Europe's Secret Armies

Resistance to the German occupation of France began in 1940, but at first it was disorganised and spontaneous. We hear how the Resistance organised itself into a far more cogent force that carried out acts of sabotage, aided the escape of Allied prisoners of war and provided vital intelligence information for the Allied military.

The level of resistance to Hitler in his native country is a largely untold story. In this episode we tell the story both of the growth of small pockets of resistance throughout Germany and the plot at the centre of power that led to the failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler on the 20th of July 1944.

The Polish people were among the first to feel the full heart-stopping force of the German Wermacht. This is the story of the ways in which they fought back, including the Ghetto Uprising of 1943 - 'it's happened, the Jews have started fighting" - an event that even Goebbels admitted led to a 'truly grotesque situation'.

The Germans invaded Crete on May 20th 1941. This episode tells the story of the mistakes and miscalculations made by both the British and German armies as they fought for control of the Island and how the 'mountain men' of Crete played a crucial role in the allied fight back.

After the German invasion of 1940, the Norwegian government fled to London, leaving the country in the hands of the collaborator Quisling. But there were many willing people to fight back - ordinary people everywhere risked their lives to work with the British SOE.