UKTV - Secret War (2011) Part 7 The Dutch Disaster

“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 7 The Dutch Disaster

Missions carried out by the SOE in Holland during World War II were among the most disastrous episodes in the history of British intelligence. On the night of the 7th November 1941 the RAF dropped two agents of the Special Operations Executive into the German-occupied Netherlands. Their landing behind enemy lines marked the beginning of the most disastrous episodes of the history of the secret warfare. The Germans called the episode The England Game. Operation North Pole was a mission mounted by the Germans that delivered false information to British security services. In all, 47 Allied agents were captured. Why did London continue to drop agents into the country only for them to be arrested by the Nazis? Was German counterintelligence really that good–or was something more sinister afoot? This is the story of how dozens of agents were lured to the Netherlands by the Germans, captured and compromised and yet the British sent more and more! The British had many clues that something was wrong, yet failed to act on them.

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