Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 2 months ago

Category

📺
TV
Transcript
00:01And let's roll camera, please, Matt.
00:03Speed.
00:04Climb back.
00:063, 2, 1, shift, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
00:10We're doing a video, and it's based on Chorus Line.
00:15It's a dream, actually, come true.
00:17A couple of quicker ones again.
00:19British pop icon Will Young is a singer and actor.
00:22Now I'm thrown in here.
00:25Bloodshot eyes can't fall asleep.
00:27In my head.
00:29Really nice, Matt.
00:30And there's nothing I can do.
00:33What people best know me for is being a singer.
00:38I won a show called Pop Idol.
00:40The winner of Pop Idol 2002 is...
00:48Will!
00:51..apparently the first thing I said to my friend
00:54when I came off stage was,
00:55think of all the free parties we can go to,
00:57which is hysterical.
00:58Not like, oh, my dream's come true.
01:00You know, I've dreamt of this since I was four.
01:03It's like, I think we can get some free sausage rolls out of this.
01:07The instant success was very rare.
01:10You know, it doesn't happen like that very often.
01:13Like, my first gig was Wembley.
01:15I mean, that's just, that's bonkers.
01:17Alongside a career of sold-out shows and hit albums,
01:21Will has gone on to become a successful actor of stage and screen.
01:25Well, I was going to act before I was going to sing.
01:29What I love about acting is you can get all these emotions out.
01:34You feel so alive.
01:36I love it.
01:39Will grew up in Hungerford, in Berkshire.
01:42Growing up was my mother, Annabelle, my father, Robin.
01:46My sister, Emma, four years older than me.
01:49And my twin brother, Rupert, who was ten minutes younger than me.
01:52Very important when you're a twin.
01:55Growing up, I was more familiar with my mother's parents.
01:59They were called Mimi and Bobby.
02:00We used to drive past their house and they would be playing ping pong
02:04in their dressing gowns in the morning with the garage doors open.
02:08On my dad's side, I never knew my father's father, Digby Young.
02:13He died quite young.
02:15He was Australian.
02:16And as far as I know, I think he was imprisoned during the war for the entire war.
02:21And I know very little about that whole lineage.
02:27It's weird going from doing music, you know, in a pop video,
02:32but having ancestry in the back of my mind.
02:35While I'm dancing around.
02:37I've got more and more excited by this.
02:40I think that's because I know nothing.
02:42I wonder who these people are.
02:45I'm just desperate to be a Viking.
02:47Am I a Viking?
02:50That's a yes.
03:26We are going to see my Aunt Wiggy, who is my father's sister.
03:32And she is fountain of all knowledge on family history.
03:39I'm really looking forward to seeing her.
03:47Hi there!
03:48You're on your crutch!
03:51I'm still on my crutches.
03:52I am.
03:53Good to see you.
03:54I haven't been here.
03:55I know.
03:55Come on in.
03:57So this is your grandfather, my father.
04:00Digby.
04:01Digby.
04:01I actually don't know that much about Digby.
04:04No.
04:04I shouldn't think you would.
04:05I know, but it's funny, isn't it?
04:06Because you think 45 years, I might have.
04:08Well, no, because he died very young at age 50.
04:11Oh, yeah.
04:12So you wouldn't have been in existence.
04:14How old were you?
04:15I was 17 when he died.
04:18I know this picture, because I have this picture.
04:21I think Daddy gave it to me.
04:23So I've sort of lived with it, but I've never really thought about it.
04:27He was charming, absolutely charming.
04:30He could go into a room in one second flat.
04:33He would know everybody.
04:35Yeah.
04:35He was born in Australia, and he had an aunt who sponsored him to come to England to train
04:44to be a doctor.
04:45Where did he go to university?
04:47He went to University College, Oxford, and when war came, he joined the RAF.
04:53He was shot down, and unfortunately, he was a prisoner of war for five years.
04:59Did you know that?
05:00I knew he was in a prisoner of war camp.
05:04Yes.
05:05For the whole of the war.
05:06He was in the Stahler-Gluth camp where they had the great escape from.
05:11It's difficult to imagine.
05:12I wish he'd written about it.
05:14I would have liked to have known.
05:16They don't talk about these things.
05:18I mean, they don't want to relive it.
05:19What was his physical and mental health like?
05:22Well, his mental health, I only know that my mother's comment was he was lazy as hell
05:27and she could have put a clutch of eggs underneath him and he would have hatched them.
05:33He did like a drink or two.
05:36He wasn't terribly well after the war.
05:39And unfortunately, he died.
05:41I have got the death certificate.
05:44And it sort of says barbiturate poisoning.
05:47And I think what happened, he went to the pub behind, had a drink or two, took sleeping pills.
05:53And they were very dangerous in those days.
05:55And forgot he took it, took more.
05:57And that was it.
05:59Which was sad.
06:01Yeah.
06:01Yeah.
06:02He looks quite thoughtful.
06:04I feel like there's a lot going on in the eyes.
06:05And he looks a kind man.
06:07Oh, he was very kind.
06:09Yeah.
06:09Very kind.
06:10And good fun.
06:13Now, these are two of the most wonderful miniatures.
06:18Gosh, they are wonderful.
06:19This man was Sir Aretas William Young.
06:24Your...
06:24Great, great, great, great grandfather.
06:26Yes.
06:27I thought he was governor of Tasmania.
06:29Well, I think that was his son.
06:31It's just weird to see the portrait.
06:33That's really odd.
06:33Because you don't think of that.
06:35We're so used to seeing photos, aren't we, now?
06:37Well, that's all they had was those portraits, was it?
06:40I know.
06:40Yes.
06:41I wonder if they were fluttering.
06:42I wonder if the...
06:43Well, they look quite good looking.
06:44They do.
06:45He hasn't gone bald.
06:46No, he hasn't gone bald.
06:48No?
06:49No.
06:49He's going there.
06:50He'll be there.
06:51I want to know what he was up to.
06:53That's what I want to know.
06:54He was governing Prince Edward Island in Canada.
06:59Oh, he was a governor there.
07:01He was a governor there.
07:02And this was his wife.
07:04It says,
07:05There's Lady Young, née Sarah Cox, married 1798 to Sir Aretas William Young at Wexford.
07:15Married 1798.
07:17I mean, that is a hell of a long time ago.
07:20Yeah, it's crazy.
07:21Crazy, isn't it?
07:22It's weird opening a door to the Youngs quite far back.
