0:00:02 > 0:00:07This programme contains some strong language
0:00:07 > 0:00:09On a December night in 1942,
0:00:09 > 0:00:14a lone German aircraft approached the coast of England.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20Inside, an enemy spy waited for the signal to jump.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26He carried a secret wireless, a gun, 12 detonators
0:00:26 > 0:00:28and a suicide pill.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33His mission on behalf of Nazi Germany
0:00:33 > 0:00:36had been authorised at the highest levels of the Third Reich.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46His codename was Agent Fritz.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50But Fritz was not German.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52He was British.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08His real name was Eddie Chapman
0:01:08 > 0:01:13and he landed in a field here in a remote corner of East Anglia.
0:01:14 > 0:01:20He was a crook, a womaniser, a con man and a sort of hero.
0:01:21 > 0:01:26He was perhaps the most extraordinary spy in British history.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32Within hours of landing, he would defect to the British,
0:01:32 > 0:01:34and become a double agent...
0:01:34 > 0:01:36Agent Zigzag.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44And he had to do something like that, he just didn't want to sit quiet.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49It was the excitement and nobody else had done it and he would.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54He was an extremely clever seducer.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58He seduced the Germans and he also seduced lots of women as well,
0:01:58 > 0:02:00so he's really quite a remarkable chap.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08It was probably the love of her life.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12She met the man she considered her dream prince, I guess.
0:02:12 > 0:02:17If the Germans had found out about the story then both probably would have been dead.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22TRANSLATION:
0:02:41 > 0:02:47Of all London's pre-war gangsters, Eddie Chapman was in a league of his own.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51He never used violence and he never carried a gun.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53But he loved blowing things up.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59Especially safes.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08His speciality was robbing Odeon Cinemas.
0:03:08 > 0:03:13There's the big one in Swiss Cottage. I did that one. I did them alone.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16I looked around and I found a bag.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21I knew that the cleaners came on at six in the morning.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24I thought, "I've got to get out before they come in."
0:03:26 > 0:03:32Chapman hit the Swiss Cottage Odeon in London in September 1938,
0:03:32 > 0:03:35having spent the night hiding in the gents'.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38He had just minutes to get out and get to safety.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53This was the life Chapman loved - fast, furious and dangerous.
0:03:54 > 0:03:59He was already wanted for safe breaking, embezzlement and burglary.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01So far he hadn't been caught.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15At that time, all the old dears are going for office cleaning. It was full of them.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20And I had this bag on my knees.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24And I saw them all looking at it and I thought, "What the hell are they looking at?"
0:04:25 > 0:04:27And I turned the bag round
0:04:27 > 0:04:31and in white letters that big it had "Odeon Cinema Ltd".
0:04:34 > 0:04:36It was the longest journey I ever did.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50In the great tradition of retired British crooks, Eddie Chapman
0:04:50 > 0:04:55lived out his last years in Spanish-speaking sunny climes.
0:04:56 > 0:05:01Even as an old man, he never lost his taste for fast cars,
0:05:01 > 0:05:03fast women and fast living.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08Before he died in 1997, he was interviewed by the BBC
0:05:08 > 0:05:13in the Canary Islands about his life as a double agent.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18But the Official Secrets Act prevented it from being broadcast.
0:05:18 > 0:05:24MI5 has since declassified the Zigzag files,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27allowing Chapman to tell his story for the first time.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34I was actually spawned in the slums of the North East coast.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38And my father drank quite heavily
0:05:38 > 0:05:42and I decided I was going to get out of it completely.
0:05:43 > 0:05:48I'd reached my 17th birthday and, er,
0:05:48 > 0:05:50applied to join the Guards.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54Chapman didn't last long.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58He quickly deserted and headed for the bright lights of Soho...
0:05:58 > 0:06:00home to London's criminal underworld.
0:06:05 > 0:06:10By the age of 25, Chapman was one of the most wanted men in the country.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16His forte was blowing safes.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20There's the thrill and the excitement of it.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23Are you going to strike a bonanza or strike nothing?
0:06:25 > 0:06:28I mean, the one thing we had was money.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32Whenever we ran out, we used to go and blow another one.
0:06:32 > 0:06:38There were girls, fast cars and as much champagne as a man could drink.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43Eddie was a very attractive looking man.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46You know - six foot one or two, handsome, always well dressed.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49And women used to throw themselves at Eddie.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52He had something extra that women liked.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Wine, women and song - he certainly liked them all.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01By the spring of 1939,
0:07:01 > 0:07:05Chapman was wanted for more than 40 counts of burglary.
0:07:05 > 0:07:06London was getting a little hot.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12So, throwing a bag stuffed with gelignite into his car,
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Chapman headed north.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18His target was the Edinburgh Co-op.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22But things didn't go to plan.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27Squad cars came in from everywhere. Bang!
0:07:29 > 0:07:35I opened the car door, jumped out, and ran out, a bloody great overcoat on,
0:07:35 > 0:07:39and I tripped and the whole lot pounced, and we were done.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44Despite facing 40 counts of burglary,
0:07:44 > 0:07:46Chapman managed to get bail.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49Which he promptly jumped.
0:07:49 > 0:07:54Pausing only to pick up his latest girlfriend, Betty Farmer,
0:07:54 > 0:07:57he caught a plane to the safety of Jersey in the Channel Islands.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07The next stop would be France and a boat to South America.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13Comfortably settled at the Hotel de la Plage,
0:08:13 > 0:08:17Chapman and Betty sat down to a leisurely Sunday lunch.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23The couple were tucking into dessert when Chapman looked up
0:08:23 > 0:08:27to see two burly policemen approaching the table.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31He rose from his sherry trifle, kissed Betty one last time
0:08:31 > 0:08:33and jumped through the window...
0:08:33 > 0:08:35Which was closed.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44He pounded off down the beach, with the police in hot pursuit.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52But his luck finally ran out.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57The judge showed no mercy.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01Chapman was sentenced to two years.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06After that, he faced another 20 years back on the mainland.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10I was in the punishment wing. Alone.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16Sometimes I only got the bread and water, and this went on for weeks.
0:09:16 > 0:09:22My weight shot down from about 12 stone to about nine.
0:09:24 > 0:09:29But outside the prison walls, Europe was falling apart.
0:09:29 > 0:09:34Chapman was still serving his sentence, when the world went to war.
0:09:43 > 0:09:48In June 1940, the Germans invaded the Channel Islands -
0:09:48 > 0:09:53the only part of Britain to find itself under Nazi occupation.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57One of the warders said to me, "The Germans have invaded."
0:09:57 > 0:10:00Christ, you know, I didn't even know there was a war on.
0:10:03 > 0:10:08To an opportunist like Chapman, the invasion offered an opening.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13He wrote a letter to the German commandant in Jersey,
0:10:13 > 0:10:15and made him an offer.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19I didn't fancy doing 20 years. That was what worried me, basically.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21I thought, "I've got to do something."
0:10:23 > 0:10:27So without any set scheme, I volunteered to work for the Germans.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35I did this because I had this crazy idea I could pull this off.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42Months passed. Chapman was moved from one prison to another
0:10:42 > 0:10:45and from Jersey to mainland France.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48And still there was no response to his offer.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52Then he was suddenly taken from his cell
0:10:52 > 0:10:57and found himself face to face with two German officers.
0:10:58 > 0:11:04They said, "We've come to see you about your application to join us."
0:11:04 > 0:11:07I stank like a fucking polecat!
0:11:10 > 0:11:13They had their interview, I answered all their questions
0:11:13 > 0:11:17and explained why I wanted to join them, that if the British ever
0:11:17 > 0:11:20invaded I'd be doing 20 years and I'd much prefer to work for them.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25So that was my freedom from prison.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32Within hours of his interview, Chapman found himself on a train,
0:11:32 > 0:11:36sitting in a First Class compartment.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42But what was he thinking?
0:11:42 > 0:11:45Had he really thrown his lot in with the Germans?
0:11:45 > 0:11:49Or did he always intend to double-cross them, as he later claimed?
0:11:49 > 0:11:53Or was this simply a way to get out of jail
0:11:53 > 0:11:55and perhaps make some cash on the side?
0:11:58 > 0:12:02His destination was a charming French manor house
0:12:02 > 0:12:05near Nantes in western France.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09This was to be his home for the next three months.
0:12:10 > 0:12:15Chapman was met at the door by a distinguished figure wearing a pinstriped suit,
0:12:15 > 0:12:19who welcomed him warmly in perfect English.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22He looked like a prosperous city banker.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28In fact, Stephan von Groening was a decorated First World War veteran
0:12:28 > 0:12:33who now ran the most important spy school in Nazi-occupied Europe.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39He had personally selected Chapman for training as a German agent
0:12:39 > 0:12:44because Chapman was exactly what the Germans now needed.
0:12:46 > 0:12:52Up until this time, German intelligence operations in Britain had been a spectacular failure.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Every one of their spies had been caught.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02The Germans HAD to find a spy - any spy -
0:13:02 > 0:13:05who could actually do some spying.
0:13:08 > 0:13:14Chapman was the perfect choice. He was English and therefore invisible.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18He had good reason to loathe the British authorities.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22And he was rather good at blowing things up.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28Von Groening said, "You're going on a course now of espionage,
0:13:28 > 0:13:34"code-work and sabotage."
0:13:35 > 0:13:40But before his training began, Chapman needed a codename.
0:13:41 > 0:13:48Stephan von Groening knew that the British routinely referred to all Germans as "Fritz".
0:13:48 > 0:13:51And so Eddie Chapman duly became Agent Fritz.
0:13:57 > 0:14:02For the next three months, Fritz's life followed a set routine.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05Four hours of Morse code practice in the morning,
0:14:05 > 0:14:09followed by an excellent lunch and an afternoon siesta.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17Later in the day, there were lessons in sabotage
0:14:17 > 0:14:21and the opportunity to practice his speciality...
0:14:27 > 0:14:30I was taught about seven different formulas.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38If you'd done it wrong, you blew your fucking self to pieces.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41There was also parachute instruction...
0:14:41 > 0:14:44the best way to get an agent into England.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50On Chapman's second jump, his parachute failed to open properly.
0:14:50 > 0:14:55He landed on the airport tarmac face-first, smashing his teeth.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58The Germans generously replaced them...
0:14:58 > 0:15:01at a cost of 9,500 francs.
0:15:01 > 0:15:06He now had some rather natty gold teeth, courtesy of the Third Reich.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13Chapman's instructors did everything possible
0:15:13 > 0:15:17to make life comfortable for their new secret agent.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21Chapman purchased a pet pig, which he called Bobby,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24in honour of the Metropolitan Police.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30He took Bobby on long walks through the French countryside
0:15:30 > 0:15:32and taught him to perform tricks, like a dog.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40Could life possibly be better?
0:15:42 > 0:15:45MORSE CODE SIGNALS BLEEP
0:15:53 > 0:15:58Chapman's instructors were not the only ones monitoring his progress.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03From deep in the Buckinghamshire countryside,
0:16:03 > 0:16:06others were following his every move.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12For months, the secret code-breakers at Bletchley Park
0:16:12 > 0:16:16had been eavesdropping on Agent Fritz's practice transmissions.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22They knew this German spy was being trained at Nantes,
0:16:22 > 0:16:25they knew how many teeth he'd knocked out...
0:16:25 > 0:16:29and how much they'd cost to replace. And they knew he spoke English.
0:16:29 > 0:16:35A lot of the messages would be from his handler, back to Berlin.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38And we had what were called Y stations all over the UK
0:16:38 > 0:16:39at strategic points,
0:16:39 > 0:16:42where they could pick up these messages clearly.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46They would have ended up here in one of the huts,
0:16:46 > 0:16:50and he would have been compiled, recorded, so we knew exactly
0:16:50 > 0:16:53what was going on and we would have been watching very closely.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58Some of Fritz's transmissions were quite baffling.
0:16:58 > 0:17:03"Your friend Bobby the Pig grows fatter every day.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05"He is gorging like a king, roars like a lion
0:17:05 > 0:17:08"and shits like an elephant. Fritz."
0:17:10 > 0:17:14But who was this mysterious Bobby the Pig?
0:17:14 > 0:17:17And when would Fritz arrive?
0:17:17 > 0:17:19Von Groening took me out for dinner,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22he said, "Now, you're probably wondering what this is all about.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26"Are you willing to go to England to attack a target for us in England?
0:17:26 > 0:17:29So I said "Yeah, for money. How much?"
0:17:31 > 0:17:37The money was 150,000 Reichsmarks... set down in a formal contract.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42But there was an additional clause.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45In the event that this agent betraying the German Reich,
0:17:45 > 0:17:49he would be summarily executed.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52He said you could fully understand the purpose,
0:17:52 > 0:17:54so I said yeah and signed it.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59Chapman's mission was to blow up a major aircraft factory
0:17:59 > 0:18:04at Hatfield, just north of London.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07Here Britain's most advanced bomber was being built...
0:18:12 > 0:18:15..the famous De Havilland Mosquito.
0:18:15 > 0:18:22The very thought of the plane sent Goering, chief of the Luftwaffe, into a towering rage.
0:18:22 > 0:18:28"It makes me furious when I see the Mosquito," he said, "There is nothing the British do not have.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32"They have the geniuses and we get the nincompoops.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35"After the war, I'm going to get a British radio set.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39"That way, at least I'll have something that works."
0:18:42 > 0:18:44This is a thing of beauty in the skies of Britain.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47Above Germany, her sights are trained.
0:18:47 > 0:18:52No doubt Goering and Goebbels have bad dreams about it every time they're due to broadcast.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10On the night of December 16 1942, Chapman was ready to go.
0:19:12 > 0:19:18Everything he would need was packed into a British canvas rucksack...
0:19:18 > 0:19:25wireless, detonators, fake identity cards and £990 in used notes.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27Nothing was left to chance.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32Except for one small, but rather crucial, detail.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35In an act of stupendous incompetence,
0:19:35 > 0:19:41the wads of money were held together with bands labelled "Reichsbank, Berlin".
0:19:43 > 0:19:45After an excellent dinner in Paris,
0:19:45 > 0:19:49Chapman boarded the plane for England.
0:19:50 > 0:19:55His hands were shaking so much he could hardly strap himself in.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00They were flying relatively low,
0:20:00 > 0:20:03which, of course, made the mission more dangerous,
0:20:03 > 0:20:05because they could have easily been shot down.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12I think my father said, "No way this guy's going to survive this."
0:20:13 > 0:20:16It was really mission impossible.
0:20:18 > 0:20:24Somewhere over East Anglia, at quarter past two in the morning, Chapman jumped.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28I was about seven or eight minutes coming down.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31And at night-time you think you're fucking going up!
0:20:31 > 0:20:34You know, all you can see is cloud.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39I floated over a house and then landed a few hundred yards away.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43And I did everything... I buried my parachute.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49And I did everything right.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54But from that moment on, Chapman broke all the rules.
0:20:57 > 0:21:02His orders were to wait until dawn, then make his way to Norwich,
0:21:02 > 0:21:05catch a train to London, and begin his mission.
0:21:06 > 0:21:11Instead, he went to the nearest house and telephoned the police.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18When I got to the police station,
0:21:18 > 0:21:21I was trying to keep my identity secret.
0:21:21 > 0:21:22"Who are you, what?"
0:21:22 > 0:21:27I said, "I'm not answering you, I want to talk with British Intelligence."
0:21:28 > 0:21:31I told them that I was here on a mission.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34I told them what the mission was about.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38They said, "Well, save that, because they're waiting to interrogate you."
0:21:39 > 0:21:44Within hours, Chapman was on his way to London.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48For months, British Intelligence had been planning to catch Agent Fritz.
0:21:48 > 0:21:54But what nobody expected was that Fritz would turn up on their doorstep.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58I thought I was being taken some place comfortable to sleep...
0:21:58 > 0:22:01and I woke up in a cell!
0:22:01 > 0:22:03Fucking nice, I'm back in the nick.
0:22:05 > 0:22:12Chapman was locked up in Camp 020, a prison for captured enemy agents.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15Here he was immediately photographed.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19A face drained by stress and exhaustion
0:22:19 > 0:22:22stares out of the pictures.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26But there is something else in Chapman's expression -
0:22:26 > 0:22:28the hint of a smile.
0:22:34 > 0:22:39For the next 48 hours, Chapman was interrogated.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43Facing him across the table was a man who wore a glinting monocle
0:22:43 > 0:22:47and had a fearsome reputation for breaking his victims.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54This was Colonel Robin "Tin Eye" Stephens.
0:22:54 > 0:22:59And it was his job to find out whether Chapman was telling the truth.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02Eddie Chapman was interrogated not at Bletchley Park -
0:23:02 > 0:23:04this would have had nothing to do with Bletchley Park -
0:23:04 > 0:23:07but of course the interrogators are looking for
0:23:07 > 0:23:09information to corroborate what is being said.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16Chapman told Tin Eye everything...
0:23:16 > 0:23:20a complete picture of the workings of a Nazi spy school.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24But he also made an offer...
0:23:24 > 0:23:28to spy for Britain against Germany as a double agent.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36The pressure was now on Tin Eye to decide if Chapman could be trusted.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41What he didn't know was that we were able to corroborate
0:23:41 > 0:23:42much of what he said,
0:23:42 > 0:23:46which enabled the people who were doing the interrogations
0:23:46 > 0:23:52to feel more and more comfortable that, actually, he was an honest player, in terms of being an agent.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58After three days, Tin Eye decided to take the gamble.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04Chapman already had a contract with the Germans.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06Now he cut a deal with the British.
0:24:06 > 0:24:11What conditions did you place on your working for MI5?
0:24:12 > 0:24:17That all monies I earned with the Germans I kept.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22I was granted a pardon for all my past peccadilloes.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24And they agreed to both.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31A young MI5 officer was assigned to handle his case.
0:24:35 > 0:24:40A former BBC sound engineer, Ronnie Reed was an expert in Morse Code.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44My father was needed because, as with all these double agents,
0:24:44 > 0:24:47when they're transmitting back to Germany, you've got to make sure
0:24:47 > 0:24:50they send back the message that we want them to say,
0:24:50 > 0:24:53and we have to make sure they don't send a message saying,
0:24:53 > 0:24:55"Don't believe a word, I've just been caught."
0:24:59 > 0:25:02The next morning, Chapman tapped out his first message
0:25:02 > 0:25:05to his German spy masters.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11I just led the antenna round, plugged in.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14I gave two calls and I got the answer immediately.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20Within hours, Bletchley picked up a German signal.
0:25:20 > 0:25:25It indicated that the enemy believed Chapman's message was genuine.
0:25:25 > 0:25:30This was definitely Fritz... the deception was up and running.
0:25:30 > 0:25:36Only one thing remained before Chapman could begin his new career as a double agent...
0:25:36 > 0:25:42a codename. MI5 came up with one that fitted him perfectly...
0:25:42 > 0:25:43Agent Zigzag.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49The name carried a hint of anxiety, because a man who could zig,
0:25:49 > 0:25:51could also zag.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58But if Chapman thought his new job was going to be glamorous,
0:25:58 > 0:26:00he was in for a shock.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05The Germans had installed him in a comfortable manor house in Brittany.
0:26:06 > 0:26:12The British installed him in this quiet, anonymous street in the London suburb of Hendon...
0:26:12 > 0:26:16the last place anyone would think to look for a double agent.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23But he would not be living alone.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26A man who'd spent a lifetime avoiding the police
0:26:26 > 0:26:31now found two of them sharing the house with him - and watching his every move.
0:26:33 > 0:26:41They also took the only photographs that exist of Chapman enjoying life as a double agent in Hendon.
0:26:41 > 0:26:46They set up a radio transmitter in a top room and, from that point,
0:26:46 > 0:26:51Eddie could broadcast to Germany with my father supervising him.
0:26:52 > 0:26:57To start with, transmission was quite difficult - the Germans didn't seem to hear him.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01Then Eddie got the poker from the fire and heated it up and tried to re-solder it,
0:27:01 > 0:27:05which wasn't very effective, so my father took his transmitter home
0:27:05 > 0:27:10and did it with a proper soldering iron and after that it worked fine and the Germans heard every word.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15The only other obstacle to Chapman's transmissions was Mrs West,
0:27:15 > 0:27:19the house-keeper, whose vacuum cleaning had to be interrupted
0:27:19 > 0:27:23every time a message needed to be sent to Nazi Germany.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30Chapman had now been in Britain for a month,
0:27:30 > 0:27:35but had not yet carried out his mission to blow up the De Havilland factory.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39It was time for a most ingenious deception.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47If they were going to convince the Germans that Chapman had blown up the factory,
0:27:47 > 0:27:50he first of all had to see exactly what it looked like,
0:27:50 > 0:27:55and indeed work out a way - a convincing way - of blowing up an important part of it.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00We walked through with the morning shift.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03We just went in in overalls like everybody else.
0:28:03 > 0:28:09Nobody challenged us, we just went straight through.
0:28:09 > 0:28:14We went up, I opened the powerhouse door...nobody there.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18So I went inside, had a look around, came out,
0:28:18 > 0:28:22I said, "Well, this is obviously where I would place the explosives.
0:28:23 > 0:28:29"I know exactly what to tell the Germans." And it was from that my cover story was patched up.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32To reinforce his cover story,
0:28:32 > 0:28:36Chapman drew up a secret map of the factory.
0:28:36 > 0:28:42With his handler, Ronnie Reed, he now planned how to fake its destruction.
0:28:42 > 0:28:48And so we agreed with him that we would camouflage...
0:28:48 > 0:28:49a large part...
0:28:51 > 0:28:53..of the De Havilland factory,
0:28:53 > 0:28:58to make it look as if they had blown up the transformers there.
0:29:00 > 0:29:04The transformers were the power centre of the factory.
0:29:04 > 0:29:09The key was to make them look from the air as if they had been destroyed.
0:29:09 > 0:29:15MI5 now set about building replicas out of papier-mache.
0:29:15 > 0:29:20Two would be rolled over, as if slammed sideways by a blast.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25A team of set designers from London's Old Vic theatre
0:29:25 > 0:29:28were secretly enrolled to paint fake holes on the walls
0:29:28 > 0:29:33as if they'd been shattered by an explosion.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36I mean, they did a wonderful job on the camouflage.
0:29:36 > 0:29:42It was as near as possible as to what the Germans had instructed me.
0:29:43 > 0:29:45To back up the deception,
0:29:45 > 0:29:49a fake news story would appear in the next day's papers.
0:29:51 > 0:29:55They first approached The Times... the newspaper of record.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58The editor, Robert Barrington-Ward, rejected the idea out of hand,
0:29:58 > 0:30:03pointing out that nothing untrue had ever been published in this newspaper,
0:30:03 > 0:30:05and he wasn't about to start now.
0:30:05 > 0:30:09The Daily Express, on the other hand, was only too happy to oblige.
0:30:13 > 0:30:17At dusk on January 29th 1943, the Old Vic's designers
0:30:17 > 0:30:20entered the factory one last time
0:30:20 > 0:30:23to put the final touches to their work.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28Meanwhile, ballistics experts carefully laid
0:30:28 > 0:30:32the charges for a set of spectacular pyrotechnics.
0:30:35 > 0:30:40At midnight, the residents of Hatfield were woken by a massive explosion.
0:30:46 > 0:30:48We were there when the flare came up.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50It looked as though a bomb had exploded there.
0:30:53 > 0:30:57Anybody looking at the photograph would think it had really been
0:30:57 > 0:31:01totally blitzed, it looked as if it had been bombed.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05Chapman immediately sent a triumphant wireless message
0:31:05 > 0:31:07to his German spy masters,
0:31:07 > 0:31:11using the codename "Walter" for the Mosquito factory.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15But would the Germans fall for it?
0:31:16 > 0:31:19They sent over aircraft to photograph it,
0:31:19 > 0:31:23which we let through, and they saw the sabotage.
0:31:24 > 0:31:26The next day, the Daily Express
0:31:26 > 0:31:31duly ran a story about a mysterious explosion north of London.
0:31:33 > 0:31:34That same evening,
0:31:34 > 0:31:39Bletchley Park intercepted a signal from Chapman's German spy master.
0:31:40 > 0:31:45It was the message everybody had been waiting for.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47The gamble had paid off.
0:31:47 > 0:31:48Absolutely marvellous.
0:31:51 > 0:31:56At the spy school in France, it was champagne all round.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00At last the Germans had a spy who could outwit the British.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04And the British, equally delighted,
0:32:04 > 0:32:06had a spy who could outwit the Germans.
0:32:06 > 0:32:13A spy who now volunteered to do what no other double agent had done...
0:32:13 > 0:32:15to go back into Nazi-occupied Europe.
0:32:17 > 0:32:22Why do you think Eddie went back into occupied Europe?
0:32:23 > 0:32:25Excitement.
0:32:28 > 0:32:32MI5 now drew up a wish list of information
0:32:32 > 0:32:34they wanted Chapman to gather...
0:32:34 > 0:32:39enemy codes, personnel, military units and battle plans.
0:32:41 > 0:32:45Nobody ever thought that I was going to come back.
0:32:45 > 0:32:50They did give me the opportunity to withdraw if I wanted to.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52But I had the gut feeling I could do it.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54I don't think they expected me back.
0:32:58 > 0:33:03On May 15 1943, Chapman set sail for neutral Lisbon...
0:33:03 > 0:33:06the entry point into occupied Europe.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12But he did not travel under his own name.
0:33:12 > 0:33:14He was now Hugh Anson,
0:33:14 > 0:33:18a steward aboard the merchant ship the City of Lancaster.
0:33:20 > 0:33:26My job was to wait at table, look after the skip and the first mates.
0:33:26 > 0:33:30The skipper was tipped off that I'd be jumping the ship -
0:33:30 > 0:33:33not to make too much fuss about it.
0:33:35 > 0:33:41Once in Lisbon, Chapman headed directly to the German Embassy.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44I asked to see the Ambassador.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47I said, "Well, I happen to be a member of the German Army."
0:33:47 > 0:33:51I said, "I've just finished a mission in England," and that I was an agent.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57He was welcomed by the Chief of Intelligence,
0:33:57 > 0:34:01and immediately asked to carry out a fresh sabotage mission -
0:34:01 > 0:34:03to blow up his own ship.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07And I said, "Well, what about money?"
0:34:07 > 0:34:09He said, "Well, how much do you want?"
0:34:09 > 0:34:13I said, "For that, £20,000."
0:34:13 > 0:34:17"Oh, yes", he said, "we'd pay that." So I said, "Good."
0:34:17 > 0:34:19The Germans now presented Chapman
0:34:19 > 0:34:23with what looked like an ordinary lump of coal.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27In fact, it was a new kind of bomb...
0:34:27 > 0:34:29packed with high explosives.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34Chapman's task was to return to the port
0:34:34 > 0:34:38and slip the bomb into the City of Lancaster's coal bunker.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40When the ship set sail again,
0:34:40 > 0:34:43the coal would be shovelled into the furnace...
0:34:46 > 0:34:50..and explode, sending her to the bottom.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53All hell broke loose when Bletchley Park
0:34:53 > 0:35:00intercepted German messages revealing that Chapman was about to sink his own ship.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05Agent Zigzag was supposed to be spying for Britain.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07Had he switched sides AGAIN?
0:35:07 > 0:35:10Of course, we were horrified and we were a bit worried that Eddie
0:35:10 > 0:35:14might have turned and was now carrying out the German instructions,
0:35:14 > 0:35:17so we had to send somebody to tell him not to do that.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22Ronnie Reed flew to Lisbon armed with a revolver.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25His orders were to find out if Chapman was betraying them...
0:35:25 > 0:35:27and if he was, to stop him.
0:35:36 > 0:35:43That evening, as Reed was racing to Lisbon, Chapman returned to the City of Lancaster.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48With the coal bomb carefully concealed on his person,
0:35:48 > 0:35:51he made his way below decks, deep into the ship.
0:36:00 > 0:36:02But he didn't go down to the coal bunker.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05Instead he went straight to the Captain.
0:36:15 > 0:36:19I said, "Look, I want you to take charge of this,"
0:36:19 > 0:36:23and I undid my trousers and took this fucking bomb out.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25I said, "That is a bomb."
0:36:27 > 0:36:31Take it back to Liverpool. And report to Liverpool.
0:36:31 > 0:36:36I said, If you don't do it, my life will be forfeit."
0:36:36 > 0:36:39Everyone was delighted.
0:36:39 > 0:36:42The Germans believed Chapman had planted the bomb.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45The British were fully reassured of his loyalty.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48And Chapman was £20,000 richer.
0:36:53 > 0:36:55And German generosity didn't stop there.
0:36:57 > 0:37:02A grateful Third Reich now rewarded Chapman with a luxury holiday
0:37:02 > 0:37:03in Nazi-occupied Norway...
0:37:06 > 0:37:11..despite the minor detail that the City of Lancaster never blew up.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17At Oslo Station, he was greeted by his German spy master,
0:37:17 > 0:37:19Stephan Von Groening.
0:37:20 > 0:37:24The two men embraced as old friends.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27As the man who'd discovered him, von Groening needed Chapman
0:37:27 > 0:37:31to succeed and Chapman needed von Groening to believe in him.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33They were now in it together.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40For the next two weeks, von Groening proceeded to grill Chapman...
0:37:40 > 0:37:42very lightly.
0:37:44 > 0:37:46Over brandy and cigars,
0:37:46 > 0:37:50the German spy master came to the unsurprising conclusion
0:37:50 > 0:37:54that his protege was utterly reliable, and Germany's star spy.
0:38:00 > 0:38:05What happened next was one of the oddest scenes in the entire saga.
0:38:06 > 0:38:11Von Groening stood up and presented to Chapman a small black box,
0:38:11 > 0:38:13and he duly opened it
0:38:13 > 0:38:18and took out from it the German highest honour of merit -
0:38:18 > 0:38:20the Iron Cross, complete with its ribbon -
0:38:20 > 0:38:24and handed it over to Chapman and said that Hitler had awarded
0:38:24 > 0:38:27Chapman this cross for his services to the Reich.
0:38:32 > 0:38:38So tucked in here... is a little black box
0:38:38 > 0:38:45and inside it is the Iron Cross that Von Groening handed to Eddie.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49There it is! How extraordinary.
0:38:50 > 0:38:54So it's a medal awarded to Chapman
0:38:54 > 0:38:59for two operations carried out on behalf of the Third Reich that never actually took place?
0:38:59 > 0:39:00Quite right, that's it.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04The bombing of the De Havilland plant and the Lancaster - neither of which happened.
0:39:04 > 0:39:07Yes. They were both complete deceptions by our side.
0:39:07 > 0:39:12And that is the original cross that your father was given by Chapman at the end of the war?
0:39:12 > 0:39:17When he stopped running him and my father went to France, that's right,
0:39:17 > 0:39:20er, before they separated, Chapman handed it over to my father.
0:39:20 > 0:39:24And do we know what Chapman's reaction was to being given an Iron Cross?
0:39:24 > 0:39:26I think he was absolutely delighted.
0:39:26 > 0:39:30And probably rather chuffed that having hoodwinked them so successfully,
0:39:30 > 0:39:32he was now being given an award for hoodwinking them.
0:39:32 > 0:39:38It's quite remarkable what he succeeded... I mean, it's supposed to be almost MI5's finest hour.
0:39:38 > 0:39:43And he was the only Briton ever to receive the Iron Cross.
0:39:44 > 0:39:50The war brought misery to millions, but not to Chapman.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53In occupied Norway he was living the life of Riley.
0:39:53 > 0:39:58While armies fought and people perished, Chapman partied.
0:40:03 > 0:40:08Chapman's life was a world away from that of ordinary Norwegians.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10Bankrolled by the Third Reich,
0:40:10 > 0:40:13he had everything he could possibly want.
0:40:13 > 0:40:18There was a beautiful restaurant, purely for the Gestapo
0:40:18 > 0:40:22and their intelligence people and the higher-ups in the German Army.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24The food was superb.
0:40:24 > 0:40:29You could get all kinds of English cigarettes, chocolate.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32You could buy stockings for your girlfriend.
0:40:32 > 0:40:34You only had to mention it, it was there.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41In a bizarre parallel with the MI5 set-up in Hendon,
0:40:41 > 0:40:44the Germans installed Chapman here...
0:40:44 > 0:40:48in this safe house in a comfortable suburb of Oslo.
0:40:51 > 0:40:56Leife Myhre was a boy of 17 living next door.
0:40:56 > 0:40:58He's lived here ever since.
0:41:00 > 0:41:02TRANSLATION:
0:41:21 > 0:41:24Chapman like to drink at the Ritz.
0:41:25 > 0:41:29One evening he spotted two young women at a table.
0:41:29 > 0:41:34Posing as a French journalist, he went over, bought them drinks, and made them laugh.
0:41:36 > 0:41:38Chapman was in his element.
0:41:41 > 0:41:45One of the women was an 18-year-old model called Dagmar.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47Chapman was smitten.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52I met a lovely little Norwegian girl.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55And I persuaded her to come up and she was petrified, you know,
0:41:55 > 0:41:58saw all these Gestapo people in uniform.
0:41:58 > 0:42:00And they were a bit tough looking.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03SHE SPEAKS NORWEGIAN
0:42:06 > 0:42:08TRANSLATION:
0:42:28 > 0:42:32They met at a restaurant in Oslo, and that's one of the...
0:42:34 > 0:42:36..mysterious parts of the story.
0:42:36 > 0:42:41It was a restaurant in which many were Germans were, er,
0:42:41 > 0:42:43"entertained".
0:42:43 > 0:42:46And so, and so, I think from the start when she first met him,
0:42:46 > 0:42:50she obviously believed he was a German officer.
0:42:52 > 0:42:54Collaborators were despised and shunned
0:42:54 > 0:42:58by the rest of the population - especially women.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01Chapman appeared to be German.
0:43:01 > 0:43:04Dagmar was therefore sleeping with the enemy.
0:43:41 > 0:43:47What Chapman did not know was that Dagmar was linked to the Norwegian resistance.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50And Dagmar did not know that Chapman was a British agent.
0:43:50 > 0:43:56They were both on the same side and neither of them knew it.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07The relationship swiftly blossomed.
0:44:09 > 0:44:14Chapman wanted to sail with his new love in Norway's famous fjords,
0:44:14 > 0:44:16and so he asked von Groening for a yacht.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18And got one.
0:44:26 > 0:44:31The two lovers spent an idyllic summer, growing closer every day.
0:44:32 > 0:44:34But the truth remained hidden.
0:44:36 > 0:44:40Instant love, I think. Romance.
0:44:41 > 0:44:47It was a meeting between two rather young human beings in a very dramatic context.
0:44:49 > 0:44:52For Dagmar, it was probably the love of her life.
0:45:16 > 0:45:22I'd usually meet Dagmar in the morning and we'd sail to other end of the fjord,
0:45:22 > 0:45:26bathe, and it was absolutely delightful.
0:45:26 > 0:45:30I mean, we had a great love match and, er...
0:45:33 > 0:45:37I had the intention, at one period, of going back and marrying her.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44One evening, after a glorious day's sailing,
0:45:44 > 0:45:48Chapman opened a bottle of Cognac and took an enormous risk.
0:45:48 > 0:45:52He told Dagmar that he was a British agent
0:45:52 > 0:45:55and asked her to help him spy on the Germans.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00Dagmar was thrilled by the revelation
0:46:00 > 0:46:03and moved into the safe house with Chapman.
0:46:03 > 0:46:08Secretly, they began gathering material for MI5.
0:46:10 > 0:46:14And they were perfectly placed for doing so.
0:46:14 > 0:46:17Oslo was a centre of Nazi spy traffic
0:46:17 > 0:46:22and much of it passed through Chapman's safe house.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27And so Chapman asked von Groening for another favour.
0:46:29 > 0:46:34They gave me a camera. You had to have permission to carry cameras.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39They took photographs of themselves relaxing at home.
0:46:39 > 0:46:43But they also photographed the safe house itself,
0:46:43 > 0:46:49as well as the spies, informers and collaborators who came to visit.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52Gradually we built up a hell of a dossier.
0:46:52 > 0:46:56We had photographs of 20, 25 agents there.
0:46:57 > 0:47:00If the Germans had found out about the story,
0:47:00 > 0:47:03then they both probably would have been dead.
0:47:04 > 0:47:10So it was definitely a game in which you were risking your life.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16Soon they had filled several rolls of film.
0:47:16 > 0:47:19Now they needed somewhere to hide them.
0:47:31 > 0:47:35Chapman discovered that by bending back this metal sheet,
0:47:35 > 0:47:39he could stash the rolls of film behind - where no-one would think to look.
0:47:39 > 0:47:45A treasure trove of secrets, for which the British might one day pay handsomely.
0:47:47 > 0:47:53But after almost a year in Norway, Chapman's holiday was coming to an end.
0:47:57 > 0:48:01By the Spring of 1944, the Germans were losing the war.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06The Allies were punching through Italy
0:48:06 > 0:48:09and would soon invade occupied France.
0:48:09 > 0:48:15The Germans now needed the services of their super-spy back in Britain.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21Hitler was ready to launch a new and terrifying secret weapon...
0:48:21 > 0:48:24a weapon he was convinced would destroy London
0:48:24 > 0:48:29and batter Britain into submission - the V1 rocket.
0:48:33 > 0:48:38Fired from sites across the Channel, these were weapons of awesome power.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44But their navigation systems were crude.
0:48:46 > 0:48:51The Germans had little idea if they were hitting or missing their targets.
0:48:55 > 0:48:58Chapman's mission was to go back to London
0:48:58 > 0:49:00and report where they were landing.
0:49:00 > 0:49:05That way, the Germans could adjust their aim and hit the most vital targets.
0:49:05 > 0:49:08They gave me a chronometer and said,
0:49:08 > 0:49:11"The moment you hear an explosion in London,
0:49:11 > 0:49:14"you note the time down and you find out where it's landed.
0:49:14 > 0:49:18"And if possible, a description of the destruction."
0:49:18 > 0:49:22So I said, "Great, fine." And I was to be paid £100,000.
0:49:27 > 0:49:32In March 1944, Chapman said farewell to von Groening...
0:49:32 > 0:49:36the spy master and friend he had comprehensively betrayed.
0:49:40 > 0:49:44His parting from Dagmar was more painful.
0:49:44 > 0:49:47They spent the together making plans for after the war.
0:49:47 > 0:49:50The nightclub they would run in Paris,
0:49:50 > 0:49:53the places they'd travel to, the children they would have.
0:49:54 > 0:49:57He would not see her again for half a century.
0:50:08 > 0:50:13In June 1944, Chapman landed back in Britain.
0:50:15 > 0:50:21Once again, the first thing he did was telephone the police.
0:50:21 > 0:50:24He explained to the duty officer that he was a British double agent
0:50:24 > 0:50:26who'd just been dropped by parachute.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29The constable on the other end told him not to be silly
0:50:29 > 0:50:31and to go to bed.
0:50:34 > 0:50:36Agent Zigzag was back.
0:50:38 > 0:50:40AIR-RAID SIRENS WAIL
0:50:45 > 0:50:51By the time Chapman arrived, more than 600 V1 rockets had already slammed into London.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58Casualties were rapidly mounting.
0:51:03 > 0:51:06The Germans were aiming for central London.
0:51:07 > 0:51:10Chapman's task was to fool them into thinking
0:51:10 > 0:51:13they were overshooting the capital...here.
0:51:13 > 0:51:19That way they would reduce the range and the missiles would fall short.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24Instead of destroying St Paul's Cathedral,
0:51:24 > 0:51:28they would land in the empty fields of Kent.
0:51:30 > 0:51:34Chapman began sending messages back to Germany,
0:51:34 > 0:51:37pinpointing where the rockets were falling.
0:51:37 > 0:51:39Every one was a lie.
0:51:41 > 0:51:45They altered the places, slightly, they altered the times.
0:51:45 > 0:51:49They gave me the reports they wanted sent back to Germany.
0:51:49 > 0:51:50And I sent them back.
0:51:50 > 0:51:54The flying bombs began to come over.
0:51:54 > 0:51:57First in ones and twos, and then all day long.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00Sometimes I sent two or three a day.
0:52:00 > 0:52:03Flying bomb landed, Regent's Park, 12.30.
0:52:07 > 0:52:11There were 9,000 bombs dropped on London.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15But we succeeded, in the short time we were doing them,
0:52:15 > 0:52:18in shifting them over the top.
0:52:21 > 0:52:26Thousands of lives had been saved by Agent Zigzag's lies.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30It was the high point of Eddie Chapman's career as a double agent.
0:52:30 > 0:52:35But it was all about to come crashing down.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38With the end of war in sight,
0:52:38 > 0:52:41the allure of old instincts proved too much.
0:52:41 > 0:52:47Chapman resumed his life of crime by fixing dog races.
0:52:47 > 0:52:50Did Eddie teach you about dog doping?
0:52:50 > 0:52:51Oh, yes, everything.
0:52:51 > 0:52:54And what was the technique for dog doping?
0:52:54 > 0:52:58Well, you dope five dogs in a race and go with the sixth.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02MI5 was not impressed.
0:53:02 > 0:53:07One of his handlers observed, "Zigzag himself is going to the dogs."
0:53:09 > 0:53:12His boss, Sir John Masterman -
0:53:12 > 0:53:16one of the most senior figures in British intelligence - took him to task.
0:53:16 > 0:53:21He turned round to me one day and he said, "Stand to attention!"
0:53:21 > 0:53:26And I knew I was getting under his skin and I said,
0:53:26 > 0:53:29"I'd like to remind you of one thing only."
0:53:29 > 0:53:32I said, "I'm not in your army, I'm in the fucking German Army."
0:53:32 > 0:53:37They didn't like Eddie, he wasn't... He didn't go to Eton.
0:53:39 > 0:53:40He wasn't one of them,
0:53:40 > 0:53:47but he did a lot more than most of them did for, for his country.
0:53:47 > 0:53:53On November 2nd, 1944, six months before the end of the war,
0:53:53 > 0:53:54Chapman was fired.
0:53:54 > 0:53:58But he didn't leave entirely empty-handed.
0:53:58 > 0:54:03The Germans had given him a yacht, a medal and money.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06The British gave him something more valuable...
0:54:06 > 0:54:08they wiped his criminal slate clean.
0:54:11 > 0:54:16Agent Zigzag never went straight. But also never went back to prison.
0:54:18 > 0:54:24He would spend the rest of his life mixing with gamblers, gangsters and con artists.
0:54:24 > 0:54:28He returned to his old haunts and resumed his old habits.
0:54:29 > 0:54:33TV: 'Scotland Yard today revealed that it has details...'
0:54:33 > 0:54:34And he became famous.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37I'd rather live for Germany than die for England.
0:54:37 > 0:54:41And if we wanted you to die for Germany?
0:54:41 > 0:54:43Open up the door.
0:54:43 > 0:54:47In 1966, his life was romanticised by Hollywood.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49Eddie Chapman, you're under arrest.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00Chapman revelled in his celebrity.
0:55:00 > 0:55:02He was even, for a time,
0:55:02 > 0:55:05occasional crime writer for the Sunday Telegraph,
0:55:05 > 0:55:10whose readers he warned against the attentions of people like him.
0:55:10 > 0:55:13And he married, too.
0:55:13 > 0:55:18He'd last seen Betty as he leapt through the window in Jersey in 1939.
0:55:18 > 0:55:23At the end of the war, he saw her by chance in a London bar,
0:55:23 > 0:55:25and fell in love.
0:55:26 > 0:55:28But in Oslo, Chapman's lover Dagmar
0:55:28 > 0:55:31suffered a very different fate.
0:55:31 > 0:55:34Arrested after the war for consorting with a man
0:55:34 > 0:55:37everyone believed to be a German Officer,
0:55:37 > 0:55:39she was sentenced to six months in prison.
0:55:39 > 0:55:44No-one came forward to say that this German Officer was, in fact, a British agent.
0:55:46 > 0:55:50He told her when he left during the war that he would return
0:55:50 > 0:55:53after the war, as soon as possible, if he was alive.
0:55:53 > 0:56:00So I guess it's probably a good guess that, for many years after the war, she believed he was dead.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05She never found any other great love.
0:56:05 > 0:56:09I believe she tried to leave it behind somehow,
0:56:09 > 0:56:14to go on with life, but I do not believe she ever succeeded.
0:56:17 > 0:56:20TRANSLATION:
0:56:31 > 0:56:38Half a century after their parting, Chapman traced Dagmar's phone number and called her.
0:56:40 > 0:56:45I said, "You don't remember me." I said, "You knew me as Fritz."
0:56:45 > 0:56:46"Oh, Fritz", she said,
0:56:46 > 0:56:49"I know your real name now - your real name is Eddie."
0:56:49 > 0:56:51I said, "Yes, it is, I'm Eddie Chapman."
0:56:51 > 0:56:55Ah! And she couldn't talk for a few minutes. "How are you?"
0:56:55 > 0:56:57We've written to each other - letters -
0:56:57 > 0:56:59but I'd love to go and see her again.
0:57:02 > 0:57:06Soon after this interview, they finally met again.
0:57:07 > 0:57:12You can only imagine how it must have been, to meet him again.
0:57:13 > 0:57:20And reportedly he promised to visit Norway and tell the story about what happened,
0:57:20 > 0:57:23which was probably important for her,
0:57:23 > 0:57:29because she had a rumour for many years after the war for being the mistress of a German.
0:57:29 > 0:57:33But then he died before he was able to visit Norway.
0:57:33 > 0:57:39And that was probably the final knock-out in the life of Dagmar.
0:57:39 > 0:57:43And she died herself two years later,
0:57:43 > 0:57:45and the last years were very hard.
0:57:49 > 0:57:54Eddie Chapman died in 1997, at the age of 83.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07Chapman was a rascal and a romantic.
0:58:07 > 0:58:11He was selfish, seductive, and staggeringly brave.
0:58:13 > 0:58:17He had a most enjoyable war, but he also helped to win it.
0:58:19 > 0:58:20In the final victory,
0:58:20 > 0:58:26Britain owed an important debt to this most unlikely hero.
0:58:26 > 0:58:29A common criminal, sitting in Hendon,
0:58:29 > 0:58:31tapping out lies on a wireless.
0:59:00 > 0:59:03Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:59:03 > 0:59:06E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk