Original subtitles

(motorbike engine revving)

- [Interviewer] Speed? - Love it.

Downloaded from YTS.MX

[Interviewer] Danger?

Love it!

(motorbike engine revving) (upbeat music)

Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX

- [Narrator] Guy Martin is a death defying motorcycle racer

and gritty world record breaker.

The only thing he loves more than going fast is graft.

He'd rather go to work than spray champagne.

- [Guy] I'm not much of a people person, not really.

I just like me own time tinkering in the shed, with me dog.

I'm not designed for crowds of people, I'm not designed.

And you just think, where does that come from?

Where does that come from?

And I think the bloke that was very much like that,

was me grandad.

Me mum's dad is a legend,

Voldemort Kidals, or Walter I knew him as,

he's always fascinated me.

Smart looking bloke, eh? He was from Latvia.

(upbeat music)

Course I miss him, sitting in his shed with him,

I miss that.

[Interviewer] With the tenth anniversary

of his grandad Walter's death approaching,

Guy now wants to find out more

about the man he admired so much

and Latvia, the country where his roots lie.

But there is a twist to the tale.

[Guy] We know loads about me grandad.

There's a lot of grey areas.

It's not the elephant in the room,

but it's not really, it's not spoken about much.

He fought for the Germans (laughs) in the Second World War.

Was he made to fight for the Germans?

I don't know. I don't know.

Only one way to find out, yeah, go to Latvia.

Let's go to Latvia, let's do a bit of digging.

Come on.

- [Narrator] Guy's personal pilgrimage will uncover

the lost sites of his grandfather's childhood.

It is a bit of a moving moment, yeah.

You're not gonna get tears out of me or anything though.

(gun bangs)

- [Narrator] The truth about his grandfather's

Latvian legion fighting for the Nazi SS.

[Man] Jesus wept!

(gun bangs)

- [Narrator] The brutal realities of the country's

old authoritarian regime.

And what it means to be descended from an immigrant.

They are here to do the dirty jobs

that English people will not look at.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Guy's trip will finish with a family reunion.

- [Guy] Like a bloody rabbit in the headlights,

I don't know what to do.

- [Narrator] Where he'll meet his Latvian cousins

for the first time.

Hello!

Hello, pleased to meet ya. Right.

- [Narrator] By discovering more about his grandad,

Guy Martin is going to learn a lot more about himself.

(upbeat music)

Do an impression of me grandad?

(soft music)

Quiet man, he didn't say much.

- [Narrator] Voldemort Kidals was born in 1920 in Latvia.

He moved to Lincolnshire in 1947

and died in 2006 when Guy was 24.

The sheds he built in his back garden still stand untouched.

Two of his children, Guy's mother Rita

and her brother John, have fond memories.

He used to fuss Guy when he was little.

I mean Guy used to come down

he used to show him round his garden,

with his sheep and his pigs.

It wasn't unusual on a Sunday evening

to pop down the garden to feed your rabbits,

to find they'd suddenly disappeared.

And er, only to discover later on

that you'd actually ate it for dinner (laughs).

Yeah. That was quite a regular occurrence, that.

He was a grafter.

I never remember seeing me dad laid in bed in the morning.

He was always up at the crack of dawn, all weathers.

[Narrator] Walter's love of work

had a great influence on young Guy.

Even on rare holidays abroad,

he'd preferred weeding the garden in a suit

to visiting the beach.

Loved his sheds.

You'd go down Grandad's shed and it was just,

it was education, you wouldn't say much.

You know what the rule was in sheds,

speak when spoken to.

Never chucked OWT away (laughs).

Yeah, look at that.

Keep all the nuts,

just in case, you might need them one day.

Just remember, I always remember as a kid

going round to me grandad's.

Me gran still lives there.

Lil, what's happening there?

- That's when we got married. - Is it?

9th March 1952. October when we met.

- Right, met in the October, married in the March.

Is that me?

- [Lil] Yeah. - [Guy] Yeah.

- [Lil] You wasn't a little angel (chuckles).

[Guy] Why not? What was I doing?

Mischief.

Mischief?

(Laughs)

It's in the breeding, all that, ain't it, eh?

[Narrator] Everyone in Guy's family

is keen to know more about Walter's past,

and the country where he came from.

And that means heading to where the story begins; Latvia.

(upbeat music)

Today, Latvians like to think of themselves

as the best of the Baltics.

The local joke is that they're more modern than Lithuanians

and cleverer than Estonians.

But the truth is Guy's ancestral roots lie in a country

that has been trampled by the wars of foreign rulers

for hundreds of years

- Swotting up in the airport, learning a bit about Latvia.

This is what I've learnt so far,

13th century, a load of German warrior monks

ruled Latvia.

16th century, Poles and Lithuanians are in charge.

[Pilot] We're fully ready now

to depart to Riga this afternoon.

- 17th century now, Sweden's running the job.

Yeah, so now 18th century, um, under Russian control.

Pillar to post, pillar to post. We're here, we're here!

(upbeat music)

It's nice, innit?

We're here for a week.

First night, I think we should have a pint, I think.

Um, early night, early start.

(upbeat music)

As I've been telling ya, every man and the dog's

had a go at ruling Latvia.

Anyway, after the First World War,

they got it to themselves, bit of independence.

And they built this.

It's a freedom monument,

all funded by the Latvian people.

There it is, that's the real thing. That's the real thing.

Wonder what that is. Do you reckon that is copper?

- [Narrator] Latvia's independence only lasted 25 years.

Being squeezed between the superpowers of Germany and Russia

meant during World War II

the country experienced multiple invasions.

After the war, it was turned into a Soviet Republic,

something Latvians still consider an illegal occupation.

Independence only returned in 1991.

(upbeat music)

Guy's first appointment

is in the middle of Riga's mediaeval old town

with the genealogist who's been researching

his family history for three months,

Dr. Alexanders Faymanis.

So, the very first documents

I find about your relatives.

I find in 1835 census, Andre Kidal, which was born in 1790s.

Yeah.

In South East Latvia,

precisely on the border with Lithuania.

[Guy] Right, okay, yeah.

- All that area was inhabited by Curonians,

so you're a descendant of Curonians.

Curonian? What's a Curonian?

It was very brave tribe because

they made a war with Vikings.

Right.

- [Narrator] The Curonians were ruthless pirates

and the heroes of many Middle Ages legends.

Guy is related to one of the toughest tribes in history.

- What is interesting is that in the old Church

you can find the bell with inscription,

"God save us from devil and Curonians".

(laughs)

- [Guy] Viking fighters! Bit amazed at that.

- So, we know that your great, great grandfather,

David, son of Andre Kidal,

was enrolled in to Russian Army in 1853.

That was a time started the famous Crimean War.

Yeah, the Crimean War. Yes.

- Yeah. - Yes.

- At that time, military service was for 25 years.

Okay. 25 years?

Yeah.

Bloody hell!

And it was terrible of course,

I cannot imagine that.

- [Narrator] Guy's ancestors were clearly made of

stern stuff.

But what of his grandfather Walter, or Voldemort?

- The very first er, document about Walters,

we have from 1935 census.

[Guy] So he'll be 15 year old then?

[Alexanders] Yeah, born in 1920.

Okay.

In Liepāja District in Asites Parish.

School, a building.

Voldemort, your grandfather, lived in this school building.

You see, here we find, under number 18, Voldemort Kidals.

Here is written, he work in agriculture.

He already started to be a peasant, let's say.

Right.

[Narrator] The most likely reason

a teenage Walter lived at the school

was because he was an orphan.

But local records also reveal

where his childhood home had been.

- Near Asite, the family has a farm called Rožkalni,

or Hill of Roses.

Okay. Hill of Roses?

Absolutely.

Rožkalni, that's what it's, right.

We need to go there for a look, don't we?

Alex, thank you very much for your effort.

- [Alex] You're welcome. You're welcome, dear Guy.

And welcome to Latvia.

(laughs)

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] His grandfather's hometown of Asite

is 200 kilometres away, along the unpaved tracks

of rural Latvia and winter is coming.

Luckily, rugged transport is easy to rent in Latvia.

This Lada Riva 1300S was built in 1982,

so is the same age as Guy.

Ah, just look!

(soft music)

Just love it! I open the doors.

(door bangs)

Do you hear that? Precision.

There is no better car for this job.

(upbeat music)

(engine revs)

(laughs) You can hear the engine die.

- [Narrator] Guy's Latvian adventure is underway.

The next stop is his grandfather's hometown,

to start uncovering what secrets

lie behind the man he admires so much.

(upbeat music)

Guy Martin is in Latvia

to find out more about one of his heroes,

his late grandfather, Walter Kidals.

They reckon, they, you,

a few people have said I look like him.

I think he's fair better looking than me,

far better looking.

Look at that. Don't he?

Yeah, Voldemort. Smart looking bloke, eh?

(upbeat music)

[Narrator] First, Guy is tracking down

what he can about his grandfather's childhood.

[Guy] Me mum texted me this morning,

but I don't know how she got me number.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] He's heading deep into the countryside.

- [Guy] Latvia's pretty great, ain't it? It's great.

Right, enjoying it.

Hell of a place.

It sort of brings it home really, I do like a simple life.

It's in me wiring, ain't it?

It must be in the hard drive.

Oh, we're in the sticks, yeah, can you see?

No tarmac on the road. You see?

Lada's at one though, Lada's at one.

It deals with them bumps alright, don't it?

(laughs) As the Lada gets off and rolls, ugh.

- [Narrator] After a four hour drive from Riga,

he arrives in Asite,

the hamlet where his grandfather Walter grew up.

I reckon this is us boys, come on.

[Narrator] The first driveway leads

to the former schoolhouse where Walter boarded.

An elderly couple live there now.

We're in the middle of nowhere.

When was the last time I saw a house?

Yeah, I'll go knock.

What shall I say? Sveiki.

Sveiki.

[Narrator] Guy's on hallowed ground.

His uncle John remembers how emotional

his father would get about his native country.

He was passionate about Latvia,

he loved the Latvian countryside,

and I think reflecting back,

I think he missed it tremendously.

(soft piano music)

- The couple living in the school don't wanna be filmed

but they're quite happy for us to come in

where we are now and do a bit of filming,

so which is great, ain't it?

- [Narrator] The school was founded in 1914

and was originally much bigger.

But during the Second World War,

it was largely dismantled by Russian soldiers

searching for firewood.

Every morning, pupils sat in the classrooms

and recited a poem promising to study hard.

- Ooh, can I imagine him being taught here?

Did he pay attention?

I expect we was all little buggers at school, weren't we?

Weren't we? I'm sure Walter was no different.

I'm sure Walter wasn't different (laughs).

Ah, just nice and quiet, peaceful.

Yeah, I can see where Walter's love of Latvia came from.

Yeah, beautiful place.

(soft piano music)

[Narrator] As well as academic lessons.

FH16. 520 horsepower that.

[Narrator] The students helped

with the school's housekeeping

and maintenance around the grounds.

(soft music)

Outside toilet. Look at that!

That's a proper dunny, that mate.

If that was me, I'd have that turned round the other way

and be pooing with the door open.

So while you're doing your ablutions,

door open and view like that, my word!

(soft music)

Lovely place, ain't it?

I stood here by myself for ten minutes earlier and just

listened to nothingness.

- [Narrator] 2,500 people used to live in Asite,

but after fierce fighting destroyed half the parish

in World War II, the area fell into decline.

(soft piano music)

The last surviving resident with memories of Walter's time

is an old ranger, Sigurds Spinga.

- My grandad lived in a farm not far from here

called Rožkalni.

I just wondered, how far that was from here

and is there any chance of a farm being there now,

or anything being there now?

(speaks in a foreign language)

- [Narrator] Tom Sillings will act as Guy's interpreter.

(speaks in a foreign language)

Could we go just to have a look?

Just to see if there is the land,

you know, how far from here is it?

I think Sigurds can show us the way there.

- [Narrator] The only record of the old tracks

and houses in Asite is Sigurds' 90 year old hunting map.

(speaks in a foreign language)

Are we on this road here?

(speaks in a foreign language)

So we need to go up north east

and then start coming back down on ourselves.

(soft piano music)

Yeah. Sigurds, thank you very much.

Thank you. Top man.

(soft piano music)

- [Narrator] Guy follows the directions to the place

where his grandad was born.

(door bangs)

(soft music)

It was a thriving area during Walter's time.

There were 319 farms, two windmills and three dairies.

Latvians worked the land hard,

becoming one of the world's biggest exporters

of butter and bacon between the wars.

(cannon blasts)

But late in 1944, long after Walter had moved away,

the parish was flattened when caught

in the Eastern Front crossfire

between German and Russian forces.

(cannon blasts)

Today, nothing is left.

Come and have a look.

See me, up the tree, look at my eye view.

That was Walter's view. What a place!

Oh, I'm not gonna get all.

I just think it's nice to look at what

me grandad was looking at.

It is a bit of a moving moment, yeah.

You're not gonna get any tears out of me or anything though.

- [Narrator] Now, the only evidence of the family farm

is a few foundation stones.

(soft piano music)

There was so much here, weren't it? Eh?

The perimeter wall. Yeah, that's all that's left.

(soft music)

Oh, Walter would be over the moon, wouldn't he?

But he'd be dead pleased we'd made the effort

and we found a bit of Rožkalni.

I hope he'd be chuffed that we've,

yeah, that we actually care, you know, we care

about what he did.

I'm glad we came.

Gonna get me camera and take a picture of this.

(camera shutters)

(upbeat music)

My mother has this story and my grandad,

he used to love going to the church.

Church was only three quarters of a mile from his house.

(tyres squealing)

(soft piano music)

He'd walk there in his bare feet

cause he didn't wanna take mud into the church.

Gonna go find a church somewhere,

we need to go find a church.

Come on.

There's some remains, we've got some remains in there.

You'll see. Come on.

This must be it, Walter's church, eh.

That's not seen any communions for a day or two, has it?

Eh?

You bugger

(soft piano music)

(chuckles)

Built in 1709, destroyed in the war.

And never rebuilt.

Course I miss him.

Sitting in his shed with his lambs, I miss that.

If I had my time again and knew what I knew now,

I would try and sit and talk.

What would Walter say to me?

(soft music)

He'd say, "Don't believe the hype."

But he wouldn't say that,

but he'd say something that comes down to that.

Oh, I'd listen to him, wouldn't you?

His eyes'll have seen more than my eyes'll ever see.

[Narrator] The Second World War

ravaged Latvia's buildings and infrastructure,

but had an even more devastating effect on its citizens.

(car engine revving)

- [Narrator] Situated between Germany and Russia,

Latvia was invaded three times in quick succession.

Some 500,000 people, nearly a third of the population,

either fled, were deported or were killed.

(bright music)

And yet the story couldn't have begun more peacefully.

[Guy] 1939,

the start of the Second World War.

Look, as you can see here, Latvia is hunky dory.

Doesn't want any part of the war.

Smart looking folk.

There's James Bond, ain't he?

Yeah, they look happy campers, don't they?

Yeah, 1940.

Who is this? This is the Russians coming in.

- [Narrator] While the world was distracted

by Germany invading France,

Russia rolled into Latvia

and seized power through rigged elections.

They carried out a mass inventory.

Every nut and bolt was now owned by the communist state.

- And then this is anyone that put up a bit of a fight,

any Latvian at all that thought,

"Hang on, hang on, I've worked all my life,

"I've earned this much money"

and came out with a few choice words to the Russians,

that was it.

Right, get on that train, we're taking you to Siberia, mate!

And that was it, to the gulags.

- [Narrator] Latvians call 1940, The Year of Terror.

- [Guy] This is Latvia here, the KGB Headquarters.

Rubber padded room, plug hole in the corner,

a torture chamber.

The Latvians, as you would be, you know, you're bloody sick

to the back teeth of the bloody Russians,

you know, your sons or your dads or your daughters

all getting sent off to the gulags.

They hated the Russians.

They hated the Russians!

Here we are '41.

World War II is getting going now

and they have the Germans coming to Latvia.

And it only takes them two weeks to push the Russians out.

The Latvians welcomed the Germans in with open arms.

You know, handing out flowers.

Welcomed the Nazis in.

The Latvians were that sick of the bloody Russians.

Yeah, little did they know, all was not good.

[Narrator] The Nazis entered Latvia

claiming to be liberators.

But they recruited a group of far right wing Latvians

and carried out some of the worst

atrocities of the Holocaust,

including the massacre of 25,000 Jews

across just two nights in 1941.

- Anyone that had a bit of a deformity or you was Jewish

or you was, you know, that was it, right.

Torture 'em, send 'em off to the concentration camps.

Look at them there, battery hens

I think all in all, I think there was 80,000 Jews

that was killed out of Latvia.

80,000!

- [Narrator] Then, desperate for more troops

to face the Russians, Hitler ordered Latvian men

some as young as 16, to be conscripted into the Waffen-SS,

the Nazi party's military division.

(sombre music)

The choice was simple, fight for Germany or be shot.

- [Guy] My grandad had been amongst there, somewhere.

- [Narrator] The Waffen-SS was made up

of more than 30 different divisions,

containing volunteers and conscripts

from all over Europe,

including Holland, Scandinavia and France.

The Latvian Legion was largest of all.

(dramatic music)

It's remembered today by the Association of Latvian Soldiers

Battle Re-enactment Society.

This band of architects, engineers and students

all had relatives who fought in the Second World War.

(gun bangs)

This is an important period of history to Latvians,

but there are few survivors left.

These battle re-enactments ensure

their ancestors are never forgotten.

Russia V Germany, at war.

(dramatic music)

So yeah, we've got the Russians

coming in here from the north, small unit.

(soldier speaks in foreign language)

Close off the road, enemies to the left.

(gyn bangs)

(chuckles) I'm nervous now.

(suspenseful music)

(guns banging)

Jesus wept!

I thought they, it was just a bit of

friendly mucking about (laughs).

- [Narrator] In 1945, Commanding Officer Colonel Adolf Axe,

reported that most Latvians fought

because they saw Hitler as the lesser of two evils,

compared to Stalin.

But privately, the legionnaires would sing about

first defeating the Russians,

then turning their guns on their Nazi commanders.

[Guy] Three Russians to finish off.

(speaks in a foreign language)

(guns banging)

That's it! That's it!

Game over.

Latvia one,

Russia nil.

Spot on lads! Grand job!

Grand job! Spot on!

These days, the politics are left at home

and everyone shakes hands at the end of the fight.

But what part did Guy's grandfather Walter play

as a member of the Latvian legion?

Latvia's war archives are about to reveal all.

(gun banging)

(laughs)

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Guy Martin is back in Riga to find out more

about one of the most influential people in his life,

his late Latvian grandad, Walter.

- Quiet, really private man. Really private man.

With a deep voice, deep, very, very deep, very deep.

Used to put his tea on his custard,

get it all done in one sitting.

Used to give his sons sticks,

bits of wood as building blocks,

that was Christmas presents.

Used to make benches and always put tags on them

that he'd engraved.

Yeah, interesting bloke.

- [Narrator] Walter was conscripted into the Latvian Legion

and made to fight for Germany in World War Two.

The only place to find out more is at Latvia's war museum.

Latvia's leading historical researcher, Valdis Kuzman,

works in the underground archives.

- [Guy] All right, Valdis. - [Valdis] Hello.

We found three documents where your grandad were mentioned.

What he did during the war.

Right.

- In all documents, his name is not Voldemort,

- but Janis. - Right.

- Janis. - Janis.

[Narrator] This is the actual record

of conscription from 1944.

It seems whilst Janis was his given name,

he preferred to go by his middle name of Voldermars.

- Yeah, date of birth there, you can't argue with it.

Janis Kidals, 28th of the second of '20.

- [Valdis] There is 80,000 citizens of Latvia

who were conscripted.

Most of them are conscripts, 90%.

They didn't have a choice.

- [Guy] So, if my grandad had avoided conscription,

what would that have meant?

Well the biggest problems is

that your relatives, your family, would suffer as well.

If you run away or hide, as a deserter for example

your family might be sent to camp as well

or some land taken away.

First unit your grandad was sent to

was 19th artillery regiment.

So, at the beginning, he was an artillery man, a gunner.

(cannon blasts)

[Narrator] After extensive training,

the 19th Regiment of the Latvian Legion

joined the war in August 1944,

fighting near Riga on the Eastern Front

against the Soviet Red Army.

But further records suggest

Walter may not have actually served here.

(gun bangs)

- The next document we found where his name is mentioned

is 4th April 1945.

But this time he's not an artilleryman,

but he is

an infantryman.

Infantry.

- [Valdis] And-- - So that was really

- the cannon fodder? - Yeah, cannon fodder.

- [Narrator] It was expensive to train gunners like Walter,

so to subsequently send him to the Latvian unit

on the frontline must have been as a punishment.

Most likely because he tried to desert.

- At one point he decided this war is not for him

and he somehow escaped.

You've heard of this happening before?

Yes, sure.

Right. Right.

- I mean thousands of times, thousands of times.

- Oh, is that right? - Yeah, yeah,

people were trying to escape.

- Many deserters, yeah? - There are many deserters

- and he's-- - For no reason to fight,

they had no reason to fight.

- [Valdis] That's right. - Yeah.

- [Narrator] How Walter escaped is unclear,

but the records show he was recaptured

and sent to a Latvian division retreating west,

on the run from a merciless Red Army pushing on to Berlin.

There were just five months of the war left

and the Latvians were exhausted from trying to survive.

It was something Walter rarely spoke about to his son,

Guy's Uncle John.

I think it was too painful

a process to talk about his past.

On the few occasions he talked to me,

it was certainly a horrendous experience,

you know, he talked about his mate

being took out by a sniper at the side of him

and um,

marching on the roads and seeing people strung up crucified,

as they marched, um, yeah.

Very tough.

- So what they were hoping for, to reach western Allies,

Americans and British Army, and surrender.

And then you'll be a prisoner of war

of the Americans or the British?

- [Valdis] That's right. - Right.

And there is a document number three,

which is a document prepared in British

prisoner of war camp in Belgium.

And in this camp we have Kidals.

[Guy] Yeah, Janis.

- [Valdis] And right here you can see some of the photos

from that camp.

- This was-- - [Guy] They're mostly

Latvians in this this one?

[Valdis] Yeah, mostly Latvians, yeah.

- [Narrator] At first the Allies running the Belgian camp

only saw SS uniforms.

It would take more than a year

before the Latvians were released, cleared of being Nazis.

- You just think, and this is just one story.

It's my grandad, just one story out of what,

how many, 100 and how many 1,000?

- 120,000? - 120.

120,000! Yeah, it's hard to put into words.

- Thank you very much. - It was very interesting

for us as well.

Thank you.

(soft music)

- It's a lot to take in, but it's starting to sink in.

At every turn

he's had it hard.

And he kept all this bottled up.

We've had to come all the way to Latvia to find this out

and I just think, what a boy!

A brave man. A brave man.

[Narrator] At the end of the war,

the Soviet Union took over all of the Baltic countries.

Everything that had been built up in the '20s and '30s

was eradicated.

Stalin made the farms work for the state

and made the schools teach Russian.

120,000 Latvian patriots were deported to Siberia

or jailed.

It's a period remembered here,

the notorious Karosta Prison,

where inmates were tortured and deserters were shot.

Run by the Soviet military until the '90s,

remarkably it is now a £15 a night hotel

offering an authentic taste of an authoritarian regime

to stag parties, hen dos and adventurous tourists.

Hello.

He smacked me hand away.

I thought alright, we sort of know

where we stand here, don't we?

We sort of know where we stand here.

(speaks in foreign language)

I haven't pooed, I haven't pooed me self, no, but (sighs).

(speaks in a foreign language)

And I've said this before,

just cause of the stuff I've read

and it's just confirmed,

do not mess with the Russians.

(speaks in a foreign language)

But the most intimidating thing is the Russian voice.

Yeah.

The Russian, you aren't messing with that man, are ya?

(speaks in a foreign language)

Didn't know what was left, what was right,

what was up, what was down, what was 180, I didn't know.

(speaks in a foreign language)

I genuinely thought we'd come here,

bit of gruel, bit of banter,

even thought about bringing me book.

I thought I might sit in the cell and read me book.

It'll be alright, be alright, we'll have a bit of a craic.

No! No, no, no no, no.

(speaking in a foreign language)

You've seen me boys, you've, you've seen me for,

we've worked together a long time.

You ain't seen me like that before.

(speaks in a foreign language)

(door bangs)

Bed making.

To be honest, I was quite proud of me bed making.

They didn't think much to it.

(speaks in a foreign language)

Worst hotel in Europe.

I did stay at a dodgy B&B in Scarborough once.

It wasn't quite as bad as that.

(speaks in a foreign language)

How long will it take for us to see the funny side of that?

Maybe on the plane home, eh.

That was authentic. Latvians do not do things by halves.

(bright music)

- [Narrator] These are the Liepāja Northern Forts.

Originally a World War One naval base,

they were the last sight of the country many Latvians saw.

After the war, 26,000 people

left the Soviet controlled Baltics and headed to Britain.

In 1946,

the Labour government wanted to replenish

the post-war workforce

and was one of the first administrations

to welcome refugees.

They were known as Displaced Persons.

Giant transport ships brought them overnight

to Tilbury or Harwich in the south, and Hull in the east.

They were fed, given a little pocket money,

and housed in holding camps

before being recruited into jobs from Scotland to Devon.

- Movement through Hull of the Displaced Persons

from all parts of Europe

is expected to begin next Wednesday.

[Narrator] The Hull Daily Mail

published a series of articles in 1946,

enthusiastically reporting the arrival of the immigrants.

They are here to do the dirty jobs

that English people will not look at.

They are likely.

They are likely to show up the British workmen

with their eagerness to work hard.

Keen as mustard!

(soft music)

We've got dentists, doctors, surveyors, from Latvia

wanting to come to England and do what any,

do anything to get out of the Soviet regime.

Is that what my grandad was thinking?

[Narrator] Walter was released

from his Belgian prisoner of war camp

and reached Hull in 1947, at the age of 27.

I think he was always very thankful

that he'd been given a home here,

but he hadn't come to be provided for by the state.

He came to work.

- [Narrator] He worked as a farm labourer, miner and builder,

becoming a British citizen in 1948.

He went on a blind date to Hull Fair with Lillian

and it was love at first sight.

The rest is history.

- Look what happens when you let immigrants in,

(laughs) you end up with folk like me.

Eh, but if it weren't for the eagerness of the British

to let the Latvians, not just Latvians,

to let the Europeans in, I wouldn't be here now, would I?

And we wouldn't be here telling this story, would we?

Interesting reading that.

Just makes you think

yeah, yeah, just makes you think.

[Narrator] Scared of Russian reprisals,

Walter only ventured back to Latvia twice,

once with his daughter in 1979

to visit his long lost brothers.

- I remember me dad translating what my uncle had said

and he'd said, "Oh, be careful what you say

"cause the room will be bugged."

[Narrator] The second time was in 1990,

just before Latvian Independence, with his son, John.

- Until his dying day, he was fearful of the Russians,

but his heart was still in Latvia.

And I think that's where he probably longed to be really.

- [Narrator] There's only one thing left for Guy to do.

His uncle, John has helped arrange a family reunion.

Guy is about to meet his Latvian cousins for the first time.

(bouncy music)

- [Narrator] It's Guy Martin's final day in Latvia.

This afternoon he'll be attending a family reunion

and meeting his Latvian cousins for the first time.

He wants to take some local delicacies to the gathering,

so heads for Riga's market,

housed within these vast World War One zeppelin hangars.

Come on let's have a look in here.

Let's have a look in here.

(bouncy music)

It's fresh.

A good vet'd get that man going again.

Zeppelin hangars, built by the Germans in the '20s.

Seriously impressive, ain't it?

It's a lot of steelwork. Self supporting.

You wouldn't do that in a tea break, would you?

Now Europe's biggest indoor market.

Can I buy those please?

- [Narrator] Guy is going to attempt his shopping trip

with the only two words of Latvian he knows, hello.

(speaks in a foreign language)

And thank you.

(speaks in a foreign language)

Thank you.

(speaks in a foreign language)

Yes, Paldies, yeah.

Paldies. Paldies.

(speaks in a foreign language)

Classic?

Classic.

Paldies. Thank you.

Ah, perfect.

Pig fat. Pork fat. Pig fat, pork fat, pig fat.

That, you, you can really, that feels like you've got a,

a bar of wax in your mouth.

This please, (speaks in a foreign language)

Paldies.

Thank you very much.

Gone through three languages there.

(bouncy music)

- [Narrator] In just ten minutes Guy will be meeting

eight of his Latvian cousins, the Kidals.

I'm a bit nervous.

I don't really wanna let our British side down.

But I'm alright, I've got pig fat and flatbread.

Let's get the eating spanners laid out.

- [Narrator] He has one other important piece of equipment.

The family tree.

Oh, here, like a bloody rabbit in the headlights,

I don't know what to do.

What do you think?

Come on. All right.

Bloody hell.

Hello.

- [Narrator] Cousin Olita, is an English teacher.

(speaks in a foreign language)

- Guy? - Yes.

- Olita. - Olita, pleased to meet you.

- Yeah, I recognised. - I'm dead nervous.

- Yeah? - I'm dead nervous.

- Really? - Yeah, I am.

Why? I am nervous (laughs).

Let's try. I'll try to find the...

- It's a good start. We've got a good start.

We've got a good start.

Your grandfather was Voldemort?

Voldemort, yes.

And my grandfather is Arvins.

Yes.

[Olita] And they were brothers.

Yes, right, yeah.

[Narrator] 22 year old Uldis,

is a student who wants to be a teacher.

[Guy] Uldis, this is your son?

[Olita] He is my youngest son.

- Hello. - [Guy] Hello.

- Hello. - Nice to meet you mate,

how's it going?

Nice to meet you.

- [Guy] Uldis? - Uldis.

I'm Guy.

I know.

(Olita laughs)

- I'm dead nervous mate, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

It was really, really weird

seeing someone who looks so much like our grandfathers.

[Olita] You see,

how all of them are like you.

- [Guy] Yes. - We are Kidals.

- You can see? - Yeah.

- Yeah? - Mm hmm. Welcome.

Thank you very much.

- They've got like a square like face and these side beards.

[Narrator] Next up is Gatis,

who started Latvia's first discotheque.

- [Gut] Gatis, hi, I'm Guy. Pleased to meet you mate.

What do you do?

- I have 25 years in Latvia's show business.

Ah, is that right?

It started like a rental company.

- That's where me raving streak comes from,

from Gatis, me cousin.

Hello.

- Iyna. - Iyna, pleased to meet ya.

- Walter Kidals is (speaks in a foreign language).

- Your uncle? - [Iyna] Yes.

- [Guy] You okay? - Maris.

Maris, pleased to meet you, Maris.

Hello, I'm Guy. Pleased to meet you, mate.

You okay?

And he is Yanis.

- [Guy] And Yanis. - Hi, nice to meet you.

Pleased to meet you.

So we're, we're cousins?

Yeah (laughs)

Yeah, we're cousins.

I feel disappointed I don't speak any Latvian, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. I feel yeah Paldies and Sveiki, that's it.

- [Both] Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Yeah, so yeah.

Do you look, who is you?

- [Guy] I've never seen this picture before.

(laughs)

Never seen.

She asked my grandad for a photo

of our side of the family in 1996.

- Is that you? - Yeah, that's me.

(laughs)

That's me.

- Oh! (laughs). - [Guy] Yeah.

Nice chatty people. No awkwardness.

No-one looking down their nose at anyone.

We went to Asite, to um, Rožkalni--

- [Olita] Rožkalni. - [Guy] Where their house was.

Oh, you've heard of Rožkalni?

And we just traced it back to where it was

and now there is nothing.

There's nothing but there, we, we found a few bricks

- in the floor. - [Olita] Ah, yeah.

I really love this casualty of him.

The kind of person he is, this friendliness.

I race on motorbikes in England.

We take pictures of motorbikes.

- Do you like speed, yeah? Do you like speed?

Yeah, too much.

(laughs)

- Ooh! Now we. - Too much.

We have one thing in common.

Why, what do you like about speed?

- Yes, I like speed. - You do?

- Yeah. - Do ya?

Yeah. Next.

Yeah, you see her driving.

(laughs)

- As I understand, he's quite known in Britain, isn't he?

Yeah, and there was this one interview

where he went to some friend's house

to paint the walls and just do nothing,

and that is actually exactly how our family is.

We like the quiet places, we don't enjoy the cities.

Beer? Are you alright with a beer?

No, thank you.

You don't want a beer?

Just pass the milk.

The milk?

- It's really hard to get the trust of a Latvian.

That's why you isolate yourself,

so you can value the people

that you can really, really trust

and not open up to everyone.

Can we say cheers?

(speaks in a foreign language)

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for coming, it's been brilliant.

I will be back, I think, yeah.

You have a beautiful country.

Well, I was genuinely dead nervous

and now I could not be more pleased,

could not be more pleased.

(chuckles)

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] And that's the end of Guy's trip.

As a final tribute to Walter,

he decides to build a bench

with an uninterrupted view of the Latvian countryside.

Don't look over there,

you're getting the wrong bloody ideas,

it's the M1 over there, no, no, no, look there,

that's all right there.

Oh, definitely I'm coming back.

Loved it! Loved it!

Mega loved it. Really loved it!

Loved it!

Ah, she's coming on.

I've done loads of learning

and I've come away and I love the place, it's bloody great.

I like the people, I like the place, I like the buildings,

I like the pace of life,

I like the unknown history, I like that.

I like that

the Lada doesn't lock,

I've left everything in the Lada and nothing's been touched.

Bloody knot!

It's just give me a good understanding why

I do certain things a certain way.

I'm at peace when I'm at work and I think I've found out why

cause it's the Latvian way, ain't it?

They all like a bit of graft.

It is in the breeding really strange,

really strange ways.

Learnt about my grandad. That man did not have it easy

and we've filled

a load of grey areas about that man,

a load of grey areas, that even

his sons and daughters didn't know,

that even his wife didn't know.

I admire the man even more.

100% I'm dead proud proud to have a bit of Latvian blood.

Is this like Latvia's Stonehenge?

(upbeat music)