07:28It's a little bit overwhelming, actually.
07:33Will wants to investigate the young lion, starting with the grandfather he never knew, Digby.
07:40Digby never spoke about what happened to him in the war and died tragically early, aged just 50.
07:47Will's keen to unravel the mystery of Digby's capture and his time as a prisoner.
07:53He's heading to Oxford, where Digby studied and where Will himself once lived.
07:59Do you want to know something interesting?
08:02I mean, I think it's interesting.
08:04Is that I worked in a cafe four buildings up from here.
08:08And I used to park my little mini, the original mini, literally behind that building.
08:13That's so weird, isn't it?
08:16I didn't even know he came here.
08:21It's here. It's here.
08:25We're at the Grand Cafe.
08:27This is where I used to work.
08:30I was like the pot wash guy.
08:32I was useless.
08:34Absolutely useless.
08:35I was never a waiter, because I was too bad.
08:38But on my last week, they upgraded me to waiter.
08:43And I actually saw something the other day.
08:46Someone had said in another place I worked that they got fired and they said,
08:51you're the worst waiter we've had since Will Young worked here, which I thought was really unfair.
09:02Will is meeting historian Simon Sleight at University College, where Digby studied.
09:09Hello.
09:10Great to meet you.
09:11I'm Simon.
09:12Great to meet you.
09:12Will.
09:13This way.
09:13Right, this way.
09:14Here we go.
09:16Simon, I'm really interested to know more about my grandfather Digby, who came from Australia, to here.
09:23And I know you have information.
09:25Yes.
09:25Well, I've got some documents that will hopefully be able to shed some light on his story.
09:29OK, right.
09:30I'm presuming this is a birth document.
09:34When born and where?
09:35February the 2nd, 1916, at Rose Park.
09:40Where's that?
09:41It's a suburb in Adelaide.
09:42Oh, he was in Adelaide.
09:44Why are the Youngs in Australia?
09:47How did they get to Australia?
09:48Yeah, so essentially the answer is that they were colonial administrators.
09:52So your three times great grandfather, Sir Henry Edward Fox Young, was in fact governor of the colony of South
10:02Australia in the 1840s into the early 1850s,
10:06and then was governor of Tasmania after that time.
10:09So they are kind of elite members of colonial society.
10:14So that's why they were in South.
10:15That all makes sense, as you say.
10:17Yes.
10:17Adelaide, that's why they were in Adelaide.
10:19That's it.
10:20Where are we going next on this journey of Digby?
10:23Well, we're going to move countries and indeed continents next.
10:28Yeah.
10:28And we're going to come here, where we're sitting now, to Oxford.
10:32Yeah, I mean, that's cool.
10:33He sat here.
10:34He sat here.
10:36So what we have here is an entry register for the University College of Oxford.
10:43So I presume, is this something you would sign on your first year?
10:47That's right.
10:47So you would be signed in.
10:48And he was studying medicine here, was he?
10:50Yes, physiology.
10:52Well, I didn't know this was his handwriting.
10:54I mean, it tells me one thing, that's why I have such awful handwriting.
10:58And so does my father.
10:59Well, one might say, the handwriting of a future doctor.
11:02That's true.
11:04No offence to doctors.
11:06This is just amazing.
11:07Let's move on to the next document.
11:10Very serious.
11:12It says, athletes, 1937.
11:15Yes.
11:16Digby was particularly good at one particular sport.
11:20And here we have a newspaper article, which you might like to have a look at.
11:25But I mean, this is just brilliant.
11:27This is, I think, this is one of the best things I've ever done.
11:29So it says, the Mercury, Hobart, Monday, March the 8th, 1937.
11:36The unique feature of the InterVarsity swimming contest is the fact that two Melbourne men are
11:43the respective captain, Simon Fraser of Cambridge and Digby Young of Oxford.
11:47Experts are of the opinion that Young would be the fastest sprinter in England
11:51if he concentrated on the crawl stroke instead of various strokes.
11:57Well, that's quite impressive, isn't it?
12:00And interesting, isn't it, that it's being reported back in Australia.
12:04Yeah.
12:04So, I guess, with a sense of pride, no?
12:07Indeed so.
12:08That our boys are doing well.
12:10That's right.
12:11Good on him.
12:12Well done.
12:13Would you like to know about his degree outcome?
12:16Yes.
12:17He got a fourth class degree.
12:20Did he?
12:21I didn't even know there was such a thing.
12:23It was sometimes termed a sporting fourth.
12:25Oh, right, yeah, go on.
12:26Yeah.
12:26It may have been that he spent somewhat too long in the pool
12:30and not enough time in the library, but it's not a degree classification
12:34that is now given out.
12:37But a fourth class degree was awarded.
12:39Well done, Digby.
12:40So, he gets his well done for turning up degree.
12:45No disrespect, Digby.
12:46Did he then go on to continue his studies?
12:49He did.
12:49He went to St Mary's in London to continue his medical training.
12:53His studies were also somewhat interrupted.
12:56Have a look here.
12:58So, it says here, Sergeant U slash T...
13:02Under training.
13:03Under training.
13:05PLT.
13:06Pilot.
13:07That's right.
13:07For five years.
13:10RAFVR.
13:11So, that's Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.
13:15And the date, 4th of 12th, 1937.
13:17So, this is when he was still here.
13:20That's right.
13:21It's before he's finished his training in the medical profession.
13:24Must have been very exciting, I suppose, for him.
13:26I would have thought so.
13:27Yeah.
13:28Yeah.
13:29OK.
13:29So, then it says here, this is 4th of the 8th, 1939.
13:34Discharge.
13:34That must mean on appointment to COM RAF.
13:39So, he's now joined the Royal Air Force full time.
13:43He'd done his sort of voluntary RAF.
13:46Alongside his studies.
13:47Alongside his studies.
13:48And then war comes along and they're like,
13:52do you want to do it?
13:53And he's off.
13:53Yes.
13:54He was young.
13:5623 years.
13:56Yeah, it's a daring thing to do for a young man.
13:59I mean, I'd literally just discovered Britney Spears at that age.
14:03Wow.
14:08Well, I mean, I have so many questions.
14:10Like, where was he stationed?
14:13Where did they fly from?
14:14What were his missions?
14:15Where did he go?
14:16I know that he came down, but I don't know if he was shot down.
14:19Where was that?
14:20You know, I literally know none of that.
14:22So interesting, isn't it?
14:23Because, you know, I never really thought about him as my grandfather.
14:26It's a weird thing to say.
14:27But I'm beginning to see him as my grandfather, which is really quite moving for me.
14:33You know, it's like he's coming to life.
14:36So, I sort of, my appetite's been whetted now.
14:40You know, I want to know more.
14:47Digby joined the Royal Air Force full-time in 1939, a month before the outbreak of World War II.
14:54The RAF was desperately recruiting pilots and crewmen for the coming conflict.
14:59The average age of air crews was just 20 years old.
15:05Will's heading to the RAF Museum in Cosford, where he's hoping aviation historian Victoria Taylor can shed light on Digby's
15:13time as a pilot.
15:15Is this a bomber?
15:17This is a bomber.
15:18This is a bomber.
15:19And it is the bomber that your grandfather flew.
15:22This is a Hanley Page Hampton bomber.
15:25And if you'd like to take a look, let's get a little closer.
15:27Yeah, I'd absolutely love to. Thank you.
15:30Oh, it's not big, actually, is it?
15:32It's three foot wide.
15:34And he would have been in there?
15:35Yes.
15:36So that's the pilot seat right there.
15:38You see all the levers on the side.
15:39That's the throttle.
15:40And then, of course, that big stick in the middle is the control column.
15:43So that's what you use to actually pilot the aircraft.
15:46I mean, it just looks so rudimentary.
15:49Yes.
15:50I mean, it's just mind-blowing.
15:52Mm.
15:53So here we've got some really nice photographs of the Hampton.
15:56And you can start to see its unusual shape, so...
15:59It is an unusual shape, isn't it?
16:00Yeah.
16:01This aircraft was actually nicknamed the Flying Suitcase.
16:04And it's got this really thin part of the fuselage here
16:07and you've got the chunky bit round the nose.
16:08Yes.
16:09How many crew would there be?
16:10Well, normally in a Hampton there was about four.
16:13Yes.
16:13So, obviously, you would have had Digby as the pilot.
16:15Yeah.
16:15He would have had his navigator.
16:17Yeah.
16:17Who also served as a bomb aimer.
16:18You would have also had your wireless operator
16:20and then your rear gunner right at the back.
16:23So I know that Digby joined the RAF.
16:26Mm-hm.
16:26Um, but what was his war?
16:30So, let me show you something.
16:34Wow.
16:36Is he in this picture?
16:37He is indeed.
16:40He's in the front row?
16:41Yeah, there he is.
16:42There?
16:42Yeah.
16:43He's got quite a posh hat on.
16:44He is, because he's a pilot officer.
16:47Oh, so this is 61 Bomber Squadron, October 1940.
16:51Do we know what kind of operations Digby went on?
16:57We do indeed.
16:58We have all of them here.
17:00My nerves can't go.
17:02So these are the war diaries of 61 Squadron.
17:05Okay, we've got Young here.
17:08Attack on H324, Templehof Aerodrome.
17:13The raid was made in cooperation with six aircraft
17:16and marked the first British attack on Berlin.
17:19Yeah.
17:20On Berlin.
17:20On Berlin.
17:21The route was almost 1,200 miles there and back,
17:25bombed the target, but cloud prevented observation of the results.
17:29Mm.
17:30This is an attack on Berlin-Tempelhof Aerodrome.
17:34Templehof is actually the nerve centre of German aviation in Berlin at this time.
17:38So this is an important...
17:40This is an important target.
17:41Yeah.
17:42And it's a heavily defended target because it really is the heart of the Third Reich.
17:46It's like a film.
17:47What else have we got here?
17:49Oh, here we go.
17:51Attack target A17 oil refinery Hanover.
17:56Young was unable to find the target and attacked Kloppenberg Aerodrome.
18:01Mm-hm.
18:02So they diverted, did they, to go for something else?
18:04They did because sometimes, especially when you've not got navigational aids that are really effective,
18:10you do have to go wherever you can attack.
18:12There's another attack here on target B-58, an electric power station in Berlin.
18:17Mm-hm.
18:18Young, one of the squadron's most experienced pilots.
18:22Oh!
18:24Yeah.
18:29Failed to return.
18:31Yeah.
18:31My God, it's just there in black and white.
18:33It's just one sentence.
18:36Oh, I feel quite teary.
18:38Even though I know that something happened to him, it's really weird to see that one sentence.
18:45Yeah.
18:46We've got some really staggering statistics on this.
18:4851% of Bomber Command Airmen died during the Second World War.
18:53It goes up to 72% of them were either killed, seriously wounded, or taken prisoner.
18:59And as a result, it became the Allied air unit with the worst attrition rate throughout the Second World War.
19:05Really?
19:06Yeah.
19:07I mean, I do want to know what's happened to him.
19:09I have no idea.
19:11Sure.
19:11Okay.
19:12Well, you're ready to find out then?
19:14Yeah, I am.
19:14Here is something that might give you a clue.
19:17Oh, my God.
19:18Oh, hang on.
19:19This is all in German.
19:21So, this may help shed some light.
19:23Oh, yes.
19:24Here we go, here we go.
19:25The pilot officer, oh, it's a statement, gave the following statement.
19:29On the abandonment of his flight, the aircraft had been deployed against Berlin and suffered engine failure on the return
19:37flight.
19:38As the crew believed that they would no longer be able to reach their home port, they prepared to bail
19:43out.
19:44At this moment, the aircraft had already sunk lower as flak fragments hit the machine.
19:50Mm-hmm.
19:52They parachuted in unharmed and immediately went to the nearest location to surrender.
19:57Oh, that's what happened.
19:59Okay, so here's a question.
20:01When you're coming down with an engine failure, how the hell do you get out of the plane?
20:05It wasn't a given, was it?
20:07No, absolutely not.
20:08And you've also got to bear in mind, you've got to get out with your parachute.
20:11You've got to try and make sure you're not getting caught on anything.
20:13And he's got to make it so that everybody can get out safely before him, which must be such a
20:19lonely experience.
20:20That's terrifying.
20:22But ultimately, it is a testament to his flying skills that everybody not only gets out, but also they're all
20:29uninjured.
20:30It's quite remarkable.
20:32So they gave themselves up, they're captured by the Germans, and then where is Digby taken to?
20:39Digby was actually transferred to eight different camps during the Second World War, so he saw a lot of that
20:45prison-of-war system.
20:46But the place where he spent the most time was at Stalaglof III.
20:52The idea of him having engine failure at night, not knowing where he's landing, trying to get his crew out,
21:02getting himself out, this is hardcore stuff.
