1 00:00:15,356 --> 00:00:29,116 Speaker 1: Pushkin. You're alone on a city street. The darkness is total. 2 00:00:29,596 --> 00:00:35,556 Speaker 1: It envelops you, pressing in. You stumble on, not knowing 3 00:00:35,556 --> 00:00:39,876 Speaker 1: where the sidewalk ends and the road begins. You brush 4 00:00:39,956 --> 00:00:43,556 Speaker 1: by a darkened building, bump into an unlit street lamp. 5 00:00:44,836 --> 00:00:49,636 Speaker 1: You're desperate to reach safety. For somewhere in this neighborhood 6 00:00:50,196 --> 00:00:53,996 Speaker 1: looks a killer who strikes in the hours of darkness. 7 00:00:55,036 --> 00:01:01,316 Speaker 1: The cruelty and viciousness of his crimes are unspeakable. This 8 00:01:01,396 --> 00:01:05,876 Speaker 1: is not make believe horror. This really happened, and it 9 00:01:05,956 --> 00:01:07,356 Speaker 1: happened in living memory. 10 00:01:08,036 --> 00:01:10,396 Speaker 2: Gem Darling, Germany, Caling. 11 00:01:12,756 --> 00:01:16,556 Speaker 1: It's a tale you've probably never heard before, a tale 12 00:01:16,556 --> 00:01:21,636 Speaker 1: of forgotten women murdered in a city without light. 13 00:01:23,076 --> 00:01:24,716 Speaker 3: This is London. 14 00:01:27,116 --> 00:01:35,916 Speaker 1: Can tell for a year and a half, Its department 15 00:01:35,956 --> 00:01:40,436 Speaker 1: stores and palaces, its churches and factories, its schools and 16 00:01:40,596 --> 00:01:44,596 Speaker 1: homes have been blasted and burnt by waves of Nazi 17 00:01:44,636 --> 00:01:53,116 Speaker 1: bombers and curling can night out to night and thumb 18 00:01:54,036 --> 00:02:00,836 Speaker 1: darkness is the only defense against the blitzing my head. 19 00:02:01,516 --> 00:02:04,076 Speaker 1: To make it harder for enemy aircraft to find the city. 20 00:02:04,316 --> 00:02:07,716 Speaker 1: The lights have been dimmed, but the dark and dislocation 21 00:02:07,876 --> 00:02:11,796 Speaker 1: of war also offers a serial killer cover to single 22 00:02:11,836 --> 00:02:16,236 Speaker 1: out his victims. His prey are ordinary women who are 23 00:02:16,276 --> 00:02:18,916 Speaker 1: just trying to make the best of things in London's 24 00:02:18,956 --> 00:02:20,796 Speaker 1: bomb damaged nightlife district. 25 00:02:21,236 --> 00:02:23,196 Speaker 2: Hibabe, what can one tonight? 26 00:02:26,316 --> 00:02:30,436 Speaker 1: Let's start in Piccadilly, which locals boastfully call the center 27 00:02:30,516 --> 00:02:34,116 Speaker 1: of the world. For, as the guide book says, anyone 28 00:02:34,156 --> 00:02:36,956 Speaker 1: looking for a high life must sooner or later find 29 00:02:36,996 --> 00:02:47,676 Speaker 1: themselves in Piccadilly Circus. Welcome to the Brasserie Universal. It's 30 00:02:47,676 --> 00:02:51,396 Speaker 1: a favorite haunt of flyers. Men from the air forces 31 00:02:51,436 --> 00:02:55,876 Speaker 1: of France, Poland, Australia, Norway, South Africa and a dozen 32 00:02:55,956 --> 00:02:59,316 Speaker 1: other nations gather here to brag about the Germans they've 33 00:02:59,356 --> 00:03:03,076 Speaker 1: shot down, or drink to the memories of comrades lost. 34 00:03:03,396 --> 00:03:07,116 Speaker 4: Everybody either starts from here or ends up here. 35 00:03:07,316 --> 00:03:11,316 Speaker 1: Says one young Canadian pilot in a letter home. Soon this 36 00:03:11,436 --> 00:03:15,436 Speaker 1: subterranean joint will burst at the seams with American gis 37 00:03:16,596 --> 00:03:20,276 Speaker 1: flush with cash. They'll transform this area into what locals 38 00:03:20,276 --> 00:03:24,876 Speaker 1: will dub Little America. But today only a handful of 39 00:03:24,956 --> 00:03:28,956 Speaker 1: Yanks are in town. For this is February twelfth, nineteen 40 00:03:28,996 --> 00:03:32,596 Speaker 1: forty two. It's a Thursday night, and a young woman 41 00:03:32,676 --> 00:03:34,676 Speaker 1: called Greta Haywood has come to town. 42 00:03:36,476 --> 00:03:37,196 Speaker 3: She's alone. 43 00:03:37,676 --> 00:03:40,716 Speaker 4: Excuse me, are you waiting for somebody? 44 00:03:41,316 --> 00:03:45,356 Speaker 1: The voice is an educated one, but perhaps a little affected, 45 00:03:45,996 --> 00:03:48,356 Speaker 1: as if its owner is trying to adopt the diction 46 00:03:48,636 --> 00:03:52,476 Speaker 1: of a duke or earl. Or maybe it's the effect 47 00:03:52,476 --> 00:03:56,676 Speaker 1: of the drink. His breath carries the sour reek of 48 00:03:56,796 --> 00:04:02,316 Speaker 1: water down wartime beer. He's a rather slight man, of 49 00:04:02,396 --> 00:04:05,396 Speaker 1: around five foot eight or nine, and he wears the 50 00:04:05,436 --> 00:04:09,556 Speaker 1: blue wool uniform of a leading aircraftman in the Royal 51 00:04:09,636 --> 00:04:14,156 Speaker 1: Air Force. On his cuff is a single stripe, a 52 00:04:14,236 --> 00:04:20,796 Speaker 1: commendation for good conduct. Greta is waiting for someone. She 53 00:04:21,116 --> 00:04:24,556 Speaker 1: has a date, she tells the stranger, a strange from 54 00:04:24,556 --> 00:04:27,596 Speaker 1: her husband. Greta struck up a new relationship with a 55 00:04:27,676 --> 00:04:31,116 Speaker 1: captain in the army. He'll join her here within the hour. 56 00:04:32,516 --> 00:04:35,556 Speaker 4: You are a very nice girl. I've been looking at 57 00:04:35,596 --> 00:04:36,476 Speaker 4: you for some time. 58 00:04:37,436 --> 00:04:41,556 Speaker 1: Beneath the sweep of dark hair, the stranger has piercing 59 00:04:41,676 --> 00:04:46,636 Speaker 1: pale blue eyes and rather sharp features that some consider handsome. 