- 7 hours ago
The Lost Women Spies S01E01 Full Storyline
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:02the second world war France is under Nazi control the French resistance fight back
00:10against the German invaders but they can't do it alone British secret agency the SOE
00:21send arms explosives and agents to help them set Nazi Europe ablaze
00:30but when the Gestapo crack down on male agents Winston Churchill concocts an audacious solution
00:39he illegally sends certain agents who are banned from the front line women Vera this business of
00:49women agents you understand it must be kept secret at all times most secret our eyes are
00:55me spy master Vera Atkins is charged with finding women are you prepared to take the fight to the
01:03Nazis behind enemy lines in occupied France as a spy training them good shot yes sir and sending these
01:16agents behind enemy lines are you ready the Nazis won't know what hit them
01:30but after the war many are missing
01:37I'll send them off as long as I can go
01:40having sent these women to war Vera makes it her life's mission to find them a mission that takes
01:47her deep into Germany and the horrors of the Nazi regime what happened to her all three were taken to
01:55the crematorium building how do you know I'm watched but it's only after her death that Vera reveals the
02:04secrets behind her lost women spines in the early 1960s Tanya Sabo pays a surprise visit to a woman who
02:30was once her
02:31mother's boss a woman who during the Second World War was in charge of Britain's first ever female secret agents
02:41sent into combat
02:45many of whom wouldn't return I was in my 20s and I was looking forward very much to meeting Vera
02:54Atkins
02:57a little trembling it as well because she's was known to be fierce this very severe lady the Kensington lady
03:12Vera would not have been at all concerned about how I felt and certainly in no way whatsoever
03:24did I resent Vera sending my mother off to such dangerous places on her secret missions
03:39when war is there you do what you have to do
03:46your mother when I met her
03:49your mother when I met her
03:50was 22
03:53recently bereaved
04:01she wanted action
04:07she wanted some sort of revenge
04:11Vera did not easily open up to anybody I was very aware of her decided coldness at times and then
04:23there would be these little chinks and she would open up
04:30I always drove them to the aerodromes
04:36always seemed to be a summer's day
04:40I saw them off
04:47when the war ended
04:49and they didn't come back
04:52I went looking for them all
05:00missing presumed dead
05:03such a terrible epitaph for anyone
05:08the admission is surprising
05:12very few people outside of Vera Atkins inner circle
05:16knew that after the war she'd gone looking for her missing agents
05:27excuse me
05:31for Vera the most important thing that she could do was to find out exactly what had happened to her
05:39agents
05:40long after the war ends Vera still keeps hold of files on her former agents
05:47locked away like all her secrets
05:57in later life she moves from kensington to winchelsea in sussex taking her closely guarded files with her
06:13she announces through her sister-in-law that her treasured and secret files have all moved to her sister-in
06:20-law's shed in Cornwall
06:25journalists begin investigating the files
06:29what is quite clear is that after the war when SOE was being closed down basically everything that had happened
06:36that SOE had been involved in was going to be just completely hidden
06:41the British government
06:42the British government destroyed many files relating to their women agents
06:47but Vera's survive
06:50I mean to be honest with you she shouldn't have kept them that was illegal even then to keep official
06:56documents especially secret ones
06:58but she wanted the story to be told by someone at some point
07:06the files contain the revelation that after the war
07:10Vera went looking for all her lost women spies
07:16she definitely felt responsibility to her female agents
07:19and that must have completely haunted Vera for the rest of her life
07:26in the files are page after page detailing the lives
07:31and code names of Britain's first ever female agents sent to the front line
07:38one agent in particular catches the eye
07:43Noen Yat Khan's training record is terrible
07:45she was not seen as a competent agent at all
07:49and as a result she was not recommended to go to France by her instructors
07:53but Vera Atkins sent her anyway
07:57why did Vera send Noor behind enemy lines against the advice of others
08:05all Vera's private files suddenly become available
08:10private files that reveal the true story of Britain's lost women spies
08:20but also the shocking story of the one woman whose job it was to send them into battle
08:26Vera Atkins
08:33it's a story that begins in France in 1940
08:44Nazi Germany has invaded and taken over the north of the country
08:52and Hitler has set his sights on Britain as the next target for Nazi invasion
09:03in France an underground force of French fighters called the resistance
09:08tried to stop the Nazis at any point they can
09:12they commit acts of sabotage
09:15they attack soldiers
09:17and to do this they need help
09:20they need organisational skills
09:23they need weapons and they need money
09:26they need all the help they can get to stop the Nazi threat
09:31this support is provided by a British secret agency
09:36known as the Special Operations Executive
09:38or SOE
09:42SOE was sanctioned by Prime Minister Winston Churchill
09:46as early as 1940
09:49it was unofficially known as the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
09:57and the whole idea was literally to set Europe ablaze
10:04and disrupt the Nazi war machine
10:09Churchill wants to frustrate the Nazis in France
10:13and also help the resistance to launch mass sabotage attacks
10:17against the Germans ahead of D-Day
10:22whenever the Allied invasion of France will take place
10:32the department responsible for this is SOE's France or F section
10:41Head of F section is Maurice Buckmaster
10:45he's an unlikely choice for a top job at SOE
10:51Buckmaster served in military intelligence
10:55but he knows nothing about sabotage
10:59Sir
11:00he had no experience whatsoever
11:02in training people for guerrilla warfare
11:05schedule a supply drop to Acrobat for the 22nd
11:11yes sir
11:13thank you, that will be all
11:17but Buckmaster, or Bucks as he was known
11:20actually spent his earlier career
11:22as the head of marketing effectively
11:25for the Ford Motor Company
11:27based in France
11:29he understood French culture
11:31he spoke French perfectly
11:33it's this knowledge of France that gets him the job
11:36in F section
11:38Buckmaster's team is run out of Baker Street
11:41in central London
11:43and coordinates resistance operations in France
11:47they break the resistance efforts into networks
11:50or circuits
11:52France was divided into circuits
11:56circuits of agents and operatives behind enemy lines
12:00and they were largely kept separate
12:02just in case one was compromised
12:04they wouldn't all go down
12:06in the French capital
12:07Paris is the largest and most important SOE circuit
12:13the Prosper circuit
12:16each circuit is led on the ground by an organiser
12:20now they're in charge of contacting London
12:23to send over all the vital equipment for the acts of sabotage
12:26for the resistance and the agents on the ground in France
12:29and the need for more agents to feed the circuits is always growing
12:38especially wireless operators
12:42sir
12:43a message from Prosper requesting another wireless operator
12:54but it is dangerous work
12:57and by the beginning of 1942
13:00it's the most dangerous it's ever been
13:10in France the Nazis go into overdrive to break the networks
13:15they very much believe that resistance was all male
13:18so men of military age wandering around the streets
13:23would be stopped
13:25their papers would be checked
13:26and they may be taken away for questioning or interrogation
13:31Wireless operators who communicate with SOE from bulky transmitters
13:36are especially in danger
13:40It's really one of the most dangerous areas in the field
13:44the German listening devices can tune in and they hear the tap tap
13:50they can hear these going out on the radio waves
13:52within minutes they can trace where this signal is being sent out from
13:57the average life expectancy was six weeks
14:02the circuits are in crisis
14:06so head of SOE Brigadier Colin Gubbins
14:09the man in charge of all SOE sections
14:13proposes a controversial idea
14:17deploying women agents
14:20women could blend more easily into French life
14:23because women were still very much out there in society
14:27whereas men are pretty much disappearing off the streets
14:30but there's a problem
14:33sending women agents to war
14:36in combat roles
14:38is illegal under British law
14:41and unlike men
14:43these women would have no protection
14:45under international law
14:47in April 1942
14:49at a meeting of the British War Cabinet
14:52the Prime Minister Winston Churchill
14:55secretly nods through Gubbins suggestion
14:59any woman sent into combat
15:01goes unclassified
15:03and without legal cover
15:05Buckmaster works with his second-in-command
15:09Nicholas Boddington
15:10to get a plan into action
15:13all we have on our books are men
15:16I know
15:20Boddington is 38 years old
15:23he's formally worked for Reuters newspaper
15:26so he's travelled across Europe
15:29he's a little bit unorthodox in himself
15:31a bit of a hustler
15:33but he was a kind of man who could get things done
15:36and get things moving as quickly as possible
15:39just the kind of man he needs
15:42especially as the female agents are acquired immediately
15:47but there's another challenge
15:50if it had come out that women were being sent
15:54then there could have been a huge public uproar
15:56and they'd have been accused of sending young women out to their death
16:00their necks were on the line too
16:03so from that point of view
16:04it was very important that they kept it quiet
16:09even within the SOE itself
16:11very few people are allowed to know that women are being deployed
16:16of course Buckmaster knows it
16:18and one of the other people who knows it is Vera Atkins
16:23here
16:24Vera's file
16:26how about Vera to handle the whole thing
16:29Vera Atkins is Buckmaster's former secretary
16:33and knows full well the pressure he
16:35and the resistance are under
16:38Vera?
16:40Vera Atkins
16:43she's volunteered?
16:44Vera Atkins was born in Romania
16:46and this makes her position very difficult
16:50because Romania is an ally of Nazi Germany
16:52this makes her an enemy alien
16:55and she has to keep this secret
16:57the only other person who knows about her national heritage
17:01is Buckmaster himself
17:06Buck, she's your secretary
17:09junior staff officer now in Bollington
17:12she's not one of us
17:16there are
17:18certain things
17:20omitted from her file
17:22work she's done before the war
17:24for MI6
17:25work on the continent
17:28during the 1930s
17:31Vera had actually worked undercover
17:33in Romania
17:34in the Palace Oil Company
17:37as an interpreter
17:38a role which saw her travel across Europe
17:42at this time
17:44she's actually passing information to MI6
17:48but Vera is incredibly mysterious about her past
17:52she is after all
17:54an enemy alien
17:55how far can they trust her?
17:58Vera
17:59please, come in
18:00yes sir
18:02Nicholas
18:04Vera
18:05I hear you volunteered for a promotion
18:09I just want to do my bit
18:10where I am useful
18:13taking charge of a new division of F section
18:16you'll be a busy girl
18:18you think you're qualified?
18:21I do have some experience
18:23before the war in Europe
18:28as an interpreter
18:29as an interpreter
18:30for an oil company based in Romania
18:34Romania
18:36allied to the Nazis
18:39I was employed to do a little more than interpreting
18:43and besides it would hardly be a new division Nicholas
18:46I would just be helping to share the load with
18:50some of you overburdened men
18:54now now bodies
18:57Vera
18:58this business of women agents
19:02do you understand what you volunteered?
19:05yes sir, I do
19:06and you understand it must be kept secret at all times?
19:10most secret, our eyes only
19:14very good
19:17then you'll handle deploying these women to France
19:22but sir
19:23I shall need to find them
19:26indeed
19:30little does Vera know
19:31that this one decision will change the course of her life
19:36and she will have to live the rest of her days
19:38with the consequences of this secret policy
19:42to send Britain's first unit of women spies into combat
19:53SOE
19:54desperately need women agents in the field
19:57particularly couriers and wireless operators
20:02in London, Vera interviews a new candidate
20:07Noor Inayat Khan
20:10yes ma'am
20:12please call me Miss Atkins
20:15yes Miss Atkins
20:17Noor Inayat Khan has a very exotic background
20:20she's born in Moscow to an Indian father and an American mother
20:24and then they moved to France
20:26and that is where she grows up
20:29Noor is descended from royalty in India
20:32her father is a Sufi
20:34and he's a Sufi preacher
20:36and Sufism is a branch of Islam
20:39that believes in music and meditation
20:43so they grow up in this very open house
20:46which is full of people
20:47and he taught Noor that you never tell a lie
20:50you were educated at the Sorbonne in Paris
20:55yes Miss Atkins
20:59and afterwards became an author
21:03yes
21:04I write short stories
21:05for children
21:08I see
21:11you arrived in England in 1940
21:16yes
21:18after the Nazis invaded we
21:21my family
21:22left France
21:23we escaped here
21:25I see you joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force
21:29yes but I want to work in intelligence
21:34and you currently serve as a wireless operator
21:38yes Miss Atkins
21:41Vera knows that the Prosper Circuit
21:43is especially pushing for another to join its ranks
21:48Noor is a trained wireless operator
21:51who is very good at it
21:53the other thing of course is that she speaks fluent French
21:56now the SOE were looking out for people with language skills
22:00so they could infiltrate them into occupied areas
22:04Noor fits the bill perfectly
22:07Noor, do you want to make a difference in this war?
22:12Yes, Miss Atkins
22:14Are you prepared to take the fight to the Nazis?
22:18Yes
22:19Behind enemy lines?
22:21In occupied France?
22:25As a spy?
22:29Yes, Miss Atkins
22:34Yes
22:35There are certain dangers
22:37As a woman, you wouldn't be covered by the Geneva Convention
22:42If you're caught
22:43the chances of survival are slim
22:47Do you understand?
22:52Yes, I do
22:54Miss Atkins
22:57You will need to sign the Official Secrets Act
23:00and your training will begin shortly
23:04Welcome to SOE
23:05From now on, I'll be looking after you
23:14In the Surrey and Hampshire countryside
23:17Noor and the latest new recruits
23:19begin a crash course in spycraft
23:23Their days start with an early morning run
23:26followed by lessons designed to teach the new recruits
23:29how to blend in to occupied France
23:34Agents were taught how to live in the country that they were going to
23:38and they were taught tiny intricacies
23:41So in a cafe, put the milk in the tea last and not first
23:45which is the opposite of what you would do in England for example
23:49Basic things like when you cross the street
23:51you know, an English person is going to look that way first
23:54you know, make sure that you look left first when you're in France
23:57otherwise is a dead giveaway
24:00Any slip-up could identify them as English and blow their cover
24:06Agents learnt things like silent killing
24:08which was how to kill with your bare hands
24:10close combat using a variety of knives and daggers
24:14and they also learnt shooting
24:16Some of the agents fared very well
24:18but Noor found this stuff really unnatural
24:21It didn't come easily to her
24:23and her report actually said that she was terrified of the weapons
24:33and was very uncomfortable using them
24:36Next, Noor is given an extensive course on wireless operating
24:42Training how to transmit messages in Morse code over the bulky radio set
24:49Noor was already a good radio operator
24:51A little more training would make her even better at sending Morse code
24:56But it wasn't just plain Morse code
24:59There was a code added on top of it
25:01which was difficult to crack
25:02but also very difficult to learn
25:06So she would have spent hour after hour after hour
25:09learning this Morse code
25:13Another challenge is that
25:15As the child of Sufis
25:17Nor had been brought up never to lie
25:21This becomes clear on training exercises in the English countryside
25:27Where the mission is to drop secret messages in safe houses
25:32Known as letter boxes
25:35On a street patrolled by the local police
25:40Hey, you!
25:42What are you doing?
25:45I'm training to be a secret agent
25:48What?
25:49Here's my radio, would you like to see it?
25:52Noor will need to learn to lie to survive
26:03Miss Atkins, have you seen this?
26:05What is it?
26:07Noor Inayat Khan's latest training report
26:15If this girl's an agent, I am Winston Churchill
26:19What do they know?
26:21Those idiot instructors
26:22Buffoons, all of them
26:27Here it says that Noor is progressing well in her wireless operating
26:33And a wireless operator is what they need more than anything
26:44Idiot instructors
26:47And Vera has cause to trust her spies' intuition
26:50once in the field
26:53One of her agents, already operating in the south of France
26:56Is excelling
27:01Odette Sansom
27:03A 30-year-old French woman
27:05Is assigned to the Spindle Circuit
27:07Operating near Annecy
27:09At the foot of the Alps
27:12She is absolutely determined
27:15To free her country, France
27:18From Nazi occupation
27:20From Nazi occupation
27:21Odette plays a crucial role
27:23Acting as an SOE courier
27:26You're sure?
27:27Yes
27:27For the circuit organiser, Peter Churchill
27:30This is a hugely dangerous position to be in
27:35She is transporting the most important messages across the circuit
27:40She is pivotal in the whole operation
27:44So she goes in person and passes messages from place to place in broad daylight
27:52Under the noses of the Germans
27:54Under the noses of the Germans
27:55She is always at risk of being caught by the Nazis
27:59But so far undetected
28:02Good work
28:04In April 1943
28:06Peter Churchill's call back to London
28:09On a secret flight for debriefing
28:11And in his absence
28:13Odette is approached
28:15By a man named Hugo Bleicher
28:18Hugo Bleicher
28:20Is working for the Abwehr
28:23For German military intelligence
28:25And he says to Odette
28:27That he'd like to defect
28:28To come and work for the Allies
28:32He wants Odette's help
28:34Getting him out of Nazi France
28:35To Britain
28:37Turning a high ranking German intelligence officer
28:40Could be a major coup for SOE
28:45Radio London
28:47Update them on the situation
28:48And ask them how best they would like us to proceed
29:04Sir, a message from Odette
29:08Spindle's circuit had been approached by a German colonel
29:12What?
29:14The man, an intelligence officer
29:17Is requesting an extraction to London
29:21The request raises alarm bells at F section
29:25A directive from the very founding of SOE
29:29States how agents should respond in situations like this
29:33If an agent was approached by an enemy
29:38Who wanted to defect
29:39Not only were they to be completely ignored
29:42They were actually meant to be liquidated
29:46Odette could be compromised
29:48And if the Abwehr begins making arrests
29:51They could destroy the entire circuit
29:56Send a reply
29:58Colonel, highly dangerous
30:00Odette is to cut ties with Spindle
30:03Relocate and go into hiding
30:06Arrange drop zone for Churchill's return
30:09The SOE decide to send Peter Churchill back to France
30:13To try and figure out what's going on
30:14And try and rescue the situation as much as possible
30:23Spindle circuit organiser Peter Churchill is infiltrated back behind enemy lines
30:37Before leaving Britain
30:39F section warns Peter Churchill that Odette is likely compromised
30:43And that he shouldn't have anything to do with her until they've sorted the situation out
30:48But out of the darkness he sees her
30:54Come on
30:55And so therefore she can't be avoided
31:00She takes Peter Churchill back to her safe house
31:05The same safe house she'd been ordered to abandon by F section
31:15Oh, don't worry
31:17The German asked us to plan our flights back for the 18th
31:20There's still three more days till he's back
31:22It's time to move
31:31What if the German changed his plan?
31:37Hands up
31:38Turn around, face the wall
31:43Keep those hands up
31:51No funny business
31:56Out
31:58Move
31:58Out
31:59Move
32:00Move
32:01Move
32:02Move
32:02Move
32:04Move
32:16Move
32:16Move
32:16Move
32:16Move
32:16Move
32:16Move
32:19Move
32:20Move
32:20Move
32:30Move
32:30Move
32:31Move
32:31Move
32:33Move
32:33Move
32:34Move
32:35Move
32:44She's not under the protection of the Geneva Convention.
32:47She can be executed immediately.
32:51How long can she hold out against the Gestapo?
33:25Who are you?
33:30Why are you in France?
33:34One of the most infamous parts of SOE training was the mock interrogation.
33:39The Gestapo-style interrogation would ensue.
33:41Bright lights in the eyes, sleep deprivation, being doused in cold water.
33:46We know you're SOE!
33:49What is your mission?
33:51Please, please!
33:54Now, the idea behind this was to try not only to see if an agent was Ofei with their cover
34:00story,
34:01but also to see how easy it would be to break them, to get them to speak.
34:08Nora's trembling.
34:12Even though, at the back of her head, it must have struck her that this is a mock interrogation,
34:18but she was absolutely terrified.
34:24We didn't even go hard, man.
34:29Nora's latest training reports are in.
34:32They aren't encouraging.
34:34Here.
34:36Her training officer said he found Nora's interrogations almost unbearable.
34:41Apparently, she was terrified by the bright light, saying it hurt her.
34:46She came out trembling and quite blanched.
34:51Nonsense.
34:54The reports go on and only get worse.
34:59All of her instructors say things like,
35:01she can run very well, but otherwise clumsy.
35:04In her field craft, she can't help but being clumsy.
35:07In her explosive and demolitions work, she tries hard,
35:11but her natural clumsiness just gets in the way.
35:13Nora's training officer also reported back that Nora was becoming despondent.
35:19You know, she was clearly suffering under a gloom.
35:22She was troubled and probably worried about deploying.
35:26Look, not overburdened with brains.
35:29It is very doubtful whether she is really suited to work in the field.
35:32We don't want them overburdened with brains.
35:35What do these instructors know?
35:37Sat behind a desk in a training cap.
35:40It makes me cross.
35:42Buckmaster knows that we need female agents behind enemy lines.
35:47It's absolutely crucial.
35:50The Prosper Circuit is the largest that's operating in France.
35:54It's going to have an absolutely crucial role ahead of D-Day
35:58when the resistance mount an uprising in Paris.
36:04But Francis Huttall, who is the agent in charge of that circuit,
36:09needs a wireless operator.
36:12It's one of the most dangerous jobs for an SOE agent.
36:17Sir, Nora's wireless training reports.
36:21They are excellent.
36:33Prosper desperately require a wireless operator.
36:38But Nora hasn't finished training yet.
36:41I see something in this girl, sir.
36:44I think she's as ready as she's going to be.
36:47At this point in the war, the SOE have no choice.
36:51Beggars cannot be choosers and they need a wireless operator.
36:56Well, Miss Atkins, let's give them a wireless operator.
37:02Nora is pulled out of SOE training early.
37:06She'll join Suttle's Prosper Circuit.
37:16But Vera has reservations about one thing mentioned during Nora's training.
37:21That lately she's become despondent about deploying.
37:28Come in.
37:35Miss Atkins, you wanted to see me?
37:38Oh, yes.
37:40Nora, please, sir.
37:41Come in.
37:42Take a seat.
37:45She has to be certain that Nora is up to the job.
37:54I need to clear something up.
37:58Your training reports.
38:00They say that lately you've fallen into a gloom.
38:04No.
38:06And that you're worried about being deployed to France.
38:10No.
38:11Miss Atkins, who said that?
38:15You know, Nora, deploying to France is a very serious business.
38:21If you are worried, if you have concerns, it's not too late to back out.
38:29If you're not sure you're the right person,
38:33if you aren't certain that you want to go,
38:38you can tell me.
38:40We can transfer you out.
38:42Miss Atkins.
38:44No.
38:45The most important thing in this business is trust.
38:49Trust in your fellow agents and their trust in you.
38:55That is life and death.
38:58The worst thing you can do is go out there and let them down.
39:03Miss Atkins, I'm the right person for the job.
39:06You can trust me on that.
39:08I want to go.
39:13Well then, why this report of a gloom?
39:20My mother.
39:23She's not been well.
39:26If I go missing out there, I don't know how she'll take it.
39:32Oh.
39:33I see.
39:36If I do go missing,
39:41please, can you bother her as little as possible?
39:45Of course.
39:48While you're out there, I will be sure to send her a good newsletter every now and then.
39:56Thank you, Miss Atkins.
40:01Very good, Noor.
40:03And that is, here is your cover story.
40:09So she'll be working in France as a children's nurse.
40:13Her alias will be Madeleine.
40:15But her codename as a wireless operator is simply nurse.
40:26Noor's time has come.
40:29This evening, you will depart for your mission.
40:33You will be flown by moonlight to the Loire Valley, southwest of Paris.
40:39Once landed, you will be met by SOE agent Henri Derecourt.
40:45Henri Derecourt is a mysterious figure in many ways.
40:50He was a pilot for Air France.
40:52He was a smuggler before the war as well.
40:54And so he's got that sense of flying by the seat of his pants,
40:59of getting out of difficult situations,
41:01of understanding where you can land and where you can't.
41:03And so he's a perfect choice for the F-section.
41:07Derecourt will hand you a package to be flown back to England.
41:11It is crucial that this makes it onto the plane.
41:15Cannot fall into German hands.
41:18One of his other tasks is to bring back uncoded letters from agents
41:23based in the Prosperous Circuit to London.
41:26It's enormously dangerous if the Germans get a hold of this material
41:30because this means that they've got personal information
41:33about people in that circuit.
41:36The security implications could be severe for SOE
41:40if that uncoded correspondence falls into enemy hands.
41:48Derecourt will then arrange getting you from the landing zone
41:52to your handler near Paris.
41:54Any questions?
42:00Good.
42:01Now Vera carries out one final security check
42:06and that is to check the clothing of the women.
42:10She checks that there are no labels inside
42:13or anything with English writing.
42:15Railway tickets or even cigarette packets.
42:21Everything just needed to look as French as possible.
42:25Gone is any hint of Noor's gloom.
42:28She's relaxed and almost elated at the thought of finally being deployed.
42:35Can't believe my time has finally come.
42:38Been such a whirlwind.
42:42And yet the adventure's just about to start.
42:47Remember what they've taught you, Noor.
42:50Yes, Miss Atkins.
42:56There. You're clean.
43:01You're so smart, Miss Atkins.
43:04You always wear the nicest things.
43:10Here.
43:11It's yours.
43:14May it bring you luck.
43:22Thank you, Miss Atkins.
43:25Are you ready?
43:29Yes, Miss Atkins.
43:33Very good.
43:38With checks finished and the plane ready,
43:42Noor sets off for her mission behind enemy lines
43:46in Nazi-controlled France.
44:14By the light of the full moon,
44:16On a field 12 kilometres north-east of Angers,
44:20in the Loire Valley,
44:21Noor's plane touches down.
44:26While other women agents had been infiltrated before,
44:30Noor's arrival has an added significance.
44:34Don't worry.
44:35You'll be safe with me.
44:37The importance of Noor's mission
44:40can't be underestimated.
44:42She is the first female wireless operator
44:47that's infiltrated into France.
44:50It's an incredibly important moment
44:53for Vera and SOE.
44:57Come.
45:06Sir?
45:09At F-Section,
45:10Vera and Buckmaster
45:12await news on Noor.
45:15On the 24th of June, 1943,
45:18F-Section receives a message
45:20from Francis Suttle,
45:21the organiser of the Prosper circuit.
45:26What?
45:28On Suttle.
45:30About Noor.
45:32What?
45:33What is it?
45:34Noor was almost arrested at a letterbox.
45:36Suttle claims was blown.
45:38He says if Noor had gone there yesterday,
45:40she'd have been met by the Gestapo
45:42searching a safe house.
45:44But how could they have...
45:50Luttle says he hasn't slept in days.
45:55Something's gone wrong.
45:58He's cancelling all letterboxes and passwords
46:00until London can confirm
46:02that the village postman has recovered.
46:05That meant that he pretty much cancels everything.
46:08So the letterboxes,
46:10these safe houses,
46:12even the infiltration of agents
46:13into Paris.
46:15He has to shut everything down.
46:17He can't trust anybody.
46:19Anybody could be a double agent.
46:22Everybody is in danger.
46:24If you aren't willing to accept my recommendation,
46:28please file this report
46:29under the death of the Prosper circuit.
46:33The bloody hell is going on.
46:36Noor has been dropped into the eye of a storm.
46:39Did the Nazis simply get a lucky break?
46:41Or is there a double agent?
46:43What is going on?
46:45And until they work it out,
46:47no one is safe.
46:51In Paris,
46:53Noor lays low in a safe house,
46:55trying her best to update London
46:57on the situation.
47:00But after only eight days in France,
47:03the Prosper circuit is in chaos.
47:10The guests are making a rest.
47:12Safe houses are being raided.
47:15Are they coming for us?
47:17You have to move.
47:18Back to us!
47:25Wake up!
47:36Wake up!
Comments