0:00:16 > 0:00:18Welcome to the Baltic Sea,
0:00:18 > 0:00:21and the sublime shoreline of Sweden.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31For centuries, Britons have charted a course to this glorious coast
0:00:31 > 0:00:34for its treasure trove of riches.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39From bustling capital to sleepy village,
0:00:39 > 0:00:41the sea is in the soul of the Swedes.
0:00:43 > 0:00:48The Baltic weaves its way around the myriad of inviting isles.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51Britain is an island nation,
0:00:51 > 0:00:54but Sweden is a nation of islands.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56The coast runs deep in their soul.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59They come here to let their hair down, to unleash their inner Viking.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09This is Coast and beyond.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42We've crossed to the Baltic Sea for an adventure along Sweden's shore.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44Our destination is Stockholm,
0:01:44 > 0:01:48but we begin at Hogbonden in the wild north.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06The Swedes call this their "High Coast".
0:02:06 > 0:02:08I'm on Hogbonden,
0:02:08 > 0:02:11a rocky outpost on the edge of a vast Nordic wilderness.
0:02:11 > 0:02:16Europe doesn't get much more isolated than this.
0:02:16 > 0:02:21And what splendid isolation it is.
0:02:25 > 0:02:30In winter, few venture this far north, but in the long,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33light days of summer, Swedes head to their High Coast.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39- Hello there.- Oh, hi.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41This is absolutely wonderful, isn't it?
0:02:41 > 0:02:44Now I've heard that Sweden can be quite cold in winter but now
0:02:44 > 0:02:47it's warm, it's sunny, is this when you come out of hibernation?
0:02:47 > 0:02:50Yes, it is. We love the summer.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53It's the feeling of freedom,
0:02:53 > 0:02:57it's lots to do by the sea. We go to the beaches,
0:02:57 > 0:03:01we go out into nature, we take saunas.
0:03:02 > 0:03:07Sauna?! I've only just arrived and we're about to strip off!
0:03:07 > 0:03:12Still, the picturesque steam house is irresistible.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15Not sure I like the look of the plunge pool, though.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Last year the sea between here and the mainland froze solid.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27Fortunately, it's summer now. Looks deceptively blissful, doesn't it?
0:03:27 > 0:03:29Time to get changed.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31It's hot up here.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34- Yes, it is.- My specs are going to start melting soon.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37It's a matter of humidity. You can put some beer on the stones
0:03:37 > 0:03:39and get a nice smell,
0:03:39 > 0:03:43and raise the temperature to about 70 degrees.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48And then I guess there's a... Now you can smell the hoppy smell.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51Well, yes, you can smell it first being on top.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55Aah, it's a kind of beer massage. Wonderful.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00After steaming in alcohol a sobering experience awaits.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04We're 350 miles further north than Aberdeen.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06This will be chilly.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08Ahhh! Oooh.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13Oooh!
0:04:18 > 0:04:21I'm turning into a human iceberg.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23I am getting out.
0:04:26 > 0:04:27Well...
0:04:29 > 0:04:34..I have had my ritual sauna and dip in the Baltic,
0:04:34 > 0:04:38and I feel suitably Swedish, ready for an epic journey.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46We're travelling along the edge of the Baltic Sea,
0:04:46 > 0:04:50heading down Sweden's coast making for Stockholm.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54But I can't resist stopping off to explore the "High Coast".
0:04:59 > 0:05:03These spectacular highlands don't just resemble Scotland.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06There's a mystery locked in this landscape, that links
0:05:06 > 0:05:08the Swedes to the Scots.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15Cliffs, headlands, islands, pretty villages,
0:05:15 > 0:05:19the Hugge Kusten - the High Coast - is everything I could have hoped for.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22It's wonderfully picturesque,
0:05:22 > 0:05:24but there's more to it than meets the eye -
0:05:24 > 0:05:29this shoreline is on the move, rising from the sea.
0:05:29 > 0:05:34This coast is lifting upward at a rate of nearly one centimetre a year.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41Within a few generations the coast has risen up,
0:05:41 > 0:05:46cutting off villagers from the sea and turning bays into lakes.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50At the peak of a mountain, there's the highest beach in the world -
0:05:50 > 0:05:55286 metres above the water, and still rising.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59To unravel this geological puzzle, I'm crossing one of the largest
0:05:59 > 0:06:01boulder fields on Earth,
0:06:01 > 0:06:05down to sea level to meet park ranger, Millie Lundstedt.
0:06:07 > 0:06:12What a wonderful beach, it's got these typical wave-smoothed boulders
0:06:12 > 0:06:15- on it, hasn't it, worn by the action of the water.- Yes, so rounded.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22- Here you have a really nice stone. - That's a classic example, isn't it?
0:06:22 > 0:06:26This is a huge beach, it goes back such a long way.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30'I'm taking my smooth, sea-worn rock to compare it'
0:06:30 > 0:06:32with the stones further inland,
0:06:32 > 0:06:37pebbles of an ancient shoreline, left stranded as the ground rose up.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41And you can feel that this is like an older beach, you can see the...
0:06:41 > 0:06:44the likeness between those stones.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46It's smooth, rounded.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49So this one, too, came off a beach?
0:06:49 > 0:06:51Yeah, they're both beach stones actually,
0:06:51 > 0:06:53but several thousand years ago.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58Heading away from the coast,
0:06:58 > 0:07:03we're still striding over the old sea bed. Odd.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06This beach is going on for ever.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09We've been walking for at least
0:07:09 > 0:07:1215 minutes since we left.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16How far up this cliff did the water used to come?
0:07:16 > 0:07:20Well, actually the water, the sea was covered whole of this cliff.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23- You're kidding? This was completely underwater?- Completely underwater.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28To reach the only land that wasn't once at the bottom of the sea,
0:07:28 > 0:07:30we've got to climb a mountain,
0:07:30 > 0:07:34a ride to the highest beach in the world, in style.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37- Great.- This is the strangest trip to the seaside I've ever taken.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40It's really nice to take a ride, no?
0:07:40 > 0:07:43To see why this land's rising, we're taking
0:07:43 > 0:07:46a trip back to 20,000 years ago.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50Then Scotland and Sweden were covered in ice.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54The frozen straightjacket over Sweden's High Coast
0:07:54 > 0:07:58was two miles thick, pressing down on the Earth.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01When the ice melted, that weight lifted,
0:08:01 > 0:08:05and this landscape started to spring back upwards.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07Because the ice was so thick here,
0:08:07 > 0:08:12northern Sweden's now rising almost six times faster than Scotland.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16These hills grow about a centimetre a year,
0:08:16 > 0:08:20but once, the peaks were at sea level, surrounded by water.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24So we're about to land on top of a former island.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26Exactly, 9,600 years ago actually.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29Strange sensation.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31What an enormous view here.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34Islands, peninsulas,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37forests, little village down there, it's beautiful, isn't it,
0:08:37 > 0:08:39but what did this all look like 10,000 years ago?
0:08:39 > 0:08:42If we were standing exactly here for 10,000 years ago,
0:08:42 > 0:08:44we're actually standing on a beach.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47- Right here?- Yes, on the highest shore line in the world actually, and when
0:08:47 > 0:08:52you look out, you see the sea and small islands, a few of them only.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55Which have become the tops of mountains now.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58Yeah, exactly, because of the land uplift.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01And how much does it come up in total, where we are now?
0:09:01 > 0:09:03Well, from the sea level today
0:09:03 > 0:09:06and what we're standing today is 286 metres,
0:09:06 > 0:09:09and we're still rising.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15This landscape is still recovering from the Ice Age.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18These hills really are alive,
0:09:18 > 0:09:20springing upwards from the sea.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36We're leaving Swedish mainland behind, travelling some 60 miles
0:09:36 > 0:09:39offshore to a group of rocky outcrops,
0:09:39 > 0:09:41the Aland Islands.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47There's an extraordinary story
0:09:47 > 0:09:50that links these small isles not only with Britain,
0:09:50 > 0:09:52but Australia too.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56An unlikely seafaring connection between the British Empire and Aland
0:09:56 > 0:09:59has brought Dick here to explore.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07The Aland Isles are home to a proud seafaring people.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10Around 90 years ago, one of those merchants hatched
0:10:10 > 0:10:14an ambitious plan to plug Aland into the wealth of the British Empire,
0:10:14 > 0:10:17using some very big boats.
0:10:18 > 0:10:23In Mariehamn, one of these mighty ships still rests at anchor.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36What a gorgeous vessel.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39This was one of the last commercial sailing ships.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43She may look like a 19th century relic, but this 20th century beauty
0:10:43 > 0:10:46held her own against the steamships.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52This is the last word in wind-powered transport -
0:10:52 > 0:10:54the final hurrah of sail.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56As late as the 1940s,
0:10:56 > 0:11:00these vessels still managed to give steamships a run for their money.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03The world knew them as windjammers.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09And in the days of Empire, they connected Britain to Australia.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13- NEWSREEL:- Australia is ready to cast its bread upon the waters,
0:11:13 > 0:11:16mountains of wheat from the outback plains, stacked high in
0:11:16 > 0:11:17Port Victoria, South Australia,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20are destined to fill the granaries of the world.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23Under their battened hatches are stacked the wheat cargo,
0:11:23 > 0:11:26with which they will race round the stormy Cape Horn
0:11:26 > 0:11:29in their annual dash to Europe.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33South Australia was the start of the grain run,
0:11:33 > 0:11:35the windjammers' epic voyage to Britain.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40It took months to sail the 12,000 miles to Falmouth.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Yet steamships could do the trip to Australia three times faster,
0:11:47 > 0:11:51so why bother with these sailing ships?
0:11:51 > 0:11:54How did a business built on wind and sail,
0:11:54 > 0:11:55rule the waves for so long?
0:11:55 > 0:11:57Henrik, hello!
0:11:57 > 0:11:59Permission to come aboard, sir?
0:11:59 > 0:12:03- Permission granted, sir.- I'm meeting maritime historian Henrik Karlsson.
0:12:03 > 0:12:08It's the economical principle called "just in time" that we
0:12:08 > 0:12:11use today in logistics, because
0:12:11 > 0:12:13these ships were transporting grain from Australia to the UK or
0:12:13 > 0:12:16to Europe, and you could
0:12:16 > 0:12:19have loaded a steamship very quickly,
0:12:19 > 0:12:22like less than a month,
0:12:22 > 0:12:26but in order to take the grain
0:12:26 > 0:12:28to the mill and make flour of it,
0:12:28 > 0:12:33it needs to ripen, so they used the ship as a storage during the voyage.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37- So it was good to be slightly slower?- Yeah, and the voyage
0:12:37 > 0:12:39would take at least three months.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41They may have been slow,
0:12:41 > 0:12:44but these boats are more modern than they appear.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47The Pommern was built in 1903.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49Her hull is made of steel,
0:12:49 > 0:12:51just like a steamship, but this windjammer's
0:12:51 > 0:12:53hung onto the romance of sail.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59It took age-old skills to handle them.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01Those timeless traditions of the sea
0:13:01 > 0:13:05attracted a crew of youthful admirers.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09People like Jocelyn Palmer, in search of adventure,
0:13:09 > 0:13:12paid for a passage on the last working tall ships.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14Jocelyn lived in Australia,
0:13:14 > 0:13:17but she took the slow boat back to Britain where she'd been born.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22We left on 11th March, 1948...
0:13:22 > 0:13:26..from Port Victoria
0:13:26 > 0:13:30with a full cargo of wheat.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32It felt very remote
0:13:32 > 0:13:35being between South America and the Antarctic.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38Huge waves and the ship just sailing
0:13:38 > 0:13:43through them just like a little yacht in the sea,
0:13:43 > 0:13:47and we got so cold and look out for icebergs, because a meeting
0:13:47 > 0:13:51with an iceberg would be pretty fatal, of course.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58The sailing ships were considered
0:13:58 > 0:14:00something very romantic.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04On a moonlight night you could see the sails were snowy white
0:14:04 > 0:14:08and that creaking of the timbers.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10You felt that the ship was alive,
0:14:10 > 0:14:14and in those days there was no other shipping there, we were absolutely
0:14:14 > 0:14:18on our own, except for the whales.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21Romantic it may have been,
0:14:21 > 0:14:26but it was no pleasure cruise for passengers or crew.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30You went halfway around the world in these things, so we're talking about
0:14:30 > 0:14:31the elements, the weather.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33It must have been hard to steer.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37Yeah. When a wave is hitting the rudder you can feel it
0:14:37 > 0:14:40in the steering wheel, and that's why they lashed the people
0:14:40 > 0:14:43- to the wheel.- Tied on?- Yeah, well they put the lashing around
0:14:43 > 0:14:46your shoulders so you weren't
0:14:46 > 0:14:50swept overboard when a big sea came, you know.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53There were also two men at the wheel in strong weather.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57One night in the South Atlantic,
0:14:57 > 0:15:01Jocelyn witnessed the power of the high seas at first hand.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05Suddenly heard bang from up on deck and people running around.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08Some of the sails had just blown out,
0:15:08 > 0:15:10that was why we heard a crack.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14The sails were torn, the wind was terrific, it was screaming wind
0:15:14 > 0:15:20and cold and it was really very unpleasant.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24I think we were more worried about the crew because we knew they had to
0:15:24 > 0:15:27get up there and go aloft and take down
0:15:27 > 0:15:30the damaged sails and put up
0:15:30 > 0:15:34fresh sails to get the ship sailing properly again.
0:15:40 > 0:15:45Even on a calm day, going aloft is not for the faint-hearted.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47It's quite wobbly.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51The boat is stationary now, at sea this would be all over the place,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54and they didn't have harnesses.
0:15:54 > 0:15:55Brave men.
0:15:57 > 0:15:58Very good.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02So you're almost on the top of the world.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08That is something else.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15It's a very long way up. Now I know why I didn't join the Navy.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17This feels relatively safe.
0:16:17 > 0:16:22If you look at where they were attaching the sail, they've nothing below them at all.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24How do we get down?
0:16:24 > 0:16:25Well...
0:16:25 > 0:16:26THEY LAUGH
0:16:28 > 0:16:31For the crew it was a tough and dangerous job,
0:16:31 > 0:16:34but there was no shortage of volunteers.
0:16:34 > 0:16:39I have known many old sailors who started their seafaring life
0:16:39 > 0:16:42onboard ships like this, and they all said it was the best time
0:16:42 > 0:16:44of their life.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53Just a fortunate few are left who knew the Windjammers in their pomp.
0:16:53 > 0:16:58That great era of sail is passing over the horizon.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16As we head further south, we reach the Stockholm Archipelago.
0:17:20 > 0:17:26We're about to arrive in the grand coastal capital, Stockholm itself.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37A third of this city is water.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39Boats and bridges unite settlements,
0:17:39 > 0:17:43which originally grew up on separate islands.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57Stockholm is a city of the sea.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00The sea reaches from the heart of the inner city here,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03all the way out to the wider world.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06The power of the sea is written into the DNA of Stockholm
0:18:06 > 0:18:09and into the psyche of its people.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14The elegant buildings of the old town bear witness to
0:18:14 > 0:18:17Sweden's rich history of trade.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21Stockholm's heritage is almost entirely intact
0:18:21 > 0:18:24because the city wasn't bombed during the Second World War.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28But the Swedes did play a pivotal part in the conflict.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32Back in the dark days of the Second World War,
0:18:32 > 0:18:34the city was alive with intrigue.
0:18:34 > 0:18:39Sweden was neutral and Stockholm was open for business with both sides.
0:18:39 > 0:18:45The Swedes didn't fight, but they did trade - with the Allies and Nazis,
0:18:45 > 0:18:49double-dealing that has Alice intrigued.
0:18:52 > 0:18:58I'm on the trail of a rarely-told tale of industrial espionage,
0:18:58 > 0:19:01a connection to this coast that was crucial
0:19:01 > 0:19:03to victory in the Second World War.
0:19:03 > 0:19:09The Swedish were the world experts in producing a vital component of
0:19:09 > 0:19:14the machinery of war, without which a country's war efforts would have
0:19:14 > 0:19:15literally ground to a halt.
0:19:15 > 0:19:20Both Germany and Britain desperately needed
0:19:20 > 0:19:23Swedish ball bearings.
0:19:23 > 0:19:28These tiny balls of specially-hardened steel contained within bearings
0:19:28 > 0:19:32were the key components allowing moving parts in planes and tanks
0:19:32 > 0:19:35to rotate and not seize up.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39Without ball bearings, weapons production would grind to a halt.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43Churchill knew that Britain's future and the freedom
0:19:43 > 0:19:47of Europe, revolved around these steel spheres.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51The self-aligning ball bearing
0:19:51 > 0:19:56was invented by Swedish engineer Sven Wingqvist in 1907.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59By the start of the Second World War,
0:19:59 > 0:20:03the British depended on the Swedes for their supply of ball bearings.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08In the 1940's,
0:20:08 > 0:20:14Sweden was a neutral country caught in a vice between two power blocs.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17The Nazis had surrounded Sweden.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20The country could still trade, but the German stranglehold meant
0:20:20 > 0:20:24the Swedes were wary of doing business with the Allies.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27Diplomats were sent to Stockholm
0:20:27 > 0:20:30in a desperate bid to get ball bearings back to Britain.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36I'm with war historian, Nick Hewitt.
0:20:36 > 0:20:41- So, Nick, these are the precious objects.- Absolutely, these are they.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44This is the ball inside, this is the bearing,
0:20:44 > 0:20:48and that would be used in perhaps a reasonable-sized piece of equipment.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51What was the range of machinery these ball bearings might have been used in?
0:20:51 > 0:20:54Absolutely everything, from radar sets
0:20:54 > 0:20:57to maybe the joystick of a Spitfire,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00and the undercarriage wheels of the same aircraft
0:21:00 > 0:21:03go up and down inside the wings. You need bearings to do that.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07And you think about a turret, and the way that turns around,
0:21:07 > 0:21:09you need bearings to do that too, so you could argue that
0:21:09 > 0:21:12you couldn't have won the Battle of Britain without them.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15To keep Britain's weapons production moving,
0:21:15 > 0:21:17the big guns weighed in to strong-arm
0:21:17 > 0:21:19the Swedes into playing ball,
0:21:19 > 0:21:23and make more of their ball bearings available to the Allies.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25This is a telegram, and it's a telegram to
0:21:25 > 0:21:28the President of the United States, President Roosevelt,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31from the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33These are two of the most powerful men in the world,
0:21:33 > 0:21:36exchanging communications about ball bearings.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38Such a strange story.
0:21:38 > 0:21:39And what they're saying is,
0:21:39 > 0:21:44"Firstly we urgently need to get out of Sweden, ball bearings in particular."
0:21:44 > 0:21:47What the British ask the Americans - Churchill asks Roosevelt for -
0:21:47 > 0:21:52is to apply pressure using 30,000 tonnes of oil a quarter,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54that the Swedes are getting from the Americans.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58If the Swedes refuse to supply the ball bearings, cut off the oil taps.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01It's a bargaining tool. Blackmail and bribery, basically.
0:22:02 > 0:22:07Secret deals were struck to buy more ball bearings for Britain.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10But to get them out of Sweden,
0:22:10 > 0:22:15Allied air crews had to fly through Nazi airspace.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19As the war progresses, they're being attacked by radar-equipped
0:22:19 > 0:22:22German night fighters, which can find them at night, shoot them down.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25The only defence they have is the speed and the altitude they fly.
0:22:25 > 0:22:31This rare film shows a top-secret mission to Sweden,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34an RAF Mosquito re-painted
0:22:34 > 0:22:37with civilian markings.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41These super-fast fighter bombers were converted to carry cargo,
0:22:41 > 0:22:45including people strapped in their bomb bay.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48PLANE ENGINES DRONE
0:22:54 > 0:22:58But planes alone couldn't bring back enough ball bearings,
0:22:58 > 0:23:03and Nazi control of the Baltic Sea lanes seemed absolute.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06One man, an unsung hero,
0:23:06 > 0:23:09thought differently.
0:23:09 > 0:23:10There was a remarkable man
0:23:10 > 0:23:12- called George Binney. - Which one is him?
0:23:12 > 0:23:14This is George with the pipe.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17- Right!- He's a civilian.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20He's out here before the war. He's involved in the steel industry,
0:23:20 > 0:23:23so he knows Scandinavia, he has the right contacts.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26He comes up with an alternative plan, which is to use
0:23:26 > 0:23:29fast military patrol boats, known as motor gun boats.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33These fast boats had a shallow draft,
0:23:33 > 0:23:37so they might just
0:23:37 > 0:23:39skirt over the German mines.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41Success would demand courage.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44George Binney hand-picked their crews.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Only the most able made the grade,
0:23:47 > 0:23:51many came from the merchant fleets of Hull.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55Young men, mostly single, who might never see home again.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01It must have been incredibly dangerous sailing a boat like that through the naval blockades.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03These are not built for rough weather for a start,
0:24:03 > 0:24:06prone to mechanical failure, their engines break down,
0:24:06 > 0:24:09and they're also vulnerable to the Germans, and two of them
0:24:09 > 0:24:13are sunk out of five, which is a quite a high attrition rate.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15So these sailors were running huge risks to get
0:24:15 > 0:24:17- the ball bearings out of Sweden. - Very big risks, yeah.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19It's a dangerous covert operation.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22Right under the nose of the Nazis,
0:24:22 > 0:24:25hunted by sea and air,
0:24:25 > 0:24:28these brave crews pulled off
0:24:28 > 0:24:31some of the most vital missions of the war.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37It's a sobering thought that Europe's fate
0:24:37 > 0:24:39once revolved around these bearings,
0:24:39 > 0:24:42which kept the machinery of war running on both sides,
0:24:42 > 0:24:46but it was the bravery of the Allied airmen and sailors
0:24:46 > 0:24:49that kept the Swedish supply of ball bearings
0:24:49 > 0:24:52rolling into Britain.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58There are many things we share with Sweden,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01but after 3rd September, 1967,
0:25:01 > 0:25:03there was one less.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06That's when the Swedes switched from driving on our side of the road,
0:25:06 > 0:25:09the left, and changed to the right
0:25:09 > 0:25:12to conform with the rest of mainland Europe.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17I'm used to biking through London, but switching to
0:25:17 > 0:25:20the right hand side makes things a bit hairy.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23Imagine what it was like back in 1967 when the whole country
0:25:23 > 0:25:25changed lanes overnight.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27Potential chaos.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34Well, the radio said I had to stop.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36I have to stop for a while here,
0:25:36 > 0:25:39I shall then be shown onto the other side of the road.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43I then have to stop there, and at five o'clock, we move off,
0:25:43 > 0:25:46driving on the right hand side of the road.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48Shall I go over that side?
0:25:50 > 0:25:52It was known as H Day,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55after the Swedish word for right - hogar.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59They cleverly combined the capital H with an arrow changing lane
0:25:59 > 0:26:02to create a logo for switchover day.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08But there was more to H Day than a logo.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10The government embarked on a massive programme
0:26:10 > 0:26:12of advertising and education,
0:26:12 > 0:26:16from highway code lessons for children, to some
0:26:16 > 0:26:18rather alarming stunts.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20TYRES SCREECH
0:26:25 > 0:26:28Finally, on September 3rd, everything was in place -
0:26:28 > 0:26:32the roads altered, the signs ready,
0:26:32 > 0:26:3510,000 police and troops deployed onto the streets -
0:26:35 > 0:26:39but still no-one knew how many people
0:26:39 > 0:26:42might become victims of this right-hand revolution.
0:26:42 > 0:26:47This is the scene at 5 AM on 3rd September 1967,
0:26:47 > 0:26:50as everybody switched lanes.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52Amazingly, H Day went without a hitch.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59In fact, surprisingly, the number of accidents slightly decreased.
0:26:59 > 0:27:04So, might we one day find ourselves switching lanes too?
0:27:04 > 0:27:07On the highways worldwide, sticking to the left
0:27:07 > 0:27:09puts us in the minority,
0:27:09 > 0:27:13but on the seaways it's a different story.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16The rules of navigation that apply around the globe
0:27:16 > 0:27:19owe an awful lot to the pioneering efforts of the British,
0:27:19 > 0:27:22to impose order on the sea lanes of the world.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26Ironically, when proposing
0:27:26 > 0:27:29navigation laws for steamships in the 19th century,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32Britain decided ships should pass each other not on the left,
0:27:32 > 0:27:34but on the right.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38Over the years, this British "keep right" regulation became adopted
0:27:38 > 0:27:41as the global standard for the seas.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44Britannia's rule does, in fact,
0:27:44 > 0:27:46rule the waves.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57Even out here, on the edge of the Baltic Sea,
0:27:57 > 0:28:00some thousand miles from our own islands,
0:28:00 > 0:28:02you can sense the influence of Britain
0:28:02 > 0:28:05reaching far beyond our own coast.
0:28:05 > 0:28:10We're a seafaring people and we share our story with distant shores.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd