The Buried Blitzkrieg Defences Of WW2 London | Time Team | Timeline

The team delve into the recent past to uncover the hidden archaeology behind the biggest battle that never was, the planned defence of Britain against a Nazi invasion in 1940.

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[OLD_CROW]

I do believe that the people of Great Britain have got to be the most prolific documentarians in the world. The island population probably couldn't throw a stone without hitting a presenter, sound man or other part of some crew busy doing what the British are so keen at doing.
I firmly believe that the whole world are the beneficiaries of this passion. I know that I am.
One of the very best of these assembled casts of professionals is Time Team.
Tony Robinson and his colorful cast of archeologists conducted interesting, informative and always satisfying 3 day archeological adventures for 30 years.
I can't say enough of not only the passion and enthusiasm of the team and how they draw you into their trenches and finds with all the wonder of them, but also their almost super-human ability to always carry on their high level of work, consistently, for 30 years.
30 years!
Not to mention all of the wonderful and meaningful contributions they've made to British Archeology, History and cultural understanding.
Time Team. I know that being a fan and having watched the majority of their shows that I have learned much more than I might realize.
I am so very grateful to them and all the unseen people who have made them possible.
Thank you.

[moparsrule]

It's saddening that it was all forgotten and buried but also brilliant that now it's being appreciated, history has to be preserved

[karpkatcher]

Loved it. My mother and father often mentioned the air defences on Shooters hill, but i had little understanding of what it meant. My grandmother lived in one of the streets on the north side of the hill from 1934 to the mid 70s, so she used tell me stories too, but i never dreamed that i would ever see any of it. And now i have. Thank you so much.

[amywarfield]

I am a changed woman!!
I have watched just about every episode at least once, some several times. But, I typically look for Time Team episodes about Romans because, well it was so long ago and they usually find lots of relics. At 55 years old in the US, WW2 really hasn't interested me much. But this episode has really changed me!! It made what I learned in school and what my grandparents talked about (usually about rations) come alive!!

[SIG]

23:38 Those odd pipes are serving 2 roles. It's not just the siding to keep the dirt where it needs to be, but also camouflage netting anchors. I seen similar things found on mainland Europe and even in the pacific.

[aaronleverton]

Good to see Private Pike and Private Frazer in uniform again.
"We're doomed!"

[busgirl]

So interesting!! I love watching Time Team/Timeline. I've watched every episode that I could find... so far. ❤ from Canada 🇨🇦

[eliotreader]

during WW2 My Grandma worked on the Lancaster Bombers that was used by the real Dam busters and she was part of the team that worked on the bracket than carried the bouncing bomb

[HomesteadViewin]

The wooden plugs in the shelter are not there for a bench, it is there to hold the slip form together at the first pour, as they were poured in sections. The form was slid up and filled to build it up. It's normally done in 12" sections.

[williamwilson]

My Granddad was a veteren hit by shrapnel in WW1, and took to coal mining in WW2. He told me that each little community in Britain had secret five man units who were to destroy all local road signs and telephone or radio facilities in their area of operation. They mostly had commando daggers and small arms, but they had a silenced point 22 sniper rifle and orders to pop off the local Policeman, Vicar and publican as they would have local knowledge of use to the invading Nazi's. The five chosen men were to remain secret at all times and had to build an underground base in the woods near each community to strike from. They were Churchill's final resistance groups and top secret

[suebarner]

My Canadian parents (doctor and nurse) were in London when the war broke out and stayed on running a first aid centre and Dad was in the Home Guard. Two of my sisters and I were born in the UK and my brother was adopted there. We returned to Canada in 1948.

[davidbakker-wester]

23:50 footing for long poles to suspend camouflage netting overtop!

[colincampbell]

I lived near this amazing Hill all my life. Shooters Hill has a long history going way back beyond modern times. tons of history we don't even know about I am sure?
The name of the hill is even special. It was named this because of all the Highway Men whom loved this hill for robbing the horse drawn couches which went over the hill
from the big old pub at the base of the hill near Welling's border with the hill.

The pub had big stables for the horses to be fed and watered as the couches would stop at this pub called even now the "Anchor In Hope"
the name meaning they stop there and hope to get safely over the hill.

So there they would change over the horses and even add another full set to help get over the hill as it is most likely the tallest hill in Kent being a 10 in 1 hill in fact I learned that when the Romans came here they were taken aback how tall the hill was and they never went around hills they always went straight road wise,

so they had to dig the top part off the hill changing it from a 12 in 1 hill into a 10 in 1 hill, it took them 10 years using local labor and pick axe and buckets to move tons of earth and rocks and gravel off the hill top.

That's why the hill is flattered at the top where the Memorial Hospital is now! The tall water tower there is I was told by my mother not for pumping water over the hill top but to pump water out of the top of the hill because of the hills many springs and under ground streams without the tower the top of the hill would be flooded.

In fact there was a very old big water wheel on the top of the hill at one time hundreds of years back due to the big amount of strong streams of water there.

[horsenuts]

I was born in 1965, twenty years after the war (so it felt like ancient history, although my grandparents lived through it). I also happened to live in the Shooters Hill area in the early 1980s (still, just 40 years after the war). As I get older, I realise just how recent it was.

I used to explore this area as a teenager and there was still a sense of the conflict with a few post-war prefabs in places, and back in the 1980s the councils were trying to get rid of them.

With regard to that 'resistance bunker', I remember one just like it in Abbey Wood (not too far away) in 1985 on the corner of McLeod Road and Bostall Lane.

[nellinightshade]

the sheer enthusiasm! brilliant episode.

[AdamMGTF]

Love the dad's army Easter Egg. I loved time team as a kid in the 90s. Wonderful

[johncarold]

Great video ! I could never imagine what our parents went through. My Dad was in the Pacific theater and my uncle was on the D Day invitation. And what they lived through is incredible that they made it. I have been watching videos on the sites through out England and seen a glimpse of what they went through. Thanks for the video and information.

[Merylstreep]

From an American point of view, the three most re-watchable British shows are:
Time Team
Doctor Who
Fawlty Towers
(Oh and It Crowd)

[TheLazyGeneTV]

"Wriggly tin" The height of British technospeak

[Merylstreep]

I literally jump and watch anything Time Team when new stuff drops! I only wish you'd post the entire 215 plus episodes that are the first 6