Michel Bourbon-Parme was the son of Prince René of Bourbon-Parma and Princess Margaret of Denmark and grew up in Paris. With the help of the French counsel, he joined the American Army at Fort Benning Georgia and became a second lieutenant. Michel recalls being asked to join the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) by Bill Casey (who later would become the head of the CIA) and travelling to Washington to an intelligence agency to learn how to use specialist equipment. After three weeks training, he was sent to Milton Hall in England and became part of Operation Jedburgh, an allied special operations group. He was parachuted into occupied France after partnering with another Jedburgh named Tommy Macpherson, forming the team named Quinine. He was the youngest Jedburgh at age seventeen and a half. He joined with the Maquis, who were part of the French resistance to stop the Das Reich division and blew up the Eiffel bridge (made by famed architect Gustave Eiffel) to slow them down. He then stayed behind enemy lines for three months to sabotage the Germans. Michel reflects on the being among the first to liberate his countries forces, the politics of the British, French and American’s working together, and the legacy of important achievements by the Jedburgh’s he was proud to be a part of.

As soon as he left school in 1943, Bill Evans began a career in precision engineering, working on munitions, making sights for Bren guns and camera guns for aircraft. In 1947, Bill passed the exam to join the RAF for his National Service and began his training in Padgate near Liverpool. Bill shares details of the various stations around the UK where he honed his skills as a flight mechanic before being sent to Buckeburg, the RAF’s HQ in Germany. He recalls the perks of his job, sharing details of the aircraft he worked on and memories of the limited entertainment options in the nearby town of Minden. He also reflects on the black market and how valuable a tin of corned beef had become. It wasn’t until later in life, upon returning to Berlin, that Bill realised the profound impact of the Berlin Airlift on the city's residents. His story is told with the humility characteristic of his generation, who largely saw their hard work and commitment as simply getting on with the job they’d been given to do.

Bob was in Birmingham when it was bombed during WW2. A love of flying from an early age led him to join the RAF toward the end of the war and he was assigned to Coastal Command. He learned to fly the Sunderland, a four-engine flying boat, but before his training finished, he was sent to Berlin to assist with the Airlift. After qualifying as a pilot, he was assigned to Hamburg on the River Elbe where his squadron assisted in supplying Berlin with food and household goods. On their return trips they sometimes brought back malnourished children for care, as well as German export goods. He saw the Russians as confrontational, while relations were thawing with the Germans. During the period of the Airlift there was no leave for his squadron, but they were close to the centre of Hamburg where they could relax in the evenings. He thought that the Airlift was an important event but that the role of the Sunderland squadrons has received insufficient attention. After further overseas duties his squadron was assigned to Korea where war had just broken out. He flew coastal patrols, aiding the US navy in their search for enemy submarines. The Malayan Insurgency was also occurring during this time and the Sunderlands also helped the British army in their battle against communist guerrillas.  On leaving the RAF he spent many years as a flying instructor with various air forces in the Middle East before taking final retirement in 1976.