0:00:04 > 0:00:06This is Coast.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45The wild islands of the British Isles.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49Splinters of land, oceans of water.
0:00:49 > 0:00:54At times the sea protects, at others, it attacks!
0:00:54 > 0:01:00Rocky islets rise like sparkling jewels, ripe for the taking,
0:01:00 > 0:01:03a tempting target for invaders.
0:01:04 > 0:01:09From hostile incursions to the welcome influx of wildlife.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17We'll reveal surprising stories of invasions around our shores.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23My base of operations is on the Channel Islands,
0:01:23 > 0:01:29where remarkably, some German strongholds are still unexplored.
0:01:30 > 0:01:35Now I'm gearing up for an invasion of my own.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39I'm breaking into a sealed Nazi bunker.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41Nobody's seen this for more than 60 years.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48And the team are gearing up for invasions too.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50Out on the Isle of Man,
0:01:50 > 0:01:54Ruth is bracing herself for a mighty seaborne assault.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56The leather clad clans are gathering.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02The TT is in town.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06On a tiny Scottish isle,
0:02:06 > 0:02:11Andy is hunting for animal invaders, little furry ones!
0:02:11 > 0:02:14The amazing thing is this entire colony
0:02:14 > 0:02:18are hundreds of individuals from one pregnant female.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22And Tessa is flying back to the First World War
0:02:22 > 0:02:26as she's blown away by aerial invaders.
0:02:26 > 0:02:27Beware the Zeppelins!
0:02:27 > 0:02:32Terrifying dogfights to the death, pitting biplanes against airships.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45These stories tell of the Invaders of the Isles.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51My island destination
0:02:51 > 0:02:55sits in the firing line between England and France.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57I'm heading to Guernsey.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08Guernsey's the ideal place to recall both the risks
0:03:08 > 0:03:11and the rewards of invasion.
0:03:11 > 0:03:17Its islanders made good money from historic battles with France.
0:03:17 > 0:03:22I'll be exploring how swashbuckling Guernsey sailors
0:03:22 > 0:03:26ran rings around Napoleon's navy.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28But in the Second World War
0:03:28 > 0:03:32the people felt the full force of Hitler's invading army.
0:03:37 > 0:03:43Now the heavens explode each year to mark the end of German occupation.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47Guernsey is celebrating its liberty.
0:03:47 > 0:03:52A night that burns bright with the memories of invasion.
0:03:53 > 0:03:58In June 1940, it wasn't friendly fire that lit up the skies.
0:03:59 > 0:04:05The dark hand of the Third Reich was about to grasp the Isle of Guernsey.
0:04:06 > 0:04:13With invasion inevitable, islanders had a stark choice, stay or go.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19I've got here a copy of the Guernsey newspaper, The Evening Press,
0:04:19 > 0:04:26dated Wednesday June 19th, 1940. It reads, "Evacuation of Children.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29"Parents must report this evening."
0:04:29 > 0:04:32Well, these parents were being given just a few hours to decide
0:04:32 > 0:04:35whether to stay or to leave the island.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39The following morning, that quayside over there was packed with people
0:04:39 > 0:04:43queuing up to board ships back to England.
0:04:43 > 0:04:44CHILD CRIES
0:04:44 > 0:04:48Seven-year-old Paulette Tapp's mother was dead
0:04:48 > 0:04:50and her father was away fighting,
0:04:50 > 0:04:54so her grandmother decided Paulette should be evacuated.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57Is this you in this photograph?
0:04:57 > 0:05:01This is my grandmother. And that was me when I was three years old.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03- Did she go with you? - No, no.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06I was on my own. Completely on my own, there was nobody.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10While Paulette left for an uncertain future in England,
0:05:10 > 0:05:14on Guernsey, a little boy remained on the quayside.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16- Very good to meet you. - How do you do?
0:05:16 > 0:05:20'Stanley Bichard was the middle one of three boys,
0:05:20 > 0:05:25'who with their mum and dad were about to experience invasion.'
0:05:26 > 0:05:31Just days after the evacuations Guernsey's harbour was bombed,
0:05:31 > 0:05:32many were killed.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38Two days later the island was occupied.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41'The German invaders took their pick of the houses
0:05:41 > 0:05:45'including the one next door to Stanley's family.'
0:05:45 > 0:05:47- Strange neighbours. - Yeah. And the week after,
0:05:47 > 0:05:50they came and they knocked at the back door at my mum's
0:05:50 > 0:05:54and said, "We'd like you to do some washing for the Germans."
0:05:54 > 0:05:57So Mum said, "No, I don't do a wash for the German soldiers."
0:05:57 > 0:05:59They said, "You will wash for the soldiers
0:05:59 > 0:06:03"or you will vacate your premises by the end of the week."
0:06:03 > 0:06:05And, of course, there's five of us in the family,
0:06:05 > 0:06:07you know, where are we going?
0:06:09 > 0:06:13Many island children had gone to seek safety on the mainland.
0:06:14 > 0:06:19Seven-year-old Paulette, travelling alone, was evacuated to Cheshire,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22to be looked after by nuns.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25This homesick little girl
0:06:25 > 0:06:29was about to acquire a very special guardian angel.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31Remember, in this country
0:06:31 > 0:06:35the gift must be based on your ability to give.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt
0:06:38 > 0:06:42was coaxing American women to do their bit for the war effort.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45Mrs Roosevelt sought a young pen pal,
0:06:45 > 0:06:50she received a letter from a lonely girl in Cheshire.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53"Dear Mrs Roosevelt, first of all,
0:06:53 > 0:06:56"I hope you are well and in good health.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59"Please give my best regards to President Roosevelt.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02"Thank you very much for the pretty green dress. It fits me just fine
0:07:02 > 0:07:05"and I love the blouse to go with it.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08"Your loving foster child, Paulette."
0:07:08 > 0:07:13Meanwhile, guardian angels were in short supply on Guernsey.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16As the occupation wore on, rations were meagre.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20Four ounces of meat a week for the family of five.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24- That's nothing! - Eggs were very hard to come by,
0:07:24 > 0:07:28because everybody killed the chickens to have food for eating.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32"We had a lovely supper, lemonade, cakes and biscuits.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35"Then for tea we all had a bar of chocolate."
0:07:35 > 0:07:39- Remember being hungry? - Oh, yeah. Yeah.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43Yes, a few times.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47- It must have been very difficult for your mother knowing that.- Yeah.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51Mum and Dad suffered a lot at different times.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55- Yeah. How do you feed a family of five when you've got nothing?- Yeah.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02Paulette had a full stomach but an empty heart.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06Her gran on occupied Guernsey couldn't get letters out.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11My only person that I really loved was my grandmother,
0:08:11 > 0:08:16I missed her cuddles and hugs, you know, because we didn't get many.
0:08:16 > 0:08:21They were good, the nuns, but we didn't have the love.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25Paulette's safe surroundings were tinged with sadness.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29For young Stanley, the lush landscape of Guernsey may have been
0:08:29 > 0:08:33a war zone, but it was still his playground.
0:08:33 > 0:08:38A favourite prank was pelting passing cars with lumps of turf.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40It was just along there somewhere,
0:08:40 > 0:08:42lovely turf about as big as my hand there.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45So when a car came, if the window was open,
0:08:45 > 0:08:47I didn't know it was a German,
0:08:47 > 0:08:49I wasn't being brave or anything like that,
0:08:49 > 0:08:51but I spiffed the turf over the edge,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54it went straight through the window
0:08:54 > 0:08:56and hit the officer straight in the face.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00And, of course, there was a squeak of the tyres and we hid.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02We were petrified then.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05The headmaster of the school said they were going to take hostages,
0:09:05 > 0:09:08because they thought it was an act of sabotage,
0:09:08 > 0:09:11it wasn't sabotage, it was a game, like, you know?
0:09:11 > 0:09:15And we got away with it by writing a letter of apology
0:09:15 > 0:09:18to the Commandant. They let us get away with it.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22German rule ground on for nearly five years.
0:09:22 > 0:09:27By the end the invaders were as much prisoners as the islanders -
0:09:27 > 0:09:29both were starving.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33After D-Day in Normandy there was nothing coming in at all
0:09:33 > 0:09:36and also the Germans were suffering,
0:09:36 > 0:09:38a lot of cats went missing during the war.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41- They ate them? - Oh, yeah. And dogs. They had my dog.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43- They ate your dog? - Oh, yeah.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46But you couldn't buy anything cos nothing was coming in.
0:09:47 > 0:09:52The desperate days ended on the 8th of May, 1945.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58With the war over, Paulette came home,
0:09:58 > 0:10:00but she's never met Stanley
0:10:00 > 0:10:04to share their different experiences of invasion.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07Is it better to leave home and be fed
0:10:07 > 0:10:10or to stay with your family and go hungry?
0:10:10 > 0:10:12I couldn't let my children go.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15I'd want them with me. I would try and do everything I could.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17If somebody had been able to cuddle me, you know.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21- And you miss that, don't you, when you're children?- Oh, yeah.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24So in that way, I suffered more emotionally
0:10:24 > 0:10:26- and you suffered more with your food.- Oh, without a doubt.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28Without a doubt.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31BOTH CHUCKLE
0:10:37 > 0:10:42Guernsey still counts the human cost of occupation.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47But elsewhere there are invasions we're happy to see.
0:10:51 > 0:10:56Migrating birds re-colonise some remote outposts each year.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00Perfect perches to breed and feed.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16Seabirds come and go as they please. But journey to Scotland
0:11:16 > 0:11:20and you'll discover an odd group of animal invaders
0:11:20 > 0:11:22trapped on the outcrop of Coreisa.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31Andy Torbet is in search of creatures
0:11:31 > 0:11:36living like Robinson Crusoe, castaways on a forgotten isle.
0:11:37 > 0:11:42The tiny island of Coreisa is a pinprick of rock out there.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44It's only five miles from the shore,
0:11:44 > 0:11:47but for most, it might as well be Mars.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51No scheduled boats go there,
0:11:51 > 0:11:54so you have to find a local willing to take you.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58I'm seeking four-legged invaders
0:11:58 > 0:12:05discovered on a small isle near here in 1964 by an inquisitive explorer.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08This is Gordon Corbett,
0:12:08 > 0:12:12a curator of mammals at the Natural History Museum in London.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16He'd heard whispers of a mysterious creature living on an island
0:12:16 > 0:12:19in these waters, a colony that had no place being there.
0:12:21 > 0:12:27Locals thought they might be rats, but Gordon had his own suspicions.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29He travelled out to the island
0:12:29 > 0:12:32to catch one and take a specimen back to London.
0:12:32 > 0:12:37This is the animal he caught, he'd found a freshwater vole.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41How had this shy river creature crossed miles of seawater,
0:12:41 > 0:12:45how had it survived marooned on the island?
0:12:45 > 0:12:48It was astonishing to discover water voles
0:12:48 > 0:12:52on tiny isles off Western Scotland.
0:12:52 > 0:12:59Normally they thrive in freshwater, avoiding the perils of the open seas.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02So how did water voles get to this rocky outcrop, Coreisa?
0:13:06 > 0:13:10Did a pregnant female find herself on a passing boat?
0:13:10 > 0:13:12Or where they washed out on sea currents?
0:13:12 > 0:13:18However it happened, once ashore, these invaders were quite alone.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20People pass by the island,
0:13:20 > 0:13:25but it's very rarely that I ever see anybody go on the island
0:13:25 > 0:13:30or even looking in on it. No, it's pretty well untouched, aye.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35The island of Coreisa is about the size of three football pitches.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39There's little shelter and no running water.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46But for the next two days... this is home.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48'And I've got company.
0:13:48 > 0:13:53'Scientists from Aberdeen University are studying how over generations
0:13:53 > 0:13:58'the voles have adapted to this alien environment.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01'Helping me get settled is biologist Matt Oliver.'
0:14:01 > 0:14:05Well, interestingly the water voles here have a very different
0:14:05 > 0:14:09behaviour and eco type from water voles in the Scottish mainland.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12We've got very little fresh water on this island at all,
0:14:12 > 0:14:15and instead the water voles have a more mole-like existence,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18they live in burrows underneath the ground eating roots and shoots,
0:14:18 > 0:14:20and they don't have many competitors,
0:14:20 > 0:14:23so they've got more or less a free reign of the place.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26And I can see just from sitting here lots of vole signs,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29so you're not far away from a vole right now.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33These shy creatures aren't too keen to meet us,
0:14:33 > 0:14:35so team leader Stuart Piertney
0:14:35 > 0:14:38is laying a trap baited with tatties and carrots.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42- Put a bit of extra bedding material in.- OK.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45The door closes behind him, simple as that.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47And it doesn't do the vole any harm to be trapped?
