 > 0:21:44and so far he's liked it as well.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52Now, I will explain why I'm dressed like this in a moment,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55but this area full of old military vehicles is tucked away
0:21:55 > 0:21:59in a corner here at the museum and a man who knows all about it
0:21:59 > 0:22:03is Vic, who joins me now. Just tell us what actually happens here.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05Well, the volunteers here at Duxford,
0:22:05 > 0:22:08we renovate many vehicles for the museum,
0:22:08 > 0:22:10for ourselves and for other museums, too.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14And this one, for example - this was part of Gulf War I, wasn't it?
0:22:14 > 0:22:18Yes, it was. It's a Centurion operated by the Royal Engineers
0:22:18 > 0:22:20and that was in Gulf War I
0:22:20 > 0:22:25and actually pulled down Saddam's portrait in that war.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27And you've got one over there I can see through...
0:22:27 > 0:22:29By the tree over there with Russian writing on it.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31Yeah, that's a T-34 from the Second World War.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33One of the most famous tanks
0:22:33 > 0:22:35used by the Russians during the Second World War.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37And how many have you got here in total?
0:22:37 > 0:22:39In total, we have about 63 here.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41So people come here, they come and work on these -
0:22:41 > 0:22:42help you restore them?
0:22:42 > 0:22:45That's right, they work on them and then hopefully we show them
0:22:45 > 0:22:48and make use of them or put them in the museum as an exhibit.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50Right, and it's not just about restoring them, is it?
0:22:50 > 0:22:53Because the reason you've dressed me like this is because...?
0:22:53 > 0:22:58We actually do armoured personnel vehicle rides and drives
0:22:58 > 0:23:00and we thought you'd like to have a drive in one of our
0:23:00 > 0:23:04armoured personnel carriers. I'm driving? You certainly are.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07That one with Andy standing in it? That one over there with Andy.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09Who's driving - me or him? Definitely be you.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11Ah, he's just going to be telling me where to go. Are you up for it?
0:23:11 > 0:23:14I'm definitely up for that. I might ignore him. Come on, then.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20That's your seat in there. Are you ready for this? Yeah.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25Straight, straight, straight.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34So, it doesn't really matter what I do, it's all going to be your fault.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37Up that mount? Yeah.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39OK, where am I going? You're going left.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42Literally pulling one lever to go left, one to go right,
0:23:42 > 0:23:44putting your foot on the gas.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50MUSIC DROWNS SPEECH
0:23:51 > 0:23:54Whoo! Go on, power on. Power, put the power on, get the power on.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59Keep the power on.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07And prepare to stop, slow down, slow down, slow down and stop there.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11Are the newest tanks as noisy as this?
0:24:11 > 0:24:13They're noisier, to be honest. Really? Yeah, yeah.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16They're not covert vehicles, these things. Fun? You have fun?
0:24:16 > 0:24:21Great. Really good to drive. Well commanded. Very well driven.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23Still to come on today's programme...
0:24:23 > 0:24:26HE PLAYS Roses Of Picardy
0:24:27 > 0:24:30..the world's only one handed concert pianist,
0:24:30 > 0:24:33Nicholas McCarthy, plays a wartime classic.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41And I'll be taking a peek inside a Field Marshal's caravan.
0:24:47 > 0:24:53Now, 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56In a moment, June will share some of her memories of that time
0:24:56 > 0:25:01but first, some other familiar faces share their memories of VE Day.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08I was ten when the war ended
0:25:08 > 0:25:10and I had a huge wall chart
0:25:10 > 0:25:13on the wall of our kitchen.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15It was the only room downstairs, actually,
0:25:15 > 0:25:18but the kitchen, we called it. And I used to chart the progress
0:25:18 > 0:25:20of the Allied advance across Europe.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23The BBC had a bulletin every day where they'd tell you exactly
0:25:23 > 0:25:26what the movements were and when it started moving the right way,
0:25:26 > 0:25:30I got very obsessed by that so I'd mark in red all the way along the...
0:25:30 > 0:25:32Germans were black and we were red.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38Michael Parkinson was at home in Yorkshire when he heard the news.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42I remember on the day that war was ended,
0:25:42 > 0:25:44I was really cross because they spoilt my game.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49What was I going to do for the rest of my life, I thought.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51This has been my obsession for all these years.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56REPORTER: The great news ran through the land -
0:25:56 > 0:25:58Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff,
0:25:58 > 0:26:01Birmingham, London - the end of the German war.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06Jilly Cooper was at home in Surrey.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09My mother was bashing up some wisteria,
0:26:09 > 0:26:11cos if you bash up stems,
0:26:11 > 0:26:14it gets the water in and she was bashing up some stems of wisteria
0:26:14 > 0:26:17and suddenly we heard on the wireless
0:26:17 > 0:26:19the war was over.
0:26:19 > 0:26:24And my mother said, "Pinch me. Pinch me that I know I'm awake."
0:26:24 > 0:26:27And so I sort of gave her a little pinch and then she said...
0:26:29 > 0:26:32Burst into floods of tears and she said...
0:26:32 > 0:26:33I said, "What's the matter?"
0:26:33 > 0:26:36I thought we must've lost the war or something. I was so worried.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38Then she said, "No, we've won, we've won."
0:26:38 > 0:26:40She wiped her eyes with her apron,
0:26:40 > 0:26:43we ran into the street and everybody was cheering and yelling.
0:26:43 > 0:26:44It was heaven. Absolute heaven.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49In the East End of London,
0:26:49 > 0:26:52Kenny Lynch was just finishing school for the day.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55My sister was waiting at the gate for me
0:26:55 > 0:26:57and I came out and she said,
0:26:57 > 0:26:59"It's over. It's over. The war's over."
0:27:01 > 0:27:04I came out of school and there were people cuddling each other
0:27:04 > 0:27:06and jumping up and down. It was like they'd won a football match
0:27:06 > 0:27:10or something - it was that kind of sort of atmosphere going on.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14Obviously, the war ends - it's going to be fantastic, isn't it?
0:27:14 > 0:27:17Everybody started loving each other for a little while.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24Esther Rantzen was in the garden of her family home in Hertfordshire.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29My grandmother was carrying around a radio,
0:27:29 > 0:27:31a battery radio,
0:27:31 > 0:27:34and she was carrying it round the garden...
0:27:34 > 0:27:35SHE SIGHS
0:27:44 > 0:27:47I can't imagine why I feel so emotional...
0:27:49 > 0:27:52..but I think that what I remember was her joy.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57It was extraordinary.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01The wonderful news of peace.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10Germany's surrender took most people by surprise.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13So did the evening newsflash announcing that the next day
0:28:13 > 0:28:17would be a public holiday to celebrate victory in Europe.
0:28:20 > 0:28:25David Attenborough was living with his parents in Leicestershire.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29My older brother Richard was in the RAF
0:28:29 > 0:28:31as a rear gunner and a cameraman.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36I was waiting to go up to Cambridge and so I was in the Home Guard.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40I was Private whatever his name is in the Home Guard
0:28:40 > 0:28:42with the muffler.
0:28:44 > 0:28:46REPORTER: This was the British people's finest day -
0:28:46 > 0:28:48the end of the German war.
0:28:48 > 0:28:53I don't honestly remember suddenly crouching behind the radio
0:28:53 > 0:28:56and listening to it, as we do in the documentaries.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01No.
0:29:01 > 0:29:06I can't recall that but we were... Certain great jubilation. Yeah.
0:29:06 > 0:29:08And when it was declared to be May the 8th, that was great.
0:29:09 > 0:29:12And May the 8th was also my 19th birthday.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24Well, some wonderful memories of VE Day there.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26What do you remember of VE Day?
0:29:26 > 0:29:28Not very much, really.
0:29:28 > 0:29:30It was a private party
0:29:30 > 0:29:33because I was up in Scotland, in Ardentinny,
0:29:33 > 0:29:36at the ledge of Loch Long.
0:29:36 > 0:29:38There was a submarine base up at the top,
0:29:38 > 0:29:42and we had parties on the landing craft tank.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45I would say I was drinking pink gin at the time -
0:29:45 > 0:29:47it was a naval drink.
0:29:47 > 0:29:49I think it's gin and Angostura bitters
0:29:49 > 0:29:53and we had fireworks and the lights were on
0:29:53 > 0:29:54but they weren't great lights
0:29:54 > 0:29:58cos there was only Dunoon down here and Greenock and Gourock over there
0:29:58 > 0:30:00and mountains behind us
0:30:00 > 0:30:03so it was just a little, quiet celebration,
0:30:03 > 0:30:05nothing to do with London.
0:30:05 > 0:30:08And you were in Scotland. You had joined the Wrens.
0:30:08 > 0:30:10When did you join the Wrens?
0:30:10 > 0:30:13When I was 18, I would've been called up,
0:30:13 > 0:30:16but at 17?, I could choose my service
0:30:16 > 0:30:20and I didn't want to go into the Waaf or the Ats, you know,
0:30:20 > 0:30:23because their uniform wouldn't have suited me complexion
0:30:23 > 0:30:27so I decided that I'd like to go into the Wrens.
0:30:27 > 0:30:29I was a cinema operator.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32I used to show films, training films, to the sailors
0:30:32 > 0:30:35and I used to roll them their ticklers while they...
0:30:35 > 0:30:38Their ticklers were their roll-up cigarettes.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40I'd have their tins and I'd roll them cigarettes
0:30:40 > 0:30:41and pass them through.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44And what about the spirit during World War II?
0:30:44 > 0:30:46What are your memories of that?
0:30:46 > 0:30:48Oh, well, it was quite incredible. It was.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50People knock it now
0:30:50 > 0:30:55but it isn't true that people were all terrified - it really isn't.
0:30:55 > 0:31:00And it is true that we thought we would win because of Churchill.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04He was so positive. He didn't think we'd win himself -
0:31:04 > 0:31:07there was a lot of misgivings there, I believe -
0:31:07 > 0:31:10but as far as we were concerned we'd do this,
0:31:10 > 0:31:13we'd fight on the beaches, we'll fight... And they would have done.
0:31:13 > 0:31:18And my uncle was in the Home Guard and it wasn't like Dad's Army.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21You know, they were trained, these young men.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24A lot of them were youngish men.
0:31:24 > 0:31:25But your overriding memory
0:31:25 > 0:31:28isn't one of people being terrified, as you say?
0:31:28 > 0:31:32No, but maybe I lived in a part of the country
0:31:32 > 0:31:34where I didn't suffer so much.
0:31:34 > 0:31:36We didn't suffer so much.
0:31:36 > 0:31:37You know, we didn't...
0:31:37 > 0:31:41One of my great aunts had her house bombed in the East End
0:31:41 > 0:31:43and came down and lived with Grandma, you know,
0:31:43 > 0:31:46who'd left the East End a long time ago.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49She didn't seem particularly perturbed about it.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52Maybe she was - I don't know.
0:31:52 > 0:31:53Well, June, wonderful.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56Thank you so much for sharing your memories with us.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00Now, this museum site is vast and it spans a mile.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04Andy is exploring another corner of it.
0:32:04 > 0:32:08I'm in the Land Warfare section and many of the exhibits here
0:32:08 > 0:32:12have an incredible history, including these caravans.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15They belonged to Field Marshal Montgomery,
0:32:15 > 0:32:19one of THE most celebrated commanders in the Second World War.
0:32:19 > 0:32:21I'm joined by curator John Delaney.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24John, thank you very much for letting me wander round.
0:32:24 > 0:32:28Now, these things are incredible and as an ex-soldier,
0:32:28 > 0:32:31I had no idea that the battle in North Africa was commanded
0:32:31 > 0:32:34effectively from a trio of caravans.
0:32:34 > 0:32:35That's correct, yes.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38The three caravans in question were collected by Monty along the way.
0:32:38 > 0:32:41When he arrived in North Africa, he acquired the office caravan,
0:32:41 > 0:32:44which was captured from an Italian general... Right.
0:32:44 > 0:32:46..and then at the end of the North African campaign
0:32:46 > 0:32:47he got a second one
0:32:47 > 0:32:50and then prior to the D-Day operation,
0:32:50 > 0:32:53he actually asked for a third one to be built specifically
0:32:53 > 0:32:56for his map collection. Ah, right, so these weren't just North Africa -
0:32:56 > 0:32:58they were across the whole of Europe? That's correct.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01All the way from North Africa before El-Alamein,
0:33:01 > 0:33:03through to Luneburg Heath in Germany at the end of the war.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06OK, so what did he actually use each caravan for?
0:33:06 > 0:33:09Well, the caravan directly behind us was his office caravan,
0:33:09 > 0:33:11which he used for sort of almost meditating on
0:33:11 > 0:33:14what his next move would be on the battlefield.
0:33:14 > 0:33:16And then behind us is his map caravan,
0:33:16 > 0:33:19which he used to plot the course of the army's progress on
0:33:19 > 0:33:21and then further away, behind the one behind us,
0:33:21 > 0:33:24is his bedroom caravan which he used to live in, his living quarters.
0:33:24 > 0:33:25He had an actual bedroom -
0:33:25 > 0:33:27his bedroom just for him and no-one else?
0:33:27 > 0:33:29That was his bedroom, for him and no-one else.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31He said he would only turn out of it for two people
0:33:31 > 0:33:33and that was the King and Winston Churchill.
0:33:33 > 0:33:35And did he ever have to do that?
0:33:35 > 0:33:37Yes, both King and Winston Churchill visited him.
0:33:37 > 0:33:39The King in north-west Europe and there is
0:33:39 > 0:33:42contemporary photography of him and the king in the caravan together.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44Now, I noticed in one of the caravans
0:33:44 > 0:33:47there was a portrait of Rommel, the German commander.
0:33:47 > 0:33:49Why did he have a portrait of Rommel?
0:33:49 > 0:33:52Well, in the office caravan, which he used sort of as
0:33:52 > 0:33:54a meditation area when he was sort of figuring out what
0:33:54 > 0:33:57he was going to do next, when he was writing his orders,
0:33:57 > 0:34:00he would put portrait images of the enemy commanders
0:34:00 > 0:34:02he was facing at that point in time up on the wall
0:34:02 > 0:34:04and sit and look at them
0:34:04 > 0:34:07and contemplate what his opposition was like
0:34:07 > 0:34:09and what their moves were going to be on the battlefield.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13He said he felt it helped him come up with battlefield solutions.
0:34:13 > 0:34:15And these aren't reconstructions, you know,
0:34:15 > 0:34:19these are the original caravans that he worked from,
0:34:19 > 0:34:21the King and Winston Churchill visited,
0:34:21 > 0:34:23and they are as they were in the war? That's right.
0:34:23 > 0:34:25At the end of the war they were gifted to Monty
0:34:25 > 0:34:29by sort of a grateful nation and he kept them in a barn at his house
0:34:29 > 0:34:33and they were kept exactly as they were on the last day of the war.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36Everything inside is sort of a time capsule of that last day.
0:34:36 > 0:34:38In the office caravan, for example,
0:34:38 > 0:34:41there's a drawer full of medal ribbons that he would hand out
0:34:41 > 0:34:43to the troops and even in one of the drawers in there, as well,
0:34:43 > 0:34:45there is a set of his underwear.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47Well, John, it's fascinating to see these things,
0:34:47 > 0:34:49which I didn't even know existed, to be honest.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52Thank you very much for showing us round. Thank you.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02Earlier in the programme, we heard the story
0:35:02 > 0:35:05of the incredibly brave Sikh soldier Manta Singh,
0:35:05 > 0:35:08who died saving the life of his English commander.
0:35:08 > 0:35:10Well, 100 years later,
0:35:10 > 0:35:14a very special relationship has come from that sacrifice.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22A century ago, Manta Singh was brought to Britain for treatment
0:35:22 > 0:35:26after he was injured saving the life of a young English captain.
0:35:28 > 0:35:33He died in Brighton and his grandson Jaimal has come here to remember him.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37When my grandfather was cremated,
0:35:37 > 0:35:42his ashes were scattered according to our religion
0:35:42 > 0:35:45along the coast in Brighton.
0:35:47 > 0:35:51Manta Singh was one of nearly 75,000 Indian soldiers
0:35:51 > 0:35:55who died fighting for Britain in the First World War.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58In 1921, on this windswept hillside,
0:35:58 > 0:36:01a memorial was unveiled by the Prince of Wales
0:36:01 > 0:36:03to honour all those who had fallen.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07It is called Chattri, which means "umbrella" in Punjabi.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17Under the umbrella, these people who are cremated here
0:36:17 > 0:36:19are supposed to be protected by God.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22Jaimal is here to pay his respects.
0:36:23 > 0:36:27We feel very proud what our grandfather did for Britain.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31And he was cremated at this very spot.
0:36:31 > 0:36:37We are so happy that when we come here our children,
0:36:37 > 0:36:41great-grandchildren, all Manta Singh's relatives
0:36:41 > 0:36:43come and pay their homage.
0:36:45 > 0:36:49Although Manta Singh died, Captain Henderson's life was saved -
0:36:49 > 0:36:52and his descendants have never forgotten it.
0:36:52 > 0:36:55His grandson Ian has come to meet Jaimal today.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00Hello, Jaimal. Hello, Ian! Very nice to see you again.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03The memorial is a place of pilgrimage for both families,
0:37:03 > 0:37:08where they come to remember Manta Singh and his extraordinary legacy.
0:37:10 > 0:37:12"Manta Singh. Subadar."
0:37:12 > 0:37:16"15th Ludhiana Sikhs." Yeah.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19But for your grandfather,
0:37:19 > 0:37:23my grandfather would also have been buried somewhere. True.
0:37:23 > 0:37:27And my father would never have been born and nor would I,
0:37:27 > 0:37:31cos my father wasn't born until 1916 and so I would never be here,
0:37:31 > 0:37:33nor would my family. True.
0:37:33 > 0:37:35So we owe a great deal to the Johal family.
0:37:37 > 0:37:41The connection between the two families has lasted 100 years.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44Not only did their grandfathers fight together -
0:37:44 > 0:37:46so, too, did their fathers.
0:37:48 > 0:37:51My father and Jaimal's father became very close,
0:37:51 > 0:37:53cos they were both commissioned into the battalion.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56And they fought together in very difficult situations
0:37:56 > 0:38:00and in retirement they both enjoyed reminiscing very happily
0:38:00 > 0:38:02for many hours.
0:38:02 > 0:38:03And like their fathers,
0:38:03 > 0:38:06they are equally happy to catch up and reminisce.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09My grandfather there, isn't it? Yes. Yes.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11I think that's him. Which is your father?
0:38:11 > 0:38:15There's my father with the colours. He's there in the corner.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19And there's... And that's your... ..Dad there. There we are.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23I'm delighted to see Jaimal today
0:38:23 > 0:38:25and it's very nice that two years ago,
0:38:25 > 0:38:29my daughter was at Chattri with three of my grandchildren
0:38:29 > 0:38:34and the other side, there were five of the Johal family,
0:38:34 > 0:38:36a further generation down.
0:38:36 > 0:38:40The bond forged in war between these two men
0:38:40 > 0:38:42may well last another 100 years.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48It really is the case that so many of us wouldn't be here today
0:38:48 > 0:38:51if it weren't for the courage and sacrifice of those men
0:38:51 > 0:38:53who fought in the trenches.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56With us now is Nicholas McCarthy.
0:38:56 > 0:39:01You are the world's only one-handed concert pianist.
0:39:01 > 0:39:04Now, you began at the age of 14. How did that come about?
0:39:04 > 0:39:06It's quite a title, isn't it, that?
0:39:06 > 0:39:08Well, I actually wanted to be a chef, which...
0:39:08 > 0:39:10I don't know why I was drawn to these dexterous jobs
0:39:10 > 0:39:12with only one hand but here I am today.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15Yes, I am the only one-handed concert pianist
0:39:15 > 0:39:17and I started at the age of 14.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20I found a friend of mine who was an amazing pianist,
0:39:20 > 0:39:23who played a Beethoven sonata, and I just had one of those moments
0:39:23 > 0:39:26where I just thought, "That's what I want to do.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28"I want to become a concert pianist."
0:39:28 > 0:39:30Not thinking about the fact that I only have one hand but, yeah.
0:39:30 > 0:39:34But how do you play? I mean, is the music specially adapted for you?
0:39:34 > 0:39:36A lot of the stuff I play is actually original material
0:39:36 > 0:39:38from the 19th century onwards,
0:39:38 > 0:39:40which is written just for the left hand alone,
0:39:40 > 0:39:42which is quite a tradition in itself,
0:39:42 > 0:39:45but recently I've been moving into adapting pieces
0:39:45 > 0:39:48and arranging pieces for the left hand alone.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51And you've got a particular passion for music that was written
0:39:51 > 0:39:53or composed around the World War I period.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57That's right. Without a certain man called Paul Wittgenstein...
0:39:57 > 0:40:00He was a concert pianist and he actually went into battle
0:40:00 > 0:40:04and very quickly lost his right arm in battle, as so many did,
0:40:04 > 0:40:09and he returned and he was very, very... You know,
0:40:09 > 0:40:11he was so gallant and very, very determined
0:40:11 > 0:40:14to continue his career of becoming a concert pianist.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17So, he decided to use his wealth - he's from quite a wealthy family -
0:40:17 > 0:40:19and he decided to commission
0:40:19 > 0:40:21all of the celebrity composers of the day,
0:40:21 > 0:40:24so Ravel and Prokofiev and Benjamin Britten...
0:40:24 > 0:40:27He paid them vast amounts of money to write left-hand-alone concertos
0:40:27 > 0:40:31for him and what he also did was he would arrange
0:40:31 > 0:40:34well-known two-handed pieces but arrange them for left hand alone
0:40:34 > 0:40:37in order to keep up his solo concert career.
0:40:37 > 0:40:39So, he's a very steely, determined man.
0:40:39 > 0:40:41What are you going to play for us now?
0:40:41 > 0:40:43Well, I've done one of my own arrangements of Roses Of Picardy,
0:40:43 > 0:40:46which was a huge hit in the First World War.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49Everyone, both in battle and on the home front, absolutely loved
0:40:49 > 0:40:53this piece and it grossed, I think, 100,000 or something.
0:40:53 > 0:40:55It was a real massive, massive hit
0:40:55 > 0:40:58and I wanted to arrange this piece for left hand alone
0:40:58 > 0:41:00as a tribute to that era.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03Well, can't wait to hear it. We'll leave it to you. Thank you.
0:41:08 > 0:41:11HE PLAYS Roses Of Picardy
0:43:04 > 0:43:06The incredible Nicholas McCarthy.
0:43:06 > 0:43:08Well, that is it for today's programme.
0:43:08 > 0:43:10June, it's been wonderful having you here. Thank you.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13Oh, it's been lovely being here. I really mean it, you know,
0:43:13 > 0:43:15to see all these enormous planes.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18You know, I walked under a Vulcan
0:43:18 > 0:43:21and I thought I was wandering under a tin roof
0:43:21 > 0:43:22and it was its tail!
0:43:22 > 0:43:25I mean, how do they get up in the air? You really do ask yourself.
0:43:25 > 0:43:28They're incredible, incredible to see.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31Well, coming up on tomorrow's programme...
0:43:31 > 0:43:34But for this business, I've got to say I'm out.
0:43:34 > 0:43:37..Duncan Bannatyne, formerly of the Dragons' Den,
0:43:37 > 0:43:40tells us about his father's service in the Far East.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44We meet the Bomber Command veteran
0:43:44 > 0:43:47heading back into a Lancaster for the first time
0:43:47 > 0:43:48since the Second World War.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52When the engines started and we started taxiing
0:43:52 > 0:43:54and bumpity, bumpity bump
0:43:54 > 0:43:58and after 70 years, it's almost like a dream.
0:43:58 > 0:44:02And a soldier shares his story about the new battle he faced
0:44:02 > 0:44:04when he came back from war.
0:44:05 > 0:44:11It was just trying to give yourself a reason, I guess, to carry on,
0:44:11 > 0:44:12I suppose, and want to carry on.
0:44:14 > 0:44:17From all of us here at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, goodbye.
0:44:17 > 0:44:19Goodbye.