60 00:04:47,196 --> 00:04:49,716 Speaker 4: You shouldn't come down to a place like this. It's 61 00:04:49,756 --> 00:04:50,996 Speaker 4: not very nice down. 62 00:04:50,796 --> 00:04:56,316 Speaker 1: Here, a place like this. The Brasserie Universal is known 63 00:04:56,396 --> 00:05:00,956 Speaker 1: by other names. Some call it the Universal Brasserie, Others 64 00:05:01,436 --> 00:05:05,116 Speaker 1: refer to it simply as the Universal Brothel. To the 65 00:05:05,156 --> 00:05:09,356 Speaker 1: annoyance of the owners, any woman coming here alone is 66 00:05:09,436 --> 00:05:12,836 Speaker 1: eyed with deep suspicion and assumed to be either a 67 00:05:12,916 --> 00:05:19,676 Speaker 1: so called good time girl or a professional prostitute. Greta 68 00:05:19,676 --> 00:05:22,396 Speaker 1: has allowed the stranger to buy her a drink, and 69 00:05:22,436 --> 00:05:26,716 Speaker 1: he returns from the bar with two whiskies. She repeatedly 70 00:05:26,756 --> 00:05:29,716 Speaker 1: declines his offers to take her to dinner, for her 71 00:05:29,756 --> 00:05:32,236 Speaker 1: date will be here by nine. 72 00:05:32,396 --> 00:05:34,156 Speaker 4: We have plenty of time. 73 00:05:35,076 --> 00:05:39,356 Speaker 1: Eventually, she agrees to accompany the stranger to another bar 74 00:05:39,876 --> 00:05:44,796 Speaker 1: for one more drink. The man retrieves his hat and 75 00:05:44,836 --> 00:05:48,876 Speaker 1: winter coat from the cloakroom. He's no officer yet, but 76 00:05:48,956 --> 00:05:51,676 Speaker 1: the white cotton flash on his cap shows he's in 77 00:05:51,796 --> 00:05:54,996 Speaker 1: training to become a pilot, one of the most glamorous 78 00:05:55,116 --> 00:05:59,476 Speaker 1: jobs in the Armed Services. They climb the steps up 79 00:05:59,756 --> 00:06:04,836 Speaker 1: out of the brasserie and into the night. The streets 80 00:06:04,836 --> 00:06:08,796 Speaker 1: here are busy, but Greta only hears the people around her, 81 00:06:09,476 --> 00:06:13,276 Speaker 1: feels them bump past or glimpses the bouncing red tips 82 00:06:13,276 --> 00:06:17,876 Speaker 1: of their lighted cigarettes. For Piccadilly Circus, once famed for 83 00:06:17,956 --> 00:06:23,156 Speaker 1: its vast eliminated signs advertising Hague Whiskey, Gordon's Gin and 84 00:06:23,236 --> 00:06:29,596 Speaker 1: Wrigley's Gum, is completely blacked out. The head lamps of 85 00:06:29,716 --> 00:06:33,996 Speaker 1: taxis and double decker buses are also hooded, so only 86 00:06:34,076 --> 00:06:39,596 Speaker 1: the tiniest chinks of light are visible. Many pedestrians have 87 00:06:39,636 --> 00:06:43,956 Speaker 1: taken to carrying flashlights as these darting glow worms. Pass 88 00:06:44,276 --> 00:06:46,956 Speaker 1: grata might see the flash of a polished button on 89 00:06:47,036 --> 00:06:51,476 Speaker 1: a military tunic, or perhaps the fleeting silver shimmer of 90 00:06:51,516 --> 00:06:56,116 Speaker 1: a fox fur coat. Such furs are de rigueur in Piccadilly. 91 00:06:56,676 --> 00:06:59,756 Speaker 1: They're almost a uniform for the women who sell sex 92 00:06:59,756 --> 00:07:04,676 Speaker 1: along this bustling thoroughfare. A visiting American serviceman remembered one 93 00:07:04,796 --> 00:07:06,596 Speaker 1: particular woman in a fur. 94 00:07:06,476 --> 00:07:12,076 Speaker 2: Coat underneath that she didn't have any clothes. 95 00:07:12,156 --> 00:07:18,356 Speaker 1: On true story, the airman leads Greta away from Piccadilly 96 00:07:18,396 --> 00:07:23,836 Speaker 1: Circus to a cocktail bar the salted almond to her relief, 97 00:07:24,276 --> 00:07:26,476 Speaker 1: this is no dark and sleazy dyve. 98 00:07:27,276 --> 00:07:27,916 Speaker 5: The bar is. 99 00:07:27,876 --> 00:07:31,076 Speaker 1: Decorated in a brilliant shade of a million, and it's 100 00:07:31,116 --> 00:07:35,436 Speaker 1: spacious and well lit. They sit at one of the 101 00:07:35,516 --> 00:07:39,796 Speaker 1: round tables far from the other customers, out of earshot. 102 00:07:40,996 --> 00:07:44,636 Speaker 1: The airman doesn't remove his heavy outdoor coat as they 103 00:07:44,716 --> 00:07:48,436 Speaker 1: drink two more whiskies. He seems keen to move on. 104 00:07:48,876 --> 00:07:49,716 Speaker 4: Where do you live? 105 00:07:50,316 --> 00:07:53,596 Speaker 1: Greta's home is twelve or more stops away on the subway. 