0:14:47 > 0:14:49Absolutely not. These guys think of these
0:14:49 > 0:14:52as little mini hotel rooms, they really like the idea
0:14:52 > 0:14:54they can get a good feed. We know that
0:14:54 > 0:14:58because from one day to the next, we'll be catching the same voles.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02With the traps set, we work on our own survival strategy.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24Good morning and good news.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26The water voles have checked into the traps overnight,
0:15:26 > 0:15:29so now it's rise and shine for them too.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34- Right. So let's process this little guy and see what we've got.- OK.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38- So the first job is to get him out of the trap.- Yep.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42- And there he is.- They're much bigger than I thought they'd be.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44Yes. They've got hardy tails,
0:15:44 > 0:15:45so you can keep hold of them with the tail
0:15:45 > 0:15:47and he's as happy as Larry in the hand there.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50Just grab him by the tail first,
0:15:50 > 0:15:54make sure he doesn't give you a bit of a nip. There we go.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58The amazing thing is this entire colony is from one pregnant female.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03So, hundreds of individuals from just one.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05In essence these guys are all related,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08it's all brothers and uncles and aunties.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11Theory would predict that with a small isolated population like this
0:16:11 > 0:16:13they should have lost their genetic variation,
0:16:13 > 0:16:15which should make them not very fit,
0:16:15 > 0:16:17they should be prone to the effects of parasites,
0:16:17 > 0:16:20but you can see that's not the case at all,
0:16:20 > 0:16:22these guys are looking really healthy,
0:16:22 > 0:16:24so they seem to be bucking the trend one way or another.
0:16:25 > 0:16:30The researchers expected inbreeding to produce sickly animals
0:16:30 > 0:16:35prone to infection, but in fact they are thriving.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38The team are unravelling the genetic puzzle
0:16:38 > 0:16:44of how a healthy colony may have flourished from just one female.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50The findings could help preserve endangered species
0:16:50 > 0:16:53that have dwindled to a few individuals.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59As for the descendants of the original water vole invader,
0:16:59 > 0:17:01they may have become inmates on this island,
0:17:01 > 0:17:05but I can think of worse places to be marooned.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17In our fights for survival,
0:17:17 > 0:17:21we've created some remarkable artificial islands.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27Forts that helped keep foreign aggressors at bay.
0:17:33 > 0:17:39But some in the British Isles have suffered conquest in living memory.
0:17:39 > 0:17:40I'm on Guernsey.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47In the Second World War on the Channel Islands,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50attackers soon became defenders.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56The invaders of these isles left a grim legacy.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01German bunkers that outlasted the Third Reich.
0:18:04 > 0:18:10Some 1,000 Nazi fortifications were embedded in the rock of Guernsey,
0:18:10 > 0:18:14potent symbols of the propaganda value to be gained
0:18:14 > 0:18:18by occupying British Crown Territory.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21Hitler wouldn't give up the Channel Islands without a fight.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25Now I'm gearing up for an invasion of my own.
0:18:25 > 0:18:30Many of these tombs of tyranny were sealed at the end of the last war,
0:18:30 > 0:18:33but one of the bunkers is about to be re-opened
0:18:33 > 0:18:36for the first time in over 60 years.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39I'm going to be a Nazi tomb raider.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44On a beach-side golf course,
0:18:44 > 0:18:49they're excavating the entrance to the forgotten underground bunker.
0:18:52 > 0:18:57To see what could lie in store, I'm visiting another site.
0:18:57 > 0:19:03This gun emplacement was only re-opened in 2010.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06My guide is bunker specialist Paul Bourgaize.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14- Chilly and dark, isn't it? - Just watch these steps here.
0:19:14 > 0:19:20We're in a small square... room, what have we got over here?
0:19:20 > 0:19:22This is actually a fortress telephone.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24So this is a hand-cranked telephone?
0:19:24 > 0:19:26- Yep. - So what does this say?
0:19:26 > 0:19:29"Achtung Feind host nit!" was a warning you'd find above all phones,
0:19:29 > 0:19:32and it basically says, "Warning, the enemy is listening,"
0:19:32 > 0:19:35so it was just, "Watch what you're saying."
0:19:39 > 0:19:42- Very smooth, isn't it? - Yeah.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45It's approximately a tonne of steel that's moving there.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48- Top quality German engineering. - Yeah.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51This portal cut into the concrete
0:19:51 > 0:19:55was the firing position for an anti-tank gun.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59Its crew were charged with repelling a possible beach invasion.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02Historians on Guernsey are re-discovering
0:20:02 > 0:20:07the secrets of fortifications across the island.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11The digger's scoop has just revealed the top of a doorway.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16Nobody's seen this for more than 60 years.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24Buried for decades.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29Now we're the first to enter a forgotten lair of Hitler's army.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33This was once a staircase
0:20:33 > 0:20:36that a six-foot man could walk down,
0:20:36 > 0:20:41now... it's like a cave entrance.
0:20:47 > 0:20:54Incredible! Look at this on the roof, miniature stalactites of rust.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56Very nasty gunk all over the floor,
0:20:56 > 0:20:58this seems to be oil more than water.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02Cos this is a personnel bunker, these are the hooks for the beds
0:21:02 > 0:21:06or the bunks, still original, all fixed to the wall.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08- So these hooks...?- That's where the bunks would have been.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11- Hooked on there? - There would have been a chain
0:21:11 > 0:21:13hanging from the ceiling attached to those hooks.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17- Oh, here?- Yeah.- So these are like ship's bunks. Did they fold away?
0:21:17 > 0:21:19They do fold away, yes.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23'Up to ten men slept in this windowless tomb -
0:21:23 > 0:21:26'their job, to man the gun emplacements.'
0:21:26 > 0:21:29This is smaller, what was this space for?
0:21:29 > 0:21:31Yeah, this is a ventilation escape shaft as well.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33Where did you escape? There's no way out.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35This is the escape shaft here.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39It would have been quite tricky to get out of here,
0:21:39 > 0:21:43you've got a steel door, you'd have had two rows of steel girders
0:21:43 > 0:21:47across there in those recesses that had to be pulled out,
0:21:47 > 0:21:50you've then got a brick wall that needs to be demolished,
0:21:50 > 0:21:53and then the whole escape shaft which goes right up to the surface
0:21:53 > 0:21:55was filled with sand. All that had to come in
0:21:55 > 0:21:57before anybody could go out.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59Why did they make it so difficult to get out?
0:21:59 > 0:22:01Well, they don't want people coming in either, so...
0:22:01 > 0:22:05So this was a last resort if you were completely trapped down here?
0:22:05 > 0:22:06A gas attack or anything like that.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09- You'd dig your way out? - Absolutely.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11This up here, by the looks of it,
0:22:11 > 0:22:15was some sort of newspaper or article but it's all in German.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19- The second word is "Fuhrer". - That's very exciting, that.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23'It translates as, "Sworn to the Fuhrer".'
0:22:23 > 0:22:25- Perhaps there was a picture. - Of Hitler?
0:22:25 > 0:22:27- Definitely a possibility. - Yeah.
0:22:33 > 0:22:38You might think the soldiers who once sheltered in these dank vaults
0:22:38 > 0:22:42would want to purge the island from their memories.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46But some, like Fritz Kunz, who was stationed in a bunker,
0:22:46 > 0:22:49still return to Guernsey.
0:22:49 > 0:22:55In 1943, aged just 17, Fritz found himself in charge of a gunnery crew.
0:22:57 > 0:23:02All the other soldiers came to Russia,
0:23:02 > 0:23:05and I was the only who knows the gun
0:23:05 > 0:23:08and so became high commander of the gun.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11- But you were lucky not to go to Russia.- Of course.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14- Yeah. The Eastern Front was a bad place to be.- Yes.
0:23:14 > 0:23:20We came here and we was thinking we came in the paradise.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23- Really?- Yes. - You thought it was paradise?- Yes.
0:23:23 > 0:23:28What did you think when you saw the bunker being opened over there,
0:23:28 > 0:23:30how did you find that?
0:23:30 > 0:23:33Oh, it was... awful.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37It was a horrible thing.
0:23:37 > 0:23:42- Do you remember when Guernsey was liberated?- Yes.
0:23:42 > 0:23:48- What happened? - It was... going out.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52- A huge relief? - Oh, now it is peace.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55- Finished?- Finished.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15We're on a journey to explore invasions of our isles.
0:24:15 > 0:24:20It's a story they know all too well on the Isle of Man.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35This island has been occupied by the Norse...
0:24:35 > 0:24:38the Scots...
0:24:38 > 0:24:40and the English.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48Today, though, it's fiercely independent.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52Surprising then, that the Manx people open their arms to one race
0:24:52 > 0:24:56that lays siege to their isle every year.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02Ruth Goodman is bracing herself for an epic invasion.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08Out there beyond the sea, the leather-clad clans are gathering.
0:25:11 > 0:25:16An army is assembling from around Britain and far beyond.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20They mount their two-wheeled chariots bound for the Isle of Man.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25The locals, ready to do battle... for business.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29Burgers, buns, beer - the TT is in town.
0:25:31 > 0:25:36For two weeks in early summer, the sound of high-speed combustion
0:25:36 > 0:25:42and the smell of leather cover the island...whatever the weather.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44Day and night, wave after wave of boats
0:25:44 > 0:25:49disgorge disciples of the most dangerous bike-fest on Earth.
0:25:49 > 0:25:54TT stands for Tourist Trophy, and these days it attracts
0:25:54 > 0:25:59over 30,000 tourists, who bring around 10,000 motorbikes.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04So what's in it for the bikers, and how do the locals feel about
0:26:04 > 0:26:07this friendly invasion of their small isle?
0:26:15 > 0:26:18The hotels can't accommodate the sudden influx of bodies.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23Bikers are berthed in private houses all over the island.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27Everybody mucks in to keep the TT on track.
0:26:31 > 0:26:36And the restaurants stock up for a briefly lived bonanza.
0:26:36 > 0:26:37He's huge...!
0:26:37 > 0:26:39That's the female.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42It's a female. How can you tell?
0:26:42 > 0:26:46And that's the male. That bit there carries the eggs.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48Beautiful colour.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51This is probably our busiest time.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53It's a big part of the year. Eat and drink, isn't it?
0:26:53 > 0:26:55- Yeah, party time. - Party time.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57As long as they eat it, we'll catch it.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Look at that, it's like one enormous giant prawn. Delicious.
0:27:06 > 0:27:12Every bite, lick and chip swells the bank balance of the Isle of Man.
0:27:12 > 0:27:17This is an invasion any island would welcome.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20So how did this small, self-contained community
0:27:20 > 0:27:23come to host the world's ultimate motorbike road race?
0:27:26 > 0:27:29'I'm heading for a private viewing of some rare film that takes us
0:27:29 > 0:27:32'right back to the beginning.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35'This little picture palace is about as old as the TT -
0:27:35 > 0:27:38'a century and counting.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42'I'm meeting social historian and TT expert Matthew Richardson.'
0:27:42 > 0:27:45- Hi.- Hello. - What's this then?
0:27:45 > 0:27:47Well, this is some early footage of one of the first TT races
0:27:47 > 0:27:48on the Isle of Man.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50Oh, blinking 'eck!
0:27:50 > 0:27:52He just picked himself up and got back on the bike.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54That's a pretty low speed crash.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56It's... It's all relative.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00The 1911 Junior TT, the winner won at just over 40 mph.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03The current lap record is just over 130 mph.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06They still look like pushbikes with motors on, don't they?
0:28:06 > 0:28:10Well, they were. Technology was very primitive.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14The TT races began after speed regulations were imposed on
0:28:14 > 0:28:19British roads in 1903, a 20mph limit was set on the mainland.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23The self-governing Isle of Man had no such restrictions -
0:28:23 > 0:28:27the only limits were the power of the bikes,
0:28:27 > 0:28:29and the skill of the riders.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32In the early days it wasn't all about speed, it was very much
0:28:32 > 0:28:35a trial of reliability, one of the early riders comments that
0:28:35 > 0:28:39although he won the race, he had to stop to mend a puncture.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42Pushing the bikes to breaking point year after year
0:28:42 > 0:28:47created the TT's global reputation for thrills and spills.
0:28:47 > 0:28:49Go anywhere in the world,
0:28:49 > 0:28:51people might not be sure where the Isle of Man is,
0:28:51 > 0:28:54but there's a fair chance they'll have heard of the TT races.
0:28:59 > 0:29:04'They say to understand someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.'
0:29:04 > 0:29:07I'd never normally wear trousers at the beach.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10'Or ride a mile in their leathers.'
0:29:10 > 0:29:13But then, tights and bikes don't really mix.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19I'm joining the tribe that has taken over the island,
0:29:19 > 0:29:22for a ride with one of the race's royals.
0:29:25 > 0:29:31Sidecar passenger Rose Hanks was the queen of the TT in the '60s.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34And Roy was her prince.
0:29:34 > 0:29:40Roy Hanks has been TT racing since 1966 - a sidecar legend.
0:29:40 > 0:29:45Now Rose has agreed to turn her husband over to me,
0:29:45 > 0:29:47and she is a hard act to follow!
0:29:47 > 0:29:52In 1968, Rose became the first woman ever to get on the podium.
0:29:52 > 0:29:53There she is, proud moment, yeah.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56Absolutely. Rose was the first.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59I remember when I first met her, she impressed me then,
0:29:59 > 0:30:02but when she was dressed in black leather
0:30:02 > 0:30:04she was even better looking and...
0:30:04 > 0:30:09Rose's skill in the sidecar made her a star in the '60s.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12Today, she's happiest steering the family bike business
0:30:12 > 0:30:14out of the limelight.
0:30:14 > 0:30:16Cos there wasn't so many girls around doing it
0:30:16 > 0:30:19you got more attention, so...
0:30:19 > 0:30:20They wanted me to wear make-up.
0:30:20 > 0:30:24I says "No, I don't wear make-up racing."
0:30:24 > 0:30:27They were good days, they were, the best.
0:30:27 > 0:30:31- That was the year she was presented to...- Prince Philip.- Prince Philip.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34See the mop of hair, there. Not on Prince Philip, on Rose!
