Original subtitles

Narrator: a lost city In america's heartland,

A real concrete jungle.

It's a series of tall vertical Tubes, completely dark,

Made of concrete, no windows.

Narrator: An enclave where hundreds

Of people Live beside a buried formation.

Perhaps this site was chosen Exactly because

Perhaps this site was chosen Exactly because

The force makes it difficult

To detect What's really going on.

Narrator: And a mountainside riddled With tunnels dug

To defend an empire,

Nusbacher: They're going to throw those Grenades down into the trench,

Wait for the bang,

And then dive in themselves Using their sword bayonets.

Narrator: decaying relics...

Narrator: decaying relics...

...Ruins of lost worlds...

...Sites haunted by the past...

...Their secrets Waiting to be revealed.

*

-- captions by vitac -- Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by Discovery communications

Narrator: In northeastern united states, On the edge of lake erie

Narrator: In northeastern united states, On the edge of lake erie

Is a city of stone.

*

Meigs: people sometimes use the Word "Concrete jungle"

To describe a city.

Well, this really looks like A concrete jungle.

All you can see is concrete.

Bell: these structures are like Mini skyscrapers,

But they don't have any windows.

Narrator: Inside these structures Is a vertical maze.

Narrator: Inside these structures Is a vertical maze.

Selwood: These buildings are deserted. They've been entirely stripped.

There's nothing left, At least on the lower levels.

Everything's been taken away.

Bell: whatever work or activity Was going on here,

It's clear That it stopped a long time ago.

Narrator: Located in buffalo, new york, This set of buildings

Is intertwined With the city's past.

Selwood:these are well removed From the city center,

They're right on the edge Of the city limits

They're right on the edge Of the city limits

Clustered around a bend In the buffalo river.

Meigs: buffalo is a city That's almost forgotten today,

But in its heyday,

It was one of the most Important cities in the u.S.

*

Mruk: I keep coming back To this site

Because this is a magical place, I feel spirits here.

Narrator: local resident Larry mruk has run

Narrator: local resident Larry mruk has run

Almost 200 volunteer tours Of this historic site.

Mruk: the first time I came to this place,

I just remembered, you know, Like, how abandoned it was,

How desolate it was.

Meigs: inside, you see A series of these tall tubes --

Some are made of concrete, Some are made of steel.

It's very eerie, dark. Your voice echoes.

There's nothing else Quite like this.

Selwood: we come across this Almighty shaft

That seems to go up For hundreds of feet.

That seems to go up For hundreds of feet.

Whatever was happening here, It was a very large operation.

Narrator: most of the building Is an empty shell,

But on the highest level Is a clue to its purpose.

Mruk: right now we're at the top Of the american complex.

What we're seeing over here Is all the conveyor belts,

As if time stood still.

There, basically, The transportation system,

Meigs: There's this long open space With a conveyor belt

That stretches about 200 feet From one end to the other.

That stretches about 200 feet From one end to the other.

So we're 150 feet up In the air here.

The product that was Brought up here

Needed to be not Only transported up here,

But then had to be moved back And forth

For some reason Using these conveyor belts.

Narrator: the product they were Moving was grain.

It's a commodity that turned The frontier town of buffalo

Into a powerful metropolis.

Selwood: in the 19th century, The united states really emerged

Selwood: in the 19th century, The united states really emerged

As a major player In the export market,

And they were sending more goods Than ever back to europe,

The old world and beyond.

Narrator: and buffalo would be A major player

Because of a problem Faced by grain farmers.

Meigs: Most of the commodities were Being grown in the heartland,

And there was no easy way To get those products to market.

You have a range of mountains Blocking access

To the east coast.

To the east coast.

The roads were mostly Just muddy tracks in those days,

And the railroads Were developing,

But they really Didn't have the capacity

To handle large Quantities of goods.

Narrator: to get produce to the East coast,

The u.S. Invested In a new trade superhighway.

Selwood: The solution to the problem Was the erie canal,

Which was a 363-mile Artificial waterway.

It was a huge manmade project, And it allowed goods

It was a huge manmade project, And it allowed goods

To be transferred From the central united states

Farming area All the way to new york

And then out to europe And beyond.

And the beginning Of that journey

On the erie canal was buffalo.

Suddenly, buffalo became America's gateway

To the rest of the world.

Meigs: Buffalo was the transfer point, You had to unload the freighter,

Store that grain somehow

Store that grain somehow

Until you're ready to load it Into a canal boat.

Narrator: Trade through the erie canal Turned buffalo into a powerhouse

With more millionaires Per capita

Than any other city in the u.S.

But for the little guy, The work was dangerous.

Selwood: when the ships Docked in buffalo,

The only way to get the grain Out was by hand.

Mruk: Men would go into the boats,

Scoop it into bushels, Each push away 60 pounds.

Scoop it into bushels, Each push away 60 pounds.

There were two bushes On each back.

They would carry it up About 65 feet

To the top of the grain Elevator, and then dump it in.

It would take sometimes A week to unload a ship,

And these are smaller ships.

Meigs: They got paid by the barrel,

So they had an incentive To move as fast as possible.

It must have been Backbreaking labor.

Mruk: this device here Is a bosuns chair,

A fellow young man, usually 18, 19, would be put on the swing

A fellow young man, usually 18, 19, would be put on the swing

And then they would hit the side Of the silo

With a broom or an oar

And loosen up the dust. One of the men

Who was on one of my tours Said that

While he was working here For a two-year period,

Three young men fell off of this And drowned in the silo.

And there were no employee's Rights back then,

But that was it.

Take it or leave it. If you didn't want it,

There are 100 others who would.

Narrator: trading in grain Was slow and dangerous,

But in 1843, A businessman in buffalo

Had a unique proposition.

Selwood: Around the same time that the Erie canal was being built,

An entrepreneur called Joseph dart came to buffalo,

And he took a great interest In the grain industry.

He looked at the processes In place

And he thought He could do it better.

Narrator: Joseph dart was an inventor And entrepreneur.

Narrator: Joseph dart was an inventor And entrepreneur.

His idea was a grain elevator.

This here is the actual Grain elevator.

This is the part that would Swing out and into the boat,

Go into the bottom of the boat,

And bring the grain up to The top of the grain elevator.

Narrator: Inside the swinging leg Was a belt equipped

With dozens of buckets.

The leg would be lowered Into the boat's cargo hold,

And a steam engine would turn The belt carrying up grain

And a steam engine would turn The belt carrying up grain

By the bucket load.

It was an innovation that Transformed the grain business.

What would take a week To unload could be done

In a matter of maybe 10 hours, 12 hours a boat.

Narrator: dart's elevator meant More grain

Was moving through buffalo Than ever before.

Soon, a dozen new Concrete silos were built,

Giving this place its name --

Silo city.

Silo city.

These buildings were built In the early 1900s.

This one here was One of the first,

If not the first, in the world to be of its sort.

Selwood: Silo city started to expand.

They had these vast, Windowless skyscrapers

That were used For storing the grain.

They also had facilities for Processing and milling the grain

And even ovens the size Of swimming pools

Where they would rest vast Amounts of grain.

Where they would rest vast Amounts of grain.

The grain would come from up In these holes,

Pile up on these plates, And then down at the end,

A leveler would come across And smooth it out.

After it was done,

These switches that are down By my feet would be pulled.

And what would happen is these Plates would turn 90 degrees

And the grain would drop down To another oven below.

And the grain would drop down To another oven below.

Narrator: In its heyday, the city was Processing around

200-million bushels Of grain every year.

Selwood: buffalo went from being

One of the most important Grain ports in the world

to the most important grain port in the world.

This was buffalo At its economic height,

But it wasn't going to last.

*

*

Narrator: In the 19th century,

The erie canal Had turned buffalo

Into an economic powerhouse, But the city was about to learn

The hard way That business is business.

In 1959, a new waterway opened.

A new version of the erie canal, In a way,

The st. Lawrence seaway.

The st. Lawrence seaway.

This was a system of canals And locks

That allowed ocean-going ships To come from the atlantic

And sail directly Into the great lakes.

Selwood: when the st. Lawrence Waterway opened,

It made The erie canal irrelevant.

Narrator: The new seaway took all The trade from the old canal

And from silo city.

Buffalo was no longer The terminal to the world.

It was completely Cut out of the deal.

Narrator: Over the next 40 years,

Production at silo city ground To a halt.

Mruk: nature is going to Take these over someday.

It might be 400 years from now, But nature will.

The examples of fern,

Trees growing on the roofs, Moss growing.

And one time when I came up Here, I was up 12 stories --

My friend, The fox was waiting for me.

So it's going to happen.

*

*

Narrator: Many of the silos have been Repurposed as centers

For art and history, Living fossils of a golden age.

*

On the western edge of belarus,

Hidden in the forest Is a restricted area.

Auerbach: There's really no reason to be This far out in the wilderness.

Auerbach: There's really no reason to be This far out in the wilderness.

You know, This deep in the woods,

This is a remote area.

You would not want to be Out here alone late at night.

Narrator: beyond the barriers And warning signs,

Are buildings long deserted.

You see the floors have been Taken out for the lumber.

Everything's falling apart.

Paint's chipped and peeling And gone.

Narrator: A short distance away

Is a formation of concrete Structures buried in the earth.

Is a formation of concrete Structures buried in the earth.

Janulis: The layout of these structures Looks to be very important.

They're laid out in a very Precise arrangement of four,

And there's a central structure Connecting them all.

Wawro: One of them still has the cover, The concrete

Blast shield over it. The other has been removed.

You look down, It's filled with muddy water.

Auerbach: this is belarus,

A country with close ties To the former soviet union.

Whatever was going on out here Was dangerous,

Whatever was going on out here Was dangerous,

It was shady, And it was top secret.

*

Narrator: a 10-mile drive From the nearest big town

Is a dirt road on the edge Of an unnamed forest.

Translator: no trespassing, Danger ahead.

This facility was one of The most classified

Of the soviet union. Its secrets

Of the soviet union. Its secrets

Were well kept By eight levels of security.

Narrator: Colonel leonid spatke served In the belarusian air force.

He was drawn here

By an unsettling rumor About this site.

Translator: I've heard many Stories about this place

During my times In the soviet army.

However, I learned more about it From my comrades

From the border guards.

From the border guards.

Unfortunately, They can't say much

Due to their obligations.

Narrator: At the end of the dirt road Is a neighborhood

Adorned with soviet propaganda.

The symbology continues Inside --

Reminders that the state

Was constantly watching.

Translator: On the left hand side,

There is lenin's room, That's for sure.

There is lenin's room, That's for sure.

Only the leader's Portrait is lacking.

Look, someone even Left their shoes.

Auerbach: inside, the stairs Are crumbling,

The ceiling is caving In in places,

Just walking around inside here Is dangerous.

Translator: in this barrack,

Soldiers had a room dedicated To rest.

On the left hand side,

It must have had something Resembling a gym

Judging by bits of equipment Left.

Judging by bits of equipment Left.

Janulis: there was a large Military base here,

But it wasn't your typical Military installation.

Their barracks And their living quarters

All had to be kept out Of the view

Of the wandering eye Of a spy plane or even a hiker.

Auerbach: But what were the soldiers Preparing for out here?

You're 1,000 miles From america's closest allies

In western europe.

In western europe.

It must have been something Pretty dangerous.

Narrator: a story is told About what happened here.

It's said that 60 years ago, The grass began to shrivel,

The trees changed color, And the mosquitoes disappeared.

Translator: the warrant officers Responsible for that

Were telling me How in a span of a few hours,

Everything around the station Turned yellow

Because of The poisonous evaporations.

Because of The poisonous evaporations.

Everything went dry Because of the toxins.

Something was happening here That even the soldiers

Were afraid to talk about.

And we're lucky to have found Someone willing to do just that.

*

*

Narrator: Deep in the belarusian forest

Is a place where hundreds Of soldiers lived in secret.

A safe distance From the barracks

Is a formation of concrete slabs Evenly spaced in the ground.

Janulis: what you see here Is a very classic signature,

The sort of thing spy satellites And spy planes

Would look for --

Would look for --

A very large, clean, symmetrical Hole in the ground --

The opening to a missile silo.

Narrator: In the cold war era,

Silos like these were built Across the soviet union.

They housed missiles With deadly new payloads...

Nuclear warheads.

Janulis: in the beginning Of the nuclear era,

Bombs were dropped from planes,

Which required a plane Getting into enemy territory,

And planes aren't that fast Either,

And they've got Humans inside them.

Both sides figured out that If you put that bomb

Both sides figured out that If you put that bomb

On the end of a big missile,

You've got a really effective Killing machine.

That was the r-12 missile --

The heart of the soviet Nuclear arsenal.

Wawro: So the r-12 known to nato As the ss-4 sandal.

It was the iconic soviet missile Of the period.

They were mounted On trailers

And paraded in every May day parade in moscow.

Narrator: This new missile ran on fuel That was easy to store.

Narrator: This new missile ran on fuel That was easy to store.

It meant it could be ready To fire within minutes,

But there was a trade off.

Auerbach: for all their Terrifying power, the r-12s

Only had a range Of about 1,300 miles.

That may sound like far,

But it was barely enough range To reach the targets

That the soviets Wanted to take out,

In the instance The nuclear war happened,

Narrator: the r-12 was A medium range missile.

Narrator: the r-12 was A medium range missile.

The soviet union was forced To mount them on the very edge

Of its territory, here At the davina missile silo.

So still not within range Of washington or new york,

But there at the edge Of belarus territory.

If they were aimed at, say, Rome or paris or london,

That's the target That they can hit.

Narrator: In the event of an attack, The soldiers at davina

Would prepare The missiles for retaliation.

Translator: Here we can see the remains Of the camp, 36 tons heavy.

During the launch Of the missile,

It was lifted by a big jack And pushed aside on the rails.

Janulis: Most people probably think Of nuclear missiles

The way They're portrayed in movies,

The classic sort of doors Over the ground sliding open

And a giant rocket coming out.

And a giant rocket coming out.

But the r-12 did Not work that way.

Translator: The missile launching process Was almost primitive,

One could say.

The missile Was positioned vertically

In order to set a target for it.

There was no software Back in the day,

So the only way To change its direction

Was to change the positioning Of the stabilizers

Before it flies off.

Janulis: It wasn't exactly a rapid Response, but no doubt about it,

Janulis: It wasn't exactly a rapid Response, but no doubt about it,

The r-12 Was a very dangerous weapon.

Narrator: but the r-12 wasn't Only dangerous

To its enemies.

In davina, one missile nearly Caused a catastrophe.

Janulis: The thing about being in charge Of maintenance

For a nuclear missile

Is that it's an incredibly Dangerous piece of equipment.

It's essentially a bomb On another bomb.

The missile launches itself into The air with explosive fuel,

And that fuel is incredibly Toxic and dangerous.

And that fuel is incredibly Toxic and dangerous.

Translator: The rocket fuel itself Is highly toxic,

Hence the remote tanking

And higher security Measures for the personnel.

You know what it's like In belarus,

We like to rush things.

That fuel was poured Into tank wagons

And everything went yellow, And the birds stopped flying,

As we say. The evaporation was tremendous.

Thank god all those were taken Out of belarus territory.

Currently we don't have Any of those elements left.

Auerbach: And that's scary stuff. And that fear,

Not understanding What these missiles could do,

How they worked, Their potential for destruction,

None of it was really Understood well,

Even by the people Who are working most closely

With these objects Of mass destruction themselves.

Narrator: for 20 years, The r-12 rocket

Was the jewel Of the soviet arsenal,

But by 1978, It was obsolete.

But by 1978, It was obsolete.

Translator: r-12 missiles Were taken out of service

When the focus was shifted Towards mobile missiles,

Which were cheaper and could Be launched from any point.

Janulis: It was a good thing that it was Decommissioned when it was.

When they analyzed the site After the decommissioning,

They discovered that The ground was so unstable

That if any rockets Had launched out of there,

It would have caused Everything to collapse inward,

It would have caused Everything to collapse inward,

Detonating all The other rockets.

*

Narrator: the surviving people Who were stationed at davina

Still refuse to talk About what happened here.

Colonel spatke Is one of the few

Who keep the story Of this place alive.

Translator: The fact that the missiles Never left their starting points

Translator: The fact that the missiles Never left their starting points

And never flied off To their targets,

That's a massive relief Because otherwise,

If the cold war had turned Into a nuclear war,

I don't think we would have been Sitting here right now.

Probably this place would have Been a burnt-off desert.

*

Narrator: In the east of asia,

The chinese territory Of hong kong

Is one of the most densely Populated places on earth.

Is one of the most densely Populated places on earth.

It's a city buzzing with life And almost every inch of land

That could have been Built on has been.

Narrator: But the steep surrounding hills

Are cloaked By thick subtropical forest.

Bell: you start up these steep, Rickety stairs

That take you deeper Into the forest.

That take you deeper Into the forest.

Gradually, more And more structures

Can be seen in the undergrowth.

We can see vents, We can see tunnels,

We can see channels Cut into the ground

And reinforced with concrete.

Narrator: Someone has gone to great Lengths to disguise this place.

Nusbacher: a lot of the maps Of these constructions

Nusbacher: a lot of the maps Of these constructions

Are outright wrong.

This is not An easy place to find.

Narrator: There's evidence that this site Was attacked.

And below ground, Things get more baffling.

The deeper you go Into the tunnels,

The spookier it becomes.

And then you see the street Names carved into the concrete.

It's bizarre.

Nusbacher: we are right on the Edge of hong kong

Nusbacher: we are right on the Edge of hong kong

And yet, the words written

In the side of these tunnels Are not chinese.

Narrator: So what is this mysterious Complex lurking in the woods

Above hong kong? And why was it bombarded?

*

Narrator: In hong kong, local historian Jason wordie searches for traces

Of a curious system Of overgrown structures.

The first indication As to who built them

Are the place names Carved in the concrete.

Wordie: They have some rather curious Incisions at the entrances

To a number of the entrances

To a number of the entrances

And at other corridors Going along.

Now these have incisions Which mark out picadilly,

Charing cross, Oxford street, haymarket,

Bell: on top of a hill, On the edge of china,

You've got these tunnels Named after english streets.

In fact, more specifically, London street names.

More specifically than That even,

Street names from soho And london's west end.

Street names from soho And london's west end.

Narrator: This facility was built By the british

Who'd had a foothold In the region

Since the mid-19th century.

Wawro: The british had gotten fat On hong kong,

Taking it during the opium wars In the 1840s

And keeping it As a principle naval base

And also as a trading center Ever since.

Narrator: The british took control Of hong kong in 1841,

But this site is much More recent,

We can date it more Or less accurately

We can date it more Or less accurately

Because the fortifications look So similar to fortifications

On the german border With france built in the 1930s.

Narrator: This british defense system Protected hong kong.

It became known As the gin drinkers line.

*

Further down below, Off in the distance,

What was gin drinkers bay from Which this takes its name.

What was gin drinkers bay from Which this takes its name.

Nusbacher: the gin drinkers line Has prepared emplacement,

It has bastiens, It has tunnels

So that you can move From position to position

Without being exposed To artillery fire.

Narrator: but why the london Street names?

It wasn't just a quaint colonial Affectation naming it like this,

There was logic to it.

There was logic to it.

Wordie: The unit, which extensively Trained on this

When it was laid out Was the 1st battalion,

The middlesex regiment.

Now the recruiting area For the middlesex regiment

Was central london.

So the internal logic Of the tunnel system

Follows an internal logic In london.

On this side, You can just see regent street.

Regent street, again, Will lead up to oxford street,

So for someone familiar With a london street pattern,

As the 1st battalion, The middlesex were,

As the 1st battalion, The middlesex were,

This has an interior logic to It, which makes sense.

Narrator: the idea is that In the panic of war,

The soldiers would navigate Their way

Through the complex tunnel System without hesitation.

And one name keeps coming up -- The strand palace hotel.

*

And here we are In the observation post

Of the shing mun redoubt

Codenamed The strand palace hotel.

Codenamed The strand palace hotel.

This slit opening Looks out

Or would have looked out Over gin drinkers bay.

What I'm standing on with these Bits of broken concrete

Were the mountings For the distance binoculars,

Wawro:the shing mun redoubt Is the command post

Where the commander Of this defense line

Will keep in close coordination

With the surrounding Fortifications,

Knitting together This defense line.

Narrator: The shing mun redoubt was Codenamed strand palace hotel.

Narrator: The shing mun redoubt was Codenamed strand palace hotel.

Bell: now, the infantrymen Would have known

That the strand palace hotel

Was the place to go to look For information as this

Is the place they went In the 1930s to peek

In through the windows

And see what the rich And famous were up to.

Narrator: the cleverly devised Gin drinkers line

Took two years to build.

Bell: they used a technique Called cut and cover,

And that's the technique Used in the early london

And that's the technique Used in the early london

Underground tunnels.

They cut a trench deep Down into the rock,

And then built a ceiling Over the top.

Narrator: just like the London underground,

It's punctuated By ventilation shafts.

Wordie: Ventilation shafts are dotted Along the entire length

Of the tunnel system.

Now, the kinds of explosive That were still in use

In the mid-1930s

When this was laid out Generated a lot of smoke.

When this was laid out Generated a lot of smoke.

Narrator: But who did the british Expect to attack?

The japanese had Invaded china in 1937.

By the outbreak Of the second world war,

They had their sights on Hong kong.

And they knew just how to flush The british out.

Wordie: the city has grown

On the back of artificially Created water supplies,

So the issue of water is a great Vulnerability for hong kong.

So the issue of water is a great Vulnerability for hong kong.

Narrator: Below the gin drinkers line

Sits one of hong kong's Main water supplies.

Wordie: Now, this system here was built Entirely

Because further up that way Was a pill box.

The pillbox is A machine-gun position,

Which overlooked The reservoir system.

Narrator: The newly built reservoir Was britain's weakest link.

Wordie: So the main japanese strategy

Was to capture The reservoir here.

If you capture that, You'd turn off the taps.

If you capture that, You'd turn off the taps.

Narrator: The british angled their guns To protect their water supply.

But with the japanese moving Ever closer,

Would the gin drinkers Defense line hold?

*

Narrator: at the outbreak of the Second world war

On a hillside above hong kong,

The british were hoping Their extensive defense system

Would hold back A japanese attack

On their prized East asian colony.

The gin drinkers line Was designed as a speed bump

To bog down an enemy attack While larger numbers of troops

To bog down an enemy attack While larger numbers of troops

Could be rallied to hong kong.

At this time. There weren't many British troops stationed there.

Narrator: The british knew the attack Was coming,

They just didn't know when.

Wordie: Hong kong was on a war footing For some months,

The office buildings, government Buildings were all sandbagged.

Everyone was waiting For something to happen.

It was that dreadful Sense of anticipation.

Narrator: All hope lay in their top Secret defense system,

Narrator: All hope lay in their top Secret defense system,

But this was soon compromised.

The british crown colony Of hong kong

Has got a thriving population Of japanese business people,

Japanese merchants.

Wawro: These were japanese civilians Working in hong kong as agents,

Merchants, whatever.

But were really spying For the japanese government,

Passing information back To the japanese government.

Narrator: in december 1941, The japanese attack.

Narrator: in december 1941, The japanese attack.

Wawro: the japanese decide to go All the way and try to evict

All of the european powers From their east asian colonies.

Narrator: Within the space of three hours,

They attacked allied bases Across asia and the pacific,

Including hong kong.

The japanese air force attacks Kai tak,

The r.A.F. Base in hong kong.

And they destroy the meager R.A.F. Assets on the ground.

And they destroy the meager R.A.F. Assets on the ground.

Wawro: And they wipe out all the -- all The outdated british aircraft,

You know, leaving this hong kong Garrison without any air cover.

Narrator: one day later, The japanese know

Where to find The gin drinkers line

Thanks To their network of spies.

Nusbacher: the japanese assault On the gin drinkers line

Nusbacher: the japanese assault On the gin drinkers line

Uses german first world war Stormtroop tactics.

And that means they're not even Going to bother with a rifle.

They're going to get Their soldiers

To get loads of grenades,

And they're going to Throw those grenades

Down into the trench And tunnel system,

Wait for the bang,

And then dive in themselves Using their sword bayonets,

Their swords, and just Chop up anybody left inside.

Their swords, and just Chop up anybody left inside.

It was chaos.

Narrator: Inside the tunnel system,

The london code names Meant nothing to the soldiers

Who had been brought in From scotland and canada

And were now defending the line.

Wawro: they weren't familiar With the layout.

They weren't familiar With the tunnel names.

They were completely confused.

And this only added to the Japanese advantage of surprise

When they breached the line.

This is completely surrounded By an enemy, it's pitch black,

There are people upstairs Who don't want you

To survive. Here, we have blast damage

Which was caused after a charge Had been laid here,

Blast boom in.

Original war damage in the top, Likewise, shrapnel

On the sides where Something clearly had detonated,

And the damage Is done on the wall.

There's damage done by boat,

By small arms fire to clear The corridor going in.

By small arms fire to clear The corridor going in.

Narrator: Not all the damage at this site Tells the same story.

Bell: The whole place should have Been blown apart with debris

Scattered everywhere From the japanese attack,

But they're not.

They're punches In the concrete,

And that's because these holes Weren't from the japanese.

Narrator: The british still had control Of their artillery

Narrator: The british still had control Of their artillery

On stonecutters island.

We've got shell holes. This came in afterwards,

And this was after this had been Captured by the japanese.

They're from the british firing From stonecutters battery.

They wanted to destroy the Command center and the tunnels

So the japanese Couldn't have them.

Narrator: But they couldn't stop The japanese taking hong kong.

Wawro: the gin drinkers line Failed for the same reason

Wawro: the gin drinkers line Failed for the same reason

The british failed to hang on To singapore or hong kong.

They're just overextended.

The japanese had been building Strength, power, authority,

Influence in china.

Narrator: On christmas day, 1941, The british surrendered.

The japanese took this prized British possession

Much more easily Than they had anticipated.

Narrator: The japanese held hong kong

Until the end Of the second world war,

Until the end Of the second world war,

When the british regained Control until 1999,

When it was handed Over to china.

*

The british defense Of hong kong

Has attracted criticism.

Nusbacher: to this day, There are a lot of people

Who feel that the indian And canadian soldiers

Sent to hong kong were abandoned By the british army,

Sent to hong kong were abandoned By the british army,

Abandoned by the british empire,

And used as cannon fodder In a hopeless defense of a city

That the japanese Were certain to take.

*

Narrator: In the dead center of tasmania,

An island state cut adrift From mainland australia

Lies a strange mix Of industrial infrastructure.

Lies a strange mix Of industrial infrastructure.

Scott: Tasmania's interior is rugged And sparsely populated.

Apart from these buildings,

There is nothing For miles and miles.

Tassel: You hear from visitors, they're Surprised about coming across

Such a large, sophisticated Engineering project

Literally in the middle Of nowhere.

Narrator: huge pipes extend Out of the main building,

Narrator: huge pipes extend Out of the main building,

Climbing up And over a nearby hill.

These pipelines, they're almost Like manmade tentacles

Reaching out to who knows where.

Meigs: inside, you see rows Of heavy equipment.

Clearly, this was a massive Engineering undertaking.

You have these big lumps Of machinery from yesteryear.

Narrator: Other rooms show a different and More intricate side to the site.

Narrator: Other rooms show a different and More intricate side to the site.

There's something beautiful About the engineering here.

There's a certain care That went into it.

It's like stepping in to an Early 20th century tesla --

Lots of buttons and cool Dials to play with.

Whatever went on here needed Constant monitoring

And tweaking.

Narrator: the product from this Isolated facility

Changed tasmania forever. Producing it, though,

Was a herculean effort That defied the odds.

Was a herculean effort That defied the odds.

At the turn of the 20th century,

Tasmania desperately wanted Something the rest

Of the developed world Already had.

Most of tasmania was still Practically a wilderness.

It was very thinly populated, But they wanted to modernize.

Tasmania needed to catch up With the industrial age,

But how?

The history of building Modern civilization

The history of building Modern civilization

Is the history Of harnessing energy.

Scott: Tasmania is a remote island That's cut adrift

From the bottom of australia.

If it's to find its own reliable Energy source,

Then it has few other options

Than to look deeper Inside its own territory.

Narrator: The island's unique geography Sparked an idea.

Meigs: In the push to modernize,

Tasmania had a great natural Advantage --

The interior is high elevation

The interior is high elevation

And filled with lakes and Rivers.

Ha: steep highlands, Heavy rainfall,

All they needed were the right Tools to convert

That water stream Into electricity.

Narrator: this is waddamana Hydroelectric power station --

Tasmania's timely answer To an energy crisis.

With no water source in sight. Though,

The scheme needed A visionary professor

Called alexander mcauley To bring it to life.

Called alexander mcauley To bring it to life.

Tassel: mcauley's vision was to Realize the potential

Of the great lake -- the largest Naturally occurring body

Of fresh water in tasmania.

He could see by moving the water From the great lake

To the edge of the plateau

And then dropping it down the 300 meters to the ouse river,

He could generate An enormous amount of power.

Narrator: chris tassel has been Sharing the story

Of tasmania's hydro electric Beginnings for six years,

Of tasmania's hydro electric Beginnings for six years,

And is still in awe of Waddamana's originality.

Tassel: Most power stations till then Had been built

Where the water was,

He conceived of the notion Of shifting the water,

If I can put it that way, Some 30, 40 kilometers.

What an amazing notion.

Narrator: tasmania's dreams Of industrialization

And self-sufficiency were pinned To this single bold project,

And self-sufficiency were pinned To this single bold project,

Yet the plan was so ambitious That more than once,

It would come Perilously close to collapse.

*

Narrator: The journey from dream To reality was a bumpy road

For the waddamana Hydroelectric power station,

And the initial hurdle Was one of the toughest.

Meigs: the challenge was It was located

Right in the middle Of the island

Where there were no roads, Virtually no people.

Ha: so they essentially built An 18-mile tramway

To haul all these supplies Up to waddamana.

To haul all these supplies Up to waddamana.

We're talking about generators, Turbines, pipes,

Everything you'd need to build This power station from scratch.

Narrator: Even events on the other side

Of the world conspired Against its construction.

Tassel: in 1914, the first world War started,

All the equipment Was coming from europe,

Some of it didn't get here Because it was either seized

Or it was lost in ships at sea.

Narrator: The combination of brutal Weather and rugged terrain

Also took its toll.

Tassel: This was a horrific job because It's extraordinarily steep.

The rock is extremely hard Dolerite and for much of winter,

The rock face is actually In the shadow all the time.

So often the water which Had frozen just didn't melt.

So they had to break away The ice

Before they could get to the Rock to break it,

To construct the pathway For the pipes.

Meigs: tasmania had this vast Source of potential energy,

Meigs: tasmania had this vast Source of potential energy,

But it was going to take A lot of ingenuity

And some very hard working People to make it happen.

Narrator: With no locals to call upon, Workers had to be brought in

From far and wide.

Meigs: in order to build And run the power plant,

It wouldn't be possible For workers

To just commute in and out. They needed a community here,

One where people Could live year round,

Bring their wives and children, Raise their families.

Bring their wives and children, Raise their families.

Narrator: Peter hardstaff was raised Here and remembers

How central to daily life The power station was.

Hardstaff: There were rules.

The village was run by a siren At a station

When the siren sounded At 8:00 in the morning,

It meant We could go to the pool.

And when it sounded At 5:00 at night,

That was knock-off time,

It meant that we had to be home For tea.

Industrialization is about More than just new machines.

Industrialization is about More than just new machines.

It's also about a new workforce, A new outlook,

A new way of living.

Narrator: Growing up next to a power plant

Came with its own unique Dangers.

The rules were quite simple. You play in the switchyard,

You're going to die.

Play in the tower rush, You're going to drown.

Narrator: while hazardous, This infrastructure

Was also extremely efficient And influenced life

Was also extremely efficient And influenced life

All across tasmania,

Meigs: when the waddamana Power station opened,

It kind of became The beating heart of the island.

Tassel: You have to remember that For many years,

The whole of the state grids Was controlled from this room,

This control office.

Narrator: Controlling this power station Was not a responsibility

To be taken lightly.

Meigs: not much more than a Decade ago,

There was a problem In a structure very much

There was a problem In a structure very much

Like this at a power plant In russia that exploded,

Destroyed the whole power plant, And killed several workers.

Even today, operating A hydro power plant

Is not a trivial undertaking.

Waddamana, though, was expertly Built, and at its peak

Was a sight to behold.

Tassel: This is the turbine hall.

This is the heart Of the power station,

The nine generating units are Here.

This is where the mechanical Energy from the water

Coming from the central plateau Was converted to electricity.

Coming from the central plateau Was converted to electricity.

Meigs: The amount of sheer energy Traveling through this building

When it was in operation Would be something awesome.

The whole building Would be trembling slightly.

Scott: Sometimes the canals feeding The pipelines would ice over,

And this would mean That ice would be fed

Right into the turbines,

Creating a sound that was Likened to using a sledge hammer

On a plate glass window.

Narrator: The power plant's groundbreaking Success was also its downfall.

Other stations sprung up nearby,

Taking waddamana's blueprints And improving on them.

Meigs: after almost 50 years Of operation,

This plant was not really Cutting edge anymore,

Other plants had been built That were more efficient.

Narrator: despite its age, The power station

Was still operating Remarkably well right up

Until it was shut down For good in 1966.

Until it was shut down For good in 1966.

It had ran its race And ran it well.

*

While the turbines No longer turn,

The station stands proudly As an example of human triumph

Over nature and adversity.

Tassel: I think waddamana is one of Those very special places

Where you can actually feel The excitement

Where you can actually feel The excitement

Of an original vision, An extraordinary achievement,

Despite everything, Despite the weather,

Despite a location That defied the odds,

Despite a world war,

They were able to come up And use cutting edge technology.