Churchill's Secret Agents: The New Recruits (2018): Season 1, Episode 3 - Episode #1.3 - full transcript

This programme contains
some strong language

In July 1940, Europe was at war.

Nazi forces stood ready at Calais,
just 20 miles from British shores.

With invasion
seemingly inevitable,

Winston Churchill created
a new secret army.

They were called the Special
Operations Executive, or SOE.

Now, a group of 21st century people
are taking on a training programme

which has spent 60 years
under lock and key.

Would you be able to kill?

I'm going to sound like a
terrible person, but I think yes.

By undergoing the same
assessments as the 1940s trainees,



they'll find out how
ordinary men and women

became deadly weapons of war...

..revealing the secrets of one of
the most remarkable organisations

in British history.

This is an extraordinary project
about extraordinary times,

extraordinary training,
and extraordinary people.

Having made it
through selection,

and been schooled in
guerrilla combat...

Lots of aggression.

..the students now face

the most gruelling part
of the process so far -

survival training.

Go, go, go.

They'll be taught how to stay
alive behind enemy lines...



If the guard sees
you, he will kill you.

..have their resilience
pushed to breaking point...

This is the biggest
challenge for me.

..and take on one of
the most daunting tests

faced by the wartime trainees.

I think I probably
would have died.

Did you sleep well? Not really.

The nine remaining students
have spent the night

in a remote bothy on the edge
of the Cairngorm mountains.

Expectations for what's to come,

I'd say it's probably going
to be quite tough again.

It would be nice to
get a bit more sleep.

It's very cold in there,

and I maybe slept,
you know, 15 minutes,

I think that was
probably about average.

It was a tough night.

I would love to be
a good SOE agent.

I'm keen to learn how to do that

and I suppose the only way to
do that is to challenge myself

but it doesn't make it
any less nerve-racking.

The course is run by three
military instructors.

Welcome to the next
phase of your training.

Taking the role of SOE captains
are Nicky Moffat and Mike Rennie,

led by commanding officer
Lieutenant Colonel Adrian Weale.

This was called
survival training,

not because the agents were
learning to live off the land,

but because they
needed these skills

to enable them to operate
in hostile territory.

This is all about fieldcraft.

SOE agents had to be
able to move undetected

from their parachute drop zones,

and evade an enemy that
was hunting them down.

It was a life-or-death
situation.

1942 marked the height of
Nazi expansion in Europe.

With occupied territories stretching
from Stalingrad in the east

to Brittany in the west,
Germany was winning the war.

But the Allies were
determined to fight back.

SOE were already
playing a vital role,

with increasing attacks on
key Nazi infrastructure,

and had plans to train
hundreds more agents.

With most of Europe
under Hitler's control,

finding people with the
mental and physical resilience

to evade the enemy while under
constant threat of capture

was one of SOE's most
urgent priorities.

Right, grab your kit, let's go.

The students will spend
the next three days

training in the wilderness
of the Scottish Highlands.

For wartime trainees,

this was the perfect landscape
to replicate the harsh conditions

many of them would face
while operating in Europe.

Drop down.

The first element of their training
- how to move with stealth.

Make sure every single part of
your body is against the heather.

Bear in mind that your face, your
hands, give off shine, as well.

You want to eliminate that. And as
you're moving through the cover,

look through the cover rather
than over the top, yeah,

cos if there's somebody
on the other side,

they're going to see you peeking
your head over the top, OK?

So full body down on the
ground, reach your arms forward,

and you're going to use your
toes to push yourself forward,

and your hands to pull yourself.

Survival expert Corporal Foot starts
by teaching the leopard crawl.

Backside down. That's it.

That's it, keep your heads
down as far as you can.

SOE students were taught that
the head was easily spotted.

Moving through the landscape unseen
was uncomfortable but essential.

It's tiring, this.

It's better than being captured,
though, eh? It's tough.

It's kind of what I imagined
a secret agent would be doing.

You have to be aware all the
time of your surroundings,

where your shadows may be,
what the terrain is like.

The skills they are learning now
will be put to the test later

in a major exercise.

They'll need to use
stealth, speed and teamwork

to break into a
guarded building.

So, Jeffreys, you come out
here. You three, turn around.

Sergeant Major Stewart is teaching
the next technique they'll need -

concealment and camouflage.

Put yourself right down.

Usually parachuted into
fields or open ground,

hiding was often the first thing a
deployed agent had to think about

when dropped into
enemy territory.

OK, gentlemen, turn round.

Point out where Jeffreys is.

Five, four, three, two, one.

Jeffreys, stand up.

That is with no camouflage.

So all these dips, all
these recesses, use them.

Turn it to your advantage.

Many agents' lives were saved by
basic hiding techniques like these.

In 1944,

SOE agent Pearl Witherington
was forced to hide

when the resistance
group she was leading

was attacked by
2,000 German troops.

She fled into a wheat field,

moving only when the
wind moved the crops,

and curling up into a ball
when a spotter plane flew over.

The attack lasted all
day, but Pearl survived.

The students had been told to work
as a team to conceal themselves

using only the terrain and
natural materials available.

I'll help Lizzie, OK?
OK, Lizzie I think is...

Lizzie, take position.

As long as she doesn't
poke her head out

to try to get a line
of sight, she's fine.

Roger, we need to work
on your position there.

OK. Yeah? Come on.

A bit more of a sense of urgency,
and get on with the task.

After a night in
the mountain bothy,

58-year-old Roger
Barris is struggling.

We're given no
information in advance,

so there's no way
for us to prepare.

He's brought his concerns

to physical training instructor
Corporal Wayne Forsyth.

I mean, you know, when
have you ever gone hiking

without at least some idea of
what you're going to encounter

and prepare for?

During the SOE training, nobody
was told what they were doing.

But then next phase is
all to do with survival,

and you've got to be able to
improvise, adapt and overcome.

Could I ask one question? Are
we in here for another night?

Cos the other thing
is zero sleep.

Literally zero.

This is the thing, Barris,
you know, we can't...

We can't tell you
what's going on.

OK. It's how you mentally prepare
yourself for any challenge.

You know, you've gone through
the paramilitary training,

you know, you've passed it.

It's now onto the next
phase of your training,

which is ultimately survival.

You know?

Maintaining mental resilience
proved key in autumn 1942

as SOE planned one of their most
important acts of sabotage to date.

12 agents parachuted into the
mountains of enemy-occupied Greece

tasked with disrupting
the transport links

essential to Germany's
operations in North Africa.

The team spent weeks
evading enemy patrols

as they assessed the best way to
sabotage this key supply line.

Eventually, they chose
the Gorgopotamos viaduct,

a bridge which every day
carried dozens of trains

packed with German
troops and supplies.

On the 26th of November 1942,

their explosives detonated,
and the bridge was destroyed.

It was a triumph for SOE,

and showed that fieldcraft could be
vital to the success of operations.

Now the group have the
basic skills needed

to move and hide behind enemy lines,
it's time to put them into practice.

The next test is a version of
a well-known SOE training test.

This is a test of intelligence,
stealth, patience, observation,

and innovation.

Just over the rise is a hut.

The hut is guarded.

Your job will be
to get to the hut

without being spotted by
the sentry who patrols it.

The SOE syllabus taught students

how to attack a range
of guarded locations.

It offered specific advice.

Guards would be least alert
towards the end of their shifts,

they would change more
often in cold weather

and, crucially, a sentry
must be carefully observed

before an attack is mounted.

Standing on a wooden slope...

..this hut has
just one entrance.

Waiting inside is
Lieutenant Colonel Weale.

But to reach him, they'll have
to make it past the guard.

In the 1940s,

SOE's instructors would take
on the role of Nazi watchmen.

Today, Corporal
Foot is on patrol.

If the guard sees
you, he is armed.

You can assume therefore
that he will kill you.

Use your initiative.

The successful
Gorgopotamos mission

showed that SOE could pull
off large-scale sabotage.

Plans were made for more
ambitious operations.

But the greater the tactical
importance of the target,

the more likely it
was to be guarded.

The students have been
split into two teams.

46-year-old Debbie Clitheroe

has been chosen as leader
of the first group,

who are starting
uphill of the hut.

What's your plan?

So, from this position,

we'll just hold, watch and
see where the guard is,

watch what his routine is,
does he have a routine,

is he going forward, backward?

Cos that way when he's moving in
a direction that's away from us,

we've got a bit more
time to maybe move

to get to our next
cover position.

As a grandmother
and a drama teacher,

she may seem an
unlikely secret agent.

But Debbie had to demonstrate
resilience at a young age.

And I understand you had
a period of homelessness.

Yes, because it was safer to be
out on the streets than it was

living in that home environment.

I used to stay in toilets, I'd
find toilets that were open,

and then I managed to
sneak into a block of flats

where the main door was open
and sleep under the stairs,

so I found a safe place to stay
where I wasn't out in the streets

and a little bit
more vulnerable.

I always found somewhere
that was enclosed,

and I could kind of see who
was coming and who was where,

like, knowing my back's against the
wall and where all my exits are.

I like to know
where my exits are.

Use as much cover as possible,

so the big tree roots are good.

Debbie takes a
considered approach...

Do you want to get in
your position, then?

..asking Alastair
to observe the guard

before coming up
with a strategy.

The other group are
trying to enter the hut

from the opposite direction...

..at the bottom of the hill.

American Roger Barris has
been given the role of leader.

If you do not achieve the
mission within 45 minutes,

you will have failed.

The sentry is patrolling
in front of the building.

I think if we sweep right,

we should be able to come
up behind the building.

This exercise is a chance
for Roger to experience

the sort of training
some of his countrymen

might have been put
through during the war.

In December 1941, following
the attack on Pearl Harbor,

America joined the conflict.

The Allies now had one of the
world's most powerful nations

on their side.

In return, the US asked Britain
to share the invaluable expertise

SOE had to offer.

Over 700 Americans were sent to
SOE's training schools in the UK

to learn the art
of covert warfare.

With the help of the British, the
US set up their own organisation,

the Office of
Strategic Services.

This was a precursor to the CIA

and the lessons learned
in wartime Britain

still inform its methods today.

Stay down until we
figure out the plan, OK?

I've put Barris into
a leadership position

because his head
seems to have dropped,

and his morale has taken a dive,
and this is his opportunity

to demonstrate that he
can organise his team,

communicate with them, and achieve
a mission in a short space of time.

I would regard my childhood
as being typically American.

I played Little League, I
attended school, I had dogs,

I cut the lawn,
I was a paperboy.

It was very standard stuff.

I've always tried to
be the perfect boy,

because I always wanted to
make my parents proud of me.

Are you still the perfect boy?

Well, I try to be.

So, what are you afraid of?

I'm completely
afraid of failure,

and I'm especially afraid of
failing in a way which harms others.

Do you think that goes back
to your need to please people?

Yeah, it's very possible.

In the 1940s,

SOE instructors made this exercise
harder by including a casualty.

Roger's group already has one.

Polish translator Magda
Thomas has injured her leg.

He will have to take
her into account

when planning his
team's approach.

Magda's going to be quite slow.

Is it worth her following
behind at least a bit?

Guys, until we know
what we're doing,

I just want her to stay
where she is, OK? OK, Barris?

Yeah? What's your
plan for the casualty?

I think we should get...
Actually, do this...

Erm... stay, no,
you come with me.

You go up and get Magda, might
as well bring her around,

cos I think we're almost certainly
going to enter through here,

so at least bring her to
the staging point, OK?

Meanwhile, Will, you watch, and
try to pick up the periodicity, OK?

Come on.

Roger sets off quickly...

..but leaves most
of his team behind.

I think he's
avoiding the problem

that he has a member of
his team who is injured.

At the moment he's going
off down the hill there.

The rest of his
team is up there,

two of them are
sitting doing nothing.

So we've got a completely
sort of disorganised team

with no leadership here

because he has no means of
communicating with them.

Communication has stagnated,
there's no momentum here,

there's no sense of urgency.

OK, what happened when
you moved around here

with regards to the
group at the back there?

The problem is that
we lose communication.

You lose communication. Yeah.

Don't set off on your own

without giving clear
instructions to your group.

I understand. Yeah?

And ensuring you have some
form of signalling mechanism.

Understood. Crack on.
Time is of the essence.

While Roger tries to
keep his team together...

..after nearly 40 minutes,

Debbie's team are
yet to move at all.

OK, you need a little
bit more urgency,

otherwise you're going
to be here all night.

Go now. Go now.
Yeah, go, go, go.

The reality is when you're
moving stealthily across country,

you do have to maintain a sense
of urgency, and keep it moving...

..because you never know
what's going to happen.

The situation could change.
More guards could turn up.

Debbie's 45 minutes
are nearly up.

OK. Go, go, go!

Go, go, go, go, go!

With moments to spare, Rob Copsey
decides to make a dash for it.

You, just there!

Yes!

Sorry, guys.

Fuck it.

Debbie's cautious approach means
her team have run out of time.

Stop there. OK.

Team leader, sit up, please.

All right.

The pattern, how long did you have
where the guard couldn't see you?

We had about 20 seconds where he
wouldn't have been able to see us.

You could've actually started as he
was walking in the other direction.

He wasn't looking
behind him, was he?

No, sir. How much seconds would
that have added to your time?

20 seconds. Would you have got
down if you used all the time?

Yes. Yes, Captain.

Remember, time is always of
an essence for an SOE mission.

Look how close your scout got.

I know. Use those extra seconds,
you'd have been in there.

Yeah, I know.

Downhill...

The only way I can communicate
with you is by signalling,

so you do not take
your eyes off me, OK?

..Roger is trying
to rally his team.

Who will take care of me?

You have to take
care of her, OK?

You have to help her
cover open ground.

So, should we all go? Yes!

Barris? Yeah?

You're showing a degree
of frustration here

with your team members. OK.

Your job as leader is to support
your team, to motivate them,

and to maintain the
momentum with them. OK.

Understood.

Exercises like these
were partly designed

to test students' abilities
to lead, inspire and persuade.

One of SOE's key roles was working
alongside resistance groups.

Acts of resistance
could strike heavy blows

against occupying
enemy forces...

..but were often uncoordinated and
could incur brutal revenge attacks.

SOE wanted to make sure
that resistance actions

served wider Allied goals,

and agents often had to persuade
local forces to change their plans.

Everybody follow along.

Lizzie, you might as well
come up with me, as well.

With 15 minutes to go, Roger
instructs his team to move uphill

towards the hut.

Taking responsibility for
casualty Magda is Samy Ali.

Jump on my back. OK,
three, two, one, go.

Like many of the
original SOE agents,

Samy has a military background,

having seen active
service in Afghanistan.

So you were a soldier in
the Coldstream Guards?

Yes, sir. OK, and how long
did you spend with them?

Four and a half years, sir.
OK, did you enjoy that?

Yeah. It was very hard and we
did suffer a lot of casualties.

And looking back on
your time in the Army,

how do you think it
has affected you?

I guess it's given
me self-pride.

I'm very resilient.

I sort of have that mentality
of a stiff upper lip

and just getting on with it.

It has made a massive
impact on my life,

and probably I won't forget
it until the day I go.

Next time he moves, you've
got to go over there, mate.

Yeah, I agree.

Now just metres from the hut,
Samy spots an opportunity.

What?! You need to fucking go!

Without clear direction,

Samy and Lizzie make a break
for the hut on their own.

Once there, they see that
they can avoid the guard

by sneaking under the hut.

A creative solution,

and one that demonstrates exactly
the sort of lateral thinking

SOE were looking for.

Well done.

You, just there!

Outside, Roger is spotted.

You there, red hair.

With Magda also down,

Will Beresford-Davies is the last
surviving member of the team.

Will is the third student
to make it to the hut.

Roger got seen.

Me and Magda tried to
crawl up the little stream,

and then just bad luck,
she's got red hair,

and she couldn't crawl as low cos
of her leg, so he saw her by me.

Well done. Thank you.

Just line up here, please.

APPLAUSE

Well done.

Right, well done.

Three of you made it. You
were the most successful team.

As you know, this was
a real test for SOE,

and when SOE did it, there was
a real prize. Help yourselves.

APPLAUSE

The good news doesn't end there.

After spending a night
in the mountains,

the students are allowed
to return to the house.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

I'm going to be
drunk off this! Good.

Lucy. Cheers.

Cheers. Cheers, everyone!

Well done, guys. Very good.

I'm so tired, I
can't actually think!

Here's to another week.

It's been so intense. Don't think
we realised how intense it was.

Today's been a bit of a rough
day, especially after last night,

practically sleeping
in a fridge,

and then lying in a
bush covered in moss

with mosquitoes and
ants crawling over you.

You kind of question what
the hell are you doing here.

But after the second test, did
really well, really enjoyed it.

I've got a beer
in my hand, so...

..yeah, it's been about
peaks and troughs today.

While the students recover,

instructors Adrian
Weale and Nicky Moffat

have a chance to catch
up on their progress.

Ali - he's done
really well today.

I think Ali was definitely
lifted by the border crossing.

He was on a high after that.

Yeah. As was Jeffreys.

Yeah. And indeed as was
Beresford-Davies. Yeah.

I think they felt really
proud of themselves

for having achieved
that, and rightly so

because it's not an easy test.

Beresford-Davies - I think he's got
the approach that we're looking for.

He's got the demeanour
that we're looking for,

and he can operate
effectively as an individual.

And we saw that when
he moved across ground

to get into the hut

when Barris, the leader,
was shot by the guard.

After struggling
in today's test,

Roger Barris has opted
for an early night.

I'm a bit disappointed.

All my life I've had to process
information very accurately.

But never on a
split-second basis,

and I'm not sure that I have the
skill to do that instantaneously

that I think a lot of these
guys would have required.

So, you know, maybe I would
not have been a good SOE agent.

Let's pick the pace up!

It's morning, and the students
are up and out early for a hike.

Training was relentless,

and designed to prepare
them as much as possible

for the harsh realities
they'd face once deployed.

All right, good
team effort there.

Students who didn't have
the right characteristics

would be withdrawn from
training by instructors.

But as all SOE agents
were volunteers,

they could also decide
to leave at any time.

Ah, Barris, come and sit down.

I understand you
wanted to see me.

Yes. I've come today to
request permission to leave.

I just can't do it. Right.

I have some
fundamental questions

about my ability to
perform successfully.

Frankly, with the
exercise yesterday

where I was made the leader
of the assault party,

I think that I didn't
take enough time

to analyse the
general environment.

I tried to rush off immediately

as opposed to being a more effective
communicator with the group.

When I spoke to you before
in your initial interview,

you told me that your
greatest fear was failure.

Right. Is that in the
back of your mind now?

Yeah, it is.

I mean, my performance throughout
the exercises has been...

You know, I think it's been OK, but
it has been far from outstanding.

I do not believe I would be
successful as an SOE agent.

OK. Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Leaving SOE wasn't always
so straightforward.

Many who made it to the
later stages of training

had been exposed to
mission-critical knowledge,

and were not allowed to return
to their old lives straightaway.

Instead, some were
sent to the cooler,

a remote country house
such as Inverlair Lodge,

where they had to wait until
their knowledge was out of date.

Barris - he's very
concerned about failure.

I think his image of himself
is master of the universe.

He's been thrown well
outside his comfort zone,

and he has found it
a real challenge,

and one that actually he
doesn't want to continue with.

By late 1942, Allied successes,

combined with fierce fighting
on the eastern front,

showed that Hitler's
armies could be defeated.

And SOE now had operatives
working in over 20 countries

from North Africa to
the mountains of Norway.

SOE's instructors had to ensure
that trainees were prepared

to face some of the harshest
conditions on the planet...

..as the eight remaining
students are about to find out.

This task is based
on a real SOE test.

This is Black Dog
Loch, 30 metres wide,

three meters deep, and
just 12 degrees Centigrade.

You'll be crossing the body of water
from the far side to the near side.

For one student in particular,
this is a daunting challenge.

I've just always had
a fear of open water.

I have no idea where it comes
from, I've always had it,

ever since I've
been a little girl,

I would, like, paddle
at the seaside,

but as soon as the waves came
around my knees, I panicked,

and I would run out and cry, and
nobody can explain to me why,

and I've never been
able to get away.

I've tried, I've tried
going in, like, the sea.

It's like, "OK, OK, I've got to
get out, I've got to get out,

"I've got to get out."

Ready? LIZZIE: Yep. OK.

First up is research
scientist Lizzie Jeffreys.

I'm more nervous about this task

than any of the ones
we've done before.

I have quite a
problem with cold.

Just be aware that when
you get fully immersed,

you'll probably be disabled
for about 30 seconds

whilst that cold water kicks in.

In temperatures like these, cold
water shock is a very real danger.

Hyperventilation, increased
blood pressure and panic

can quickly set in.

Remaining calm until
the body adapts

can be the difference
between life and death.

Good work, Jeffreys.

As well as giving the
students the practical skills

to cross a body of water...

..this exercise also
gives an insight

into how trainees cope
with extreme discomfort.

Well done. You're an
assistant now, aren't you? OK.

I just decided that
I would keep going,

and even if it took a long
time, I wasn't going to stop.

But, yeah, there was a
moment of doubt in the middle

where I was close to giving up.

In 1942,

Norwegian SOE agents were trained
just a few miles from this loch,

spending weeks in the Cairngorms
facing similar endurance tests.

It was an ideal
landscape to prepare them

for one of the most important
SOE missions of the war.

The target, the
Norsk Hydro plant

in the Telemark region
of Nazi-occupied Norway.

The Germans were using the
facility for atomic research,

which the Allies feared

could lead to Hitler building
the first atomic bomb.

It was a danger that
could not be ignored.

In October 1942,
with winter looming,

four SOE-trained agents
parachuted into Norway.

Their orders were to prepare for
the arrival of a team of commandos

before leading
them to the target.

Success would depend on
their ability to survive

in sub-zero temperatures.

One by one, the students brave
the water and cross the loch.

SOE would have been looking
here for individuals

that were able to
dig really deep,

and do something that is
thoroughly unpleasant...

..in order to ensure
that they remain safe

and achieve their mission.

Well done, Thomas.

Good work, Copsey.

Thank you. Straight up.

Now it's Debbie's turn
to enter the water.

I'm scared to death. I'm
trying to just breathe.

Military psychologist
Mike Rennie

wants to see how the
recruits respond emotionally.

Can you just tell me
why you're scared?

I've always been
scared of open water,

I've never gone in it when
I go on holiday, erm...

Sorry. It's OK, just
take a breath, it's OK.

I don't like going on beach
holidays, I don't go in the sea.

I never go to open
bodies of water,

I've just always had
a fear of open water.

I'm all right in
a swimming pool,

I go to a swimming pool
and I can swim, erm...

but anything else, no.

Clitheroe is
absolutely petrified.

Overcoming quite a deep-seated
phobia is quite a thing.

For her, this is a
life-defining moment.

I want to get to the other
side more than anything.

This is the biggest...

..biggest challenge for me.

You can do this. Yes. I can.

Breathe, don't panic...

..and the rest will come.

Great work. Great work.

If other SOE agents, just
normal people like me,

housewives, mothers
could do it, I can do it.

I'm not letting my fear
of water stop me now.

Come on, Clitheroe, keep going!

You can do this! Come
on, Debbie! Come on, Deb!

That's it! Come on!

Come on, just keep
going! Come on!

Just do it for me,
Clitheroe, come on.

Keep going.

Leave the pack,
you just get to me.

Well done, Clitheroe. Well
done! Come on! Come on!

Well done! You're so close.

Aim for me, come on.

She'll have her feet
on the floor soon.

Come on, that's it.
Walk in. Walk in.

That's it, you can walk it now.

Well done. Ignore
the log. Come on.

Well done.

I'm just so pleased that
she managed to get across.

She was obviously incredibly
anxious, and she overcame that,

and that's really going
to boost her confidence.

Big breaths.

It brings to mind those
agents who during wartime

were put through hugely
challenging tasks.

And those agents
not only succeeded,

but in a week, two weeks,
three weeks, four weeks' time

would have been parachuting
behind enemy lines,

and doing this for real.

I just focused on the
other side, I was like,

"Just get there, breathe, just
get to the end, get to the end,

"get to the end, breathe."

In November 1942, the operation
in Norway wasn't going to plan.

The commandos they were
supposed to lead to the plant

had all been killed or captured.

The SOE agents had to wait
for another three months,

and were forced to
rely on their training

to survive a brutal
Norwegian winter.

Finally, in February
1943, the weather cleared,

and six more SOE agents
were parachuted in.

The attack could begin.

The Hydro plant stood
halfway up a mountain.

To reach it, the agents had to
climb down a near-vertical cliff

before wading
through ice and snow.

Evading guards, they entered
the plant in the dead of night,

setting off explosives
before making their escape.

The blast that followed brought
the plant to a standstill,

and dealt a heavy blow to
Hitler's atomic research.

Just like the successful
Norway operation,

night provided valuable cover for
hundreds of successful SOE missions.

So before they can go to bed,
the students have one more test.

We are going to be covering
movement and stalking.

Learning to move
undetected in darkness

was a key part of
training in the Highlands.

The focus was on the
importance of silence.

Trainees were taught simple tricks
to help avoid unnecessary noise,

such as which types of terrain
would best muffle movements.

The task is to move up a grassy
verge without making any noise.

But first, a briefing
on technique.

We need to pay particular
attention to how we move,

placing the foot
down nice and slowly

so you're not snapping twigs
or standing on pine cones

and that sort of stuff.

You also need to
think about things

that are at head
height, waist height,

not just where our feet are,

because at night, your vision
is going to be very limited.

Guys!

I've just stalked in from
200 yards away, yeah?

As SOE agents out in Europe, you'd
have been captured, or even worse.

For this exercise,
starting 50 metres away,

the students have to move
to within killing distance

of Sergeant Major Stewart...

..without him hearing them.

If they make a
noise, they're dead.

Stanley, you're
caught. Sit down.

These skills were essential training
for agents working in the field.

Lancashire-born Benjamin Cowburn

parachuted into France four times
during the course of the war.

On his third mission in 1943,
he targeted a key railway depot.

Sneaking silently into the depot
in the early hours of July 4th,

he planted the
explosives in the dark.

Cowburn made his escape,

and the blast put 12
large locomotive engines

out of commission
for several months.

It's really difficult.

You don't realise how much sound
you do make when you are walking.

Bajaj, caught. Sit down.

Especially in the dark, I think all
your other senses are heightened.

Who's that? Ali, sir.

Ali, you're nicked. Sit down.

The real SOE agents, they didn't
have the time, didn't have the...

There was a war on, so we understand
that we've got to learn quick.

Jefferies. Sorry.
You're caught. Sit down.

And if you're not quiet,
and if you're not stealthy

to be close enough to deliver the
killer blow or the killer shot...

..then you're probably dead.

Copsey.

You're nicked!

With less than an
hour's training,

almost everyone made it to within
a few metres of the target.

OK. Right, I think that you've got
them all of there, Sergeant Major.

Not bad, though.

You're easily within two
steps and a big stick

of taking out this sentry,
so well done all of you.

That's a really good effort.

The students have
performed well,

but the grim reality of how
these skills needed to be used

isn't far from their minds.

It's a big thing to stalk
up on someone and...

..kill them quietly. Erm...

Takes a lot of guts to do that, and
I'm sure it happened many times.

Tomorrow, their
resolve will be tested

by their greatest
challenge to date.

OK, let's have a
sense of purpose, now.

For three days, the
students have been following

the same demanding survival training
as their 1940s counterparts.

What do you see if you spend your
entire time looking at your feet?

Nothing. Nothing. You
don't see the enemy.

While Magda and Debbie have been
left at base due to injury...

..the rest of the group
are about to take on

one of SOE's most
notorious tests.

An incredibly tough challenge

that pushed trainees to
their psychological limits...

OK, stop.

..and proved whether they
could conquer their fears.

Your task...

..is to climb a
series of ladders.

These ladders are
attached to the cliff.

This replicates
exactly the same tasks

that were carried
out by SOE agents.

This is not a test of strength,

although inevitably, you may
find this physically challenging.

This is actually
a test of nerves.

Oh, shit.

Three ladders are attached
to an 80-foot sheer cliff,

and to make it even harder,
the ladders are not connected.

To get from one to another,

students must clamber
up the cliff face,

today made extra
slippery with rain.

I'm nervous, and given
the weather conditions,

it's unlikely I'll be able
to find a stable foothold,

so I'm going to give it my all,

but I highly doubt I'm
going to get to the top.

For most agents,

the only way to get into enemy
territory was by parachute,

and getting back could
be equally difficult.

Sometimes the only way to cross
European borders undetected

was to navigate perilous mountain
passes in the Alps or Pyrenees.

A head for heights and the ability
to cope in extreme conditions

could be key to their survival.

This isn't feeling very secure.

Today's students are
wearing safety equipment.

But in wartime training, a slip
on these ladders could be fatal.

First up is former
paratrooper Rob Copsey,

who lost his leg while
serving in Rwanda.

Which do you think will be the most
challenging element of it for you?

Well, I think all of it's going
to be challenging, to be fair,

and then looking at the pass there,
increased sections of ladder,

and there's gaps in between.

It's cold, slippery,
so you've got the...

The gravity is wanting
to send you down

when you know
you've got to go up.

Long way to go.

Copsey's made a really
determined start.

He's moving up that first section
of the ladder really quickly.

I can feel him, I can sense
him gritting his teeth.

Rob makes it across the gap...

..and onto the second ladder.

I think he's quite extraordinary
for a man with one leg.

The angle of the cliff makes
the next gap even harder.

Just hugely impressive.

Awesome.

Pretty scary, though.

Next is 32-year-old
doctor Rohini Bajaj.

Very nervous.

I'm sure some of them would
have been terrified of heights.

And if they did this training,
then I'm going to do it as well.

During the war, SOE was
one of the only forces

which allowed women
into front-line service.

So in training, they had to face
exactly the same dangers as men.

Nancy Wake was one of
SOE's toughest agents,

fighting at close quarters
against the Nazis in France.

In training, she
conquered the ladder,

But afterwards said that
she would never do it again

even if the whole German
army was after her.

Her hands are obviously very
wet, the rungs are slippery.

Rohini has made it to the
bottom of the second ladder.

She's just now slipped,
and she's falling back.

She's at about 35, 36 feet now.

How am I going to come down?

It's quite scary, really,

for those who have no
experience of climbing.

It's getting more challenging
as time's going on.

I'm not sure at this moment in time
that I would have what it takes

to become an SOE agent.

The 1940s recruits climbed the
ladder as many as six times.

It helped build up
their physical strength,

but it was also designed

to put them under enormous
psychological pressure.

Instructors wanted to prepare
them for the constant stress

of working in enemy territory,

where the smallest
mistake could mean death.

As agents began returning
home, an SOE psychiatrist noted

that most showed signs
of emotional disturbance.

Wireless operator Denis Rake was
on the verge of a nervous breakdown

after his first mission,

but still agreed to go
back behind enemy lines.

And after being
captured and tortured,

agent Eileen Nearne suffered
ongoing psychological problems.

It meant something more
than just climbing a ladder.

I was doing something that
the real SOE agents did,

and something that they feared, and
that gives you a strange feeling

of the significance
of what you're doing.

This is their struggle.

It's cold, it's slippy, it's wet,
and I felt that going up there.

And you're just thinking...

Yeah, this is just
a little bit closer

to what they must have
been feeling at that time,

and that's kind of an amazing
thing to be able to feel.

You read about this sort
of thing in history books,

but it's not really the same until
you actually come and have a go.

It's all very well to read

about someone being described
as uncomfortable and fearful.

It's quite another to actually
put yourself on the ground

in that position, seeing exactly
how they would have felt.

I think that's quite valuable.

It's difficult to understand
history without that.

The last student to take on the
ladder is former soldier Samy Ali.

How are you feeling, Ali?

Honestly? Yeah.

Not good. OK.

Not good, ma'am. Erm...

About six months ago I fell off a
ladder, so it's a big thing for me.

You've really got
to dig deep here.

If you think you
can, you'll do it,

and if you think you
can't, you won't.

All right, ma'am.

I'm really not
looking forward to it.

As soon as I'm at the
bottom of a ladder,

then I'm just going to have
this disgusting anxious feeling,

and then my heart will be going.

This is clearly quite a
significant challenge.

Never do this!

He's feeling the heat here, but
he's man enough to admit it.

The question is, can he
get past that first break?

HE BREATHES HEAVILY

Despite his anxiety...

..he makes it to
the second ladder.

And the third.

He's done well.

In terms of personal emotion...

..and THE fear beforehand...

I'm not joking, that's probably
the worst thing I've done...

since Afghanistan.

The rest of the
students' success

has given Rohini the
confidence to try again.

I feel really
disappointed with myself.

If I did this on a dry day,
it would be a lot easier,

but the group of people that we've
got here don't like to give up.

I'm one of them - I don't want to
give up if I can't do something.

I'm always stopping,
and I refuse to give in.

Go on, Ro. Go on, Ro!

Get it. Own it.

Nice, confident start.

That's good to see.

But she's still got this
potential block in her mind

as to whether or not she
can or she can't do it.

I'm hoping that she can
get over that mental block.

Go on, Ro! Go on, Ro!

Go on, Ro, you can do this.

Higher, go higher
on that ladder.

Yes, she's got her knee on.

Brilliant.

Section two to section three.

Yes! Let's go! Well done, Ro!

I think that an SOE
conducting officer

standing here where I'm standing

would have felt a real
sense of achievement

on behalf of the student.

And they would probably
have been reflecting

that this was an individual,
now, who was one step closer

to deploying into
occupied Europe

for a mission from which
they might not return.

It's a sobering thought.

Absolutely...

APPLAUSE ..exhausted.

Woohoo! I did it!

I'm really proud that I had the
courage to go up and do it again,

and that I made it here.

Success on the ladder has
lifted the whole group.

But at the end of this
part of the process,

instructors would still
have been assessing students

to ensure they had
the skills required

to make it through to the
next stage - finishing school.

Bajaj - she's doing things which are
so different to what she is used to.

She showed us that she could
dig deep, and she could deliver.

And maybe that's something we didn't
expect from her in the early days.

Thomas - the injury
remains a concern,

but she strikes me as being
tremendously competent.

I think she's got what it takes.

My feeling on Beresford-Davies

is that he is the strongest
member of the group.

He's very competent at all the
tasks, he's physically fit.

Clitheroe brings with
her the advantage

that she is a grandmother who does
not look like a secret agent. Mmm.

And I think that
moment in the loch

will be a really
defining moment for her.

I see no reason not
to move all of them

forwards to the
finishing school.

Would you be happy with
that? I think yeah.

I think I'm happy with
putting all eight forward.

Yeah. Yeah.

On my command - one,
two, three, contact left!

LAUGHTER

Contact right!

LAUGHTER

Next time...

It's 11:15. We need
to transmit now.

..the eight surviving students
enter the final stage of training...

The pen gun. Short range only.

..where they'll learn how
SOE agents survived...

Where do your two brothers live?

I don't have two brothers.

..and worked undercover...

Basically this is learning to become
a professional bender of the truth.

..all while engaged in a
deadly game of cat and mouse,

with an enemy determined
to stop them...

What is your mother's name.
My mother's name is...

erm...

..at all costs.

Guard!