106 00:07:53,916 --> 00:07:56,996 Speaker 4: That's a long way. Don't you know anywhere around here 107 00:07:56,996 --> 00:07:57,516 Speaker 4: that we can go? 108 00:07:58,116 --> 00:08:01,876 Speaker 1: The airmen clearly won't be satisfied with simply buying Greta 109 00:08:01,916 --> 00:08:04,116 Speaker 1: a drink and walking her back to meet her captain. 110 00:08:04,956 --> 00:08:06,156 Speaker 4: Are you a naughty girl? 111 00:08:06,996 --> 00:08:14,116 Speaker 1: Inwardly, Greta bristles at the crude insinuation, but she answers simply. 112 00:08:14,316 --> 00:08:16,236 Speaker 4: No, I'll show you something. 113 00:08:16,796 --> 00:08:19,796 Speaker 1: The man reaches deep into his pocket and pulls out 114 00:08:19,796 --> 00:08:21,956 Speaker 1: a fat bundle of banknotes. 115 00:08:22,356 --> 00:08:27,436 Speaker 4: There's thirty pounds there, you see, I have plenty of money. 116 00:08:27,916 --> 00:08:31,316 Speaker 1: Thirty pounds is more than eight months pay for this 117 00:08:31,436 --> 00:08:36,156 Speaker 1: leading aircraftman. Greta repeats that she'll be late for her date, 118 00:08:36,196 --> 00:08:39,756 Speaker 1: but the captain he asks if he can meet Greta 119 00:08:39,796 --> 00:08:44,036 Speaker 1: again to show her a good time. Perhaps Greta doesn't 120 00:08:44,036 --> 00:08:48,276 Speaker 1: want to anger this man in uniform. She reluctantly hands 121 00:08:48,356 --> 00:08:52,356 Speaker 1: him a scrap of paper bearing her telephone number. She 122 00:08:52,596 --> 00:08:56,596 Speaker 1: stresses that she's not interested in having sex with him. 123 00:08:57,636 --> 00:09:00,996 Speaker 4: All right, if you don't want to, can't make you. 124 00:09:03,436 --> 00:09:03,756 Speaker 6: Do you know? 125 00:09:04,916 --> 00:09:06,236 Speaker 4: I knocked a girl out once. 126 00:09:09,276 --> 00:09:13,596 Speaker 1: It's cold outside, and in this quiet side street it's 127 00:09:13,836 --> 00:09:18,996 Speaker 1: bible black. Greta realizes this isn't the quickest route back 128 00:09:19,076 --> 00:09:23,676 Speaker 1: to the Brasserie Universal and her waiting date, but perhaps 129 00:09:23,676 --> 00:09:28,276 Speaker 1: to avoid enraging a clearly violent man, Greta follows his 130 00:09:28,516 --> 00:09:34,076 Speaker 1: odd route without objecting. She does, however, take a flashlight 131 00:09:34,116 --> 00:09:36,076 Speaker 1: from her purse to eliminate their path. 132 00:09:36,676 --> 00:09:38,196 Speaker 4: You don't want to use the torch. 133 00:09:39,156 --> 00:09:41,756 Speaker 1: He grabs the light from her hand and plunges them 134 00:09:41,836 --> 00:09:42,916 Speaker 1: back into darkness. 135 00:09:43,596 --> 00:09:45,956 Speaker 4: I want to kiss you good night. Are there any 136 00:09:45,996 --> 00:09:47,276 Speaker 4: air ITD shelters around here? 137 00:09:47,676 --> 00:09:50,756 Speaker 1: Greta doesn't know, but she is certain of one thing. 138 00:09:51,276 --> 00:09:54,316 Speaker 1: She doesn't want to venture into a secluded, unlit bunger 139 00:09:54,436 --> 00:09:58,236 Speaker 1: with this man. He grabs her and steers her into 140 00:09:58,236 --> 00:10:01,676 Speaker 1: a doorway, pushing closely up against her and kissing her. 141 00:10:01,756 --> 00:10:04,836 Speaker 4: Come on, you've got to let me make love to you. 142 00:10:05,316 --> 00:10:09,436 Speaker 1: He raises her skirt. Greta protests and pushes his hands way. 143 00:10:09,996 --> 00:10:13,516 Speaker 1: The airman reaches up as if to cradle her face 144 00:10:13,636 --> 00:10:19,116 Speaker 1: for another kiss, but instead his hands knit around her throat. 145 00:10:19,476 --> 00:10:20,996 Speaker 1: She tries to break free. 146 00:10:21,076 --> 00:10:23,316 Speaker 6: You won't, he won't. 147 00:10:23,356 --> 00:10:26,796 Speaker 1: Greta struggles to release the man's grip, but his fingers 148 00:10:26,876 --> 00:10:30,156 Speaker 1: only tighten around her neck, cutting off the flow of 149 00:10:30,276 --> 00:10:32,716 Speaker 1: air to her lungs and blood to her brain. 150 00:10:33,676 --> 00:10:34,156 Speaker 6: You won't. 151 00:10:36,596 --> 00:10:41,276 Speaker 1: You won't, Greta Hayward loses consciousness. 152 00:10:42,956 --> 00:10:48,836 Speaker 4: You are you won't. I've been looking at you for 153 00:10:48,916 --> 00:10:49,396 Speaker 4: some time. 154 00:10:51,516 --> 00:10:55,876 Speaker 1: Greta is not this killer's first victim, nor will she 155 00:10:55,956 --> 00:10:59,476 Speaker 1: be the last. Over the course of just a few 156 00:10:59,556 --> 00:11:03,876 Speaker 1: days in that chilly wartime February, women were attacked night 157 00:11:03,996 --> 00:11:07,156 Speaker 1: after night on the blacked out streets of London, in 158 00:11:07,196 --> 00:11:13,436 Speaker 1: deserted air raid shelters, even in their own homes. In 159 00:11:13,516 --> 00:11:17,796 Speaker 1: this series, you'll hear the stories of Evelyn Hamilton, Evelyn Oatley, 160 00:11:18,276 --> 00:11:24,796 Speaker 1: Margaret Lowe, Greta Heywood, Catherine Mulcahy, and Doris Joanne from 161 00:11:24,796 --> 00:11:31,356 Speaker 1: their birth to the moment when their attacker struck. I'm 162 00:11:31,436 --> 00:11:35,396 Speaker 1: social historian Halley Rubinholt. In the last season of Bad Women, 163 00:11:35,756 --> 00:11:38,636 Speaker 1: I explored the case of Jack the Ripper by telling 164 00:11:38,676 --> 00:11:42,196 Speaker 1: the famous Victorian story of the Whitechapel murders through the 165 00:11:42,316 --> 00:11:46,276 Speaker 1: lens of the victims. The Ripper retold was based on 166 00:11:46,316 --> 00:11:49,636 Speaker 1: my book The Five, but this new season of bad 167 00:11:49,636 --> 00:11:54,356 Speaker 1: women springs from all new research. It's a mammoth task, 168 00:11:54,756 --> 00:11:58,956 Speaker 1: so I enlisted the help of journalist and criminologist Alice Fines. 169 00:12:00,316 --> 00:12:02,996 Speaker 5: I had never heard of this case before, which was 170 00:12:03,036 --> 00:12:07,996 Speaker 5: puzzling the murderer that Ermann was especially brutal in his 171 00:12:08,036 --> 00:12:12,276 Speaker 5: attacks on the women, and such cruelty usually ensures that 172 00:12:12,356 --> 00:12:17,396 Speaker 5: a killer is remembered, even assigned a dark celebrity. But 173 00:12:17,636 --> 00:12:21,076 Speaker 5: over the years, this particular story has been talked about 174 00:12:21,196 --> 00:12:26,796 Speaker 5: very little, and the victims even less. So why to 175 00:12:26,956 --> 00:12:30,196 Speaker 5: change that and to restore those women to memory? We 176 00:12:30,316 --> 00:12:34,996 Speaker 5: set about reconstructing their lives. We've mined the national archives 177 00:12:35,156 --> 00:12:41,116 Speaker 5: and sifted through thousands of yellowing pages, police reports, witness statements, photos, 178 00:12:41,276 --> 00:12:45,956 Speaker 5: fingerprint records, and newspapers. We've even had an expert genealogists 179 00:12:46,036 --> 00:12:49,636 Speaker 5: trace the women's family trees for clues. Weighing up all 180 00:12:49,636 --> 00:12:52,436 Speaker 5: this material, I was struck by the fact that, on 181 00:12:52,476 --> 00:12:55,716 Speaker 5: the surface, at least, there's little to connect these victims. 182 00:12:56,116 --> 00:12:59,116 Speaker 5: They ranged in age from their twenties to their mid forties. 183 00:12:59,516 --> 00:13:03,316 Speaker 5: Some were married, but others were separated or resolutely single. 184 00:13:03,796 --> 00:13:07,316 Speaker 5: Some sold sex, one was a highly qualified graduate, and 185 00:13:07,396 --> 00:13:11,236 Speaker 5: another dreamt of a life on the stage. But there 186 00:13:11,276 --> 00:13:15,716 Speaker 5: are a few points of connection, and these are illuminating. 187 00:13:16,796 --> 00:13:21,876 Speaker 5: In wartime London, these women shared common experiences. They faced 188 00:13:21,916 --> 00:13:24,956 Speaker 5: the same risk as men from the falling bombs, but 189 00:13:25,036 --> 00:13:29,756 Speaker 5: the hardships and upheavals of the war often affected them disproportionately. 190 00:13:30,396 --> 00:13:33,676 Speaker 5: War had turned the old social and moral order on 191 00:13:33,756 --> 00:13:37,556 Speaker 5: its head. As a result, women like the ones in 192 00:13:37,596 --> 00:13:41,556 Speaker 5: our story had new opportunities, but they were also viewed 193 00:13:41,556 --> 00:13:45,356 Speaker 5: with suspicion and disapproval for trying to work, live and 194 00:13:45,476 --> 00:13:48,716 Speaker 5: love as they pleased in a world in turmoil. 195 00:13:50,396 --> 00:13:53,516 Speaker 1: The other awful point of intersection for these women was 196 00:13:53,516 --> 00:13:57,676 Speaker 1: that they all found themselves isolated and alone, and that 197 00:13:57,716 --> 00:14:02,236 Speaker 1: gave the airmen with the affected aristocratic accent his opportunity 198 00:14:02,316 --> 00:14:07,716 Speaker 1: to strike new world in their moments of vulnerability. He 199 00:14:07,916 --> 00:14:11,596 Speaker 1: beat and throttled with his bare hands, robbed them of 200 00:14:11,636 --> 00:14:16,076 Speaker 1: money and possessions, and then set about mutilating and defiling 201 00:14:16,116 --> 00:14:21,676 Speaker 1: their bodies with anything at hand, from razors to kitchen implements, 202 00:14:22,436 --> 00:14:23,836 Speaker 1: even their own flashlights. 203 00:14:24,876 --> 00:14:29,276 Speaker 5: Unsurprisingly, the ferocity and sadism of these murders prompted the 204 00:14:29,316 --> 00:14:32,636 Speaker 5: papers to liken him to a killer who had terrorized 205 00:14:32,636 --> 00:14:37,916 Speaker 5: the city of full fifty years earlier. You're listening to 206 00:14:38,036 --> 00:14:42,796 Speaker 5: bad women, the Blackout Rapper back in just a moment. 