Cabbie unearths secret Third Reich history in the capital
Harry Harris is not your average historian – having driven a London cab for two decades, he’s absorbed everything there is to know about the capital and its history. Harry uses his knowledge to explore the City and find out just how close we came to falling into Hitler’s hands, as well as uncovering some buried secrets from our wartime history.
Exclusively to the documentary, Harry unearths some never before seen footage from a Nazi state funeral held within view of Buckingham Palace. Shockingly, this featured Nazi salutes honouring the German Ambassador, Leopold Von Hoesch, outside the German Embassy on Carlton Terrace, just off the Mall.
Elsewhere, Harry finds out about the Kennington Park trenches tragedy. Built to provide shelter for Londoners during the War, the ladder outlines can still be seen in aerial photographs. But at the South end of the field the lines become indistinct, marking the spot of a direct hit by a 50lb bomb that killed 104 people. The carnage was such that only 48 bodies were recovered and buried in nearby Lambeth Cemetery, the rest remain beneath the parkland. “Hushed up” to preserve morale, full details of the tragedy have only come to light in recent years.
Harry finds out about the clandestine Right Club founded by Tory MP Archibald Ramsay and the ‘Red Book’, its membership list of hundreds of Fascist sympathisers. In it he reads a chilling anti-Jewish parody of Land of Hope and Glory, hand-written by Ramsay on House of Commons notepaper.
He also tracks down the spot where some of Hitler’s closest relatives resided, and looks for clues to a hidden underground armaments factory, plus the unlikely spot where Churchill’s top secret underground bunker was built.
These secrets and more will be unveiled in the new TV show, Wartime London with Harry Harris, when it premieres on the Discovery Channel this Sunday. Joining us now to explain more about this unknown London history is Harry himself.
Harry Harris says: "I’ve been driving a cab in London for over 20 years. I love this city and have always been fascinated by its history, that’s why I trained to become a London taxi driver. This project has been truly eye opening, and revealed to me some of London's most astonishing, unknown history."
All these secrets will be unveiled in his new TV show, Wartime London with Harry Harris, when it premieres on the Discovery Channel on Sunday this Sunday 8th November.
For more information visit www.discoverychannel.co.uk...