21:06It shows the measure of the man, actually.
21:16Will is on his way to Jargon in Poland.
21:20Until the end of the war, this area was part of Germany and the site of the prisoner-of-war
21:25camp Stalaglof III.
21:28Will wants to find out what happened to Digby at the camp.
21:32Victoria told me that, you know, the longest period of time and where he ended up was Stalaglof III, from
21:391943 to 1945.
21:41I can't even imagine what that's like.
21:45It sort of seems extraordinary that I never did want to know more.
21:50But I don't think that was out of, sort of, like, not caring.
21:53He was a man that was never in my life.
22:02In World War II, 170,000 British POWs were held in camps across Europe.
22:10Around 10,000 of them were bomber command aircrew, like Will's grandfather Digby.
22:15In 1943, he was taken to Stalaglof III.
22:21Expert Marek Lazars is showing Will the remains of the camp.
22:26It's quite strange for me to be walking exactly the same tracks that my grandfather would have.
22:31In fact, that's the exact path they walked from the train station straight to the camp.
22:38Exactly the same road.
22:42We are just following now this road, and everything on the right is the east compound.
22:49Wow. Yeah.
22:50And you see all these barracks here.
22:52That's where he was, actually.
22:53He lived in barrack 64.
22:57So, we're going to turn off the perimeter, so we're sort of, in a way, going through our imaginary fence.
23:02Yes, yes.
23:03So there's still, I can see, a fair amount of foundations.
23:07If you take a look, in front of us, you see some bricks and structures.
23:12Yes.
23:13This was the compound's kitchen.
23:23In your compound, that was your life. You didn't, they didn't mix, did they?
23:28No, no, no, no.
23:29They were not allowed to cross the compounds, so the guards were allowed to fire if you approached the perimeter.
23:37Oh, really?
23:40Now, we are approaching the area where hut 64 was.
23:46Of course, most of the foundations were removed.
23:48If you look closer over there.
23:50Oh, yes.
23:50We have a big piece of the chimney, of the smoke stack.
23:55Last remaining bit.
23:57So, we are actually standing in the middle of the block 64.
24:01Yeah, here we are.
24:02And you can see all the chimney stacks, which would have been so necessary.
24:05I mean, it must have been... Oh, yeah.
24:08Absolutely freezing.
24:09It was, it was.
24:10There was a stove in every room, but these were not enough to heat the whole room.
24:16Even with a stove in a room, normally, during the winter, they slept with all the clothes on.
24:23And there was a constant shortage of the fuel.
24:26I mean, it's amazing to, you know, be in the spot over 80 years later, knowing this is where my
24:32grandfather would have been for two years.
24:34Exactly.
24:38At the camp, Digby would have shared a room with nine or more POWs.
24:43Will is meeting historian Midge Gillies in a replica of one of the huts.
24:48You might be interested in this.
24:50This is from an Australian newspaper, if you'd like to have just a look at that.
24:54Oh, yeah.
24:55Prisoner of war.
24:56In a letter to a friend in Melbourne, Digby pilot of the RAF and now prisoner of war in Germany
25:02states, this is a letter from there at this time.
25:04Mm-hmm.
25:05By the time this reaches you, your summer will probably be over in the war too.
25:09I came to this country on November the 14th and am more or less settled in now after years of
25:13practice at doing nothing.
25:15I'm now getting a chance to put it into full use.
25:19And I think that his life here is like a camping holiday.
25:23Because he's saying after years of practice at doing nothing, which must have been actually pretty unbearable, really.
25:32It was the biggest challenge that a lot of POWs faced.
25:36Yeah.
25:36Your grandfather was an officer, so he didn't have to work.
25:39So every day was just this huge gap that had to be filled.
25:45So he could write letters?
25:47Yes.
25:47The Red Cross was very good at getting letters through.
25:53Obviously, it was harder at different points in the war.
25:55And the Red Cross also supplied lots of sports equipment, which I think would have been important to your grandfather.
26:01Yes, because he was very sporty.
26:03And you could play almost any sport that you could imagine here.
26:07Is there a risk when you hear about these kind of things that we can sort of look at life
26:12in a prisoner of war camp through slightly rose-tinted spectacles then?
26:17I think that's a really astute thing to say.
26:19And people at home sometimes did think that it must have been so easy being there because you're not on
26:25the front line.
26:26And it sounds quite nice, doesn't it, you know, having all these opportunities.
26:28But the reality was that he was in for so long.
26:32And I think that the kind of mental side of that is really difficult to imagine that the boredom and
26:39thinking these are the best years of my life, which are being taken from me.
26:43And I sort of also got a sense of, you know, he was a young man, you know, full of
26:48purpose at university, then trained to be in the RAF, then a pilot in the RAF, then going out on
26:53sorties, and then boom, nothing.
26:57Yeah.
26:57Well, I think the fact that he did have a knowledge of medicine was really important, and gave him a
27:04certain standing in the camp, and he could actually do some good.
27:08Because I'm nosy, I see this. What is it?
27:11So we've actually got some first-hand accounts of what was going on, and this one's particularly interesting in talking
27:17about your grandfather's role.
27:20Oh, gosh. This is a treat and a half.
27:23And it says, from the memoir of T.D. Kalman, for all his many privations, Digby was one of the
27:32fittest and most cheerful men in the camp.
27:34Oh, that's so sweet. My dad's very cheerful.
27:38Digby was an Australian who had been studying medicine in England.
27:41He was considered an authority and was very much in demand when the annual Repatriation Commission visited a camp.
27:49Digby was always glad to describe the symptoms of some suitably chronic disease which qualified for repatriation.
27:57I do not know whether any of Digby's clients ever fooled the Repatriation Commission, but many tried.
28:02Tell me about the Repatriation Commission.
28:05Yeah, so that was three doctors, two from a neutral power, say Switzerland, and a German.
28:11And you could go towards them and say, you need to send me home because I've got TB.
28:16And Digby was very good at saying, these are the kinds of temperatures someone suffering from TB would be experiencing.
28:24So if you were careful, you could put a thermometer under your pillow and then dip it in your tea
28:29or your hot water bottle.
28:30Not too many people got home that way, but it was a way of kind of pushing back against what
28:36you were suffering.
28:37So it was quite an important role.
28:39And was Digby here until the end of the war?
28:42So this extract will give you further indication of what happened to him towards the end.
28:48This is from the memoir of William Ash.
28:51By January 1945, we could hear the Russian guns booming.
