UKTV - Secret War (2011) Part 6 The English Scholar and the Fight for Greece

“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 6 The English Scholar and the Fight for Greece

One SOE agent who would have a decisive impact on the future of Greece was an Oxford academic more interested in the country's classical past. Monty Woodhouse wrote his name in history by helping to destroy the Gorgopotamos Bridge in 1942, and was the man behind one of S.O.E.'s most ambitious operations codenamed Harling. In 1941 he was parachuted into Greece with the task of uniting the local partisans and taking part in the sabotage of the Gorgopotamos Bridge. He achieved both tasks and the operation was a huge success, disrupting German supplies. Money and weapons poured into the partisans, but increasingly Woodhouse became worried. The Communist ELAS group in particular seemed untrustworthy. He discovered that they were planning to take over control of Greece after the war. In the end, his work among local partisans not only helped liberate Greece from Axis occupation–it also sowed the seeds of the Greek civil war.

Full Version Available Upon Request