Episode list

In the first episode of the Kiwis At War series, Kiwi Jack Rae tells a gripping action story of his life as a fighter pilot - and the daring exploits that landed him in a notorious German prison camp during the legendary 'Great Escape'.

The series continues with the extraordinary tale of Nancy Wake - a New Zealand born journalist who married a French millionaire and lived the high life in Marseille, while secretly working for the resistance and helped over a thousand people escape from German occupied France. 'Nancy was finally exposed, and had to walk over the Pyrenees herself - saying goodbye to the man she loved and everything she held dear" says Scott. "But she did the most extraordinary thing. She's top of the Gestapo's 'most wanted list', she'll probably be tortured for the rest of the war if she's ever caught. But she gets to England, immediately joins the secret service and volunteers to go back!" Lady Spy - Nancy Wake features her biographer, noted Aussie commentator Peter FitzSimons.

Jim Sheddan may just be the luckiest Kiwi pilot of WWII. He once claimed to have been one of Hitlers best weapons, because he crashed so many British planes. His most amazing escape was in the English Channel. After being shot down off the French Coast, he managed the 'impossible' by safely crash landing his Typhoon fighter. But even his rescue turned into an epic, when the rescue plane broke up as well.

Allan Yeoman is the man with nine lives. After a disastrous start to World War II, Yeoman spent three and a half years inside, trying to get out. Allan's incarceration was never going to last he made several bold escape attempts. "Standard book of field service regulations says that it is the duty of an officer in the British army, once captured to escape" declares 91 year old Katikati resident Allan Yeoman. So he did.

New Zealand's most famous of reluctant heroes is Charles Upham. Captain Upham is the most highly decorated Allied soldier among the millions who fought in WWII, and the only infantry officer to ever win the Victoria Cross twice. But this great Kiwi hero was painfully shy, and hated the adulation and recognition that came with his awards. "Until he died, Upham always claimed that he did no more than many other soldiers, and certainly no more than his duty" says Scott. "But I think you'd call that typical Kiwi modesty. He put himself in danger to save others, he helped secure the retreat of tens of thousands of Kiwi troops from Crete, and he did it with almost single handed attacks on strong German positions.

In the highly secret, highly dangerous world of dropping spies, Kiwi pilot Geoff Rothwell operated from a mysterious airfield that Hitler himself dubbed a 'nest of vipers'. This is the tale of an 84 year old Kerikeri resident who lived the life of Riley. Like most pilots, Geoff dreamed of flying fighters - his course-mates even nicknamed him 'Spit' (short for Spitfire) because he talked about them so often. "But at the end of my course," Rothwell grins 'the instructor took one look at my 6 ft 3, and said 'you'll never fit in a Spitfire my boy, it's bombers for you'."

Our most decorated living soldier is a quiet lad from the tiny south Canterbury town of Waimate. During WWII, they called him 'The Ferret.' The enigmatic Eric Batchelor refused promotion to the officer's ranks, preferring life as a humble Sergeant. This final episode of the Kiwis At War series is the dramatic tale of a soldier's soldier, whose record ranks him one of the very best infantrymen among the millions who fought in the 'Second War'.