207 00:14:55,676 --> 00:14:58,476 Speaker 1: In the decades separating the White Chapel murders of eighteen 208 00:14:58,516 --> 00:15:01,796 Speaker 1: eighty eight and the Blitz, the lives of London's women 209 00:15:02,076 --> 00:15:06,316 Speaker 1: had altered significantly. The women who were killed in nineteen 210 00:15:06,356 --> 00:15:09,036 Speaker 1: forty two, the women you will meet in this series 211 00:15:09,556 --> 00:15:14,156 Speaker 1: witnessed huge changes in their lifetimes. The oldest were born 212 00:15:14,436 --> 00:15:18,116 Speaker 1: as the Victorian era was ebbing away, and they entered 213 00:15:18,156 --> 00:15:23,316 Speaker 1: adulthood as greater opportunities were becoming available to women. Greater 214 00:15:23,476 --> 00:15:26,916 Speaker 1: legal protections were also being put in place, and while 215 00:15:26,956 --> 00:15:30,716 Speaker 1: not perfect, these would have been unimaginable to the victims 216 00:15:30,716 --> 00:15:36,596 Speaker 1: of Jack the Ripper. For example, these women could all vote. 217 00:15:37,236 --> 00:15:39,916 Speaker 1: The war sped up some of the more positive changes 218 00:15:39,956 --> 00:15:43,956 Speaker 1: for women. They entered roles in military and civilian workplaces 219 00:15:44,196 --> 00:15:47,476 Speaker 1: that had been denied to their mothers and grandmothers. But 220 00:15:47,596 --> 00:15:51,516 Speaker 1: global conflict also brought into stark relief many of the 221 00:15:51,516 --> 00:15:56,276 Speaker 1: injustices and prejudices that continued to blight women's daily lives. 222 00:15:57,236 --> 00:16:00,516 Speaker 1: The war saw male partners shipped to the other side 223 00:16:00,516 --> 00:16:04,076 Speaker 1: of the world, and at the same time a mass 224 00:16:04,236 --> 00:16:08,756 Speaker 1: influx of young men from other nations. Amid this upheaval, 225 00:16:09,156 --> 00:16:14,596 Speaker 1: women were accused of being bad mothers, unfaithful wives, sexual deviants, 226 00:16:14,956 --> 00:16:19,796 Speaker 1: spreaders of venereal disease, gossips, even spies who were passing 227 00:16:19,956 --> 00:16:25,796 Speaker 1: vital secrets to the enemy. In peacetime, men had often pestered, intimidated, 228 00:16:25,836 --> 00:16:29,596 Speaker 1: and hurt women with impunity, but the coming of war 229 00:16:29,876 --> 00:16:34,316 Speaker 1: created new spaces, while women were exposed to unwonted advances, 230 00:16:34,556 --> 00:16:40,476 Speaker 1: determined sexual harassment, violent assault, and worse. As we unravel 231 00:16:40,516 --> 00:16:43,196 Speaker 1: the lives of those killed by the Blackout Ripper and 232 00:16:43,276 --> 00:16:47,956 Speaker 1: other ordinary women who met untimely, unjust and violent deaths 233 00:16:48,036 --> 00:16:51,876 Speaker 1: during the war, will glimpse a world far removed from 234 00:16:51,916 --> 00:16:55,996 Speaker 1: the cozy myths of the Greatest generation, a world where 235 00:16:56,036 --> 00:16:58,956 Speaker 1: some women had as much reason to fear the men 236 00:16:58,996 --> 00:17:02,756 Speaker 1: wearing Allied uniforms as they did the enemy. 237 00:17:07,236 --> 00:17:09,956 Speaker 5: This story will take us to many places, but at 238 00:17:09,996 --> 00:17:14,236 Speaker 5: its center is London's West End, the districts of Piccadilly, 239 00:17:14,356 --> 00:17:19,076 Speaker 5: Hyde Park, Mayfair and soho, places where they're rich and famous, 240 00:17:19,276 --> 00:17:22,676 Speaker 5: the great and the good, mingled with the poor and desperate, 241 00:17:23,156 --> 00:17:27,956 Speaker 5: the deplorable and the vile. These were places of excitement 242 00:17:28,236 --> 00:17:32,956 Speaker 5: and freedom, but also of degradation and danger. From diaries, 243 00:17:33,196 --> 00:17:38,276 Speaker 5: oral history recordings, autobiographies, and contemporary accounts, we've created a 244 00:17:38,316 --> 00:17:41,996 Speaker 5: snapshot of these neighborhoods and the people who frequented them. 245 00:17:42,316 --> 00:17:44,756 Speaker 5: To understand the women at the heart of this story, 246 00:17:45,196 --> 00:17:48,156 Speaker 5: we need to understand the problems and prevailing attitudes of 247 00:17:48,196 --> 00:17:53,636 Speaker 5: the time to immerse ourselves in their world. So let's 248 00:17:53,676 --> 00:18:00,196 Speaker 5: explore London's wartime West End together. It's spring nineteen forty one. 249 00:18:00,636 --> 00:18:03,996 Speaker 5: The Blackout murders are nearly a year away, and Nazi 250 00:18:04,036 --> 00:18:07,396 Speaker 5: bombs have been falling for months now. Some nights the 251 00:18:07,476 --> 00:18:13,196 Speaker 5: area is spared on ours. It is mercilessly pummeled in daylight, 252 00:18:13,756 --> 00:18:17,876 Speaker 5: bustling Piccadilly Circus could be mistaken for its pre war self, 253 00:18:18,956 --> 00:18:24,996 Speaker 5: well almost. The famous winged statue of Antios, the Greek 254 00:18:25,036 --> 00:18:28,196 Speaker 5: god of requited love, has been taken down and stored 255 00:18:28,196 --> 00:18:33,556 Speaker 5: away for safe keeping. His ornate perch a fountain has 256 00:18:33,596 --> 00:18:37,356 Speaker 5: been buried beneath sandbags to protect it from bomb damage. 