28:55We knew that it was now just a matter of time until the camp was overrun.
28:59We were then given an hour or so to collect our few possessions.
29:03The plan was to herd us out onto the road in a forced march back into Germany to keep us
29:08out of the hands of the Russians.
29:10I thought the Germans had just abandoned.
29:12No.
29:13But no, there's a directive here, isn't there?
29:15Exactly, yes.
29:16So the Red Army, the Soviet Red Army is coming in from the east and the Allies are approaching from
29:22the west.
29:23And the POWs knew this because they had hidden radios.
29:26And then Hitler commanded that the POWs be marched towards Berlin.
29:31And was that with an idea of keeping Berlin safe?
29:33It was to use them as a human shield, as we would say today.
29:39So it may be nice to think of walking through the gates, but it wasn't because...
29:43No, because you don't know where you're going.
29:45No, and it's chaos out there.
29:50By January 1945, Germany was losing the war.
29:54As Allied soldiers closed in from the east and west, German forces fell back towards Berlin and the country began
30:02to fall apart.
30:04Marching in temperatures as low as minus 20, Digby and his fellow POWs faced a dangerous journey.
30:12We marched for hours, then days in the ice.
30:15The guards had been given orders to shoot anyone who got out of line.
30:18And at the back of the column was a line of vicious, snarling guard dogs ready to fall on anyone
30:24who lagged behind.
30:25When one dropped in the snow, the other one would dissuade him from going to sleep.
30:30An icy slumber seemed to be an excellent idea, but would have meant never waking up again.
30:37I mean, this is just, this is the worst conditions almost probably of their whole time here.
30:42Yeah, yeah.
30:43I mean, that is, that's hell, isn't it? That's hell on earth.
30:46Yes, yes.
30:47They would have been absolutely freezing and they were suffering from frostbite and dysentery in many cases as well.
30:54And there were tracks of blood behind the people as they marched.
30:58It was really, really grim.
30:59I can't believe I never knew about this.
31:02And there's one other document that mentions him specifically.
31:05Gosh, this is just awful.
31:07One German guard was close to death from frostbite and gangrene.
31:11His only hope was to have his foot amputated.
31:14Oh no, this is, this operation was done with no proper instruments.
31:18Or anaesthetic by a prisoner called Digby Young, who had to rely on some medical training as a student before
31:23the war.
31:24All he had to work with was some alcohol and a few kitchen knives.
31:29It was a terrible thing, but he managed to save the man's life.
31:32I mean, that is extraordinary.
31:34That's extraordinary, isn't it?
31:35Yes, yeah.
31:36He can't have done anything like that before.
31:40And with just some alcohol and some kitchen knives and to one of your captors.
31:49What a very, very remarkable man he was.
31:52And obviously one of principles.
31:55Yeah.
31:56The remarkable thing about this, and there is a sadness that comes with it, is that I think he was
32:03perceived as a bit of a loser after the war.
32:08That's astonishing.
32:09Yeah, by some of the family.
32:11Mm.
32:12This is the proper telling.
32:13Yes.
32:14Of a really decent man.
32:18Yeah, well, more than that, extraordinary, I think.
32:21Yeah, extraordinary man.
32:22Yeah.
32:22Which I don't think has passed down to me through my father and hasn't for my father.
32:26So this means so much to, you know, me and my dad.
32:32Sorry.
32:32I feel quite emotional about it.
32:34Yeah.
32:34Very sweet.
32:35You know, amazing.
32:36And you had no idea of this?
32:39No, I didn't.
32:40I just think it's, I feel like history has been a bit unkind to him.
32:45Mm-hmm.
32:46So it's nice that history is being kind.
32:52Yeah, well, it's good that you found the truth, isn't it?
32:54Yeah.
32:54Really important.
32:55So I really appreciate it.
32:56Thank you very much.
32:57And I know my, my dad will as well.
32:59And my aunt.
33:00So thank you.
33:04Digby and his fellow POWs were taken over a hundred miles further into Germany,
33:08to yet another prison camp, Starleg 3A, near the town of Lukenwalde.
33:16I am on the route of the final march of my grandfather to Lukenwalde.
33:26Which is a long drive.
33:29I really want to know how he got home from here.
33:36Here in the town, Will is hoping that Midge can fill him in on the last days of Digby's War.
33:43So I know my grandfather ended up in Camp Stalag 3A.
33:48What happened next?
33:50Well, things got worse.
33:51Oh, no, don't tell me that.
33:53I thought it was going to get better.
33:54I thought there was going to be a sort of jubilation.
33:56No.
33:57Here we are, balloons, have some nice hot soup.
33:59No, none of that.
34:01So conditions are really appalling.
34:03Sanitation is just grim.
34:06There's very little food.
34:07The Germans are very, very jumpy because they know the Russians are on their way.
34:11And then suddenly the German guards just melt away and they're replaced by the Russians.
34:18And they put guards on the camp gates.
34:21So it's clear that the Allied POWs are still prisoners.
34:26Why?
34:27They were waiting for commands to tell them what to do with the POWs.
34:32Oh, God.
34:33It's at that point where your grandfather was thinking he's got to make a big decision about
34:38what to do next.
34:39Yeah.
34:40So he's there with Tommy Kalman, who he knows from Stalag 3.
34:44His old mucker.
34:45Yes.
34:46And they think about how can they get away from this camp.
34:50So this document will tell you a bit more.
34:52I'm just going to say you couldn't make this up.
34:54I just want to say that this is like a film.
34:57Yes.
34:57The Russian officer responsible for the administration of the camp was Captain Medvedev,
35:03a very cultured Russian who spoke fluent French.
35:06He also liked his liquor.
35:08Before we were all stupefied, I had obtained what I wanted, namely two passes for the main gate
35:13signed by Medvedev.
35:15Without these, there was no way out of the camp.
35:17The price I paid was very high, the biggest hangover of all time, and my Rolex watch.
35:22When we presented our passes, I expected the worst, but my fears were unfounded.
35:25A moment later, we were peddling down the road to Jutteborg.
35:29Digby, like a small boy, was weaving from side to side of the road, thoroughly enjoying the physical sensation of
35:35bicycling.
35:37You know, it's quite sweet, isn't it?
35:39Yes, because they...
35:40Chums.
35:40Yes, and they shared this really intense moment of their life together.
35:44Yeah.
35:44So they...they got out.
35:46Yes.
35:47So at that point, they're going into the unknown, which is really dangerous.
35:50But they got to the Americans, and then found their way back on a flight to the UK, and they
35:57were home again.
35:58It's exhausting.
36:00I mean, it is exhausting.
36:02Do we know anything else about what happened to Digby straight after the war?
36:06Yes, we do, and he had a really interesting career.
36:10Did he?
36:11Mm-hmm.
36:11I think you'll be really impressed by this.
36:13So this is his record after the war.
36:16Well, there's a lot of information here.
36:17He's done a lot.
36:19Advanced flying school instructor, and he becomes squadron leader.
36:22Yes, yes.
36:23So he gets up to squadron leader, flying jets.
36:26Yes, which is incredibly impressive.
36:29Because that must have been quite modern then.
36:31Yeah, right at the start of that technology.
36:34Yeah.
36:34Can you imagine the progression from the type of...
36:37Yes, of course, from the bomber.
36:38Yes.
36:38No offence to his bomber.
36:40No, but, you know, and to fly these amazing, really fast, technically advanced airplanes.
36:47And he stayed in the RAF until 1958.
36:51Mm-hmm.
36:52He didn't back down, did he?
36:53He liked the adventure.
36:54No, exactly.
36:55I mean, he's already served his country, and yet he's carrying on.
36:59He's straight back in there.
37:00That makes me really happy, because I think he really did find his vocation.
37:04Mm-hmm.
37:05It's completely not how I saw him at all.
37:08Mm-hmm.
37:08I didn't know he went on to do any of this.
37:10No.
37:11I mean, I think that's an awful lot to be proud of.
37:16I'm just amazed that I never knew of it, which probably meant my dad and my aunt didn't
37:21know about it, his children.
37:24So I feel quite honoured in a way.
37:26Now I feel like I've got another grandfather.
37:29I didn't feel like I had a right, really, to claim another grandfather, because I didn't
37:34know him.
37:35All he was was a picture and an early death, of which it was potentially quite sad circumstances.
37:42And now the picture and the death is not even part of his story to me.
37:48Now I feel like I do have two grandfathers, and there's something quite extraordinary about that.
37:58Having explored Digby's life, Will now wants to push further back up the young family tree.
38:05He's seen portraits of his four times great-grandparents, Aretus William Young and Sarah Cox,
38:11and learned that Aretus was a colonial governor in Canada.
38:16He's come to Hereford to meet genealogist Rachel King.
38:20She's taking him through some of the extensive detective work, which has uncovered generations
38:25of the young lion.
38:28Now, I have these two ancestors here, rather glorious portraits, Sarah and Aretus.
38:35But I know nothing...
38:36Well, I don't know much about them.
38:38OK.
38:39Or, to be honest, the rest of the family leading on from them.
38:41Can you help, please?
38:43I have this beautiful scroll here.
38:46Ooh, we haven't had a scroll yet.
38:47Oh, yeah.
38:48We can have a little scroll.
38:49I'm going to let you do the honours.
38:50And this is your family tree.
38:53Oh, well, OK.
38:54I see Digby at the bottom.
38:55So, you know who Digby is.
38:57Blimey, this goes a long way.
38:58Bloody hell.
39:00There are a lot of sirs, aren't there, I've noticed.
39:03So, what about Colonel Sir Aretus William Young?
39:06Because he was in Canada, I think.
39:09Yeah.
39:09So, he started his career in Ireland.
39:12He serves in Gibraltar and Sicily and Egypt.
39:17Then he gets this role called the protector of slaves.
39:22Have you heard of Demerara Sugar?
39:24Yes.
39:25Yeah.
39:26So, he is sent out to Demerara, which is in present-day Guiana,
39:30to basically be the protector of slaves.
39:33The idea was that the protector of slaves would be looking out
39:37for the interests of enslaved people at Demerara.
39:40It sounds to me like that was more a sort of rubber stamp title.
39:47I think that's possibly fair.
39:48Yeah.
39:48I do have this article.
39:50Oh, my God.
39:51I love it when there's an article.
39:52Which does talk about him a little bit and what it was thought of,
39:57how he was doing.
39:57November 1829, anti-slavery monthly reporter.
40:03In 1826, Colonel Young was appointed protector of slaves.
40:07We had hoped that from that period we might have been able to date
40:10a marked improvement in the condition of the slaves of this colony.
40:14Our disappointment, however, proved unspeakably great.
40:17Oh, dear.
40:18This gentleman, from whom certainly much had been expected,
40:22has shown himself to be as deeply imbued with some of the worst
40:26of those colonial prejudices, which it was the declared and special object
40:31of his appointment to counteract as the planters themselves.
40:35Well, that's damning, isn't it?
40:38Yeah.
40:38That's pretty damning.
40:39Would it make you feel any better if I told you he did actually get fired?
40:43Yes.
40:44Yes.
40:45Which is how he ends up in Canada on Prince Edward Island,
40:48because he gets sent.
40:50I'm glad he got fired.
40:52That's awful.
40:53Should we have a look a bit further back?
40:55Yes, let's move on.
40:57We can keep going up.
40:59Oh, my God.
41:00Where are we going now?
41:02Oh, my gosh.
41:04This is just brilliant.
41:05They just had brilliant names then, didn't they?
41:08Elizabeth Le Dispenser.
41:10They sound like wrestlers.
41:14And then we go up to Hugh Le Dispenser, her father,
41:18and Eleanor de Clare.
41:20It's just bonkers to see 18 times great-grandparents going back to 1326
41:26when Hugh Le Dispenser died.
41:31That's a hell of a long time ago.
41:33Well, this chap, in particular, is somebody who's quite interesting.
41:38Hugh Le Dispenser?
41:40Yeah.
41:41So, Hugh Le Dispenser was one of the most important political figures
41:45of the 14th century, but very controversial.
41:49Oh, dear.
41:51Go on, tell me more.
41:52Well, one of the many castles which Hugh Le Dispenser owned
41:56was Goodrich Castle, which is not far from here.
42:01I would quite like to go and visit that castle.
42:04I think you should.
42:05Thank you so much.
42:08Will's ancestors have been traced back over 700 years
42:11to his 18 times great-grandparents, Hugh Le Dispenser
42:15and Eleanor de Clare, 14th century nobles during the reign of Edward II.
42:22Hugh's castle at Goodrich in Herefordshire still stands today.
42:27I think this castle's going to be quite big, and I'll tell you why.
42:30Because there are signs to it, and there are brown signs, which mean big.
42:37Like, Stonehenge has brown signs.
