''The Secret War'' was a seven-part television series that was produced by the

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in conjunction with the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

(IWM) that documented secret technical developments during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It first aired during 1977 and was presented by

William Woollard William Woollard (born 23 August 1939, London) is a historian and retired British television producer and presenter. Biography Woollard went to a state grammar school in London and Oxford University. He trained to be a fighter pilot with the ...

, drawing on the first-hand recollections of participants from both sides. The principal interviewee was

R. V. Jones Reginald Victor Jones , FRSE, LLD (29 September 1911 – 17 December 1997) was a British physicist and scientific military intelligence expert who played an important role in the defence of Britain in by solving scientific and technical p ...

, whose autobiography informed much of the research before its publication. The opening music was an excerpt from

Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...

's ''

Pictures at an Exhibition ''Pictures at an Exhibition'', french: Tableaux d'une exposition, link=no is a suite (music), suite of ten piano pieces, plus a recurring, varied Promenade theme, composed by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874. The piece is Mussorgsky's ...

''. The closing music was by the

BBC Radiophonic Workshop The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering work in electroni ...

Episodes

Episode 1: "The Battle of the Beams"

This episode documented how British intelligence became aware of various navigation beams, such as , and and the

countermeasures A countermeasure is a measure or action taken to counter or offset another one. As a general concept, it implies precision and is any technological or tactical solution or system designed to prevent an undesirable outcome in the process. The fi ...

developed to combat them in what became known as the

Battle of the Beams The Battle of the Beams was a period early in the Second World War when bombers of the German Air Force (''Luftwaffe'') used a number of increasingly accurate systems of radio navigation for night bombing in the United Kingdom. British scientific ...

. It is largely based on the book ''Most Secret War'', which was written by Jones, who appears in the series. The episode contains rare footage of

The Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

including the

Coventry Blitz The Coventry Blitz (blitz: from the German word ''Blitzkrieg'' meaning "lightning war" ) or Coventration of the city was a series of bombing raids that took place on the British city of Coventry. The city was bombed many times during the Seco ...

. Interviewees include

Albert Speer Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as the Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of World War II. A close ally of Adolf Hitler, he ...

, Sir

Robert Cockburn Robert Cockburn (died 1526) was a 16th-century Scottish diplomat and cleric. Robert Cockburn was the third son of William Cockburn of Skirling and Cessford, and Marion, daughter of Lord Crichton of Sanquhar. Cockburn was a university grad ...

and

Air vice-marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...

Edward Addison Air Vice Marshal Edward Barker Addison, (4 October 1898 – 4 July 1987) was a senior Royal Air Force (RAF) officer who served as Air Officer Commanding No. 100 Group from 1943 to 1945 during the Second World War World War II or ...

Episode 2: "To See for a Hundred Miles"

This episode covers the development of

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

from its first discovery to the creation of the

Chain Home Chain Home, or CH for short, was the codename for the ring of coastal Early Warning radar stations built by the Royal Air Force (RAF) before and during the Second World War to detect and track aircraft. Initially known as RDF, and given the off ...

system in time for the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

and the subsequent development of the cavity magnetron. The episode goes on to explain how British intelligence learnt of German radar developments, including , radar systems and the Operation Biting (the Bruneval Raid) to capture a system. It also contains details of the RAF Bomber Command, RAF Bomber offensive electronic warfare with the that used devices such as Chaff (countermeasure), Window, GEE (navigation), Gee, Oboe (navigation), Oboe, H2S radar, H2S and Airborne Interception radar. It features interviews and demonstrations with Jones, Arnold Frederic Wilkins, Arnold Wilkins, John Randall (physicist), John Randall and Harry Boot, Bernard Lovell, Don Bennett, Donald Bennett, Richard Philipp (pilot), Richard Philipp and others. Speer also appears and talks about the Bombing of Hamburg.

Episode 3: "Terror Weapons"

This episode uncovers the development of Adolf Hitler's vengeance weapons, how British authorities became aware of the menace and what actions were taken to prevent and to delay their use. It features rare footage of the V-1 flying bomb, the V-2 missile and Operation Hydra (1943), Operation Hydra, the bombing of Peenemünde and details of Operation Most III, along with interviews featuring Jones, Duncan Sandys,

, Constance Babington Smith, Roland Beamont, Janusz Groszkowski and Raymond Baxter.

Episode 4: "The Deadly Waves"

This episode examines the magnetic mine and the countermeasures developed to overcome it, including degaussing and features an interview with Lieutenant Commander John Ouvry from HMS Vernon (shore establishment), HMS ''Vernon'', who bomb disposal, defuzed the first intact German magnetic mine recovered by the Allies, on the sands at Shoeburyness, the mine that he recovered being featured in a re-enactment for the episode. It also contains interviews with Commander John Ouvry, Captain Roger Lewis, Sir Charles F. Goodeve, Charles Goodeve, Sir Edward Bullard and Donald Henley.

Episode 5: "If"

This episode shows certain inventions that never became operational or whose deployment was significantly delayed, therefore leaving one to imagine what could have happened "if" certain developments had achieved widespread use. The programme features many inventions such as the Messerschmitt Me 321 and Messerschmitt Me 323; various contraptions intended to help the Invasion of Normandy, including the Panjandrum and Operation Pluto, PLUTO; the autogyro; early helicopters, British and German bouncing bomb developments; the Henschel Hs 293, the Messerschmitt Me 163 and jet aircraft developments such as the Gloster E.28/39, Messerschmitt Me 262 and Gloster Meteor. Interviewees include Hanna Reitsch, Adolf Galland, Frank Whittle, Stanley Hooker, Constance Babington Smith and Albert Speer.

Episode 6: "Still Secret"

This episode covers the story of the Enigma machine and the Lorenz cipher and how, after valuable initial work by the Polish intelligence service (BS4) and the French, the codes were broken at Bletchley Park, including some information on the Colossus computer that was still classified information, secret when the programme was made. It explains how the codes were broken and how the information was used. It features interviews with Gordon Welchman, Harry Golombek, Peter Calvocoressi, F. W. Winterbotham, Max Newman, I. J. Good, Jack Good and Tommy Flowers.

Episode 7: "The Battle of the Atlantic"

This episode is a detailed look into the Battle of the Atlantic, the technical developments and tactics used by both sides during the long and difficult campaign. It features such innovations as Asdic, Type 271 radar, (wolf pack tactics), Merchant Ship Fighter Unit, catapult fighters, Hedgehog (weapon), Hedgehog, High-frequency direction finding (electronics), Huff-Duff, K class blimp, US Blimps, ASV radar, the Leigh light, Metox, Naval H2S radar, Submarine snorkels and escort carriers. Contributions are from Donald Macintyre (Royal Navy officer), Donald Macintyre, Patrick Beesly, Carl Emmermann, Humphrey de Verd Leigh, Hans Meckel, Hartwig Looks and Bernard Lovell. Although included in video versions of ''The Secret War'' as a seventh episode, this programme was not made as part of the series and was aired separate from ''The Secret War'' when it was first shown. The different introduction, title music and credits betrays that (particularly as "The Secret War" does not appear in the title sequence anywhere, unlike the other six episodes).

Production

The programme credited contributions from: * Admiralty Degaussing Establishment * Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment, A&AEE MoD Boscombe Down, Boscombe Down * Library of Contemporary History, Bibliothek für Zeitgeschichte, Stuttgart * British Insulated Callender's Cables, B.I.C.C. Ltd * BP, British Petroleum * Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence * Defence Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Munitions and Search Training Regiment, Defence Explosive Ordnance Disposal School, Rochester * Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Department of the Environment * Film Polski * General Electric Company plc, GEC-Henley Ltd * HMS Belfast (C35), HMS ''Belfast'' * HMS Collingwood (shore establishment), HMS Collingwood, Portsmouth * HMS Dolphin (shore establishment), HMS Dolphin, Portsmouth * RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron), HMS Heron, Yeovilton * HMS Vernon (shore establishment), HMS Vernon * National Archives and Records Administration, National Archive, Washington * National Film Board of Canada * National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom), National Physical Laboratory * Royal Air Force Museum London, RAF Museum Hendon * Farnborough Airport, RAF Farnborough * RAF Medmenham * RAF St Athan * RAF Uxbridge * General Post Office, The Post Office * Portsmouth, Portsmouth Corporation * Proof & Experimental Establishment, Shoeburyness * Rolls-Royce Holdings, Rolls-Royce * Royal Radar Establishment * Science and Engineering Research Council, Science Research Council * Admiralty Research Establishment, Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment, Portsmouth * Air Commodore Henry Iliffe Cozens provided footage from his 1943 colour film, shot at RAF Hemswell and later released under the title ''Night Bombers'' * United States Air Force * United States Navy, US Navy The historical adviser for the series was Alfred Price (author), Alfred Price.

Media

Episodes 1 to 6 were distributed on a double CD by Simply Media, licensed from BBC, titled ''The Secret War: The Complete Original 1977 Series''.

Footnotes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Secret War, The 1977 British television series debuts 1977 British television series endings 1970s British documentary television series British documentary television series Documentary films about World War II Documentary television series about aviation Documentary television series about World War II English-language television shows Albert Speer