0:00:02 > 0:00:04Hello, and welcome to Remembrance Week.
0:00:04 > 0:00:07I'm in Afghanistan to see the selfless work
0:00:07 > 0:00:11our incredible servicemen and women do here every day.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13As Remembrance Sunday approaches,
0:00:13 > 0:00:17we will also hear first-hand from those who went before them,
0:00:17 > 0:00:19and share their extraordinary accounts
0:00:19 > 0:00:22of friendship, courage and loss.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24Coming up on today's programme:
0:00:24 > 0:00:29the tragic story of a Royal Marine who kept a remarkable diary
0:00:29 > 0:00:32of life on the front line in Afghanistan.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35It's very much as if he's in the room with you.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37You know, I can hear his voice, pretty much.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42A young Second World War nurse describes
0:00:42 > 0:00:45the discovery of the Belsen concentration camp
0:00:45 > 0:00:48and her fight to save the lives of the survivors.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51It was heartbreaking. Heartbreaking.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54No-one could envisage that human beings
0:00:54 > 0:00:57could be treated in such a way.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00And a bomb disposal officer in the Falklands remembers
0:01:00 > 0:01:05the terrifying moment when an unexploded bomb suddenly detonated.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08I was drifting down this very long tunnel
0:01:08 > 0:01:10with a very bright light at the end of it.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12And I honestly thought I was dead.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23Throughout history, war diaries have offered us a fascinating insight
0:01:23 > 0:01:27into the reality of daily life on the front line.
0:01:27 > 0:01:28And it's no different today.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38John was a fun-loving youngster, which was great.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43He used to play army, soldiers in the back garden
0:01:43 > 0:01:44and over the woods, yeah.
0:01:44 > 0:01:45Amazing.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50John was two years younger than me,
0:01:50 > 0:01:52but we were so close.
0:01:52 > 0:01:53Kind of like living with your best mate
0:01:53 > 0:01:57than living with your brother, really. Yeah, it was good.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02It was at 13 that he started going to the Air Cadets.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08Came up with the idea that he wanted to be a Royal Marine officer.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12He was so focused then,
0:02:12 > 0:02:16everything he did from that point on was with that as his aim.
0:02:21 > 0:02:26John Thornton realised his boyhood dream of becoming a Royal Marine.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31His proud family were there to watch his passing out parade.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35Quite a tearful day, actually, cos all the commands, all about
0:02:35 > 0:02:38"Royal Marines Young Officers do this, do that,"
0:02:38 > 0:02:42and then the last command was "Royal Marine Officers, do your duty."
0:02:42 > 0:02:47I mean... Yeah. Quite tearful now, actually, thinking about it.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51Yeah, it was a brilliant occasion. It was good, it was brilliant, yeah.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55Yeah. He'd reached his goal. Yeah. He'd done it.
0:02:59 > 0:03:04Following a tour of duty in Iraq, John was posted to Afghanistan.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08The night before they flew, I think, he rang,
0:03:08 > 0:03:12and just said... Which he hadn't done before Iraq, which was strange,
0:03:12 > 0:03:16but he phoned up and said, "I just wanted you to know that
0:03:16 > 0:03:21"if something happens, I've written letters for the family.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24"I've left them on my desk in my room."
0:03:26 > 0:03:28"If anything happens, can you go and pick them up?"
0:03:32 > 0:03:35That was...kind of really hit home to me then the kind of gravity
0:03:35 > 0:03:38of the situation again, that there was that chance
0:03:38 > 0:03:40that he may not come back.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46John made the decision to keep a diary of life on the front line.
0:03:47 > 0:03:52A remarkable record of his private thoughts and emotions.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56His first entry describes writing those letters to his family.
0:04:02 > 0:04:03"Deployment day."
0:04:22 > 0:04:25He was telling us that he was going to be OK,
0:04:25 > 0:04:29because he'd got a great bunch of guys, they were very experienced,
0:04:29 > 0:04:31and he was going to be behind the big guns
0:04:31 > 0:04:34sitting on the peaks at Kajaki Dam.
0:04:34 > 0:04:35So we weren't to worry about it.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56While he was out there, there was a lot of phone calls that, you know,
0:04:56 > 0:04:58he'd tell me in detail what had happened,
0:04:58 > 0:05:02whereas Mum and Dad got the parents' version of the story, I think.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27Early in 2008, British troops
0:05:27 > 0:05:31were the target of numerous improvised explosive devices.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37One of John's colleagues was killed.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42But in his diary, John was defiant.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10John was into the last weeks of his tour of duty.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14His family couldn't wait to see him again.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16Counting down the days, and you start to plan things
0:06:16 > 0:06:18for when he gets home.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20I know Mum and Dad had even started buying, you know,
0:06:20 > 0:06:24"welcome home" banners and all this kind of stuff.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57This was to be John's last diary entry.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04Two weeks before they were due to come back,
0:07:04 > 0:07:07and we were in here just cooking some dinner
0:07:07 > 0:07:09and the door bell rang, and you think, "Who's this?
0:07:09 > 0:07:12"20 past eight on a Sunday night."
0:07:15 > 0:07:17And I went to the front door, and opened the door.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23And it was a Royal Marine and a padre.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27And before they say anything, you just instinctively know.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29It can be nothing else.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32My head was just going, "Please say he's just badly injured,
0:07:32 > 0:07:33"please say he's just badly injured."
0:07:33 > 0:07:36"Sorry to have to tell you that your son, Lt John Thornton,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39"was killed in Afghanistan in action earlier today."
0:07:41 > 0:07:45On March 30, 2008, John Thornton was killed
0:07:45 > 0:07:48when his vehicle struck a roadside IED.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51He was 22 years old.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53You kind of hear those words
0:07:53 > 0:07:55and your whole world is just kind of shattered.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57It was like a physical blow.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01I can remember I sort of reeled back across the porch.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04Mmm. And...yeah.
0:08:04 > 0:08:05That was before they'd said anything.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10Horrible day. Mmm.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13Definitely was. Yeah.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33For me it wasn't until the coffins came off the plane
0:08:33 > 0:08:36that I really believed what had happened.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39And then you think, well, yeah, actually, this is all real.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41It is all happening.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54You could almost touch the end of the tour. You knew how close he was.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58He was going to be moving into my flat.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02He'd had a shelf cleared in the cupboard and, you know,
0:09:02 > 0:09:04there was a shelf in the fridge cleared for him,
0:09:04 > 0:09:06all that kind of stuff.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11It did make it...
0:09:11 > 0:09:14all the more kind of unfair and cruel
0:09:14 > 0:09:16that he was so close to the end.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29I said to Mum and Dad that on his desk,
0:09:29 > 0:09:33he'd just left, basically, letters to all of us
0:09:33 > 0:09:36with a Bible on top,
0:09:36 > 0:09:38and then his Iraq tour medal on top of that,
0:09:38 > 0:09:41because he knew that that would be needed for the funeral.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52To me, he said, "Live life for the both of us."
0:09:54 > 0:09:57It doesn't make it any easier, but it is comforting.
0:09:57 > 0:10:02I think things would have been more difficult without that.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06John's personal possessions were collected together in Afghanistan
0:10:06 > 0:10:08and returned to his family.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11Amongst them was his diary.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20He'd written it just as he talked.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23It's very much as if he's in the room with you.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25I can hear his voice, pretty much.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32John's family set up a Young Achievers Foundation in his name.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35And they decided to publish his diary
0:10:35 > 0:10:37as a precious record of his service.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40We discussed as a family
0:10:40 > 0:10:42that we wanted to see John's words in print.
0:10:42 > 0:10:47It was really important for us to do that. Er...
0:10:47 > 0:10:50And so I started typing it up then, so that was when I read it,
0:10:50 > 0:10:53as I typed it up. And it was very difficult.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58I admired you for typing it up, I must admit.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01I don't think I could have done that. I couldn't have let anyone else
0:11:01 > 0:11:03type it up. It had got to be me. Yeah.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09For me, it was quite a comfort as well to read his diary,
0:11:09 > 0:11:13because I just got that sense of his enjoyment
0:11:13 > 0:11:15and passion for his job.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28John's older brother Ian is himself a serving soldier.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31I wanted to do it for myself, but at the same time, obviously,
0:11:31 > 0:11:35I did feel like I was to an extent following in his footsteps
0:11:35 > 0:11:38and carrying on the work that he'd done, which was quite nice.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41On Remembrance Day 2011,
0:11:41 > 0:11:47Ian paid his respects to the brother he lost so early in life.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49For me to be in Afghanistan on Remembrance Day,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52obviously the place where John died, it was quite an emotional day.
0:11:54 > 0:11:55You're not just paying respect
0:11:55 > 0:11:58to everyone that's made the ultimate sacrifice before.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03When it's your brother who's given his life out there as well,
0:12:03 > 0:12:08it feels very much more, you know, a personal event.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28Remembrance Day still is a very difficult time.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39That said, in some ways,
0:12:39 > 0:12:43it's a comfort to know that the nation remembers.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11During World War II, over 850,000 British Empire servicemen
0:13:11 > 0:13:13were deployed to Burma.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16It was Britain's longest campaign of the war.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18And for one airman, it was the location
0:13:18 > 0:13:21of an extraordinary story of survival.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26Two years after World War II began,
0:13:26 > 0:13:3122-year-old Ray Jackson joined the RAF.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33When I decided to become a pilot,
0:13:33 > 0:13:36my parents were not very happy initially, particularly my mother.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39Words of advice from my father, he shook my hand solemnly
0:13:39 > 0:13:40and said, "Watch it, son."
0:13:40 > 0:13:42In 34 Squadron,
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Ray thought he'd be flying over the skies of Europe.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47Having trained in South Africa,
0:13:47 > 0:13:49we thought we were coming back to fly in the UK.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53Out of the blue, we were being posted off to Burma.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58In 1943, Ray joined the Burma campaign,
0:13:58 > 0:14:00which started two years earlier
0:14:00 > 0:14:03when Japan had invaded the British colony.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06There was a bunch of about 20 pilots and everybody's name read out
0:14:06 > 0:14:08and told where they were going.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10They got down to the last three,
0:14:10 > 0:14:12which was Burgess, Tibbetts and Jackson,
0:14:12 > 0:14:14"You'll be delighted to know you're going to be posted
0:14:14 > 0:14:17"to the airfield nearest the Japanese."
0:14:17 > 0:14:19So I tried very hard to look macho and "let me get at 'em"
0:14:19 > 0:14:22and thought "Just my bloody luck," you know.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28Flying a single-seater aircraft, the Hurricane bomber,
0:14:28 > 0:14:31Ray would support ground troops in Burma.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35They were fighter bombers, they could carry two 250-pound bombs
0:14:35 > 0:14:38and they had four cannons as well.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41So they could do a pretty devastating job.
0:14:41 > 0:14:42And we worked with the Army.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44The Army would ring up and say
0:14:44 > 0:14:48they would like a certain point on the map pinpointed, bombed.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51After four successful missions,
0:14:51 > 0:14:55Ray was given the orders for his fateful fifth mission.
0:14:55 > 0:15:00We were doing a north-to-south run on quite a big village.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02It was thought that the Japanese had a lot of stores in there
0:15:02 > 0:15:04and that there were a lot of them there.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09We'd just dropped our bombs
0:15:09 > 0:15:12and suddenly there's an almighty bang on my port wing.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14The engine was catching fire
0:15:14 > 0:15:17and I could see the engine oil just flying out.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20So there's no way you could possibly force-land an aircraft.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22So I realised I'd have to bail out.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25The nose dipped a little bit and as I fell out I banged my head.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29I had my hand on the parachute cord,
0:15:29 > 0:15:31but I don't remember pulling the ripcord at all.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35But I remember sort of coming to and everything was blue.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38And I thought I was dead and in heaven.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41I looked up and saw the parachute and realised I wasn't in heaven at all,
0:15:41 > 0:15:43there was a parachute there,
0:15:43 > 0:15:45somehow it had opened and I was underneath it.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48He'd survived the fall, but now he was in an area
0:15:48 > 0:15:52occupied by the Japanese in the middle of the Burmese jungle.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55There were several fires lit in different places.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58The Japanese had fired some of the scrub to try and drive me out.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04Desperate to escape, Ray ran deep into the deadly jungle.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08A day or two later, I was trying to cross what I'd call a large river
0:16:08 > 0:16:12and I lost my footing and was swept away into a big pool.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18I'd got a machete, a '38 revolver, wearing boots
0:16:18 > 0:16:22and what in effect was like a glorified boiler suit.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25So how I managed to swim out of there, I do not know.
0:16:25 > 0:16:31Evading the enemy, Ray had now been stranded for days without food.
0:16:31 > 0:16:37Alone and worn down, his trek through the dense jungle soon began
0:16:37 > 0:16:38to take its toll.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40Eight or ten days through, I guess,
0:16:40 > 0:16:44I did think very hard about shooting myself.
0:16:44 > 0:16:45Mm.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53I was feeling so low, I almost couldn't feel anything, I suppose.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58I had been thinking very hard about what to do with myself
0:16:58 > 0:17:03and I...I had a sort of vision of my mother
0:17:03 > 0:17:07and visions of people that I cared for, yes.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10Then, after I'd had it, I decided to soldier on.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17He was now determined to fight for his life.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20Surviving on the little food he found in the jungle,
0:17:20 > 0:17:23Ray was desperate for anything he could find to eat.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27There was a stream running up the side of a hill
0:17:27 > 0:17:30and I saw something that looked like a wizened potato.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33And I decided to have a bite at it.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35And almost instantly my lips swelled out
0:17:35 > 0:17:38and I looked a horrible sight and felt dreadful.
0:17:38 > 0:17:39I thought I was a goner.
0:17:39 > 0:17:44I lay down by the side of the stream and I suddenly heard a scream.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48I saw a lady there looking at me and she ran off back down the hill.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55He'd been spotted by the Naga, a people indigenous to the area.
0:17:55 > 0:18:00His luck had finally changed, and he was taken back to their village.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07I was given a mirror by one of the small boys there
0:18:07 > 0:18:10and I looked almost like Robinson Crusoe.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14I had a great big black beard and then a big fat sort of ugly lip
0:18:14 > 0:18:16and I looked a real villain.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20I wouldn't have trusted myself one iota!
0:18:20 > 0:18:22Ray was nursed back to health,
0:18:22 > 0:18:26and in the week that followed, the Naga took him closer to safety,
0:18:26 > 0:18:29each village giving him a warm welcome.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33After three weeks in the jungle,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36his fighting spirit was finally rewarded.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40Late one evening, a Naga came in with a note.
0:18:40 > 0:18:45There was a secret army called Force 136 that operated behind the lines.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49The note read, "We know you are in the area, Jackson, we are sending
0:18:49 > 0:18:52"a patrol to pick you up and here is some grub for the time being."
0:18:54 > 0:18:56With the help of local agents,
0:18:56 > 0:18:59Force 136 carried out secret operations.
0:19:02 > 0:19:07Nearly a month after his crash, Ray was reunited with his squadron.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09He sent a message home.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12"Bailed out over Burma.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14"Took three weeks walking out.
0:19:14 > 0:19:20"Miraculous escape, safe and well, writing, love, Ray."
0:19:23 > 0:19:25Ever since his ordeal,
0:19:25 > 0:19:29Ray and others had wanted to repay the kindness of the Naga people,
0:19:29 > 0:19:31who'd helped them during the war.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34We decided to set up a trust.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37What they are trying to do is to try and see,
0:19:37 > 0:19:42ensure, that some goodness has actually come out of a war.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46I wasn't a wealthy man, but I was lucky,
0:19:46 > 0:19:48I came into an inheritance about the time.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52And of the various suggestions made of what I could do to help the Nagas,
0:19:52 > 0:19:54it was to fund a basketball court.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59It gives me a lot of pleasure
0:19:59 > 0:20:01to think of youngsters enjoying themselves.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03Almost 70 years since Ray's near fatal
0:20:03 > 0:20:06three weeks in the jungle,
0:20:06 > 0:20:09he owes every day to the people who saved him.
0:20:09 > 0:20:14I'm quite sure, if they had not found me and helped me,
0:20:14 > 0:20:19I would not have lived beyond that time. I would have died.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22I'm certain of it. So I owe the Nagas my life.
0:20:39 > 0:20:45In 1982, nearly 28,000 British troops headed to the South Atlantic
0:20:45 > 0:20:49to reclaim the Falkland Islands following the Argentine invasion.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53Amongst them were two men who had the terrifying task
0:20:53 > 0:20:57of defusing unexploded bombs dropped by the enemy.
0:21:00 > 0:21:06I joined the Army in 1958 as an Army apprentice at the age of 15.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10I suppose I had a natural sense of adventure
0:21:10 > 0:21:14and it was that that led me to join the Army.
0:21:14 > 0:21:19As I got further trained, then I became the bomb disposal officer.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24The risks are high in bomb disposal, it's a dangerous job,
0:21:24 > 0:21:26let's not beat about the bush.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29But my family knew that it was what I was trained to do.
0:21:30 > 0:21:35In April 1982, the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands
0:21:35 > 0:21:37led to a bitter conflict.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43Royal Engineer John Phillips volunteered to go
0:21:43 > 0:21:47with colleague Jim Prescott as a two-man bomb disposal team.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51Jim Prescott was a staff sergeant in the same squadron as me.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53And it was because of his expertise
0:21:53 > 0:21:55that he was selected to be my number two.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58I know Jim was very nervous.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05A few days after the Argentine invasion,
0:22:05 > 0:22:08John and Jim set off for the Falklands.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13Neither was expecting the scale of the challenge ahead.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17We arrived in the Falklands on Friday 21 May.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20A beautiful day, the sun was shining, a clear sky.
0:22:20 > 0:22:25In preparation to retake the islands, the Royal Navy's warships
0:22:25 > 0:22:29arrived at San Carlos Bay to secure the beachhead.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33It was a couple of hours before we actually got attacked.
0:22:33 > 0:22:34KLAXON BLARES
0:22:34 > 0:22:36Ship's klaxons were sounding
0:22:36 > 0:22:39which gave us a 25-minute warning of incoming aircraft.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41And then they were upon us.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47And it was unreal
0:22:47 > 0:22:50because we'd not experienced this level of aggression before.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54We really started to realise that we were in the thick of it now.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06The Argentine pilots were very brave.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08They came in so low that a lot of the bombs
0:23:08 > 0:23:11didn't have sufficient arming time in their flight
0:23:11 > 0:23:13before they hit the target.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19Just one day after arriving,
0:23:19 > 0:23:21they were called to their first job.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27Their role would later be dramatised in a BBC film.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34Faced with a 1,000lb bomb,
0:23:34 > 0:23:38they began the terrifying task of deactivating it.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45What we try to do in bomb disposal is to separate
0:23:45 > 0:23:47the means of firing from the main charge.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51Once you've done that, all you've got is a container of explosives,
0:23:51 > 0:23:53which is easy to transport.
0:23:57 > 0:24:02After two tense hours, John and Jim defused the bomb,
0:24:02 > 0:24:04saving the ship and those on board.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09The following day, the instruction was,
0:24:09 > 0:24:11"You are required at HMS Antelope."
0:24:13 > 0:24:16Attacked by Argentine aircraft, the Antelope had been left
0:24:16 > 0:24:20badly damaged by two bombs, both of which had failed to detonate.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25Exactly the same bomb, exactly the same situation,
0:24:25 > 0:24:27only this time I could see that the pistol,
0:24:27 > 0:24:31which was the means of firing the bomb at the back, was damaged.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34As John and Jim began their task,
0:24:34 > 0:24:38the crew were moved to the upper deck for their own safety.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40It's a great responsibility.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44But if you thought about the outcome of disaster,
0:24:44 > 0:24:46then you wouldn't do it.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49So you just get on with the job you are trained to do,
0:24:49 > 0:24:50which was make that bomb safe.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58John and Jim now began working on the bomb.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04The damage caused on entering the ship
0:25:04 > 0:25:06had made the bomb more difficult to defuse.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13After three failed attempts, they tried a different technique.
0:25:13 > 0:25:19We attempted to cut the pistol off remotely.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24And when we did that, after a short delay,
0:25:24 > 0:25:26there was an almighty explosion.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33Jim and I was standing next to each other when the bomb exploded.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35Next thing I know, I'm flying through the air.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37But this was all in slow motion.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39When I was flying through the air,
0:25:39 > 0:25:41I was drifting down this very long tunnel,
0:25:41 > 0:25:43with a very bright light at the end of it.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46And there was a silhouette of my father at the end,
0:25:46 > 0:25:47who'd died a few years before.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49And I honestly thought I was dead.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53I thought, well, I was so calm and relaxed, it was quite surreal,
0:25:53 > 0:25:56and I thought to myself, "If this is death, it's not so bad."
0:25:56 > 0:26:00I wasn't feeling any pain, I was just drifting through the air.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03But then, a few seconds later, or milliseconds probably,
0:26:03 > 0:26:07I hit the floor, which brought me round, back to reality.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11KLAXONS BLARE
0:26:13 > 0:26:18The bomb had exploded without any warning, causing total devastation.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21My left arm had been damaged.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25So I had a good feel round to see if my legs had been broken or anything
0:26:25 > 0:26:27and they hadn't, so I stood up.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31And then I started looking for Staff Sergeant Jim Prescott.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35By now, of course, there was a fierce fire on board ship,
0:26:35 > 0:26:37there was smoke everywhere.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44I was joined by one of the naval firefighting crew
0:26:44 > 0:26:47who told me Jim was dead.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52I put my hand on his shoulder and I followed him to the escape hatch.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56The captain, quite sensibly, gave the order to abandon ship.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00Forced to evacuate,
0:27:00 > 0:27:04John and the crew left HMS Antelope to its fate.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11I kept asking them to go back and get Jim out because, to me,
0:27:11 > 0:27:13get his body out so he could get a decent burial,
0:27:13 > 0:27:16but the naval tradition is, they stay on board.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20Jim had been the only one killed in the explosion.
0:27:20 > 0:27:26John sustained severe injuries, needing treatment straight away.
0:27:26 > 0:27:31Next thing I know, I'm being woken up and there was a head
0:27:31 > 0:27:34over my left shoulder, into my left ear,
0:27:34 > 0:27:36saying, "We've had to take your arm off."
0:27:36 > 0:27:38And I just nodded in acceptance.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45Nearly a month after the explosion, John was reunited with his family.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50But he couldn't forget the family that Jim had left behind.
0:27:51 > 0:27:52She'd lost her husband.
0:27:52 > 0:27:57Um...carrying out my orders, basically.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00You know, I was the boss, Jim was doing what I suggested we do,
0:28:00 > 0:28:01although we discussed it.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04So there was a lot of guilt feeling there.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06Survivor's guilt I think they call it.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10When I wrote to his wife, it was very difficult, actually.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15Because I had survived, and there I was with my wife,
0:28:15 > 0:28:17happy families, and she'd lost her husband.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24John will never forget his colleague and friend.
0:28:26 > 0:28:30Remembrance Sunday, until 1982, was just a matter of getting in uniform,
0:28:30 > 0:28:32polishing your shoes, going on parade
0:28:32 > 0:28:34and respecting those in previous wars.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37Now it's more personal. Now I remember people.
0:28:39 > 0:28:44Every single veteran that walks past the Cenotaph this weekend
0:28:44 > 0:28:48has their own memory of war, memories they live with every day.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53Our remembrance silence is our tribute to them.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59We have troops serving all over the world, not just here in Afghanistan.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02The one thing they crave more than anything is a little bit
0:29:02 > 0:29:04of normality from home.
0:29:04 > 0:29:06So I've come to the place that provides it.
0:29:06 > 0:29:08Welcome to the Total Ops Connection.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11We're broadcasting all across the Forces' world from
0:29:11 > 0:29:13our little fruit container here in Camp Bastion.
0:29:13 > 0:29:14Very nice to have your company.
0:29:14 > 0:29:20The forecast across Afghanistan, unsurprisingly, very hot today.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23Here we are... Richard Hatch is one of the top presenters
0:29:23 > 0:29:27on BFBS Radio and he is based in Bastion.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30Rich, a pleasure to meet you out here in Afghanistan.
0:29:30 > 0:29:31You are responsible
0:29:31 > 0:29:33for the morale of our troops.
0:29:33 > 0:29:34What kind of things do you do here?
0:29:34 > 0:29:38The shows are all about the audience. That is essentially why we are here.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42It's all about messages, military stories and a bit of banter.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45We're here in Afghanistan, we're in the sun, living their life,
0:29:45 > 0:29:47trying to make it fun, trying to make it entertaining.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50If you're anywhere in the Forces' world,
0:29:50 > 0:29:51you can get in touch on the BAT Phone,
0:29:51 > 0:29:53which is the red phone, 6901.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56Coming up in the show today, we will be linking up with
0:29:56 > 0:30:00Chris Pearson at an airfield on the edge of Salisbury Plain.
0:30:00 > 0:30:01It's a dangerous place to be.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04Everyone's emotions are heightened more because they are here.
0:30:04 > 0:30:06Everyone, personally,
0:30:06 > 0:30:08is having their own...tough time
0:30:08 > 0:30:10being away from home, doing tough jobs.
0:30:12 > 0:30:16The troops may be thousands of miles from the UK, but there are
0:30:16 > 0:30:20still shops and cafes selling the kind of stuff we all buy back home.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23The places that are always busy are the gyms.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26These men and women really do like to work out.
0:30:28 > 0:30:32Wing Commander Steve Dharamraj is the man whose job it is to keep
0:30:32 > 0:30:34everyone happy in Camp Bastion.
0:30:35 > 0:30:40I suppose welfare goes hand-in-hand with morale, which is
0:30:40 > 0:30:45one of the most important things out here? Absolutely.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48In the military, we call it the moral component of warfare.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50If people are of good and high morale,
0:30:50 > 0:30:52they'll perform their tasks better.
0:30:52 > 0:30:56So all of the welfare, the gymnasiums, the communications,
0:30:56 > 0:30:59the shops, all of that, go to contribute to keeping the men
0:30:59 > 0:31:01and women focused and happy.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04If they are focused and happy, then they perform much, much better,
0:31:04 > 0:31:07especially in these austere operational environments
0:31:07 > 0:31:09that we are operating in now.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13The single most important job of the welfare team is making sure
0:31:13 > 0:31:16our troops stay in touch with their loved ones.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20Storybook Soldiers and now Storybook Wings is a great idea.
0:31:20 > 0:31:24It gives mums and dads the chance to read to their children back home.
0:31:24 > 0:31:29RAF Sergeant Steve Baird is recording his story today.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31Tell me about your family.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33My wife is called Catherine.
0:31:33 > 0:31:34She is in the air force as well.
0:31:36 > 0:31:40My son's four this year in November. He's called Bradley.
0:31:40 > 0:31:42He has grown up an awful lot, even while I've been away.
0:31:44 > 0:31:45It is really really hard.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48I never realised how hard it would be being away from them both.
0:31:52 > 0:31:55Seeing him smile and listening to him learn new words and come out
0:31:55 > 0:32:00with sentences and think, "Where did he get that from?" It's just...
0:32:00 > 0:32:01his growing-up process.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03What book have you decided to read today?
0:32:03 > 0:32:06I'm going to be reading something from Roald Dahl today.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08It's part of the Revolting Rhymes book.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10It's Goldilocks And The Three Bears.
0:32:10 > 0:32:12He loves his reading at the moment, which is really good.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15Hopefully he can read this story along with it.
0:32:15 > 0:32:17Hello, man. It's Daddy.
0:32:17 > 0:32:21I'm going to read you a sort of nursery rhyme.
0:32:21 > 0:32:23Goldilocks And The Three Bears.
0:32:24 > 0:32:26"This famous wicked little tale
0:32:26 > 0:32:29"Should never have been put on sale
0:32:29 > 0:32:30"It's a mystery to me
0:32:30 > 0:32:32"Why loving parents cannot see
0:32:32 > 0:32:35"That this is actually a book
0:32:35 > 0:32:37"About a brazen little crook
0:32:37 > 0:32:39"Had I the chance..."
0:32:43 > 0:32:46"..The end." I hope you enjoyed it, my little man
0:32:46 > 0:32:48and I'll be home very, very soon.
0:32:48 > 0:32:50I love you both. Bye.
0:32:50 > 0:32:55Once recorded, the CD is wrapped up and sent home to Mummy and Bradley,
0:32:55 > 0:32:57with love from Daddy.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00Bradley, look what we've got from Daddy!
0:33:00 > 0:33:04"This storybook belongs to Bradley."
0:33:04 > 0:33:08Shall we open it up? Yes. It's for me. For you!
0:33:08 > 0:33:11'"Goldilocks And The Three Bears.
0:33:11 > 0:33:13'"This famous wicked little tale
0:33:13 > 0:33:15'"Should never have been put on sale
0:33:15 > 0:33:17'"It's a mystery to me
0:33:17 > 0:33:19'"Why loving parents cannot see
0:33:19 > 0:33:22'"That this is actually a book
0:33:22 > 0:33:24'"About a brazen little crook."'
0:33:24 > 0:33:30It's lovely to hear Steve's voice on a CD and a nice story for Bradley.
0:33:30 > 0:33:31Ah!
0:33:31 > 0:33:32SHE LAUGHS
0:33:32 > 0:33:35'"The end." I hope you enjoyed it, my little man.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39'I'll be home very, very soon. I love you both. Bye.'
0:33:46 > 0:33:51In World War II, British nurses went wherever our Armed Forces were.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54The phenomenal skill, composure and courage
0:33:54 > 0:33:57of these great women should never be forgotten.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00NEWSREEL: 'In every battle area are the hospitals.
0:34:00 > 0:34:04'Here, with a quiet and steady devotion, the Army's nurses,
0:34:04 > 0:34:08'sisters of Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service,
0:34:08 > 0:34:11'they are to be found performing their duties of mercy.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14'Their foundress, Florence Nightingale.'
0:34:17 > 0:34:21I always wanted to be a nurse because it's caring for people.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24We were brought up being taught about Florence Nightingale
0:34:24 > 0:34:26and all those stories!
0:34:28 > 0:34:30Now 100 years old,
0:34:30 > 0:34:34Mada Clare remembers her days as a nurse in the Second World War.
0:34:34 > 0:34:38Matron called the senior staff and said war was imminent
0:34:38 > 0:34:44and she'd been asked to send four of her staff as volunteers
0:34:44 > 0:34:46to join the Queen Alexandra's Nursing Service.
0:34:46 > 0:34:51I didn't give it a second thought. I just volunteered.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54And I had no idea what it meant at the time.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00Mada was 25 when she volunteered.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03The women of Queen Alexandra's Nursing Service
0:35:03 > 0:35:07risked their lives, providing medical support to our troops.
0:35:09 > 0:35:13My parents were rather, well, shocked. I was so worried.
0:35:13 > 0:35:16They said, "What have you done?" "I've joined the Army.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19"They are wanting volunteers." And that was it.
0:35:21 > 0:35:24The very next day, war was declared.
0:35:24 > 0:35:26EXPLOSION
0:35:29 > 0:35:32Mada left civilian nursing,
0:35:32 > 0:35:35travelling to what she thought would be her new hospital.
0:35:35 > 0:35:39We were to report to a military hospital
0:35:39 > 0:35:42but when we got to Preston, in the North,
0:35:42 > 0:35:44we found it was not a hospital.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48We were given a list of camping equipment.
0:35:48 > 0:35:56We were issued with a tin hat and we were each given three army blankets.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59And we realised then that we were not staying in England.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05It was time to face the reality of war.
0:36:09 > 0:36:11In the opening months of the conflict, Mada was among
0:36:11 > 0:36:15more than 1,000 nurses sent to France to treat our troops.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22Very challenging, it was so different from civilian nursing.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24The conditions, everything.
0:36:24 > 0:36:30We would arrive and there would be a reception tent where
0:36:30 > 0:36:35the very sick people were brought in straight from the battlefield.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39There were some very stressful cases.
0:36:39 > 0:36:41Very horrific, really.
0:36:44 > 0:36:48Mada followed the troops from Dunkirk to the deserts of Egypt.
0:36:49 > 0:36:51She assisted in operations
0:36:51 > 0:36:53and treated casualties from the front line.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58As the fighting went on, we followed.
0:36:58 > 0:37:02We were on the road in a mobile unit following the troops.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09After five years in the midst of war,
0:37:09 > 0:37:12Mada was about to take on her biggest challenge.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16NEWSREEL: 'The naval bombardment opened up.
0:37:16 > 0:37:18'It was like a convulsion of nature.'
0:37:19 > 0:37:22Treating the casualties of the Normandy invasion.
0:37:25 > 0:37:29D-Day was the largest sea and land invasion in history.
0:37:29 > 0:37:35Over 156,000 Allies landed in Normandy to fight the Nazis.
0:37:35 > 0:37:40It was the first time I'd experienced anything,
0:37:40 > 0:37:41shall I say warlike?
0:37:43 > 0:37:46One really felt, you know, we were in the midst of it.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50NEWSREEL: 'Casualties in the first hour were heavy.'
0:37:50 > 0:37:53Medical teams faced their own battle -
0:37:53 > 0:37:56treating and keeping alive thousands of casualties
0:37:56 > 0:37:58in the weeks that followed.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03It was rather, I say, frightening.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06We had to do emergencies before they could get
0:38:06 > 0:38:08even the camp big lamps up.
0:38:08 > 0:38:14I remember the first time there were four people needing amputations.
0:38:14 > 0:38:19We had to do a very quick emergency.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24Despite witnessing the trauma of war,
0:38:24 > 0:38:27nothing had prepared her for what was to come.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33We moved on right through France, Belgium, Holland,
0:38:33 > 0:38:34all the way through.
0:38:35 > 0:38:39Nursing the troops as they advanced through Europe,
0:38:39 > 0:38:43Mada arrived in what seemed like a typical town in northern Germany.
0:38:43 > 0:38:45We went into Zell.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49We took over a hospital, which had been run by the nuns.
0:38:49 > 0:38:51And that's when Belsen was discovered.
0:38:53 > 0:38:57On 15th April 1945,
0:38:57 > 0:39:01British forces liberated survivors of Belsen concentration camp.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08Set up by the Nazis, the camp was used in their systematic
0:39:08 > 0:39:12campaign of persecution and genocide.
0:39:12 > 0:39:14As the British walked through the gates,
0:39:14 > 0:39:18the horrors inside were fully exposed.
0:39:18 > 0:39:22Some of our medical officers had gone to Belsen
0:39:22 > 0:39:27and they were in tears. We wondered what had happened.
0:39:27 > 0:39:31They said, well, something dreadful had been discovered
0:39:31 > 0:39:32and they couldn't tell us.
0:39:32 > 0:39:36The things in this camp are beyond describing.
0:39:36 > 0:39:38When you actually see them for yourself,
0:39:38 > 0:39:40you know what you are fighting for here.
0:39:40 > 0:39:44The first pictures of Belsen were developed in our X-ray department
0:39:44 > 0:39:48and that was the biggest shock of all, I think.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58This morning, we buried over 5,000 bodies. We don't know who they are.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03Behind me you can see a pit, which will contain another 5,000.
0:40:05 > 0:40:06No-one could envisage
0:40:06 > 0:40:10that human beings could be treated in such a way.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14It was heartbreaking, heartbreaking.
0:40:21 > 0:40:28They were not war casualties, it was just human beings just...
0:40:30 > 0:40:34Around 50,000 survivors were found in Belsen.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37More than 13,000 later died,
0:40:37 > 0:40:40too weak to recover from this systematic abuse.
0:40:44 > 0:40:49Along with the medical teams, Mada faced an overwhelming task.
0:40:49 > 0:40:53I was in charge of a hut about over 20.
0:40:54 > 0:40:58We were assembled and said that we were going to nurse them,
0:40:58 > 0:40:59had to nurse them.
0:40:59 > 0:41:03They said the average weight would be five stone.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08They'd been starved and we were having to feed them
0:41:08 > 0:41:10on pre-digested food.
0:41:10 > 0:41:12You just had to try and feed them
0:41:12 > 0:41:15a little at a time just to keep them alive.
0:41:16 > 0:41:20I don't think anyone in the medical profession encountered
0:41:20 > 0:41:22anything like it.
0:41:23 > 0:41:29I think it was the most terrifying situation I'd ever been in,
0:41:29 > 0:41:30in my nursing.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37Survivors of Belsen were nursed back to health
0:41:37 > 0:41:40with thanks to the devotion of nurses like Mada
0:41:42 > 0:41:46I think you felt privileged to think that we were there to help them.
0:41:48 > 0:41:52They were so grateful, they would be shouting, "English sister,
0:41:52 > 0:41:57"so pleased to see an English sister. English sister." Yes.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05The sights of war have stayed with Mada throughout her long life.
0:42:06 > 0:42:10But with remembrance also comes the chance to reflect on the good
0:42:10 > 0:42:12amongst all those who served.
0:42:13 > 0:42:17To see that procession of the veterans marching,
0:42:17 > 0:42:20it really is very touching.
0:42:21 > 0:42:27The elderly people in that procession, it just sort of
0:42:27 > 0:42:30reflects what it was like in wartime, the comradeship, you know.
0:42:30 > 0:42:33It's still there. They are all together.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43BIRDSONG
0:42:45 > 0:42:48On tomorrow's programme...
0:42:48 > 0:42:50In World War II,
0:42:50 > 0:42:53gunners in Bomber Command knew every day could be their last.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56One man beat the odds to tell his tale.
0:42:56 > 0:43:01I got the name of being lucky, a bit of a lucky character to fly with.
0:43:05 > 0:43:07AIRCRAFT DRONES
0:43:32 > 0:43:35Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd