All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S04E03.Escobars.Castle.1080p.DISC.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-DoGSO_track3_[eng]

*

Narrator: a ruined compound
On the edge of a peninsula,

Home to a famous outlaw...

It clearly took a huge amount
Of money to build this place,

So why did they leave?
What happened here?

Why is it so badly damaged?

Narrator:
...Alien-looking structures
With no apparent purpose...

They sit isolated and marooned

On this piece
Of abandoned marshland,

And they feel other-worldly.

And they feel other-worldly.

A

Narrator: ...And cottages
Concealing an explosive secret.

Underneath these charming
Destroyed houses

Is clearly something
A bit sinister.

*

Narrator: engineering
Marvels now abandoned...

Ruins shrouded in mystery.

Within these decaying structures
Are the echoes of history.

Within these decaying structures
Are the echoes of history.

They speak of death
And destruction,

But also human ingenuity
And endeavor.

Each haunted shell ready
To be unmasked

And tell its own unique story.

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Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

In the rolling hills of guatape
In colombia,

Beside a shimmering
Turquoise lake,

Is a battered ruin that looks
Altogether out of place.

*

Meigs: on the shores
Of this enormous lake

Stands the ruins of something.

It's not really clear what.

Bell: it looks forgotten,

And in places,
It's badly damaged,

Yet it clearly bears the
Hallmarks of a luxury resort.

Interpreter: many people
Who come and visit this mansion

Feel all sorts
Of strange things.

Narrator:
A collection of buildings

In various states of disrepair

Sprawl across 20 acres

Of this dramatic peninsula.

Throughout the entire complex,

There's a funny
Combination of things --

Towers that look like
They might be guard towers

Or maybe it's
An ornamental feature.

It looks a little bit
Like a cross

Between a playboy mansion
And some kind of military fort.

Between a playboy mansion
And some kind of military fort.

Bell: vegetation consumes
Much of the structure now,

Growing through the roof
And the crumbling facade.

Meigs: as you get closer,
You can see some odd details.

The walls are very thick
Or hollow in some places.

There's signs of some kind
Of enormous explosion.

So this place clearly
Has a story to tell.

Narrator: who lived here?

What caused this destruction?

And why did this become

And why did this become

One of the most
Dangerous places on earth?

In 1983, hundreds of laborers,

Each with a specific job,

Got to work
On this idyllic complex.

No expense was spared.

It had a swimming pool,
Tennis courts, a football pitch.

None of which sound out
Of the ordinary,

But that football pitch
Doubled up as a helipad.

And it also had its own
Private seaplane dock.

This place was anything
But ordinary.

This place was anything
But ordinary.

Narrator: william jiménez is
A local resident

And was employed here
As a security guard.

*

It took almost seven years
To build the structures

That you can see here today.

Narrator: through these long
Years of construction,

The surrounding area
Went through a period

Of extraordinary transformation
And not for the better.

Just 25 miles away
Is the town of medellin.

Just 25 miles away
Is the town of medellin.

*

By the mid-1980s,

It was referred to as the murder
Capital of the world.

It was home to the infamous
Medellin cartel,

Which at its height,

Was amassing up to $60 million
A day in drug profits,

And its founding father
Was pablo escobar.

When you're pablo escobar,
You can never really relax.

He was always surrounded
By security.

He was always surrounded
By security.

He had armed guards.

He had walls that were built
Like the walls of a fortress.

Escobar
Wanted to be ready for anything.

Narrator: needing a safe retreat
For his family,

Escobar built this --
Hacienda la manuela.

Named after his own daughter,

It was his family who would
Primarily enjoy this complex.

Interpreter: his family used to
Stay here occasionally.

His mother, his wife,
And his children.

His mother, his wife,
And his children.

It was an ordinary thing.

It was not a hiding place.

Narrator: this was one of
A string of palatial properties

Enjoyed by escobar's family.

One nearby included
A bullfighting arena and a zoo.