0:30:36 > 0:30:39For riders like Rose, the glamour of the TT
0:30:39 > 0:30:41goes hand-in-glove with the danger.
0:30:48 > 0:30:53The infamous mountain course is considered the world's most lethal.
0:30:53 > 0:30:57Over 130 riders have been killed on the road.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03Sometimes I get a bit worried and concerned
0:31:03 > 0:31:05how dangerous it could be and has been.
0:31:07 > 0:31:11But once I'm on my bike racing...
0:31:12 > 0:31:14..I'm 21 again.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19Who wouldn't want to be 21 again?
0:31:19 > 0:31:22I'm along for the ride, Roy's at the handlebars.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25The tarmac of the TT beckons.
0:31:26 > 0:31:28Whoa...!
0:31:35 > 0:31:39From my sidecar seat, the future rolls out ahead.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42But echoes of the past are never far behind.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47Wow, what a view!
0:31:50 > 0:31:54Now I can see why bikers enjoy overtaking the island each year.
0:31:56 > 0:31:59- Ah, marvellous! - SHE LAUGHS
0:32:15 > 0:32:18We're exploring invaders of the isles.
0:32:23 > 0:32:28Even in peacetime small islands face a threat from bigger neighbours.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35The invasion of new ideas can destroy traditional lifestyles.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40Historically, better prospects overseas
0:32:40 > 0:32:44have stripped Scottish islands of their brightest and best.
0:32:49 > 0:32:54The pain of separation is still raw to the lost community of Stroma.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02People clung on here until 1962.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12John Manson and his family were the last to leave Stroma.
0:33:12 > 0:33:17Now John's heading back to the deserted isle.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20See the ruin in the middle,
0:33:20 > 0:33:23that one on the right hand side is my grandfather's house.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27His past life is lost in the sea mist.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32The weather today makes the island more dreich-looking.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37"Dreich" meaning dilapidated and not good-looking.
0:33:39 > 0:33:44Helen Adams lives on the mainland now, but she was born on Stroma.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48She hasn't been back since the mid-'60s, for good reason.
0:33:49 > 0:33:51Stroma is an idyllic island,
0:33:51 > 0:33:56and for anyone who visits it or lives in its vicinity
0:33:56 > 0:34:00I would say it's where the earth meets the sky.
0:34:00 > 0:34:01It's on the edge of the world.
0:34:02 > 0:34:04I feel very confident in thought
0:34:04 > 0:34:07that I will never return to Stroma
0:34:07 > 0:34:10because it was a wonderful island for me,
0:34:10 > 0:34:14and I have this romantic bubble contained within my head,
0:34:14 > 0:34:17and that bubble I don't ever wish to burst.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27It feels a wee bit funny to walk on the island again
0:34:27 > 0:34:29but it's lovely to be here.
0:34:29 > 0:34:34Everything seems a wee bit smaller than it used to do.
0:34:35 > 0:34:37The pier here...
0:34:37 > 0:34:40You always think it's wider when you're younger.
0:34:41 > 0:34:45I had a wonderful life on Stroma. Never, ever lonely - never, never.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49A home of plenty. Mum baked and cooked and made.
0:34:51 > 0:34:53Tables creaking with goodies.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06This is our family home...
0:35:06 > 0:35:11er, that we left in 1962.
0:35:11 > 0:35:15It was the last house that anybody lived in here on the island.
0:35:15 > 0:35:20That's my bedroom there, it wasn't like that in 1962.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28That's... That's the table we used to eat off.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31My mother and father slept in the box bed here,
0:35:31 > 0:35:35and my bedroom was here.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42Not a very good bedroom now.
0:35:42 > 0:35:48You could look out the window, see the sea views, ships passing.
0:35:50 > 0:35:54It's sad when you come and look where you lived. Aye, sad.
0:35:56 > 0:35:58A lot of the islanders have died off.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03They got less on the island when we were living here
0:36:03 > 0:36:09and now they're getting less on the mainland through them dying away and...
0:36:09 > 0:36:10that, you know.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14It's sad... It's sad to speak about it, sometimes.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17But you have to speak about it. You have to speak about it.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19But it's sad to speak about it.
0:36:29 > 0:36:31School was lovely.
0:36:31 > 0:36:36Girls at this school learned to cook and the boys learned woodwork.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41It's still in remarkably good nick, the building itself.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47There would be about, erm, what, 20 pupils.
0:36:47 > 0:36:49And we had a really good teacher.
0:36:49 > 0:36:53She was a Miss Manson and she taught us a little poem -
0:36:53 > 0:36:56"Good, better, best
0:36:56 > 0:36:58"Never let it rest
0:36:58 > 0:37:03"Until your good is better And your better's best."
0:37:03 > 0:37:06And that was a motto which she wanted us to carry
0:37:06 > 0:37:09for the rest of our lives.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14I would leave the island in 1951 to go to the high school.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18And I can still see that wistful look upon my mother's face
0:37:18 > 0:37:21as she packed the case for her only child
0:37:21 > 0:37:25to go to the ends of the earth.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32This was another of our hobbies - watching ships passing.
0:37:32 > 0:37:34The picture always changes.
0:37:34 > 0:37:38Another ship...another boat, or whatever was coming.
0:37:38 > 0:37:40But it was a great hobby for all the islanders -
0:37:40 > 0:37:43telescope, and watching the ships passing.
0:37:43 > 0:37:48People have this idea that they used to say -
0:37:48 > 0:37:50particularly when I was at the high school -
0:37:50 > 0:37:53oh, you know, you're cut off. You're cut off by the sea.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57An islander is never cut off
0:37:57 > 0:38:00because it's the very opposite the islander feels.
0:38:00 > 0:38:05It's the sea which connects us with the mainland.
0:38:05 > 0:38:11Islanders left, seals multiplied, birds multiplied -
0:38:11 > 0:38:14wildlife use it as their home now.
0:38:18 > 0:38:22Parents realised - as parents do - they want the best for their families.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25And I think that was the reason why the people drifted
0:38:25 > 0:38:27to the mainland and elsewhere.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31When I think of Stroma...
0:38:31 > 0:38:35it makes me feel young again, and it certainly restores my soul.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53Fragile isles face many perils.
0:38:56 > 0:39:00But some, like Guernsey, rise to the challenge.
0:39:03 > 0:39:08For centuries, the islanders succeeded in turning the threat of war
0:39:08 > 0:39:10into a money-making venture.
0:39:13 > 0:39:18Towers like this that pepper the shore are some 200 years old -
0:39:18 > 0:39:22defences against possible invasion by the French
0:39:22 > 0:39:24running rampant under Napoleon.
0:39:26 > 0:39:29The islanders learned that during times of war
0:39:29 > 0:39:35different rules apply - rules that can be bent to your advantage.
0:39:38 > 0:39:43As the threat of invasion rose, riches rolled in with the waves.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47Guernsey became a "treasure island"
0:39:47 > 0:39:52thanks to the ill-gotten gains of the infamous Guernsey privateers.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55CANNON FIRE
0:39:55 > 0:39:58Described as the Despair of France,
0:39:58 > 0:40:03these private warships were fast and heavily armed with determined crews.
0:40:06 > 0:40:09Guernsey was the ideal base for privateers to strike
0:40:09 > 0:40:13at rich cargo vessels sailing the English Channel.
0:40:14 > 0:40:19But how could these Guernsey bandits get away with plundering booty
0:40:19 > 0:40:21from the big boys of Europe?
0:40:24 > 0:40:27I'm searching for evidence of their exploits.
0:40:28 > 0:40:32Some locals still benefit from those long lost wars.
0:40:34 > 0:40:38'Peter de Sausmarez is a descendant of a famous Guernsey privateer.
0:40:40 > 0:40:44'To the family, he's Grand Matthieu - Great Matthew.'
0:40:44 > 0:40:46But this is the Grand Matthieu.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49Centre-stage in your portrait gallery here?
0:40:49 > 0:40:52Well, very important. Yes. We're all descended from him.
0:40:52 > 0:40:54And, of course, he was the one who sowed the seeds
0:40:54 > 0:40:57of the family recovery and fortune again.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01And what evidence do you have that he was involved in privateering?
0:41:01 > 0:41:05Well, I've got a few letters he wrote, and these are examples
0:41:05 > 0:41:10of letter books. But these we found are of...1712.
0:41:10 > 0:41:11So very early on.
0:41:11 > 0:41:15- So Matthew is in at the beginning. - Right at the beginning. Absolutely.
0:41:15 > 0:41:16And here is a letter here saying, erm,
0:41:16 > 0:41:20"I'm writing on behalf of Thomas de Marchant
0:41:20 > 0:41:23"to offer him a privateer ship of eight guns,
0:41:23 > 0:41:24"and to recruit some sailors."
0:41:24 > 0:41:28You had to have weapons of inducement.
0:41:28 > 0:41:30And we've got some rather fine examples here.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33This is what the seamen would be using.
0:41:33 > 0:41:37This is interesting because this is French. Erm...
0:41:37 > 0:41:39You can see it's very basic and very simple,
0:41:39 > 0:41:42but one thing that's absolutely tip-top is the blade.
0:41:42 > 0:41:46- Look at that.- So all the effort was put into this blade.- Indeed, yes.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49If you can imagine people coming aboard, and waving these. You know.
0:41:49 > 0:41:53- Is that a stick...? - Or slash, I think. Yeah.
0:41:53 > 0:41:55Back in the scabbard now, do you think?
0:41:55 > 0:41:59Perhaps it'd be safer there, wouldn't it? Yeah.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02Very good. Erm, I think you'd make quite a good privateer.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06Do you think? It would be quite fun, wouldn't it?
0:42:09 > 0:42:13Strong-arm tactics soon built up fortunes.
0:42:13 > 0:42:17The gains may have been ill-gotten, but these weren't pirates.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20The privateers had powerful friends.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25The British, worried about French invasion,
0:42:25 > 0:42:28welcomed attacks on the foreign ships.
0:42:28 > 0:42:33So much so, the privateers got a contract from the King.
0:42:33 > 0:42:35This is a Letter of Marque -
0:42:35 > 0:42:39basically, a pirate's licence to operate legally.
0:42:39 > 0:42:45It's dated "the year of our Lord 1804".
0:42:45 > 0:42:52At the top up here is a wonderful portrait of King George III,
0:42:52 > 0:42:55and down on the bottom is the King's royal seal.
0:42:55 > 0:42:59Now, this letter allows the bearer
0:42:59 > 0:43:06to "lawfully apprehend, seize and take all ships, vessels and goods
0:43:06 > 0:43:09"belonging to the French Republic."
0:43:09 > 0:43:12This is a royal permit to plunder.
0:43:18 > 0:43:23The Crown encouraged Guernsey boatmen to be a thorn in the side of the French,
0:43:23 > 0:43:28and the privateers had home advantage against passing ships.
0:43:28 > 0:43:33Skipper Roger Perrot has local knowledge of these treacherous seas.
0:43:34 > 0:43:38What would it have been like trying to navigate through these islands
0:43:38 > 0:43:42under sail, no engines, without an electronic chart-plotter
0:43:42 > 0:43:45- like the one here? - Well, just hell.
0:43:45 > 0:43:49I would not like to have been sailing a really big ship around here.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52In privateering time, they were brilliant sailors.
0:43:52 > 0:43:54We're armchair sailors, really, aren't we?
0:43:56 > 0:43:59This is a really dangerous part of the world.
0:43:59 > 0:44:03We're going to go over some really rather nasty rocks, in a moment.
0:44:03 > 0:44:05- Those rocks are quite close, aren't they?- Yeah.
0:44:10 > 0:44:11Fear not!
0:44:15 > 0:44:20Daredevil sailors giving the French a bloody nose in the Napoleonic wars?
0:44:20 > 0:44:23Is that how the islanders regarded the privateers?
0:44:23 > 0:44:27In Guernsey society it was considered to be an honourable profession
0:44:27 > 0:44:31until the 1820's, which is way after the end of the Napoleonic war.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34So would privateers have been celebrated on shore?
0:44:34 > 0:44:38Oh, yes, absolutely. And most of the ships were made in Guernsey, as well.
0:44:38 > 0:44:42I suppose privateering was considered more of a middle-class occupation,
0:44:42 > 0:44:44and when you became nouveau riche, and moved up an echelon,
0:44:44 > 0:44:48then you went into the Navy - the Royal Navy -
0:44:48 > 0:44:51where you could still make a lot of money.
0:44:57 > 0:45:01Many of the islanders shared the spoils of the privateers'
0:45:01 > 0:45:06plundering raids, as local historian Annette Henry knows.
0:45:06 > 0:45:10They weren't exactly following the principles of fair trade, were they?
0:45:10 > 0:45:13Not really, no, but in times of war you have to do what you can,
0:45:13 > 0:45:16and living on an island we needed to make money.
0:45:16 > 0:45:19- And was it lucrative? - It was incredibly lucrative.
0:45:19 > 0:45:21One could amass a fortune of...
0:45:21 > 0:45:26Well, an instance in 1799 has a Mr LeMeseurier amassing a fortune
0:45:26 > 0:45:30of £212,000 sterling then, in 1799.
0:45:30 > 0:45:32Equate that to today's terms
0:45:32 > 0:45:35and we're looking at a quarter of a billion pounds in one year.
0:45:36 > 0:45:38It was said a fifth went to the sovereign,
0:45:38 > 0:45:42two-thirds of the remainder went to the owner of the ship of war,
0:45:42 > 0:45:45and the remainder went to the captain and crew.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48The sovereign was very happy to issue as many Letters of Marques as possible.
0:45:57 > 0:46:01The privateers played a dangerous game in their tiny boats
0:46:01 > 0:46:06dodging the warring giants on both sides of the Channel.
0:46:06 > 0:46:10But when peace settled on the seas, their game was up.
0:46:18 > 0:46:26Victory at Waterloo in 1815 made defences against the French redundant.
0:46:26 > 0:46:30Calm descended on home waters.
0:46:30 > 0:46:36Our global trade thrived because the Royal Navy reigned supreme.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39The British Empire was envied by foreign powers,
0:46:39 > 0:46:44but our islands seemed impregnable to seaborne attack.
0:46:44 > 0:46:51Then, early in the 20th century, the sky came crashing in on Great Yarmouth.
0:46:55 > 0:47:00Tessa is about to relive a tale of terror from above.
0:47:03 > 0:47:08In 1915, we looked across the North Sea and trembled.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11The Great War was tearing the continent apart.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15And here on the quiet shores of Norfolk
0:47:15 > 0:47:21a terrifying new style of attack was about to be unleashed - by aerial invaders.
0:47:21 > 0:47:26On the night of the 19th of January 1915,
0:47:26 > 0:47:29townsfolk on the dark streets of Great Yarmouth
0:47:29 > 0:47:34were transfixed by an eerie noise from the fog bank above.
0:47:37 > 0:47:42An eyewitness described the sound as 20 bicycles charging down a hill,
0:47:42 > 0:47:45then a brilliant flash appeared in the sky,
0:47:45 > 0:47:49a searchlight from a flying machine illuminated the streets,
0:47:49 > 0:47:52followed by a string of bomb blasts.
0:47:52 > 0:47:56On that foggy night, many people couldn't believe their eyes.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59But later, the local paper left no doubt.
0:48:01 > 0:48:07A Zeppelin air raid - the first on British shores.
0:48:07 > 0:48:09With that attack on Great Yarmouth,
0:48:09 > 0:48:12the Germans unleashed three years of terror.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16Aerial warfare was invented, as the invaders outsmarted
0:48:16 > 0:48:17Britain's defenders.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22Our planes were primitive, with poor communications.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26How could our islands resist the Zeppelins?
0:48:26 > 0:48:30Suddenly the nation's streets had become the front line.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33Bombs rained down with fatal consequences.
0:48:34 > 0:48:39Martha Taylor, a 72-year-old spinster, was killed here.
0:48:39 > 0:48:41She died instantly.
0:48:41 > 0:48:43Martha and fellow casualty Samuel Smith
0:48:43 > 0:48:47were the first Britons to die in an air raid.
0:48:47 > 0:48:51The night attack on Great Yarmouth woke Britain up to a new
0:48:51 > 0:48:53weapon of terror.
0:48:53 > 0:48:56Zeppelins were long-range killing machines
0:48:56 > 0:49:00carrying over 1,000lbs of bombs.
0:49:00 > 0:49:04They had hit Norfolk first, but the Germans had a bigger prize.
0:49:04 > 0:49:08In the summer, they struck London.
0:49:08 > 0:49:1095 died there by the year's end,
0:49:10 > 0:49:14and fear spread across the land.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17Historian Graham Mottram knows why we struggled
0:49:17 > 0:49:19to shoot down the airships.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23We were only - what? -
0:49:23 > 0:49:2511 years after the Wright brothers' first flight?
0:49:25 > 0:49:28So aircraft were still very limited.
0:49:28 > 0:49:31We had I think it was 93 aeroplanes, something like that,
0:49:31 > 0:49:34at the outbreak of the First World War, and of course
0:49:34 > 0:49:38the art of anti-aircraft gunnery was still very, very primitive.
0:49:38 > 0:49:42We were looking at trying to modify artillery pieces to try and...
0:49:42 > 0:49:46and shoot high in the air, in the hope of bringing these things down.
0:49:46 > 0:49:48The Zeppelins' night-time blitz
0:49:48 > 0:49:52would strike along the length and breadth of Britain,
0:49:52 > 0:49:56killing hundreds during the First World War.
0:49:56 > 0:50:01We scrambled to invent air defences from scratch.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05The Royal Flying Corps were fighting on the Western Front,
0:50:05 > 0:50:10so early protection of home shores relied largely on Royal Navy aircraft.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15They flew from coastal airstrips,
0:50:15 > 0:50:18and the Navy also tried a desperate new tactic.
0:50:18 > 0:50:22The aim was to intercept the airship raiders over the water,
0:50:22 > 0:50:26which meant taking off from the sea.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31You've got this 60ft long barge - on it there's a wooden deck,
0:50:31 > 0:50:34and on that wooden deck we put a Sopwith Camel.
0:50:34 > 0:50:38Towing it quickly across the North Sea into the teeth of a strong wind
0:50:38 > 0:50:41meant there was enough flying wind across the deck.
0:50:41 > 0:50:43- You'd get lift-off! - You'd get lift-off.
0:50:43 > 0:50:47Let go of the string that secures the aircraft at the back of the boat
0:50:47 > 0:50:48and it leaps into the air.
0:50:48 > 0:50:51This is, effectively, a very early aircraft carrier.
0:50:51 > 0:50:53That is precisely what it is.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56A lot of the Zeppelin attacks occurred at night.
0:50:56 > 0:50:59What were the challenges of flying in the dark?
0:50:59 > 0:51:03Enormous. We've got these little frail aeroplanes,
0:51:03 > 0:51:04unreliable engines.
0:51:04 > 0:51:07People got disorientated in the dark,
0:51:07 > 0:51:11often flying with a torch to be able to read the instruments.
0:51:11 > 0:51:15There were fatalities - it was extremely dangerous.
0:51:16 > 0:51:21Even if a fighter plane could find a Zeppelin in the pitch darkness,
0:51:21 > 0:51:26it was still a David and Goliath struggle to destroy an airship.
0:51:26 > 0:51:31Look at its size, compared to a fighter plane of the same period.
0:51:31 > 0:51:34It's dwarfed by the Zeppelin.
0:51:34 > 0:51:36To lift men and bombs,
0:51:36 > 0:51:43a vast quantity of lighter-than-air hydrogen gas was contained inside a massive frame.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48The metal skeleton held enough gas-bags
0:51:48 > 0:51:50to survive many hits from a machine gun.
0:51:52 > 0:51:56But the Zeppelin's greatest fear was fire.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00Their hydrogen gas was highly flammable.
0:52:02 > 0:52:07Could anyone conjure up a fiery magic bullet to save Britain from the Zeppelins?
0:52:08 > 0:52:13Tony Edwards knows the secret of the new incendiary ammunition.
0:52:14 > 0:52:18That was filled with phosphorous, and in the side of the bullet
0:52:18 > 0:52:21there was a very, very small hole filled with solder.
0:52:21 > 0:52:22When the bullet was fired,
0:52:22 > 0:52:27the bullet twisted up the barrel in the rifling, the solder melted,
0:52:27 > 0:52:29and as the bullet left the muzzle of the gun,
0:52:29 > 0:52:31it was spewing phosphorous.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34Phosphorus ignites when in contact with the air, it sets light
0:52:34 > 0:52:39and it leaves a smoke trail so it's burning all the way to its target.
0:52:39 > 0:52:43Lethal to the Zeppelins, phosphorous is tricky stuff to handle.
0:52:45 > 0:52:49Chemist Stephen Ashworth has made up a phosphorous solution.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53Dip in a tissue, and when it dries out
0:52:53 > 0:52:56the phosphorous comes in contact with air,
0:52:56 > 0:52:59and it should spontaneously ignite.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02It's like waiting for a magic trick.
0:53:03 > 0:53:04Oh, yes!
0:53:06 > 0:53:09- That was extraordinary! Out of nowhere.- That's right.
0:53:12 > 0:53:14As well as phosphorous shells,
0:53:14 > 0:53:18by 1916 our armoury also included bullets
0:53:18 > 0:53:21with an explosive nitro-glycerine core.
0:53:21 > 0:53:25Now we had the chemical weapons to kill the Zeppelins.
0:53:26 > 0:53:28But it would take brave men to try.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36I've got a precious album that belonged to Egbert Cadbury,
0:53:36 > 0:53:38a courageous Zeppelin hunter.
0:53:39 > 0:53:41Cadbury was based in Great Yarmouth.
0:53:41 > 0:53:43Originally, he was a Navy pilot,
0:53:43 > 0:53:47but in 1918 he was co-opted into the newly formed RAF.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53On the night of the 5th of August 1918,
0:53:53 > 0:53:57Major Cadbury launched the last attack against the airship invaders,
0:53:57 > 0:54:01when the Germans unleashed the super-Zeppelin...
0:54:01 > 0:54:05..the L70 - the most advanced Zeppelin yet.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10Almost 700 feet long, with seven engines,
0:54:10 > 0:54:15capable of carrying 10,000lbs of bombs.
0:54:15 > 0:54:19I've actually got a priceless recording of Major Cadbury
0:54:19 > 0:54:23recounting his struggle against the fearsome Zeppelin
0:54:23 > 0:54:24on that fateful night.
0:54:26 > 0:54:29'We received warning from naval patrols at sea
0:54:29 > 0:54:33'that hostile aircraft were approaching The Wash at great height.
0:54:35 > 0:54:37'I immediately flew off in pursuit.'
0:54:41 > 0:54:45Unbeknown to Cadbury, he wasn't only taking on the super-Zeppelin.
0:54:45 > 0:54:49At the helm was this man, Commander Peter Strasser,
0:54:49 > 0:54:52architect of the Zeppelin war on Britain,
0:54:52 > 0:54:56desperate to prove the worth of his airships against aircraft.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00Today you can't fly planes like this at night,
0:55:00 > 0:55:03but we CAN relive Cadbury's hunt for the super-Zeppelin.
0:55:04 > 0:55:08Despite being three times the length of a jumbo jet,
0:55:08 > 0:55:12the L70 was not easy to find in pitch blackness.
0:55:12 > 0:55:16'You sat in the cockpit, and had to depend upon your eyesight
0:55:16 > 0:55:19'to spot the airship against a starry sky.
0:55:19 > 0:55:23'It was rather like trying to find a fly in a darkened bedroom.'
0:55:23 > 0:55:26The airship was almost over the coast.
0:55:26 > 0:55:29To intercept it Cadbury knew he would have to push his plane
0:55:29 > 0:55:32to altitudes close to its physical limit,
0:55:32 > 0:55:36where the air was so thin the engine was at risk of stalling.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40In an open cockpit at 17,000ft there would have been a biting wind.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43The engine would have been rattling, spitting oil...
0:55:43 > 0:55:46It would have been impossible to hear a Zeppelin over the racket.
0:55:46 > 0:55:51But miraculously, Cadbury caught a glimpse of his prey.
0:55:53 > 0:55:54'She looked simply immense -
0:55:54 > 0:55:58'as indeed she was, being 300 yards long from stem to stern.'
0:55:58 > 0:56:04Held aloft by 2.2 million cubic feet of flammable hydrogen.
0:56:04 > 0:56:08A tiny incendiary bullet could bring the super-Zeppelin down.
0:56:08 > 0:56:13Gunner Bob Leckie made ready with his machine gun.
0:56:13 > 0:56:16'Suddenly the darkness was ripped open.
0:56:16 > 0:56:20'Bob Leckie gave her a few bursts of fire of tracer bullets.'
0:56:24 > 0:56:26A hit!
0:56:26 > 0:56:28'And within a matter of seconds
0:56:28 > 0:56:30'flames started to leap from her bows.
0:56:31 > 0:56:33'And as I banked away,
0:56:33 > 0:56:37'she went blazing down to the clouds 2,000 feet beneath us.
0:56:39 > 0:56:42'We lost sight of her as she continued her downward journey
0:56:42 > 0:56:45'into the North Sea, nearly three miles below.'
0:56:49 > 0:56:52Strasser, the German Zeppelin commander, fell to his death.
0:56:52 > 0:56:56His ambitious plans for more audacious airship raids
0:56:56 > 0:56:58died with him.
0:56:59 > 0:57:04It started over the Norfolk coast, and it ended there.
0:57:04 > 0:57:09Sir Egbert Cadbury went on to manage his family's chocolate empire,
0:57:09 > 0:57:12but he kept a souvenir.
0:57:12 > 0:57:16This is a cigarette case made from lightweight aluminium taken from
0:57:16 > 0:57:17the super-Zeppelin.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20It actually has Cadbury's signature inscribed on it.
0:57:21 > 0:57:26A small reminder of a largely forgotten first Blitz on Britain,
0:57:26 > 0:57:31when events on this coast shook the nation to its core.
0:57:39 > 0:57:44Our island shores bear the scars of conflicts long past.
0:57:50 > 0:57:56But the dying sun hasn't quite obscured the age-old fears of invasion.
0:57:58 > 0:58:03For some, the pain of conquest is a living memory
0:58:03 > 0:58:05that makes freedom something to cherish.
0:58:11 > 0:58:16Those who remember the long dark night of Nazi occupation
0:58:16 > 0:58:18celebrate their liberty.
0:58:18 > 0:58:20I'm proud to stand with them
0:58:20 > 0:58:26and think of the price people paid facing the invaders of our isles.
0:58:32 > 0:58:36Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd