00:00When World War II began, Harold Cole saw an opportunity where others saw danger.
00:05In early 1940, while serving with a British expeditionary force in France,
00:10he was promoted to sergeant and put in charge of the non-commissioned officer's mess fund.
00:15True to his past, he stole the money, reportedly planning to spend it on prostitutes.
00:21Arrested and imprisoned, he found himself behind bars as the German Blitzkrieg,
00:26the Lightning War, swept across France.
00:30During the chaos of the Dunkirk evacuation, his guards released him,
00:34and instead of escaping to Britain, Cole decided to remain in occupied France.
00:39In the city of Lille, he began operating under yet another false identity.
00:44Driving a stolen black Peugeot, he entered the black market scene
00:48and introduced himself to the locals as a former Scotland Yard detective,
00:53who had once served as a bodyguard to Wallace Simpson, before she became the Duchess of Windsor.
01:00Discover the full story on worldhistory.tv
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