About this season
To mark the 70th anniversary of 1940, presenter and archaeologist Jules Hudson goes on a journey of discovery into Britain's darkest and, in the words of Winston Churchill, 'finest hour'.
Episodes (3)
1. Battle of France and Dunkirk
Aired 15 December 2010 • 30 min
Jules and his team are in France digging up crashed German aircraft from the opening months of World War Two, accompanied by an RAF fighter pilot who saw action there in 1940. A Dunkirk veteran recounts the horrors of the evacuation, while Jules makes some revealing finds on the beaches of Dunkirk - poignant reminders of Britain's most perilous year.
2. Battle of Britain
Aired 22 December 2010 • 30 min
Jules Hudson and his team are off the Isle of Wight diving on HMS Borealis, a ship from Convoy Peewit, sunk in the opening stages of the Battle of Britain. With unseen colour film from 1940, Jules tells the hearbreaking story of two pilots killed in the Battle of Britain, and the glamorous woman at the centre of both their lives. The team head to Chesil beach as they attempt to recover the remains of an RAF Hurricane fighter plane shot down in August 1940, at the height of the battle.
3. The Blitz
Aired 29 December 2010 • 30 min
Jules Hudson and his team are in Somerset, trying to recover the remains of a German bomber shot down on a raid on Bristol during World War Two. After speaking to his father, a survivor of the 1940 London Blitz, Jules travels north to Hull and meets witnesses of the Hull Blitz. There, he sees the remains of a city where 95% of houses were damaged or destroyed by German bombers.