Arthur Staggs shares the remarkable story of his time working as a wireless operator for the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in enemy-occupied France. Fluent in the local patois of Roubaix, Arthur was parachuted into France in 1942. He recounts the ‘physical challenge’ of the extensive training, and the SOE ‘Farmer’ circuit’s work alongside local resistance movements around Lille to sabotage railways and industrial targets. He tells how his ‘nerve’ got him out of some dangerous situations, including bribing customs inspectors and chatting with a German officer to deflect police attention. In late 1943 his luck ran out, and he was imprisoned and interrogated by the Gestapo. He relays his determination not to talk, and how, upon his release, the local Gestapo chief joked that they had ‘mistakenly’ believed he was an ‘English parachutist’! His language skills had saved him. Keen to resume work, Arthur joined the French Resistance. Known as Capitaine Bébert, he led operations to sabotage V-1 rockets destined for London, and worked on missions that unbeknown to him paved the way for the D-Day landings. Arthur’s story tells of lost friends, and the strain of clandestinity, but ultimately it is one of sheer determination to do whatever he could to disrupt the German war effort, and defend his country.

Brian Hough retells how he fought in Korea with the King's Regiment, his national service being his rare chance to see the world as well as what was planned for someone with a working class background. His regiment went through intensive training to prepare for the Korean War but Brian’s rough upbringing and his familiarity with discipline from school made it manageable.  Brian grew up with no hot water or upstairs electricity but that was nothing compared to the level of poverty he witnessed in Korea; the lack of sanitation, outdated technology and crowds of starving children made it seem like he'd gone back in time. Upon arriving at the trenches, he was apprehensive but got on with it due to being conditioned to believe everything would be okay if he followed his training and did what he was told.  After an invasion of the King’s Regiment's trenches, Brian saw hundreds of fiercely fanatical Chinese soldiers charging toward them, making hand to hand combat seem inevitable. Before Brian could panic, his commander bravely ordered artillery fire on the Chinese despite how close they were but miraculously none of the shells fell short and hit them. The King’s Regiment received battle honours for the role they played in bringing democracy to South Korea and Brian was amazed to see how quickly they then began advancing.