Season 1
7 episodes
0 min. per episode
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A fearless Kiwi hero navigates perilous missions, battling tyranny and personal demons, revealing extraordinary courage amid unimaginable chaos.
Episodes
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.
Kiwi spies, escape artists, survivors and heroes all take their place in Kiwis At War, a new all-action, all-Kiwi documentary series. Each episode is devoted to the story of one brave New Zealander from World War Two, and describes their cunning, daring and bravery. "There are some great interviews, with great characters, and each episode dramatizes real-life ripping yarns" says senior producer Gary Scott of Wellington production company The Gibson Group. "In some ways the series has been inspired by tales that I have heard from my own grandfather" says Scott, who is also a New Zealand historian. "Ordinary people did the most extraordinary things, showed great courage, and went on epic adventures in the middle of all the horrifying things going on around them." Some of Kiwis At War action heroes are already well known. Lady spy Nancy Wake is a living legend - nicknamed 'the White Mouse', Wake was one of the most effective secret agents the European campaign, while two-time Victoria Cross winner Captain Charles Upham is the most highly decorated Allied soldier of the War.