[music playing] DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
The first step on Adolf Hitler's
march to infamy was a baptism by fire in
the trenches of World War I, the hellish conflict
that twisted him, scorched the earth with
monstrous new weapons, and drove whole armies
into the ground. MARTIN KING: This is the only
safe place in the trench. Out there is instant death. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): From
a mighty fortress facing down the biggest guns in the world-- DON WILDMAN: This is the
sound of the bombardment. [loud blast] DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): --to
medieval quarries transformed into top-secret bases-- Adolf Hitler is on
these German lines. Little does he know that there
is a surprise attack planned right beneath his nose. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): --the
underground became a sanctuary and a weapon. DON WILDMAN: No wonder the
whole village is obliterated. Yeah. DON WILDMAN: We're peeling
back the layers of time on "Cities of the Underworld-- Hitler's Trenches." [theme music] I'm Don Wildman. I'm in the trenches just
outside Ypres, Belgium, ground zero for World
War I's Western Front. It was called the Great War,
the war to end all wars. And it was the bloodiest
the world had ever seen. World War I toppled empires,
forged nations, slaughtered more than 20 million, and set
the stage for the world's most despised dictator, Adolf Hitler. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
For thousands of years, Europe's major powers
had battled over borders. But in 1914, the conflict
exploded into a war. As Germany headed
towards France, the Allies raced to stop them. And they all collided
here, the Western Front. For four long years, the
war raged along 470 miles of trenchworks, stretching
from the English Channel to Switzerland. But it was here, a small
patch of land around Ypres, Belgium, that gave birth to
the 20th century's two greatest monsters-- modern warfare and the
madness of Adolf Hitler. His ruthless rise to power
began in World War I, fighting in the bloody,
squalid trenches around Ypres. I met with battlefield expert
Martin King, who took me to the rarely seen
underground engineering projects both sides
used to try and break the horrific stalemate
of trench warfare. So this is the British
trenches over here. Yeah. I mean, they don't look
like any protection at all. No. They wouldn't have been a
great deal of protection, bearing in mind that the walls
would have been sandbags. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
In the trenches, just five feet deep, dug in
a hurry with little or no bracing, soldiers faced horrific
weapons no one had seen before, like artillery shells that
turned trenches into craters. Any soldier who
stuck his head up was also within range of
a ferociously efficient new weapon, the machine gun. An American invention, it could
spit out ammo 30 times faster than a rifleman. And then there were the
clouds of poison gas that could drift
across at any time. In this nightmarish landscape,
there was only one safe place for miles around. Oh, it's a tunnel. This is called a
[inaudible] tunnel. Wow, what's this? This takes you out
into no man's land. [music playing] DON WILDMAN: Oh man. It's endless. This thing is just all
underneath-- it's lacing itself underneath the
whole battlefield. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): Tunnels
like these, some of the only concrete structures in
the Allied trenches, stretched at least 30 yards into
the deadly area between the two sides, known as no man's land. The tunnels were used
to spy on the Germans and as temporary refuge for the
lucky few who were able to get in when the shelling started. DON WILDMAN: You figure,
I mean, 50 yards away, the German forces are dug in
on higher ground, all right? So the Allies down
here, the British, Canadians, all the rest, have to
use any measure possible to try to get some advantage. So they dig these tunnels,
reconnaissance tunnels, so maybe they can go out
further than their own trenches, get some kind of information--
listening, visuals, whatever-- to try to get some advantage. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): While
the Allies used these tunnels to spy and plan
attacks, the Germans had a different approach--
outlasting and bleeding the enemy dry. The key to their strategy
also lay in the underground. Martin took me to see the
subterranean structure used to protect German soldiers and
may have even saved young Adolf Hitler's life. This is where Adolf Hitler
first served in the war? Hitler first served here in
1914 with the Bavarian regiment that he'd joined just
a few months previous. DON WILDMAN: So he was running
down in these trenches? MARTIN KING: Absolutely.
DON WILDMAN: Incredible. What was his job? MARTIN KING: Well, that was
his job, to run up and down the trenches, in fact. DON WILDMAN: Oh, really? He was a trench
runner, a messenger. I see. So he was carrying orders from
the front line to the rear, and on and so forth. Absolutely that would
have been his job. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): In the
midst of the horror and mayhem of the trenches, young
Adolf found what he believed was his true calling. MARTIN KING: This is
exactly what he needed. He'd been very unsuccessful
in virtually every venture that he'd undertaken. So he was a bit of a loser. Yeah, yeah. Until along come-- along comes August 1914, and the
von Schlieffen plan, and away! This is where we
go, lads, you know? Join the army. He gets a true identity. Absolutely. He finds an identity. Right in these trenches. In these trenches. [music playing] DON WILDMAN: So these guys are
sitting for years, a football field apart-- MARTIN KING: Absolutely.
DON WILDMAN: Bombing each other. MARTIN KING: Well. And all these trees are gone. Yeah. These are mounds of mud that
have been exploded by bombs. Absolutely. In fact, there's some
very famous photographs of Germans standing in
these trenches, holding rats this size. No way, because there's
dead bodies all over. MARTIN KING: I mean,
the smell-- precisely. The smell would have been
absolutely horrendous. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
For both the Allies and the Germans, daily
life in the trenches was filled with
filth and misery. But the Germans had
a key advantage-- subterranean bunkers,
the forerunners of the infamous Nazi bunkers
of World War II, that could survive a direct
hit from a one-ton bomb. This is a German, classic
German front line bunker, reinforced concrete. Look at this. Oh yeah. This concrete's got metal. Sure, all through there. So this thing has stood
up to many a bombardment. It's pretty
sturdy, absolutely. You'd be pretty safe in here. [music playing] DON WILDMAN: Is this
the actual floor? I mean, only this height? This is as high as
it would have been. And in a sustained barrage-- I mean, a barrage could go on
for a few days, in some cases. So this was a
shelter they actually built for bombardments. Absolutely, specifically
for that purpose. So how many men did they
expect to get in this room? So between 47 and 50 men. 47 men in this
little tiny room? In this tiny room, yeah. No way. MARTIN KING: And this is the
only safe place in the trench. Out there is instant death. DON WILDMAN: Sure. MARTIN KING: So here,
you're protected. You've got a few feet
of reinforced concrete above your head. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
In tiny rooms like this, Adolf Hitler gained
a captive audience for his fiery propaganda. He would have walked into
his bunker or crawled into this bunker, and it's got 40-plus
guys sitting here, and said, listen to this, lads. I've just been back to Berlin,
and you know, and there he would have his rant. And he would stop preaching it. DON WILDMAN: About the
things we know-- yeah. MARTIN KING:
Politics, basically. Politics. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
Hitler's constant companion and only friend during the war
was a dog who kept away rats. From this moment on, Hitler
was never without a dog. His beloved German
shepherd, Blondie, was with him in
the Berlin bunker when he committed
suicide 30 years later. Even though some estimate
his unit lost over two-thirds of its men in the first
few weeks of the war, Hitler miraculously survived
four years on the Western Front He really did think he
was a person with a purpose, and a vision, and a
place in the world. And he believed
strongly of his-- in destiny and fate. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
Four years in the trenches, dodging the horrors of
modern killing machines, drove Hitler deeper and deeper
into a mad, unquenchable hatred for his enemies, while
two mighty armies dug down in the underground,
looking for a way to end the bloodiest
standoff in history. [music playing] I'm in northeastern France,
about 2 and 1/2 hours east of Paris, about 200 miles from
the trenches at [inaudible],, in a region known as Vauquois. 90-odd years ago, I'd be walking
in the streets of a very small town-- houses for a population of 174. Now, today, Vauquois is
known as the lost village, because there's nothing
of it left here, except a complex series
of tunnels underground. These aren't sewers. They're not catacombs, but
over 10 miles of tunnels built for the sole purpose
of planting mines that would blow the place sky
high, erasing this little town forever. DON WILDMAN
(VOICEOVER): Vauquois was a small town just 125
miles east of Paris when it was captured by the
Germans in September of 1914. Four years later, it was
gone, utterly demolished by a savage military
innovation-- landmines. The subterranean
battle for Vauquois began when the
Germans dug bunkers into the hillside as protection
from French artillery. These small shelters
eventually grew into an underground metropolis,
housing 2,000 German soldiers. And it was dug out
entirely by hand. I met with military
expert Denis [inaudible]---- Denis. Hi, nice to meet you. DON WILDMAN
(VOICEOVER): --who is going to take me into
the abandoned mining tunnels of Vauquois. DON WILDMAN: So this is the
battlefield we're in here. DON WILDMAN: So all this
undulating land here was blown up? And the Germans and
French dug right underneath. Yes.
Yes, of course. [music playing] DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
Early versions of the mines that obliterated this
French town were first used in the American Civil War-- basically, artillery shells
rigged with blasting caps. But Americans could
never have imagined that these primitive
devices would mutate into the massive weapons
of Vauquois-- bombs that could blow a crater big
enough to hold a jumbo jet. After nearly three
years, the destruction grew so intense that
soldiers on both sides collaborated to stay alive. [explosion] [music playing] Ah. There's the entrance, huh? Yes. OK. After you, sir.
- OK. Here we go. [music playing] Wow. So this is a living quarter. Was this restored, or
did you find it this way? Where are we here? [metal clatters] Ooh, clunk. I'm just astonished at
how permanent it feels. Yeah. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): The
living quarters were safe, protected by 30 feet of earth. But to fight, the Germans had to
leave their sanctuary, storming up these steps. Right. So this goes
straight up how far? Yes. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): For
an added tactical advantage, the Germans turn to the latest
weapons technology-- landmines that could be used from
the relative safety of the underground. We're going how far down? Minus 50 meters. Over 150 feet down, basically. Yes. OK. Level two, going
down to level three. OK, Don. Just come with me. OK. There is no problem. All right. Just very steep, huh? Yes, it is. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
The first and second level of the Vauquois complex included
living quarters, kitchens, hospitals, and generators. On the third and deepest level,
reaching depths of 150 feet, long, narrow tunnels extended
to the French side of the hill for the purpose of
detonating enormous mines beneath the Allies. On the other side of
the hill, the French were digging their
own counter-mines. DON WILDMAN: The French
knew they couldn't attack the trenches-- DON WILDMAN: --over the top. So they had to go underneath. And so both of them,
early in the war, are both tunneling beneath. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): Each
side dug deeper and deeper, intent on blasting each
other off the hill. The landmines they had to
use got bigger and bigger, from one ton to
eventually 60-ton bombs. There's 150 feet, starting
here, of earth, solid earth, over our heads. You're telling a bomb this deep
will destroy what's over us? Of course. How often were these
giant mines going off? Oh my goodness. So no wonder the whole--
- [inaudible] every day. --no wonder the whole
village is obliterated. Yeah. [music playing] DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
As the bombing escalated, both sides were desperate
for an edge over their enemy. So these guys are
down here in the dark. Yes. Everybody, shh, quiet. Yes, yes. And they put on their
things, and they literally-- Yes. --listen. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): Once
either side determined where the other was digging,
they did their best to halt the progress with
some help from a little TNT. So they would literally
blow up a mine in order to blow up the
other guy's tunnel. Yes. So this is as much a
stalemate as the rest of the Western Front.
- Absolutely. I mean, they're just
doing it in trench warfare. These guys are doing
it underground. DENIS: You're right. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): But
by 1917, a secret alliance had developed between
miners on both sides. They've seen the futility
of this entire battle at that point. Yes. So they were warning the enemy
that they were going to blow up the mine. DON WILDMAN
(VOICEOVER): This kind of kinship among enemy
soldiers infuriated hardliners like Adolf Hitler. He had witnessed the remarkable
Christmas Eve truce of 1914-- 24 hours when enlisted men on
both sides of the Western Front laid down their weapons
to exchange gifts and even play soccer
with the enemy. Hitler refused to participate. He later wrote that there
should be no understanding amongst enemies. But eventually,
even Hitler would have to admit that the Battle
of Vauquois was pointless. By spring of 1918,
15,000 men had been killed on and below the hill. with no advantage
to either side. As American troops
advanced on Vauquois, the Germans withdrew, leaving
behind a memorial of sorts-- unexploded mines. Look. There's 100 tons of unexploded
dynamite under that water. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): I
wanted to see for myself what was left of weapons so
horrific, they inspired enemies to protect one another. DON WILDMAN: [grunts] There were three major mines
that were left unexploded in these tunnels down here. Over time, the water table has
risen up and consumed them. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
I don't go too far in. I could be stepping on
90-year-old munitions down here. And I don't want
to press my luck. DON WILDMAN: So
they're down here, you know, basically
talking to each other. For Adolf Hitler, this is
the ultimate betrayal-- that German soldiers would
be talking to French soldiers underground. I mean, he saw the
German leadership giving in to the pressure. And for him, Germany
could never give in. It's this feeling that he
carries off into his career. It's this feeling that
essentially begins World War II. [music playing] World War I was
basically a war of brutal, incessant fighting,
with little or no gains for either side. Blood was spilled over
every inch of soil. And when the Germans aimed the
bulk of their military might here, the northeast
of France, it would become the longest
battle in World War I, one of the worst in human history-- the battle of Verdun. Fort Douaumont was
the key target. It was said to be the strongest
fortress in all of Europe, the pride of the French
Army, and almost entirely underground. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): 150
miles east of Paris, Verdun was a vitally important
city on the Western Front. For the Germans, it represented
the final roadblock on the way to France's capital. For the French, it
was the last stand. 400,000 men would die here. And Adolf Hitler was wounded
in a diversionary action at the Somme River. He believed his
fellow soldiers had been betrayed by corrupt,
incompetent leaders. And he would stop at nothing
to bring a new order to Germany and the world. These ferocious battles, fuel
for Hitler's growing hatred, focused on a top-of-the-line
stronghold, Fort Douaumont, and would unleash the most
destructive weapons the world had ever seen. I'm meeting up with
expert Julien Coquet, who's agreed to take me down
into the belly of the fort, where hundreds, sometimes
thousands of men took refuge from the
fierce fighting up above. We go in here? It's an imposing
entrance, isn't it? Please. [music playing] This fort is
extensive, isn't it? No kidding. Ah, look at that. Beautiful. What is this machinery here? DON WILDMAN: Ah. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): This
massive 155-millimeter gun, as well as two smaller 75s
and three machine guns, protected this fort-- over a mile and a half of
underground tunnels and rooms. The fort was considered
impregnable thanks to revolutionary construction-- masonry walls three feet
thick, covered with three feet of sand, then buttressed
by eight feet of concrete, buried in up to 10 feet of dirt. The end result was
dense, shell-proof walls over 24 feet thick, topped
by those massive guns. It was Fort Knox with firepower. DON WILDMAN: Look at this thing. DON WILDMAN: There's
bats up here? Oh yeah, there's bats. Look at this massive
piece of artillery. So this is the gun
facing outward toward-- DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): The gun
had a range of about four miles and could fire three 94-pound
explosive shells a minute. Infantrymen in the field
had never experienced a rain of fire like this before. Wow. Look at the size of this barrel. This is the
155-millimeter gun that was installed in this housing. This is what makes
this fort so special. This is what makes the
Germans covet the place. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
But by 1916, the Germans were storming towards Verdun,
backed by even more devastating weapons than the mighty
guns of Douaumont. The flamethrower was
used on a large scale here for the first time-- a portable monstrosity that
could shoot fire 270 feet and burn its victims alive. Even worse was the
massive 420-millimeter gun nicknamed Big Bertha. It had a range of nine miles
and had already demolished three Allied fortress towns. Now it was heading
towards Douaumont. The French decided to
sacrifice the fort. And France's colossal
stronghold fell into enemy hands without a shot being fired. So then they had this
gun to use themselves. I see. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): Even
though they couldn't fire the big French guns,
the Germans made good use of Fort Douaumont-- Oh, look at this place. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
--housing up to 3,000 soldiers, a field hospital, and vast
stocks of ammunition here. DON WILDMAN: Look at this. This is a big bed. Ah, OK. So this was four men
would sleep here. So you could feel fairly
protected inside this fort. Uncle Douaumont. Uncle Douaumont. Because they could have
been out in the trench, as they were
probably well aware. Instead, they're in
this nice shelter here. Lucky for them. DON WILDMAN
(VOICEOVER): Determined to take back their prized fort
and restore national honor, the French attacked
with heavy artillery and deadly, but ineffectual,
ground assaults. DON WILDMAN: How
many people died? JULIEN COQUET: The whole
battle, about 100,000 soldiers, French and Germans. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
In June 1916, the Allies started a
diversionary attack nearby, at the Sommes River, where
private Adolf Hitler himself was seriously wounded
and sent back to Germany for medical treatment. But the battle known as the
mincing machine of Verdun rolled on for another 6 months. How many bombs
fell per day here? Ugh, 2,000 shells? That-- per minute, I mean,
it's just-- it's constant. During those 300 days, what
was it like to be in here? DON WILDMAN: It was a
constant bombardment, yes? Oh my goodness. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): In the
first 10 months of the battle, the French fired off 60 million
rounds of artillery shells. This is the sound of
the bombardment here. OK. [loud blast] Yeah. OK, very loud. And it continues. Insane? So this is really
textbook shell shock we're talking about. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): It
was an illness no one had seen before and no one understood. Symptoms ranged from
sleeplessness and anxiety to total mental breakdown
and grotesque facial tics. Many people ridiculed the
victims of shell shock, accusing them of
weakness and cowardice. As the men tried to hold
themselves together, the fort was showing
signs of strain as well. DON WILDMAN: We're about
45 feet below ground. This is one level
down in the fort. And look over my head here. All these stalactites--
that's from the water seepage through thousands of
cracks created by thousands of bombs that hit here every
day during the Battle of Verdun. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
After two months of shelling, the German occupiers were
dealt a devastating blow. A cooking fire was lit
too close to the shells from the disabled
guns in the turret. It set off a horrific
explosion that killed 800 men. A German helmet. Oh yeah. How did it get there? So there's a skull and
everything inside that helmet. Damn. How bizarre. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
Finally, after eight months of carnage, the French
unleashed a powerful new weapon on the fort-- a 400-millimeter gun that
could lob one-ton shells over 900 miles per hour. And so the Germans
finally realize that they can't defend this fort
against that kind of artillery. I see. This is a major French
victory and a rebirth of-- And carries them through
to the end of the war, I would imagine. Until the end of the war. And so it all began
here in Fort Douaumont. It began here. All right. [music playing] In the beginning of
1917, the Great War had been raging for
2 and 1/2 years. The Allies were
licking their wounds. Blood-soaked battles
at the Somme and Verdun had decimated their ranks
and shattered morale. So the Allies came
up with a plan, a way to end the war with one swift
blow to the German front. But military planners
needed an edge, a way to get the Germans back on their
heels before a major offensive. So they created a surprise
attack from the underground. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): After
two years of bloody stalemate, the French forces were
secretly amassing troops in the Champagne region,
at the southern end of the 16-mile long German front
known as the Hindenburg Line. At the northern end of the
line, Corporal Adolf Hitler was stationed as a
messenger, completely unaware of the massive British
diversionary attack force boring through
the earth beneath them. The British chose to
launch their assault from the medieval
town of Arras, a town with an ancient and
secret underground. I'm heading for the largest
subterranean system ever built by the British army. It's this massive system that
allowed the Allies to capture more enemy territory in one
day than they had in years. Apparently, this
entire town is laced with this ancient underground
the British then used for secret military purposes. I'm meeting the
city archaeologist, and he's going to take
me down under this town. Alain? - Yeah.
- Oh, hi. Don. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): Alain
Jacques and his colleagues were hunting for a
medieval chalk quarry when they uncovered
a cave system that played a vital and top-secret
role in more modern times. So this is, what? One of the main
squares of Arras. ALAIN JACQUES: Of Arras, yeah. And there is a
secret tunnel system underneath this whole city. Wow. In this way? - Yes.
- OK. Yes, yes, yes. All right, all right. So we just walked
in off the street, right into a working restaurant. And down below-- --we go. What is going on here? So we come down one floor. Now we go down another. Look at this. [music playing] How deep are we here, Alain? 12 meters, like 36 feet. Incredible. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): We
had descended four levels through the basement of
a modern restaurant, then a medieval wine cellar. And we're now in an
ancient chalk quarry from the 15th century. In World War I, when the Allies
first discovered these tunnels, they came up with
a brilliant plan-- to link the quarries by digging
a network of tunnels that could sneak an entire army directly
to the German front line, avoiding the hellish
no man's land above. So this is not open
to the public, huh? So things are
collapsing in here, huh? Yeah. OK. Oh, cool. Wow. So all this has been
tunneled out, huh? ALAIN JACQUES: Yep. Look at this. Incredible. How deep are we here? 20 meters, about
60 feet or so. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
To transform these ancient quarries
into a modern tunnel system without collapsing the whole
thing, the British turned to expert diggers, many of whom
were Maori tribesmen from New Zealand, the farthest corner
of the British Empire. So this actually says-- ALAIN JACQUES: Entrance. Entrance to Blenheim. Where's Blenheim? DON WILDMAN: These New
Zealanders actually labeled the place so they could
get from one cave to the next. It's very basic. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
After just six months, the miners had constructed
a 12-mile tunnel system that stretched across no man's
land to within firing range of the German front line. While Hitler was haranguing his
fellow officers about politics and military strategy,
thousands of Allied troops were just beneath him, planning
their surprise counterattack from these tunnels. The idea that they would pop
up in front of the Germans. Yeah. DON WILDMAN: So this was managed
to be done in total secrecy without the Germans knowing. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
Under cover of darkness, the British began to muster
troops in the quarry caves. For eight days
before the battle, 24,000 Allied troops
were hidden here. These tunnels became fully
functional army barracks, and the troops stationed
here left their marks. Oh, look at this. Ah, look. So they had actually carved in
crosses here, a woman's face, and Charlie Chaplin
drawn in there. ALAIN JACQUES: Yeah. DON WILDMAN: So
they had everything. They had the barracks. They had medical treatment. Look, they had a central
water supply, of course. But it was like piped in here. So I'd be standing here in
1917, April, taking a shower. So after all this preparation,
months and months of digging, months of stocking up and
bringing in these soldiers, the day of the
attack finally comes. 24,000 men have to leave
in several waves out of this place. How did they get out of here? Yeah. This is the staircase out. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Look at all those stairs. Yes. Incredible. Look at this. I mean, just imagine. There are hundreds
of steps here. And pretty much every
single one of them would have had a
British soldier on it, waiting to charge into battle. So these guys are all lined
up, heavy packs on their backs, carrying their guns, their
helmets, their ammunition, and their hopes and prayers. I mean, you don't know what's
at the top of these stairs. You don't know if Germans
are waiting for you or not. The twist of this whole story
is that Adolf Hitler himself is on these German lines. He's been stationed nearby. Little does he know that there
is a surprise attack planned right beneath his nose. And they are charging
up these stairs, all these British soldiers,
one after another. Go, go, go, go! This whole scene. Amazing. These British soldiers are
about to move into the trenches. And look what they
find up here-- one steel door. Boom. Another steel door. And there is the
entrance to hell. Up to the trenches,
right out this way. That exit is sealed today. But this would've gone
out into the trenches, out into no man's
land, out into hell. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
Within a few days, Allied forces had
pushed more than 7 miles into German territory. It was a brilliant
tactical success. But like many victories in World
War I, it proved short-lived. Overall, the
Hindenburg Line held. The Germans kept fighting,
and the war dragged on. For all that bloodshed,
the preparation, the mining, the ultimate result
was futility. The ultimate result
was the Germans took the territory again. It was just like the rest
of the First World War. So what they had to show
for this was nothing at all. [music playing] DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): In
addition to the 8 and 1/2 million men who died on the
battlefields of World War I, 21 million were wounded. Those who were able to
survive the hell of war were changed forever. For 29-year-old Adolf Hitler,
the harrowing experiences in battle left him bitter
towards his enemies and fueled the
anger and resentment that drove him to become
the 20th century's greatest monster. I'm heading into the crypt
of a medieval church that was converted to a
German first aid station at the beginning of the war,
when casualties were mounting beyond what anyone
could have imagined. And as the dead were
piling up, the injured were patched up and sent
right back to the front lines, including one wide-eyed German
soldier with a seething hatred for his enemy. DON WILDMAN
(VOICEOVER): Six miles outside Ypres is the town
of Messines, Belgium. Today, it has a population
of less than 1,000. But it saw the
deaths of 10,000 men during just one offensive
in World War I. Altogether, the fighting around Ypres
would last the entire war and lead to over
850,000 casualties. I met with battlefield
archaeologist Franky Bostyn-- Wow, it's really
some church, huh? DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
--outside St. Nicholas Church-- FRANKY BOSTYN: Oh, yes.
It's a medieval church. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): --whose
crypt became a front line first aid station during
the early days of the war. FRANKY BOSTYN: Once
part of an abbey and destroyed in
the First World War, but completely reconstructed. [music playing] DON WILDMAN: So Hitler was here. FRANKY BOSTYN: Yes, yes, in the
early stages of the war, 1914, 15. And there is an original
reminder-- not the church itself, but something
deep under it. DON WILDMAN: OK. [music playing] This used to be-- so the
crypt of the former abbey. In World War I, the Germans
occupied this in 1914 for a command post
for a first aid post. In those days, how far
are we from the front line? The front line here
was in this direction, about 8, 900 meters from here. So the wounded were
evacuated to here. And here, they were
given first aid. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
In October 1914, Germany sent their 16th
Bavarian Infantry Reserves, Adolf Hitler's
regiment, to Ypres, hoping reinforcements
on the Western Front would batter the
Allies into submission. Both sides believed the battle
would be over by Christmas of that year. But French and British
forces held their ground. Both sides had to
scramble and adapt to a long, bloody stalemate. DON WILDMAN: How could
they have been so wrong on the scope of this war? FRANKY BOSTYN:
Well, both parties thought they were strong
enough to defeat the other. And also, if you look
at the 19th century, the Napoleonic wars, it was
a matter of a few hours, campaigns a few weeks. So they thought in the
19th-century way of warfare. Right. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
But this four-year siege had weapons that were more powerful
and deadly than ever before-- machine guns ripping off limbs,
mustard gas that seared exposed flesh, and flamethrowers. As the casualties mounted,
both Allied and German forces used any underground locations
they could find, like basements and crypts, transforming
them into impromptu first aid stations. FRANKY BOSTYN: The crypt
more or less survived until the last
stages of the war. The church was wiped
out, but the crypt remains. Yes, the crypt remained. And it's protected from all the
falling-in stones who remained on top of it. And this gave some good shelter. DON WILDMAN: So the
church becomes a bunker. FRANKY BOSTYN: Yes, yes.
Absolutely, yeah. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER): In
1915, when Hitler was wounded in the bloody
battle of Messines, this crypt-turned-ER was the
only safe place for miles. In November 1915,
he is shot in the arm. It's not a heavy wound, but
he has to be taken care of. And it is believed that this
happened in this actual place here, in this church. This is where he was treated. It is believed
that it was here. Now, his-- this was an
act of heroism on his part? Yes, because the French
soldiers opened fire, and he right jumped in front of
his officer, of his superior, so saved him. And he was shot here in the arm. Our equivalent
of a Purple Heart. Yes, probably. Wounded in battle. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
The Iron Cross had been a medal of
distinction since 1813, when Germany was the
kingdom of Prussia. For young Adolf Hitler,
receiving the Iron Cross was a defining
moment in his life. So for this
loner, this misfit, winning an award in battle would
give him a sense of belonging, a sense of strength.
- Oh, yes. Absolutely. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
By the end of the war, Hitler had received
six medals of honor, one when a British gas attack
left him temporarily blind. By war's end, he was bitter
at the failure of his leaders and burning with
hatred for his enemies. His most important
medal was awarded to him by a Jewish officer-- in Hitler's eyes, adding
insult to his injury. But it was that Iron Cross
he received for his actions here in Messines that
he would wear with pride throughout World War II. And down here, in this small,
contained space, a young Adolf Hitler, wounded,
gets carried in here. And for this wound, he
is given the Iron Cross. And this becomes the defining
moment in his young life, because at this
point, he officially belongs to the German Army,
more than he had before. Officially, he is part of his
fatherland, this land that he has adopted. DON WILDMAN (VOICEOVER):
But when Hitler came home, and the war ended, he found
his beloved fatherland in dire straits. People were starving
in the streets, eating garbage to survive. The country was bankrupt,
the future bleak. The German people were desperate
for a strong leader, a man with a vision for their future. And they found him.
