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A puzzling web of corridors
that appear to lead nowhere.
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00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:07,936
They're hardly noticed by
the general public, but you can't
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00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:11,680
build an air force without them.
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00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:16,480
A huge abandoned
facility in a remote desert.
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00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:21,280
This was a hardcore military
base, fully prepared to survive
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00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:23,800
all-out war.
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00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:28,880
Gigantic steel towers in
an industrial wasteland.
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00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:33,040
They've not just changed
western Pennsylvania,
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but changed the world and
helped build america's 20th century.
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00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:39,360
And a massive seven-tonne Cannon
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00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:43,120
left on the edge of
an icy mountain top.
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00:00:43,160 --> 00:00:46,240
It was a real, if
you like, war-winner
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00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:49,560
for the Italians and it was
well worth bringing up here.
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00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:52,880
It still did its job
and did it very well.
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Once, they were some of the most
advanced structures and facilities
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00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:07,040
on the planet, at the cutting
edge of design and construction.
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Today, they stand abandoned,
contaminated and sometimes deadly.
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But who built them, and how?
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00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:19,600
And why were they abandoned?
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♪ ♪
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Just outside London is a
corrugated iron and concrete building.
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It stands amongst the scattered
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offices and workshops of an
unremarkable industrial estate.
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Would you expect
to find mysterious
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equipment and
enormous wooden devices
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00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:06,520
almost within arm's reach of
ordinary people, ordinary houses?
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00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:08,720
It's really astonishing.
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00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:16,920
The interior of this lopsided
structure is initially mystifying.
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00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:21,880
Two huge circular apertures
with gigantic propellers
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lead to a vast concrete tunnel,
230ft long and 140ft wide.
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00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:31,120
Its incredibly smooth walls
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00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:35,320
are pierced by veins
and hidden channels.
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00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:38,840
Yet it leads nowhere,
simply looping back on
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00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:41,480
itself in a series
of right angles.
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00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:47,320
The engineers constructing
the 24ft-diameter tunnel
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00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,960
faced unforeseen problems that
they hadn't encountered before.
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00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:52,680
The sheer size of it made it
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00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:56,600
quite difficult in terms of its
construction, as well as operation.
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00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:01,560
What complex
process was carried out
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00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:06,320
in this mammoth tunnel that made
such technical features necessary?
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00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:10,800
And after so much effort,
why was it abandoned?
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00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:27,120
In may 1933, Adolf
Hitler created the reich
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00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:33,200
aviation ministry with former flying
ace hermann goering at the helm.
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00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:35,080
This was a major step towards
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00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:41,080
the birth of Germany's new
air force, the luftwaffe, in 1935.
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00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:46,120
To Hitler, aerial warfare was
the future and soon, the full
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weight of Germany's aviation
industry was working towards
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00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:51,760
his program of rearmament.
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00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:54,720
With some of the best engineers
in the world, they began designing a
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00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,720
new breed of aircraft.
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00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:01,760
Aircraft technology
is transitioning
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00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:08,080
from olde-timey biplanes to what
we think of as a modern aeroplane,
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00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:12,640
and the British government says,
"we cannot allow the Germans to get
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00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:15,400
a technological edge on us."
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00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:21,160
As an aviation arms
race developed,
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00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:25,000
the British set about building
a high-tech research facility.
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The farnborough wind tunnel.
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00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:35,200
This testing facility was designed
to allow British engineers to study
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00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:37,880
aerodynamics and
aircraft performance
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00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:42,400
with far greater accuracy
and in more realistic conditions.
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00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:52,320
A wind tunnel is an absolutely
essential part of designing
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00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:57,560
and building and
testing aircraft.
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00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:03,960
Every element of the aircraft,
that's on the outside, affects
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00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:08,200
aerodynamics, even things like
the struts that hold the wheels,
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00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:10,320
or the way the
flaps are designed.
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00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:14,040
So everything had to be subjected
to these tests, and tiny, tiny
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00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:18,560
little variations can have massive
impact on how an aircraft performs.
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00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:31,720
Creating this complex
was an immense challenge.
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00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:36,680
Beyond its sheer size, every
material and component, from
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00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:40,320
the giant propeller to the concrete
walls, had to be carefully selected
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00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:43,920
and engineered to ensure
optimum performance.
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00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:47,160
Kenny odgers is lead technician
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00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:50,440
and an expert on the facility.
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00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:57,920
We're looking at four
years of construction
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00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:00,720
in concrete,
asking the people to
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00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:03,240
work at tolerances, which
I find quite frightening.
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00:06:03,280 --> 00:06:07,680
Every little feature
in the tunnel had to
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00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:11,760
be perfect. The air flow had to
be able to move past the walls.
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00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:14,440
You couldn't have
little bolts sticking out.
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00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,640
The louvres had to be exactly
right to straighten out the air flow
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00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:21,760
and not add new
layers of turbulence.
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00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:28,960
In 1935, the 24ft wind
tunnel went into operation.
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00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:34,760
Instead of using scale models,
full-sized aircraft were suspended
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00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:37,800
between the arms of the tunnel so
their aerodynamic performance could
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00:06:37,840 --> 00:06:41,880
be measured and
faults corrected.
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00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:43,880
But the clock was ticking.
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00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:49,040
Germany's new prototype planes
began breaking numerous world records,
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00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:52,440
demonstrating to the world
their technological prowess.
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00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:56,480
In 1936, the junkers ju 87,
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00:06:56,520 --> 00:07:00,440
a dive bomber known as
the stuka, was rolled out.
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00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:03,240
Soon after, it was the
messerschmidt 109,
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00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:08,280
which would form the backbone
of the luftwaffe's fighter force.
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00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:13,680
Through late 1939 and 1940,
they played a devastating role
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00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:17,080
in the blitzkrieg tactics that
crushed Western Europe
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00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:20,120
and forced the British army
back across the channel.
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00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:24,936
Over the course of the second
world war, the Germans make their
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00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:28,200
aircraft better and better.
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00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:31,960
And what's really important
for the British is that the British
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00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:35,680
have gotta be able to
improve aircraft ever so slightly
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00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:40,680
every minute of every day
in order to defeat the Nazis.
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00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:48,640
At the centre of the wind tunnel,
a giant 30ft propeller could blast
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00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:52,800
a 115mph jet of air across
the gap between its two arms.
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00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:04,640
The mighty fan rotated at up
to 250 revolutions per minute,
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00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:08,440
sucking in air, which
span as it left the blades.
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00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:13,280
This turbulent air was then
progressively smoothed as it
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00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:15,960
flowed through a series of
straighteners and deflectors
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00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:19,000
around the
rectangle's corridors.
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00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:21,360
At the end, it
exited the tunnel's
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00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:25,520
jet toward the test plane
as a smooth current of air.
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00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:31,680
At full whack, the wind
was pushing around 4.5
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00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:34,440
million cubic feet of air, and
when you think back over things that
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00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:37,800
were being tested, ok, everybody
talks about the iconic aeroplane,
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00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:43,160
the spitfire and the hurricane,
but we had the westland whirlwind,
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00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:44,960
a stirling,
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00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:47,440
then we had the hobby
and we had a heinkel.
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00:08:50,560 --> 00:08:53,760
Testing German aircraft
such as the heinkel
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00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:56,920
helped the British discover
secrets of their technology.
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00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:03,680
By 1940, with the battle of
britain raging in the skies,
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00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:06,336
farnborough continuously honed
the performance of British fighter
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00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:11,680
aircraft, including hurricanes,
and the iconic spitfire.
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00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:18,880
You'll start world war ii where
the first models of the spitfire
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have a two-blade propeller.
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00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:22,960
End of the war,
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00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:25,200
they have an adjustable
pitch four-blade propeller.
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00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:29,960
An adjustable pitch propeller is
one of the things that increases
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00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,960
aircraft climb and
performance enormously.
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00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:39,080
And you can't develop
propellers without a wind tunnel.
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00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:46,240
Engineers quickly
identified and introduced new
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00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:51,040
aviation features that helped
secure victory in the skies over britain.
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00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:59,480
Improved engine cooling and
reduced drag gave British pilots
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00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:02,680
an edge in combat.
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00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:05,840
With the arrival of the famous
Lancaster bomber in 1942, it was an
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00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:11,960
edge they would not relinquish
through the rest of the war.
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00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:15,520
There's a process of
the engineering of British
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00:10:15,560 --> 00:10:18,840
aircraft getting
better and better,
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00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:22,640
while the Nazis are
still trying to create
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00:10:22,680 --> 00:10:27,440
the miraculous super-weapon
that is going to win the war for them.
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And as a result, the Germans
are tripping over their own attempts
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00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:35,400
to improve their technology.
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00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:43,440
The Nazis pressed for quantum
leaps in aircraft design, including
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jet-propelled aircraft,
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00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:47,520
to turn the tide of war
back in their favour.
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Meanwhile, the allies focused
on incremental changes
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00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:56,600
and mass-produced
proven aircraft.
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Wind tunnel facilities such as
farnborough played a pivotal role
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00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:04,560
in establishing air superiority
over the luftwaffe and securing
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00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:06,400
victory in world war ii.
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00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:17,360
But with the dawn of the jet age,
farnborough would gradually be
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00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:19,760
rendered obsolete.
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00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:23,120
Having a large tunnel
being propeller-driven
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00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:25,680
wasn't as necessary because
you could create high-velocity air
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00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:31,320
streams using jet engines,
and that made an older style like
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00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:35,360
farnborough obsolete and
basically doomed it to the history bin.
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Finally, in 1992, its
wind tunnels fell silent.
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But today, it's designated
an historic building.
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The heroic struggle fought by
the raf in the skies over britain
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during those pivotal months
of 1940 is well-documented.
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Less well-known is
the painstaking work
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00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:11,760
done by men and women
at facilities like farnborough,
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work that helped give the
raf the tools they needed
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00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:17,640
to win the war.
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00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:25,000
The farnborough tunnels and
the farnborough establishment
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itself was an absolutely
essential part of the British
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00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:34,600
military and war effort.
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00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:36,680
They're hardly noticed by
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00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:40,880
the general public, but you can't
build an air force without them.
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00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:57,480
In the gobi desert around
the Mongolian city of choir,
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an empty landscape stretches
unbroken across the horizon.
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00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:14,000
Yet 19 miles northwest of the city,
a cluster of isolated strange grassy
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00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:16,600
mounds spring out
of the barren steppe.
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They're largely empty areas.
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00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:26,920
These were miserable places
in the middle of nowhere.
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00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:36,160
Standing 30ft high and 80ft across,
each of the 40 mounds is connected
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00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:40,800
to the next by a strip of
concrete, overgrown with weeds.
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Nearby, a two-mile-long
roadway leads
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off towards a
range of low hills.
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Most bizarre of all
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are the rows of crumbling apartment
blocks buttressing the background.
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00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:01,920
But why would anyone
build a community in
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00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:04,880
this vast and remote wilderness?
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00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:07,440
And why was it abandoned?
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00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:17,440
In the years after world war ii,
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00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:22,400
China and the Soviet union had
become firm communist allies.
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00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:26,200
By the 1960s however,
diverging ideological
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00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:32,520
interpretations of marxism led to
a breakdown in political relations.
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00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:36,000
This was exacerbated
by disagreements over
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00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:38,880
how to coexist with the us and
it developed into a potentially
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00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:43,000
disastrous border dispute.
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00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:47,680
Known as the sino-Soviet split, it
brought the two mighty communist
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00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:51,040
powers to the brink of war.
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00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:57,680
The reality is that the communists
in Russia and the communists
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00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:00,520
in red China, they couldn't
agree on where to have lunch.
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00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:04,400
Much bigger than communism
was the inbuilt rivalry.
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00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:09,600
As distrust grew,
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00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:13,800
military forces steadily
built up along their borders.
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00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:21,880
Wedged in between
the two adversaries
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00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:27,200
was the ussr's ally, the
Mongolian people's republic.
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00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:30,080
As tensions Rose,
this Soviet satellite
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00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:34,920
state found itself at the centre of
a potentially explosive situation.
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00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:40,080
Mongolia is something of a
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00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:46,000
contested area and, in fact, this
heated up back in the early 1960s.
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00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:47,720
It got to the point where there
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00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:53,040
were some serious, not just
skirmishes, but actual battles.
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00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:56,480
The Soviets created the
Mongolian people's republic
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00:15:56,520 --> 00:16:02,040
as a puppet state to buffer
them against Chinese attack.
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00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:07,720
The Soviets are really concerned
that, as China modernises,
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00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:13,800
as China grows stronger, that
Russia and China will fight a war.
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00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:18,280
In response, the
Soviet union deployed
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00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:23,080
hundreds of thousands of troops
near the Mongolian border with China.
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00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:26,680
They were backed up by a
formidable network of air power.
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00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:35,080
A key component was
the bayantal air base.
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00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:42,800
This was home to the 126th
fighter aviation regiment.
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00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:50,000
A huge new base designed to
provide a first line of defence against
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00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:54,720
any Chinese attack on the Soviet
union's satellite state, Mongolia.
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00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:02,880
This base is massive.
The runway's two miles,
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00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:06,680
with hardened bunkers where they
could hide their aircraft from even
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00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:09,280
the most serious aerial attack.
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00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:12,480
At the air base, there were 1,800
men, and the associated families
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00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:16,040
that were in charge of
the aeroplanes, as well as
220
00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:18,640
the maintenance and
running of the facility.
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00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:23,120
This was a hardcore
military base,
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00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:26,680
fully prepared to
survive all-out war.
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00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:39,040
In 1970, red army engineers rapidly
laid foundations in the vast expanse
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00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:41,200
of the Mongolian steppe.
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00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:49,320
In keeping with the secrecy
that surrounded its construction,
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00:17:49,360 --> 00:17:52,960
the cost of this massive
installation is still unknown.
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00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:59,880
Work at bayantal faced a
number of unique challenges.
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00:17:59,920 --> 00:18:04,160
This was a long way from the
typical Soviet air bases in Europe.
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00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:08,960
A whole town had to be built from
scratch for the Garrison and their
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00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:13,600
families, with every last nut
and bolt brought in from the ussr.
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00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:19,160
One thing the Soviets were
really good at was building massive
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00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:23,400
infrastructure in the middle
of nowhere. It would be difficult
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00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:27,200
to build a two-mile runway, you
know, ten miles outside of Moscow.
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00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:29,520
Imagine doing it in
the middle of nowhere,
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00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:34,120
thousands of miles away from
your normal sources of supply.
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00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:39,760
What you see on this
base is how much effort,
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00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:45,120
resources and money the Soviets
poured into their defence system.
238
00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:50,920
In 1972, bayantal
became operational.
239
00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:55,480
Surrounded by anti-aircraft
missile batteries and a network
240
00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:59,560
of defence bunkers, the base
was formidably well-protected.
241
00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:05,760
Hidden within its blast-proof
shelters was a deadly strike force
242
00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:10,160
that included dozens of
mig-21s and 23 fighter jets.
243
00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:15,200
At the air base, there was a
squadron of mig-21s, which,
244
00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:19,640
at the time, was a
top-of-the-line fighter interceptor,
245
00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:23,480
so a supersonic jet that would
deal with any airborne threats
246
00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:26,480
that would come
from the Chinese.
247
00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:29,920
It's one of the ten great
aircraft of the cold war.
248
00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:37,280
The us encountered the mig-21
in the skies over north Vietnam,
249
00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:38,960
where it was a
formidable opponent.
250
00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:42,160
It was fun to fly, fairly easy
251
00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:47,440
to maintain, and the people
that flew it liked it and trusted it.
252
00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:55,160
While the aircraft were high-tech,
conditions at the base were brutal.
253
00:19:55,200 --> 00:20:00,680
In the summer, temperatures reach
40 degrees celsius, while in winter,
254
00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:03,920
the icy winds blasting across
the desert steppe could bring
255
00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:06,880
everything to a
stop at minus 40.
256
00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,440
The problems that they faced on
base were both from a maintenance
257
00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:14,400
perspective,
keeping the machines
258
00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:18,440
operational in the desert
environment, as well as morale.
259
00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:22,040
Keeping people motivated to live
in such a stark and barren place
260
00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:24,880
was quite a challenge.
261
00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:27,520
Yet bayantal
remained on a state of
262
00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:32,680
high alert throughout the 1970s
and '80s as tensions continued.
263
00:20:35,360 --> 00:20:37,280
At this point,
264
00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:43,040
China's interests are clearly
opposed to Soviet interests.
265
00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:47,280
And as long as Chinese and
Russian interests are opposed,
266
00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:51,960
there is always going to be
tension between Moscow and Beijing.
267
00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:55,960
And that tension is gonna be
stretched right across Mongolia.
268
00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:04,240
Bayantal air base helped prevent
China from taking direct military
269
00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:09,200
action against the ussr and
all-out war was narrowly avoided.
270
00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:16,640
When mikhail gorbachev came to
power in 1985, he made a determined effort
271
00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:18,440
to ease tensions.
272
00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:26,960
Just a few years later, in 1989,
the Soviet union was collapsing
273
00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,520
and bayantal no longer had
the funds to be maintained.
274
00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:36,000
This was not a country with
a lot of money at the time.
275
00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:38,800
It's part of the reason the Soviet
union ultimately collapsed, was
276
00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:43,720
the need to spend so many precious
resources building and maintaining
277
00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:48,200
this far-flung network of
expensive military facilities.
278
00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:52,440
And this base shut down,
as did hundreds of others.
279
00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:56,440
In December 1989, the
bayantal air base was abandoned.
280
00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,880
Today, this once-vital
air base is a ghost town.
281
00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:10,120
The base is largely
abandoned now.
282
00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:14,000
None of the structures are
used for the original purpose.
283
00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:16,800
Native people, the Mongolia,
can be found on the base, but not
284
00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:19,920
in the buildings themselves.
They live in and amongst
285
00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:22,056
the buildings, using them for
shelter from the environments.
286
00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:24,400
But largely, the buildings
are completely empty
287
00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:26,080
and abandoned.
288
00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:35,160
Bayantal air base shows that
nuclear armageddon could have started
289
00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:39,760
not just in cold war
Europe, or the United States,
290
00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:45,000
but even in the vast desert
wastelands of Mongolia.
291
00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:50,880
Like most military installations,
this one was never used in war,
292
00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:54,400
but that's not necessarily
how you measure
293
00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:56,800
the success of an investment
in military infrastructure.
294
00:22:56,840 --> 00:23:01,040
If it prevented a conflict,
then it did its job as well.
295
00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:10,520
On the other side of the planet,
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
296
00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:13,760
is a perplexing wreck
of rusting metalwork.
297
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:27,000
A steel and concrete mass rises
above the trees that grow along
298
00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:29,440
the banks of the
monongahela river.
299
00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:37,240
It's really peculiar-looking and
you're thinking it's some sort
300
00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:40,160
of steam punk theme
park. It's that weird.
301
00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:45,120
When you first see
the Carrie furnaces,
302
00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:49,760
you're taken right back to an
age of huge industrialisation,
303
00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,160
with these enormous plants.
304
00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:59,320
The scale of this unusual
construction dwarfs nearby
305
00:23:59,360 --> 00:24:01,320
buildings.
306
00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:10,320
A mighty chimney soars 280ft
high and a row of rocket-shaped silos
307
00:24:10,360 --> 00:24:15,360
are flanked by two 110ft-high
pipe-covered steel towers.
308
00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:22,600
Connecting them
all is a mid-air rail
309
00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:26,240
line that seemingly
leads nowhere.
310
00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:28,160
When people first see these,
311
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:30,760
I think they're just struck
by how big they are.
312
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:35,360
This crazy collection of pipes
and tubes, and intricate plumbing
313
00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:38,200
on a massive superhuman
scale. It's kind of mind-blowing.
314
00:24:42,120 --> 00:24:44,800
What exactly took
place in this jumble
315
00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:47,080
of pipework, concrete and steel?
316
00:24:47,120 --> 00:24:51,960
And why was this
gargantuan facility abandoned?
317
00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:58,560
At the turn of the 20th
century, an explosion in building
318
00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:03,480
and transportation across the
usa created huge industrial need
319
00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:06,640
for steel.
320
00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:09,240
Iron and steel were the backbone
321
00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:11,840
of the development of
north American infrastructure.
322
00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:15,240
Every building,
every highway bridge,
323
00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:18,400
every car, every
train, every ship
324
00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:23,080
and tank, they all contained
steel that came from Pittsburgh.
325
00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:28,520
This was the birth of america,
really, the industrial revolution,
326
00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:31,120
the empire state building,
the Brooklyn bridge.
327
00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:35,320
Every city had its proud
structures that came from this
328
00:25:35,360 --> 00:25:39,080
dangerous, complicated
process of producing steel.
329
00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:46,160
This dangerous process
involved the smelting of iron ore.
330
00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:49,080
But not enough could
be smelted to keep up with
331
00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:51,320
the ever-expanding
steel production.
332
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:58,160
Ron baraff is a director
at rivers of steel heritage.
333
00:25:58,200 --> 00:25:59,896
He works to preserve
the history of industry
334
00:25:59,920 --> 00:26:02,240
and steel in western
Pennsylvania.
335
00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:09,000
They made iron that not just
changed western Pennsylvania
336
00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:13,200
but changed the world, and
helped build america's 20th century.
337
00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:17,160
Us steel came up with a
solution to the bottleneck.
338
00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:21,440
These are Carrie
furnaces 6 and 7.
339
00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:25,440
The extraordinary towers
340
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:29,520
were designed to produce more
iron for the production of steel.
341
00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:33,760
Really what you're
doing is melting rocks.
342
00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:39,120
It is a manmade volcano that is
reducing three basic ingredients.
343
00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:41,280
Iron ore,
344
00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:46,760
coke - which is coal that's baked
and is carbon - and limestone.
345
00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:51,040
And you're subjecting it to an
immense amount of heat and reducing
346
00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:52,880
it down to iron, which is then
347
00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:57,120
transported from this site across
the river and converted into steel.
348
00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:05,640
These furnaces were
purposely built near Pittsburgh.
349
00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:08,200
This was because
of the extensive
350
00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:10,760
natural deposits
of coal that exist in
351
00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:14,000
the nearby appalachian basin.
352
00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:18,920
In that part of america, you have
a lot of structures in the earth's
353
00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:21,320
crust, which have brought coal,
354
00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:23,840
have brought limestone
and have brought iron ore
355
00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:28,760
close to the surface, and you
need those three things to make iron.
356
00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:36,520
Building began in 1906.
357
00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:43,080
It was no easy task creating
these 90ft-tall combustion chambers.
358
00:27:43,120 --> 00:27:44,800
Made of 2.5-inch-thick
359
00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:48,800
steel plate, they are lined with
thousands of bricks capable of
360
00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:53,640
withstanding temperatures of
almost 2,000 degrees celsius.
361
00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:02,560
A system of counterbalanced cars
was designed to carry tonnes of ore,
362
00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:05,400
coke and limestone
up an inclined ramp
363
00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:08,680
to be emptied into the furnaces.
364
00:28:11,120 --> 00:28:14,320
We can think of the furnace as,
like, a giant test tube with a big
365
00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:16,000
bunsen burner underneath.
366
00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:19,320
We're adding in the chemicals
to make the reactions to get
367
00:28:19,360 --> 00:28:23,880
from a solid rock with iron in it,
to liberating free iron as a metal.
368
00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:28,800
And we do that by reacting the
iron with the coke, to free the iron,
369
00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:32,720
and we also add calcium
to get rid of all the silica.
370
00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:35,320
All of this is
happening in mid-air.
371
00:28:35,360 --> 00:28:39,280
Suspended in mid-air,
this big push of air up,
372
00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:42,840
material coming down, the coal
burden coming down, being heated,
373
00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:45,320
and the iron rains out.
374
00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:52,160
In 1907, the new
furnaces began operating.
375
00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:54,520
The process of emptying
the white-hot iron
376
00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:56,200
from the furnaces and into
377
00:28:56,240 --> 00:29:00,440
the waiting rail cars made for
hazardous working conditions.
378
00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:03,240
This was not a job
for the faint-hearted.
379
00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:07,400
This is a tap hole
here behind me.
380
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:11,200
It's a Clay plug that's drilled
out. The drill's right in front
381
00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:13,840
of me here, so it drills
through, the iron starts
382
00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:16,616
flowing, iron goes down this
runner and through a hole in the floor.
383
00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:18,800
Then hopefully,
stationed directly
384
00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:23,000
below that hole in the floor
is a bottle car or ladle car.
385
00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:25,960
Fatalities were high.
386
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:27,880
Injuries were extremely high.
387
00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:30,000
Fatigue was always a problem.
388
00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:32,520
You know, working in these
plants, especially early part of
389
00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:37,280
the 20th century, you were an
old man if you were in your 40s.
390
00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:41,520
It would eat you
up and spit you out.
391
00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:52,320
During the American
20th century,
392
00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:57,080
furnaces 6 and 7 proved
a phenomenal success.
393
00:29:57,120 --> 00:30:02,080
Each producing up to 1,000
tonnes of hot iron every day.
394
00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:05,080
In 1910, 60% of
395
00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:09,640
the usa's entire steel output
was coming from Pittsburgh.
396
00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:12,720
And Carrie furnace
was particularly efficient,
397
00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:14,880
thanks to its hot metal bridge,
398
00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:17,200
which took molten iron straight
399
00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:20,000
to the heart of the homestead
steel works across the river.
400
00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:22,440
This helped production
keep up with spikes in
401
00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:25,320
demand for steel in war time.
402
00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:29,520
During world war ii, 180 tonnes
403
00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:34,040
of molten iron were shipped
across the bridge every single hour.
404
00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:37,360
At its height,
and you're looking
405
00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:40,880
second world war on,
these furnaces alone,
406
00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:43,520
just this complex of furnaces,
were outproducing Great Britain.
407
00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:45,880
You know, the Pittsburgh region
408
00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:48,680
was outproducing all of
the axis powers together.
409
00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:53,400
This region gained the moniker
of the 'arsenal of democracy'.
410
00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:58,560
This was the heart of
america's industrial might.
411
00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:00,440
But as the years went by,
412
00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:04,360
the way the furnaces operated
became increasingly outdated.
413
00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:10,320
It was incredibly dangerous,
absolutely incredibly dangerous.
414
00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:15,600
The force of the pressure inside
this furnace, the amount of gases
415
00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:18,880
that are in there...
416
00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:22,560
It is a constant balancing act.
417
00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:25,560
You have too much pressure build
up in these vessels, they can explode.
418
00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:29,280
It requires team work, it requires
everyone being on that same page,
419
00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:32,360
and understanding that
they're trying to tame a volcano.
420
00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:40,200
By the 1970s, demand for iron from
the Carrie furnaces had dropped off.
421
00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:41,896
Even more seriously,
this early 20th-century
422
00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:47,280
technology was raising
serious concerns about safety.
423
00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:52,880
This is heavy industry
we're talking about.
424
00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:56,480
The conditions for the men working
at the Carrie furnaces would have
425
00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:58,520
been like working in hell.
426
00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:03,480
Extremely hot, you're
working around molten iron.
427
00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:06,400
Soot in your face, the fumes.
428
00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:08,856
Just the heat, the oppressiveness
of that environment would have been
429
00:32:08,880 --> 00:32:13,680
unbelievable and the
risk of injury or even death
430
00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:15,680
were all around
you, all the time.
431
00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:21,560
You had these high temperatures,
toxic fumes, dangerous work that
432
00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:23,600
required a lot of skill.
433
00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:27,040
This was work for very,
very tough, motivated people.
434
00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:33,440
In 1978, time ran out for the
two giant furnaces and their fires
435
00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:38,640
were extinguished for good,
leaving the site abandoned.
436
00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:46,880
The rest of the Carrie works around
the region were deemed too dangerous
437
00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:48,440
and contaminated.
438
00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:51,320
So they were all demolished.
439
00:32:56,200 --> 00:33:00,040
Furnaces 6 and 7
however, still survive.
440
00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:06,400
Designated a national historic
landmark in 2006, they are now
441
00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:08,840
a local tourist attraction.
442
00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:18,840
Where we're standing, in 1907,
this was the high tech of its day.
443
00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:23,160
And, you know, it's the building
of america's 20th century.
444
00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:25,560
It happened in places like this.
445
00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:38,000
Across the Atlantic ocean
446
00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:41,000
in the Italian alps,
the cresta croce Ridge
447
00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:45,600
sits 10,000 feet above sea level,
amongst the rugged mountain tops.
448
00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:53,800
On the brink of an
almost vertical cliff
449
00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:58,240
stands an 11ft Cannon. It's
supported by a steel cradle
450
00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:01,600
and two huge wooden
spoked wheels.
451
00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:08,800
The idea people could move
something so massive on top
452
00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:13,000
of a mountain so high
453
00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:15,840
really is a testament
to what humans can do.
454
00:34:19,680 --> 00:34:22,960
There is no doubt
about the purpose of this
455
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:25,280
six-tonne steel Cannon.
456
00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:27,320
More of a mystery, however,
457
00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:31,680
is why it's perched here
on this barren mountain top.
458
00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:37,560
If I came across an old Cannon
like that in the middle of the Italian
459
00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:42,480
alps, I would be utterly amazed,
because how did this get there?
460
00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:46,040
And why was it abandoned
to this icy wilderness?
461
00:34:52,160 --> 00:34:53,840
Since its formation in 1871,
462
00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:57,360
the nation of Italy had
been attempting to build up
463
00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:04,240
its army and Navy to protect itself
from their chief adversary, Austria.
464
00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:10,440
In 1915, Italy entered world war I,
taking up the allied cause against
465
00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:14,160
the austro-Hungarian empire.
466
00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:17,840
For Italy, it was a war of barbed
wire, machine guns and, above all,
467
00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:24,400
heavy artillery along the
northern border in the Italian alps.
468
00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:28,480
The Austrians had, for
centuries, dominated Italy,
469
00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:30,960
along with the French.
470
00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:32,896
And what the Italians
see in the first world war
471
00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:38,560
is those Austrians coming
across the passes yet again,
472
00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:45,000
to try to dominate the country
that the Italians had only just built.
473
00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:47,160
And the Italians had to stop it.
474
00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:55,520
In 1916, there was a critical danger
that Austrian troops would breach
475
00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:59,600
Italian mountain defences and
break through what was then the border
476
00:35:59,640 --> 00:36:04,560
between Italy and Austria,
just by the cresta croce Ridge.
477
00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:08,360
The artillery piece
was the prime
478
00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:12,520
killing weapon of world war I,
and Italy's success in defending
479
00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:16,880
this mountainous border
would hinge on its effective use.
480
00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:20,200
You would never
beat the Austrians
481
00:36:20,240 --> 00:36:24,600
unless you got heavy artillery
up into the mountains in Italy.
482
00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:31,840
One or two guns will dominate
a large amount of territory
483
00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:33,520
in a mountain terrain.
484
00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:39,560
The Italian army, however,
485
00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:41,760
was desperately short
of modern heavy guns.
486
00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:46,760
The only solution available
was an outdated gun from 1888.
487
00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:52,200
The 5.9-inch g-model Cannon.
488
00:36:55,800 --> 00:37:00,480
Nicknamed 'the hippopotamus',
it was designed to fire a 60lb shell
489
00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:03,800
over a distance of six miles.
490
00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:08,000
Easily outranged by
more modern guns,
491
00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:12,360
it was all that Italy had available
to defend its borders in 1916.
492
00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:24,840
When you needed fire support,
you wanted not small mountain guns
493
00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:28,400
that you could transport on the back
of a donkey - everybody had those.
494
00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:30,200
You needed heavy artillery.
495
00:37:36,240 --> 00:37:38,280
On 9 February, 1916,
496
00:37:38,320 --> 00:37:42,440
the hippopotamus Cannon
arrived in the valley below.
497
00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:50,000
It faced a daunting journey
up the mountains near the town
498
00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:52,160
of passo del tonale.
499
00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:55,320
If the town was captured,
Austrian troops would have
500
00:37:55,360 --> 00:38:00,000
a clear run to the vital
manufacturing city of Milan.
501
00:38:00,040 --> 00:38:05,440
The gun had to be sited on a
Ridge blocking the Austrian advance.
502
00:38:05,480 --> 00:38:09,640
With no roads and the
mountains covered in deep snow,
503
00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:14,520
the only option was to manually haul
the 6.6-tonne Cannon thousands of
504
00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:17,640
feet up the mountain, in
temperatures of 20-below.
505
00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:27,800
Well, as an engineer and as an
amateur mountain climber, the idea
506
00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:32,040
of taking a Cannon and
hauling it up is almost impossible
507
00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:36,680
to imagine, because of the
weather and the snow conditions,
508
00:38:36,720 --> 00:38:39,960
and just the absolute misery
that those men had to go through.
509
00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:49,240
Professional mountaineer
Cain Olsen is visiting the Cannon
510
00:38:49,280 --> 00:38:53,320
to better understand exactly
what those men went through.
511
00:38:55,080 --> 00:38:58,200
To imagine, you know,
18-year-old, 19-year-old kids,
512
00:38:58,240 --> 00:39:03,240
you know, hundreds of them,
to get this up here in lots of
513
00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:07,680
snow, from a mountaineering
point of view, it's incredible.
514
00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:12,160
Freezing temperatures weren't
515
00:39:12,200 --> 00:39:15,240
the only obstacle faced
by these young soldiers.
516
00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:21,480
During the gruelling march upward,
they were twice buried by avalanche.
517
00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:25,400
Members of the
tow team were killed.
518
00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:29,080
Yet the mountain troopers
and artillerymen had to
519
00:39:29,120 --> 00:39:31,960
dig out the Cannon and
continue the long haul.
520
00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:37,240
Now, the friction capacity of
snow is very much a function of
521
00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:41,640
the weather conditions, so
cold, dry snow is almost like sand.
522
00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:43,240
So imagine dragging
a heavy weight
523
00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:46,960
through a sand dune, where
wet, sticky snow is almost like mud.
524
00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:48,720
And so
525
00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:52,360
there's really no great way to
drag a heavy weight through snow.
526
00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:59,000
Despite this, after 78
days of incredible effort,
527
00:39:59,040 --> 00:40:02,920
the Cannon arrived
at its first firing position.
528
00:40:02,960 --> 00:40:05,720
But the initial location
proved problematic.
529
00:40:09,720 --> 00:40:13,560
The Austrians were positioned
on that Ridge over there.
530
00:40:13,600 --> 00:40:17,920
And from its original position,
the Austrians were just a bit too
531
00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:23,320
far away, so that's why they had to
then move it over onto cresta croce
532
00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:27,120
and from cresta croce, they
could easily hit the Austrians.
533
00:40:30,040 --> 00:40:35,200
Italian artillerymen faced yet
another problem, as historian
534
00:40:35,240 --> 00:40:38,240
David Caldwell-Evans
has discovered.
535
00:40:38,280 --> 00:40:41,480
There's virtually no recall
mechanism on this gun.
536
00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:45,120
When you fire it, it's
gonna slam straight back
537
00:40:45,160 --> 00:40:47,296
and there's nothing you
can do about that, other than
538
00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:50,040
try and stop the roll back.
539
00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:53,600
Each wheel had a wooden
wedge behind it, and when it fired,
540
00:40:53,640 --> 00:40:57,080
the wheel would rock back up,
come up the wedge, and then slide
541
00:40:57,120 --> 00:40:57,960
back into position again.
542
00:40:58,000 --> 00:40:59,920
That was the only way
they had of stopping it,
543
00:40:59,960 --> 00:41:03,640
basically recoiling straight
off the back of the mountain.
544
00:41:03,680 --> 00:41:08,880
Austrian troops were stunned to
find themselves under bombardment by
545
00:41:08,920 --> 00:41:13,240
a Cannon twice the calibre
of their own mountain artillery.
546
00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:15,000
Shelters dug deep
547
00:41:15,040 --> 00:41:20,000
into the ice, snow and rock were
pulverised by the enormous shells.
548
00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:24,160
It not only stopped the
Austrian advance in this sector,
549
00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:29,760
but went on to provide covering
fire for Italian counter-attacks.
550
00:41:29,800 --> 00:41:32,360
This was the largest-calibre gun
551
00:41:32,400 --> 00:41:36,640
at high altitude anywhere
in the first world war.
552
00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:39,040
The Austrians had
nothing to compete with it.
553
00:41:39,080 --> 00:41:42,440
So, although it was obsolete,
although it was well past
554
00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:44,320
its sell-by date of world war I,
555
00:41:44,360 --> 00:41:46,496
it still was bigger than
anything else up at this altitude.
556
00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:50,960
What this gun is doing
really is saturation fire.
557
00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:57,520
For two long years, the battle
above the clouds ebbed to and fro.
558
00:41:57,560 --> 00:42:02,960
The two sides simply battered
each other and, of course,
559
00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:09,000
the mountain positions gave
you a very important advantage.
560
00:42:10,560 --> 00:42:15,600
In 1918, Italian troops stormed
forward with the help of the g-model
561
00:42:15,640 --> 00:42:19,720
gun atop cresta croce Ridge
and drove the Austrians back
562
00:42:19,760 --> 00:42:21,240
for good.
563
00:42:24,720 --> 00:42:28,200
When world war I came to an end,
564
00:42:28,240 --> 00:42:32,040
the obsolete hippopotamus
was simply abandoned.
565
00:42:39,080 --> 00:42:40,720
Today, the surviving heavy guns
566
00:42:40,760 --> 00:42:46,880
of world war I are gathering
dust in museums across the globe.
567
00:42:46,920 --> 00:42:52,080
Yet the extraordinary hippopotamus
still stands where it fired its last
568
00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:53,920
epic shots.
569
00:42:56,480 --> 00:42:59,480
It was a real, if
you like, war-winner
570
00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:03,240
for the Italians, and it was
well worth bringing up here.
571
00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:05,760
Although it was out of date,
although it didn't compare with
572
00:43:05,800 --> 00:43:07,520
more modern guns
573
00:43:07,560 --> 00:43:11,320
in use in France, it still did
its job and did it very well.
574
00:43:14,040 --> 00:43:19,320
The story of the cresta croce Cannon
is a reminder that a decisive weapon
575
00:43:19,360 --> 00:43:20,936
doesn't have to be
technologically advanced,
576
00:43:20,960 --> 00:43:24,840
it just has to be in the
right place at the right time.
577
00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:41,256
Now abandoned, they were
once on the cutting edge
578
00:43:41,280 --> 00:43:45,080
of human engineering.
579
00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:50,480
Within these decaying structures
are the echoes of history.
580
00:43:50,520 --> 00:43:53,880
They speak of war and terror,
581
00:43:53,920 --> 00:43:56,320
but also of exploration
and human endeavour.
582
00:43:56,480 --> 00:43:59,480
Captioned by
ai-media ai-media. TV
52045
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