:00:06. > :00:10.This Sunday is Remembrance Sunday, and all week we will be hairg the
:00:10. > :00:13.heroic and courageous stories, in honour of the men and women who
:00:13. > :00:23.have given their lives, both here and in past conflicts around the
:00:23. > :00:40.
:00:40. > :00:45.world, this is remembrance - This Sunday is Remembrance Sunday,
:00:45. > :00:49.the Kay - day we honour those who have given their lives for their
:00:49. > :00:54.country. In the lead up to this National Service of Remembrance, we
:00:54. > :00:59.hear the real stories of the people who march past the Cenotaph at
:00:59. > :01:03.Whitehall. Coming up on today's programme, an
:01:03. > :01:08.RAF firefighter battles the biggest blaze of his life. I can remember
:01:08. > :01:15.stand standing in the middle of the stand storm, by myself, thinking I
:01:15. > :01:23.have all my boys and girls here. Brothers, Ernie and Len remember
:01:23. > :01:28.their adventures as merchant seamen. On the first day the last ships
:01:28. > :01:32.were sunk. I get manhandled here in Afghanistan. Search through the
:01:32. > :01:37.hair feeling for anything that shouldn't be there.
:01:37. > :01:44.Not everyone remembers the Aden emergency, but for one soldier in
:01:44. > :01:51.particular, it is a conflict he will never forget. In 1961, Brian
:01:51. > :01:56.Bryson never expected to go to war, let alone return a hero. But aged
:01:56. > :01:59.just 19 he decided to join the Royal Army Service Corps.
:01:59. > :02:07.training could be fun, at times, other times it was very serious,
:02:07. > :02:10.but you had to work hard, marching up and down, trying to be soldiers!
:02:10. > :02:15.I chose driving rather than infantry. It wasn't just driving a
:02:15. > :02:20.vehicle, you had to learn how to maintain it, how to strip parts
:02:20. > :02:26.down, and you drove different vehicles, took your driving test
:02:26. > :02:32.and that was you. You were then qualified.
:02:33. > :02:37.In 19678, Brian's regiment was posted - 1967, Brian's regiment was
:02:37. > :02:43.posted to Aden, known now as Yemen. I remember stepping off the plane
:02:43. > :02:47.when we got to Aden, very hot, 8.00pm, it was dark. We knew it was
:02:47. > :02:52.a hot place and in the Middle East, we knew what we were going in for.
:02:52. > :02:57.The British Government declared that'den would become independent
:02:57. > :03:00.by 1968. But as our troops began to withdraw, local unrest erupted
:03:00. > :03:05.between rival factions, as they fought to gain control. You didn't
:03:05. > :03:10.know the enemy, they didn't have a uniform, they could be down the
:03:10. > :03:14.side of the road, you didn't know. Under this constant threat, Brian
:03:14. > :03:19.still had a job to do, which was helping to build new roads, so
:03:19. > :03:23.local people could transport their goods to market.
:03:23. > :03:30.We worked with the royal engineers that were there, when they went out,
:03:30. > :03:34.we would then supply the wagons, ten-en toers to go out with them -
:03:34. > :03:38.ten tonneers, to go out with them, so when they were blasting through
:03:38. > :03:41.the rock they would put it on the back of the wagons, we would take
:03:41. > :03:46.it and dump it somewhere. That was basically what you done, you
:03:46. > :03:53.finished about 2.00pm, happy days. At night, when the troops relax,
:03:53. > :04:00.they weren't too bothered about the odd pot shot from the enemy. There
:04:00. > :04:05.was one night when we were watching a warry film, there was all the
:04:05. > :04:08.shooting going about, I said the shooting is getting a bit real now,
:04:08. > :04:18.I said there was bullet holes in the screen. We carried on watching
:04:18. > :04:22.the film. They were useless shots any way, most of the time. This
:04:22. > :04:28.would dramatically change when a simple mission went wrong for one
:04:29. > :04:36.of Brian's comrades. Travelling in convoy Brian and his
:04:36. > :04:43.team were making their way across open desert. I was walking and I
:04:43. > :04:48.was maybe 10, 15 yards away, next thing I heard was a big whomph, I
:04:48. > :04:51.spun round and looked at the Land Rover which was lifted into the air.
:04:51. > :04:58.The front wheel disappeared over the horizon, never saw that again.
:04:58. > :05:03.It all went very, very quiet. only person in the vehicle was the
:05:03. > :05:08.driver, Tony Fenemer, known simply as Brummie. I looked back at the
:05:08. > :05:13.Land Rover and I thought, where's Brummie. So I don't know, I just
:05:13. > :05:19.ran to the Land Rover. From the position that he should have been
:05:19. > :05:23.sitting in, the force of the explosion had put him across the
:05:23. > :05:28.front of the Land Rover seats. That's when I saw what his injuries
:05:28. > :05:35.were. Brummie was unconscious, and his left arm was severely damaged.
:05:35. > :05:40.As the first person on the scene, Brian did all he could to help him.
:05:40. > :05:43.We carried a first aid kit, bandages, I gave him morphine as
:05:43. > :05:47.well. You are saving a fellow human being and soldier. The medic came
:05:47. > :05:51.over, and the two of them they got a stretcher, took him out of the
:05:51. > :05:56.Land Rover, and then they just took him away. Brummie was airlifted to
:05:56. > :06:01.hospital, where his arm had to be amputated. It would be great to
:06:01. > :06:06.think that maybe I did help save his life in that instant. Just a
:06:06. > :06:10.couple of weeks later, Brian was able to check up on his patient.
:06:10. > :06:16.And I said what are you going to do, he said, he's going to drive
:06:16. > :06:21.lorries. I said oh, he said he will have his golden arm, his golden
:06:21. > :06:26.trigger and he will be driving lorries. That was what he was like.
:06:26. > :06:31.Beginning of June 1967, that was the last time I ever saw him.
:06:31. > :06:35.Brummie has still got that cheeky sense of humour, and 44 years on,
:06:36. > :06:42.he's finally on his way to meet Brian, the man who helped save his
:06:42. > :06:49.life. Whatever happened, that day, that
:06:49. > :06:53.week, or two weeks before, has been shut away. Because I don't remember
:06:53. > :07:03.even the build-up to it. Just that drive through, that is all I
:07:03. > :07:17.
:07:17. > :07:25.remember. I need the gaps to be Did you get to drive that lorry?
:07:25. > :07:29.Yes. If it wasn't for you, and what you
:07:29. > :07:33.are going to tell me. Thank you for surviving. I was determined to
:07:33. > :07:39.survive. Thank you. I wouldn't have changed it, you were one of mine,
:07:39. > :07:49.it was a pleasure,s if great to see him again.
:07:49. > :07:54.
:07:54. > :08:01.I think it is important that the younger generation realise what
:08:01. > :08:11.Remembrance is all about. It is not just parading with Stards and
:08:11. > :08:14.
:08:14. > :08:21.laying poppy wreaths, because every pop y... Represents blood, given by
:08:21. > :08:31.the men and women of this country, in conflicts throughout the years,
:08:31. > :08:34.
:08:34. > :08:37.we should never, ever forget that. One of the reasons our troops are
:08:37. > :08:40.in Afghanistan, is to gradually allow the local communities take
:08:40. > :08:44.responsibility for their own security. One of the ways they are
:08:44. > :08:49.doing this, is by mentoring the Afghan police.
:08:49. > :08:56.I'm on my way out of Camp Bastion, to a police headquarters, located
:08:56. > :08:58.near a village called ping ping - Pinkalay, in Helmand Province.
:08:58. > :09:02.Today an initiative is nearing completion, that has helped bring
:09:02. > :09:11.greater security to the local people. This headquarters is the
:09:11. > :09:14.hub of British army efforts in the area.
:09:14. > :09:17.Captain Giles Walsh leads a dedicated team of British mentors
:09:17. > :09:21.who live and work alongside the Afghan police.
:09:21. > :09:25.Tell me what your role is here? aim of myself and my team is to
:09:25. > :09:29.provide development to the police, so that when we eventually withdraw
:09:29. > :09:31.in 2014, they will be able to stand on their own two legs and be self-
:09:31. > :09:36.sufficient and survive themselves. Since you have been here, how have
:09:36. > :09:41.you seen this area change for the better? A year ago, there was
:09:41. > :09:46.fighting in the streets of Pinkalay, and now, the police can walk around,
:09:47. > :09:52.unarmed, and they are very much central to the local community.
:09:52. > :09:55.British military have been passing on their expertise to the Afghan
:09:55. > :10:00.security forces since 2009. One of the most important, yet basic
:10:00. > :10:05.lessons they teach, is how to conduct an effective search. A lot
:10:05. > :10:09.of the bomb making equipment is moved in by local, hidden on their
:10:09. > :10:12.person. We are improving the capability of the police to uncover
:10:12. > :10:15.these component parts. These hidden components can be anything from a
:10:16. > :10:19.length of wire, to a battery. Finding them before they can make
:10:20. > :10:24.their way into a bomb can save lives.
:10:24. > :10:29.I have been asked to help Lance Corporal James Alldread, and I may
:10:29. > :10:34.have a little surprise up my sleeve. Just give you a quick demonstration
:10:34. > :10:41.on how to search someone. Search through his hair, feel through his
:10:41. > :10:47.scalp for anything you can feel there. Smooth down, not a pat down.
:10:47. > :10:53.Every crease and fold just be meticulously searched. That is the
:10:53. > :10:57.top half, now the bottom half, searching there. Obviously we found
:10:57. > :11:02.something. What is that Just a bit of wire for farming I'm doing.
:11:02. > :11:10.kind of farming? Sheep warming? Sheep farming with wire. The story
:11:10. > :11:13.doesn't add up, we take that from him, that will go in plastic bag.
:11:13. > :11:18.It's training exercises like these that will prepare the Afghan forces
:11:18. > :11:23.for when the British leave in 2014. These newly trained policemen
:11:23. > :11:26.operate from ten road side checkpoints. They are critical for
:11:26. > :11:33.security, preventing the free movement of insurgent fighters and
:11:33. > :11:36.suicide bombers. There is only one way of finding out what the
:11:36. > :11:44.checkpoints are really like, that is by going to see them myself.
:11:44. > :11:54.Which is exactly what I'm going to do now.
:11:54. > :11:54.
:11:55. > :11:59.As soon as we leave the gates of the compound, which have - which we
:11:59. > :12:03.have just done, basically anything can happen. For the troops who make
:12:03. > :12:09.this journey every day, this may seem routine, for me it is deeply
:12:09. > :12:12.unnerving. It is when you start going off
:12:12. > :12:19.beyond the realms of the main service routes that it actually
:12:19. > :12:26.starts to get a bit dicey. We're seen as the outsiders, that we are
:12:26. > :12:32.always going to be targeted,en to extent. We have arrived at Check
:12:32. > :12:35.Point Sapan, it is being built to protect the local village and
:12:35. > :12:38.farming community. Getting out the back of that
:12:38. > :12:45.vehicle was weird, it is a real sense of reality. It is a real
:12:45. > :12:49.situation. Everyone here is aware of where they are. Hello. Nice to
:12:49. > :12:53.meet you. Just the final snagging done today, and should be complete
:12:53. > :12:58.in ten days. The men based here will search
:12:58. > :13:02.suspect vehicles and individuals. This is one of many checkpoints
:13:02. > :13:09.that the Afghan National Police are taking over throughout Helmand
:13:09. > :13:13.Province. This checkpoint is like a fortress, it is a real statement,
:13:13. > :13:16.one to the insurgents, to say stay away from us, and secondly, and
:13:16. > :13:19.most importantly, it is to say to the local people that we are here
:13:20. > :13:27.for you, and we are going to look out for you and keep you safe and
:13:27. > :13:32.secure. Whilst we have made good progress,
:13:32. > :13:37.there is still a significant way to go before they are ready to take
:13:37. > :13:47.over by themselves. It is very fulfiling just seeing the police
:13:47. > :13:48.
:13:48. > :13:52.are willing to actually improve themselves and are keen to develop.
:13:52. > :13:56.Getting medical help to injured troops, in any war zone, is vital,
:13:56. > :13:59.and it was no different during World War II, when a group of
:13:59. > :14:07.courageous men and women were risking their lives to get help to
:14:07. > :14:13.others. And one of these amazing women, was
:14:13. > :14:20.88-year-old Lillian West, who like her comrades, had one priority.
:14:20. > :14:24.make sure we would get them back to fight again for their country.
:14:24. > :14:27.In 1944, RAF nurse Lillian volunteered to join the air
:14:27. > :14:31.ambulance, which would send her straight into the heart of occupied
:14:31. > :14:36.Europe. I mean I had never been abroad
:14:36. > :14:44.before, I had never been out of Wales before. And then to go to
:14:44. > :14:50.France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, well, well, a young girl of 19, who
:14:50. > :14:57.was I going to see? A Frenchman? was an extraordinary step for this
:14:57. > :15:02.ordinary girl from Wales. It is now or never! I have signed, I have to
:15:02. > :15:07.go, that was it. Went in and got kitted out, got my trousers on, got
:15:07. > :15:12.my flying jacket, and everything else what I had to do. Lillian and
:15:12. > :15:20.the crew flew in unmarked Dakotas, flying to the frontline meant they
:15:20. > :15:24.were always in danger. My, we were shot at, the Germans shot at us. It
:15:24. > :15:27.was frightening, but there was nothing we could do. We were
:15:27. > :15:31.thinking, oh my God, if they do a direct hit, what will happen to us
:15:31. > :15:36.now. They try to fly as level as possible, because of the injured.
:15:36. > :15:42.Because if you have a Stuka coming after you, you had to dive, and
:15:42. > :15:46.that was it. With limited medical supplies, the nurses had to care
:15:46. > :15:50.for the wounded as best they could. That was all we could do. We
:15:50. > :15:54.escorted them from the battlefield, give them comfort, whatever was
:15:54. > :16:01.needed, until they reached England. One orderly per plane, that was our
:16:01. > :16:04.job. With thousands of injured troops needing the aid, the job was
:16:04. > :16:09.often relentless. We flew night and day, there was nothing for it, you
:16:09. > :16:15.see. You had to go from England in the morning, four hours, five hours,
:16:15. > :16:20.to get to Germany, then get loaded and get back, it was eight to ten
:16:20. > :16:24.hours. We had no parachute, no nothing, we were not allowed to
:16:24. > :16:27.carry a parachute, because the plane if it went down we had to
:16:28. > :16:33.stay with the patients. Lillian's first flight across the
:16:33. > :16:40.channel would be her most memorable. When the pilot delivered unnerving
:16:40. > :16:45.news. Hold tight, he said, we have a burst tyre, landing. Don't worry,
:16:45. > :16:48.it's already he says he knows what he was doing, he z but he crash
:16:48. > :16:54.landed. The plane landed in a French field, thankfully all the
:16:55. > :16:57.crew were safe. He said, we can't take her back, we will have to wait
:16:57. > :17:02.for replacements. Lillian was stranded for a week, when she
:17:02. > :17:09.returned home, her family were surprised. My mother said, it's you
:17:09. > :17:13.is it. I said, yes, why? She said we had a telegram to say you were
:17:13. > :17:23.missing presumed dead in France. Oh, I said I'm alive, I said, it's all
:17:23. > :17:24.
:17:24. > :17:32.right. I said I think I am! wasn't long before Lillian was back
:17:32. > :17:37.on duty, and caring for critically injured men. Head injuries, chest
:17:37. > :17:44.injuries, broken arms. Shrapnel through the bodies, you would never
:17:44. > :17:49.believe what some of our boys went through. You would never believe it.
:17:49. > :17:52.But Lillian and her comrades also added a personal touch. We used to
:17:52. > :17:57.write for them, if they wanted a letter, you know, just would you
:17:57. > :18:02.write a few lines for us, and get them posted or anything like that.
:18:02. > :18:07.I used to think, if some poor mother's son, or some woman's
:18:07. > :18:12.husband. You had to feel sorry for them, there is nothing else for it.
:18:12. > :18:18.Just pray to God that I could get them back safe. This courageous
:18:18. > :18:23.group became known as the Flying Nigtingales, the first air born
:18:23. > :18:27.medal evacuation service - air bourne medical evacuation service.
:18:27. > :18:32.We brought back 100,000 between us all. For Lillian, it is a job she
:18:32. > :18:36.will always look back on with immense pride. It was a tough job.
:18:36. > :18:41.But there you are. They were other people had tougher jobs. The boys
:18:41. > :18:44.had tougher jobs with fighting, weren't they.
:18:44. > :18:53.I was serving my king and country. If I was young again I would go
:18:53. > :18:57.back and do the same thing again. Still to come, we join a school
:18:57. > :19:02.outing, as they visit the hub of remembrance in Edinburgh.
:19:02. > :19:09.It is important to remember all the people that sacrificed their lives
:19:09. > :19:15.and still sacrifice their lives today. When a fire starts in the UK,
:19:15. > :19:22.you pick up the phone and dial 999, out here, in a war zone, in the
:19:23. > :19:29.middle of the desert, it is not so straight forward. For 34 years,
:19:29. > :19:33.Steve Bowden has been a Royal Air Force firefighter. An RAF
:19:34. > :19:37.firefighter is a special breed of individual. We do the same as
:19:37. > :19:42.civilian firefighters, but the main focus is the rescue of air crew,
:19:43. > :19:45.that is what we do 24/7. Formed after the Second World War in 1945,
:19:45. > :19:49.RAF firefighters have been saving lives around the world.
:19:49. > :19:52.And out in Afghanistan, they work closely with our American allies.
:19:52. > :20:00.It is a case of helping each other out, because there is only them,
:20:00. > :20:04.and there is only us, and that's it, there is no 99, nobody will come -
:20:04. > :20:08.999, nobody will come screaming around the corner in a big red
:20:08. > :20:14.lorry. In April 2010, Steve was based in Camp Bastion, when a call
:20:14. > :20:18.came through that would test his nerve and skill to the limit.
:20:18. > :20:21.particular evening I had my evening meal and was in the Internet cabin
:20:21. > :20:24.making contact with home, when one of my firefighters came and said
:20:24. > :20:28.you better come and have a look at this boss.
:20:29. > :20:34.The fire had started in Camp Leatherneck, an American base,
:20:34. > :20:42.located a couple of miles outside Camp Bastion. And this is actually
:20:42. > :20:49.what Steve saw. The plume could be seen for two miles or more. When
:20:49. > :20:56.you see that A smoke, you know, as they say, it's a goer.
:20:56. > :21:00.It is a firefighters' worst nightmare, because you have no idea
:21:00. > :21:03.what you are going in to. After summoning the team, Steve was the
:21:03. > :21:07.first on the scene. There was an American colleague I touched base
:21:07. > :21:12.with, who was starting to give information of what was in there.
:21:12. > :21:17.Which went from dried goods, storage boxes, oxygen cylinders,
:21:17. > :21:22.petrol, oil and lubricants in containers, and stuff stacked on
:21:22. > :21:32.top of stuff. Not only is it that way but up as well. A strong wind
:21:32. > :21:32.
:21:32. > :21:35.was developing quickly, turning the fire into an inferno.
:21:35. > :21:40.The wind carried it on, and it was just setting fire to everything all
:21:40. > :21:45.the way along the line. The harsh conditions, that time of year,
:21:45. > :21:53.don't help because the sun, the climate, the wind, dries everything
:21:53. > :21:58.out, fabrics, wood, it is all tinter box dry. Soofr an arriving,
:21:58. > :22:03.they faced a main prob - soon after arriving, they faced a major
:22:03. > :22:07.problem, the water supply ran out. It is not the best time in my life,
:22:07. > :22:11.dealing with a fire and you have nothing to do. The danger was
:22:11. > :22:15.mounting as the fire was raging out of control. By then people were
:22:15. > :22:19.coming up and tapping me on theer saying, by the way, we have this in
:22:19. > :22:23.there as well, and you might want to know there is fuel on there as
:22:23. > :22:30.well, there is a little fuel farm here. All of this is going on while
:22:30. > :22:34.you are standing there with no water.
:22:34. > :22:39.Finally water arrived from nearby sources. But the danger to our
:22:39. > :22:44.troops on the ground was becoming an alarming reality.
:22:45. > :22:48.We had to make sure people were getting away for their own safety,
:22:48. > :22:52.it was becoming blatantly obvious there was a lot of stuff in there
:22:52. > :22:55.dangerous. Tyres going up and down in the air, as with the
:22:55. > :22:58.firefighters, and the oxygen cylinders, exploding, going up in
:22:59. > :23:04.the air. You have no idea where they are going to land, that is
:23:04. > :23:08.frightening. Whilst the fuel out of the 45 gallon drums will have gone,
:23:08. > :23:18.the 45 gallon drum weighs a lot, if that hits you on the no nogin you
:23:18. > :23:21.know about it. 45 minutes later another catastrophy struck.
:23:21. > :23:28.60knot duststorm came through the whole area. You couldn't see your
:23:28. > :23:33.hand in front of your face. The wind then changed and some of the
:23:33. > :23:37.accommodation, which our American colleagues were in, is tented
:23:37. > :23:40.accommodation, that started to catch fire as well, people had to
:23:40. > :23:45.be evacuated. Areas that weren't on fire, sort of got themselves
:23:45. > :23:53.involved in the fire by mother nature. That wind, was taking all
:23:53. > :23:57.the embers across Leatherneck and Bastion, it became too dangerous to
:23:57. > :24:03.do anything, we withdrew, that was not an easy decision for any of us
:24:03. > :24:08.to take. There is certainly a moment when I knew it was beating
:24:08. > :24:14.us. You think, what now? What will they give me now, what's next. To
:24:14. > :24:19.have no water, a sandstorm, limited resources, I mean, three of your
:24:19. > :24:24.worst nightmares. But with the fire now covering the area of three
:24:24. > :24:28.football pitches, Steve had even bigger concerns. I can remember
:24:28. > :24:38.standing in the middle of the sandstorm, by myself, thinking I
:24:38. > :24:42.
:24:42. > :24:50.don't know if I have all my boys and girls here.
:24:50. > :24:55.We actually really got control of it, I guess, about 11.30, midnight.
:24:55. > :25:00.It is still going like a good'un, it is raging, but we have it where
:25:00. > :25:08.we want it. You just can't imagine You just couldn't imagine that 16
:25:08. > :25:11.hours we were here fighting this fire. Against all odds, Steve, his
:25:11. > :25:17.38 RAF firefighters and their American colleagues, tackled the
:25:18. > :25:22.blaze without a single loss of life. The team work between, not only my
:25:22. > :25:27.own firefighters, but the United States marine firefighters,
:25:27. > :25:34.outstanding, we don't see it as them and us, it is us. That is what
:25:34. > :25:37.enabled us to win that fight. Wherever you are in the world,
:25:37. > :25:43.whatever nationality, a firefighter is a firefighter, I'm just one of
:25:43. > :25:50.them. In the clear light of day, the
:25:50. > :25:56.extent of the devastation was obvious. And the actions of Steve
:25:56. > :25:59.and his team didn't go unnoticed by the general of the American marine
:25:59. > :26:04.cops. We could have had catastrophic loss of life, because
:26:04. > :26:14.of the way you fought that fire, we lost nobody. I can buy new things,
:26:14. > :26:16.
:26:16. > :26:20.but I can't buy new people. There is no doubt the efforts of Steve
:26:20. > :26:25.and his team - there is no doubt the efforts of Steve and his team
:26:25. > :26:32.that night saved people. I have been a firefighter for 45 years,
:26:32. > :26:38.that fire at Camp Leatherneck was the biggest, and it is the biggest
:26:38. > :26:43.the fire force has fought in its history. On returning home Steve
:26:43. > :26:46.was awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal. I wear it with, not just for
:26:46. > :26:55.those 38 people, but the fire service as a whole, past and
:26:55. > :26:59.present. During the Second World War, it
:26:59. > :27:03.wasn't just the Royal Navy patrolling the oceans, there was
:27:03. > :27:08.another group of courageous seamen, without whom Britain would have
:27:08. > :27:13.struggled to survive. Brothers Len and Ernie, grew up
:27:13. > :27:18.around the Bristol docks, and it sparked a lifelong love of the
:27:18. > :27:23.ocean. A friend went off to sea, and he
:27:23. > :27:27.came back, and he had a lovely plastic belt, red, yellow and black,
:27:27. > :27:34.he said he bought it in America, I wanted to get one of those, I threw
:27:34. > :27:39.my job in and went on to the Norwegian ship, at 15, in 141.
:27:39. > :27:43.Len decided to join the war effort, and signed up with the Norwegian
:27:43. > :27:48.Merchant Navy, which, alongside ships from other nations, supplied
:27:48. > :27:53.Britain with vital goods during the war. The Merchant Navy brought all
:27:53. > :27:57.supplies of everything, fuel, gasoline, food, ammunition,
:27:57. > :28:02.whatever was needed, was brought to this country by the Merchant Navy.
:28:02. > :28:11.But for a boy who had never left home before, Len's first experience
:28:11. > :28:14.at sea was hard. We settled early, so the family never saw me go. I
:28:14. > :28:18.went to the lifeboat that evening, and cried my eyes out, I was home
:28:18. > :28:22.sick, I felt sick and I had a hole in my sock. What was in front of us
:28:22. > :28:28.I never knew, I never knew what the sea could be like, on the North
:28:28. > :28:31.Atlantic, and all those huge seas. The biggest seas we had seen was on
:28:31. > :28:38.the beach. Len soon found his sea legs and returned three months
:28:38. > :28:44.later with a different look. I had a stetson hat, a big jacket, and
:28:44. > :28:54.lumber Jack boots, I had. And 15 years of age, I must have looked
:28:54. > :28:55.
:28:55. > :28:59.real stupid! It wasn't long before Ernie followed in his brother's
:28:59. > :29:04.footsteps. The conditions were tough. Our first trip it was
:29:04. > :29:08.horrendous ways, there was valleys and mountains. The ship would dive
:29:08. > :29:14.down into the valley, stick in, and then go up on to the wave and down
:29:14. > :29:20.we would go again. That went on for three weeks. My first job was an
:29:20. > :29:25.officers' mess boy, I had to be up at 5.30am, and take coffee to the
:29:25. > :29:29.bridge, and take the coffee down, and then I would have to help with
:29:29. > :29:33.the breakfast, help with the galley, they were hard times, but we
:29:33. > :29:38.survived. That is why Norwegian captains always ask for Bristol
:29:38. > :29:43.boys, because we were tough and very efficient in what we done. We
:29:43. > :29:47.didn't cause much trouble. Although they carried essential
:29:47. > :29:50.cargo, Merchant Navy ships had little protection against the enemy.
:29:51. > :29:54.We didn't realise what it was like at sea, people don't know, they
:29:54. > :29:58.knew nothing about the Merchant Navy. We had naval ships, they were
:29:58. > :30:02.there to protect us, they had the speed and the guns, we had one old
:30:02. > :30:06.gun on the stern, from the First World War, and one gunner, I
:30:06. > :30:09.suppose the merchant seamen were supposed to help with that. As they
:30:09. > :30:16.sailed unprotected through the Atlantic, the convoys were subject
:30:16. > :30:21.to the huge risk of attack from German u boats. You would have to
:30:21. > :30:26.go through - U-boats. You would have to go through three or four
:30:26. > :30:32.lines of U-boats, they were in an arc. That was all that worried
:30:32. > :30:36.Churchill, in the battle for the Atlantic. One thing would bring
:30:37. > :30:40.home the constant danger they faced every time they set sail. In 1942
:30:40. > :30:45.we were sailing on our own through the Gulf of Mexico, because the
:30:45. > :30:51.Americans wouldn't do escorts. a couple of weeks into their three-
:30:51. > :30:56.month voyage, they were torpedoed. I went across the bridge, and I
:30:56. > :31:04.bumped my head, back on the wheel, they stayed on the wheel. Ernie was
:31:04. > :31:09.in the cabin down below. It was about 6.00am. 5.00am. Time dims
:31:09. > :31:15.your memory. I remember a great big explosion, next thing I was thrown
:31:15. > :31:20.out of my top bunk, and on my mate in the bottom bunk ofg was on top
:31:20. > :31:24.of me, we had bleeding from the ears and nose. Order prevailed and
:31:24. > :31:30.we took off with the submarine chasing us for one hour. As we are
:31:30. > :31:36.getting close to the Mississippi Delta they gave up. Crossing the
:31:36. > :31:40.waters was treacherous, on the up side, they were seeing the world.
