0:00:30 > 0:00:36With its jagged shore and sheltered inlets, Cornwall is England's most coastal county.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43We're heading to Falmouth,
0:00:43 > 0:00:46one of the deepest natural harbours in Europe.
0:00:49 > 0:00:55Early in the Second World War, Falmouth was a frequent target for German bombers,
0:00:55 > 0:00:58but by 1943, the tables were turning.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04The port played its part in a key moment of Anglo-American history -
0:01:04 > 0:01:07the liberation of Europe.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17Prior to D-Day, the south coast was transformed into a vast military base.
0:01:19 > 0:01:24Nearly three million Allies assembled to fight a common enemy.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29But the American military was far from united.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31Between their white and black troops,
0:01:31 > 0:01:33there were deep racial divisions.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39'John Stockley's father was one of those black GIs,
0:01:39 > 0:01:43'over here making ready for D-Day.'
0:01:45 > 0:01:48How much DO you know about your dad?
0:01:48 > 0:01:51Well, very little really, I'd..
0:01:51 > 0:01:53I believe his name was Brian,
0:01:53 > 0:01:57I believe he was very tall, but actually...
0:01:57 > 0:02:00that's about it, not much else.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03My mother never spoke to me about him at all,
0:02:03 > 0:02:08it must have been quite a thing for her to...
0:02:08 > 0:02:11to have me,
0:02:11 > 0:02:14but it's as if there's this wall of silence.
0:02:14 > 0:02:19'All John knows is his dad was here preparing for D-Day,
0:02:19 > 0:02:21'but what did that entail?
0:02:21 > 0:02:28'We're following in his father's tracks to discover what life was like for him.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37'Tony Warner has researched the experience of black GIs in Britain.'
0:02:40 > 0:02:43Tony, could you start by just giving us an idea of what
0:02:43 > 0:02:49the black GIs in particular were here to do in 1943/44.
0:02:49 > 0:02:54Well, there were 130,000 GIs who came from America, and they...
0:02:54 > 0:02:59mostly they were involved in quartermastering, building things, engineering battalions,
0:02:59 > 0:03:02because, even though Americans were employing black soldiers,
0:03:02 > 0:03:05they weren't that keen on training them to fight.
0:03:05 > 0:03:11In 1943, black GIs in Northern Europe weren't allowed in combat units,
0:03:11 > 0:03:15they were assigned exclusively to support work.
0:03:17 > 0:03:22Black troops widened Cornwall's narrow lanes to take trucks and tanks
0:03:22 > 0:03:27and they built new roads like this one down to Trebah Beach.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38So this is the limit, then?
0:03:38 > 0:03:42Yes, this beach here was the most westerly embarkation point
0:03:42 > 0:03:49for the troops that were going to land on Omaha Beach as part of D-Day, June 6th, 1944. All this.
0:03:49 > 0:03:54And this concrete we're standing on, would have been laid by black American GIs, like your dad,
0:03:54 > 0:03:58to enable the D-Day landings to take place at all.
0:03:58 > 0:04:04And I wonder how many holidaymakers even stop to wonder why there's concrete here.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07'Concrete like this dots the south coast.
0:04:07 > 0:04:12'It's one of the enduring reminders of the black Americans' war effort.'
0:04:14 > 0:04:22Just like American society, the US Army was segregated, men separated by skin colour.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26The Black GIs were used to racism at home,
0:04:26 > 0:04:30but now they found themselves in a new culture.
0:04:31 > 0:04:37Tony, what was the treatment like to the black soldiers in this area from the locals?
0:04:37 > 0:04:40On the whole, it was much better than they got in America.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44They could talk to people, have a meal in a restaurant,
0:04:44 > 0:04:47they could walk down the street, they could go dancing,
0:04:47 > 0:04:49and they found that England was much better
0:04:49 > 0:04:53when it came to the racist behaviour of white people, than America was.
0:04:56 > 0:05:02The US Army made training films to prepare their troops for the shock of British attitudes.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06Now let's be frank about it, there are coloured soldiers as well as white here,
0:05:06 > 0:05:09and there are less social restrictions in this country.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16Freed from rigid segregation, the way was open
0:05:16 > 0:05:20for relationships between the black Americans and the locals.
0:05:20 > 0:05:27But John's white mother refused to tell him about her mixed-race romance with his GI father.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30I don't know if he went into Europe in the theatre of war,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33I don't know where he went to, or whether he went back to the States,
0:05:33 > 0:05:35posted back to America.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38Em, I don't know, so...
0:05:38 > 0:05:40we lost track of him then.
0:05:40 > 0:05:46If he got killed in the Second World War, I'd like to go and see his resting place.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48If he went back,
0:05:48 > 0:05:51I'd certainly like to go and meet his family.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59John's a living legacy of a time when, against all the odds,
0:05:59 > 0:06:04people on this coast were able to find love in a world at war.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17The Lizard Peninsula.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20We've reached the most southerly point on the mainland.
0:06:23 > 0:06:28Living on the edge, coastal folk must turn their hands to anything.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31For millennia, the Cornish mined tin.
0:06:31 > 0:06:39That metallic thread stretches along this coast to here at Mount's Bay, dominated by an iconic island.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41This is St Michael's Mount.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45In classical times, traders took tin from here,
0:06:45 > 0:06:50mixed it with copper from Cyprus and fuelled the bronze-age arms race.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56My last stop approaches.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00One of Britain's most remote artistic attractions -
0:07:00 > 0:07:02the Minack Theatre.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09One of the great seaside traditions is taking in a show.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13I'm not going to take in a show. Heaven help us all, I'm going to be IN one!
0:07:20 > 0:07:24On this windswept headland, stands the Minack,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27a unique temple to the performing arts.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33Less theatre of dreams, more place of my nightmares.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42Well, would you look at that? You'd expect to find that in ancient Rome.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45Maybe it's the scene of a Greek tragedy.
0:07:47 > 0:07:52'My co-star in this personal drama is local thespian, Sarah Lincoln.'
0:07:52 > 0:07:54- Hi, Sarah. - Hi, welcome to the Minack.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57They tell me I'm going to perform here.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00You are, yes. Tonight, on this very stage.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03Ohh... Show me what I'm going to do.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06The very first performance that was given here on this stage,
0:08:06 > 0:08:10was a production of The Tempest in 1932,
0:08:10 > 0:08:15so we thought it was really apt that YOU would play Prospero, and I will be your Ariel.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18- And here are your lines. - Shakespeare, what a nightmare!
0:08:18 > 0:08:21No, Shakespeare's easy, he tells you exactly what to do,
0:08:21 > 0:08:25and he's great at commanding the elements, just like Prospero.
0:08:25 > 0:08:30You've got the real sea and the real wind, and potentially even the real rain tonight.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33- Right, let's go.- Shall we start rehearsing?- Let's go.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36- Let's go hence to another place. - SHE LAUGHS
0:08:38 > 0:08:42'This extraordinary amphitheatre exists thanks to The Tempest,
0:08:42 > 0:08:45'Shakespeare's play set on a small island.
0:08:47 > 0:08:54'In 1932, Rowena Cade wanted somewhere suitable for her friends to perform it.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57'She chose this spot, at the end of her garden.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04'The play's lead part, Prospero, has starred all the greats -
0:09:04 > 0:09:08'Redgrave, Gielgud, McKellen,
0:09:08 > 0:09:10'and now me!'
0:09:11 > 0:09:16- And our little life is rounded with a sleep.- Brilliant.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20So what does the venue bring that isn't there in another kind of theatre?
0:09:20 > 0:09:23I think the first thing it brings is scale.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26I think the fact that the theatre is surrounded by nature,
0:09:26 > 0:09:29surrounded by the sea, the elements, the cliffs,
0:09:29 > 0:09:31and the fact that you've got a real horizon.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33When you stand on stage, as an actor,
0:09:33 > 0:09:37often you have to create a horizon, and there it is, looking at you,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40and the audience are looking at you with that fantastic backdrop.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48The early performances of The Tempest were such a great success,
0:09:48 > 0:09:50it was repeated down the years.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54Rowena Cade - and her long-suffering gardener -
0:09:54 > 0:09:59spent the next 40-odd years building a unique theatre.
0:10:00 > 0:10:06- Here we are.- OK.- Oh, the gorgeous white shirt...- Nice blouse(!)
0:10:06 > 0:10:09- Pair of britches for you.- I'll look like little Jimmy Krankie!
0:10:09 > 0:10:11I feel sick to my stomach.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16- Slight problem, there! - SHE LAUGHS
0:10:19 > 0:10:22I offer you...Prospero.
0:10:23 > 0:10:28Outside, suitably ominous weather,
0:10:28 > 0:10:32and a frankly certifiable audience are rolling in.
0:10:32 > 0:10:38- We're English, we do this all the time.- It's all part of the fun.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40Absolutely bonkers!
0:10:40 > 0:10:44There must be something strange about the fact that behind you,
0:10:44 > 0:10:46rather than a painted backdrop or a set,
0:10:46 > 0:10:50there is uncontrollable...nature.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53No actor on this planet can compete with a pod of 20 dolphins
0:10:53 > 0:10:58doing a sort of, you know, moon-walking across the top of the water which they seem to...
0:10:58 > 0:11:01It's like they rehearse round the corner and go, "We'll show them!"
0:11:01 > 0:11:04and they come and do this fantastic display.
0:11:04 > 0:11:05And do the audience..?
0:11:05 > 0:11:08- Yeah, you haven't got a hope in hell.- They just turn to the...?
0:11:08 > 0:11:12To the dolphins. You can stand there stark naked, chop your own head off
0:11:12 > 0:11:14and "Oh, look at the dolphins!"
0:11:14 > 0:11:16This season, I had a performance I was directing
0:11:16 > 0:11:20and we had to stop the show because there was an air-sea rescue.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23This is not the easiest theatre in which to make one's debut, is it?
0:11:23 > 0:11:29If the elements are raging, people really, really remember if you get through it, and they love it.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32Well, the elements are certainly raging.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36We've only a short scene, but I've never been on stage before.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. Welcome to the Minack.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42I've never felt so ill in my entire life, I think I'll break my own leg.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45There's something we want you to share with us this evening.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:11:54 > 0:11:57Our revels now are ended.
0:11:57 > 0:12:04These, our actors, as I foretold you, were all spirits and are melted into air, into thin air.
0:12:04 > 0:12:12We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15Come with a thought, I thank thee, Ariel, come.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19Thy thoughts I cleave to. What is thy pleasure?
0:12:19 > 0:12:22Spirit, we must prepare to meet with Caliban.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26Say again, where didst thou leave those varlets?
0:12:26 > 0:12:32I told you, they were red-hot with drinking.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36So full of valour that they smote the air.
0:12:36 > 0:12:41The trumpery in my house, go bring it hither, for stale to catch these thieves.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43I go, I go.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49APPLAUSE
0:13:01 > 0:13:04Land's End and journey's end.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07Hollywood will never find me out here.
0:13:08 > 0:13:13Well, the bard said all the world is a stage. It turns out that's even true of the coast.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:13:15 > 0:13:17E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk