UKTV - Secret War (2011) Part 2 Hardy Amies Operation "Ratweek"
“The secret agents who set Europe ablaze”
Just when you thought you knew everything about WWII, Secret War uncovers more incredible stories that exist under the radar. As bombs were dropped from planes, missiles were launched and tanks were deployed all over the world, another kind of war was being waged by the Allies a secret war – a war of espionage. This secret war involved countless acts of espionage, courage, ruthlessness, double dealing and betrayal. It featured secret agents risking everything, working undercover on the continent to turn the tide against the Nazis, never knowing who, at any time, they could trust. Some became double agents playing both sides for the thrill of the danger, others did it just to stay alive. Always these extraordinary characters lived their lives on the edge. Secret War tells their amazing stories. Less than a year after World War II began, Hitler’s armies occupied much of mainland Europe—and the island nation of Great Britain stood alone. Rather than wait for the expected German invasion, Prime Minister Winston Churchill decided to hit back at the Nazis any way he could. In the summer of 1940, he set up a secret new organization called the Special Operations Executive, or SOE, and gave it a simple mission “set Europe ablaze.” SECRET WAR goes inside Churchill's secret army, to a dangerous world of agents, double agents, and even triple agents. In 13 episodes, it tells the story of SOE agents and other clandestine warriors who went behind enemy lines to conduct intelligence-gathering, sabotage, and assassination. Sometimes the operations were spectacularly successful, at other times inexplicably inept. But together, the efforts of these intrepid men and women helped save thousands of lives, liberate Europe, and turn the tide of World War II.
Part 2 Hardy Amies Operation “Ratweek”
Lifting the lid on the lesser-known WWII operations. Ratweek was an operation of 'assassinations without trial' in Belgium by the UK's special ops. A celebrated postwar fashion designer and style icon, Hardy Amies was one of the most unlikely spymasters of World War II. In the future dressmaker to the queen, the SOE found a man capable of unleashing a devastating wave of attacks on German-occupied Europe. He sent agents into occupied Belgium, running a legendary campaign of assassinations known as Operation Ratweek, using the top secret “Welrod” silenced pistol. His unit then had a key role during D-Day.
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