Hacienda la manuela,
Though less extravagant,

Had secret compartments,
Cavities,

And a maze of corridors

To go with the helicopters
And speedboats

Ready to provide a rapid getaway
Across the surrounding waters.

Ready to provide a rapid getaway
Across the surrounding waters.

For all its luxury,

Security was always a priority.

Pablo escobar had this
Family retreat

Protected by a 120-strong
Security staff.

It was basically a small army.

Meigs: imagine the paradox
Of this place.

Escobar wants it to be
A lovely family retreat,

Swimming pool for the kids.

Meanwhile, he's got shipments of
Drugs and cash moving through.

He's got the place surrounded
By armed guards and seaplanes

He's got the place surrounded
By armed guards and seaplanes

And speedboats
Coming in and out.

It can't have been the most
Relaxing spot in the world.

Narrator: pablo himself was only
Seen here in short flashes.

*

Interpreter: pablo was here,
Two or three times maximum,

But he used to spend
Only a few hours here and leave.

He wouldn't even stay
Overnight.

When you're the seventh
Richest man in the world,

You got you watch
Your back at all times.

Narrator:
By the early 1990s,

Narrator:
By the early 1990s,

Escobar was embroiled
In an all-out war

With the colombian government.

And after a stint in a
Luxury jail of his own design,

He found himself
On the run again.

With at least 80% of the u.S.
Cocaine market

Supplied by his medellin cartel,

He was now a target not just
For colombian authorities

And the u.S. Government,
But also rival cartels.

And the staff at this mansion,

And the staff at this mansion,

Including security
Guard william jiménez,

Were soon drawn
Into the conflict.

In 1993, some of
Escobar's rivals

Managed to infiltrate
The compound.

Interpreter: what happened was
That six more pickups

And one van
Came full of people.

It was around midnight.

They placed two bombs, one on
That side and one on this side.

Meigs:
They stashed this huge quantity
Of explosives in a bathroom

Meigs:
They stashed this huge quantity
Of explosives in a bathroom

And blew it up.

Interpreter: this is where they
Placed the biggest bomb.

There was a huge explosion.

Everything you can imagine
Was shaking.

In this area,
There was a bathroom,

And that is where
The bomb exploded upwards...

And destroyed
The walls around it.

It was such powerful explosion.

Narrator:
Who was behind this explosion?

And was this beginning
Of the end for escobar?

*

Narrator:
Outside medellin, colombia,

Is a dilapidated retreat

Once enjoyed by drug lord
Pablo escobar's family.

In 1993, bombs were smuggled
Into the compound,

Causing a huge explosion.

The organization thought to
Be responsible was los pepes.

Short for persecuted
By pablo escobar,

Short for persecuted
By pablo escobar,

This was a vigilante group

Formed by victims
Of escobar's drug war.

C.I.A. Documents released
In 2008 suggest

Colombian intelligence officers
Were in contact with los pepes.

Meigs: in fact, it was probably
Funded by his rivals

In the cali cartel.

We'll never really know
For sure,

But this bombing was kind of
The beginning of the end

For escobar.

For escobar.

Narrator:
Medellin became a battleground

For escobar's war of supremacy
Against rival cartels

And also the colombian
And american governments.

Escobar was offering
Reward money

To anyone who would kill
A colombian police officer.

So the bombing of this mansion
Was too good an opportunity

For the police to pass up.

Police forces quickly
Swooped in

And seized all the drugs
And money

And seized all the drugs
And money

Now exposed by
The damage from the explosion.

Narrator:
Though no one had been killed,

For william and many others

Who worked here
At escobar's mansion,

The impact was
Still devastating.

Interpreter: after the attack,
Things were really hard.

Not because of the mansion
Itself,

But because a lot of people --

I'm talking 200, 300 people
From this area lost their jobs.

That was the hardest part to me.

Narrator: meanwhile,
The net was closing in

Around the so-called king
Of cocaine.

He corrupted the colombian
Government

And law enforcement
To a large degree.

Nonetheless, they still
Came after him,

And the end wasn't
Too far away for him.

Narrator: leading the manhunt
Was colonel hugo martinez

Of colombia's national police.

Tracking escobar for years,

Tracking escobar for years,

He had turned down
Various bribes,

His life under constant threat.

Martinez eventually managed to
Pinpoint escobar's location

Using radio
Triangulation technology.

*

A firefight ensued.

Escobar and his bodyguard
Were shot down

As the fled
Across the rooftops.

He died one of the greatest
Outlaws in history,

The collateral damage there
For all to see.

The collateral damage there
For all to see.

Interpreter:
As it happens, in most wars,

Many innocent people die,

People who have nothing
To do with it,

And this has happened
In medellin, in bogotá,

And in many
Other places in colombia.

*

Narrator:
Today, escobar's properties

Face a range of fates.

Face a range of fates.

Some have been demolished,

Others turned into theme parks,

But this ruined mansion
Remains trapped

In a strange form of limbo.

Interpreter: at the moment,
I'm in a legal dispute

With the government to have
Ownership of this mansion.

I have been looking after it.

I have maintained and ensured

That no one else
Would invade it.

Bell:
Deciding on the proper use
For a drug-funded property

Bell:
Deciding on the proper use
For a drug-funded property

And the profits from its sale

Is a touchy and legally
Complicated subject.

To this day, pablo escobar

Remains a hugely divisive
Figure in colombia.

There are those who still
Revere him

As this national hero,

But for others caught in
The crossfire, in the violence,

He represents everything wrong
With the country.

*

In the thick forests
Of wuensdorf,

In the thick forests
Of wuensdorf,

On the outskirts of berlin,

Are what initially appear
Like residential houses

Typical of this region.

*

Nusbacher: what looks like
Pretty holiday cottages

That people ought
To be vacationing in

Have clearly been
Smashed to pieces.

Gough: the closer you look,
You can't help but wonder

If these are just
Residential houses.

The smashed concrete is
Exceedingly thick,

And in some places,
Clearly reinforced.

And in some places,
Clearly reinforced.

Nusbacher:
They're entrances to something
That is much, much bigger.

Underneath these charming
Destroyed houses

Is clearly something
A bit sinister.

Narrator:
Deeper beneath the tree canopy

Is an
Innocuous-looking building.

Access to it however,
Is far from ordinary.

There's almost a feeling here
Of entering into a secret vault.

There's almost a feeling here
Of entering into a secret vault.

Gough: whatever they were doing,
They were clearly trying

To disguise and conceal
This from the world.

Narrator:
This complex has been home

To several of the world's
Most powerful armies,

As director of the site
Werner borchert reveals.

Borchert: I think this
Location's really fascinating

Because there is no other place

Where the german kaiser,
Later hitler,

And then the russians have left
Their military marks.

Narrator: in september 1939,
It was the turn of the nazis,

Narrator: in september 1939,
It was the turn of the nazis,

And the date
Was no coincidence.

This was one of the most
Important communication centers

For the german army
During world war ii.

And guess what --

It was finished just in time
For hitler's poland campaign.

*

Narrator: this is maybach 1,
The headquarters

For the high command
Of the german armed forces,

And at its core,
The zeppelin bunker.

And at its core,
The zeppelin bunker.

The communication facilities

And the command and control
Facilities in these bunkers

Are absolutely
The beating heart

At the center
Of the nazi war effort.

It's essentially very close

To what the pentagon
Is in washington.

Nusbacher:
In the english-speaking world,

We are really fascinated

With the way
That the enigma code was broken.

And the zeppelin bunker
Underneath germany,

And the zeppelin bunker
Underneath germany,

This is where all the messages
Came from

That we were listening to and
Breaking at bletchley park.

*

Narrator:
But does all this smashed
Concrete and mangled metal

Indicate that allied forces
Managed to find and destroy

This central communications hub?

*

Narrator: in thick forests
Outside berlin

Is a bunker system that
Functioned as the nerve center

As the of the nazi
War effort in world war ii.

But this site was well-hidden
From prying eyes.

Made to look like
Civilian houses,

They were given shingled roofs
And plastered walls.

They had fake windows,

And the steel-armored doors
Were covered with wood,

And the steel-armored doors
Were covered with wood,

So they looked like
Just ordinary household doors.

Narrator:
Heavily disguised,

They were
Also built low to the ground

And scattered across a large
Area in thick pine forest.

Corum: they are not laid out
As you would expect.

This, from the air,

Does not look anything
Like a military installation.

Narrator:
At the midpoint of world war ii,

The allies
Were in danger of defeat.

A direct hit on this facility
Could make all the difference.

A direct hit on this facility
Could make all the difference.

If you're going to try to bomb
This complex,

It actually requires a little
More difficult navigation

Than it does on a city

Where you'd have
A very clear radar return,

You would have landmarks,
Such as major rivers,

That you can use as
A reference point for targeting.

But you have something
On the outskirts,

It's harder to find
Those reference points.

Narrator:
Away from the glare of berlin,

Narrator:
Away from the glare of berlin,

Finding it presented
Allied bombers

With a serious challenge.

Added to the fact that they
Appeared from the air

Like the homes
Of innocent civilians,

Much of the facility
Was buried beneath ground.

A ring of subterranean tunnels
Connected all 12 house bunkers.

These, in turn, were linked
To the zeppelin bunker,

Which covered an area of 50,000
Square feet across two levels.

Which covered an area of 50,000
Square feet across two levels.

With walls over 10 feet thick

And encased in an overall
Protective concrete shell,

Construction workers
Were only allowed

To work on-site for short stints

So as not to gain
Too much knowledge of its scale.

Yet a stroke of luck
Would finally reveal

This secret location
To the allies.

We have records in
The u.S. National archives

Of interrogations
In february of 1944

Of interrogations
In february of 1944

Where communications people

Who've been captured are talking
About this bunker

In the countryside near berlin.

Narrator: at this point,
Allied intelligence

Finally realized
This compound's significance.

Finding and destroying it --
That was another question.

*

It took the u.S. Army air force
The better part of a year

To pinpoint the location of
The german army command bunker,

To pinpoint the location of
The german army command bunker,

And they put in a serious raid
On it, a big raid.

Narrator: 675 u.S. Planes
Came swooping in

On march 15, 1945.

Could the u.S. Air force
Break communications

To the front lines
And cripple the nazi war effort?

Of the 20 people who died here,
All civil population.

Because the civil population
Was not protected by a bunker...

Because the civil population
Was not protected by a bunker...

Narrator: despite
These civilian casualties,

The facility was left
With barely a scratch,

Communications disrupted
For only a few hours.

But by april 1945,
It was the soviets

Threatening to destroy
This compound.

The red army tanks
Advance so rapidly

That the germans have no time
To put together a plan.

Narrator: adolf hitler was
Shocked to hear soviet tanks

Were less thank an hour
From maybach 1.

Were less thank an hour
From maybach 1.

The german army's high command
Was about to be crushed.

It turned out that the soviets
Had to pause

To refuel with more diesel,

So the whole headquarters
Bugs out

While the soviets
Are refueling their tanks.

Narrator: having refused
Evacuation before,

Hitler now signed off the
Relocation of the headquarters.

As staff fled, they were
Mistakenly attacked

By their own planes.

By their own planes.

Meanwhile, the soviets rolled
Into the compound unopposed.

And what did they find?

Allegedly, four men.

Only four, three of which
Surrendered immediately.

The fourth was too drunk
To know what was going on.

Narrator: much of the valuable
Equipment was dismantled

And sent to the soviet union,

Where stalin wanted a similar
Complex built for himself.

But according to the potsdam
Agreement of august 1945,

But according to the potsdam
Agreement of august 1945,

The soviets were compelled
To blow up

Captured military installations.

They did just that,
But in a tactical way.

Nusbacher: they blow up a lot of
Stuff on the surface,

But they leave a lot
Of the tunnels

And a lot of the bunkers.

As soon as you go downstairs,

You see that the soviets
Were clever enough

To leave the guts
Of this installation intact.

*

*

Narrator: the soviets eventually
Renovated zeppelin

And the tunnel system
To house

Their high command
Of soviet troops in germany.

They even upgraded the bunker
To be nuclear-proof.

Nusbacher: this bunker was going
To be the command post

For the soviet
Destruction of nato.

This command post was going
To be the place

Where the commanders
Who destroyed europe

Where the commanders
Who destroyed europe

In world war iii
Would sit in order to do it.

Narrator: thankfully,

World war iii
Never came to pass.

But the last russian soldier
Only left in 1994,

After decades of fear
And uncertainty

Through the cold war years,

When world war iii
Felt like a very real threat.

*

Today, the ruins of this complex
Provide a fascinating window

Into warfare through the ages.

Into warfare through the ages.

Borchert: make not war again --
This is our message here,

And that's why we present
The military past here

In zossen-wuensdorf.
That's the reason.

That's our message --
Make not war again.

*

Narrator:
In the south of portugal,

Just a few miles from the border
With spain,

Is a place with
An otherworldly appearance.

*

*

Jerram: it's almost like a scar
Has been opened up.

You've got the lovely greenery
Of the ground around it,

But in this middle area,

This sort of swath of deserted
And destroyed landscape.

Meigs: you've got all these
Interesting colors.

You've got these black heaps.

You've got yellow bands.

You've got this reddish water.

And it's quite beautiful
In a way,

But also kind of sinister
Because these colors,

They're not supposed to be here
On the surface of the earth.

They're not supposed to be here
On the surface of the earth.

*

Narrator: spread across this
Barren landscape

Are gutted buildings, forgotten
Scraps of old rail tracks,

And strange towers
On the brink of disintegration.

*

But the decaying structures

Are far from
The most alarming sight.

The water itself
Is dark and eerie,

With this kind of red rim
Around it.

It's all very, very stark
And a little bit crazy.

It's all very, very stark
And a little bit crazy.

Auerbach:
The whole area -- the buildings,

Their damage,
Their degradation --

There's the sense that
Something poisoned them,

And it poisoned the land, too.

Narrator: so what created
This hellish landscape?

And why does it remain
A scarred territory to this day?

*

The scorched earth and decrepit
Buildings of this site

The scorched earth and decrepit
Buildings of this site

Are not the only marks
Left on this land,

For just nearby is
A small cemetery

That holds the clue
To who was behind all this.

Meigs: here we are in the middle
Of portugal,

And here's this old graveyard,

And the names on the graves
Are all english names.

Auerbach: we don't necessarily
Think of it now,

But back in the 19th century,

Portugal and spain were really
A land of opportunity.

There were riches
In the ground there,

And the english wanted them.

Narrator: but what were
The english searching for?

And why does this site
Remain lifeless today?

*

Narrator:
In the 19th century,

An english company leased this
Land in southeastern portugal

And began mining.

But they weren't the first
To recognize the value

Hidden below, as joao rolha,

An officer for the local
Municipality, explains.

Established in the 1850s

And stretching for miles across
The local alentejo landscape,

This is the sao domingos mine.

Meigs: this mine was a massive
Industrial operation,

And in order to run it,

They needed to make huge
Investments in infrastructure.

Auerbach: this is going to be
The first place in portugal

Auerbach: this is going to be
The first place in portugal

That has a railway line
Extended to it.

It's gonna be the first place
In portugal

That has electricity.

Meigs:
And all the way down the valley,

You have these various
Processing centers,

A rail line that would carry
The materials from the mine,

And ultimately going all the way
Out to the coast, to the port.

Narrator: the new investment was
Creating jobs

And advancing industry
Across the region.

But the state of the land today

Shows that not everything
Was positive.

Shows that not everything
Was positive.

This is going to bring portugal
Into the modern times,

But it's gonna come
At a terrible cost,

And its legacy is gonna be
A frightening one.

Narrator: clearly, there was
Money to be made here.

But the clue to
What they were after

Comes from
The disconcerting-colored water

That lingers in pools
Across the site.

Meigs: normally, when you're out
In the countryside

And you see a body of water,
It's a very attractive thing,

And you want to go for a dip.

And you want to go for a dip.

You see this pool of black,
Reddish water --

Clearly, something's
Very wrong with this.

Narrator: incredibly,
Just a few years ago,

This pool of dark water
Somehow caught on fire.

This pool of dark water
Somehow caught on fire.

What ignited the fire
Remains a mystery,

But the coloration helps reveal
What was being mined here

But the coloration helps reveal
What was being mined here

And starts to explain why
This land remains scarred today.

When I see red coloration
Like this,

I immediately think of iron.

The water's highly contaminated
With a lot of iron oxide in it.

But I know that it wasn't iron

That they were after
In this particular area.

When the british came in,
They were looking for a variety

Of valuable things --
Gold, silver, copper.

These things often tend
To travel together in geology.

These things often tend
To travel together in geology.

Ultimately, they focus
On the copper.

Narrator:
The 19th century was a time
Of huge change across europe.

But while the threat of portugal
Being left behind was very real,

This mine was doing its best
To drag the country

Into the industrial revolution.

Jerram: copper is a very
Desirable metal.

It has lots of good properties.

It's highly conductive,
And it's got thermal properties.

And in the late 1800s,
It was being used for wiring,

And in the late 1800s,
It was being used for wiring,

The advent of electricity,
And so on.

It was really quite
A desirable metal.

Narrator: but to keep this place
Profitable,

It would soon
Have to be adapted.

Meigs: later, they focused
On the sulfur,

Which is really just
A contaminant in the copper.

But in the 20th century,
They discovered

That sulfuric acid

Was very valuable in all kinds
Of industrial processes,

Like making fertilizer.

So they started mining
This just for the sulfur.

So they started mining
This just for the sulfur.

Narrator:
The crumbling towers and ruins

Show what's left of
The infrastructure of this mine.

But it was the extraction
And separation

Of the metals and chemicals

That left the true wound
Deep in the earth below.

You have to process the rocks,
So they needed a lot of water.

They needed to heat and smelt
These particular minerals

To essentially remove the copper
From the compounds

That they're associated in.

Narrator: the contaminated water
From that processing

Narrator: the contaminated water
From that processing

Had to go somewhere,

And the land began to absorb it.

*

Meigs: while they were pumping
Out the water,

They were also pumping out
All kinds of toxins,

And lord only knows
What happened to people

That lived downstream.

Narrator:
As the devastated land suggests,

Dark days were on the horizon.

*

Narrator:
Early in the 20th century,

With the sao domingos mine
In full flow,

Contaminated water
From the processing

Was leaving a trail
Of destruction in its wake.

*

Meigs:
When you mix sulfur with water,

You get sulfuric acid --
Battery acid --

Incredibly dangerous,
Toxic stuff.

And this landscape, you can see,

Is polluted with this
From top to bottom.

Narrator: not only was
The ground poisoned,

Toxic gases from the sulfur
Would have been filling the air,

As well as the lungs
Of the workers.

Eventually, the workers
Are going to really start

To feel the effects of that.

The stuff being pulled
Out of the ground

Is going to burn
Their equipment.

It's going to burn
Their clothes.

It's going to burn
Their clothes.

It's even gonna burn their skin.

*

Narrator: but while the workers
And their health

Suffered through the years,

Their welfare was never the
Priority for the mining company,

As they found out
When the mine closed in 1966.

Narrator:
Both the mine and the people
Of this area had been abandoned.

Narrator:
Both the mine and the people
Of this area had been abandoned.

Today, there is hope

That through an extensive
Cleanup operation,

The land can be transformed
For the better.

But it's a daunting task.

You know, you've heard the term
"Fire and brimstone"

To describe hell.

Well, brimstone is the
Old-fashioned name for sulfur.

So when you see a place
Like this polluted with sulfur,

It really is literally
A hellish environment.

*

*

Narrator: on the coast of kent
In southern england,

Strange formations
Unexpectedly emerge

Out of an otherwise empty
Marshland.

Meigs: you come across these
Giant concrete structures

Looming up out of the ground

Like some kind of
A concrete satellite dish.

Selwood:
There's something otherworldly
And ethereal about them.

Selwood:
There's something otherworldly
And ethereal about them.

They're eerie, as if they come
From another age.

Osborne: I first saw these when
I was a teenager --

These strange,
Science-fiction-type objects,

Miles from anywhere.

Narrator: two saucer-like
Constructions sit alongside

A huge, curved wall
Set amongst peaceful lakes.

These are strange concrete
Structures out in the marshland

Along the coast
With apparently no real purpose.

Along the coast
With apparently no real purpose.

Selwood: they give absolutely no
Sense of why they're there.

Corum: 99% of people, even the
People that live there,

Probably have very little idea
What these things are.

Narrator: the simple appearance
Of these constructions

Belies their
Technological importance.

Corum:
These are concrete structures,

But they are very sophisticated
Early-20th-century technology.

But they are very sophisticated
Early-20th-century technology.

And it was all driven
By world war I.

[ machine-gun fire ]

Narrator:
Long-distance artillery fire was
The key weapon of world war I.

Microphones were used to try
And get a fix

On the location
Of artillery guns.

Known as "Gun ranging,"
Similar technology is used today

By u.S. Police to
Triangulate incidents

By u.S. Police to
Triangulate incidents

Involving gunfire
In major cities.

As the great war progressed,

Innovative sound-detection
Devices were developed

To meet the challenge
Of new technology in warfare.

But the position of these
Structures, pointing out to sea,

Clearly show that artillery fire
Was not their primary concern.

The location of these
Structures --

Right on the coast, facing,
Overlooking the channel --

Right on the coast, facing,
Overlooking the channel --

Gives you a clue
As to their purpose.

Meigs:
They were built to pick up

The sounds
Of approaching enemy aircraft.

Even a few minutes
Of extra warning

Before those planes
Become visible in the sky

Could make a massive difference
On the ability

To get your planes in the air
To defend the country

And to get your civilians
Into shelters.

Narrator: could these concrete
Monoliths help save britain

In their most
Desperate time of need?

In their most
Desperate time of need?

*

Narrator:
On the southern coast of england

Are three initially baffling
Objects in an empty marshland.

These are the denge
Sound mirrors,

Rare survivors of a chain
Of acoustic listening devices

Built along the south coast of
England in the interwar period

To detect incoming
Aerial threats.

Near the tip of a headland
At dungeness,

Near the tip of a headland
At dungeness,

They lie just 25 miles
From the french coast

And the european continent.

There is no other major source
Of sound or distraction nearby.

You can focus out at sea
On sound.

Osborne:
The simplest way to understand

How the mirrors worked
Is what you do yourself.

If you want to hear something,
You do that.

And that's simply
What the mirrors are.

And that's simply
What the mirrors are.

They're a much larger version
Of that.

They concentrate sound to the
Sound collector and amplify it.

*

Narrator: the first giant mirror
Was constructed in 1928,

Designed by gifted
Physicist percy rothwell.

Lessons were quickly learnt.

A larger, 30-foot mirror,
Built alongside the first one,

Was set at a different angle.

This gave no advantage
In terms of range,

This gave no advantage
In terms of range,

But it could track
The trajectory of aircraft

With greater accuracy.

Then, in late 1930,
They went one step further.

The star of the show
Was the long mirror.

This was 200 foot long
And 26 foot high --

By far and away
The largest structure

Of its kind ever created.

It wasn't just a big wall
Of concrete

That you stood in front of.

It was actually a very
Sophisticated scientific device.

Narrator: the curved surfaces
Concentrate the sound waves

Narrator: the curved surfaces
Concentrate the sound waves

That bounce off the walls,

Focusing the waves onto
A sound collector or microphone.

An operator stationed
In front of the mirror

Would use a stethoscope

To find the direction
Of the sound source,

Moving the sound collector
Inside the mirror bowl.

The results were
Cross-referenced

With those of other mirrors

To calculate an aircraft's
Height, speed, and flight path.

While the sound mirrors
Look basic or even crude,

While the sound mirrors
Look basic or even crude,

Actually operating them
Was an incredibly skilled job.

To distinguish between
The sounds

Of different sorts of engines --
Some aircraft, some ship --

And other noise was
Incredibly difficult work

And required such focus
And intensity

That operators could only work
In shifts of 40 minutes.

One of the limitations
Of the acoustic technology was,

Of course, it collected
An amplified all sound.

If there were
Closeup bird noises,

If there were
Closeup bird noises,

That would often be collected

Instead of the aircraft noise
That they were searching for.

Narrator: to intensify
The challenge even further,

Aviation technology
Was developing

At an extraordinary rate.

The new and higher speeds
Of aircraft

That you're getting by
The late 1920s and early 1930s,

And you're talking
About new cowlings,

Less drag, powerful engines.

So your speed is virtually
Doubled.

So your speed is virtually
Doubled.

Zeppelins traveled at about
60 miles an hour

And made a hell
Of a lot of noise,

So they were very easy to track.

But once you got on further
Than early 1930s,

You've got aircraft traveling
At around 200 miles an hour.

You've got fighters traveling
At over 300 miles an hour.

And so even if you can get 12,
14, 15 miles' warning,

You're only talking about
A couple of minutes.

Narrator:
With tensions growing and the
Rise of fascism across europe,

The threat of another world war
Loomed large on the horizon,

And hitler was investing heavily
In his new air force.

And hitler was investing heavily
In his new air force.

The other difficulty was
The immense advances

In aeronautical technology
Under the nazis.

The speed of aircraft increased
Very rapidly,

Which meant that the job
Of detecting in time

Was increasingly difficult.

Narrator:
Would these sound mirrors
Provide adequate warning,

Should hitler's new fighter
Planes come roaring

Across the english channel?

Corum: so, you have relatively
Little warning time

With a sound system.

With a sound system.

But the development of radar
Has been coming apace,

And it is ready to take over
Just at the time

That aircraft
Are becoming too fast.

This new technology has been
Developed to the point

That you can emplace
It along the british coast

And take over from
The sound detection.

Very soon after the development
And installation

Of the acoustic mirrors,
Radar was invented in 1935.

And that was such a futuristic
Technology

And that was such a futuristic
Technology

That it made the sound mirrors
Instantly obsolete.

Meigs: they look almost like
Some kind of ancient monument.

And in a way,
They are monuments.

They're monuments to
A defunct technology.

Narrator:
While they were quickly
Rendered obsolete by radar,

Their development
Was not in vain

And would prove pivotal
In the battle of britain.

Corum: you see, it wasn't just
The technology

That was key
In the battle of britain.

It was the organization
That was behind that.

It was the organization
That was behind that.

All that radar did was it gave
Much greater accuracy and range

To an already existing
Communication system

That went back
To those headquarters,

Hubs that coordinated the ground

And the air defense
That worked so well,

And kept britain free
And saved the world in 1940.

Narrator:
Today, these old devices sit
In a protected nature reserve

And provide a fascinating
Glimpse into a bygone era.

And provide a fascinating
Glimpse into a bygone era.

Osborne: although the mirrors
Are somewhat

Inaccessible on these islands

And only open to the public once
Or twice a year,

That has a benefit of preserving
This little piece of history,

Which otherwise must surely
Have perished.