The British Fashion Designer Who Oversaw Countless WW2 Assassinations | Secret War | Timeline

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  • čas přidán 26. 02. 2024
  • A celebrated postwar fashion designer and style icon, Hardy Amies was one of the most unlikely spymasters of World War II. Discover how this man was not only a talent in designing clothing but also in orchestrating complex secret operations.
    Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free exclusive podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world-renowned historians Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Matt Lewis and more. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code 'TIMELINE' 👉 access.historyhit.com/
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    This channel is part of the History Hit Network. Any queries, please contact owned-enquiries@littledotstudios.com

Komentáře • 202

  • @lesleyghostdragon3149
    @lesleyghostdragon3149 Před 2 měsíci +75

    New meaning to "Killer Fashion"...
    Well done Brits 👏
    And thank you for another wonderful documentary 🙏

    • @John-ih2bx
      @John-ih2bx Před 2 měsíci +1

      @lesleyghostdragon3149 what a moniker!

  • @johnlansing2902
    @johnlansing2902 Před 2 měsíci +56

    It takes a special kind of courage to risk your life knowing people will never hear of your exploits . To be willing to work and possibly die in the dark with not a person to bowing their head with your passing . God bless you all .

    • @Tawadeb
      @Tawadeb Před 2 měsíci +3

      Well said

    • @gb-jg1ud
      @gb-jg1ud Před 2 měsíci

      Amies did not risk his life. He had others do it..

  • @emilien.
    @emilien. Před 2 měsíci +87

    I followed this documentary with rapt attention. I had to remember to tell myself to breathe during parts of this. My late wonderful father (passing in 2017) was a medic on Omaha Beach June 6, 1944 and participated in the push eastward in the aftermath of D-Day. A voracious reader, he may have already known about this fellow, but if not, oh how I wish I could have shared this with him.

    • @Zak66666
      @Zak66666 Před 2 měsíci +14

      A toast to your late father, Cheers. 🍻

    • @emilien.
      @emilien. Před 2 měsíci +7

      @@Zak66666 Bless you for that.

    • @totostamopo
      @totostamopo Před 2 měsíci +7

      @@Zak66666 Here Here! I can't believe the bravery of those men. They debt we owe them is mind boggling!

    • @totostamopo
      @totostamopo Před 2 měsíci +7

      Thanks for sharing this will all of us. May his memory be eternal...as so far the results of his bravery have been! My best to you!

    • @emilien.
      @emilien. Před 2 měsíci +8

      @@totostamopo Thank you for your wonderful reply. My dad was so special on so many levels and yes(!), his memory is eternal. 😇Eternal blessings back to you.

  • @TheCopeland45
    @TheCopeland45 Před 2 měsíci +31

    Now - watch the documentary on the “Limping Lady” spy of WW2. Why her life hasn’t been made into a movie is beyond me.

    • @emmcee662
      @emmcee662 Před 2 měsíci +3

      She appears in this movie which came out a few years ago (heavily fictionalised)
      en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Call_to_Spy

  • @john4896
    @john4896 Před 2 měsíci +150

    Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy.

    • @donsarde
      @donsarde Před 2 měsíci +3

      SAILOR AT THE END ???

    • @alexhubble
      @alexhubble Před 2 měsíci +8

      Well, I see what you did there!

    • @glow4200
      @glow4200 Před 2 měsíci +2

      Love that movie!

    • @northerngirl4666
      @northerngirl4666 Před 2 měsíci +5

      He’s referring to the John Le Carre novel ….

    • @glow4200
      @glow4200 Před 2 měsíci +2

      @northerngirl4666 it's also a reference from an Abbot and Costello movie. I'm curious now if the book and movie are the same

  • @CLARKE176
    @CLARKE176 Před 2 měsíci +80

    These Résistance groups across Europe deserve a lot of credit for the Allied victory.

    • @kathleenmcdonald6641
      @kathleenmcdonald6641 Před měsícem +2

      Very true. Thank God for them. Patriots to their countries. Unhearld heros.

  • @MakerBoyOldBoy
    @MakerBoyOldBoy Před 2 měsíci +10

    From over Ths Pond. We get little, except the odd book or movie about these events. This was an exceptional offering. Factual, critical and informative. Well done. More please.

  • @indigocheetah4172
    @indigocheetah4172 Před 2 měsíci +12

    The SOE, Resistance Fighters and other People who assisted them were brave beyond reason. Knowing what the outcome would be if caught. Never forget their sacrifice.

  • @dorapavlou9353
    @dorapavlou9353 Před 2 měsíci +28

    People are multidimensional. When given the chance they transform unveiling their amazing qualities!

  • @Ammo08
    @Ammo08 Před 2 měsíci +9

    That Lysander at 9:26 was one of my favorite model planes when I was a kid. Always wanted to fly in one. This is one of the best videos I've ever seen on CZcams.

  • @emmcee662
    @emmcee662 Před 2 měsíci +16

    Very interesting - while the exploits of the SOE in France are probably widely known, I for one knew little of what happened in Belgium.

  • @stevesinclair8667
    @stevesinclair8667 Před 2 měsíci +14

    Fascinating. Thank you. The background music could have been a lot lower so we could hear the narrator better. Thanks again.

    • @sibert1974
      @sibert1974 Před 22 dny

      I will never understand the need for loud intrusive and completely unnecessary “music” in these documentaries.

  • @safiremorningstar
    @safiremorningstar Před 2 měsíci +12

    The bicycle pump gun was what you would call the very first of its kind silencer.

    • @allangibson8494
      @allangibson8494 Před 2 měsíci +1

      Not the first of its kind. That dates back to Hiram Maxim’s research.
      The guns are still available commercially - they are classified as “veterinary pistols”.

  • @shirleyross6037
    @shirleyross6037 Před 2 měsíci +12

    Many of the SOE’s agents were arrested, German officials had their codes and often intercepted their communications. Causing many to lose their lives, some were caught after they parachuted to the destination of drop off. Those caught were tortured by gestapo and imprisoned or executed.

  • @kennethmotolenich9820
    @kennethmotolenich9820 Před 2 měsíci +6

    This is a designer working for good to counter the designer working for evil (Hugo Boss).

  • @fabrisseterbrugghe8567
    @fabrisseterbrugghe8567 Před 2 měsíci +23

    When I lived in Belgium in the late 1970s, we talked to others who lived in our building about their experiences during WWII.
    The husband of our concierge was 17 when the war ended. He said that he worked with the resistance because it was more fun than going to school. RIP Guillaume.
    I recognized that house in Ixelles, but had no idea of its history. And I spent some time at the Athenee in St. Gilles, not realizing that the grand building down the street had been a prison.
    As a child in London, I had a dress from Hardy Amies that I wore to church and the theater. It's still one of the chicest things I ever owned. At 7, I felt so fancy wearing it.

  • @18Bees
    @18Bees Před 2 měsíci +40

    This would make a great movie

    • @Pseudonym-aka-alias
      @Pseudonym-aka-alias Před 2 měsíci +16

      Yes, before Spielberg gets in first and turns it into a US op.

    • @camerongill101
      @camerongill101 Před 2 měsíci +4

      My thoughts exactly

    • @user-oe1mb9hu9i
      @user-oe1mb9hu9i Před 2 měsíci

      Only illegal war operations aren't quite fashionable in this world.
      It just goes to show how obvious other terrorist acts worldwide are in fact self inflicted ... to gain internal support and allied backing.

    • @wiseonwords
      @wiseonwords Před 2 měsíci +3

      @@Pseudonym-aka-alias - Indeed!

  • @lynton09
    @lynton09 Před 2 měsíci +13

    A thoroughly enjoyable dissertation on Amies role in SOE. The only pity is that the music is so loud as often to obscure the commentary, and at times make it almost unintelligible.

    • @bthedwards
      @bthedwards Před měsícem +1

      Thanks for mentioning the sound issues, now I won't waste my time getting aggravated, lol. Shame, sounds interesting!

    • @marciamcgrail5889
      @marciamcgrail5889 Před měsícem +1

      I simply turned audio off and subtitles on..

  • @morrispartow759
    @morrispartow759 Před 2 měsíci +11

    A TRUE PATRIOT.

  • @lesliewarnell5172
    @lesliewarnell5172 Před 2 měsíci +14

    Whoa. Top-shelf docu., in production *and* subject matter. The switched newspaper really helped to turn the tide for Belgium and her people. Media's *power* was used for *good* in this particular situation. 📚

  • @WesternAustraliaNowAndThen
    @WesternAustraliaNowAndThen Před 2 měsíci +15

    Excellent docco. So many great stores about this period are almost unknown. I would love to see the complete series about SOE made in 1984 re-released.

    • @markcampbell369
      @markcampbell369 Před 2 měsíci +1

      Agreed! So many European WW2 stories are told over and over and over and over. So much more to explore!

    • @markcampbell369
      @markcampbell369 Před 2 měsíci +2

      And I would love to know just how effective SOE was. I know much of the work is probably still classified, and we may never know.

  • @57113
    @57113 Před 2 měsíci +10

    Very interesting documentary, never knew of this dressmaker turned soe , very determined to carry out the mission, yet humble about his part he played. Thanks 😊

  • @northerngirl4666
    @northerngirl4666 Před 2 měsíci +2

    What an incredibly well done documentary featuring a great leader and his brave compatriots! Thanks!

  • @jwdickinson1
    @jwdickinson1 Před 2 měsíci +2

    fascinating history! Amies, despite his foibles, is amazing! What a brilliant mind and superb warrior!

  • @jabbermocky4520
    @jabbermocky4520 Před 2 měsíci +16

    A formidable character. Wow. Learned something new. Thanks.

  • @rudyvanderhoeven9628
    @rudyvanderhoeven9628 Před 2 měsíci +5

    brilliant one of these unsong heroes. Thank you

  • @alteisn
    @alteisn Před 2 měsíci +23

    The real "kingsman". Oxfords, not Brogues.

    • @jayste9334
      @jayste9334 Před 2 měsíci +1

      Ok..this where they got the base of the script for that movie from.

  • @safiremorningstar
    @safiremorningstar Před 2 měsíci +7

    Bicycle pump my father often had to deliver bicycle pumps some contained messages and some might have been those weapons themselves it explains a lot about the guy traveling on a bicycle who kills the collaborator who is about to hand over a list my father found out after the war that his name was on that list. I forgot to add here that it was his cover name the name he used it was the false name that he had been given by those who made him the false papers that he had that looked authentic they could pass inspection. Also when you see that the ammunition part of the case is taken off it looks just like an old fashioned bicycle pump if you have to smuggle it somewhere you you could smuggle it passed any number of people and all they would think is that you had a bicycle pump on you but that also required you to have the bicycle to go with it.

  • @kenknight4560
    @kenknight4560 Před 2 měsíci +3

    This would make a great movie. What a story.

  • @user-ns8ex2bb9j
    @user-ns8ex2bb9j Před 2 měsíci +13

    Yes. Thank u
    Mark nevels signing out lol i love history

  • @davidharris4062
    @davidharris4062 Před 2 měsíci +3

    That was a extremely good program

  • @sayitasiseeit626
    @sayitasiseeit626 Před 2 měsíci +15

    Totally new information, thank you, loved it :)

  • @alexhubble
    @alexhubble Před 2 měsíci +5

    Well, Mr Amies had a long history of coordinating the work of small teams of artisans to complete special, bespoke commissions. Assassination / dress making - same same.😮

  • @chaimlevin125
    @chaimlevin125 Před 2 měsíci +7

    My great grandfather was a tailor in the British army during the war… perhaps he had some fun as well? (Almost sure he didn’t lol).

  • @thenoworriesnomad
    @thenoworriesnomad Před 2 měsíci +7

    Excellent video...God Bless The Resistors..

  • @MysticChronicles712
    @MysticChronicles712 Před 2 měsíci +7

    What a fantastic film script!

  • @brianponcelet3529
    @brianponcelet3529 Před 2 měsíci +7

    Great episode! Learned a lot. Thanks.

  • @optimusprinceps3526
    @optimusprinceps3526 Před 2 měsíci +24

    The German Military at that time wore snappy Hugo Boss designed uniforms.

    • @tifKh
      @tifKh Před 2 měsíci +13

      Yeah don’t go into a Hugo boss and ask for anything from the ‘44-‘45 collection

    • @laurafabianmarrero
      @laurafabianmarrero Před 2 měsíci +5

      😂😂😂
      I shouldnt laugh at this
      ​@@tifKh

    • @RC19786
      @RC19786 Před 2 měsíci +2

      Boss Rocks!

    • @VNExperience
      @VNExperience Před 2 měsíci +6

      Only manufactured by Boss, not designed by him or his company.

    • @CheifR0cka
      @CheifR0cka Před 2 měsíci +4

      Wow. Did Hugo Boss really only manufacture the uniforms? If that's the case then I guess I always just assumed that Boss designed them too. But if I did assume that, then it's most certainly bc documentaries implied that to be the case.

  • @pkt1213
    @pkt1213 Před 2 měsíci +7

    When your ascot wearing grandpa has a higher body count than you do in COD. 😂

  • @jamesross1799
    @jamesross1799 Před 2 měsíci +7

    I've read about this guy

  • @agnescassar7604
    @agnescassar7604 Před 2 měsíci +3

    Thank you fantastic story ❤

  • @patirvin-bz9pg
    @patirvin-bz9pg Před 2 měsíci +3

    Some of the flippant comments sadden me. Perhaps it is a way to deal with the frightening seriousness of the topic.

  • @lindamcgough3645
    @lindamcgough3645 Před 23 dny +1

    What a great story! Such brave men!

  • @johnscanlan9335
    @johnscanlan9335 Před 2 měsíci +1

    This sounds like an amazing foundation for a whole franchise of theatrical-release spy-type movies!

  • @bandit6272
    @bandit6272 Před 2 měsíci +4

    I've seen this movie. Yeah, I loved Zoolander!

  • @The95AVALON
    @The95AVALON Před měsícem +1

    Love these documentaries…so very educational!

  • @safiremorningstar
    @safiremorningstar Před 2 měsíci +4

    I would have loved to see the picture better just to see if there are any of my relatives in that picture, I have family that were in both the Belgian underground and the French Underground. And I really would have liked if there are any of those pictures.

  • @judithcampbell1705
    @judithcampbell1705 Před 2 měsíci +2

    Thank You for this excellent 💛 documentary. I've learned a lot. Never knew the fashion industry could be so dangerous. Very interesting indeed.

  • @georgevardan5924
    @georgevardan5924 Před 8 dny

    Great men! I have Cambridge tie from Hardy Amies. Thank you for the film. I always admired Brits doing their work. With respect from Armenia!

  • @loonylinda
    @loonylinda Před 2 měsíci +2

    what an amazing man

  • @mohammedsaysrashid3587
    @mohammedsaysrashid3587 Před 2 měsíci +2

    It was an informative and wonderful historical coverage video about SOE,Tea section, Hardy Emmi ,and ratweek operations in Belgium 🇧🇪 during WW2..against German calibrators..thank you 🙏 ( time line) channel.

  • @stevehowell231
    @stevehowell231 Před 2 měsíci +2

    Nice pic of a Welrod pistol.

  • @veronicaskov3752
    @veronicaskov3752 Před 2 měsíci +3

    So we know now where the concept of kingsman comes from.

  • @Ana-bn9tw
    @Ana-bn9tw Před měsícem +7

    Once again, this story should remind people that our sexual preferences don't matter. They are our own. What matters is what, as a human, we bring to the table. I am straight but, my colleagues are not. They save people and care for them everyday. They're heroes everyday. Does it matter if they're LGBT? Nobody's asking when they're in crisis. People, let's look at the person human first

  • @Curmudgeon2
    @Curmudgeon2 Před 2 měsíci +4

    and then the Antwerp was useless as the islands along the channel leading in was not take. Ike finally had to give Monty a direct order to open Antwerp. The Germans had, had a good bit of time to fortify and a log of Canadians and Brits paid for the delay.

  • @johnroff1941
    @johnroff1941 Před 2 měsíci +1

    Absolutely fascinating

  • @MsSteelphoenix
    @MsSteelphoenix Před 3 dny

    Absolutely fascinating! Goes to show that anyone can be a master in The Trade.

  • @janejdough2230
    @janejdough2230 Před 2 měsíci +1

    THANK YOU!

  • @janetrushton5796
    @janetrushton5796 Před měsícem +1

    Great vid!

  • @Traveler19491
    @Traveler19491 Před měsícem

    That was fascinating! Thanks so much.

  • @20alphabet
    @20alphabet Před 2 měsíci +22

    Never trust a fashion designer.

    • @PSMCR69
      @PSMCR69 Před 2 měsíci +1

      the Tailor of Panama ( 2001 ) movie

  • @beckyeinolf3300
    @beckyeinolf3300 Před měsícem

    Excellent! Thank you!

  • @lilly7187
    @lilly7187 Před 2 měsíci +2

    Fantastic documentary.

  • @donsarde
    @donsarde Před 2 měsíci +2

    Thank you for this story, i had never heard of this fashion designer. So, he designed cloths for men and women then ?

  • @Hokies4evr
    @Hokies4evr Před 2 měsíci +7

    Inspiration for Garak?

    • @Voitilus
      @Voitilus Před 2 měsíci +2

      Garak was a traitor to Cardassian government, but other than that, I was thinking about that too, especially after costume note

    • @d.r.7396
      @d.r.7396 Před 2 měsíci +3

      lol! Was looking for this comment! Fellow Trekkie geeks unite! 🎉

  • @user-zc9ce6dd2v
    @user-zc9ce6dd2v Před 2 měsíci +1

    Awesome!

  • @englishmaninfrance661
    @englishmaninfrance661 Před měsícem

    Excellent

  • @mn4169
    @mn4169 Před 29 dny

    Amazing history

  • @jayste9334
    @jayste9334 Před 2 měsíci +1

    The Kingsmen...without all the james bond action.

  • @AndrewChappell-kl6ld
    @AndrewChappell-kl6ld Před měsícem +1

    My grandmother worked for him as a seamstress in the fifties The family story was as he heard about her past. She was imprisoned by the Nazis for refusing to join the " Bund Deutscher Mädel" and was unfortunate enough to be in Dresden during the bombing and then had to walk hundreds of kilometres to her mothers house in Villach. Her mother fainted when she knocked on the door as she thought my grandmother had died in the firebombing. My grandfather was an English soldier who took her home to the U.K and they split up and she met her second husband and moved to London and ended up as a seamstress for Hardy Amies .

    • @CareyTisdal
      @CareyTisdal Před 28 dny

      Your family story is as amazing, or maybe more amazing than the documentary.

  • @bearsagainstevil
    @bearsagainstevil Před 2 měsíci +5

    He did his duty , then didn’t want to talk about it a fine fellow

  • @celticman1909
    @celticman1909 Před měsícem +1

    This Belgium government in exile could have had individuals with relatives that were collaborating with the Nazis. That was my first thought as to why they would not approve "Ratweek."

  • @crazycutz8072
    @crazycutz8072 Před měsícem

    Now I know where they got the inspiration for the Garack character from Star Trek DS9 😅

  • @lesliemaitland3551
    @lesliemaitland3551 Před 2 měsíci +1

    Canada didn't have an air force in 1918. The RCAF was established in 1924.

  • @gb-jg1ud
    @gb-jg1ud Před 2 měsíci +1

    they did not do much of this in Czechoslovakia after Anthropoid that is for sure.

  • @KyleCowden
    @KyleCowden Před měsícem

    I always liked the Lysander liaison aircraft. I went through a phase of model building where the more "green house" the better. Not a "sexy" plane but cool.

  •  Před 2 měsíci

    13:56 : Rexist Léon Degrelle speaks!

  • @carolannemckenzie3849
    @carolannemckenzie3849 Před 11 dny

    Well made and interesting but the loud music is rather distracting

  • @rebeccaboudreau7589
    @rebeccaboudreau7589 Před měsícem

    These brave people were key to taking back their country.

  • @CarlosTomasS.
    @CarlosTomasS. Před 2 měsíci +1

    Seriously what a life, fancy tailoring by day covert ops by night.

  • @vernonbrana8205
    @vernonbrana8205 Před 25 dny

    My New Idol.

  • @ddoherty5956
    @ddoherty5956 Před měsícem

    Kingsman 😳

  • @zillsburyy1
    @zillsburyy1 Před 2 měsíci +4

    finally! rat week exposed

  • @hamerjohn
    @hamerjohn Před 2 měsíci +2

    WAS BLETLCHY PARK INVOLVED?

    • @robharris8844U
      @robharris8844U Před 2 měsíci +1

      Probably it dealt with much of the intelligence, but there were other stations aswell.

  • @gb-jg1ud
    @gb-jg1ud Před 2 měsíci +1

    After the war...curious what happened to the German "handlers" and administrators like Amies on the Axis side?

  • @celticman1909
    @celticman1909 Před měsícem

    He probably came under the Official Secrets Act and couldn't talk to just anyone about his wartime activities anyway.

  • @trevorpalmer1891
    @trevorpalmer1891 Před 2 měsíci +3

    Belgium is like this today they play both sides of the political fence! Whilst plundering Africas wealth,

    • @nicolad8822
      @nicolad8822 Před 2 měsíci

      Where are they plundering still?

  • @misty5805
    @misty5805 Před 2 měsíci +1

    I know this story is true because you can see it in The Tell-Tale teardrops of a serial murderer in the pics of his later years. Which make the younger pictures of him all the more sad.

  • @zb7293
    @zb7293 Před 2 měsíci

    O dear, killed with no trial even after war, is no no.

  • @WienWag
    @WienWag Před měsícem

    Why is the music so loud, constantly...🙄

  • @kprosser310
    @kprosser310 Před 2 měsíci

    How much is true? How much is false? How much is exaggerated?

  • @julianneheindorf5757
    @julianneheindorf5757 Před 2 měsíci +2

    Great documentary, but really horrible and annoying music..

  • @elpro7640
    @elpro7640 Před 2 měsíci

    Bet no one ever said no to him cause they were too scared of his knitting needles!

  • @PhilipShawn
    @PhilipShawn Před měsícem

    Via MKS

  • @PhilipShawn
    @PhilipShawn Před měsícem

    Not PES

  • @catofthecastle1681
    @catofthecastle1681 Před měsícem

    Pretty sure his name is pronounced Aims!

  • @hatjodelka
    @hatjodelka Před 2 měsíci +2

    Great film but a shame his surname was mispronounced throughout.

  • @marclapine1305
    @marclapine1305 Před 2 měsíci

    You cannot count?

  • @PhilipShawn
    @PhilipShawn Před měsícem

    According yo V.S.

  • @debanhicoralregaladocastan3830

    Bet fashionbyai could dream up some daring digestible disguises too.