History's Secret Heroes

BBC Radio 4

Helena Bonham Carter shines light on extraordinary stories from World War Two.

  • 28 minutes 53 seconds
    17. Charles Drew and the Blood Bank

    Charles Drew, an American doctor, led the creation and use of blood banks, saving countless lives both in war and in peacetime. But while he worked around the clock to save lives, he would be dragged into a battle on a different front: the battle for civil rights and racial equality in the United States.

    Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

    A BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

    Producer: Suniti Somaiya Assistant Producer: Lorna Reader Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

    13 May 2024, 4:00 am
  • 29 minutes 7 seconds
    16. Raymond Gurême: Escape Artist

    A young circus performer from a traveling family in France breaks out of an internment camp and dedicates himself to bringing the Nazis down.

    Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

    A BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

    Producer: Suniti Somaiya Edit Producer: Melvin Rickarby Assistant Producer: Lorna Reader Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

    6 May 2024, 4:00 am
  • 28 minutes 48 seconds
    15. Josefina Guerrero: The Maid of Manila

    After contracting Hansen’s Disease, then known as leprosy, Josefina Guerrero makes a remarkable decision. She becomes a spy for the resistance in Manila.

    Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

    A BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

    Producer: Suniti Somaiya Edit Producer: Melvin Rickarby Assistant Producer: Lorna Reader Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

    29 April 2024, 4:00 am
  • 29 minutes
    14. The Unbreakable Navajo Code

    A group of Native American soldiers use their language to devise a secret code for the Allies. Can the Navajo code help win one of the fiercest battles of the war?

    Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

    A BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

    Producer: Suniti Somaiya Edit Producer: Melvin Rickarby Assistant Producer: Lorna Reader Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

    22 April 2024, 4:00 am
  • 28 minutes 48 seconds
    13. Christine Granville: The Spy Who Skied In from the Cold

    Thrill-seeker Christine Granville offers to ski across enemy lines and over the deadly Carpathian mountains, into Nazi-occupied Poland to gather intelligence for the British. Churchill would later call her his favourite spy.

    Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

    A BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

    Producer: Suniti Somaiya Edit Producer: Melvin Rickarby Assistant Producer: Lorna Reader Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

    15 April 2024, 4:00 am
  • 29 minutes 21 seconds
    12. Flying High with Johnny Smythe

    In Sierra Leone, navigator Johnny Smythe becomes one of the first West African airmen to join the Royal Air Force. His fellow crew consider him as a lucky charm, but as he faces a series of terrifying flights, will his good fortune run out?

    Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

    A BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

    Producers: Suniti Somaiya and Elaina Boateng Edit Producer: Melvin Rickarby Assistant Producer: Lorna Reader Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

    8 April 2024, 4:00 am
  • 29 minutes 18 seconds
    11. The Extraordinary Cook Sisters

    How did Ida and Louise Cook, two opera-loving sisters from England, help dozens of Jewish people escape Nazi Germany?

    Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

    A BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

    Producer: Suniti Somaiya Edit Producer: Melvin Rickarby Assistant Producer: Lorna Reader Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

    1 April 2024, 4:00 am
  • 2 minutes 24 seconds
    Introducing History's Secret Heroes Series 2

    Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for tales of deception, resistance and courage in History's Secret Heroes Series 2.

    25 March 2024, 9:23 am
  • 30 minutes 30 seconds
    10. Arslan Rezniqi and the Besa Code

    Albania was one of the few European countries to have a larger Jewish population at the end of the war than it had at the beginning. What role did Arslan Rezniqi, a Kosovan Albanian merchant, play in this?

    Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

    A BBC Studios Podcast production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

    Producer: Amie Liebowitz Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann

    2 August 2023, 4:00 am
  • 28 minutes 46 seconds
    9. Jack King and the Fifth Column

    Eric Roberts, a bank worker from Surrey, joins MI5. He is given the alias Jack King and his job is to hunt for British Nazi-sympathisers.

    Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

    A BBC Studios Podcast production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

    Producer: Amie Liebowitz Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann

    26 July 2023, 4:00 am
  • 28 minutes 53 seconds
    8. Skiing Commandos

    Can a team of Norwegian men stop Hitler from obtaining the materials to create an atomic bomb large enough to destroy London?

    Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

    A BBC Studios Podcast production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

    Producer: Clem Hitchcock Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann

    19 July 2023, 4:00 am
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