:31:40. > :31:44.Going into New York and seeing all the skyscrapers, we had never seen
:31:44. > :31:50.those before, and walking through Manhatten, into times Syntagma
:31:50. > :31:56.Sqare, and seeing the Camel Cigarette advert blowing out great
:31:56. > :32:01.terrific. New Orleans, that was a good time. I remember getting a
:32:01. > :32:07.great big piece of water mellon, five cents, I had never seen it
:32:07. > :32:11.before, it was great. You had to sit on the long tables with this
:32:11. > :32:15.water mellon round our ears, chewing away, beautiful.
:32:15. > :32:24.And travelling around the globe meant the temptation to bring home
:32:24. > :32:28.souvenirs was too great for Len. bought chairs back from Africa, a
:32:28. > :32:34.monkey back, and carpets from india, all the stuff I used to buy. One I
:32:34. > :32:38.am I had a whole tea chest full of food, and a Christmas cake from New
:32:38. > :32:42.York. Granddad had some of the cake it was too rich for him, nearly
:32:42. > :32:49.killed him. But like all merchant seamen, Len and Ernie were away for
:32:49. > :32:53.months on end, coming home was always special for their mother.
:32:53. > :32:59.She rushed down, and give us a cuddle. We didn't realise how much
:32:59. > :33:04.she missed us, a mother's love is so much in that. Especially if your
:33:04. > :33:10.two youngest sons and that. After we came back after being torpedos,
:33:10. > :33:14.she said thank God, you are not going back again are you? We said,
:33:14. > :33:23.yes, we are. Despite the crucial role the Merchant Navy played
:33:23. > :33:25.during the war, its work was widely overlooked. We had the biggest
:33:25. > :33:34.Merchant Navy at the beginning of the war, from the first day to the
:33:34. > :33:42.last day, ships were sunk. I think the last ship was torpedoed about
:33:42. > :33:45.10.45am. Over 2,000 merchant ships were lost, the Navy lost 200. Life
:33:45. > :33:49.as a merchant seaman was rough. People did not appreciate it, we
:33:49. > :33:52.just had one little badge, the officers had their uniform,
:33:52. > :33:59.otherwise you were not known, they thought you were stragglers, sort
:33:59. > :34:06.of thing, not doing your part. But we had some terrible experiences,
:34:06. > :34:10.and lost a lot of friends, lots of friends. 30,000 merchant seamen
:34:10. > :34:17.lost their lives, but without their contribution, Britain may never
:34:17. > :34:25.have won the war. For Len and Ernie, their team as sea farers will
:34:25. > :34:31.always have faegs time in their hearts. I Sir - a special time in
:34:31. > :34:35.their hearts. I Sir come-and-a-half gailted the world, beautiful ship,
:34:35. > :34:42.beautiful comrades. I enjoyed every day of it, even cold, wet, tired,
:34:42. > :34:45.wonderful life. The poppy is the ultimate symbol of
:34:45. > :34:55.remembrance, and there is a group of veterans who work throughout the
:34:55. > :34:56.
:34:56. > :35:00.year to make their own personal contribution.
:35:00. > :35:09.The Lady Haig Poppy Factory in Edinburgh was established in 1946,
:35:09. > :35:12.and employed veterans of the British Armed Forces. Lady Haig
:35:12. > :35:17.decided to set up the factory to provide Scottish poppies for
:35:17. > :35:22.Scottish families. She started off with four men in a hut, by 1928 she
:35:22. > :35:27.was employing over 100 men. factory's founder put her own
:35:27. > :35:32.personal mark on what has become an iconic symbol of remembrance.
:35:32. > :35:36.Because lady Hague designed the original pop - Lady Haig designed
:35:36. > :35:42.the original poppies, her design was slightly different from down
:35:42. > :35:48.south. We have tried to continue that design difference over the
:35:48. > :35:52.generations. It is four-leafed rather than three, it is crimped
:35:52. > :35:57.rather than smoothed, it is a brighter material and doesn't have
:35:57. > :36:02.the green leaf the English one does. Uniquely the factory gives ex-
:36:02. > :36:04.servicemen and women, some of whom are disabled, the chance to work.
:36:05. > :36:08.It is incredibly important to offer employment to people that have worn
:36:08. > :36:13.uniform for their country, and made sacrifices themselves, and have
:36:13. > :36:17.struggled to find employment. has been part of the team for over
:36:17. > :36:24.five years, and for him, the factory is much more than just a
:36:24. > :36:28.place of work: I love the job, I love it, I know that every poppy I
:36:28. > :36:35.make could be a pound. For the war heros and things like
:36:35. > :36:40.that. Lots of the equipment we use is very old and quite basic, it is
:36:40. > :36:44.deliberately quite old and basic, because we want to employ as many
:36:44. > :36:48.ex-servicemen as we possibly could, we could automate processes, that
:36:48. > :36:55.would mean getting rid of the people we employ, that is not what
:36:55. > :37:00.we want to do. It is actually an old printing press, which I believe
:37:00. > :37:05.is between 100 and 150 years old. Andy operates one of the oldest
:37:05. > :37:11.machines in the factory, cutting hundreds of silk petals every day.
:37:11. > :37:16.I think the best thing about working here is the camaraderie, it
:37:16. > :37:21.is very much like a family. It is an excellent place to work. It is
:37:21. > :37:30.almost like therapy. Colin operates the petal crimping machine, and has
:37:30. > :37:35.worked at the factory for two years. Having served with the 3rd
:37:35. > :37:39.Battalion The Rifles, he finds himself with a new set of comrades.
:37:39. > :37:42.People sell you the service sense of humour is different, and a lot
:37:42. > :37:45.of us here wouldn't be in open employment, working here gets you
:37:45. > :37:55.out of the house, gets you working, brings home a wage, plus you have
:37:55. > :38:01.good fun with the guys as well. Every wreath and every poppy we
:38:02. > :38:05.make is made by hand. And every one is made with great care and a great
:38:05. > :38:10.eye for quality. The factory is open all year round to ensure they
:38:10. > :38:18.are able to meet the demands for the annual Scottish Poppy Appeal.
:38:18. > :38:22.We make 5.1 million poppies a year, we make about 28,000-long stemmed
:38:22. > :38:31.poppies. 10,000 wreaths a year. We also make the wooden crosses that
:38:31. > :38:39.people plant in the Garden of Remembrance each year. The factory
:38:39. > :38:44.opens its doors to visitors, which includes hundreds of schoolchildren.
:38:44. > :38:47.The veterans enjoy sharing their war stories, as well as teaching
:38:48. > :38:52.them the importance of the poppy. think it is really important that
:38:52. > :38:57.the children come here to visit the factory for a number of reasons.
:38:57. > :39:05.They need to learn a little about the horrors of the First World War,
:39:05. > :39:09.and that history needs to be kept alive. Touring the factory and
:39:09. > :39:12.meeting the veterans is a real eye- opener for the younger generation.
:39:12. > :39:18.It is fun coming to the Poppy Factory, because we come down and
:39:18. > :39:22.get to make loads of poppies. enjoyed making all those poppies,
:39:22. > :39:26.and also meeting all the ex- servicemen. They have been selling
:39:26. > :39:29.us some stories about why they are here and how things work and
:39:29. > :39:31.everything, it is really interesting.
:39:31. > :39:38.My favourite part about coming here is probably listening to the
:39:38. > :39:43.stories and making poppies. It is important for the children to come
:39:43. > :39:49.round, and can see men who have actually been in wars, like Ireland,
:39:49. > :39:53.and Afghanistan, even, and you have got to keep rembering. It is
:39:53. > :39:57.important to remember all the people that sacrificed their lives
:39:57. > :40:03.and still sacrifice their lives today to help give us the free
:40:03. > :40:09.country we have. I really did enjoy today, coming and learning about
:40:09. > :40:12.what they have to do, and what really the poppy means to Scotland
:40:12. > :40:16.and Britain. Remembrance means to me that eventhough people are still
:40:16. > :40:20.fighting today, and people have died, that just to remember them,
:40:20. > :40:29.because they have been fighting for the country and they are really
:40:29. > :40:34.important. Poppy Scotland, the charity mind the Poppy Factory,
:40:34. > :40:37.uses the funds raised to give money back to the Armed Forces community.
:40:37. > :40:40.Poppy Scotland will help absolutely anybody who is a member of the
:40:40. > :40:46.Armed Forces community. It could be somebody coming back from
:40:46. > :40:49.Afghanistan, a World War II veteran, their family and one of their
:40:49. > :40:53.dependants. We are making a difference to individuals who
:40:53. > :40:57.otherwise would be left aside. Poppy Scotland is there to support
:40:57. > :41:00.them whatever and whenever that need may be. Thanks to the
:41:00. > :41:06.generosity of the public, 2010 was a record-breaking year for the
:41:06. > :41:09.Scottish Poppy Appeal. This year we raised �2.34 million. It is the
:41:09. > :41:14.first time we have raised over �2 million through the tins. That
:41:14. > :41:18.allows us to improve somebody's quality of life. Every pound you
:41:18. > :41:26.are putting into the poppy tin to buy a Scottish poppy, that poppy is
:41:26. > :41:29.hand made in Scotland by a Scottish veteran. I'm incredibly proud of
:41:29. > :41:35.being involved in the factory, it is a unique organisation, and we
:41:35. > :41:42.are a real power for good in the sector in which we operate.
:41:42. > :41:48.It is fantastic and happy place to work, it does terrific good work.
:41:48. > :41:51.I really do enjoy it. I have never been so happy in a long time.
:41:51. > :41:57.definitely like a family, there is no getting away from that. It is
:41:57. > :42:04.lovely. I'm very, very proud of it, very proud. I hope it goes on