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Narrator: A peculiar mix
of structures left derelict
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in a parisian park.
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00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:10,440
There seems to be no
rhyme or reason to it,
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00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:12,600
it's all just smashed
together in the same spot
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00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:15,280
and that's part of the wonder
and mystery of this place.
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A watery graveyard
forgotten by time,
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the silent protector
of an English village.
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This isn't just one old
rowing boat tossed aside,
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00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:29,240
these things dominate
the landscape.
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00:00:32,160 --> 00:00:36,680
A network of relics forged through
deception on a grand scale...
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00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:40,080
Audacious doesn't cover it,
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00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:42,840
you had a team
of 1,000 overseers
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watching to make sure
they adhered to the rules
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and if they were caught
breaking those rules,
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00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:49,680
it could have
started another war.
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00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:57,520
..And a site on america's east
coast harbouring vast secrets.
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Inside you're presented
with this large cavernous void
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and then as you venture deeper,
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you see these rusting elements
that suggest that something hefty
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was being hoisted or
lifted up and down here.
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Decaying relics,
ruins of lost worlds.
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Forged through years of
toil, now haunted by the past.
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Their secrets waiting
to be revealed.
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Paris, France.
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The city of light.
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Gay Paris it's a
proper Metropolis,
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a real melting pot for
cultures around the world.
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Liberty, equality
and brotherhood
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it's really a particular
vision of human democracy,
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of equality that really
resonates in France.
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But on the outskirts of the city
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are a series of crumbling
structures that don't seem to belong.
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You have this park that
combines some features
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of seemingly far away cultures.
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There are facets of architecture
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that look like they've been
airlifted from around the world.
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Vietnam, Tonga, China,
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there's a bridge there that
looks vaguely Japanese,
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appropriately
surrounded by bamboo.
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Alone each of these
things are really beautiful
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but they're smashed
together rather curiously.
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The items in this collection
are relics of a past that parisians
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would rather forget.
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You wonder when they're
bought together what they mean,
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what they were used for
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and why they were
placed in juxtaposition.
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The story begins at the
dawn of the 20th century
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with the opening of a garden.
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00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:26,400
In 1899, the French government
decided to open a garden
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with a greenhouse
to grow exotic plants.
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00:03:30,920 --> 00:03:35,320
Catherine hodeir has studied
the garden's dark secrets.
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00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:39,560
In the greenhouse you had
plants such like cocoa beans,
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or coffee beans
or vanilla beans.
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00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:47,320
But this wasn't just
an ordinary greenhouse
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growing garden tomatoes,
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this was an institution
of scientific study
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00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:55,040
and where were all
these plants coming from?
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The French colonies.
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00:03:57,480 --> 00:03:59,040
In the 19th century,
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00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:03,840
France had an empire that stretched
across 8% of the world's surface.
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Alongside england and Germany,
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00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:12,920
France has colonies that
really are all over the globe.
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00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:16,720
You have French
colonies in the Caribbean,
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00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:19,840
you have a French
colony in South America,
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00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:22,520
you have them in
Asia and in Africa,
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00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:24,520
north Africa and west Africa.
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00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:31,080
The 19th and 20th centuries
were a time of rapid discovery
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and the major global powers
competed for scientific superiority.
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So the work that these
French experts were doing here
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has real potential
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00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:43,640
and any new commodities
that they discover
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can then be processed and
redistributed across the empire.
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00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:51,080
But all that doesn't
explain these buildings.
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00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:55,520
For seven years French botanists
studied the samples gathered
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from the colonies.
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00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:00,800
But by 1906, the
garden was broke.
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This garden needed some cash.
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00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:08,160
The ordinary French population
just didn't seem that interested
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in the work that
was being done here,
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even though it was
very, very important work.
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They needed to get the
French people excited
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about the colonies
and their products again.
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To raise capital for the garden,
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they decided to stage
a grand exhibition
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and at it's centre were new
buildings inspired by the colonies.
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Imagine a turn of the
century Disneyland,
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so you were going to see the
orient right next to the African jungle.
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And it was a huge hit,
thousands of visitors came
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00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:48,000
and they even got the
president of the French republic
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to come and check it out.
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The samples of architecture
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in this garden were French Guyana
from indo-China, from Tunisia,
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Morocco, Madagascar.
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00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:04,800
The noise would
have been incredible
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from music to squawking
animals and the hub bub of people
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and there would have
been a cocktail of rich odours
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from spices to camel excrement.
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This was quite an exhibition,
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the rarest treasures from
the colonies were on display.
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There was nothing you couldn't
see here including human beings.
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Mongolians, Chinese, africans,
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they would have been presented
in what would have been considered
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00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:40,680
representative indigenous wear,
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clothing that may or may not
have had ceremonial purposes
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00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:48,600
but they would be presented
sort of as exotics in dress.
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00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:51,440
And in speech and in behaviour.
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00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:54,000
It was meant to be
a cultural exchange
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00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:56,320
but the exchange
was in one direction.
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With people who were on display
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being gawped at,
almost like being in a zoo.
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The owners of the garden
hoped to make big money
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from their exhibits.
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History had taught them
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that the human zoo
could draw a crowd.
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These type of colonial exhibitions
or human zoos if you will,
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were not limited to, to France,
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you had similar examples
in terms of england,
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in terms of the United States.
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London, Berlin even New York,
put human beings on display.
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00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:35,680
High minded
scientists would come
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and perform a systematic
study of non Caucasian people
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00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:42,480
to try to classify
the differences
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00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:44,920
but the conclusions
they came to,
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today they would be
considered extremely racist.
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00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:51,840
To raise enough
capital for the garden,
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00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,120
they needed the most
eye catching displays
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from France's most
distant colonies.
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There were adventurers
who would travel
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to the four corners
of the French empire
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00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:06,840
and they would offer to pay
these people handsomely
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if they would come to France
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and talk to French
people about their culture.
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The recruiters offered things
like a percentage of ticket sales
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but that often
never materialised.
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And the vast majority
of these people
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didn't speak any French,
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so they were completely at
the whim of the adventurers
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that had bought them there.
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00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:33,720
The colonial exhibit of 1907
raised thousands of dollars
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for the garden,
ensuring it's future.
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But a global crisis
less than ten years later
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would see the garden
put to a different purpose.
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So during world war I,
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the garden was converted
in to a war hospital
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because the people
from the French colonies
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were bought here
to fight for France
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on the French western front.
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France's colonial subjects
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were recruited by the
hundreds of thousands
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to fight on the side of
their own colonisers.
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Buildings that used to be
exhibition spaces or ticket halls
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were now things like surgeries
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00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:21,040
for France's foreign
and native soldiers.
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They even built Paris' first
mosque for Muslim colonial troops.
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And you'd think that this would be
some type of watershed moment,
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now that these people
had fought for France,
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that they'd get
recognition, if not as equals
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then at least more respect
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than being put on
display but you'd be wrong.
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Over a decade after French
and colonial soldiers fought
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as brothers in arms,
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France threw their biggest
colonial exhibition, ever.
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For this 1931 exhibition
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there are some 32 million
tickets sold over six months.
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There was even an entire nomadic
tribe of people from Senegal.
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You have to wonder
how they were convinced
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to participate in such.
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This would be the last time
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this kind of display
was seen in France,
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the colonial exhibitions
soon went out of fashion.
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The park was again
closed to the public
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and the buildings left to rot
in this quiet corner of Paris.
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Today, historians like Catherine
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dedicate their work to recording
the history of the colonial era.
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So, today, the garden
is partly abandoned.
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It became very important in 2005
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to reopen the
garden to the public.
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Although these exhibitions end,
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the legacies of colonialism
has a very, very long after life
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00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:04,960
but that idea some
how that allure,
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that exoticism still persists
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and we should blame
at least part of that
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on the history of putting
people on display.
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Standing in the waters off
the New Jersey coastline,
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is Sandy hook,
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a sandbar littered with
the remnants of war.
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Looking around Sandy hook today,
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it's like a kind of a yard
sale of military technology.
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Some look like very typical
cold war era installations,
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00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:51,040
others look as though they
date back as far as the civil war.
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The assortment of structures
and weapons on show here,
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makes you wonder is this
your typical military base
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or something entirely different?
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00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:08,160
The sites position seems to
offer the first clue as to it's purpose.
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00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:13,680
This long narrow peninsula
points like a dagger
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right at New York harbour
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00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:18,120
and this hints at it's
strategic importance.
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00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:22,080
Because any deep draft vessel
approaching New York harbour,
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00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:25,160
is going to have to swing
right by this peninsula.
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00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:29,640
Yet, this wasn't a place
with just one role to play.
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Or one story to tell.
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00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:43,280
I see construction from times
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when america was
just another colony,
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00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:54,160
parts that show america's
rise to military superiority,
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00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:57,080
I see evidence of the moment
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00:12:57,120 --> 00:13:03,240
when the United States
stopped being just another country
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00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:07,880
and became the
military colossus it is.
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00:13:08,560 --> 00:13:11,560
Here it is, on this little
Sandy bit of ground.
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00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:21,600
Towards the northern
end of the peninsula,
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00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:24,720
an old light house
provides a commanding view
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00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:29,080
across this baffling complex
and hints at it's beginnings.
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00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:32,640
The construction
of this lighthouse
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00:13:32,680 --> 00:13:36,000
points to Sandy hook's
significance in American history,
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00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:38,960
dating all the way
back to the mid 1700s.
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00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:43,520
It's need was driven by
New York's merchant traffic.
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00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:48,400
This is a harbour that has
been strategically important
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00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:51,600
to anyone trying to
hold the north Atlantic.
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00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:56,080
It was an important Dutch,
English and American harbour
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00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:58,760
and when you look
at that lighthouse,
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00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:02,000
it shows how long
people have needed
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00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:05,880
to navigate safely in
and out of New York.
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00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:11,920
Park ranger, Tom Hoffman,
knows the danger of these shores
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00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:13,200
better than most.
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00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:16,080
Even on a clear day,
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00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:19,880
Sandy hook is so low and flat
it blends in with the ocean water
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00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:22,000
and imagine that's the day time
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00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:24,360
and at night time,
you don't see anything,
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00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:26,080
the night they lighted it
229
00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:27,120
for the first time
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00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:29,880
was 11 June 1764
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00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:33,440
and it's been standing here
on this location ever since.
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00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:37,840
But these ruins show
the treacherous coastline
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00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:39,880
wasn't the only danger here.
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00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:44,440
The story of war
written across this place,
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00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:46,800
actually began at the lighthouse
236
00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:50,480
when the British hoped to
defend this vital navigational aid
237
00:14:50,520 --> 00:14:52,320
during the American revolution.
238
00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:57,160
The British
dispatched two frigates
239
00:14:57,200 --> 00:14:58,600
and anchored them right out here
240
00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:01,840
and had an armed guard here
and sure enough who shows up?
241
00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:05,600
But 200 American
soldiers with two Cannon...
242
00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:10,320
..In 1776, they're
sneaking up the hook,
243
00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:13,000
the commanding officer
ordered the cannons
244
00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:14,560
to fire at the lighthouse
245
00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:16,440
but as he put it in a report,
246
00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:19,200
"we bombarded the
tower for over an hour
247
00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:21,320
"but could make no impression."
248
00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:26,040
Continuing to shine
for centuries to come,
249
00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:29,320
the lighthouse would oversee
a dramatic transformation
250
00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:30,480
of this land.
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00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:36,280
In 1874, nearly a decade
after the civil war ended,
252
00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:39,240
thunderous shots rang
out over Sandy hook,
253
00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:42,240
fired from this
now silent platform.
254
00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:48,080
A now united nation was
weary of external threats,
255
00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:52,760
this empty landscape had become
the us armies first proving ground.
256
00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:57,840
A proving ground is a place
where you can take in new design
257
00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:02,760
and where you can take samples
of all of your military production
258
00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:04,080
and you can prove them.
259
00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:07,240
They would check to make
sure that the rounds worked,
260
00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:09,400
the fuses worked,
the range accuracy,
261
00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:12,000
the detonation, the explosion.
262
00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:14,840
They would test every
aspect of the projectile
263
00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:16,320
and the gun firing it
264
00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:19,240
and so you needed a place
where you could fire freely
265
00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:22,040
without risk to, you
know, civilian life.
266
00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:28,000
Over the coming half century,
hundreds of thousands of rounds
267
00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:30,960
would be fired from the
Sandy hook proving ground.
268
00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:32,880
And some of the largest,
269
00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:36,200
most ambitious weapons
ever created were tested here.
270
00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:41,000
Yet as some of the
structures here testify,
271
00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:44,240
this site was about more
than simply testing weapons
272
00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:46,960
or helping ships
navigate these waters.
273
00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:51,480
What if the fight came to Sandy
hook and america's own shores?
274
00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:55,920
We're talking about the two
big stories of Sandy hook,
275
00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:59,920
one's the lighthouse and
that will guide any ship
276
00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:03,360
from around the world
in to New York harbour
277
00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:05,480
but in times of war,
278
00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:07,440
you have to have
some kind of defence
279
00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:10,560
to stop enemy
warships from coming in.
280
00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:16,480
In the mid 1890s, war with
Spain appeared inevitable.
281
00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:21,480
So more emphasis was put
on nearby defensive structures
282
00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:23,040
like fort hancock.
283
00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:29,880
The us did not have the capacity
at the end of the 19th century
284
00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:32,960
to build a big enough Navy,
285
00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:36,440
so instead of
building a lot of ships,
286
00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:39,880
the United States builds
a lot of batteries of guns
287
00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:43,840
to defend all of
it's major harbours.
288
00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:49,400
What you had here were
four 12-inch calibre mortars
289
00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:52,680
and you can see their
bases had been circular,
290
00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:56,320
that's because a mortar
fires projectiles high up
291
00:17:56,360 --> 00:17:58,720
to come back down
on your enemies ships.
292
00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:01,880
As a proving
ground for the military
293
00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:04,080
and with access to
the latest technology,
294
00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:06,920
Sandy hook was set
as an example to follow.
295
00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:11,080
The decision is taken
in the United States
296
00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:15,520
to protect every valuable
harbour with these shore batteries
297
00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:19,480
and so breach loading eight,
ten and 12 inch naval guns
298
00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:22,560
are delivered to
forts like hancock,
299
00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:25,760
starting in 1895 to
defend america's harbours.
300
00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:30,880
While the Spanish
never came within range,
301
00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:34,120
other enemies would
soon threaten these shores.
302
00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:36,400
And while the us
had always trailed
303
00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:38,880
the European powers
in military might,
304
00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:42,440
here at fort hancock, that
old dynamic was shifting.
305
00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:48,000
European gun makers are
developing artillery pieces
306
00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:52,480
that can shoot smokeless
powder, fire quickly, disappear
307
00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:57,200
and Sandy hook is where
the American versions
308
00:18:57,240 --> 00:18:59,800
of these guns are
being developed.
309
00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:03,160
Here is where
American technology
310
00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:07,440
is keeping up, thanks to
us government research.
311
00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:13,120
This is the very first
and only steam powered
312
00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:15,400
disappearing gun battery,
313
00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:17,840
so you load the
guns while inside
314
00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:20,760
then it lifted up through
openings in the roof
315
00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:23,840
to fire at enemy
ships out in the ocean
316
00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:26,920
and of course, once you
fire, now you've got to reload,
317
00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:30,560
so the gun comes back
down on the elevator
318
00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:32,440
and it's a disappearing gun.
319
00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:37,600
Within a few years of
being completed however,
320
00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:39,920
this battery was
already outdated.
321
00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:43,960
But the race to keep
ahead was still on.
322
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:49,600
In 1918, a u-boat reported
fired 16 shots at fort hancock
323
00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:53,240
and the guns that stood
here responded in kind.
324
00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:56,720
The German submarines were a
sign that the times were a changing.
325
00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:04,000
The two big threats to
American ports in world war ii
326
00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:08,280
were enemy bombers
and enemy submarines
327
00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:12,400
and those big coastal gun
emplacements designed
328
00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:17,520
to defend American port facilities
were no longer as important.
329
00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:24,960
What remains is a legacy
of both the history of this site
330
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:28,440
and the route america took on
it's journey to the modern era.
331
00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:36,840
By the 1950s, Sandy hook
entered it's final chapter.
332
00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:42,040
We're walking in the
last defence system
333
00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:44,680
used by the us army
here at fort hancock,
334
00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:48,000
the Nike air defence radar site,
335
00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:51,000
designed to shoot
down Russian bombers
336
00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:52,640
if the cold war went hot.
337
00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:58,400
Once Russians
have atomic weapons
338
00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:02,760
then everyone in america
instantly understands
339
00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:04,880
that American cities
340
00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:09,000
are immensely vulnerable
to Russian attack.
341
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:15,000
After more than a century
defending New York from the sea,
342
00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:18,040
attention now
shifted to the skies
343
00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:21,640
and the gravest threat
the us ever faced.
344
00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:34,280
For hundreds of years, Sandy
hook's military installations
345
00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:36,880
had helped protect the
waters around New York...
346
00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:40,520
..But by the 1950s,
347
00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:43,120
they were also defending
the city from the air.
348
00:21:44,360 --> 00:21:48,880
Nike batteries were part of the
us army air defence command.
349
00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:54,120
These were placed strategically
near cities across the country
350
00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:56,920
to prevent the
destruction of the centres
351
00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:01,240
of america's great retaliatory
and productive might.
352
00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:05,040
The Nike positions
around New York City
353
00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:10,360
are designed to stop another
Pearl harbour style sneak attack.
354
00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:15,040
So we just went under
one of the platforms
355
00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:17,920
that held the
missile tracking radar
356
00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:21,120
because the missiles
were a mile south of us
357
00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:23,320
and once you launch the missile,
358
00:22:23,360 --> 00:22:26,880
the radar here guided
the missile up to the target
359
00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:30,360
and then another radar,
the target tracking radar,
360
00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:33,200
was tracking the target and
through a computer system
361
00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:36,000
bought the two together
and guaranteed a hit.
362
00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:42,560
Yet, like all the weapons and
defence systems on show here,
363
00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:44,960
it's lifespan was short.
364
00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:49,520
In 1974, with the Nike
missile programme outdated,
365
00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:51,160
the last of the equipment
366
00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:53,920
and military personnel
left the peninsula.
367
00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:01,000
Left to the elements on
this windswept coastline,
368
00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:05,720
what remains here paints a
picture not just of the story of this site
369
00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:09,000
but of the birth and
history of a nation.
370
00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:12,600
All of these artefacts
taken together,
371
00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:15,520
reflect america's
rise to world power
372
00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:18,840
from this vulnerable
colony of the British empire
373
00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:22,320
to a nation that
then projects power
374
00:23:22,360 --> 00:23:25,040
and then has the latest
cutting edge technology
375
00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:28,080
to defend the free world
against the communist threat.
376
00:23:28,120 --> 00:23:30,040
It's all right here
on Sandy hook.
377
00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:36,680
Southern england,
378
00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:39,440
in a quiet village
called purton,
379
00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:43,800
lying beside a mighty
river is a fleet of the dead.
380
00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:53,120
They certainly look like boats but
they appear to be made of stone,
381
00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:55,200
can you make boats of stone?
382
00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:56,880
Are they statues?
383
00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:00,760
These monoliths
stand half submerged
384
00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:03,480
in britain's longest
river, the severn.
385
00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:07,360
Some of these boats, you
can only see the very tip
386
00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:11,320
of their rotting bow just
poking out from the ground.
387
00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:16,000
They draw a line 1.5
miles along the shoreline.
388
00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:18,960
There are so many of them,
389
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:22,480
but they definitely all seem
to have been there for a while.
390
00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:26,200
It's almost as if they've
been put here for a purpose,
391
00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:27,680
as if it's been designed
392
00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:30,920
but yet they're completely
enveloped by the land.
393
00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:36,600
The river and a much
calmer body of water next to it,
394
00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:39,840
both connect the village of
purton to the rest of england.
395
00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:44,000
We have a major river
right next to the canal,
396
00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:47,160
I mean talk about belt and
braces, why would you need both?
397
00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:53,360
Nearly 50 years ago,
398
00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:57,200
a young boy and his family came to
this river bank in southern england.
399
00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:01,640
When I came here as a child,
this was a great place to play.
400
00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:05,680
Paul barnett and his
father found strange shapes
401
00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:07,000
sticking out of the mud.
402
00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:09,920
But they had no
idea what they were.
403
00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:13,680
Well, my father
being an ex sailor,
404
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:15,880
he had his own curious
sort of observations
405
00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:18,680
as to what this may be and
he just naturally assumed
406
00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:21,600
it was just a great and easy
place to get rid of vessels.
407
00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:24,160
We didn't know, we
really didn't know.
408
00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:27,760
The secrets of the site
and it's boats made of stone
409
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:29,280
would remain buried,
410
00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:34,160
until Paul returned to solve
the mystery 20 years later.
411
00:25:36,360 --> 00:25:38,560
Well, the first thing
that I chose to do
412
00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:40,560
was to carry out
a research project
413
00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:42,040
at the local archive,
414
00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:44,560
the information held
therein was very sparse.
415
00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:47,840
I was absolutely astounded
by the lack of information.
416
00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:51,080
These things
dominate the landscape,
417
00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:54,040
you would have thought
that if they'd been put here
418
00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:56,960
for a reason, that there
would be an official record.
419
00:25:58,360 --> 00:26:00,120
But the archives were empty.
420
00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:03,560
Paul's investigation
had hit a wall.
421
00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:09,360
But a clue would be found in
the river severn's storied past.
422
00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:15,600
Although it may not look it, this
is an immensely dangerous area.
423
00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:17,496
Nobody had ventured
out in to the river severn,
424
00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:18,960
it's incredibly treacherous,
425
00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:22,040
the tide itself actually
runs in at about 13 knots.
426
00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:26,200
The river severn is deadly
427
00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:29,280
but next door is a more
placid body of water.
428
00:26:30,360 --> 00:26:34,080
Directly next door to this
powerful river is a canal,
429
00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:40,600
200 years ago, canals like these
were the main ways of moving freight
430
00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:43,120
around britain and people
came to rely on these,
431
00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:45,040
these canals were the arteries
432
00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:48,560
for moving goods around
britain, including here at purton.
433
00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:53,800
The sharpness
canal opened in 1827,
434
00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:55,280
the people of purton
435
00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:57,520
were now connected
to the rest of england.
436
00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:01,200
But less than 100 years later,
437
00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:03,440
the canals existence
was under threat.
438
00:27:06,120 --> 00:27:07,960
The canal, a major piece
439
00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:10,200
of infrastructure for trade
440
00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:12,560
is protected from this
very dangerous river
441
00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:15,120
by a very narrow mound of dirt.
442
00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:20,640
That mound in some
places, just 20 feet thick,
443
00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:23,920
is all that keeps these two
bodies of water separate.
444
00:27:25,120 --> 00:27:27,480
With the full force
of the river coming in,
445
00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:28,840
it was hitting the bank
446
00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:31,360
and as a result of which it
was now prone to erosion
447
00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:33,600
which was happening
almost on a daily basis.
448
00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:38,160
The river bank literally
holds back the tide
449
00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:40,920
without it, the river
would consume the canal.
450
00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:47,520
For nearly a century the canal
and the river co-existed in Harmony.
451
00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:51,440
But in 1909, that
Harmony was shattered.
452
00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:56,680
A massive storm hit
the south west of england
453
00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:59,920
and the river severn
began to over flow
454
00:27:59,960 --> 00:28:02,240
and spill over in to the canal.
455
00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:04,680
The full force of that
storm came into the bank
456
00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:07,240
approximately 60m
of it was removed.
457
00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:10,440
One hit and it was swept
away by the river severn
458
00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:12,400
and it's fast flowing waters.
459
00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:16,480
Tonnes and tonnes of dirt and
silt were carried away down stream.
460
00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:20,640
Nearly 200 feet of the
bank was swept away.
461
00:28:21,360 --> 00:28:24,000
The canal was now in
real danger of breaching.
462
00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:26,440
Something had to be done.
463
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:32,760
The storm almost
obliterated the river bank
464
00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:36,240
but a fleet made of stone
was about to change it forever.
465
00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:41,120
They had no money for
big restoration projects,
466
00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:43,080
this was a very
small part of britain
467
00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:46,440
that had very limited
means and very little time.
468
00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:50,960
But the chief engineer for
the canal had a radical plan.
469
00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:54,200
The engineer for the dock
company made a request,
470
00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:57,560
are there any barges that
could be bought to his point,
471
00:28:57,600 --> 00:28:59,960
run up to the foreshore
and add their strength
472
00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:01,760
in order to protect
that waterway.
473
00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:06,640
For the plan to work, they
needed a whole fleet of boats,
474
00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:10,400
so they asked the locals
to volunteer their old tugs
475
00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:12,360
and they rallied to the cause.
476
00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:17,600
In total, 15 wooden vessels
were bought to purton.
477
00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:21,720
This was actually
one of the first vessels,
478
00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:24,880
in actual fact, the first
vessel to be beached here.
479
00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:28,280
20 minutes before high tide, the
vessel with a full head of steam
480
00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:30,560
would come thundering
in to the bank.
481
00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:34,160
The plan was to then drill
holes in them to let water in,
482
00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:38,040
this would allow silt
and mud from upstream
483
00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:41,120
to come down then
fill into the boats
484
00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:42,400
and around the boats
485
00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:44,440
and effectively
rebuild the river bank.
486
00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:48,800
The barges were
beached on the river bank,
487
00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:51,360
protecting the canal
from the severn,
488
00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:54,280
they became known
as the purton hulks.
489
00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,240
It appeared the
canal had been saved
490
00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:01,640
but the celebrations
were short lived.
491
00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:06,720
The one thing about
wood is that it rots.
492
00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:11,160
What was happening was
the timber, were now rotting
493
00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:14,160
and as a result, they once
again, the canal was in danger.
494
00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:19,240
So wooden boats rot
and metal boats rust,
495
00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:22,480
fortunately history
provided the answer.
496
00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:25,320
In the years after world war I,
497
00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:28,080
the price of timber
and iron Rose sharply,
498
00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:31,080
it became too expensive
to make river boats.
499
00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:35,640
So boat makers turned
to an unlikely material,
500
00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:38,600
the concrete boats
could be made really fast
501
00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:43,080
and really cheap but apparently
they were a nightmare to drive.
502
00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:46,680
Old concrete barges
were the solution
503
00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:49,600
to protecting the river
bank, permanently.
504
00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:54,960
In the 1960s, eight were bought
to purton, the final purton hulks.
505
00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:59,440
60 years later, the banks
thickness has doubled.
506
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:01,520
The canal was saved.
507
00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:07,600
Knowing how you can work with
the sea, you can't work against her.
508
00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:10,680
Absolutely astounded
by the real seamanship
509
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:12,960
that would have taken to
get these vessels in here.
510
00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:21,920
The purton hulks now
stand as silent guardians
511
00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:23,840
made of wood and stone.
512
00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:27,560
For the last 60 years
they've been there,
513
00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:31,080
protecting the canal from
the powerful river severn,
514
00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:34,400
a testament to engineering
by the seat of your pants.
515
00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:45,920
In a remote region
of western Poland
516
00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:50,240
an engineering giant
is hidden in plain sight.
517
00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:57,880
When you approach this site,
it really doesn't look like much.
518
00:31:57,920 --> 00:31:59,600
And then as you get closer,
519
00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:03,360
you see that there are pillboxes
dotted around the landscape.
520
00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:08,040
Once you spotted one,
you then see another
521
00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:09,440
and as your eye carries on,
522
00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:12,320
you realise this line
goes on almost forever,
523
00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:15,600
this is a really major
piece of engineering.
524
00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:20,040
So it reminds me of the
marginal line in France,
525
00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:22,800
but we're not in France,
so it couldn't be that.
526
00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:27,640
These pill boxes draw an outline
of a fortress buried underground.
527
00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:31,680
There is an immense
network of tunnels
528
00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:33,960
that seems to go on just forever
529
00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:36,360
and in one of them,
there's a railway line.
530
00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:40,800
People worked here
and then they left
531
00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:42,800
but they left some clues
532
00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:44,680
as to what they were
doing down there.
533
00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:47,800
A room with a sign above
it that says maschinenraum,
534
00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:48,840
machine room.
535
00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:52,040
This is a place where clearly
536
00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:55,440
an immense
engineering effort went in
537
00:32:55,480 --> 00:32:58,320
but ultimately, it
came to nought.
538
00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:04,000
Almost 22 miles of tunnels are
buried in the Polish countryside.
539
00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:08,320
But a clue on the surface
points to a history of deception.
540
00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:12,080
There's this one
above ground feature,
541
00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:13,600
this odd bridge.
542
00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:17,080
That's the key to
understanding the structure.
543
00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:20,160
What secrets are buried
beneath the surface?
544
00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:27,640
A mammoth engineering
project spanning nearly 40 miles,
545
00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:30,920
stretches across and
under the Polish countryside.
546
00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:34,080
Most of this site
is underground,
547
00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:36,960
it's miles and miles of
tunnel, the train tracks
548
00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:40,680
but the clue to what
this site is about
549
00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:44,080
is right here in this one
above ground part of it,
550
00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:47,360
the bridge, a bridge
with an odd hinge on it.
551
00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:52,400
Historian and
architect, Robert jurga,
552
00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:54,040
has spent his career exploring
553
00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:57,240
one of Poland's most
overlooked historical sites.
554
00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:02,496
Translator: "The plan of
this bridge is still protected
555
00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:04,440
"by the patent
that's kept in Berlin.
556
00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:08,080
"The level of
security was so high
557
00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:09,360
"that the operators consisted
558
00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:12,440
"of a specially trained
group of soldiers."
559
00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:15,160
Swing Bridges are
common on major rivers
560
00:34:15,200 --> 00:34:17,800
to let large ships pass through.
561
00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:20,640
But the water here
is practically a trickle.
562
00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:26,400
The swing bridge is here
because this entire set
563
00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:28,920
of fortifications
is actually illegal.
564
00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:37,200
In western Poland,
565
00:34:37,240 --> 00:34:39,960
just 40 miles from
the German border,
566
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:41,960
a swinging bridge was part
567
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,160
of an illegal
fortification programme.
568
00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:48,920
The origins of this structure
date to the end of world war I,
569
00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:51,520
when this part of Poland
belonged to Germany.
570
00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:53,720
Think back to what happened
571
00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:54,840
in Germany at the end
572
00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:56,160
of world war I.
573
00:34:56,200 --> 00:35:00,760
They were defeated by a big
allied coalition, they were disarmed,
574
00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:02,120
they lost territory,
575
00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:04,760
they lost citizens to
the treaty of versailles.
576
00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:10,120
The treaty was
punishing to Germany,
577
00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:13,080
they had to give up
their entire empire
578
00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:15,360
they had to allow
the allies to occupy
579
00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:17,560
part of their
industrial heartland
580
00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:20,440
and they also had to limit
their army to 100,000 men.
581
00:35:21,240 --> 00:35:23,040
Germany was also forbidden
582
00:35:23,080 --> 00:35:26,440
from building any new
fortifications along it's border.
583
00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:29,160
Leaving the country
virtually defenceless.
584
00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:34,680
The Germans felt a great sense
of vulnerability about their border
585
00:35:34,720 --> 00:35:36,520
because after world war I,
586
00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:38,880
they were a universally
loathed nation
587
00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:41,640
but they had
enemies on their right,
588
00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:44,360
there was Poland and
behind Poland of course,
589
00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:45,840
the Soviet union.
590
00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:49,360
With limited defences,
591
00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:52,440
Germany was vulnerable
to invasion from the east.
592
00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:57,200
It's biggest weakness was
a stretch of land sandwiched
593
00:35:57,240 --> 00:35:59,080
between two rivers.
594
00:35:59,120 --> 00:36:02,680
This region was flat and
had no natural barriers.
595
00:36:02,720 --> 00:36:05,520
It was a highway that
led straight to Berlin.
596
00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:10,480
If the Poles or the Soviets
wanted to invade Germany,
597
00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:11,560
that was the perfect route
598
00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:15,000
'cause it gave them a direct
path to Berlin, the capital.
599
00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:18,120
This was a huge hole
in Germany's defences
600
00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:19,640
and they wanted to plug it.
601
00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:23,680
But with the treaty
making the contraction
602
00:36:23,720 --> 00:36:25,520
of new defences illegal,
603
00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:28,120
the German government
concocted a rouse.
604
00:36:30,840 --> 00:36:33,000
The rules of the
treaty of versailles
605
00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:36,280
limited Germany's
spending on the military
606
00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:39,120
and on fortifications
but it didn't say anything
607
00:36:39,160 --> 00:36:41,560
about water management,
608
00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:43,080
so they bought in engineers
609
00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:46,880
and dug up hundreds and
hundreds of tonnes of earth,
610
00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:51,800
redirected rivers and essentially
created a new natural barrier.
611
00:36:55,160 --> 00:36:57,480
Translator: "The main tool
against the tanks was water,
612
00:36:57,520 --> 00:36:59,560
"many tactical canals were built
613
00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:02,680
"and they became the main
barrier against the enemies tanks
614
00:37:02,720 --> 00:37:06,840
"on those channels, they
built a line of tactical Bridges."
615
00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:12,960
A series of Bridges across
an artificial waterway,
616
00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:16,320
each with a mechanism
to stop an enemy advance.
617
00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:22,000
Translator: "Those Bridges
were closed in case of the arrival
618
00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:26,240
"of the enemy and in normal
times, were used by the civilians."
619
00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:30,720
Over five years, a line is drawn
620
00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:33,040
between the varta
and odor rivers...
621
00:37:35,720 --> 00:37:37,920
..This is the beginning
of the ostwall.
622
00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:42,160
Audacious doesn't cover it,
623
00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:44,840
you had a team
of 1,000 overseers,
624
00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:47,920
watching to make sure
Germany adhered to the rules
625
00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:49,920
and if they were caught
breaking those rules,
626
00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:52,360
it could have
started another war.
627
00:37:55,080 --> 00:37:59,480
An embolden, German government
began to add tunnels and bunkers,
628
00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:03,120
making the ostwall a state
of the art battle fortress.
629
00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:08,920
But in 1938, Germany's
leader comes to inspect it.
630
00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:10,520
He was not happy.
631
00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:14,760
When Hitler visits
the ostwall in 1938
632
00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:17,680
he is definitely underwhelmed,
633
00:38:17,720 --> 00:38:20,400
Hitler is somebody who
wants to see, you know,
634
00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:22,360
parades of panzers
in the street,
635
00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:26,640
flyovers by luftwaffe bombers,
dive bombers and fighter planes.
636
00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:28,640
Goose stepping infantry,
637
00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:31,760
he does not want to see
these subterranean fortress
638
00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:35,040
with just a little machine gun
turret poking out of the pine trees.
639
00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:41,360
The ostwall failed it's inspection
and the construction was put on hold.
640
00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:44,040
The following year,
641
00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:47,720
Hitler marched his troops
past the wall and into Poland.
642
00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:52,200
Once Germany had
conquered Poland,
643
00:38:52,240 --> 00:38:55,840
this fortification lay in the middle
of German controlled territory,
644
00:38:55,880 --> 00:38:57,600
so was militarily useless
645
00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:02,120
after a decade of pouring so
much effort and money into this line,
646
00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:03,960
it was left as a lame duck.
647
00:39:06,600 --> 00:39:08,840
This speaks to Hitler's
conception of warfare,
648
00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:10,536
that the German army
had to be on the move,
649
00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:11,920
it had to be attacking
650
00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:15,320
and it was not going to sit
passively behind fortifications.
651
00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:19,640
With the ostwall cancelled,
the tunnels were left empty...
652
00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:23,880
..Until the furore found
a new use for them.
653
00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:29,400
After Hitler stopped
construction on the ostwall,
654
00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:31,160
it was largely unused
655
00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:35,120
but when the allies begin their
strategic bombing of Germany,
656
00:39:35,160 --> 00:39:37,560
it finds a new purpose,
657
00:39:37,600 --> 00:39:41,480
they move machinery down
here to build aircraft engines.
658
00:39:42,720 --> 00:39:46,720
With most able bodied soldiers
fighting on the front lines,
659
00:39:46,760 --> 00:39:49,880
only a small regiment
was left to defend the wall.
660
00:39:51,920 --> 00:39:53,840
Regular troops
weren't stationed there,
661
00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:55,160
you just had militia,
662
00:39:55,200 --> 00:39:57,480
which were mostly
poorly trained Hitler youth
663
00:39:57,520 --> 00:40:00,480
and men too old to be
sent to the frontlines.
664
00:40:00,520 --> 00:40:04,560
Conditions were dreadful,
it was dank, it was dark,
665
00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:07,360
it was under funded,
there were no resources,
666
00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:11,120
the people who were here
really had been forgotten about.
667
00:40:11,160 --> 00:40:14,240
Remember the front line
was hundreds of miles away,
668
00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:15,920
until everything changed.
669
00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:21,440
By the end of 1944, the
Germans were being pushed back
670
00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:24,480
and the Soviets were
creeping closer to Berlin.
671
00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:30,520
So Hitler was not by any stretch
of the imagination a military genius
672
00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:34,880
and he insisted on
this tactic of no retreat
673
00:40:34,920 --> 00:40:36,600
and what happens is,
674
00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:39,680
hundreds of thousands of
German troops are surrounded
675
00:40:39,720 --> 00:40:42,120
and captured by the red army
676
00:40:42,160 --> 00:40:46,800
until one of the last things
in-between the Soviet war machine
677
00:40:46,840 --> 00:40:50,480
and Berlin is this
one bit of fortification.
678
00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:55,720
The ostwall and those defending
it, were about to be put to the test.
679
00:40:58,200 --> 00:41:02,640
Translator: "Enemy was approaching
from that side, approaching slowly.
680
00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:06,680
"Firstly he had to overpass
the antitank barrier on the road."
681
00:41:07,240 --> 00:41:10,360
So, these Hitler youth
and these old guys,
682
00:41:10,400 --> 00:41:13,040
militia they stand no chance
against the Soviet army
683
00:41:13,080 --> 00:41:15,520
but that doesn't stop
them, they put up resistance
684
00:41:15,560 --> 00:41:18,640
and they were determined
to defend the border
685
00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:20,080
and defend this fortification.
686
00:41:22,080 --> 00:41:24,960
In just days, the
wall was breached
687
00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:27,640
and the red army
rolled towards Berlin.
688
00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:32,680
The slightly pathetic
thing about the line really,
689
00:41:32,720 --> 00:41:36,480
is that after so much
deviousness, so much planning,
690
00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:39,560
so much hopes for it,
when the time actually came,
691
00:41:39,600 --> 00:41:42,560
they weren't prepared to put
the manpower or the resources
692
00:41:42,600 --> 00:41:43,680
in to using it
693
00:41:43,720 --> 00:41:46,280
and the lame duck
became a damp squib.
694
00:41:47,800 --> 00:41:51,120
Translator: "Had this
fortification been completed
695
00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:52,800
"the way it was designed,
696
00:41:52,840 --> 00:41:56,920
"most likely it would have been
very precious to the German army.
697
00:41:56,960 --> 00:42:01,240
"Unfortunately for them,
they completed it only to 30%.
698
00:42:02,360 --> 00:42:05,960
"And without anti tank weaponry,
the soldiers didn't have a chance
699
00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:08,400
"against the power
of the Soviet army.
700
00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:11,040
When the war ended
and the treaties are signed,
701
00:42:11,080 --> 00:42:16,960
the borders are redrawn and
this area ends up inside Poland,
702
00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:19,880
the very nation it
was built to keep out.
703
00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:27,960
Now the ostwall lies empty...
704
00:42:28,960 --> 00:42:32,560
..Rumours speak of Nazi
treasure still hidden in the walls...
705
00:42:33,520 --> 00:42:36,360
..But all that fills the
dark corridors today
706
00:42:36,400 --> 00:42:39,760
are some 35,000 protected bats.
707
00:42:48,720 --> 00:42:53,320
Abandoned, disintegrating,
reclaimed by nature.
708
00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:55,840
Structures once
at the cutting edge,
709
00:42:55,880 --> 00:42:58,280
bearing witness to the forces,
710
00:42:58,320 --> 00:43:01,760
pioneers and villains
that define the world today.
711
00:43:02,480 --> 00:43:06,560
Emblems of a shared
past standing in our present.
712
00:43:06,600 --> 00:43:09,600
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