42:40You notice how my demeanour has changed?
42:43Just a little bit more uplifted and a little bit more conceited, I think.
42:50I always, always thought there was a castle in me.
42:54Do you know what I mean?
42:57Ah, there it is. There it is.
43:01If there's a moat, I will cry, just to let you know.
43:10Is there a moat? It's sort of a... Is it a moat?
43:14That counts as a moat, doesn't it?
43:18It's a fixer-upper. Yeah, but it's not undoable.
43:20There's probably a bit of damp.
43:23I wouldn't do a survey. There's no point.
43:28So happy.
43:30Do I look like I could be here?
43:33On... Yeah. Entree.
43:36Can I go in?
43:39I know what I'm asking. It's mine. It's mine.
43:42I bought my handcuffs. I'm not leaving.
43:47Medieval historian Chris Given Wilson
43:49is an expert on Will's 18 times great-grandfather, Hugh Dispenser.
43:55So who is Hugh Le Dispenser?
43:58The Dispensers...
44:00Well, they weren't in the very top rank of the English nobility,
44:04but they were in the next rank.
44:06They were one of the Peers of Parliament.
44:08So they are lords, they are above the knights, the gentry,
44:13but they are below the earls.
44:16But they most definitely had ambitions to move up to the top tier.
44:20How did he get to own this castle?
44:24He owned it briefly for about a year and a half.
44:27But this is the document.
44:28Yeah, you might have a little bit of trouble with this.
44:30I don't know how your Latin is.
44:32It's not great.
44:33But this is a document. Don't worry, we have a translation of it as well.
44:37Here we go.
44:38Hugh Le Dispenser, the Younger, did take Elizabeth...
44:42Common, yeah.
44:43...and did imprison her there,
44:46and they did detain her for one year and more,
44:49until 20 April 1325,
44:52on which day the said Hugh did manipulate her
44:55so that she, Elizabeth, unwillingly and against her will...
44:59..did give the said Younger Hugh the manor of Castle Goodrich.
45:05So this is the kind of way in which, I'm afraid,
45:08your 18 times great-grandfather tends to operate.
45:11This is awful!
45:12He was a great accumulator of land, mostly by nefarious means.
45:19And how did he become a political figure?
45:21Well, in 1318, he became the King's Chamberlain.
45:25OK, so this is in the Anonymous Chronicle.
45:29The King held Parliament at York,
45:31and there the peers of the land chose Sir Hugh Dispenser
45:35for the office of Chamberlain at the King's pleasure.
45:38This Sir Hugh was full of evil and wrongdoing,
45:42and he was also greedy and covetous.
45:44No-one was able to approach the King without the consent of the said Sir Hugh,
45:49and even then only through making large gifts.
45:51Everyone feared him and hated him from the bottom of their hearts.
45:56Nevertheless, they did not dare say anything.
45:58The King loved him dearly with all his heart and mind, above all others.
46:03Mm-hm.
46:04This is the classic description of a favourite, a royal favourite.
46:08And, I mean, as Chamberlain, you control access to the King.
46:13So he has got the King's ear.
46:16He has got the King's ear, but also he is malicious.
46:18He is out to exploit his power with the King in every possible way he can.
46:24Yeah, he is not a good man, is he?
46:26Oh, he's not a nice man. He's absolutely not a nice man.
46:29Is the King slightly blinded by Hugh?
46:32Well, one chronicler says that Hugh had bewitched.
46:35Ah.
46:36There were some suggestions that Edward II had a homosexual relationship with his favourites, but it's almost impossible to prove.
46:45But it clearly allowed him to do a lot of stuff and get away with a lot of stuff.
46:50He got away with a tremendous amount.
46:52And people were not keen on him, were they? I mean, these accounts.
46:55He was very, very widely hated. And by 1321, there was such a movement of opposition against him that the
47:04King was obliged to send him and his father into exile.
47:08Oh, really? Yes.
47:09Where to?
47:10Ah, well, that's a good question. Have a look at this document.
47:14Hugh the son remained at sea as the Lord King had firmly commanded him to the protection of the sailors
47:19of the English Channel.
47:20Mm-hm. And he became a... Oh, God, he's off again.
47:23And he became a sea monster lying in wait for merchants who crossed the sea.
47:28He was master of the seas and no ship got through unharmed.
47:33He even attacked a great Genoese ship.
47:36And having killed the crew, he appropriated to himself the goods that were in the ship.
47:43It was said that there were £6,000 worth of goods which he just seized for himself.
47:47Just to put it in context, the annual income of the crown at this time is somewhere in the region
47:53of £60,000 to £70,000.
47:56So these are really very significant sums. He was basically a pirate.
48:01Yeah, greed obsessed.
48:03Yeah, yeah.
48:04Sort of beyond Machiavellian.
48:06Yeah, indeed. He's one of the great criminals of English history, actually.
48:11Unbelievable.
48:11Meanwhile, after four months, Edward II recalls the Dispensers and he launches a war against his enemies.
48:21This is what is sometimes called the Dispenser War.
48:24And is he waging the war against the enemies of Hugh?
48:27And people who he regards as his enemies as well.
48:31Okay, I see.
48:32And the greatest of them all is his cousin, Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, who is the greatest lord in the
48:39land apart from the king.
48:40Okay.
48:41Who absolutely hates Hugh Dispenser.
48:43Yeah.
48:43And Hugh Dispenser hates him.
48:45And look what happens to Thomas of Lancaster.
48:50Head chopped off?
48:51Head chopped off.
48:52The king and Hugh Dispenser are completely victorious.
48:55Lots of people are put to death.
48:57About 20 lords.
48:59That's remarkable.
49:00Please tell me when he gets his comeuppance.
49:02Okay, he gets his comeuppance.
49:06Edward II's queen, Isabella, hated Hugh Dispenser.
49:10She sailed to France and refused to return.
49:14Then, in 1326, raised an army to invade England.
49:18Many of the king's lords joined her side.
49:22Edward II and Hugh Dispenser flee to this part of the country.
49:28But they're captured.
49:29Edward II is imprisoned.
49:31And I hope you've got a strong stomach, Will.
49:34Yeah.
49:34Because this is going to show you what happened to your 18 times great-grandfather.
49:39Oh, he was, um, courted, was he?
49:42Oh, yes.
49:43He was everythinged.
49:44And they, I think, inflicted upon him the worst, most prolonged, and most painful sort of death that they could
49:53possibly think of.
49:54You are joking.
49:55I am not.
49:56We'll go through it.
49:57He's held in Hereford Castle until the day of his execution, which is the 24th of November, 1326.
50:04He's stripped.
50:05He is put on a hurdle and dragged through the streets behind horses.
50:09OK.
50:09And they have put up this ladder, which is 50 feet high.
50:13Firstly, they hang him, but not till he's dead.
50:17Then they make him go up this ladder.
50:19Firstly, they castrate him.
50:21Oh, blimey.
50:22Um, they've made a fire at the bottom of the ladder.
50:25They throw the genitals into the fire.
50:27Then, this is almost worse, they disembowel him.
50:30They slit open his stomach, you can see it there.
50:32Yeah.
50:33Pull out his entrails and throw them into the fire.
50:36Yeah.
50:37And then, finally, they bring him down, head him, cut his body into quarters, and distribute it around the country.
50:48Now, you can't get much worse than that.
50:50Oh, God.
50:50You really can't.
50:51Leave it.
50:52I know.
50:52You kind of think no one deserves that.
50:54No one deserves that.
50:55But possibly, if anyone does.
50:56I mean, he was a bad man.
50:58He was a very bad man.
50:59But, you know, about a year after his execution, once Edward II has been deposed, Hugh's widow has permission from
51:07the government to establish a monument for Hugh in Tewkesbury Abbey.
51:13Oh, of course there is a monument to him.
51:16There is.
51:17It's a lovely tomb.
51:18Is it?
51:19I'll go and see his tomb.
51:20Yeah.
51:20I don't think he deserves it from me, but I might offer up an apology to the people that look
51:27like it.
51:28There you go.
51:29How about that?
51:29Okay.
51:30Thank you so much.
51:31Pleasure.
51:32Just wonderful.
51:34I have a 18th great-grandfather, Hugh Le Dispenser, who I didn't know I was related to and is so
51:43well known in late medieval history as being an evil person and literally changed the shape and direction of the
51:51country during his time.
51:54You know, that's...
51:58You know, that's...
51:58I suppose that counts for something.
52:00At least he made his mark.
52:05Will's come to see Hugh Dispenser's tomb at Tewkesbury Abbey where Eleanor's family, the Declares, were once generous benefactors.
52:14He's meeting historian Kelsey Wilson-Lee.
52:18Obviously, Dispenser was dispensed of in not a nice way.
52:25No.
52:25He's been killed.
52:27Mm.
52:27How's she managed to get him here?
52:30But, of course, she was quite a powerful lady, or that her family was powerful in their own right.
52:35That's right.
52:36She was able to come back here.
52:38She was able to recollect the pieces of her husband, which had been dispersed around, and to bring them here
52:45to be buried, here amongst her ancestors, who were all buried in this extraordinary space.
52:51This stained glass was put in place around 1340, so not too long after his death.
52:58Wow.
52:58And if you spot the third knight in on the left, that's Hugh, so you can see his heraldic arms
53:05on his tabard with the green background.
53:08Oh, my gosh.
53:09And there he is amongst some of the other patrons and kind of Clare family ancestors.
53:15OK, so that really shows how much sway and clout they had.
53:22Absolutely.
53:22And if you make your way all the way around to the east window, you'll see a small figure in
53:28the bottom right, and that is thought to be Eleanor de Clare herself.
53:33Do you see with the blue and white-strived background?
53:34Oh, yes, I can.
53:35Yes.
53:36I mean, it's funny, isn't it?
53:38I've learned about a man that has done horrific things in his life, and yet through his wife's connections and
53:46her family, yeah, they're kind of erasing history in a way.
53:49It's all right, you can still have a tomb.
53:51It's almost propaganda, isn't it?
53:52I think that's not an unfair comment.
53:55You know, a lot of what we think of as good people is not necessarily what real historical figures were.
54:06So just through here, this is what I wanted to show you.
54:11This...
54:11This one here.
54:12...is the tomb of your 18 times great-grandfather.
54:18Oh, God!
54:19This is something that his wife Eleanor probably built for him after his death.
54:25Eleanor is a woman who comes from a long line of incredibly powerful and influential women.
54:35And with that in mind, I have something to show you.
54:38Oh, gosh, this is my final gift.
54:39This is your final document.
54:40This is your final document.
54:40This is my final document.
54:43So, 18 times great-grandparents, Hugh Le Dispenser, Eleanor, de Clare, and then her parents, Gilbert de Clare, Joan of
54:53Acre, and then...
54:56No!
54:58Edward I!
55:00He's your 20 times great-grandfather.
55:03No, you're joking.
55:05You've made it up, have you made it up?
55:08No.
55:09Yeah?
55:09That's...
55:11That's unbelievable.
55:14Edward I was my 20 times great-grandfather.
55:18No.
55:21This is just amazing.
55:23I can't believe it.
55:25It's wonderful.
55:31Being related to a king, will it change my behaviour?
55:34I mean, the short answer is yes.
55:36Yes, it will.
55:37What you are beholding is essentially a future despot.
55:42You've seen Mr Nice Guy, now get ready for Mr Nasty.
55:47I mean, this experience has been, I'm not joking, one of the most eye-opening, rewarding, fulfilling, soul-nourishing experiences
56:03I've ever had.
56:04I didn't expect it.
56:06My 20 times great-grandfather was Edward I.
56:11That's just bonkers.
56:13And then we move to the man, the myth, the legend, the horror that is Hugh Le Dispencer, who's just
56:21an absolute monster of a man.
56:23But then, through money and privilege, gets resurrected and shoved in the abbey here.
56:29My grandfather, that was amazing, very emotional.
56:34Digby's history for me was steeped in disappointment and sadness.
56:38And I found out that it was anything but.
56:41And so I won't just look at his portrait that I have in my study and think, oh, there he
56:46is.
56:46I'll think, that's my grandfather.
56:49He was such a dude.
56:50You know, and that's a gift.
56:53That's a real gift.
56:56It meant so much to me.
56:57And I have tattoos over my body for a lot of them related to family members.
57:03And I wanted to get a tattoo for Digby.
57:08So I got his plane and his squadron number.
57:13And what's lovely is it's next to my first tattoo I ever had.
57:16The young motto, sans peur, without fear.
57:19And I think Digby certainly showed no fear.
57:23You know, so thank you.
57:25Thank you so much.
57:49Thanks, dude.
57:50Bye.
57:52Bye.
57:54Bye.
57:56Bye.
57:57Bye.