The Special Operations Executive is, at times, an often-untold story of Britain’s war against Nazi Germany. Set up in 1940, this organisation worked in secret to derail Nazi progress in Europe, having set up numerous bases in Britain to help. Jack visits a country estate which once was a station dedicated to acquiring, testing and developing weapons for the S.O.E. agents.
Alongside the use of RADAR in World War Two, a special wing of the RAF was set up to intercept, disrupt and 'bend' radio signals from Germany. Luftwaffe planes from Germany followed these signals in order to drop bombs effectively on their targets. Because of the untold story of the RAF 80 Wing Units, when a Nazi plane thought it was dropping bombs on London at night, it was in fact dropping them in fields in Surrey!
Human lives are entangled with those of other animals; we live with cats, we use chickens for their eggs, cows for their milk, and occasionally enjoy a trip to the local farm or zoo. But humans have also enlisted animals to help fight their wars. Tracking the use of horses and dogs in warfare can be a difficult challenge; Jack visits the MoD Defence Animal Training Regiment in Melton Mowbray which can offer an insight into this often-unknown topic.
The Allied plans for Normandy stretched far beyond the D-Day landings themselves. Alongside the plans for D-Day, the Allies created a series of deception plans to trick the Germans as to where the Allies would launch their invasion. This plan included inflatable tanks, jamming their radar systems and creating an entirely fake army.
Jack collaborates with Clare Campbell (Daily Mail Journalist and author of Bonzo's War) and her husband, Christy (historian), to unravel the story of the tragic fate of some cats and dogs on the eve of World War Two known as the Great British Pet Massacre of 1939. Following this heart-breaking event that swept the nation, a more positive one emerged: pets being called up to serve in the Pets Volunteering Army.