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Shall we go and do it?
Yeah, let's do it.
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2018 marks the centenary
of the Royal Air Force.
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In 100 years, it's evolved
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from primitive planes
of wood and string...
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..to flying at
twice the speed of sound.
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My name's Ewan McGregor
and this is my brother, Colin,
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and since we were kids we've been
fascinated by the Royal Air Force.
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I went on to become
one of its pilots
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and now I train the next generation
of the RAF's top guns.
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We've always had a passion for
the role of the RAF in World War II.
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Whoa!
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But now, we're going to
tell the whole story
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of the Royal Air Force's
first 100 years
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by actually flying in some
of its greatest aeroplanes
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and recreating some of
its most iconic missions.
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We'll explore how planes became
fighting machines in World War I...
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It's right on our tail! Oh, my God!
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..and the classic dogfight from
the Battle of Britain
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between the Spitfire
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and the Messerschmitt 109.
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We'll meet the people
who made the RAF,
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from the ground crew
to the fighter pilots,
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the few who saved
the country in 1940.
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I had to fight for self-control...
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..because their cockpits
were full of ghosts.
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We'll explore how the Royal Air
Force waged secret wars...
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Oh, my God! Can you see it? Yeah.
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..and how it became
a vehicle for social change.
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And I said, "I AM the pilot!"
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We'll meet the Cold War flyers
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prepared to launch
nuclear Armageddon.
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We all knew there'd be
nothing to come back to.
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And finally, I'll dogfight
at supersonic speeds
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in one of the RAF's latest
and most advanced jets.
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It's going to be quite an adventure.
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This is RAF Lossiemouth
in the north of Scotland.
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It's where Colin was based
for much of his 20 years in the RAF.
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He saw active service in Iraq
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and is now a civilian
instructor here,
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using simulators to train
the RAF's front-line pilots.
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The RAF is giving Ewan the chance
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to go up in one of their latest
supersonic jets, the Typhoon.
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So, first, I want to introduce him
to this incredible machine.
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Built with European partners,
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it's the RAF's front-line
combat aircraft.
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It intercepts planes
encroaching UK airspace
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and is currently in action
over Iraq and Syria.
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Oh, my God. Look at that.
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So obviously this is
a two-seat version of the Typhoon.
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It costs a tidy £60 million,
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flies at almost twice
the speed of sound,
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and uses 200 state-of-the-art
onboard computers
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to make it a fearsome
killing machine.
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They're weapons,
they're flying weapons,
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and there's something a bit sobering
about that I suppose.
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Also there's black and yellow
levers and buttons
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that you're not meant to touch
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and there's
that sort of feeling, you know,
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when people talk about standing
on the edge of a great height
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and they feel like
they want to jump,
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there is a sort of
feeling like that.
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You know, don't pull that handle
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and then you think, "What if
I pull it, what if I pull it?"
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That's the button that
you don't want to press
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and they're just
quite close together.
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I just feel a bit serious about it
and I feel responsible about it
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and I feel very lucky to be given
the opportunity to do it
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and I don't want to barf.
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That's a summary of my feelings.
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But before I get my hands
on the Typhoon,
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we're going back
to the very beginning,
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to when the Royal Flying Corps was
the newest branch of the Army...
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..and there's not
a computer in sight.
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Wow!
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The Great War of 1914 to 1918
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was the most destructive conflict
the world had ever seen.
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It claimed 30 million lives
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and became infamous for industrial
slaughter in the trenches.
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It also marked the birth
of flying as a weapon of war.
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But just six years before
the start of the conflict,
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no-one in Britain had
experienced powered flight.
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This is Army Aeroplane No 1,
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the first plane ever
to fly in Britain.
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In October 1908, it remained
airborne for 400 metres.
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Few saw the military potential
of flying.
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French General Ferdinand Foch said,
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"Aeroplanes are interesting toys,
but of no military value."
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To explore how the Air Force
proved him wrong,
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Colin and I are meeting
former RAF pilot Dave Linney
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of the Great War Display Team.
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He's showing us a replica of
one of Britain's first warplanes.
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The BE2 was designed
purely for reconnaissance,
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to help the Army
see beyond the horizon.
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It was unarmed
and flown from the back seat
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with an observer in the front.
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Just don't put your foot
through there.
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No, I'm trying not to put
my foot through...anything.
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Oh...
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Stand on the seat, probably.
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Oh, yeah, OK. Sit yourself down.
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If you jump in the back. Right, OK.
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And then... Swing your leg over.
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Reconnaissance was soon improved
by aerial photography.
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I'll show you a very early camera.
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Oh, my God.
Look at the size of it though.
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It's the first generation
GoPro, that is.
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You'd have to take the slides out.
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Take the plates out,
change the plates.
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It's so clumsy.
They got good results. Right.
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And later in the war
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the photographic results were
phenomenal.
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Most of the major battles were
planned using the trench pictures
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that they got with these things.
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But it is extraordinary
to think that
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it's like a matter of
six to eight years
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since flying started that they
were using aeroplanes in warfare.
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It's crazy, isn't it?
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But it wasn't long before
these unarmed sitting ducks
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were forced to protect themselves.
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The initial weapon was that.
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Oh, yeah?
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I mean, trying to shoot
another aeroplane with that,
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when you're passing... I'd take out
a strut or a wire or something.
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The engine. Exactly.
I mean, thoroughly impractical.
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But they tried.
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But of course now, with this,
they can...
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If you just slot that
into that there.
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Yep. Now you've got
a pretty good field of fire
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and you've got a machine gun. Right.
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So you're starting to become
more effective. Yeah.
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Flying offered an escape from
the horror of the trenches...
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Watch your head.
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..but pilots soon confronted
a new reality.
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Slaughter in the skies.
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If you made the first two weeks
on a squad, and you survived
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the first two weeks, then you stood
a chance of surviving longer,
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but up until then, it could be days,
it could be your first mission.
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Yeah. It was very, very poor. Yeah.
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Pilots faced
the enemy's lethal firepower...
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..but they also froze
in open cockpits
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and flew without parachutes.
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There's a big chance
of fire in the air...
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Yeah. ..and that was probably
the biggest fear for these guys
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and I notice you've still
got the revolver in there.
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I have, yeah.
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A surprising number of pilots
would carry a revolver
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in the aeroplane, not to shoot at
other aircraft, but to finish it
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if they were going down in flames.
Oh, my God. Horrific.
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It's now time to get a sense of
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what it was like to fight
in those rickety machines.
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I'll be in the observer seat
in the front of the primitive BE2.
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Colin will do his observing
from a Tiger Moth.
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Our adversaries are
German Fokker triplanes.
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Agile and fast...
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..the Fokker changed
aerial warfare forever.
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Dave will be in an SE5,
the Spitfire of World War I.
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The one thing these planes
had in common
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was that they were
incredibly hard to fly.
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More pilots died in training
than in combat.
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It's 1916.
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With each side
vying for air supremacy,
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fighter aces duelled with the enemy
above the trenches.
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Whoo-hoo!
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This was the dawn of the dogfight.
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Oh, it's great. So good to be
airborne again. Brilliant.
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So beautiful! The view is amazing!
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Great, isn't it? Yeah, it's got
good visibility everywhere.
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Except directly ahead, of course.
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In the BE2 we've reached
its maximum speed of 70mph
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and it's clear to me
how vulnerable and unprotected
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the pilots and observers
must have felt.
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And then, we spot the Fokkers.
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Here they come.
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They close in at 110mph.
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We've fallen victim to one of
the classic tactics of dogfighting -
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a surprise attack from behind.
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Oh, my God!
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I can see them coming in
from behind, it's amazing.
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The Fokker had the new weapon
that revolutionised aerial warfare -
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the synchronised gun.
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It fired 500 rounds a minute
through the propeller
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without hitting it.
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All the pilot had to do was get
the enemy in the cross hairs...
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..and fire.
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He's right on our tail.
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Oh, my God!
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In 1916, German dominance
of the air was so great
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that the BE2 was withdrawn after
60 were shot down in one month.
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But the Fokkers didn't rule
the skies for long.
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In 1917, a new British plane,
the SE5, changed the game again.
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At 140mph, it was faster,
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more manoeuvrable
and it also had a synchronised gun.
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This one is in the colours of
British flying ace Mick Mannock.
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Mannock went on to become
the archetypal fighter ace,
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shooting down 61 enemy planes.
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But he also broke the mould.
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Most recruits were rich cavalrymen
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who could afford to buy
a pilot's licence.
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He was working-class and Irish,
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with Republican sympathies.
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His diaries also revealed the strain
on this new breed of warrior -
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00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:04,360
the fighter pilot.
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"Over the lines today,
engine cut out three times.
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"Wind up. Now I can understand
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00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:14,600
"what a tremendous strain
to the nervous system flying is."
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00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:18,400
This one's from
the 20th of July 1917.
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00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:21,360
"I had the good fortune
to bring a Hun two-seater down
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"in our lines a few days ago.
209
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"Luckily, my first few shots killed
the pilot and wounded the observer,
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"a captain,
besides breaking his gun.
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00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:32,360
"I hurried out
at the first opportunity
212
00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:35,400
"and I found the observer
being tended by the local MO.
213
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"The journey to the trenches
was rather nauseating.
214
00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:41,320
"Bits of bones and skulls
with the hair peeling off
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00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:44,360
"and tons of equipment
and clothes lying about.
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00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:48,160
"This sort of thing, together with
the strong graveyard stench
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"and the dead and mangled body
of the pilot and NCO,
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"combined to upset me
for a few days."
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I think that's the thing about it,
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it was so close up as well
and personal, you know, so...
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00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:06,800
..he actually saw that he killed
the pilot and injured the observer
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00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:10,240
so you're not detached from it,
you're totally eyeball to eyeball
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almost as if you're
on the battlefield.
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00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,960
My experience is, I suppose,
in modern sort of warfare,
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certainly in the RAF, you're so
detached from what you're doing
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00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:22,080
and you certainly don't land
and go and have a look at
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00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:25,080
the results of what you've done.
No.
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00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:28,200
"It combined to upset me
for a few days."
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00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:30,560
I bet it upset him for
a lot longer than that. Yeah.
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00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:38,640
Like many Great War pilots,
Mannock paid a terrible price.
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00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:44,400
He was suffering from what
we now recognise as combat stress
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00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:47,640
and was haunted by nightmares
of his aircraft in flames.
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00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:54,200
In July 1918, he went down
with his burning plane.
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00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:58,240
Pilots could soar through the skies
235
00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:01,000
but they couldn't escape
the horrors of warfare.
236
00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:04,280
One in four of them did not survive.
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00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:09,680
"We walked off the playing fields
into the lines.
238
00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:12,440
"We lived supremely in the moment.
239
00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:15,240
"Our preoccupation
was the next patrol,
240
00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:17,320
"Our horizon, the next leave.
241
00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:22,040
"We were trained in one subject -
to kill.
242
00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:25,440
"We had one hope - to live.
243
00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:28,760
"And when it was all over,
we had to start again."
244
00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:36,440
The Royal Air Force
was born in April 1918.
245
00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:42,040
By the end of the war,
it had grown from just 60 aeroplanes
246
00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:43,440
to 22,000.
247
00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:47,160
From the beginning,
the RAF was at the forefront
248
00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:48,640
of innovations in aviation.
249
00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:52,520
MARCHING BAND PLAYS
250
00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:00,360
But in peacetime,
251
00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:04,320
the Army and Navy wanted to kill off
the new upstart rival service.
252
00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:11,240
One man was to save the infant RAF
253
00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:14,200
and shape it into a modern,
forward-thinking force.
254
00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:23,480
Hugh Trenchard, known as Boom
because of his loud voice,
255
00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:26,240
founded the air academy
I attended at Cranwell.
256
00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:33,200
It became the RAF equivalent
of Sandhurst,
257
00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:35,520
the home of Army officer training.
258
00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:40,560
But Trenchard also realised
the pyramid of technical support
259
00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:44,080
needed to get a pilot in the air
deserved the best training too.
260
00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:49,960
I've come to RAF Halton
to explore this legacy.
261
00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:55,640
In 1920, Trenchard introduced
an apprentice scheme here
262
00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:57,520
that encouraged ground crew cadets
263
00:16:57,520 --> 00:17:00,640
to rise to the top of the service
on merit alone.
264
00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:05,600
Ground crew are
still trained here today.
265
00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:11,840
I'm meeting an old friend,
Air Marshal Cliff Spink,
266
00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:13,640
who trained me to fly the Spitfire.
267
00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:19,200
He was apprenticed here in 1963,
268
00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:20,960
aged 16,
269
00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:23,560
and benefited from
the systems set up by Trenchard.
270
00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:28,960
Being, in my case, a farmer's boy
271
00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:32,920
and suddenly been thrust in
amongst young lads
272
00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:37,200
from all parts of the country,
from all sorts of backgrounds
273
00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:41,440
and so, yes, I can remember
suddenly the enormity of it all
274
00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:45,720
and almost saying to myself,
"My goodness, what have I done?"
275
00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:48,680
What have I done? But it happened to
be the best thing I ever did. Yeah.
276
00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:53,400
Partner! Last bit's a sprint!
Let's go! Find your partner!
277
00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:56,240
Something that the Air Force
always did,
278
00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:59,160
it really brought you into the fold.
279
00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:03,160
Sometimes it had to knock you down
before it built you up.
280
00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:05,600
And we weren't all of the same mould
281
00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:08,440
but they brought you
into a corporate entity
282
00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:10,680
and teamwork and leadership.
283
00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:13,400
They seem like cliches,
but they're not.
284
00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:17,080
They were real building blocks
and Halton did it really well.
285
00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:23,440
Thousands who passed through Halton
owe a debt to Trenchard.
286
00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:26,360
Cliff himself went on
to rise to the top of the RAF.
287
00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:30,720
Having a vision for an Air Force
in the first place,
288
00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:33,360
an independent Air Force,
was fundamental
289
00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:36,440
but he saw the building blocks
associated with that,
290
00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:39,120
yes, the officers associated
with Cranwell,
291
00:18:39,120 --> 00:18:41,600
but Trenchard could see the need
292
00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:45,160
for that core who were
so well technically trained
293
00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:47,840
to be able to take
the Air Force forward.
294
00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:54,560
In the class-ridden society
of the 1920s, Halton was unique.
295
00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:56,760
Any apprentice who did well enough
296
00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:59,000
could then go on
to train as a pilot.
297
00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:03,240
It was a sort of meritocracy,
I guess, wasn't it?
298
00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:06,440
I think that's something that
the Air Force has prided itself on,
299
00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:08,800
that you come from any walk of life
300
00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:13,200
and if you've got the skill
and the dedication
301
00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:16,880
you can make a success of it,
302
00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:19,080
at whatever level you want to go to.
303
00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:22,240
And I think that meritocracy
has been the lifeblood
304
00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:23,680
of the Royal Air Force.
305
00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:33,680
Trenchard's innovations in the 1920s
helped the RAF survive.
306
00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:37,800
But just a few years later,
they would be tested to the limit
307
00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:40,360
when Britain went to war
once again with Germany.
308
00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:46,840
When the Second World War began,
309
00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:49,640
the RAF faced,
in the German Luftwaffe,
310
00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:52,240
the largest and most
technologically advanced air force
311
00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:53,880
the world had ever seen.
312
00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:00,840
In 1940,
with the British Army routed
313
00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:04,240
and the Germans now only
20 miles away across the Channel...
314
00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,480
..Adolf Hitler launched
an all-out aerial assault
315
00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:10,800
to prepare the way for invasion.
316
00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:15,520
Only the RAF stood in his way.
317
00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:20,840
Whoa!
318
00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:25,800
When the Battle of Britain
started in June,
319
00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:30,600
just 640 RAF fighters
faced 2,600 German planes.
320
00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:39,040
But even though it was outnumbered,
321
00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:41,640
this was a battle
the RAF had been built to fight.
322
00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:47,080
Its revolutionary
air defence system
323
00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:50,640
used radar to detect
incoming enemy planes.
324
00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:57,480
It was then down
to its new fighter planes,
325
00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:01,080
the Hurricane and Spitfire,
to scramble and intercept the enemy.
326
00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:06,160
On the 13th of August,
327
00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:08,680
the Luftwaffe launched
its main offensive
328
00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:11,800
to smash the RAF
on the ground and in the air.
329
00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:16,120
As the Germans crossed
the coastline,
330
00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:18,480
dogfights on a scale
never seen before
331
00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:20,360
raged above southern England.
332
00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:27,080
There are just a handful of pilots
alive today who fought in the battle
333
00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:29,560
and I'm privileged to meet
the youngest of them all.
334
00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:32,800
Geoffrey Wellum
was just 18 at the time.
335
00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:35,360
I suppose the first time
I flew a Spitfire,
336
00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:37,560
the thing flew me more or less.
337
00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:43,880
It seemed to flow around the sky,
it slipped through the air.
338
00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:47,600
The mere thought that
you wanted to do something
339
00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:51,480
conveyed thought
to your hands and feet
340
00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:53,160
and the Spitfire seemed to do it.
341
00:21:54,360 --> 00:21:57,480
And it's just
a wonderful feeling of,
342
00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:01,080
"This is what I've always wanted to
do, this is where I want to be."
343
00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:05,880
Up, up the long, delirious
burning blue
344
00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:09,280
I've topped the windswept heights
with easy grace
345
00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:12,560
Where never lark or even eagle flew
346
00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:15,560
And while with silent
lifting mind I've trod
347
00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:19,200
The high untrespassed
sanctity of space
348
00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:22,480
Put out my hand
and touched the face of God.
349
00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:27,280
In the summer of 1940,
350
00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:30,720
there was little time
for playing with the clouds.
351
00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:33,600
By the end of August,
the RAF was in big trouble.
352
00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:39,440
On the 31st,
they suffered their worst day.
353
00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:42,560
41 planes were lost.
354
00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:50,400
At this low point, Geoffrey found
himself thrown into the battle.
355
00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:57,840
On his first sortie, he ran into
a force of 150 enemy planes.
356
00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:02,200
I'd never seen so many aeroplanes.
357
00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:04,080
It was a mass coming towards us.
358
00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:06,880
And I remember thinking...
359
00:23:08,360 --> 00:23:11,280
.."Good God, where do you
start in on this lot?"
360
00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:13,360
I was spraying bullets
all over Kent.
361
00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:15,320
We went straight through
the middle of them,
362
00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:17,800
one passed straight over
the top of my head about...
363
00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:21,720
Well, I don't know, but I imagined
I heard his engines
364
00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:23,960
and I thought, "This is dangerous,"
365
00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:26,680
and I broke away and I thought,
366
00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:29,600
"Well, now go back
and have another go."
367
00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:34,120
The deadliest enemy of all
was the Messerschmitt 109.
368
00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:39,560
It's impossible to know
how frightening it must've been
369
00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:41,480
to fight for one's life
in the skies.
370
00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:48,440
But today, I'm going up
in a two-seat Spitfire
371
00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:52,520
to try and get a sense of what
it was like to take on an ME109.
372
00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:57,600
What a feeling, taking off
373
00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,560
with two of the most iconic
fighter planes of all time.
374
00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:05,240
The 109 had superior firepower...
375
00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:09,920
..and its battle-hardened pilots
used surprise to deadly effect.
376
00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:16,320
And in comes Jerry and he just
comes straight slashing past us,
377
00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:18,920
firing his guns about there,
378
00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:20,320
about 50 to 100 yards.
379
00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:22,600
We wouldn't even have known
he was there.
380
00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:24,840
Whoo!
381
00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:26,520
Already I'm getting a real sense
382
00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:28,960
of just how different this is
from World War I.
383
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:32,920
The planes are so much faster.
384
00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:35,360
The reaction time just
has to be so much quicker.
385
00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:48,040
Both planes had
a maximum speed of 350mph,
386
00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:51,200
but the Spitfire
had one great advantage -
387
00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:54,440
in a dogfight it could turn
tighter than the Messerschmitt
388
00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:57,160
to shake it off or get on its tail
to shoot it down.
389
00:25:00,360 --> 00:25:03,000
We're gaining on him.
He's not getting away.
390
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:05,240
Flying up to five sorties a day,
391
00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:08,040
pilots like Geoffrey
had to learn quickly
392
00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:10,160
how to outwit this formidable foe.
393
00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:16,120
Never, ever fly straight and level
394
00:25:16,120 --> 00:25:19,280
for more than 20 seconds
in the combat area
395
00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:23,520
because it was always the 109,
the German that you...
396
00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:26,360
..did not see that shot you down.
397
00:25:26,360 --> 00:25:30,200
Because I always felt that,
rightly or wrongly,
398
00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:32,840
if I could see my antagonist,
399
00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:36,680
I always felt that I had the ability
to outfly him in a Spitfire.
400
00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:44,520
In the air, the Germans were losing
two planes to every one of the RAF's
401
00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:47,440
but constant attacks
on British airfields
402
00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,320
had put RAF crews
under intense pressure.
403
00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:56,160
The worst part was sitting
in dispersal, waiting.
404
00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:59,920
The phone went - scramble base...
405
00:25:59,920 --> 00:26:02,960
From there on, you ran like mad
for your aeroplane
406
00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:05,760
and you're supposed to be airborne
within four minutes.
407
00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:08,360
The ground crew had
already started the engine,
408
00:26:08,360 --> 00:26:11,120
your parachute was on the wing,
waiting for you.
409
00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:13,880
You put it on,
they helped you into the cockpit.
410
00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:16,560
You were too busy
and dashing around too much
411
00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:18,280
to be all that apprehensive.
412
00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,520
Did you recognise how fatiguing,
413
00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:23,440
how tiring it was?
414
00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:26,040
Not at the time.
415
00:26:26,040 --> 00:26:29,320
You just carried on.
You became an automaton.
416
00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:32,120
You managed to get...
417
00:26:32,120 --> 00:26:34,240
..into the mess
or wherever you were...
418
00:26:35,360 --> 00:26:37,160
..after a heavy day
419
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:40,360
and feel totally exhausted,
420
00:26:40,360 --> 00:26:42,400
drained,
421
00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:47,080
but then, you know,
you had a couple of pints and...
422
00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:48,480
..you had to snap out of it.
423
00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:53,760
But just when it looked like
the RAF might buckle,
424
00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:56,000
the Germans switched
to bombing cities.
425
00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:01,160
It was a tactical blunder
that allowed the RAF to rearm.
426
00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:06,280
So when the Germans launched
a massive attack on September 15
427
00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:08,680
to finally break the RAF,
428
00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:11,000
they suffered some of
their heaviest losses.
429
00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:21,720
German high command had failed
to gain air supremacy.
430
00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:28,760
Attacks continued into October, but
invasion was now no longer possible.
431
00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:35,560
Geoffrey's squadron suffered
some of the highest losses.
432
00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:40,840
You were always aware
of absent friends...
433
00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:43,640
..but you put it behind you.
434
00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:47,320
You'd go to the White Hart
and have a few pints and think,
435
00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:50,200
"Well, last night John was here.
436
00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:53,040
"He's not now." Yeah.
437
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:55,520
And I can see it now...
438
00:27:56,800 --> 00:27:58,120
..clearly.
439
00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:02,360
In the evening, all the boys
there in their best blue,
440
00:28:02,360 --> 00:28:05,280
smoke rising to the ceiling,
pints knocking back.
441
00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:09,120
A fighter squadron.
442
00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:12,560
Survivors trying to relax.
443
00:28:12,560 --> 00:28:13,600
And the boys...
444
00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:19,040
..enjoying and very much aware
445
00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:20,720
of one another's company.
446
00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:24,480
Yeah. It was almost
a love affair, really.
447
00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:26,640
A love affair with one's fellow man.
448
00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:29,000
You know.
449
00:28:30,120 --> 00:28:34,600
And I think it took more out of us
than we realised at the time.
450
00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:36,480
And of course
at the end of my second tour
451
00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:38,360
I had a bit of a breakdown in health
452
00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:41,280
and was invalided home,
as it were.
453
00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:47,200
Recently, Geoffrey was invited
to witness a Spitfire display.
454
00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:51,440
Watching those Spits...
455
00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:55,160
..getting airborne and forming up
into a battle formation...
456
00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:01,000
..a lump came into my throat and
I had to fight for self-control...
457
00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:05,200
..because their cockpits
are full of ghosts.
458
00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:15,480
The Royal Air Force
had won the Battle of Britain,
459
00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:17,760
the country's first real victory
of the war.
460
00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:23,120
It supercharged morale and turned
the atmosphere of defeat into
461
00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:25,200
the potential for ultimate victory.
462
00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:30,840
But the cost was high.
463
00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:34,360
Of the 3,000 RAF pilots
who fought in the battle,
464
00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:36,760
544 lost their lives.
465
00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:43,840
The young pilots' heroism was
immortalised by Winston Churchill
466
00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:45,960
when he stated that
467
00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:48,680
"Never in the field
of human conflict
468
00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:52,280
"was so much owed
by so many to so few."
469
00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:05,040
Without the help of
one little-known organisation,
470
00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:06,920
the battle might
never have been won.
471
00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:11,200
Pilots were in such short supply
472
00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:13,960
that the Air Transport Auxiliary
was created
473
00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:16,920
to deliver combat aircraft
to front-line bases.
474
00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:25,600
We've tracked down two of the first
women pilots to fly in World War II.
475
00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:29,440
Mary Ellis and Joy Lofthouse.
476
00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:39,520
When filming took place,
Mary was 100 years old,
477
00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:41,120
and Joy, 94.
478
00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:46,320
The ATA's air taxi was
the de Havilland Rapide.
479
00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:48,440
Art Deco. Yeah, the '30s.
480
00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:50,680
Everything looked beautiful
in the '30s.
481
00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:54,040
There's the crosswind again.
482
00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:55,560
Oh!
483
00:30:56,560 --> 00:30:59,360
Their organisation was
made up of 1,000 pilots.
484
00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:03,160
In a remarkable breakthrough
for equality,
485
00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:04,840
born of necessity,
486
00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:06,880
166 of them were women.
487
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:12,240
Hello, ladies!
488
00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:15,200
I'm dying to go to the loo.
489
00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:16,520
OK.
490
00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:19,720
Look at you. You'd get in there
in a flash, wouldn't you?
491
00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:21,920
I'd better not get in.
492
00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:24,200
You would love it, though,
if you could.
493
00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:28,040
I would not like to get in that,
even with a pair of steps.
494
00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:30,320
Oh! I'd rather hang onto my toy boy.
495
00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:32,040
LAUGHTER
496
00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:34,320
You said you didn't like toy boys.
497
00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:37,320
Well, he's quite a mature toy boy,
let's be honest.
498
00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:40,080
Who is my favourite toy boy?
499
00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:42,760
Martin... Martin...
Martin Shaw. ..Shaw.
500
00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:44,760
Oh! Yeah. He's a very, very good
actor as well.
501
00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:47,280
He wasn't available today, sadly.
Anyway...
502
00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:50,400
He wasn't available.
He wasn't available today, no.
503
00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:52,160
Sadly. So you're his stand-in.
504
00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:55,320
I'm his stand-in. Yeah.
I'm the stand-in. Exactly.
505
00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:58,880
Mary and joy share
my passion for flying.
506
00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:01,600
It's so wonderful. It's freedom,
507
00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:05,200
and you can more or less
do what you want.
508
00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:09,040
It's the next best thing
to having wings yourself, you know?
509
00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:11,200
Yeah. You might
just as well have wings.
510
00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:15,880
You're up there, nobody can tell you
what to do or where to go. Yeah.
511
00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:19,080
Joy had never flown before.
512
00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:23,240
Mary was an experienced pilot.
513
00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:26,600
She'd learned before the war
514
00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:29,920
when flying was largely
the glamourous hobby of wealthy men.
515
00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:36,320
I flew 76 different types
516
00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:41,800
and I flew a Meteor without
any instructions at all.
517
00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:48,240
Throughout the war, the ATA
delivered a total of 309,000 planes.
518
00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:52,760
Mary alone delivered 1,000 of them.
519
00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:55,160
Summary for July 1945.
520
00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:57,160
Argus, Spitfire,
521
00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:00,240
Corsair, Barracuda, Sea Otter,
522
00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:03,000
Vengeance, Tempest, Firefly,
523
00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:05,880
Wildcat, Anson, Wellington,
524
00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:07,880
Ventura and Mitchell.
525
00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:09,400
And that's in one month?
526
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:11,080
That's in, yeah, one month.
527
00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:15,920
Flying planes
straight from the factory
528
00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:18,440
that had yet to be fitted
with navigational aids
529
00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:21,000
made this one of the most
dangerous jobs in the war.
530
00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:26,600
One in ten of the ATA pilots
were killed.
531
00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:33,200
One of their colleagues,
532
00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:35,200
Joan Hughes,
was just five feet tall.
533
00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:39,280
She had to wear wooden platforms
to reach the pedals.
534
00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:45,920
And what reaction would you get
when you landed,
535
00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:49,440
as a female pilot stepping out of
a Wellington bomber on your own?
536
00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:53,640
I opened the door, you know,
537
00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:56,600
put down the steps and got out
538
00:33:56,600 --> 00:34:01,440
and I waited at the bottom
for the crowd of RAF people
539
00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:04,640
with a car to take me to the control
540
00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:08,320
and I stood there for some time
541
00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:12,880
and I said,
"Can we go to control, please?"
542
00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:15,680
And they said,
"We're waiting for the pilot."
543
00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:18,000
And I said, "I AM the pilot!"
544
00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:21,480
They wouldn't believe me
545
00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:26,800
and two of them were ordered to go
up in the Wellington and search it.
546
00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:30,520
They came out and said,
"No, there's nobody else there."
547
00:34:33,640 --> 00:34:37,400
The ATA girls were the first women
in Britain to gain equal pay.
548
00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:41,000
They led the way for female pilots.
549
00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:45,480
They became known as
the glamour girls of World War II.
550
00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:49,720
We were never without an escort.
551
00:34:49,720 --> 00:34:50,760
Really?
552
00:34:52,200 --> 00:34:55,240
Some girls used to have...
553
00:34:55,240 --> 00:34:59,200
..racy parties with Naval officers.
Boyfriends. Yes.
554
00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:02,400
Ah! Really? Sounds interesting.
555
00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:04,680
I was taken to it once and she said,
556
00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:09,040
"I think you'd better go home now,
Joy," whoever took me to the party.
557
00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:12,200
She thought I was too young
to get too involved in it
558
00:35:12,200 --> 00:35:15,120
by the time they started
chucking the keys on the table.
559
00:35:15,120 --> 00:35:17,960
LAUGHTER
560
00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:21,880
I found the courage
of these woman very inspiring.
561
00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:28,920
75 years on, I'm about to take
my first flight in the Typhoon...
562
00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:30,280
..and I'm really nervous.
563
00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:38,520
It's so manoeuvrable and exerts
such huge stresses on the body
564
00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:40,840
that I have to pass a strict medical
565
00:35:40,840 --> 00:35:42,360
to prove that I'm fit to fly.
566
00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:47,480
Have you been up before? I was up
in a Tornado once with my brother.
567
00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:50,120
OK. But some years ago,
so that's my only...
568
00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:53,600
..similar experience. Yep.
569
00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:56,520
And I was sick.
570
00:35:56,520 --> 00:35:58,920
Yeah, you'll definitely be sick,
then, in a Typhoon.
571
00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:01,160
Oh, do you think? Yeah!
572
00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:04,800
Corporal Iona McDonald is checking
573
00:36:04,800 --> 00:36:07,920
that I can get out of the plane
intact if I'm forced to eject.
574
00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:12,400
This one here is buttock to knee,
575
00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:15,040
so if you just keep your bum
right up against the wall again
576
00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:17,360
and put your knees together.
577
00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:21,120
So if I can just get you to lift up
your T-shirt at the front for me.
578
00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:24,560
Next, a thorough checkup from
Wing Commander Joanne Collins.
579
00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:27,960
Just literally just going to have
a listen to your heart sounds.
580
00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:29,400
When you're ready...
581
00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:32,120
Because of the rapid
pressure changes in the Typhoon,
582
00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:34,680
my sinuses and ears
have to be clear.
583
00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:37,160
And relax.
Did you feel that pop? Yeah.
584
00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:42,120
I'm also given help on how to combat
the G-forces I'll experience.
585
00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:47,040
Breathe in for one second
and then...
586
00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:50,760
And out.
587
00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:52,360
The Typhoon can exert a force
588
00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:54,920
the equivalent of
nine times normal gravity.
589
00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:57,480
And that in itself
will make sure that you get
590
00:36:57,480 --> 00:36:59,600
enough blood and oxygen to the brain
591
00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:04,480
and will reduce any chances of you
losing consciousness up there. OK.
592
00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:07,520
This one here you'll need to just
hand to the pilot that's going to
593
00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:10,160
be flying you just to confirm
that we've done the medical
594
00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:13,880
and that you're fit to fly.
OK. So you're letting me go?
595
00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:15,640
Going to let you fly.
596
00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:16,960
Great.
597
00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:18,200
Damn.
598
00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:24,960
In World War II,
after the Battle of Britain,
599
00:37:24,960 --> 00:37:26,320
thousands of new recruits
600
00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:29,000
were undergoing
slightly less rigorous medicals.
601
00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:34,000
If the few had saved
the country in 1940,
602
00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:37,000
it was the many who would now
take the war to Germany
603
00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:38,320
and bomb it into submission.
604
00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:44,240
The man behind this campaign
was the head of Bomber Command.
605
00:37:44,240 --> 00:37:47,360
Arthur Harris was
ruthless, relentless,
606
00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:48,800
and convinced he was right.
607
00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:54,680
He believed that under the weight of
high explosive and incendiary bombs,
608
00:37:54,680 --> 00:37:56,320
German morale would collapse.
609
00:37:57,560 --> 00:38:02,000
There are a lot of people who say
that bombing can never win a war.
610
00:38:03,160 --> 00:38:05,440
Well, my answer to that
611
00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:08,840
is that it has never been tried yet,
and we shall see.
612
00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:15,840
In 1942, Harris put together the
first of the thousand-bomber raids.
613
00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:22,160
Its target was
the industrial city of Cologne.
614
00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:27,840
For the next three years,
615
00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:31,080
RAF crews would wage a new
and terrible form of warfare.
616
00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:38,000
Night after night,
raids targeted German cities.
617
00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:42,000
The seven-man crews
in the new four-engined bombers,
618
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:46,200
like the Lancaster,
faced formidable German defences.
619
00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:51,440
We were caught in searchlights,
and they had us for 35 minutes.
620
00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:54,880
Now, you can guarantee, basically,
621
00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:57,680
that if you were caught
in searchlights,
622
00:38:57,680 --> 00:39:00,760
you could say, "Goodnight, nurse."
That was your lot.
623
00:39:07,320 --> 00:39:10,400
You can view the target
all in flames
624
00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:14,320
and surrounded by
millions of shell bursts.
625
00:39:14,320 --> 00:39:16,280
It looks like hell.
626
00:39:17,320 --> 00:39:19,320
And you really think that...
627
00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:22,000
..this is going to be it.
628
00:39:24,200 --> 00:39:25,360
To cope with the strain,
629
00:39:25,360 --> 00:39:27,640
many nurtured
a live-for-the-day attitude.
630
00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:32,680
It led to an unexpected
medical problem
631
00:39:32,680 --> 00:39:34,920
that almost derailed
the bomber campaign.
632
00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:39,640
I'm meeting author Patrick Bishop,
633
00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:42,120
who's just uncovered
this secret story.
634
00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:48,080
I came across this extraordinary
file in the National Archives.
635
00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:50,080
In amongst this bundle of papers,
636
00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:55,000
someone's written
on the margin of one document,
637
00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:57,480
"This is an extraordinary story!"
638
00:39:57,480 --> 00:40:04,000
And it really is. It's about
this outbreak of VD in the RAF,
639
00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:06,120
towards the end of 1942... Mm-hm.
640
00:40:06,120 --> 00:40:09,400
..and it's particularly marked
in Bomber Command.
641
00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:12,240
The Bomber Command incidence,
I think, it's four times higher
642
00:40:12,240 --> 00:40:14,840
than it is in the other...
Really? ..branches of the RAF.
643
00:40:16,240 --> 00:40:19,120
Veterans of Bomber Command
told us about the warnings
644
00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:22,480
they'd received on the dangers
of sexually transmitted diseases.
645
00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:29,960
The late Squadron Leader Tony Iveson
relished recounting a dirty ditty.
646
00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:32,480
If she's easy, she's got it.
647
00:40:33,880 --> 00:40:36,360
If she's got it, you'll get it.
648
00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:40,120
And remember,
a blob on the knob slows demob.
649
00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:41,160
LAUGHTER
650
00:40:43,960 --> 00:40:45,600
I haven't heard that one before.
651
00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:52,960
Arthur Harris offered a typically
blunt response to the problem.
652
00:40:52,960 --> 00:40:56,160
Normally, Harris was quite indulgent
about hijinks
653
00:40:56,160 --> 00:40:58,240
and, you know, booze-ups
and all the rest of it.
654
00:40:58,240 --> 00:41:02,000
Yeah. But in this case,
he was far from indulgent
655
00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:04,320
and his response is quite chilling.
656
00:41:04,320 --> 00:41:07,720
He issues this instruction that
657
00:41:07,720 --> 00:41:13,360
anyone who is discovered
to have contracted VD
658
00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:17,000
will be made to start their whole
tour of operations over again...
659
00:41:17,000 --> 00:41:20,360
My God. ..no matter what point
they've actually reached.
660
00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:26,200
Yeah. As you know, a tour is 30 ops,
so what he's saying is,
661
00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:29,880
even if you're on your 29th op, and
you've caught a dose of the clap,
662
00:41:29,880 --> 00:41:32,360
you have to go back to square one.
Back to square one.
663
00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:35,400
At this time, you've got
a one-in-five chance
664
00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:37,920
of surviving your tour of 30 ops,
665
00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:42,720
so what this amounts to really,
if you're in this situation,
666
00:41:42,720 --> 00:41:45,320
at the end of your tour, and
you have to start all over again,
667
00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:47,720
it's more or less
a sentence of death.
668
00:41:47,720 --> 00:41:49,880
Wow. That's pretty horrendous.
669
00:41:52,600 --> 00:41:56,960
The gruelling tours of 30 operations
in highly vulnerable bombers meant
670
00:41:56,960 --> 00:42:00,480
the campaign produced the highest
British casualty rates of the war.
671
00:42:01,880 --> 00:42:04,960
Out of a force of 125,000 men,
672
00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:07,280
55,000 never came home.
673
00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:14,280
No, I had never flown before.
674
00:42:14,280 --> 00:42:16,160
Hadn't even driven
a motor car before.
675
00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:21,480
Never ever, ever
was I ever comfortable.
676
00:42:21,480 --> 00:42:23,920
No. No.
677
00:42:23,920 --> 00:42:25,280
Frightened to death.
678
00:42:26,680 --> 00:42:29,400
Anybody who that says he wasn't,
well, he's a bloody liar.
679
00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:30,640
Fire!
680
00:42:32,200 --> 00:42:35,160
He's right in there, isn't he?
He's very quick, isn't he?
681
00:42:35,160 --> 00:42:38,200
For us, no-one better
represented the courage
682
00:42:38,200 --> 00:42:41,880
of this band of brothers in the air
than tailgunner Dave Fellows.
683
00:42:43,480 --> 00:42:45,080
When we met him a few years ago,
684
00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:48,120
he even showed us
how a gunner got target practice -
685
00:42:48,120 --> 00:42:49,920
clay pigeon shooting.
686
00:42:49,920 --> 00:42:51,400
We winged it.
687
00:42:51,400 --> 00:42:53,880
You winged it. You definitely
winged the last one there.
688
00:42:53,880 --> 00:42:56,440
He was once asked to bail out
of his Lancaster
689
00:42:56,440 --> 00:42:57,680
after a mid-air collision.
690
00:42:59,240 --> 00:43:04,160
The skipper said to me, "David,
you can bail out if you wish."
691
00:43:06,320 --> 00:43:08,840
But we could have still been
attacked by enemy aircraft.
692
00:43:09,880 --> 00:43:11,640
My turret was still operational.
693
00:43:13,000 --> 00:43:15,800
So why should I jump out?
What, leave my mates?
694
00:43:23,320 --> 00:43:26,720
We'd been looking forward to
catching up to with Dave...
695
00:43:26,720 --> 00:43:30,520
..but, sadly, he passed away
a few days before we began filming.
696
00:43:44,200 --> 00:43:45,840
The plane Dave flew,
697
00:43:45,840 --> 00:43:48,600
and the most potent symbol
of the bomber campaign,
698
00:43:48,600 --> 00:43:49,960
is the Lancaster.
699
00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:54,800
Britain's last flying Lancaster
has just undergone a major service.
700
00:43:58,440 --> 00:44:01,680
We're being shown round the plane
by its present-day guardian,
701
00:44:01,680 --> 00:44:03,440
Squadron Leader Andrew Millican.
702
00:44:05,120 --> 00:44:07,120
Wow. Wow, wow. Look at that.
703
00:44:09,080 --> 00:44:12,640
So, this is painted up
in the colours of 460 Squadron,
704
00:44:12,640 --> 00:44:15,840
which was a Royal Australian
Air Force squadron aeroplane.
705
00:44:15,840 --> 00:44:18,600
OK. All right. And the reason
we wanted to paint it up in 460
706
00:44:18,600 --> 00:44:20,840
was to commemorate not only
what the Australians did,
707
00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:23,480
cos of course young men from all
round the dominions came to join
708
00:44:23,480 --> 00:44:26,280
Bomber Command... Yeah. ..but also
it was Dave Fellows' squadron,
709
00:44:26,280 --> 00:44:28,320
who sadly passed away
just a couple of weeks ago.
710
00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:31,000
Yeah. We loved hanging out
with David. He was a lovely man.
711
00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:33,280
But he got a chance to see it
before he passed away?
712
00:44:33,280 --> 00:44:35,640
He did, yeah. He did see
the aeroplane before... He did?
713
00:44:35,640 --> 00:44:37,600
..he passed away,
so he saw it in his colours,
714
00:44:37,600 --> 00:44:39,680
which is absolutely brilliant. Yeah.
715
00:44:40,960 --> 00:44:43,440
The bomber campaign
and the Battle of Britain
716
00:44:43,440 --> 00:44:46,120
are defining episodes
in the history of the RAF.
717
00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:52,920
But one largely unsung effort made
perhaps just as great a contribution
718
00:44:52,920 --> 00:44:54,360
to the defeat of Hitler.
719
00:45:02,800 --> 00:45:05,440
To uncover how the humble
aerial photograph,
720
00:45:05,440 --> 00:45:09,640
first used in World War I,
became a formidable secret weapon,
721
00:45:09,640 --> 00:45:11,840
I'm meeting
Wing Commander Mike Mockford.
722
00:45:13,280 --> 00:45:15,280
So, Mike,
what are we looking at here?
723
00:45:15,280 --> 00:45:16,680
Well, have a look at that,
724
00:45:16,680 --> 00:45:19,680
because that is a typical
three-dimensional image,
725
00:45:19,680 --> 00:45:22,440
which was absolutely vital
to the gathering of intelligence
726
00:45:22,440 --> 00:45:25,960
during the Second World War, and
all the way up to today, actually.
727
00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:27,680
Oh, my God! Can you see it? Yeah!
728
00:45:27,680 --> 00:45:30,120
Yeah, well, if you say,
"Oh, my God," I know you can.
729
00:45:30,120 --> 00:45:32,840
Yeah. Because that means...
Two flat images.
730
00:45:32,840 --> 00:45:34,240
Yeah, you're seeing...
731
00:45:34,240 --> 00:45:37,280
You're merging the images and you're
seeing buildings have height,
732
00:45:37,280 --> 00:45:41,400
hills and valleys have height
and holes, as they say.
733
00:45:41,400 --> 00:45:45,360
Cos you improve your intelligence
collection from 3-D photography
734
00:45:45,360 --> 00:45:47,560
by probably 17% or 20%.
735
00:45:49,560 --> 00:45:50,920
The photographs were taken
736
00:45:50,920 --> 00:45:53,240
by specially adapted Spitfires
like this one.
737
00:45:56,080 --> 00:45:58,880
Unarmed, and carrying extra fuel,
738
00:45:58,880 --> 00:46:01,920
they could conduct seven-hour
sorties at heights and speeds
739
00:46:01,920 --> 00:46:03,560
that outstripped any enemy plane.
740
00:46:06,400 --> 00:46:07,600
They carried two cameras
741
00:46:07,600 --> 00:46:11,640
that took photos that were
slightly offset from each other.
742
00:46:11,640 --> 00:46:14,200
Combining the two
made the 3-D image.
743
00:46:16,120 --> 00:46:17,600
That's what you've got there.
744
00:46:17,600 --> 00:46:19,560
And then...
You're looking at Colditz.
745
00:46:19,560 --> 00:46:21,120
Oh, is that right? Colditz Castle.
746
00:46:23,080 --> 00:46:25,160
The HQ for this top secret operation
747
00:46:25,160 --> 00:46:28,360
was a country house
on the Thames, RAF Medmenham.
748
00:46:31,080 --> 00:46:33,560
The highly skilled
photographic interpreters
749
00:46:33,560 --> 00:46:36,960
identified some of the greatest
threats to the Allied war effort.
750
00:46:41,040 --> 00:46:44,000
There is an interesting story
of a professor at RAF Medmenham,
751
00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:45,440
who'd been working all night,
752
00:46:45,440 --> 00:46:48,720
and he came running down the stairs
at breakfast time in the morning,
753
00:46:48,720 --> 00:46:51,600
and said, "I've done it!
I've done it! I know what it is,"
754
00:46:51,600 --> 00:46:52,800
in his underpants.
755
00:46:54,560 --> 00:46:57,920
He'd forgotten to dress. Fantastic.
And they said to him, "You'd better
756
00:46:57,920 --> 00:47:00,720
"get back and get dressed
before you go and tell everyone."
757
00:47:00,720 --> 00:47:02,720
Such passion, it's great.
Absolutely, yeah.
758
00:47:02,720 --> 00:47:04,800
I mean, they were...
I think that's a good word.
759
00:47:04,800 --> 00:47:07,000
They were passionate
about what they did. Mm.
760
00:47:09,040 --> 00:47:11,680
RAF Medmenham's greatest
intelligence coup
761
00:47:11,680 --> 00:47:14,320
was uncovering the secret V weapons
762
00:47:14,320 --> 00:47:17,120
that Hitler hoped
would turn the tide of war
763
00:47:17,120 --> 00:47:19,280
back in Germany's favour.
764
00:47:19,280 --> 00:47:22,000
The most dangerous was the V1,
765
00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:23,680
the doodlebug,
766
00:47:23,680 --> 00:47:27,920
a pilotless drone that started
to rain down on London in 1944.
767
00:47:30,360 --> 00:47:33,080
The first of the V1s
was spotted in this photograph.
768
00:47:35,080 --> 00:47:37,240
A tiny cross on a launch ramp.
769
00:47:39,160 --> 00:47:41,600
Their launch sites were
notoriously difficult to find.
770
00:47:42,600 --> 00:47:45,320
Mike is putting me to the test
by getting me to find one.
771
00:47:47,360 --> 00:47:50,720
This is a Dutch sugar factory
on the Dutch coast.
772
00:47:50,720 --> 00:47:52,440
You're looking for a ramp.
773
00:47:52,440 --> 00:47:54,720
A ramp, like a ski-shaped thing?
Yeah, slope ramp.
774
00:47:54,720 --> 00:47:56,800
Yeah, because they were launched
from a ramp.
775
00:48:01,520 --> 00:48:03,240
For the photo interpreters,
776
00:48:03,240 --> 00:48:06,000
it was like looking for
a deadly needle in a haystack.
777
00:48:07,000 --> 00:48:10,200
They became masters at spotting
the clues that were as small
778
00:48:10,200 --> 00:48:12,760
as a millimetre across
on the photographic prints.
779
00:48:14,200 --> 00:48:18,000
Telltale signs. In the open ground
here is ground scarring.
780
00:48:18,000 --> 00:48:20,440
Yes. Now, that is where the V1,
when it was launched,
781
00:48:20,440 --> 00:48:23,640
carried a booster motor...
Mm-hm. ..which was a small rocket.
782
00:48:23,640 --> 00:48:26,480
When it got airborne,
the booster motor dropped off...
783
00:48:26,480 --> 00:48:29,760
Mm-hm. ..and that ground scarring
is where they fell to the ground.
784
00:48:29,760 --> 00:48:33,000
I see. Follow that back,
on the roof of that building,
785
00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:34,960
is some light toned damage...
786
00:48:34,960 --> 00:48:37,360
Oh, yeah.
..where bits have hit the roof.
787
00:48:37,360 --> 00:48:40,200
The ramp is just alongside
the building, there.
788
00:48:40,200 --> 00:48:43,440
See that dark shape alongside of it?
Have a look.
789
00:48:43,440 --> 00:48:47,000
The dark shape here? It's a dark
line alongside the building.
790
00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:48,680
Yes, just there.
791
00:48:48,680 --> 00:48:50,880
Oh, I see it. Yeah, see it?
792
00:48:50,880 --> 00:48:54,080
And they had 238 sites,
I think it was.
793
00:48:54,080 --> 00:48:57,840
Had they ever launched
2,000 V1s in a 24-hour period,
794
00:48:57,840 --> 00:49:00,560
they would probably have
destroyed London. Yeah. Yeah.
795
00:49:02,320 --> 00:49:04,040
Once the target was identified,
796
00:49:04,040 --> 00:49:07,000
the RAF was able to put their
bombing skills into action.
797
00:49:08,280 --> 00:49:11,400
NEWSREEL: Day and night,
many targets are being hit.
798
00:49:11,400 --> 00:49:15,040
In the occupied countries,
in the Nazi Reich itself.
799
00:49:17,960 --> 00:49:21,760
Throughout the war, more than
30 million photographs were taken.
800
00:49:22,800 --> 00:49:26,920
3-D photography provided as much as
80% of British intelligence.
801
00:49:30,000 --> 00:49:33,240
The general intelligence gathered
by Medmenham was, beyond question,
802
00:49:33,240 --> 00:49:37,680
a huge contribution to our victory
at the end of the war. Yeah. Yeah.
803
00:49:39,600 --> 00:49:42,880
The RAF's role had now grown
beyond fighters, bombers
804
00:49:42,880 --> 00:49:45,200
and secret intelligence gathering.
805
00:49:46,600 --> 00:49:48,720
It was also crucial
to the clandestine work
806
00:49:48,720 --> 00:49:51,440
of the Special Operations Executive,
807
00:49:51,440 --> 00:49:53,920
working behind enemy lines,
808
00:49:53,920 --> 00:49:56,000
and they had
the perfect tool for the job.
809
00:49:58,400 --> 00:50:01,440
The Westland Lysander
is one of my favourite planes.
810
00:50:02,440 --> 00:50:06,520
It's slow and unarmed,
but an ideal covert air taxi.
811
00:50:07,680 --> 00:50:10,400
It could land in a rough field
just 150 yards long.
812
00:50:16,600 --> 00:50:19,080
It's the 16th of April, 1943.
813
00:50:20,400 --> 00:50:22,640
I'm playing
the agent Nick Boddington,
814
00:50:22,640 --> 00:50:24,960
waiting to be picked up
from occupied France.
815
00:50:27,680 --> 00:50:30,320
My first job is to lay a flare path,
816
00:50:30,320 --> 00:50:33,120
three torches
in a prearranged pattern,
817
00:50:33,120 --> 00:50:36,160
so the Lysander can find
our temporary runway in the dark.
818
00:50:42,480 --> 00:50:45,720
Up in the Lysander,
I'm playing Ewan's replacement.
819
00:50:45,720 --> 00:50:48,920
It's giving me a sense
of just how brave they were.
820
00:50:48,920 --> 00:50:50,920
Flights could last seven hours
821
00:50:50,920 --> 00:50:54,960
and penetrate 600 miles into
the heart of occupied France.
822
00:50:59,960 --> 00:51:01,920
I'm in good hands.
823
00:51:01,920 --> 00:51:04,520
The pilot that night
was Hugh Verity,
824
00:51:04,520 --> 00:51:07,760
who flew 30 clandestine missions
behind enemy lines.
825
00:51:12,600 --> 00:51:15,360
OK. I think I hear them, now.
826
00:51:15,360 --> 00:51:18,040
The golden rule was just
three minutes on the ground,
827
00:51:18,040 --> 00:51:21,280
because, at any moment,
this field could be full of Germans,
828
00:51:21,280 --> 00:51:22,800
so every second counted.
829
00:51:32,720 --> 00:51:33,800
OK.
830
00:51:33,800 --> 00:51:37,560
I've got to Morse code
a letter that's prearranged,
831
00:51:37,560 --> 00:51:40,520
and the plane sees
that Morse code letter,
832
00:51:40,520 --> 00:51:43,840
and if it's the right Morse code
letter, he replies one.
833
00:51:43,840 --> 00:51:44,880
Right.
834
00:51:46,720 --> 00:51:50,520
And if those letters are not
the right letters, the game's off -
835
00:51:50,520 --> 00:51:52,160
he buggers off and we bugger off.
836
00:51:53,160 --> 00:51:55,600
There, look, the red light.
837
00:51:55,600 --> 00:51:56,720
Yep.
838
00:51:58,440 --> 00:52:00,720
Quite a brilliant sight, isn't it?
Look at that.
839
00:52:11,440 --> 00:52:15,280
Boddington wasn't just
any old agent, he was an SOE chief,
840
00:52:15,280 --> 00:52:18,800
returning with valuable intelligence
about compromised agent networks.
841
00:52:24,000 --> 00:52:26,760
He was relieved to be rescued,
as the Gestapo were onto him.
842
00:52:37,240 --> 00:52:39,880
Three hours later, Boddington
was safely back in Britain
843
00:52:39,880 --> 00:52:41,680
with his invaluable intelligence.
844
00:52:53,200 --> 00:52:55,600
The Lysander didn't just ferry
hundreds of agents
845
00:52:55,600 --> 00:52:57,560
in and out of enemy territory
in Europe.
846
00:52:58,920 --> 00:53:01,800
It also played a vital role
in the war in Southeast Asia.
847
00:53:06,600 --> 00:53:10,360
Fred Bailey, now aged 96,
was a wireless operator.
848
00:53:12,840 --> 00:53:17,040
In 1945, he was dropped behind
enemy lines in the Burmese jungle,
849
00:53:17,040 --> 00:53:18,600
to harass the Japanese army.
850
00:53:23,160 --> 00:53:25,720
Fred's job was
to call in air strikes
851
00:53:25,720 --> 00:53:27,800
and to get the local tribespeople
852
00:53:27,800 --> 00:53:30,720
to revolt against
their Japanese oppressors.
853
00:53:30,720 --> 00:53:32,840
We had to carry all the food
we needed,
854
00:53:32,840 --> 00:53:34,800
and explosives and ammunition.
855
00:53:36,240 --> 00:53:40,000
And, in fact, we got fed up
carrying it around in the jungle
856
00:53:40,000 --> 00:53:42,920
and we bought an elephant.
Oh, really? Yes.
857
00:53:42,920 --> 00:53:46,640
And we loaded all the gear
onto the elephant.
858
00:53:46,640 --> 00:53:52,040
But what we didn't know was that
elephants needed a day's rest
859
00:53:52,040 --> 00:53:56,520
after about three days' walk.
Well... I'm a bit like that. Yeah.
860
00:53:56,520 --> 00:53:59,760
Well, there was no way we could
rest. We had to keep on the move...
861
00:53:59,760 --> 00:54:02,960
Yeah. ..because the Japs
were after us, and in the end
862
00:54:02,960 --> 00:54:06,200
the elephant got fed up
and pushed off. Yeah? Yeah.
863
00:54:07,200 --> 00:54:09,160
Fred looks friendly enough now,
864
00:54:09,160 --> 00:54:11,480
but back in the day,
he was trained to kill.
865
00:54:12,760 --> 00:54:15,240
Is that what your were...?
Yeah, a fighting knife, yeah.
866
00:54:15,240 --> 00:54:17,760
That's from the front of
the Commando magazine, isn't it?
867
00:54:17,760 --> 00:54:19,520
Yes. That's right, yeah.
868
00:54:19,520 --> 00:54:22,400
Yes, I had one of those. Were you
quite tasty with one of these?
869
00:54:22,400 --> 00:54:25,640
Yes, yes. Do you want
a demonstration? Yes, go on.
870
00:54:25,640 --> 00:54:28,560
Yes. Well... Oh, God.
Not a real one.
871
00:54:30,600 --> 00:54:32,720
With the Japanese closing in,
872
00:54:32,720 --> 00:54:35,400
Fred and his team needed
to be rescued fast...
873
00:54:37,160 --> 00:54:38,680
..so they called in a Lysander.
874
00:54:40,160 --> 00:54:42,440
Very relieved to see it.
I'll bet, yeah.
875
00:54:42,440 --> 00:54:46,360
There were five of us crammed in it,
with the pilot.
876
00:54:46,360 --> 00:54:49,280
Five? We had a Burmese agent
with us.
877
00:54:49,280 --> 00:54:51,120
Right. And he was a little fella.
878
00:54:51,120 --> 00:54:53,000
He sat in the front with the pilot.
879
00:54:53,000 --> 00:54:55,440
Right. And we three...
880
00:54:56,880 --> 00:54:58,840
..crammed ourselves
in the rear cockpit.
881
00:54:58,840 --> 00:55:01,000
Right. I was on the floor.
882
00:55:01,000 --> 00:55:02,720
I didn't see much.
883
00:55:02,720 --> 00:55:04,920
But it was quite a tight...
884
00:55:04,920 --> 00:55:08,480
..tight fix. But I guess you didn't
really...you didn't really care.
885
00:55:08,480 --> 00:55:09,880
No, no.
886
00:55:09,880 --> 00:55:12,400
You were desperate to get out.
No, we had to get out, yeah.
887
00:55:12,400 --> 00:55:15,280
And I always think
it's an amazing credit to the pilot
888
00:55:15,280 --> 00:55:18,400
that, in the middle of the jungle,
in this tiny airstrip,
889
00:55:18,400 --> 00:55:20,600
he could find it
from just a map reference.
890
00:55:20,600 --> 00:55:22,400
But find it, he did.
891
00:55:22,400 --> 00:55:26,320
And he came down and in about
ten minutes we were airborne again.
892
00:55:26,320 --> 00:55:27,480
Wow.
893
00:55:35,040 --> 00:55:38,400
By the time of the Allied invasion
of mainland Europe on D-Day...
894
00:55:39,840 --> 00:55:41,760
..the RAF with the US Air Force
895
00:55:41,760 --> 00:55:45,280
has achieved dominance
of the skies of Western Europe.
896
00:55:45,280 --> 00:55:49,280
With 1.2 million personnel
on the ground and in the air,
897
00:55:49,280 --> 00:55:52,080
it was proving
a highly effective organisation.
898
00:55:58,680 --> 00:56:01,760
It was capable of carrying out
precision attacks,
899
00:56:01,760 --> 00:56:05,080
like the legendary bouncing bomb
used in the Dam Busters raid.
900
00:56:08,120 --> 00:56:10,200
But the vast majority
of bomber crews
901
00:56:10,200 --> 00:56:14,040
were still relentlessly attacking
German cities night after night.
902
00:56:17,960 --> 00:56:22,560
And final victory left the RAF
facing its greatest controversy.
903
00:56:26,160 --> 00:56:27,840
Throughout the bombing campaign,
904
00:56:27,840 --> 00:56:31,080
it dropped more than a million
tons of bombs on Germany.
905
00:56:35,160 --> 00:56:38,240
But the firestorms created
by the carpet bombing
906
00:56:38,240 --> 00:56:40,440
of cities like Hamburg and Cologne
907
00:56:40,440 --> 00:56:42,320
killed thousands of civilians.
908
00:56:43,640 --> 00:56:48,240
Even Churchill described the bombing
of Dresden in February 1945
909
00:56:48,240 --> 00:56:50,160
as a step too far.
910
00:56:52,640 --> 00:56:55,440
Questions about the morality
of bombing whole cities
911
00:56:55,440 --> 00:56:57,160
still echo today
912
00:56:57,160 --> 00:57:00,080
and have overshadowed
the sacrifice of the bomber crews.
913
00:57:02,920 --> 00:57:06,080
It took 75 years for the bomber boys
to receive a memorial.
914
00:57:12,040 --> 00:57:15,200
But for many, the RAF made
an extraordinary contribution
915
00:57:15,200 --> 00:57:16,920
to victory over the enemy.
916
00:57:18,480 --> 00:57:21,400
Historian Patrick Bishop has been
weighing up its achievements.
917
00:57:23,320 --> 00:57:26,040
I think it's fair to say
that the RAF was
918
00:57:26,040 --> 00:57:29,120
the pre-eminent
of the three services
919
00:57:29,120 --> 00:57:31,320
during the Second World War.
920
00:57:31,320 --> 00:57:33,680
It saved Britain in 1940,
921
00:57:33,680 --> 00:57:37,800
it took the war to the Germans when
we had no other means of doing it
922
00:57:37,800 --> 00:57:43,840
and you can see that in the respect
it's held in by our allies,
923
00:57:43,840 --> 00:57:45,240
particularly by the Americans.
924
00:57:45,240 --> 00:57:47,280
They're the people
you really had to impress,
925
00:57:47,280 --> 00:57:49,280
and they were more
impressed by the RAF
926
00:57:49,280 --> 00:57:51,320
than they were
by the Army and the Navy.
927
00:57:51,320 --> 00:57:54,120
They made the best use of
technology, they were modern minded,
928
00:57:54,120 --> 00:57:55,680
they were forward-looking,
929
00:57:55,680 --> 00:58:00,560
the ethos of the thing was
meritocratic and egalitarian.
930
00:58:00,560 --> 00:58:05,240
So it was very much a reflection
of Britain as it was going to be
931
00:58:05,240 --> 00:58:09,880
or how it wanted to be
rather than Britain as it had been.
932
00:58:09,880 --> 00:58:13,960
So I think that the RAF
and its achievements during the war
933
00:58:13,960 --> 00:58:17,320
did quite a lot to shape
the attitudes
934
00:58:17,320 --> 00:58:20,480
and indeed the politics
of post-war Britain.
935
00:58:25,080 --> 00:58:28,080
Post-war peace meant facing
an unfamiliar world
936
00:58:28,080 --> 00:58:29,560
and unfamiliar roles.
937
00:58:32,520 --> 00:58:36,840
In 1948, the RAF took on
a massive and unexpected mission
938
00:58:36,840 --> 00:58:39,600
that arose from
the new world order -
939
00:58:39,600 --> 00:58:40,880
the Cold War.
940
00:58:44,000 --> 00:58:47,600
After the war, the four victorious
powers divided up Germany
941
00:58:47,600 --> 00:58:49,400
and its former capital, Berlin.
942
00:58:51,520 --> 00:58:54,680
With the Russians determined
to dominate Eastern Europe,
943
00:58:54,680 --> 00:58:58,680
Berlin found itself surrounded by
hostile Soviet-controlled territory.
944
00:59:02,000 --> 00:59:06,080
In 1948, the Russians cut off
all land access to Berlin.
945
00:59:07,280 --> 00:59:11,120
The only option left was to fly in
supplies along three air corridors.
946
00:59:13,040 --> 00:59:15,120
NEWSREEL: As the red noose
is drawn closer
947
00:59:15,120 --> 00:59:16,960
about the western sector of
the capital,
948
00:59:16,960 --> 00:59:18,840
switches are pulled on generators
949
00:59:18,840 --> 00:59:21,920
and the fuel famine forces
drastic power cuts.
950
00:59:21,920 --> 00:59:23,680
Berlin becomes a city of darkness.
951
00:59:29,600 --> 00:59:33,200
This is the Dakota, one of
the workhorses of the airlift.
952
00:59:36,640 --> 00:59:40,360
Two million West Berliners
had to be kept alive.
953
00:59:40,360 --> 00:59:43,840
Supplies ranging from powdered milk
to coal had to be flown in.
954
00:59:45,920 --> 00:59:49,320
At the height of the mission, planes
were landing every 90 seconds.
955
00:59:56,200 --> 00:59:59,280
To get a sense of what RAF
ground crews were up against,
956
00:59:59,280 --> 01:00:01,080
we're going to unload a Dakota.
957
01:00:02,960 --> 01:00:04,920
So we're going to have
three and a half tons
958
01:00:04,920 --> 01:00:06,680
of supplies we're
going to have to move.
959
01:00:06,680 --> 01:00:09,120
Three and half tons? Three
and half tons in ten minutes.
960
01:00:09,120 --> 01:00:12,120
All right, cool. So we're up for it?
Yeah. Excellent. Let's give it a go.
961
01:00:12,120 --> 01:00:13,400
Good luck.
962
01:00:18,280 --> 01:00:20,000
Over the 12 months of the airlift,
963
01:00:20,000 --> 01:00:24,880
the RAF delivered a total
of 394,000 tons of cargo
964
01:00:24,880 --> 01:00:27,280
in 66,000 sorties.
965
01:00:29,400 --> 01:00:33,920
That's us. Geoff Smith worked at
Gatow Airfield during the airlift.
966
01:00:35,200 --> 01:00:38,800
It backed onto a Russian base
and they weren't overly friendly.
967
01:00:40,240 --> 01:00:43,160
Used to come on the airfield
at night initially
968
01:00:43,160 --> 01:00:45,960
and start putting rocks on
the runway into things like that.
969
01:00:45,960 --> 01:00:49,600
Really? Yeah. They used to
try and flash searchlights
970
01:00:49,600 --> 01:00:52,640
in the pilots' eyes as they
were coming in. Really? Yeah.
971
01:00:52,640 --> 01:00:55,480
All sorts of tricks like that. Yeah.
972
01:00:55,480 --> 01:00:56,680
I'll get the next one.
973
01:00:58,080 --> 01:01:01,760
Ten minutes to empty a full Dakota
shouldn't be too tricky for Ewan.
974
01:01:02,840 --> 01:01:06,240
He used to have a proper job
in a potato packing shed.
975
01:01:06,240 --> 01:01:08,360
It's good.
There's lots more, isn't there?
976
01:01:08,360 --> 01:01:10,360
Oh, my God,
there's ties all the way up.
977
01:01:17,200 --> 01:01:18,800
Four minutes.
978
01:01:18,800 --> 01:01:21,080
Six minutes left, lads.
979
01:01:21,080 --> 01:01:23,200
So we were trying
to do our exercise -
980
01:01:23,200 --> 01:01:25,440
unloading the Dakota in ten minutes.
981
01:01:25,440 --> 01:01:27,200
Is that a sort of accurate...?
982
01:01:27,200 --> 01:01:29,400
That was the sort of target
that we aimed for, yes.
983
01:01:29,400 --> 01:01:31,160
Right. Ten minutes to unload...
984
01:01:31,160 --> 01:01:33,880
And then we would back load
if there was a load
985
01:01:33,880 --> 01:01:35,480
going back down
into the British zone.
986
01:01:35,480 --> 01:01:38,480
And then you'd be straight onto the
next aircraft after that, would you?
987
01:01:38,480 --> 01:01:39,960
Well, there'd be a queue.
988
01:01:39,960 --> 01:01:41,960
A queue.
There was a queue of aircraft.
989
01:01:41,960 --> 01:01:44,360
Are you proud
of the part you played?
990
01:01:44,360 --> 01:01:45,920
Absolutely. Yeah.
991
01:01:47,000 --> 01:01:51,360
We've always considered that
we did help a lot of people -
992
01:01:51,360 --> 01:01:54,280
people who were in
desperate need as well.
993
01:01:54,280 --> 01:01:55,360
Oh, shit.
994
01:01:56,360 --> 01:01:57,680
That's going everywhere.
995
01:02:00,480 --> 01:02:02,120
Well done.
996
01:02:02,120 --> 01:02:03,400
OK, that's it.
997
01:02:05,440 --> 01:02:07,160
Oh, yes! Nine minutes!
998
01:02:07,160 --> 01:02:08,760
Whoo!
999
01:02:16,760 --> 01:02:19,120
I had nine minutes on my watch.
1000
01:02:19,120 --> 01:02:22,280
I don't know what the official
timekeepers say but I had nine.
1001
01:02:24,160 --> 01:02:25,720
Good job.
1002
01:02:25,720 --> 01:02:27,080
You're absolutely dripping.
1003
01:02:27,080 --> 01:02:30,160
I tell you what,
cos you're stooped over,
1004
01:02:30,160 --> 01:02:32,360
everything's right
in the small of your back.
1005
01:02:32,360 --> 01:02:34,680
I lifted all of those bags
badly, you know?
1006
01:02:36,160 --> 01:02:40,200
Should have gone back to your days
in the tattie shed. I know.
1007
01:02:40,200 --> 01:02:43,080
I know but we had a hydraulic lift
that put them on your shoulder.
1008
01:02:43,080 --> 01:02:45,920
I think this is cos everything's
like that so all the weight's there.
1009
01:02:45,920 --> 01:02:48,360
That's really sore.
We've got another aircraft coming in
1010
01:02:48,360 --> 01:02:50,560
in a minute, though,
that's the other thing. Yeah.
1011
01:02:50,560 --> 01:02:53,800
Look at all the spuds under
the plane. Spuds everywhere.
1012
01:02:59,640 --> 01:03:02,400
The Cold War was made
all the more chilling
1013
01:03:02,400 --> 01:03:04,560
by the advent of the atomic bomb.
1014
01:03:06,800 --> 01:03:09,360
By 1949, both the US and Russia
1015
01:03:09,360 --> 01:03:13,600
possessed weaponry capable of
wiping humanity from the planet.
1016
01:03:18,000 --> 01:03:22,800
When the RAF tested hydrogen bombs
on Christmas Island in 1956,
1017
01:03:22,800 --> 01:03:25,640
it announced Britain's membership
of the nuclear club.
1018
01:03:27,040 --> 01:03:28,640
NEWSREEL: Like a man-made sun,
1019
01:03:28,640 --> 01:03:31,240
the fireball glows high
above the Pacific Ocean.
1020
01:03:34,600 --> 01:03:37,080
The RAF was now primed to drop
nuclear weapons
1021
01:03:37,080 --> 01:03:38,360
on the Eastern Bloc...
1022
01:03:39,760 --> 01:03:42,200
..a role that continued
until the 1980s.
1023
01:03:46,160 --> 01:03:48,600
This is the Avro Vulcan,
1024
01:03:48,600 --> 01:03:50,920
made by the same company
that built the Lancaster.
1025
01:03:52,920 --> 01:03:57,440
It entered service just 14 years
after its iconic predecessor
1026
01:03:57,440 --> 01:04:00,240
and became the linchpin of
Britain's nuclear bomber force.
1027
01:04:02,840 --> 01:04:06,280
I'm really excited to meet
two veteran Vulcan pilots,
1028
01:04:06,280 --> 01:04:08,640
Jonny Tye and Martin Withers.
1029
01:04:09,680 --> 01:04:11,440
Jonny joined in 1962...
1030
01:04:13,760 --> 01:04:15,800
..and Martin in 1971.
1031
01:04:20,600 --> 01:04:24,680
The Vulcan was a bomber but had
something of the Spitfire about it.
1032
01:04:26,240 --> 01:04:29,920
It certainly could outmanoeuvre
any fighter of its era.
1033
01:04:29,920 --> 01:04:32,920
The early missiles,
heat seeking missiles,
1034
01:04:32,920 --> 01:04:34,880
all they had to slow down and turn
1035
01:04:34,880 --> 01:04:36,720
and it would lose its...
1036
01:04:36,720 --> 01:04:39,160
It really was superb.
1037
01:04:39,160 --> 01:04:41,160
So, yeah, and it's a joy to fly.
1038
01:04:46,360 --> 01:04:49,040
The Vulcan was armed
with a nuclear missile
1039
01:04:49,040 --> 01:04:52,400
60 times more powerful than
the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
1040
01:04:54,440 --> 01:04:55,960
It was called Blue Steel.
1041
01:05:00,280 --> 01:05:01,840
They were not pleasant times then.
1042
01:05:01,840 --> 01:05:02,960
Mm-hm. Yeah.
1043
01:05:02,960 --> 01:05:05,400
The Blue Steel was a pretty nasty
bit of kit, wasn't it...
1044
01:05:05,400 --> 01:05:08,000
Oh, it was a horrid thing. ..to be
sitting on top of? Yeah. Yeah.
1045
01:05:09,360 --> 01:05:12,680
Deterrence relied on letting the
Russians know that if they launched
1046
01:05:12,680 --> 01:05:17,400
a nuclear strike, the RAF was
immediately ready to hit back.
1047
01:05:19,560 --> 01:05:21,920
We'd go from 15-minute readiness
1048
01:05:21,920 --> 01:05:23,560
to five-minute readiness
1049
01:05:23,560 --> 01:05:26,760
and then, on occasions, we'd go to
three minutes' readiness
1050
01:05:26,760 --> 01:05:30,320
and we'd start the engines
and actually taxi these things
1051
01:05:30,320 --> 01:05:33,200
and in the middle
of the night in the winter,
1052
01:05:33,200 --> 01:05:36,920
when we taxied them, you know, you
began to wonder whether it was
1053
01:05:36,920 --> 01:05:39,120
for real or whether
it was an exercise.
1054
01:05:39,120 --> 01:05:41,360
Right, so you didn't know
it was going to be an exercise?
1055
01:05:41,360 --> 01:05:43,320
You were scrambled, in effect?
1056
01:05:43,320 --> 01:05:45,280
Well, they were the nervous times,
1057
01:05:45,280 --> 01:05:49,560
when you actually fired the old
bomber up and taxied it. Yeah.
1058
01:05:51,560 --> 01:05:54,200
Each crew had two secret targets,
1059
01:05:54,200 --> 01:05:56,960
usually airfields and towns
within the Soviet bloc.
1060
01:05:58,560 --> 01:06:01,960
I did meet a girl from
one of those towns on holiday
1061
01:06:01,960 --> 01:06:06,040
and that did shake me.
Really? Yeah. It really shook me.
1062
01:06:06,040 --> 01:06:08,920
I couldn't continue to talk to her.
Wow.
1063
01:06:10,600 --> 01:06:13,760
Were you fully expecting it
to be a one-way mission?
1064
01:06:13,760 --> 01:06:15,760
Well, I think we knew that.
1065
01:06:15,760 --> 01:06:17,720
We hadn't the fuel to get back.
1066
01:06:17,720 --> 01:06:21,680
We had alternate airfields
proposed in Norway
1067
01:06:21,680 --> 01:06:24,920
but they probably wouldn't
have been there.
1068
01:06:24,920 --> 01:06:27,640
But it was just one of those
things - you had to accept it.
1069
01:06:27,640 --> 01:06:30,040
Yeah. We all knew there'd be
nothing to come back to.
1070
01:06:30,040 --> 01:06:32,320
We never wanted it
to happen, obviously,
1071
01:06:32,320 --> 01:06:35,720
but there was no doubt that we would
have carried out this mission
1072
01:06:35,720 --> 01:06:39,600
in the knowledge that there was
going to be nothing to come home to.
1073
01:06:39,600 --> 01:06:41,240
I always felt that...
1074
01:06:42,480 --> 01:06:44,400
..the UK would never go to war...
1075
01:06:45,880 --> 01:06:48,040
..on its own without...
1076
01:06:48,040 --> 01:06:51,960
It would only be a retaliation,
if you like.
1077
01:06:51,960 --> 01:06:54,920
So I had to put that in my mind
1078
01:06:54,920 --> 01:06:58,120
and just think that way
1079
01:06:58,120 --> 01:07:00,920
and that way I was able
to cope with the stress.
1080
01:07:00,920 --> 01:07:02,160
Yeah. Yeah.
1081
01:07:03,120 --> 01:07:05,000
It was a grim business.
1082
01:07:05,000 --> 01:07:07,960
Pilots were issued with an eye patch
so even though they might be
1083
01:07:07,960 --> 01:07:11,320
blinded by the nuclear flash,
they would still have one good eye.
1084
01:07:19,680 --> 01:07:22,640
The moment when the Cold War
got closest to boiling over
1085
01:07:22,640 --> 01:07:26,000
was the Cuban Missile Crisis
in October 1962.
1086
01:07:28,680 --> 01:07:30,400
The US demanded that Russia remove
1087
01:07:30,400 --> 01:07:33,480
newly installed
nuclear missiles from Cuba.
1088
01:07:35,320 --> 01:07:36,480
The Soviets refused.
1089
01:07:39,960 --> 01:07:43,520
When the crisis reached its peak
on the 27th of October,
1090
01:07:43,520 --> 01:07:45,400
the threat of nuclear Armageddon
1091
01:07:45,400 --> 01:07:48,360
put the bombers on
a three-minute warning.
1092
01:07:49,640 --> 01:07:53,600
I think there were
something like 160 warheads
1093
01:07:53,600 --> 01:07:56,440
at that sort of time
in the early '60s. Yeah.
1094
01:07:56,440 --> 01:08:01,240
So there could've been 160
V bombers, Victors and Vulcans,
1095
01:08:01,240 --> 01:08:05,280
taking off, carrying
this huge hydrogen bomb.
1096
01:08:05,280 --> 01:08:07,440
Wow. Yeah, they were ready to go.
1097
01:08:11,240 --> 01:08:14,280
Both sides eventually backed down
from the nuclear endgame.
1098
01:08:15,720 --> 01:08:19,520
For the V-force pilots,
it justified nuclear deterrence.
1099
01:08:20,720 --> 01:08:22,760
It was very important.
1100
01:08:22,760 --> 01:08:25,640
Certainly, I'm proud
to have been part of that,
1101
01:08:25,640 --> 01:08:29,360
even though I might not have been
terribly keen on it at the time.
1102
01:08:29,360 --> 01:08:32,240
But in retrospect
I'm extremely proud
1103
01:08:32,240 --> 01:08:37,040
of what the aircraft and what the
RAF did to keep the country safe.
1104
01:08:41,560 --> 01:08:42,960
Throughout its history,
1105
01:08:42,960 --> 01:08:46,080
the RAF has adapted to changing
roles and technologies.
1106
01:08:47,440 --> 01:08:51,280
Today, the Chinook helicopter
is its most versatile workhorse,
1107
01:08:51,280 --> 01:08:53,560
ferrying troops
and heavy loads, of course,
1108
01:08:53,560 --> 01:08:57,000
but also dropping special forces
behind enemy lines.
1109
01:08:59,240 --> 01:09:02,400
I'm going on a training flight with
Squadron Leader Iain MacFarlane...
1110
01:09:03,520 --> 01:09:06,120
..the most decorated
of all post-war RAF pilots.
1111
01:09:12,080 --> 01:09:14,160
What is it actually like to fly?
1112
01:09:14,160 --> 01:09:15,600
It's like a sports car.
1113
01:09:15,600 --> 01:09:19,560
It looks big and cumbersome but
actually it is like a sports car.
1114
01:09:19,560 --> 01:09:21,480
So, Iain, we're dropping
into low level now.
1115
01:09:21,480 --> 01:09:24,600
This is a skill you guys
obviously had to practise a lot.
1116
01:09:24,600 --> 01:09:26,400
It was your bread and butter,
wasn't it?
1117
01:09:26,400 --> 01:09:28,200
This was where we felt safest.
1118
01:09:28,200 --> 01:09:31,600
We regularly would train
down to 50 feet and
1119
01:09:31,600 --> 01:09:35,000
that's what kept us safe throughout
a number of campaigns, really.
1120
01:09:36,800 --> 01:09:40,200
Iain undertook special operations
in the Gulf War and Afghanistan.
1121
01:09:41,200 --> 01:09:43,480
But perhaps his most
dangerous mission
1122
01:09:43,480 --> 01:09:45,520
was in Sierra Leone in West Africa.
1123
01:09:50,000 --> 01:09:52,520
In 2000, special forces were tasked
1124
01:09:52,520 --> 01:09:56,320
with rescuing six British soldiers
held by a rebel group,
1125
01:09:56,320 --> 01:09:57,880
the West Side Boys.
1126
01:10:01,480 --> 01:10:02,960
The RAF was called in to help.
1127
01:10:06,000 --> 01:10:07,720
Surprise was essential,
1128
01:10:07,720 --> 01:10:10,440
as the rebels had threatened
to kill the hostages
1129
01:10:10,440 --> 01:10:12,520
if they heard
approaching helicopters.
1130
01:10:13,800 --> 01:10:18,200
The preferred option was a silent
approach by the SAS on foot
1131
01:10:18,200 --> 01:10:20,680
and the most definite
bottom of the pile
1132
01:10:20,680 --> 01:10:24,040
was an all-out helicopter assault
to the front door of the enemy.
1133
01:10:24,040 --> 01:10:26,160
Yeah. But because of
the terrain involved
1134
01:10:26,160 --> 01:10:28,840
and the difficulties that
the reconnaissance patrols
1135
01:10:28,840 --> 01:10:32,200
had getting into position,
that's exactly how it turned out.
1136
01:10:32,200 --> 01:10:34,600
We expected to lose my aircraft
1137
01:10:34,600 --> 01:10:39,120
and that went to ministerial level
for permission to mount the assault,
1138
01:10:39,120 --> 01:10:40,720
based on that assumption,
1139
01:10:40,720 --> 01:10:42,560
and I selected my crew based on
1140
01:10:42,560 --> 01:10:45,760
people that were not married
or didn't have any children,
1141
01:10:45,760 --> 01:10:47,760
with the exception of myself.
1142
01:10:47,760 --> 01:10:51,000
Wow, that's some decision to make.
Yeah.
1143
01:10:53,200 --> 01:10:58,000
The Chinook's 100mph downdraught
is normally seen as a disadvantage,
1144
01:10:58,000 --> 01:10:59,840
but not in this operation.
1145
01:11:01,520 --> 01:11:03,960
We decided to use
downdraught as a weapon.
1146
01:11:03,960 --> 01:11:07,960
I sat in as steady a hover as I
could manage under the circumstances
1147
01:11:07,960 --> 01:11:11,040
and watched the roof of the building
peel off from front to back.
1148
01:11:11,040 --> 01:11:13,720
And that was due to your downwash
that you'd planned? Exactly.
1149
01:11:13,720 --> 01:11:16,560
Exactly that. And watched
one chap get out of bed,
1150
01:11:16,560 --> 01:11:19,840
pick up his AK-47 assault rifle,
run out into the corridor,
1151
01:11:19,840 --> 01:11:22,280
run down the corridor,
run out of his front door
1152
01:11:22,280 --> 01:11:24,920
and raise the weapon,
point it straight at me.
1153
01:11:24,920 --> 01:11:28,160
And at that point,
the decision to remove the windows
1154
01:11:28,160 --> 01:11:30,080
on the side of
the aircraft was vindicated
1155
01:11:30,080 --> 01:11:32,760
cos a small hole appeared
in the middle of his forehead
1156
01:11:32,760 --> 01:11:34,680
and he went down
like a sack of potatoes.
1157
01:11:34,680 --> 01:11:36,680
So he was shot from
the Chinook itself?
1158
01:11:36,680 --> 01:11:39,360
Yeah. Before the guy's had
a chance... Wow, that's amazing.
1159
01:11:40,480 --> 01:11:42,400
Iain had a lucky escape,
1160
01:11:42,400 --> 01:11:45,640
but one SAS soldier lost his life.
1161
01:11:45,640 --> 01:11:49,560
And within 19 seconds of
the first troop hitting the ground,
1162
01:11:49,560 --> 01:11:52,080
all but one of
the hostages were safe.
1163
01:11:52,080 --> 01:11:55,760
19 seconds? Yeah.
So they didn't waste any time. Wow.
1164
01:11:59,400 --> 01:12:02,920
The Chinook has already been in
service with the RAF for 50 years...
1165
01:12:04,360 --> 01:12:06,320
..and will probably serve
another 50.
1166
01:12:09,360 --> 01:12:11,720
If ever you have to go to war
in a flying machine,
1167
01:12:11,720 --> 01:12:14,560
this is the flying machine that
I'd want to go to war in. Yeah.
1168
01:12:14,560 --> 01:12:18,600
It's just so capable and
looks after its crew so well.
1169
01:12:23,480 --> 01:12:25,480
It's the morning
I've been waiting for.
1170
01:12:26,640 --> 01:12:29,640
Today is my Typhoon flight
and I'm incredibly nervous.
1171
01:12:33,040 --> 01:12:35,840
Having breakfast at Colin's house
with our mum and dad,
1172
01:12:35,840 --> 01:12:38,880
I can't help but feel disappointed
Colin's not coming too.
1173
01:12:38,880 --> 01:12:42,920
Well, I won't be flying with
Colin, so that's a shame.
1174
01:12:44,480 --> 01:12:46,720
But the other two were...
1175
01:12:46,720 --> 01:12:48,760
He made me barf on both of them.
1176
01:12:50,440 --> 01:12:52,840
Ewan thinks he's leaving me behind,
1177
01:12:52,840 --> 01:12:54,520
but I've got a surprise for him.
1178
01:12:56,600 --> 01:12:59,120
Sort of talking myself
into it, almost. No, you'll be fine.
1179
01:12:59,120 --> 01:13:02,280
The truth is it's the most
extraordinary opportunity.
1180
01:13:02,280 --> 01:13:04,240
Of course. Yeah, quite amazing.
1181
01:13:04,240 --> 01:13:06,680
Oh! Oh!
1182
01:13:06,680 --> 01:13:09,040
What are you up to? You know you
said it was a bit of a shame
1183
01:13:09,040 --> 01:13:12,040
that we weren't going to be flying
together in this programme? Yeah.
1184
01:13:12,040 --> 01:13:15,840
Well, we are, cos I'm going to be up
in another Typhoon next to you.
1185
01:13:15,840 --> 01:13:18,240
EWAN LAUGHS
Are you going to be up as well?
1186
01:13:18,240 --> 01:13:20,400
Yeah. Oh, fantastic!
1187
01:13:20,400 --> 01:13:25,920
Two such different professions and
you're both top of each profession,
1188
01:13:25,920 --> 01:13:30,120
I think, to be able to work
together, to me, is amazing.
1189
01:13:30,120 --> 01:13:32,640
You are, obviously,
1190
01:13:32,640 --> 01:13:37,000
going to be that.
That's your call sign today.
1191
01:13:37,000 --> 01:13:38,800
Oh, that's very funny. Right.
1192
01:13:38,800 --> 01:13:40,920
And I'm going to be your wingman.
LAUGHTER
1193
01:13:46,400 --> 01:13:49,360
Like any other RAF mission,
the next step is the briefing.
1194
01:13:51,040 --> 01:13:53,800
Colin's pilot, Wing Commander
Chris Hoyle of 1 Squadron,
1195
01:13:53,800 --> 01:13:55,720
takes us through the sortie.
1196
01:13:57,520 --> 01:13:59,080
Some of the quick reaction alert...
1197
01:13:59,080 --> 01:14:01,440
His squadron is about to be
deployed in the Middle East.
1198
01:14:01,440 --> 01:14:03,800
I want to give you a sense
of the performance of Typhoon
1199
01:14:03,800 --> 01:14:05,680
cos that's the bedrock
of its capability.
1200
01:14:05,680 --> 01:14:09,400
On most sorties, we would look,
where possible, to use a tanker
1201
01:14:09,400 --> 01:14:12,600
just to extend our ability to train.
1202
01:14:12,600 --> 01:14:17,280
My pilot is Group Captain
Paul Godfrey, the station commander.
1203
01:14:17,280 --> 01:14:20,160
Even the boss needs
to keep up his flying hours.
1204
01:14:20,160 --> 01:14:21,760
We might get a little bit more...
1205
01:14:21,760 --> 01:14:25,560
We'll refuel, simulate a dogfight
1206
01:14:25,560 --> 01:14:28,560
and experience some pretty
uncomfortable G-forces.
1207
01:14:28,560 --> 01:14:30,960
It's not a particularly
pleasant environment often
1208
01:14:30,960 --> 01:14:32,720
and it's quite claustrophobic.
1209
01:14:38,160 --> 01:14:40,600
Then it's time to put
on our survival equipment.
1210
01:14:42,520 --> 01:14:44,000
The most important part
1211
01:14:44,000 --> 01:14:46,960
are the hi-tech suits that
combat the dreaded G-forces.
1212
01:14:50,200 --> 01:14:54,320
So, now what I'm doing is I'm
putting a set of G trousers on
1213
01:14:54,320 --> 01:14:58,120
and they'll be connected
to the aircraft.
1214
01:14:58,120 --> 01:15:01,000
So, air supply.
And whenever we pull any G,
1215
01:15:01,000 --> 01:15:04,760
they'll inflate around
all my major muscle groups
1216
01:15:04,760 --> 01:15:07,560
and force the blood up into my head.
1217
01:15:09,400 --> 01:15:11,480
Without the hi-tech suits,
1218
01:15:11,480 --> 01:15:15,040
our brains would be starved
of oxygen and we'd pass out.
1219
01:15:20,960 --> 01:15:22,320
"Relationship - mum."
1220
01:15:23,720 --> 01:15:26,800
And then there's just two
signatures. So the first one is...
1221
01:15:26,800 --> 01:15:29,800
You've already had your medical
anyway, but you haven't got a cold,
1222
01:15:29,800 --> 01:15:32,440
I can hear that.
So if you sign there and then...
1223
01:15:32,440 --> 01:15:34,920
I'm not sure who's more nervous -
me or my mum.
1224
01:15:34,920 --> 01:15:37,360
Thank you very much. Right,
won't prolong the pain any more.
1225
01:15:37,360 --> 01:15:38,800
Yeah, let's do it. Right.
1226
01:15:45,360 --> 01:15:47,640
How are you feeling, Ewan? Good.
1227
01:15:47,640 --> 01:15:49,880
Yeah, I'm excited,
sort of excited about it.
1228
01:15:51,120 --> 01:15:53,760
I'm glad it's, like,
we're doing it now
1229
01:15:53,760 --> 01:15:57,120
and, you know, we're almost about
to get going, which is good.
1230
01:15:57,120 --> 01:16:00,360
The hanging around is less
comfortable
1231
01:16:00,360 --> 01:16:03,680
than the just about to do it bit.
1232
01:16:03,680 --> 01:16:05,640
HE EXHALES DEEPLY
1233
01:16:05,640 --> 01:16:08,240
Ready? Yeah. OK.
1234
01:16:12,440 --> 01:16:14,600
See you later.
Have we to come out as well?
1235
01:16:14,600 --> 01:16:15,960
I'm just saying goodbye.
1236
01:16:15,960 --> 01:16:17,280
It is my day job but, hey.
1237
01:16:18,720 --> 01:16:19,760
All right?
1238
01:16:42,680 --> 01:16:46,120
Although I train a lot of
Typhoon pilots in the simulator,
1239
01:16:46,120 --> 01:16:49,320
this amazing plane was
introduced after I left the RAF...
1240
01:16:50,880 --> 01:16:52,760
..so I've never flown in one.
1241
01:16:52,760 --> 01:16:54,160
I can't wait to get up there.
1242
01:16:56,160 --> 01:16:59,480
Ready in the back, Colin?
Yeah, I'm ready for this, mate.
1243
01:16:59,480 --> 01:17:00,520
Here we go.
1244
01:17:05,480 --> 01:17:11,800
I'm first to experience the
Typhoon's near-vertical take-off.
1245
01:17:14,480 --> 01:17:15,600
Ten seconds.
1246
01:17:15,600 --> 01:17:17,720
It looks like such a steep climb.
1247
01:17:17,720 --> 01:17:20,840
Even on take-off,
the G-forces are immense.
1248
01:17:20,840 --> 01:17:22,840
Happy in the back, Ewan? Yes.
1249
01:17:22,840 --> 01:17:24,320
Let's hope my trousers work.
1250
01:17:34,680 --> 01:17:36,840
Head up, head down, 135.
1251
01:17:39,200 --> 01:17:42,640
The reality is astonishing, like
nothing I have ever felt before.
1252
01:17:42,640 --> 01:17:44,800
It's so smooth.
1253
01:17:44,800 --> 01:17:45,840
HE CHUCKLES
1254
01:17:56,640 --> 01:17:58,280
RADIO CHATTER
1255
01:18:02,080 --> 01:18:05,000
All good in the back? Yes.
1256
01:18:05,000 --> 01:18:07,720
COMPUTER: Bingo one. Bingo?
1257
01:18:07,720 --> 01:18:09,240
Bingo one.
1258
01:18:09,240 --> 01:18:11,960
That was just so smooth!
1259
01:18:11,960 --> 01:18:13,240
RADIO CHATTER
1260
01:18:17,120 --> 01:18:19,920
And before we know it,
we've broken the sound barrier.
1261
01:18:21,480 --> 01:18:24,600
We're travelling at 1,000mph
1262
01:18:24,600 --> 01:18:26,040
and it feels like I'm in a bubble.
1263
01:18:29,240 --> 01:18:32,760
Our first rendezvous is with
a tanker over the North Sea.
1264
01:18:36,600 --> 01:18:40,480
At 20,000 feet, we have to connect
with the tanker to refuel
1265
01:18:40,480 --> 01:18:42,720
at a speed of 500mph.
1266
01:18:44,680 --> 01:18:47,400
For Typhoon pilots,
this has to become second nature.
1267
01:18:49,480 --> 01:18:50,920
First up is Colin's plane.
1268
01:18:54,200 --> 01:18:56,600
Once we've attached ourselves
to the fuel hose,
1269
01:18:56,600 --> 01:18:59,920
taking on
1,200 litres of fuel a minute,
1270
01:18:59,920 --> 01:19:00,960
it's Ewan's turn.
1271
01:19:06,360 --> 01:19:09,680
The Typhoon has
a maximum range of 3,300 miles...
1272
01:19:11,000 --> 01:19:13,120
..but, with refuelling,
that can be extended.
1273
01:19:19,400 --> 01:19:21,640
RADIO CHATTER
1274
01:19:25,760 --> 01:19:29,280
Are you able to take them
to Delta 613 Alpha?
1275
01:19:29,280 --> 01:19:32,600
We can head down that way, yeah.
The weather's OK.
1276
01:19:32,600 --> 01:19:35,760
As you head further south,
it starts to build...
1277
01:19:35,760 --> 01:19:38,080
And now the moment
I've been waiting for -
1278
01:19:38,080 --> 01:19:40,400
I'm handed the controls
of a military jet
1279
01:19:40,400 --> 01:19:43,520
for the first time since
I left the RAF ten years ago.
1280
01:19:46,480 --> 01:19:47,640
It's good.
1281
01:19:54,080 --> 01:19:57,840
The planes I flew were from
a completely different generation.
1282
01:19:57,840 --> 01:20:00,680
They did the job but
they were heavy and cumbersome.
1283
01:20:00,680 --> 01:20:02,760
This is just so light and agile.
1284
01:20:08,000 --> 01:20:10,200
Then it's my turn to
take over the controls
1285
01:20:10,200 --> 01:20:12,440
of this awesome,
cutting-edge aeroplane.
1286
01:20:15,200 --> 01:20:17,080
Now you have control.
1287
01:20:17,080 --> 01:20:19,040
OK.
1288
01:20:19,040 --> 01:20:22,400
Just confirm you've got control,
Ewan. I do have control. Excellent.
1289
01:20:24,040 --> 01:20:27,560
I know 200 computers and Paul
can take over at any moment
1290
01:20:27,560 --> 01:20:28,880
but this is astonishing.
1291
01:20:38,520 --> 01:20:39,960
And what I can't believe
1292
01:20:39,960 --> 01:20:42,400
is that it's all happening
at supersonic speed.
1293
01:20:45,040 --> 01:20:47,520
Can I tell my mates
I flew Typhoon, then?
1294
01:20:47,520 --> 01:20:50,280
Of course you can. It's not me.
1295
01:20:50,280 --> 01:20:52,640
Now we're ready to
practise air-to-air combat.
1296
01:20:53,840 --> 01:20:56,200
These days the enemy
is usually over the horizon...
1297
01:20:58,200 --> 01:21:01,040
..but the RAF still has
to train for close-up dogfights.
1298
01:21:22,040 --> 01:21:23,680
Who'd have thought it?
1299
01:21:23,680 --> 01:21:27,200
My brother and I taking
each other on at 20,000 feet.
1300
01:21:34,040 --> 01:21:35,880
The technology may have changed...
1301
01:21:37,280 --> 01:21:39,200
..but the techniques
would be familiar
1302
01:21:39,200 --> 01:21:42,120
to Mick Mannock in World War I
and Geoffrey Wellum in World War II.
1303
01:21:46,000 --> 01:21:47,280
That was pretty good.
1304
01:21:52,440 --> 01:21:55,360
The last time an RAF pilot
took part in a dogfight
1305
01:21:55,360 --> 01:21:57,200
was during the Falklands conflict.
1306
01:22:02,040 --> 01:22:06,120
In 1982, Argentina
invaded the Falkland Islands,
1307
01:22:06,120 --> 01:22:08,320
a British territory
in the South Atlantic.
1308
01:22:12,480 --> 01:22:15,840
The British sent a force
to recapture the islands
1309
01:22:15,840 --> 01:22:18,120
and when the troops
from the task force landed
1310
01:22:18,120 --> 01:22:19,480
to reclaim the territory,
1311
01:22:19,480 --> 01:22:22,400
they found themselves under attack
from the Argentinian Air Force.
1312
01:22:27,840 --> 01:22:30,880
RAF pilot David Morgan was
patrolling in a Sea Harrier
1313
01:22:30,880 --> 01:22:33,600
when he saw Skyhawks
attacking a landing craft.
1314
01:22:36,560 --> 01:22:41,080
I saw the first Skyhawk hit the back
of the landing craft with a bomb.
1315
01:22:42,120 --> 01:22:46,840
A large explosion, and I knew that
some of the guys there had died
1316
01:22:46,840 --> 01:22:50,720
and that made me more angry
than I've ever been in my life...
1317
01:22:53,440 --> 01:22:56,840
..and I decided, at that stage,
that guy was going to die.
1318
01:22:56,840 --> 01:22:58,480
I wasn't shooting down aeroplanes.
1319
01:22:58,480 --> 01:23:01,360
You know, people say it's just
shooting down bits of metal.
1320
01:23:01,360 --> 01:23:03,000
It wasn't on this occasion.
1321
01:23:03,000 --> 01:23:05,480
I was going to kill
the guy in the cockpit.
1322
01:23:05,480 --> 01:23:07,760
As I was converting onto him,
1323
01:23:07,760 --> 01:23:10,280
out of the corner of my eye
I saw another aircraft
1324
01:23:10,280 --> 01:23:12,400
to the south of me by
a couple of hundred yards.
1325
01:23:13,840 --> 01:23:20,480
So I locked my missile onto him and
fired it right in at minimum range,
1326
01:23:20,480 --> 01:23:24,160
300-400 yards
with a lot of overtake,
1327
01:23:24,160 --> 01:23:26,120
and the missile came off
the port wing
1328
01:23:26,120 --> 01:23:27,920
and went straight up his jet pipe.
1329
01:23:27,920 --> 01:23:31,120
I remember seeing it actually
disappear up the jet pipe
1330
01:23:31,120 --> 01:23:34,480
before the thing vaporised,
the whole aircraft just vaporised.
1331
01:23:36,120 --> 01:23:39,600
David's speed of 700mph
and the force of the missile
1332
01:23:39,600 --> 01:23:43,760
flipped his Harrier on its back
at 50 feet above the ground.
1333
01:23:45,680 --> 01:23:48,040
Wrenched the aircraft back up again
1334
01:23:48,040 --> 01:23:50,520
and found myself pointing at the guy
1335
01:23:50,520 --> 01:23:53,720
I'd seen actually
hit the landing craft.
1336
01:23:53,720 --> 01:23:56,720
Locked the second Sidewinder
onto him.
1337
01:23:56,720 --> 01:23:58,920
The missile came off
the starboard wing,
1338
01:23:58,920 --> 01:24:03,120
took a big lead to the left
across my nose
1339
01:24:03,120 --> 01:24:05,520
and took him out at 90 degrees,
1340
01:24:05,520 --> 01:24:07,320
went bang just behind the cockpit
1341
01:24:07,320 --> 01:24:10,720
and the whole of the back-end
of the aircraft disappeared,
1342
01:24:10,720 --> 01:24:14,200
just left the cockpit
and about two foot of wing stub,
1343
01:24:14,200 --> 01:24:16,120
I suppose, and that was it,
1344
01:24:16,120 --> 01:24:19,560
when, all of a sudden, a parachute
opened right in front of my face
1345
01:24:19,560 --> 01:24:22,280
and it was the second guy
who'd actually managed to eject...
1346
01:24:22,280 --> 01:24:25,080
Right.
..before the cockpit hit the water.
1347
01:24:25,080 --> 01:24:29,680
I went underneath him so close that
I actually instinctively ducked.
1348
01:24:31,680 --> 01:24:38,080
And my hatred then flipped
completely to,
1349
01:24:38,080 --> 01:24:39,560
"This is another pilot."
1350
01:24:39,560 --> 01:24:41,120
Yeah.
1351
01:24:41,120 --> 01:24:43,120
Huge empathy with him.
1352
01:24:43,120 --> 01:24:47,640
And then flipped right back again
to engaging the next guy with guns.
1353
01:24:50,680 --> 01:24:53,240
When he returned
to his aircraft carrier,
1354
01:24:53,240 --> 01:24:56,680
David wrote out a poem by a pilot
from the Second World War.
1355
01:24:58,360 --> 01:24:59,960
Did Michelangelo aspire
1356
01:24:59,960 --> 01:25:01,640
Painting the laughing cumulus
1357
01:25:01,640 --> 01:25:03,360
To ride the majesty of air?
1358
01:25:04,440 --> 01:25:07,000
He was a trier
I'll give this Jerry that
1359
01:25:07,000 --> 01:25:11,200
I let him have a sharp four-second
squirt, closing to 50 yards
1360
01:25:11,200 --> 01:25:13,120
He went on fire
1361
01:25:13,120 --> 01:25:15,640
Your deadly petals painted
1362
01:25:15,640 --> 01:25:18,200
You exist, a simple stature
1363
01:25:18,200 --> 01:25:20,400
Man high without pride
1364
01:25:20,400 --> 01:25:23,240
You pick your way through
the heaven and the dirt
1365
01:25:23,240 --> 01:25:26,120
He burnt out in the air
That's how the poor sod died.
1366
01:25:28,200 --> 01:25:32,320
I thought that was particularly apt.
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
1367
01:25:35,120 --> 01:25:38,000
And it screwed me up
for a long time.
1368
01:25:38,000 --> 01:25:41,680
I had classic symptoms of PTSD
1369
01:25:41,680 --> 01:25:46,240
and I'm sure I can pin it down
to those couple of minutes
1370
01:25:46,240 --> 01:25:52,600
of incredibly, incredibly
intense emotions
1371
01:25:52,600 --> 01:25:55,920
switching 180 degrees
two or three times.
1372
01:26:02,520 --> 01:26:07,320
David's story has so many echoes of
the dogfights of World War I and II.
1373
01:26:07,320 --> 01:26:10,160
The immense bravery
and the terrible personal cost.
1374
01:26:12,680 --> 01:26:14,720
Yeah, we'll probably
go out to the West Coast,
1375
01:26:14,720 --> 01:26:16,800
then pull up and do some of that G8.
OK.
1376
01:26:19,200 --> 01:26:20,840
Wow. Bonnie Scotland.
1377
01:26:22,360 --> 01:26:26,640
On the way back, we're going on
a high-speed trip down memory lane
1378
01:26:26,640 --> 01:26:28,760
through the Highlands.
1379
01:26:28,760 --> 01:26:32,000
My parents used to live in Ullapool.
Colin was conceived in Ullapool!
1380
01:26:32,000 --> 01:26:33,880
Oh, my good God! Yeah!
1381
01:26:33,880 --> 01:26:35,480
Bit too much information.
1382
01:26:35,480 --> 01:26:37,400
LAUGHTER
1383
01:26:44,000 --> 01:26:46,920
Flying in the Typhoon
has been such a privilege.
1384
01:26:46,920 --> 01:26:49,360
It's brought together
all we've learnt about the RAF.
1385
01:26:51,040 --> 01:26:54,240
That was astonishing. That was
just really, really beautiful.
1386
01:26:56,240 --> 01:26:59,680
The Typhoon and its pilots
feel like worthy successors
1387
01:26:59,680 --> 01:27:02,680
to the Spitfire,
the Lancaster and their crews.
1388
01:27:02,680 --> 01:27:04,360
There he goes.
1389
01:27:04,360 --> 01:27:06,200
Oh-ho-ho!
1390
01:27:06,200 --> 01:27:08,000
Oh, my God!
1391
01:27:11,560 --> 01:27:13,120
The Royal Air Force has always been
1392
01:27:13,120 --> 01:27:15,400
at the cutting edge
of technology and innovation,
1393
01:27:15,400 --> 01:27:17,520
but you've always got to
come back to the people
1394
01:27:17,520 --> 01:27:19,600
cos that's what the RAF's
all about, really.
1395
01:27:19,600 --> 01:27:21,040
It's about the people.
1396
01:27:21,040 --> 01:27:23,560
And you find a commonality
between all of them
1397
01:27:23,560 --> 01:27:25,360
that ties everybody together.
1398
01:27:25,360 --> 01:27:28,240
You know, it's that ethos and spirit
of the RAF
1399
01:27:28,240 --> 01:27:30,600
that lasted throughout
its 100-year history
1400
01:27:30,600 --> 01:27:34,040
and everybody's got a chunk
of that in them that's served.
1401
01:27:34,040 --> 01:27:36,680
Cheers. Yeah, cheers, cheers.
1402
01:27:38,600 --> 01:27:41,720
Couple of weeks have been, yeah,
a real journey of understanding
1403
01:27:41,720 --> 01:27:43,720
about this incredible organisation,
1404
01:27:43,720 --> 01:27:45,960
starting at the very beginning
1405
01:27:45,960 --> 01:27:48,720
with those amazingly beautiful
and iconic...
1406
01:27:48,720 --> 01:27:51,240
..paper aeroplanes,
they look like, don't they?
1407
01:27:51,240 --> 01:27:53,720
Little...rickety little machines.
1408
01:27:53,720 --> 01:27:57,000
Right through to flying the Typhoon
and meeting all the people we've met
1409
01:27:57,000 --> 01:28:00,840
along the way who've been
involved in this Royal Air Force.
1410
01:28:00,840 --> 01:28:05,080
It's a special organisation
and, you know, ultimately saved...
1411
01:28:06,280 --> 01:28:09,840
..our lives from invasion
in the Second World War
1412
01:28:09,840 --> 01:28:11,480
and still protect us to his day.