0:00:08 > 0:00:10Coast is home.
0:00:10 > 0:00:15And we're exploring the most endlessly fascinating
0:00:15 > 0:00:17shoreline in the world -
0:00:17 > 0:00:19our own!
0:00:22 > 0:00:24The quest to discover surprising,
0:00:24 > 0:00:29secret stories from around the British Isles continues.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36This is Coast.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04We're here to explore what happens
0:01:04 > 0:01:06when our coast becomes a wild frontier.
0:01:09 > 0:01:14Land and sea don't always live in harmony.
0:01:17 > 0:01:22When the water boils, the land quakes, and so do we.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28Whole villages washed away,
0:01:28 > 0:01:32boats in a battle of life and death.
0:01:34 > 0:01:39What becomes of us when we face peril from the seas?
0:01:41 > 0:01:46We're venturing to wild waters in the Western Isles.
0:01:46 > 0:01:51Dick is with one of the unsung heroes of the RAF -
0:01:51 > 0:01:56weather forecasters who helped determine the outcome of D-Day,
0:01:56 > 0:01:58battling Atlantic storms.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01Quite a few aircraft were struck by lightning.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03Chunks of ice would fly off and you'd hear
0:02:03 > 0:02:06a bang on the side of the fuselage. Quite a loud bang.
0:02:06 > 0:02:11Down on the South East Coast, peril from the seas strikes Tessa.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14Ding, clash, dong, bang.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16How did the Victorian iron men
0:02:16 > 0:02:21building the new iron-clad Navy help shape our welfare state?
0:02:21 > 0:02:23They received medical treatment
0:02:23 > 0:02:26beyond the wildest dreams of everybody, bar the very rich.
0:02:26 > 0:02:34On the icy North Sea, Coast newcomer poet and storyteller Ian McMillan
0:02:34 > 0:02:38uncovers a century-old shipwreck that shocked the nation,
0:02:38 > 0:02:42and made our perilous seas safer.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44One woman was lucky to get off the stricken ship,
0:02:44 > 0:02:46but then Mary Roberts was a lucky lady.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50Two years before, she'd been rescued from the Titanic,
0:02:50 > 0:02:53but she said the shipwreck off Whitby was even worse than that.
0:02:53 > 0:02:58My tale of peril starts on the shore of East Anglia...
0:03:00 > 0:03:03..where trouble is brewing.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10The curious calm, here in Norfolk, seems idyllic enough.
0:03:10 > 0:03:15But a breath of wind brushing your cheek brings a change of mood.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19The hairs on the back of your neck bristle.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23Something wicked this way comes.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28It's November 1703.
0:03:28 > 0:03:33A mega storm is about to devastate a huge swathe of southern Britain,
0:03:33 > 0:03:35leaving thousands dead.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41Lethal winds whipped across the land
0:03:41 > 0:03:44before blowing out into the North Sea.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48Go back 300 years
0:03:48 > 0:03:51and windmills were a common sight on the coast of Norfolk.
0:03:51 > 0:03:59Then, one dreadful night in November the weather turned.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03And so did the sails of the mills.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06Inside there's a brake -
0:04:06 > 0:04:11a wooden block that presses against the spinning shaft to stop the sails
0:04:11 > 0:04:16But the wind is irresistible. There's no stopping the sails
0:04:16 > 0:04:20and they spin faster and faster.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24The wooden parts of the mill run out of control.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26Friction creates smoke.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30And where there's smoke, there's fire.
0:04:33 > 0:04:39It's said The Great Storm set over 400 windmills alight
0:04:40 > 0:04:43They were seen blazing like monstrous candles.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45While they burned,
0:04:45 > 0:04:50thousands of people perished around the coasts of southern Britain.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55There's a way to re-live that terrible night
0:04:55 > 0:04:57as if it was yesterday.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01When the wind died down,
0:05:01 > 0:05:06one man was determined to make sense of the chaos.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11The journalist who wrote the definitive account of
0:05:11 > 0:05:15The Great Storm Of 1703 is a great hero of mine -
0:05:15 > 0:05:17Daniel Defoe.
0:05:17 > 0:05:23Defoe was a commentator on the momentous events of his day.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25He knew Norfolk well.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29This was a prosperous part of Britain 300 years ago,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32thanks to trade across the North Sea.
0:05:32 > 0:05:38Daniel Defoe's travels around these shores inspired his work.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42He'd go on to write the classic castaway story Robinson Crusoe,
0:05:42 > 0:05:45but this book, Defoe's first book, The Storm,
0:05:45 > 0:05:51tells true tales of ordinary folk battling extraordinary odds.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54He says of the storm, "No pen can describe it,
0:05:54 > 0:06:00"no tongue express it, nor thought conceive it"
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Defoe investigated the facts behind the Great Storm,
0:06:03 > 0:06:07and key to that investigation was the drawing together
0:06:07 > 0:06:09of eye witness accounts.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12Daniel Defoe's use of first person testimony
0:06:12 > 0:06:16was a revolutionary approach to journalism,
0:06:16 > 0:06:21which he used to produce a vivid overview of the storm's impact
0:06:21 > 0:06:26It affected a massive area, from the South West and Wales,
0:06:26 > 0:06:30it hit London and across East Anglia where I am now.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33Defoe carefully catalogued the tales of devastation
0:06:33 > 0:06:35left in the storm's wake.
0:06:35 > 0:06:40The first impacts were felt here, on the coast of Cornwall.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45The storm blew in from the Atlantic.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48The granite outcrops of Cornwall's coast
0:06:48 > 0:06:50were impervious to the battering,
0:06:50 > 0:06:53but the people were not.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00The most infamous casualty died alone.
0:07:00 > 0:07:05Henry Winstanley was inside the lighthouse
0:07:05 > 0:07:08he'd recently completed on the Eddystone Rocks.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11It had taken years to build,
0:07:11 > 0:07:16but was blown away in minutes by the devilish sea.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20Winstanley's body was never recovered.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25The storm raged on along the south coast
0:07:25 > 0:07:28taking a terrible toll on the Royal Navy.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32A staggering one in five of their sailors perished.
0:07:32 > 0:07:38Many of them died here on the Goodwin Sands just off Kent.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42There's a really graphic picture drawn at the time,
0:07:42 > 0:07:46showing the naval ships running aground on the sands
0:07:46 > 0:07:50and the sailors desperately struggling to reach the shore.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54Defoe's description was so graphic it would have shocked his readers.
0:07:54 > 0:08:00He wrote, "The fatal Goodwin, where the wreck of Navies lies,
0:08:00 > 0:08:04"A thousand dying sailors talking to the skies."
0:08:07 > 0:08:12The storm wreaked her fury across the whole of southern Britain
0:08:12 > 0:08:17before the killer wind whipped over Norfolk out across the North Sea
0:08:19 > 0:08:21There are tales of ships off this coast
0:08:21 > 0:08:24getting swept 100 miles away.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26One ship ended up in Norway
0:08:27 > 0:08:29That dreadful night, three centuries ago,
0:08:29 > 0:08:34was even more severe than the notorious storm of 1987.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38Then southern England again witnessed
0:08:38 > 0:08:41extraordinary scenes of devastation.
0:08:41 > 0:08:46But if a storm on the scale of 1703 raged across Britain today
0:08:46 > 0:08:52it would cause catastrophic damage in built-up areas,
0:08:52 > 0:08:56estimated at more than £10 billion.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58Wherever we live in our isles,
0:08:58 > 0:09:02what blows in from the ocean puts us all in peril from the sea.
0:09:08 > 0:09:13It's an ill wind, indeed, that someone can't find a use for.
0:09:22 > 0:09:28Those in search of the biggest breeze head northwards.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33The Western Isles of Scotland
0:09:33 > 0:09:37are some of the windiest bits of Britain.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41Our weather often blows in this way from the Atlantic.
0:09:41 > 0:09:47So, there's an automated weather station on the tiny isle of Tiree.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51Reports from Tiree are a familiar sound for many.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53'Tiree automatic,
0:09:53 > 0:09:58'southeast by east six - slight showers - five miles 987...'
0:09:58 > 0:10:04What's less well-known is how vital Tiree was to weather forecasters,
0:10:04 > 0:10:07who helped win the Second World War.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11To relieve a rarely told tale of aerial heroics,
0:10:11 > 0:10:16Dick is with veteran RAF weather observer Peter Rackliff,
0:10:16 > 0:10:18who's flying back to his wartime base.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20When was the last time you were in Tiree?
0:10:20 > 0:10:24- 1945.- 1945, yeah?
0:10:24 > 0:10:26I was just 19.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29How debonair are you there? Look at that.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31Debonair, well, I don't know.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35I didn't put my Brylcreem on that day. No Brylcreem, there.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38Peter wasn't a Brylcreem Boy of fighter command.
0:10:38 > 0:10:43He flew in a Halifax Bomber converted to carry Met observers,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46men measuring the weather coming in from the Atlantic,
0:10:46 > 0:10:49heading towards Europe.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53Peter and his comrades of 518 Squadron were storm chasers of the Second World War,
0:10:53 > 0:10:58at the forefront of the forecast running up to D-Day.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04Advance warning of the weather was a life or death matter in the war,
0:11:04 > 0:11:06D-Day could have been a disastrous failure
0:11:06 > 0:11:08if it were not for people like Peter
0:11:08 > 0:11:10feeding observations into the forecast
0:11:10 > 0:11:13The painstaking preparations for D-Day meant
0:11:13 > 0:11:18planning for every eventuality, especially bad weather.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21A storm would make the landings impossible.
0:11:21 > 0:11:26The forecasters of 518 Squadron would help set the date for D-Day.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33But the work down here at Tiree has largely been forgotten,
0:11:33 > 0:11:35we're here to put that right.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37Peter, do you recognise this runway?
0:11:37 > 0:11:39I do, yes.
0:11:39 > 0:11:40So, you would use this runway?
0:11:40 > 0:11:42- Oh, definitely, yes. - Where did you go?
0:11:42 > 0:11:47Well, one flight was westerly into the Atlantic for 800 miles,
0:11:47 > 0:11:50and then we flew northeast towards Iceland
0:11:50 > 0:11:52returning to base at Tiree.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54It was about ten-and-a-half hour trip, yes.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58Those lengthy forecasting flights
0:11:58 > 0:12:01took them nearly halfway to Canada
0:12:01 > 0:12:04before coming back to the airfield, at Tiree.
0:12:04 > 0:12:10From 1943, planes like this rolled out day and night onto the tarmac at Tiree
0:12:10 > 0:12:13to measure the weather coming in from the Atlantic.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20Soon the ocean was all too close below.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24We used to like to get down to about 60 feet, if we could.
0:12:24 > 0:12:25I was right up in the nose,
0:12:25 > 0:12:27a navigator sat immediately behind me,
0:12:27 > 0:12:29I gave him surface winds
0:12:29 > 0:12:31and he gave me the winds at height, which were very important.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35The crews deliberately flew into weather
0:12:35 > 0:12:38that would ground other planes.
0:12:38 > 0:12:43The pilots often had a job to handle it.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46The second pilot and the skipper would have to, sort of,
0:12:46 > 0:12:49do whatever they could do with the controls to try
0:12:49 > 0:12:51and keep the aircraft reasonably stable.
0:12:53 > 0:12:58They flew into the face of Atlantic storms measuring temperature,
0:12:58 > 0:13:04pressure and wind speed, readings sent back in coded radio messages.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07It went to the stations in Bomber Command,
0:13:07 > 0:13:11and it meant they could draw a pretty comprehensive chart
0:13:11 > 0:13:14and that would make a radical improvement to their forecast.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20The finest hour for the forecasters of 518 Squadron
0:13:20 > 0:13:24came in early June 1944.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30'The landings were the greatest hour of crisis of the Global War.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33'The Germans had boasted it could not be done,
0:13:33 > 0:13:35'but it was done,
0:13:35 > 0:13:36'and the mighty...'
0:13:36 > 0:13:38But the success of D-Day wasn't a done deal.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42Weather flights from here on Tiree
0:13:42 > 0:13:45played an important part in planning the invasion.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47Meteorologist Sarah Cruddas
0:13:47 > 0:13:49is showing me the forecast map from D-day.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53Lots of observations marked around Britain,
0:13:53 > 0:13:56but the weather was blowing in from the far Atlantic,
0:13:56 > 0:13:59and that was our blind spot.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01Well, that's why places such as Tiree
0:14:01 > 0:14:03were so important because they are able to fly
0:14:03 > 0:14:061,000 miles in this direction up towards the Icelandic gap
0:14:06 > 0:14:09and really collect all that information that was missing,
0:14:09 > 0:14:11and because our weather comes from the west
0:14:11 > 0:14:13we could get a better idea of what was coming towards us,
0:14:13 > 0:14:16and it gave us an advantage over the Germans.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18Yeah, there'd been high pressure over France,
0:14:18 > 0:14:19low pressure over England,
0:14:19 > 0:14:22so it had created quite windy conditions just before D-Day,
0:14:22 > 0:14:25but you can see here this area here just by the Normandy landings
0:14:25 > 0:14:26that's called a ridge,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29and that actually brought in quite settled conditions of calmer seas
0:14:29 > 0:14:30and less windy conditions.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33There was just enough of a break in the weather for them to land.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35Timing the day of the invasion
0:14:35 > 0:14:38to coincide with the brief break in the weather
0:14:38 > 0:14:40was a masterstroke of judgement.
0:14:40 > 0:14:46Group Captain James Stagg was responsible for the D-Day forecast.
0:14:48 > 0:14:53To help him, Stagg used vital information from 518 Squadron,
0:14:53 > 0:14:59who flew out over the Atlantic to measure an incoming cold front.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02This cold front was formed
0:15:02 > 0:15:05by two depressions, which merged in the north west of Scotland.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08Our aircraft must have flown through it from Tiree
0:15:08 > 0:15:12on half a dozen occasions on the 3rd and 4th of June.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15I know Eisenhower wanted to go on the 5th, but I mean he...
0:15:15 > 0:15:17he just couldn't do it
0:15:17 > 0:15:19because Group Captain Stagg told him,
0:15:19 > 0:15:22"Well, that cold front that we've been able to locate by our aircraft
0:15:22 > 0:15:27"is going to be in the Channel on the morning of the 5th,
0:15:27 > 0:15:31"and it's going to cause an awful lot of grief on the French Coast.
0:15:31 > 0:15:36"So, if you can time it to go on the 6th then everything should be fine."
0:15:38 > 0:15:41The men storming the beaches of Normandy
0:15:41 > 0:15:45on 6th June couldn't have known that shoulder to shoulder with them
0:15:45 > 0:15:48were the storm chasers of 518 Squadron
0:15:48 > 0:15:51some 700 miles away on Tiree.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55To forecast the weather heading towards France
0:15:55 > 0:16:00they had to fly high over the Atlantic into thin freezing air.
0:16:00 > 0:16:01Their enemy was ice.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05Chunks of ice would fly off and you hear
0:16:05 > 0:16:08a bang on the side of the fuselage, quite a loud bang.
0:16:08 > 0:16:13They weren't just measuring the weather, they were part of it.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16Quite a few aircraft were struck by lightning,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19and on the nose we used to get this, raindrops
0:16:19 > 0:16:21used to fracture and we used to get what I called
0:16:21 > 0:16:23a golden spark discharge.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27It was simply charged up raindrops hitting the Perspex
0:16:27 > 0:16:32and producing a little golden coloured spark.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34It was actually quite a danger on some of these missions,
0:16:34 > 0:16:36there was loss of life, wasn't there?
0:16:36 > 0:16:40Oh, yes, yes. In the 18 months I was here, we lost 12 aircraft.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43Some went missing on the North Atlantic
0:16:43 > 0:16:46but, unfortunately, we never found any wreckage or anything.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49They just seemed to be swallowed up by the ocean, I think,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52most of them were, we certainly lost quite a few crew.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01You must feel some pride about what you achieved,
0:17:01 > 0:17:04and the work of 518 Squadron.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08Yes, I do. I think the world of the Squadron
0:17:08 > 0:17:11and I think they did a marvellous job
0:17:11 > 0:17:13over the Atlantic and there we are.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17It's one of those things in the past which is something you never forget.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39We're on a journey to explore
0:17:39 > 0:17:43peril from the seas that surround our isles.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49On the south coast of England, we've often faced
0:17:49 > 0:17:53unfriendly neighbours across the Channel.
0:17:58 > 0:18:03Along this shore there once lay a ring of steel -
0:18:03 > 0:18:06steel ships to protect us from invasion.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14Naval seamen sign up knowing they may be called upon
0:18:14 > 0:18:17to roam savage seas.
0:18:17 > 0:18:23But even in dock, ships at close quarters bring their own dangers.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28Go back 150 years and building Britain's first iron fleet
0:18:28 > 0:18:31was a lethal business.
0:18:33 > 0:18:38Our Naval dockyards used to be perilous places,
0:18:38 > 0:18:41as they know in Chatham.
0:18:42 > 0:18:47A shipbuilding boom transformed this workplace into hell on earth.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50A story Tessa's here to explore.
0:18:52 > 0:18:57Chatham is home to a remarkable cathedral like structure,
0:18:57 > 0:18:59built to house wooden warships,
0:18:59 > 0:19:03the roof protected their timbers from rotting.
0:19:03 > 0:19:08But by the 1800's, these huge halls were slipping into history.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11The age of wooden warships was over.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15The Navy's future was iron.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17Here in Chatham in 1861, they began building
0:19:17 > 0:19:20their first iron giant - The Achilles.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23Bending the metal into shape on the ship
0:19:23 > 0:19:27took a terrible toll on its workers. Charles Dickens came to Chatham
0:19:27 > 0:19:29and saw the construction of The Achilles.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32the site struck him as a wild frontier,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35a vision of a new industrial hell.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40The nightmarish sounds inspired Dickens to write,
0:19:40 > 0:19:43"Ding, clash, dong, bang,
0:19:43 > 0:19:47"this is, or soon will be, The Achilles.
0:19:51 > 0:19:56"Iron armour-clad ship 1,200 men over her bows,
0:19:56 > 0:20:00"over her stern, under her keel, between her decks,
0:20:00 > 0:20:04"crawling and creeping into the finest curves of her lines
0:20:04 > 0:20:08"wherever it is possible for men to twist."
0:20:08 > 0:20:11Building in metal was always a dangerous game,
0:20:11 > 0:20:17where Health and Safety consisted of flat caps and quick hands.
0:20:17 > 0:20:22In the Victorian era the welfare of workers often wasn't considered,
0:20:22 > 0:20:26but constructing warships was so crucial to the Empire
0:20:26 > 0:20:30that the builders of the Queen's fleet enjoyed special care.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37By the mid 1800s, the health and welfare of shipbuilders
0:20:37 > 0:20:39had become so vital to the Royal Navy
0:20:39 > 0:20:43they received medical treatment beyond the wildest dreams
0:20:43 > 0:20:47of everybody, bar the very rich. For instance,
0:20:47 > 0:20:51when they were injured, they were treated by top naval surgeons.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57Here in Chatham, the surgeon was William Gunn,
0:20:57 > 0:21:01his letters detail the new perils the men faced from working with iron.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05Each letter is a window into the world of Surgeon William Gunn.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08It's almost as if he's talking to you.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11"The men in the metal mills work five nights in the week,
0:21:11 > 0:21:14"and they are very liable to accidents
0:21:14 > 0:21:17"from the peculiar nature of their duty.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23"Contusions, lacerated and punctured wounds and burns,
0:21:23 > 0:21:25"particularly of the head, hands, feet,
0:21:25 > 0:21:30"face and eyes are now very common."
0:21:30 > 0:21:34The dockyard surgery dealt with a steady stream of casualties.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38Medical historian Richard Biddle has seen how the shift to metalworking
0:21:38 > 0:21:42led to different kinds of injuries.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45With wood they're very focused on the lower half of the body
0:21:45 > 0:21:48because the men are using axes to chop wood.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51Then, when they begin to use iron,
0:21:51 > 0:21:55if you're riveting iron plates, for example, you're up here.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58And so what happens is that the injuries shift upwards,
0:21:58 > 0:22:02the old injuries continue but injuries to the eyes and burns,
0:22:02 > 0:22:03eyes in particular.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06And did surgeons, therefore, see their work quadruple, if you like?
0:22:06 > 0:22:12Well, Gunn certainly talks about how the frequency of injuries go up,
0:22:12 > 0:22:16but he's also concerned by the new nature of injuries.
0:22:16 > 0:22:17They're horrific, some of them.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21His surgery, we ought to think about it as being a cross, I would say,
0:22:21 > 0:22:24between what we would think now is a GP surgery
0:22:24 > 0:22:27and then an Accident and Emergency facility.
0:22:29 > 0:22:34The workers also received home care and half pay while off injured.
0:22:35 > 0:22:41To check-up on his patients, William Gunn paid them surprise visits.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45Surgeon Gunn soon learnt that where there are welfare benefits
0:22:45 > 0:22:47there are also welfare cheats.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50On the 5th of October, 1864,
0:22:50 > 0:22:54Surgeon Gunn decided to call in on a man called William Tiltman,
0:22:54 > 0:22:58he was meant to have been off sick for three months but when he found him,
0:22:58 > 0:23:01he discovered he'd actually been moonlighting as a butcher.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05Those early benefit cheats got the sack.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08But plenty of genuine cases needed the special skills
0:23:08 > 0:23:14Surgeon Gunn developed to deal with horrific metalworking accidents.
0:23:14 > 0:23:19"As injuries of the eyes caused by pieces of metal had become
0:23:19 > 0:23:23"so frequent of late, I have demanded an electromagnet."
0:23:23 > 0:23:27I mean, that's a pretty clever thought, isn't it, actually?
0:23:27 > 0:23:30It is, yeah, and we've actually tried to mock-up an electromagnet
0:23:30 > 0:23:33and iron filings in an eye,
0:23:33 > 0:23:37which I thought would be quite interesting just to see whether this thing works or not.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40- Oh my G... - They're not human.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44- So, you're going to now switch on the power current. - I'm switching on so here we go.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47- Oh, look! They're just hopping out. - It's incredible, isn't it?
0:23:47 > 0:23:49It looks almost painless.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51Cor! There's one, you've got a stubborn one,
0:23:51 > 0:23:53let's try and get that last one.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55The man is screaming in agony.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58Yeah, yeah, sure enough.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01I mean, people with eye injuries despite what...
0:24:01 > 0:24:04When you read the initial accidents appear to be very gruesome
0:24:04 > 0:24:08they do go on to recover and return to work.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12So they could keep bashing metal ships into shape,
0:24:12 > 0:24:15the Navy's new iron men were patched up,
0:24:15 > 0:24:18and given privileges the public could only dream of.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21It took nearly 100 years
0:24:21 > 0:24:26and two World Wars before free health care became a right for all.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30When servicemen began returning home in 1945
0:24:30 > 0:24:34the mood of the nation was to build a Britain fit for heroes.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38The time was ripe for the birth of the Welfare State.
0:24:38 > 0:24:39'On July 5th,
0:24:39 > 0:24:42'the new National Health Service starts.'
0:24:42 > 0:24:45Are you sure I don't have to pay anything for all this?
0:24:45 > 0:24:47Nothing. You and your family...
0:24:47 > 0:24:50Do you think the work here was actually a precursor
0:24:50 > 0:24:52to our modern-day welfare state?
0:24:52 > 0:24:56Certainly, what you see in Chatham is the beginnings of a welfare state
0:24:56 > 0:24:59It's a microcosm, perhaps, of things that happen after that,
0:24:59 > 0:25:01so, for Chatham as a dockyard town,
0:25:01 > 0:25:04I think it functioned as a welfare state.
0:25:04 > 0:25:09Building Britannia's ships to rule the waves was a dangerous job,
0:25:09 > 0:25:13but if left a legacy of welfare for workers that we all now enjoy.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27Unexpected benefits come from our relationship with the sea.
0:25:33 > 0:25:38But so do some clear and ever present dangers.
0:25:38 > 0:25:43Many who live on the coast are in peril from the sea.
0:25:43 > 0:25:50And the sea shows no mercy to those who venture offshore.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56Each wreck tells a story.
0:25:56 > 0:26:05The most famous fictional tale of a foundered ship began here at Winterton.
0:26:05 > 0:26:10Author Daniel Defoe was as captivated as me
0:26:10 > 0:26:13by this calm yet perilous coast.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16So fearsome was the reputation of this shore
0:26:16 > 0:26:20that Daniel Defoe used it to open his book Robinson Crusoe.
0:26:23 > 0:26:30Crusoe was eventually marooned on a distant isle in foreign seas.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33But the first shipwreck in this book
0:26:33 > 0:26:36is here at Winterton on the coast of Norfolk.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46The dangers here can't be seen from the beach.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49I've got to venture out to sea.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55Way offshore, there are deadly strips of sand,
0:26:55 > 0:26:59which only reveal themselves at low tide.
0:26:59 > 0:27:03This looks like dry land, doesn't it? But it's not. It's a sandbank.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06In an hour or so it's going to be covered in water,
0:27:06 > 0:27:08and if you look over there,
0:27:08 > 0:27:10one-and-a-half miles away across the open sea,
0:27:10 > 0:27:14you can see mainland Britain. The coast of Norfolk is lined by
0:27:14 > 0:27:19many other sandbanks, which lurk just beneath the surface.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21This is the graveyard of countless ships.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25You can understand why Daniel Defoe
0:27:25 > 0:27:28chose this lethal coast for the opening passages
0:27:28 > 0:27:30in his book Robinson Crusoe.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35Sandbanks and ships don't mix.
0:27:35 > 0:27:40The church at nearby Happisburgh has a grim memorial
0:27:40 > 0:27:43to those in peril on the sea.
0:27:48 > 0:27:56This neatly tended plot is the mass grave of 119 men.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00They drowned when HMS Invincible failed to live up to her name,
0:28:00 > 0:28:06coming to grief on a notorious sandbank in 1801.
0:28:10 > 0:28:15So many ships foundered here that parishioners decided
0:28:15 > 0:28:19they couldn't rely solely on spiritual salvation,
0:28:19 > 0:28:23they took more practical steps.
0:28:23 > 0:28:29And they cleverly combined doing a good turn with turning a profit.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33The boatmen from Norfolk villages set-up their own rescue teams
0:28:33 > 0:28:35long before the RNLI was born.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38What those rescuers needed was a vantage point, like this,
0:28:38 > 0:28:42where they could spot ships in trouble.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45I've got a photograph, here, from further along the coast.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47You can see a wooden watchtower,
0:28:47 > 0:28:51built by one of the rescue teams and below it their hut.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55Rescue teams like this were some of Britain's earliest emergency services.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59They called themselves Beachmen,
0:28:59 > 0:29:03and were only found on the East Anglia coast.
0:29:03 > 0:29:07If you go looking in the dunes of Winterton-On-Sea,
0:29:07 > 0:29:10there are still clues to the Beachmen's presence.
0:29:10 > 0:29:13David Higgins is showing me.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16Around here is where they had their watch houses.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19- How do you know?- Well, here you can see some of the building materials
0:29:19 > 0:29:21that they used to make the watch house.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24And this has still got mortar attached to it, look.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26- Yes.- How interesting! Look at that.
0:29:26 > 0:29:30All within the dunes there's these rectangles defined by plants
0:29:30 > 0:29:32that shouldn't be here, and even here is an apple tree.
0:29:32 > 0:29:34Look at that! With apples on it.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38So, this is probably an apple core hurled down from the watchtower
0:29:38 > 0:29:41- by a Beachman who'd been looking out for wrecked ships.- Exactly.
0:29:41 > 0:29:43But who exactly was a Beachman?
0:29:43 > 0:29:44Well, a Beachman was a man who,
0:29:44 > 0:29:46essentially, did salvage work on the sandbanks,
0:29:46 > 0:29:50looking for ships to snag themselves on the sandbanks,
0:29:50 > 0:29:51and then they would race out there
0:29:51 > 0:29:54and get the salvage work, and, hopefully, get a good payout.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56They drove a hard bargain when they got out there
0:29:56 > 0:29:59and talked to the Masters, they would tell the Master, you know,
0:29:59 > 0:30:00that they were in grave danger
0:30:00 > 0:30:02and they readily signed-up to get this work done.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05You make them sound like land-based pirates,
0:30:05 > 0:30:08rushing out to take advantage of other people's misfortunes.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11Well, they didn't see it that way,
0:30:11 > 0:30:14they saw themselves as rectifying the Master's mistakes.
0:30:14 > 0:30:17There's a part of you that would have been a Beachman, wouldn't there?
0:30:17 > 0:30:19I can see you running down the beach to grab the tiller first
0:30:19 > 0:30:22and setting off towards Scroby Sands to pick over a derelict, David.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24Well, I would love to have done that, yes.
0:30:24 > 0:30:27And David isn't alone.
0:30:27 > 0:30:32Generation after generation wanted to join the Beachmen.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36Well, this is a book of the family trees of the Winterton Beachmen,
0:30:36 > 0:30:40effectively, erm, all the families, but particularly the Georges,
0:30:40 > 0:30:42which was the biggest family in the village.
0:30:42 > 0:30:45My goodness.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48- We go...- It goes on and on. - ..16 feet
0:30:48 > 0:30:52Make some space on the... Is the beach big enough, David?
0:30:53 > 0:30:55Wow!
0:30:55 > 0:30:57That's how important the George family was
0:30:57 > 0:31:00to the whole seafaring community here in Winterton.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03Lifesaving runs in the blood of the boatmen here,
0:31:03 > 0:31:10a promise to protect and serve passed from father to son.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14The Beachmen were trailblazers in making lifesaving into a living.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17But by the late 1800s,
0:31:17 > 0:31:21their boats were out-dated, and the rescue service pioneered
0:31:21 > 0:31:24here in Norfolk had grown nationwide.
0:31:24 > 0:31:29So, Beachmen became part of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution,
0:31:29 > 0:31:31operating from Caister.
0:31:32 > 0:31:39By the 1960s, their station held the record for the most lives saved.
0:31:39 > 0:31:43They'd rescued over 1,800 seafarers,
0:31:43 > 0:31:47but that wasn't enough to save their own service.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51Faster lifeboats could now cover a greater area,
0:31:51 > 0:31:55the RNLI thought fewer stations were needed.
0:31:55 > 0:31:59In 1969 they left Caister.
0:31:59 > 0:32:05But the Beachmen's descendants wouldn't hang up their sou'westers.
0:32:05 > 0:32:10Derek George is a fifth generation Beachman of the famous George family.
0:32:10 > 0:32:14How did Caister keep their lifeboat afloat?
0:32:14 > 0:32:17Many people in the village thought it was impossible.
0:32:17 > 0:32:21There were no precedent, no previous experience to run a private lifeboat,
0:32:21 > 0:32:24but nevertheless a ten-man committee was formed,
0:32:24 > 0:32:29and over the years... This is our 41st year of independence,
0:32:29 > 0:32:33and we are here still today.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36As we approached the millennium and technology marches on,
0:32:36 > 0:32:39we needed to have a more modern lifeboat,
0:32:39 > 0:32:42August of 2004
0:32:42 > 0:32:45we took delivery of the fastest lifeboat in the United Kingdom,
0:32:45 > 0:32:491,000 horse power, 40 gallons of fuel an hour.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52Are you trying to get one up on the RNLI?
0:32:52 > 0:32:54I can't answer that question.
0:32:59 > 0:33:05You only really appreciate just how powerful this beast of a boat is
0:33:05 > 0:33:10when you've got the salt spray parting your hair.
0:33:12 > 0:33:16I think it's safe to say the spirit
0:33:16 > 0:33:20of the original Beachmen still survives on these seas.
0:33:24 > 0:33:29Those that work on water know how perilous the sea can be.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33Whether their boats are big or small,
0:33:33 > 0:33:37fishermen keep a weather eye on the sky,
0:33:37 > 0:33:40right around our shores.
0:33:40 > 0:33:45Like here on the edge of the English Channel at Alderney.
0:33:47 > 0:33:52This tiny isle gets battered by weather
0:33:52 > 0:33:54rolling in from the wild Atlantic.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00So, the fishermen look for feathered friends to help with the forecast.
0:34:02 > 0:34:08And folklore plays its part as Andy Torbet's finding out.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16It's a lonely old business being a skipper at sea.
0:34:16 > 0:34:20Spotting a storm can mean the difference between life and death.
0:34:20 > 0:34:21It's no surprise, then,
0:34:21 > 0:34:23that fishermen can be a superstitious bunch,
0:34:23 > 0:34:26and they look to the creatures that surround them
0:34:26 > 0:34:29for signs of approaching wild weather.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32Now, this little chap is a storm petrel,
0:34:32 > 0:34:35so-called because to see one of these little sea birds
0:34:35 > 0:34:38was a signal that a big storm was heading your way.
0:34:44 > 0:34:47The storm petrel gets its name, and its fame,
0:34:47 > 0:34:49from its weather forecasting talents.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52When they're feeding, they seem to walk on water,
0:34:52 > 0:34:55but if they sense an approaching storm, they fly to land,
0:34:55 > 0:34:58a sure sign for fishermen to follow them.
0:34:58 > 0:35:02I want to see this feathered weather bird for myself,
0:35:02 > 0:35:05but I've got my work cut out.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08In the English Channel in the 1950s,
0:35:08 > 0:35:11it was thought there was 10,000 storm petrels.
0:35:11 > 0:35:14Today it's less than a tenth of that number.
0:35:14 > 0:35:16Increased pollution of our seas
0:35:16 > 0:35:19hit the storm petrel population hard.
0:35:19 > 0:35:21They only come to land to breed,
0:35:21 > 0:35:24spending the rest of their lives out on the open sea.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28I'm going to try and track them down,
0:35:28 > 0:35:32and I'm starting my search with those who know these little birds best
0:35:35 > 0:35:36Like storm petrels,
0:35:36 > 0:35:39fishermen here are few and far between these days,
0:35:39 > 0:35:41but Ray Gaudion is hanging on.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43All right, how you doing?
0:35:43 > 0:35:46- Pleased to meet you, Andy. Can I come onboard?- Yes.
0:35:46 > 0:35:47Ray's going to take me out on a trip
0:35:47 > 0:35:50in the hope of seeing the storm petrels at sea.
0:35:59 > 0:36:02So, you're normally out here looking for lobsters,
0:36:02 > 0:36:04but today we're looking for these chaps storm petrels.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07They're tiny little creatures to see.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09Only the size of a sparrow, aren't they?
0:36:09 > 0:36:11Well, I'd say more like a starling, they fly fast, as well.
0:36:11 > 0:36:15- And do you see as many as you used to?- No, I don't.
0:36:15 > 0:36:17I'm sure when I was younger you used to see a lot more.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19There's quite a few kind of myths and legends
0:36:19 > 0:36:22surrounding the storm petrels, aren't there?
0:36:22 > 0:36:25Well, they've always been revered, to start with,
0:36:25 > 0:36:27with the older seamen that I went to sea with,
0:36:27 > 0:36:30we never had long-range shipping forecasts or anything like that,
0:36:30 > 0:36:35and we'd always, "Oh, Mother Carey's chickens. Bad weather coming."
0:36:35 > 0:36:38Mother Carey's chickens - that's one of their nicknames, isn't it?
0:36:38 > 0:36:42That's what we always...the old fellas used to call them, you know.
0:36:43 > 0:36:48Whatever you call them, these storm petrels are elusive blighters.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50Ray's seen storm petrels here before,
0:36:50 > 0:36:54but without a storm, they could be far out at sea.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58I'll have to tempt them with some tasty treats.
0:36:58 > 0:37:04In here is a special recipe of cod liver oil, mackerel,
0:37:04 > 0:37:07herring and skate guts...
0:37:09 > 0:37:14I'm assured this potent mix is perfect for attracting petrels.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19Well, the gulls like it.
0:37:19 > 0:37:21Well, it's attracted a load of black backed gulls
0:37:21 > 0:37:26and some herring gulls, but no storm petrels yet.
0:37:27 > 0:37:30The scavengers are loving the free lunch,
0:37:30 > 0:37:34but it seems my own quarry has a more refined taste.
0:37:38 > 0:37:42Looks like I'll have to go the extra nautical mile or so to find them.
0:37:47 > 0:37:49I learnt to drive boats just like these in the forces.
0:37:49 > 0:37:51Maybe not bright orange ones,
0:37:51 > 0:37:54so I'm going to take us across to the island now.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57I'm heading to a storm petrel breeding site.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03Appearing now off the bow is Burhou Island.
0:38:03 > 0:38:05Now, that's a welcome sight for birds
0:38:05 > 0:38:09that'll spend the vast majority of their life out at sea,
0:38:09 > 0:38:12and they come back to land on these rare occasions to breed.
0:38:14 > 0:38:17I'm joining a team of scientists here to study the petrels.
0:38:26 > 0:38:27- Liz?- Hi.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30Heading up the conservation efforts is Liz Morgan.
0:38:30 > 0:38:31Welcome to Burhou.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36Most storm petrels won't come back till after dark,
0:38:36 > 0:38:39but a few may still be on their nests deep in this old wall.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42Liz has a trick to find out.
0:38:42 > 0:38:47This is a storm petrel call. If an adult's on the nest it should reply.
0:38:53 > 0:38:55Can you hear a little peeping noise?
0:38:55 > 0:38:58Yeah, I can hear that, yeah.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00That's a storm petrel chick.
0:39:00 > 0:39:02The chic's probably sat there by themselves.
0:39:02 > 0:39:06The adults out at sea fishing won't come back to land while it's light
0:39:06 > 0:39:09because of predators like the gulls.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12Under the cover of darkness, that's the only time they feel safe.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16That's it - my first storm petrel.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22With baby home alone, the parents can't be far away,
0:39:22 > 0:39:25but they won't be back till night.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28As darkness falls, Liz and her colleagues set up nets
0:39:28 > 0:39:32to ring and monitor Burhou's population.
0:39:32 > 0:39:34After that flop with the bait before,
0:39:34 > 0:39:36let's hope sky fishing works better.
0:39:39 > 0:39:43These nets normally do very well as the birds sweep in off the sea.
0:39:43 > 0:39:48Stretched across their flight path, these nets are specially designed
0:39:48 > 0:39:51to catch but not damage these little birds.
0:39:52 > 0:39:56Now, we have to wait, and hope.
0:40:11 > 0:40:13Got one!
0:40:15 > 0:40:17And another.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26With these nets filling up nicely, Paul Veron picks the petrels out.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29It's not actually doing them any harm is it?
0:40:29 > 0:40:32No, they hit the net and drop into this little pocket
0:40:32 > 0:40:34and then we have to go and take them out.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37Imagine that bird riding out the fiercest storm
0:40:37 > 0:40:40that the oceans can throw at it.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45In all, we get 61 birds, a great sign for the petrel population,
0:40:45 > 0:40:49which Paul now reckons is around 1,000 breeding pairs.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57This fragile little chap somehow manages to survive
0:40:57 > 0:41:02the perils of the sea. It's a rare privilege just to see one.
0:41:02 > 0:41:04To hold him is magical.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08You don't really get any closer than that.
0:41:08 > 0:41:11- Paul, shall I release it now? - Yes, please, just on the grass.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17Designed for a nomadic life, bravely roaming the oceans,
0:41:17 > 0:41:20the storm petrel is almost helpless on dry land,
0:41:20 > 0:41:23where they stumble around like little drunken sailors.
0:41:40 > 0:41:45By the morning, the wild seas have reclaimed these drifting creatures.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48Until the next storm, we're unlikely to see them again.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02When you're tucked up warm at home, sheltering from a storm,
0:42:02 > 0:42:06rain lashing at the window can be strangely comforting.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08But think of those at sea.
0:42:08 > 0:42:15When in peril, beacons of bright hope bring seafarers comfort.
0:42:25 > 0:42:31We have over 200 lighthouses around our coastline.
0:42:31 > 0:42:36Now their keepers have been retired, the lights shine automatically,
0:42:36 > 0:42:39but they still need maintenance.
0:42:40 > 0:42:45The Northern Lighthouse Board looks after those in Scottish waters.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48There's one visit that brings back
0:42:48 > 0:42:54dreadful memories of tragedy on the Flannan Isles.
0:43:03 > 0:43:05We're now just approaching the Flannan's.
0:43:05 > 0:43:06We can see them up ahead here.
0:43:06 > 0:43:08We can see islands quite clearly, there,
0:43:08 > 0:43:11and you can see the lighthouse very prominent on the north side.
0:43:11 > 0:43:18The Flannan light stands as a sombre reminder of peril from the seas.
0:43:18 > 0:43:20Growing up we, of course, we heard about
0:43:20 > 0:43:23the mystery of the Flannan Isles and the keepers.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26Probably first of all when I was in primary school
0:43:26 > 0:43:31and we did the poem by Wilfred Gibson about the Flannan Isles.
0:43:31 > 0:43:35"Of the three men's fate, We found no trace,
0:43:35 > 0:43:38"Of any kind, In any place."
0:43:38 > 0:43:41Men like Captain Eric Smith remember how,
0:43:41 > 0:43:46on 15th December 1900 the Flannan light went out.
0:43:46 > 0:43:51Its three keepers had vanished, never to be found.
0:43:51 > 0:43:54Were they snatched by sea monsters?
0:43:54 > 0:43:56Were they plucked away? Did aliens land?
0:43:56 > 0:43:58Were they kidnapped by foreign boats? Who knows?
0:43:58 > 0:44:01There were all these stories going round cos nobody knew any different.
0:44:05 > 0:44:08The helicopter is just coming in to land now on the island.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18Today it's just such a quiet day, flat calm,
0:44:18 > 0:44:21what little weather there is coming from the north,
0:44:21 > 0:44:24absolutely nothing between us and America,
0:44:24 > 0:44:28and it's hard to appreciate what could happen,
0:44:28 > 0:44:29and how big the seas get up here.
0:44:32 > 0:44:34Because, you know something happened
0:44:34 > 0:44:38there's a kind of eerie feeling sometimes.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42First time I've been here since well over 20 years.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48And now this is the living area,
0:44:48 > 0:44:50living room, very cramped.
0:44:52 > 0:44:54But it's functional.
0:44:54 > 0:44:57This would have been the principal lghtkeeper's.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00This would have been his, he's got two windows, I suppose,
0:45:00 > 0:45:02because he's the senior man.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12Oh, well, here we are at the optic for the light,
0:45:12 > 0:45:14which is the main reason for all this,
0:45:14 > 0:45:17the lighthouse, the construction, the land,
0:45:17 > 0:45:19and everything, to keep this optic turning.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27A terrible, terrible tragedy. There's no other way.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30Three people lost their lives and all the families that were affected.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33It was just so incredible that such a thing could happen.
0:45:35 > 0:45:39The enquiry into the lost lighthouse keepers was inconclusive.
0:45:39 > 0:45:44It's thought a huge wave washed the three men away.
0:45:50 > 0:45:55Peril from the sea used to strike in secret around our shores.
0:45:57 > 0:45:59Today there's help at hand.
0:46:01 > 0:46:03From the air.
0:46:05 > 0:46:07From the water.
0:46:09 > 0:46:15While we sleep, remarkable rescues take place in pitch darkness.
0:46:17 > 0:46:24But once the sea held sway, like here at Whitby.
0:46:29 > 0:46:35Holidaymakers are unaware but 100 years ago the town looked out to sea
0:46:35 > 0:46:40in horror as a tragedy unfolded within sight of land.
0:46:40 > 0:46:45Unravelling a dramatic, yet forgotten, disaster story
0:46:45 > 0:46:51is Coast newcomer, poet and storyteller Ian McMillan.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56I've got here the front page of the Daily Mirror
0:46:56 > 0:46:58from Monday November 2nd 1914.
0:46:58 > 0:47:02"A hospital ship has foundered just a few hundred yards from this coast,
0:47:02 > 0:47:05"but it's so stormy that it's almost impossible to rescue the crew."
0:47:07 > 0:47:10One woman was lucky enough to get off the stricken ship,
0:47:10 > 0:47:12but then Mary Roberts was a lucky lady.
0:47:12 > 0:47:16Two years before, she'd been rescued from the Titanic,
0:47:16 > 0:47:19but she said the shipwreck off Whitby was even worse than that.
0:47:20 > 0:47:24Now, with the help of Mary Robert's relatives,
0:47:24 > 0:47:28and lifeboatmen of Whitby, I'm going to tell a tale of terror at sea,
0:47:28 > 0:47:30that gripped the entire nation for days.
0:47:32 > 0:47:35A disaster that caused outcry
0:47:35 > 0:47:39and helped propel Britain's coastal rescue services into the modern age.
0:47:39 > 0:47:41Our seas would never be the same again after
0:47:41 > 0:47:44the wreck of the hospital ship Rohilla.
0:47:44 > 0:47:49To see why, I'm going to examine the tragedy of her loss with a forensic eye.
0:47:53 > 0:47:57Every accident investigator needs an incident room,
0:47:57 > 0:48:01and I've set mind up here at Whitby Lifeboat Station.
0:48:02 > 0:48:06I've collected a precious few of the possessions
0:48:06 > 0:48:08that were recovered from the wreck of the Rohilla.
0:48:08 > 0:48:12Her story starts on 29th October 1914,
0:48:12 > 0:48:17scarcely three months after Britain had declared war on Germany.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26The hospital ship Rohilla left harbour in Scotland, bound for France.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31So, what happened next?
0:48:31 > 0:48:35To see why Rohilla came to be wrecked just off the Whitby coast,
0:48:35 > 0:48:37I'm meeting up with Colin Brittain.
0:48:37 > 0:48:39He's spent years researching the dramatic events.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44We're looking out here so we can more or less
0:48:44 > 0:48:46see where the Rohilla ended up, can't we?
0:48:46 > 0:48:50It is, that's right, just a small part of the ship's double planking.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52The weather was terrible, wasn't it?
0:48:52 > 0:48:55It was very bad, it turned into a very severe gale.
0:48:55 > 0:48:58Why did she end up down here, though?
0:48:58 > 0:49:01Because of the wartime restrictions all the lights were turned out
0:49:01 > 0:49:03and the navigational buoys were silenced.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05This part of the coastline here,
0:49:05 > 0:49:08Whitby Rock is a very treacherous part.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11It's claimed many ships in the past.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14- And it had a big impact, didn't it, throughout the country?- It did.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17It's still recorded today in the annals of the RNLI
0:49:17 > 0:49:20as one of the worst it's attended.
0:49:20 > 0:49:24So, on the 30th October 1914 at 4.00am,
0:49:24 > 0:49:27the Rohilla hits rocks and tears apart.
0:49:30 > 0:49:35Later that morning, it became clear just how close the wrecked ship was to land.
0:49:35 > 0:49:41But a raging storm stopped survivors from swimming ashore.
0:49:41 > 0:49:45Rockets with ropes attached were fired from the cliffs.
0:49:47 > 0:49:48But they all missed.
0:49:48 > 0:49:55Rohilla had no rockets to fire a safety line herself - a fatal lapse.
0:49:55 > 0:49:58Now she was relying on Whitby's lifeboat.
0:50:01 > 0:50:02The rescuers here on shore
0:50:02 > 0:50:05could almost reach out and touch the Rohilla,
0:50:05 > 0:50:06500 yards out there on the rocks,
0:50:06 > 0:50:10but the boiling sea kept them back, and for those onboard,
0:50:10 > 0:50:13trying to swim to safety looked like a suicide mission.
0:50:13 > 0:50:14So, where was the lifeboat?
0:50:16 > 0:50:22My next witness is Peter Thompson, former lifeboat coxswain.
0:50:22 > 0:50:24So, Peter, this is the kind of boat
0:50:24 > 0:50:26they would have tried to row out to the Rohilla on, isn't it?
0:50:26 > 0:50:29This is exactly the same as the original boat that made
0:50:29 > 0:50:32the first rescue attempts.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35And it feels like a very sturdy kind of boat,
0:50:35 > 0:50:38but the conditions at the time were terrible, weren't they?
0:50:38 > 0:50:42What we have to remember is that we're approaching the harbour by now
0:50:42 > 0:50:46and the waves across there will be anything from 15 to 20ft high. Breaking seas.
0:50:46 > 0:50:51The boat is 34ft long, so, it would have just been swamped.
0:50:52 > 0:50:55With the storm raging it was impossible to row
0:50:55 > 0:50:58beyond the safety of the harbour.
0:50:58 > 0:51:02Outside the sturdy walls, monstrous waves lay in wait.
0:51:02 > 0:51:06Going out into the open sea wasn't an option.
0:51:07 > 0:51:12Instead, they decided to launch the lifeboat from shallower water,
0:51:12 > 0:51:14on the beach beside the Rohilla,
0:51:14 > 0:51:19but that meant man-handling their heavy wooden boat over an 8ft high sea wall,
0:51:19 > 0:51:22and across the rocks on the other side.
0:51:23 > 0:51:27Then, of course, it was straight into the surf opposite the wreck
0:51:27 > 0:51:29and the rescue started then.
0:51:32 > 0:51:34When the lifeboat reached the Rohilla,
0:51:34 > 0:51:39the five women aboard the stricken ship were the first to be rescued.
0:51:39 > 0:51:44Among them was Mary Roberts who had survived Titanic just two years earlier.
0:51:44 > 0:51:49We think this is Mary here. Let's go and meet her relatives.
0:51:49 > 0:51:52Today, her great grand-daughter Mandy and her husband Ray
0:51:52 > 0:51:56have returned to the scene of Mary's traumatic ordeal.
0:51:58 > 0:52:02She seemed to spend most of her life at sea,
0:52:02 > 0:52:06quite a woman for that age. We're talking back in the early 1900s,
0:52:06 > 0:52:10but she did compare, actually, that the Titanic
0:52:10 > 0:52:15was an easier wreck than this one out here, this was the worst wreck.
0:52:15 > 0:52:16I guess that's cos with the Titanic
0:52:16 > 0:52:18it just hit an iceberg. It wasn't a storm,
0:52:18 > 0:52:20whereas this was in this terrible, terrible storm.
0:52:20 > 0:52:23Yeah, and, of course, being able to get survivors off
0:52:23 > 0:52:26of this beach with the cliffs must have been absolutely horrific.
0:52:26 > 0:52:28Must have been so frustrating
0:52:28 > 0:52:30for the people on the cliff to see the boat there...
0:52:30 > 0:52:33And not be able to get down and do anything.
0:52:33 > 0:52:37For the second time what did she do then? I suppose she gave up the sea for ever.
0:52:37 > 0:52:40- Went back to sea.- Did she? - Yeah.- Absolutely.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44In all, the lifeboat took 17 survivors from the Rohilla on its first attempt.
0:52:44 > 0:52:49Dragging the lifeboat over the rocky shore tore a hole in her hull.
0:52:49 > 0:52:53Even so, she managed a second rescue attempt
0:52:53 > 0:52:56bringing back 18 more survivors,
0:52:56 > 0:52:57but then she had to be abandoned.
0:52:57 > 0:53:01The lifeboat was dashed on the rocks and pounded to pieces.
0:53:04 > 0:53:06Hope faded with it.
0:53:08 > 0:53:11Survivors brought back to shore painted a terrible picture
0:53:11 > 0:53:13of conditions for those left on the wreck,
0:53:13 > 0:53:16corpses lashed to woodwork battered by the storm,
0:53:16 > 0:53:19survivors clinging to the wreckage as the ship broke up,
0:53:19 > 0:53:22no wonder some of those left onboard tried to brave the raging seas
0:53:22 > 0:53:24and make that terrible swim to shore.
0:53:24 > 0:53:29Rohilla was just over 500 yards out to sea.
0:53:30 > 0:53:35But only 35 of the 299 onboard had been rescued.
0:53:38 > 0:53:40As news of the unfolding tragedy spread,
0:53:40 > 0:53:43a newsreel crew was dispatched to film the drama
0:53:43 > 0:53:47for a public hungry for news of the tragedy.
0:53:47 > 0:53:48Let's see what they saw.
0:53:55 > 0:53:59It is funny when you watch this, you realise how close it is,
0:53:59 > 0:54:03or it does genuinely look like you could just wander out to it.
0:54:05 > 0:54:11It's also quite gobsmacking to think that here's a piece of film of it,
0:54:11 > 0:54:15that what was before just a story in a newspaper,
0:54:15 > 0:54:17suddenly it's there, it's moving.
0:54:17 > 0:54:21You can see the waves moving, the waves crashing against the boat.
0:54:22 > 0:54:26Hard to fathom how terrifying it must have been,
0:54:26 > 0:54:28but you do get a very good image of it from here.
0:54:31 > 0:54:35So, this was rolling news from nearly 100 years ago.
0:54:35 > 0:54:38Some desperate souls swam for shore,
0:54:38 > 0:54:41many others remained onboard the wreck.
0:54:41 > 0:54:46As darkness fell, those battling for their lives on the Rohilla
0:54:46 > 0:54:48braced themselves for a night of horror.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57Saturday morning didn't bring any respite from the atrocious weather,
0:54:57 > 0:55:01more than 24 hours after the hospital ship Rohilla had struck the rocks,
0:55:01 > 0:55:04lifeboats from along the Yorkshire coast were struggling to reach her.
0:55:07 > 0:55:09So, despite heroic efforts,
0:55:09 > 0:55:12the rescue crews couldn't get close enough to the boat for long enough,
0:55:12 > 0:55:14cos these boats relied on manpower,
0:55:14 > 0:55:17and rowing against the power of the sea proved impossible.
0:55:19 > 0:55:22But help was on its way, motorised help,
0:55:22 > 0:55:24from up the coast on Tyneside,
0:55:24 > 0:55:28a lifeboat that represented the future for the RNLI
0:55:28 > 0:55:31had powered her way down to Whitby.
0:55:31 > 0:55:36Motorised lifeboats able to battle through rough seas were few and far between in 1914.
0:55:39 > 0:55:42But now, she was the last and only hope.
0:55:45 > 0:55:47At 6.30 on a Sunday morning, the Henry Vernon,
0:55:47 > 0:55:50a motorised lifeboat similar to this old gem sets off to the Rohilla
0:55:50 > 0:55:54where the survivors have been clinging on for more than two days.
0:55:54 > 0:56:00Onboard in 1914 was second coxswain, James Brownlee.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04Onboard now is his granddaughter Dorothy Brownlee.
0:56:04 > 0:56:09At first light they set-off from Whitby harbour
0:56:09 > 0:56:12and they picked up the last 50 survivors.
0:56:12 > 0:56:18My granddad's quoted in a newspaper as saying that they were bruised
0:56:18 > 0:56:23from head to foot, and I think it just touched everyone
0:56:23 > 0:56:25who saw the state of all these people.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28So, without your granddad, the loss of life would have been much greater.
0:56:28 > 0:56:29It really would.
0:56:29 > 0:56:33I can't see any way in which those last 50 men could have survived.
0:56:33 > 0:56:36Efforts had just about been given up because it was too severe.
0:56:36 > 0:56:40The storm showed very little signs of abating.
0:56:40 > 0:56:45Certainly proved the value of a motor lifeboat
0:56:45 > 0:56:48because the men didn't get so exhausted.
0:56:48 > 0:56:50So, you must be very proud of your granddad.
0:56:50 > 0:56:53I really am, yes, very proud.
0:56:53 > 0:56:55Here's a picture of him,
0:56:55 > 0:56:58which was very familiar to me as a child,
0:56:58 > 0:57:03and he's wearing his medals. Three of them are for the Rohilla rescue.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06But who was the last person off the boat?
0:57:06 > 0:57:09The captain was the last person to come off the boat,
0:57:09 > 0:57:13and it is said that he climbed up the ladder
0:57:13 > 0:57:17and he was carrying a small black cat, the ship's cat,
0:57:17 > 0:57:22which, apparently, had been unperturbed by all the commotion.
0:57:24 > 0:57:29Of the 229 people on board His Majesty's Hospital Ship Rohilla,
0:57:29 > 0:57:3385 perished, but thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the rescuers
0:57:33 > 0:57:36144 survived to tell their extraordinary story.
0:57:38 > 0:57:42Rescuing survivors from our perilous seas would never be the same again.
0:57:42 > 0:57:45More motorised lifeboats were brought into service.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48The days of rowing to the rescue were numbered.
0:58:00 > 0:58:05Where the sea meets the land, danger is ever present.
0:58:07 > 0:58:12Many have met that challenge, and still do,
0:58:12 > 0:58:16facing peril from the seas with ingenuity,
0:58:16 > 0:58:20resourcefulness, and simple courage.
0:58:20 > 0:58:23Manning every lifeboat is the crew,
0:58:23 > 0:58:28and it's these brave men and women who keep us safe on our wild coast.
0:58:45 > 0:58:49Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd