All language subtitles for h.u.s03e03.1080p.web.h264-cbfm_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR:
History is not an exact science.

It is never set in stone.

As time passes knowledge
of the past is refined and evolves?

But, by definition existing ideas
have thick skins

and are hard to shift.

To understand the realities
of the world

you sometimes have to shake them up

and decipher the facts
by looking at them another way.

Posterity has left us with an image
of the French Resistance

as partisans acting alone
against the Nazi occupiers.

And yet!

On July 22, 1940.

A stream of passengers disembarked

from a ship in the port
of Southampton,

in the south of England.

They were French, Belgian,
Danish, and Polish.

Since, Hitler invaded their country,

more than 30,000 refugees
had already crossed the Channel.

Most were searching for better days.

Though a handful
wanted to continue fighting.

There was nothing to suggest

that these resistance fighters
would go underground,

but they were ready
to risk their lives

to free their country from Nazism.

On that same July 22, 1940,
130 km away,

an oppressive atmosphere
pervaded the British capital.

Great Britain was the last power
to resist Germany.

And, the Wehrmacht threatened
to land on its shores.

(CAT MEOWS)

Despite this, Winston Churchill
remained confident.

The Prime Minister was convinced

that it was possible
to avert the threat

by urging the defeated populations
to revolt against their occupiers.

A completely iconoclastic strategy.

During incredulous audience,
he gave the order,

"Put Europe to fire and blood."

Very quickly, a new secret service
was created.

Its mission was to coordinate
subversive actions

in occupied Europe.

The name of this organisation
was Special Operations Executive.

Or SOE.

From now on, no holds are barred.

Make way for the war of the thugs.

In the heart of London,

the new service took up residence
in Baker Street,

in complete secrecy.

It is from here,

that a handful of men
were to implement the strategy

dreamed up by the Prime Minister.

In each country,

clandestine networks
would be responsible

for harassing the enemy
until defeat.

At first, the SOE had no contacts
on the continent.

-Have you seen this telegram,
Felix 1 man had a solution.

-But, one man had a solution,
General Gubbins.

The mastermind of the operation,

whose story was brought
to the screen.

-Take on to Don.

-A student of guerrilla warfare,

Gubbins recommended
recruiting hot-heads and outliers.

Rare jewels were found
in aristocratic circles.

(APPLAUSE)

But, also in the pubs frequented
by the criminal underworld.

The war of the thugs was inspired
by tried and tested techniques.

Like those employed by Al Capone,

who managed to terrorise America
in the 1930s with only a few men.

And, finally in the ports,

where refugees, ready for combat,
continued arriving.

Their perfect command
of the language

and customs of their homelands
made them ideal recruits,

who were able to operate
without being noticed.

By the end of the summer of 1940,

patriots of all stripes
had joined the ranks

of this unlikely army.

-Ready, go.

-Instructors had only a few weeks

to turn these free spirits
into special agents

in Her Majesty's service.

General Gubbins lamented...

The "SOE is under intense pressure
to be operational

as soon as possible.

Improvisation is part
of our daily program.

-And shoot to kill.

-Guerrilla techniques...

(GUN SHOTS)

practice with explosives...

(BOMB BLASTS)

-First, a vicious dash
of the tin hat...

then grab a fog.

-Courses in silent killing?

-That's the end of that one.

-Not to mention
the essential practice

of parachute jumping.

Novices were warned,

only one man out of two
will return alive.

To complement the operations
of its agents,

London hoped for an uprising
of populations, incited to revolt.

The BBC, a new radio weapon,
hammered out its slogans...

-Then the songs they've written,
they speak to us

-All in vain.

Stunned by the whirlwind victory
of the Reich,

the crowds remained deaf
to these messages.

The first Resistance fighters tried
to oppose the occupying forces

with very limited means.

Some published
underground newspapers.

Others slashed the tyres of Germans,
or cut their phone lines.

Brave acts,

which turned out to be
more dangerous than effective.

Churchill became impatient.

He harassed his staff...

"When will we decide to send out
saboteurs to cripple the enemy?"

In the spring of 1941,

a handful of volunteers
set off for the old continent,

under the sneering eyes
of the Royal Air Force pilots.

In the opinion of its leader,
General Portal,

this war of thugs was beneath
the gentlemen of the army.

Reluctantly, he gave up
4 old aircraft

that nobody wanted anymore.

As if to prove the officers right,

most of the SOE missions
end in failure.

One volunteer who was supposed
to be dropped in Belgium,

landed in Germany,
in the middle of a prison camp.

-Go!

-The parachute of the agent,

who was supposed to become
the leader of the Danish resistance,

did not open.

His corpse revealed to the Germans
the covert activity of the British.

All hopes of a quick infiltration
in Denmark collapsed.

In France, the record
was hardly better.

The success of some operations,

including an attack
on the Pessac power station,

was tarnished by the capriciousness
of the craftsmen,

who were a little too roguish.

They went to Spain
to celebrate their success...

diluting their patriotism
in the fumes of alcohol

with money entrusted to them
by the SOE.

Above all,

the anti-German demonstrations
encouraged by the BBC,

were, for the most part,
violently repressed.

In France as in Belgium,

in Norway as in the Netherlands,

the Nazis arrested,
deported or executed.

18 months after its creation,

Winston Churchill ruminated
on the failures of his shadow army.

The dream of a general insurrection
was dissipating.

As for the networks of saboteurs

on which he had placed
such high hopes,

they had failed
to set Europe ablaze.

In the meantime,

the Nazi war machine had imposed
its will as far as Moscow.

A change of strategy was needed.

At the beginning of 1942,
hope was reborn.

Despite the pounding
of German bombers,

England had valiantly resisted.

Any threat of invasion was now over.

Better still.

Two great powers joined the ranks
of the allies,

the Soviet Union...

and the United States.

By joining forces,

the three leaders hoped to achieve
a classic military victory,

culminating in a landing
on the old continent.

The SOE rose from its ashes.

-Felix 1 done.

-Forget about a general uprising,
it was time for targeted actions.

From then on,

the mission of Her Majesty's agents
was to weaken the enemy

while awaiting
future military operations.

Norway, France, Greece, Yugoslavia.

In one year, 320 emissaries,

this time hand-picked,
set off for Europe.

There was still one major obstacle.

Most of the powers in exile
in London were opposed

to the offensive strategy.

Fearing reprisals
against the Belgian people,

the head of the government,
Hubert Pierlot,

demanded that the resistance
be limited to intelligence.

But, what did it matter
to the British?

National sovereignty
was of little consequence

in the fight against the Nazis.

British priority was to strike
at Belgium's steel industries,

a real boon for the Wehrmacht.

On January 28, 1942,

the SOE played a trump card...

a former law student,
who had arrived in London

in the early days of the conflict...

Andre Wendelen!

His mission, to lay the foundations
of a sabotage group

in his native land.

The rookie agent relied
on his old friends

from the University of Brussels.

A gamble that paid off.

They welcomed their fallen comrade
as a messiah,

and soon nicknamed him
"the Archangel".

These intellectuals,
these anti-fascist militants,

dreamt of taking action.

Together, they created
what would later become

the dreaded G Group.

But, they knew nothing
about the war of the thugs.

Andre gave them practical training.

The development of each detonator
was passionately discussed.

Their credo,
to cripple the occupiers,

while avoiding
unnecessary destruction.

In the spring of 1942,

the apprentice saboteurs were ready
for their baptism of fire.

London designated the targets.

Their attacks
were remarkably precise...

a railroad line between Liege
and Cologne.

Scornful of the danger,

Andre Wendelen
and his friends rejoiced.

Then they turned
to industrial sites.

The SOE was over the moon.

His instructors had been right...

"This officer is most definitely
above average."

A really first class man and leader.

"Very quickly, the Belgian agent
deployed the G Group

all over the country.

Leaving his comrades
to operate on their own,

he set out to recruit new idealists
from corner of the country.

After the Belgian government,

London came up
against another leader in exile,

a much tougher one...

Charles de Gaulle.

On July 14, 1942,
a national holiday,

the Frenchman was indignant
to see the British interfering

in the organisation
of his country's resistance,

while he had been battling
for months to create unity

under his authority.

The general demanded
to be the only one

to organise missions to France.

His request fell on deaf ears.

Churchill did not want to give him
a say.

Especially, since the country
would be the scene

of the future Allied landing.

In the autumn of 1942,

about fifty SOE agents
were already operating

in the country.

And, London did not intend
to stop there.

On the night of September 24-25,

the Royal Air Force pilots
were astounded.

(OVERLAPPING CHATTER)

They were going to drop a woman
on enemy soil.

-How do you do?
@
-And this is feeling.@

-According to the ever-transgressive
General Gubbins,

they were more reliable than men.

Lise de Baissac,
from the old French aristocracy,

choose to defend the land
of her ancestors

under the banner of the Union Jack.

At 1am, she let herself slide
into the void.

Her destination Poitiers.

Lise demanded to have
the same responsibilities as a man.

She said.

-"I warned them,
I refuse to play Mata Hari".

-Baker Street entrusted her
with a major mission.

To the growth of the secret networks
in the southwest zone.

Assuming the identity
of Irene Brisse,

a widow with a passion
for archaeology,

she travelled day and night
in an area of more than 300sqkm.

Lise de Baissac welcomed
and concealed new agents...

and Organised the reception
of the explosives.

Assisted by the Frenchmen
she had recruited.

The containers were then distributed
to resistance fighters

following orders from London.

Tirelessly, Lise ensured the liaison

between several
clandestine networks...

Prosper, Bricklayer.

And, also Scientist,

founded by her younger brother
Claude,

also an SOE agent

and one who shared
his sister's rebelliousness

and fierce patriotism.

The boisterous Claude de Baissac,

who went into action
two months before his sister,

did not hesitate to ask
for the most demanding missions.

He told his superiors, "I am strong.

"I am even very strong.

"Tell me what you need."

The response came quickly.

Her Majesty's agent
gained the loyalty

of most of the French employees
at the Bordeaux base,

which harboured German U-boats.

Despite being watched
by the occupying forces,

the men from Scientist managed
to sabotage

several enemy submarines.

Claude de Baissac
sent detailed plans

of the base to London.

And, information on the ships
crossing the Atlantic.

A godsend for the Royal Air Force...

which could intensify
targeted bombings.

In the winter of 1942,

Churchill was relieved to learn that

the guerrilla warfare conducted
by his shadow army

was beginning to pay off.

He could now entrust the army

with a goal
of the utmost importance,

preventing Hitler
from acquiring atomic weapons.

-That area is entered vital.

-A team of specially trained
Norwegian agents

was dropped into the far north.

Handpicked
for their physical strength,

the men reached their target
after a ten-day journey

at minus 30 degrees.

Their goal was to destroy a factory
that produced an essential element

for the manufacturing
of atomic bombs...

heavy water.

Two hundred German soldiers guarded
the building day and night.

The operation resembled
a suicide mission.

On the night of February 27, 1943,

the commando managed to place
explosives on the machines.

A half a ton of heavy water
was destroyed,

and production was hampered
for several months.

The head of the occupation
forces in Norway,

General Von Falkenhorst, was
stunned, declaring,

"This is the most glorious strike
I have seen in this war."

That winter, the Wehrmacht suffered
a series of bitter setbacks,

in the Egyptian sands
of Al Alamein...

then at Stalingrad,
on the Russian steppe.

The Reich was wounded.

(DOG BARKS)

It was time to strike the territory
that made the Fuhrer proud...

Denmark.

This ideal protectorate
offered the German navy

control of the Baltic Sea,
as well as access to the North Sea.

The icing on the cake,
the country fed the German troops.

Its bacon, delighted them
all over Europe.

(DRUMS SOUND)

This Nazi stronghold
stubbornly resisted the SOE.

Since the tragic parachute jump
of the agent

charged with organising
the Danish resistance,

all British infiltration attempts
had failed.

Playing the odds, Baker street
then bet on an unlikely candidate...

the adventurer, Flemming Muus.

Exiled by his family
who had lost hope in his career,

he worked in the most remote corners
of Africa.

Overwhelmed by a patriotic fever,

he rushed to London in search
of a role that suited him.

On March 11, 1943,

the ex-coconut seller returned
to his native land.

"I threw myself on my knees
and kissed the earth.

"I was in Denmark."

Full of glib charm,

the adventurer joined forces
with another surprising personality,

Monica Wichfeld!

An aristocrat, who financed
the anti-Nazi press.

Together, they immediately began
remobilising resistance fighters.

A parachute drop and training centre
was set up on the Wichfeld property.

Across the country,
networks were finally taking shape,

cameras in hand,
conscious of writing history.

In the spring of 1943,
they set Denmark ablaze.

Everything was blown up.

Military vehicle factories...

supply convoys for the Wehrmacht...

gasoline depots...

shipyards...

Shaken out of its slumber,
the population backed the saboteurs.

In a few weeks,

Denmark was on the verge
of insurrection.

London was alarmed,

overzealousness could expose
the nascent resistance

to violent repression.

-Norway and Denmark
are definitely out.

-On June 19, 1943,
Ralph Hollingworth,

the head of the Danish branch,

tried to bring his agent
back into line...

"Slow down.

You have reached a breaking point.

You must obey this order.

In vain.

The former deadbeat met Varinka,
Monica Wichfeld's daughter.

With the woman who would become
his second in-command at his side,

he felt his wings spreading.

The tandem wanted to tip the country
into the camp of the allies...

"Our goal is a popular uprising"
proclaimed the rebel.

What London had feared,
would eventually come to pass.

On August 29, 1943,

Denmark was declared an enemy
of the Reich.

Monica Wichfeld was arrested.

Flemming and Varinka hunted.

Barely organised,

the Danish resistance
was already in danger.

In the autumn of 1943,
bad news was pouring in.

In the East, in Yugoslavia,

disturbing reports indicated that

the resistance had been
losing ground

to the Nazi occupiers for months.

And, for good reason,

the royalist resistance movement,
financed by London,

had broken free
from British directives.

In some areas,
Chetniks even fraternised

with the occupiers.

This was a disaster for Churchill...

he had been counting on them

to hold back a large number
of enemy divisions.

This time,
he got personally involved.

He ordered the SOE
to send one of his close friends,

to the scene...

Fitzroy Maclean.

A seasoned diplomat,

the Scottish envoy was charged
with assessing the military power

of the other Yugoslavian
resistance organisation...

the communists.

Organised in paramilitary groups,

they had already won
several major battles.

But was it worth siding with them?

The old lion feared making a pact
with the devil.

He fumed...

"The Bolsheviks are crocodiles.

"How can one trust them at all."

Upon his arrival,

Fitzroy Maclean was taken
to a remote cave.

The headquarters
of the Yugoslav Partisans leader.

Josip Broz, known as Tito,

wanted to win British support

to become a leader in the fight
against the Nazis.

(SOLDIERS SINGING)

He presented his host
with the dream of an ideal society.

Among the partisans
everyone would learn to read,

and would cultivate pride
in fighting

to liberate their country.

Women represented
almost a quarter of the workforce.

Enthralled,
the dashing diplomat met Olga,

her pistol strapped to her belt.

And, the female commander
who punctuated her arguments

with punches on the table.

And, above all, Stana Tomasevic,
a 22-year-old teacher,

who would become an icon
of the Yugoslav resistance.

The Briton reported
enthusiastically...

"Tito brings to the resistance
against the Germans courage,

"realism, ingenuity and good sense.

"To find so much independence
of spirit in a Communist

"is unheard of, and amazing to me."

However, Maclean noted

that Tito intended to establish
a system

based on the Soviet model
in his country.

The Prime Minister, a pragmatist,

swallowed his anti-communism
in favour of military efficiency.

Dozens of tons of weapons

were quickly delivered
to the partisans.

At the end of 1943,

they took over large areas
of the country.

The leader of the Yugoslav
resistance succeeded...

-Marshal Tito is the man
who has kept several divisions

of German troops tied down
in the mountains of Hugo Yugoslavia.

More.

He has inflicted heavy casualties
on those same troupes.

Tito's partisans are far more
than guerrilla fighters,

but formidable army well equipped
from the arsenal of the allies.

-The leader of the Yugoslav
resistance succeeded...

the road to power
was now open to him.

However, in return for his support,

Churchill hoped that
he would agree to remove

his future government
from Moscow's influence.

The time had come to strike
the Reich with a fatal blow.

In November 1943,
at the Teheran conference,

the British, Americans and Soviets

agreed to set the date
of the landing

for the following spring.

The shadow army had to prepare
its role in the final act.

(PHONE RINGS)

-Operations trouble.

Oh, good. OK. 16...

-Good morning!

-General Gubbins,
the brain of the SOE,

recalled his best agents to London,
to distribute roles.

Among them were Claude de Baissac.

Andre Wendelen, the Belgian.

and Flemming Muus, the Dane

who managed to escape
the clutches of the Gestapo.

In Denmark as well as in Belgium,

clandestine units, including
those of Andre and Flemming,

were in charge of destroying
communication routes.

The objective was to prevent
the Wehrmacht

from moving its forces
to the Normandy front,

while the Allies gained
a foothold on the continent.

While France, as the future theatre
of the operations,

held all of London's attention.

The Resistance was also charged
with blocking the road

to German reinforcements.

Claude de Baissac was entrusted
with the creation of "Scientist II",

a new operational cell in Normandy,

an area free of any SOE presence.

This was enough to satisfy
his appetite for challenges.

Throughout 1944, a blessing
from above was dropped on France...

85,000 containers of rifles
of machine guns,

of hand grenades

intended for the patriots
who were ready to fight.

Claude equipped the men
of his region.

His objective, to subject them
all to the orders of London.

Whatever their political leanings.

Gaullists, whom the General managed
to keep under his authority.

Or, communists.

Louis Petri, known as Loulou,

head of the Communist formations
in Normandy, admitted...

"Before, my men
and I hated the British.

Everything changed

when we started working
with Claude de Baissac.

Uniting the Maquis was one thing.

Keeping control of men
who were restless

after months of secrecy,

and who were suddenly armed
to the teeth, was another.

Some of them were eager
to fight the occupiers immediately,

in spite
of the British instructions.

Soon, Scientist II was on the verge
of implosion.

It was Lise de Baissac,
who had come to help her brother,

who brought the rebels to heel.

With diplomacy,
she brought them back to reason...

-"Drawing the attention
of the Germans in our sector

-before the arrival of the Allies

would compromise the success
of the operation.

During the night of June 5-6, 1944,

The messages of the BBC intended
for the clandestine organisations,

finally resounded.

As 1,30,000 Allied soldiers
landed on the beaches of Normandy,

the shadow army went on the attack.

The felling of trees on the roads
destruction of railroads...

cutting of telephone lines.

Throughout France,
900 acts of sabotage,

committed in 24 hours,

gave the landed forces time
to consolidate the beachhead.

Thanks to their knowledge
of the terrain,

the Resistance fighters
then facilitated the progression

of the Allies towards the inland.

Lise de Baissac, also took part
in convoy attacks.

The reports that reached the SOE,

testified to the effectiveness
of this guerrilla warfare.

At the end of July 1944,

the Allies broke
through the German lines,

supported by 500,000
French Resistance fighters.

A contribution praised by the media.

-The Maquis secretly trained
and disciplined,

have exceeded all estimates
of the help expected from them.

In Chach, as elsewhere
all over France,

you'll see them
in action alongside Americans

during the liberation of that city.

All over France, the men and women
of the Mah have been terrific.

-Once France was liberated,
the Allies advanced towards Germany.

In Belgium, the companions
of the Archangel, Andre Wendelen,

numbered more than 4000 members.

They worked furiously
for the liberation of their country.

Similarly, in Italy,
the patriots armed by London

precipitated the retreat
of the Germans.

They accelerated the advance
of the Anglo-American troops

and liberated more
than a hundred cities by themselves.

Like Florence, Genoa and Milan.

In the autumn of 1944,

even though all of Churchill's hopes
were fulfilled in the West,

the situation in the East
worried him no end.

Tito, the charismatic leader
of the Yugoslav partisans,

secretly flew to Moscow,

to make a pact with Stalin.

On October 20, 1944,
Tito's partisans liberated Belgrade,

thanks to the support
of the Red Army.

Witnessing the triumph,

Fitzroy Maclean reported
to Churchill...

"Tito has firmly established himself
in the capital.

He controls practically
all of Yugoslavia.

The Prime Minister had to give up
his illusions,

the man he had supported
was indeed going to establish

a communist government
in his country.

A failure that he did not intend
to suffer twice.

The same threat hung over
the neighbouring country, Greece.

Entire regions were liberated
by the communists,

without any help from the SOE.

This time, Churchill reacted.

It was out of the question
to lose this territory,

which was vital for control
of the Mediterranean.

In October 1944,

he dispatched the British army

and did not hesitate to bomb

the partisan-held districts
of Athens.

To top it all off,

London enforced the return
of the unpopular King George II.

A time bomb that would throw Greece
into a terrible civil war.

On May 8, 1945,

Germany finally surrender.

The victors lost gave themselves
over to the sheer joy

of a deliverance
which they had helped bring about.

In Denmark, agent Muus
and his resistance fighters,

too far from the action,
were not able to participate.

However, the rebel was celebrating
his own victory,

Varinka has succumbed to his charm
and had agreed to marry him.

In London, Baker Street
was also celebrating...

Colin Gubbins,
the gentleman from SOE,

was congratulated
by the Commander-in-Chief

of the Allied Forces,
General Eisenhower who proclaimed...

"I consider that the work of SOE
throughout Europe

"played a major role
in our final and complete victory."

However, in order to restore
their national pride,

most countries
in the post-war period

were quick to ignore London's role.

Thus, General De Gaulle

immediately expelled
the British agents from France.

Each nation rewrote history
to its advantage.

This was made all the more easy

as a fire ravaged
the Baker Street offices.

A part of its archives
disappeared in smoke.

The heroic legend of populations

liberated by their own
national resistance forces

was set in stone,

betraying Winston Churchill's
favourite adage,

"History is written by the victors."

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