257 00:18:37,436 --> 00:18:41,716 Speaker 5: The plinth is covered in propaganda posters encouraging citizens to 258 00:18:41,796 --> 00:18:45,036 Speaker 5: buy government bonds to pay for ships, guns and warplanes, 259 00:18:45,716 --> 00:18:48,636 Speaker 5: or to drive less to preserve precious rubber so that 260 00:18:48,756 --> 00:18:53,836 Speaker 5: vital army trucks can have tires. Britain is almost totally 261 00:18:53,876 --> 00:18:56,556 Speaker 5: cut off from the world, and her cargo ships are 262 00:18:56,596 --> 00:19:00,596 Speaker 5: being sunk by German submarines at an appalling rate. But 263 00:19:01,236 --> 00:19:06,596 Speaker 5: despite rationing and shortages, Piccadilly's famed restaurants remain open, some 264 00:19:06,756 --> 00:19:11,316 Speaker 5: offering meals every bit as Luxuria during peacetime Marks gave. 265 00:19:12,036 --> 00:19:16,356 Speaker 1: The hotels are bustling too, just off Piccadilly Circus. In 266 00:19:16,396 --> 00:19:19,516 Speaker 1: a grand sweep of buildings owned by the British royal 267 00:19:19,556 --> 00:19:22,116 Speaker 1: family is Odnino's Good Evening. 268 00:19:22,436 --> 00:19:24,476 Speaker 6: Do you have any vacancies for the next. 269 00:19:24,316 --> 00:19:28,156 Speaker 1: This one hundred room establishment tries to win custom by 270 00:19:28,156 --> 00:19:30,156 Speaker 1: bragging about the quality of its plumbing. 271 00:19:30,716 --> 00:19:32,836 Speaker 3: We've a lovely room on the third. 272 00:19:32,556 --> 00:19:36,436 Speaker 1: Floor, but adverts also make careful mention of the ample 273 00:19:36,556 --> 00:19:42,716 Speaker 1: bomb shelter accommodation forty feet below ground. Henri Juane works 274 00:19:42,716 --> 00:19:47,556 Speaker 1: as a manager at o'danino's. Approaching seventy years old, Henri 275 00:19:47,756 --> 00:19:51,676 Speaker 1: should be enjoying retirement in the country, but his annuity 276 00:19:51,716 --> 00:19:54,596 Speaker 1: from his native France collapsed when the war broke out, 277 00:19:55,196 --> 00:19:58,596 Speaker 1: and so he's returned to London and to hotel management. 278 00:19:59,236 --> 00:20:03,876 Speaker 1: His wife, Doris Willouis and Fairhead, is thirty years his junior. 279 00:20:04,716 --> 00:20:09,116 Speaker 1: She's defied his wishes and followed him back to the city. Doris, 280 00:20:09,116 --> 00:20:12,516 Speaker 1: she has known poverty, and she's determinedly carved out a 281 00:20:12,556 --> 00:20:15,756 Speaker 1: better life for herself. Perhaps what she craves most of 282 00:20:15,796 --> 00:20:20,156 Speaker 1: all is financial security and stability, but now it might 283 00:20:20,196 --> 00:20:23,636 Speaker 1: all be slipping through her fingers. When she met Henri, 284 00:20:24,036 --> 00:20:27,116 Speaker 1: he was one of her paying clients. He promised to 285 00:20:27,156 --> 00:20:29,636 Speaker 1: provide for her and take her off the streets. 286 00:20:30,476 --> 00:20:33,156 Speaker 6: When I married my wife, it was agreed between us 287 00:20:33,316 --> 00:20:36,236 Speaker 6: that she would cease her mode of life and regain 288 00:20:36,516 --> 00:20:37,676 Speaker 6: her respectability. 289 00:20:39,116 --> 00:20:42,236 Speaker 1: Their early married DearS were comfortable and they enjoyed some 290 00:20:42,356 --> 00:20:47,116 Speaker 1: luxuries too, But Henri now fears that with his diminished income, 291 00:20:47,676 --> 00:20:48,396 Speaker 1: his wife is. 292 00:20:48,396 --> 00:20:51,876 Speaker 6: At risk of drifting back to her old life. 293 00:20:52,356 --> 00:20:56,676 Speaker 1: Henri is working punishingly long hours at Odinino's, where he 294 00:20:56,716 --> 00:21:00,876 Speaker 1: also lives, and his health and their marriage are beginning 295 00:21:00,916 --> 00:21:05,876 Speaker 1: to suffer. Setting herself up in rented rooms. Doris will 296 00:21:05,916 --> 00:21:09,796 Speaker 1: indeed take her financial situation back into her own hands. 297 00:21:10,876 --> 00:21:15,076 Speaker 1: This will also fatally put her into the path of 298 00:21:15,116 --> 00:21:16,076 Speaker 1: the Blackout River. 299 00:21:18,756 --> 00:21:21,876 Speaker 5: The West End boasts a concentration of shops to rival 300 00:21:21,956 --> 00:21:25,116 Speaker 5: the greatest cities on earth, from the tiny high end 301 00:21:25,156 --> 00:21:28,716 Speaker 5: tailors of Sapple Row to vast department stores the size 302 00:21:28,756 --> 00:21:33,156 Speaker 5: of an ocean liner. Despite the blitz, they've mostly kept trading. 303 00:21:34,356 --> 00:21:37,876 Speaker 5: One correspondent from a regional newspaper is in Piccadilly to 304 00:21:37,956 --> 00:21:40,436 Speaker 5: report conditions back to his rural readership. 305 00:21:40,836 --> 00:21:44,356 Speaker 6: It looked exactly like old times. I saw the facade 306 00:21:44,356 --> 00:21:48,316 Speaker 6: of a fine building, seemingly untouched. Then you realize that 307 00:21:48,356 --> 00:21:50,876 Speaker 6: you could see daylight through the windows from the outside, 308 00:21:51,316 --> 00:21:54,036 Speaker 6: and that the walls were all that was left. I 309 00:21:54,076 --> 00:21:58,396 Speaker 6: saw an elegant establishment carrying on with tarpaulins slung across 310 00:21:58,396 --> 00:22:00,796 Speaker 6: the open roof. Glass out everywhere. 311 00:22:01,316 --> 00:22:05,596 Speaker 5: When storefronts and windows are blasted away, shopkeepers are keen 312 00:22:05,636 --> 00:22:07,476 Speaker 5: to make a show of defiance. 313 00:22:07,836 --> 00:22:09,476 Speaker 6: Business as usual. 314 00:22:09,356 --> 00:22:11,436 Speaker 5: Reads the sign on one shattered shop. 315 00:22:11,236 --> 00:22:13,756 Speaker 6: Doorway in fact more open than ever. 316 00:22:14,636 --> 00:22:17,756 Speaker 5: A sign outside another bomb damage shop admits. 317 00:22:17,796 --> 00:22:20,516 Speaker 3: We never did like window dressing anyway. 318 00:22:21,316 --> 00:22:25,556 Speaker 5: Not everyone can joke about the carnage. The writer George Orwell, 319 00:22:25,996 --> 00:22:29,436 Speaker 5: is crunching through West End streets flittered with stone fragments 320 00:22:29,716 --> 00:22:33,796 Speaker 5: and glittering with broken glass. He comes across some debris 321 00:22:33,836 --> 00:22:35,756 Speaker 5: from a bombed out department store. 322 00:22:35,636 --> 00:22:39,636 Speaker 4: A pile of plaster dress models, very pink and realistic, 323 00:22:40,356 --> 00:22:42,516 Speaker 4: looking so like a pile of corpses that one could 324 00:22:42,516 --> 00:22:44,556 Speaker 4: have mistaken them for that at a little distance. 325 00:22:45,476 --> 00:22:49,356 Speaker 5: The scene is utterly shocking to him, But what astounds 326 00:22:49,396 --> 00:22:52,316 Speaker 5: him most of all is that passers by seem utterly 327 00:22:52,436 --> 00:22:53,956 Speaker 5: unfazed by the damage. 328 00:22:54,116 --> 00:22:57,076 Speaker 4: To an astonishing extent. Things have slipped back to normal, 329 00:22:57,636 --> 00:23:00,796 Speaker 4: and everyone is quite happy in the daytime, never seeming 330 00:23:00,796 --> 00:23:03,836 Speaker 4: to think about the coming night, like animals which are 331 00:23:03,916 --> 00:23:05,996 Speaker 4: unable to foresee the future so long as they have 332 00:23:06,036 --> 00:23:08,076 Speaker 4: a bit of food place in the sun. 333 00:23:09,316 --> 00:23:13,436 Speaker 1: But the sun is setting now and night approaches, while 334 00:23:13,476 --> 00:23:18,436 Speaker 1: the cover of darkness bring the bombers once again. The 335 00:23:18,596 --> 00:23:22,436 Speaker 1: entrances to the Tube London subway system begin to clog 336 00:23:22,516 --> 00:23:26,796 Speaker 1: with shoppers and workers heading home, but others are seeking 337 00:23:26,796 --> 00:23:30,596 Speaker 1: to reach the train platforms deep underground, too, for the 338 00:23:30,636 --> 00:23:35,076 Speaker 1: tunnels have become a refuge to tens of thousands of locals. 339 00:23:35,636 --> 00:23:39,476 Speaker 1: There are still too few official air raid shelters, and 340 00:23:39,516 --> 00:23:43,716 Speaker 1: those that exist are often wretched and comfortable and unsanitary, 341 00:23:44,356 --> 00:23:47,476 Speaker 1: and so to the utter dismay of the authorities, nearly 342 00:23:47,556 --> 00:23:51,076 Speaker 1: two hundred thousand Londoners prefer to bed down each night 343 00:23:51,156 --> 00:23:54,916 Speaker 1: in the tube, with the trains rumbling by just inches 344 00:23:54,956 --> 00:24:00,156 Speaker 1: from them. Worried Londoners, men, women and children line up 345 00:24:00,156 --> 00:24:02,996 Speaker 1: for a sleeping spot while rush hour is still on, 346 00:24:03,596 --> 00:24:09,476 Speaker 1: despite official orders that they stay away. The patient of 347 00:24:09,516 --> 00:24:12,236 Speaker 1: these waiting shelterers is wearing thin. 348 00:24:13,076 --> 00:24:14,796 Speaker 2: If your father, you've been active. 349 00:24:14,876 --> 00:24:17,636 Speaker 1: Police officers are here to keep order amid a throng 350 00:24:17,756 --> 00:24:20,316 Speaker 1: of anxious mothers, and they're wailing offspring. 351 00:24:21,516 --> 00:24:24,996 Speaker 6: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. There's plenty of time. You can't 352 00:24:25,036 --> 00:24:27,996 Speaker 6: go down yet. If we didn't stop them, some of 353 00:24:28,036 --> 00:24:33,876 Speaker 6: these kids would spend half their lifetime underground. 354 00:24:34,396 --> 00:24:37,716 Speaker 1: There are other officers in this ticket hall too, but 355 00:24:37,876 --> 00:24:42,076 Speaker 1: they're not concerned with crowd control. Instead, they want to 356 00:24:42,076 --> 00:24:47,716 Speaker 1: find someone and quickly on the forty seven year old 357 00:24:47,796 --> 00:24:51,756 Speaker 1: Rachel Dobkin is missing. Her sister Polly has been looking 358 00:24:51,796 --> 00:24:54,556 Speaker 1: for her, and she fears foul play. 359 00:24:55,756 --> 00:25:00,316 Speaker 5: Since Rachel's strange disappearance, Polly has visited a clairvoyant, and 360 00:25:00,356 --> 00:25:04,676 Speaker 5: the mystic insists that something sinister and violent has occurred. 361 00:25:05,836 --> 00:25:10,716 Speaker 5: Polly isn't just worried, she's also out aged. She thinks 362 00:25:10,716 --> 00:25:14,436 Speaker 5: the police aren't taking the case seriously, so Polly calls 363 00:25:14,476 --> 00:25:17,236 Speaker 5: in at her local station, has her lawyer send letters 364 00:25:17,236 --> 00:25:21,636 Speaker 5: of complaint, and takes out adverts in national newspapers. The 365 00:25:21,716 --> 00:25:25,356 Speaker 5: detectives think that Rachel's mental health history points to her 366 00:25:25,436 --> 00:25:29,396 Speaker 5: having taken her own life. She's probably drowned herself, they think, 367 00:25:30,236 --> 00:25:33,836 Speaker 5: but under constant pressure from Polly, whose mental health they 368 00:25:33,876 --> 00:25:39,196 Speaker 5: now also question, their inquiries continue. So far, the only 369 00:25:39,276 --> 00:25:42,396 Speaker 5: clue to Rachel's fate is her purse, which was discovered 370 00:25:42,436 --> 00:25:45,236 Speaker 5: the day after her disappearance at a post office well 371 00:25:45,316 --> 00:25:49,356 Speaker 5: outside the city. It contained her ID card, her rent 372 00:25:49,356 --> 00:25:52,196 Speaker 5: book and the ration coupons needed to buy essentials such 373 00:25:52,196 --> 00:25:56,516 Speaker 5: as food. Also inside were two tube tickets bought the 374 00:25:56,556 --> 00:26:00,676 Speaker 5: morning after she was last seen. The police are asking 375 00:26:00,756 --> 00:26:03,876 Speaker 5: staff at stations across London to cast their minds back. 376 00:26:04,676 --> 00:26:07,116 Speaker 5: Can they remember a woman of about five foot three, 377 00:26:07,516 --> 00:26:10,076 Speaker 5: her black hair graying, wearing a tweed coat with a 378 00:26:10,076 --> 00:26:12,836 Speaker 5: brown fur collar, a navy blue skirt and a brown 379 00:26:12,876 --> 00:26:18,356 Speaker 5: hat no one can. As you'll hear later in this series, 380 00:26:18,916 --> 00:26:23,276 Speaker 5: when Rachel is finally found, the prophecy of Polly's clairvoyant 381 00:26:23,316 --> 00:26:30,636 Speaker 5: will prove more accurate than anyone could have predicted. Bad women. 382 00:26:30,756 --> 00:26:33,476 Speaker 5: The Blackout Ripper will return shortly. 383 00:26:49,956 --> 00:26:53,156 Speaker 1: Not everyone is heading underground to shelter from the bombs. 384 00:26:53,636 --> 00:26:56,436 Speaker 1: Some have grown tired of hiding away and are willing 385 00:26:56,476 --> 00:26:58,516 Speaker 1: to risk enjoying the West End nightlife. 386 00:26:58,676 --> 00:27:02,836 Speaker 3: Once again, there is no longer any excuse to be 387 00:27:02,956 --> 00:27:06,996 Speaker 3: bored in London now. In fact, if you can't enjoy 388 00:27:07,036 --> 00:27:12,196 Speaker 3: yourself in London, you must indeed be a poor prune. 389 00:27:12,676 --> 00:27:17,196 Speaker 1: However, revel is attracted to the West End. Aren't universally admired? 390 00:27:17,596 --> 00:27:20,036 Speaker 1: Isn't it callous to dance when this city is going 391 00:27:20,116 --> 00:27:23,836 Speaker 1: up in flames? One serviceman on leave is disgusted by 392 00:27:23,836 --> 00:27:27,076 Speaker 1: the scenes of merriment in a Piccadilly club. In his journal, 393 00:27:27,236 --> 00:27:30,316 Speaker 1: he confides that he'd happily see the establishment and its 394 00:27:30,316 --> 00:27:35,076 Speaker 1: customers blown to smithereens. The clubs and bars of London 395 00:27:35,116 --> 00:27:37,636 Speaker 1: are the backdrop to the story of the Blackout Ripper 396 00:27:37,676 --> 00:27:40,116 Speaker 1: and his victims, which is why I want to show 397 00:27:40,156 --> 00:27:43,476 Speaker 1: you who frequents them, how those people are viewed by 398 00:27:43,476 --> 00:27:49,476 Speaker 1: the rest of society, and exactly what happens inside the 399 00:27:49,516 --> 00:27:54,076 Speaker 1: Cafe de Parie is beginning to fill once the cabaret 400 00:27:54,156 --> 00:27:58,036 Speaker 1: spot of choice for Hollywood stars and aristocrats. The war 401 00:27:58,116 --> 00:28:02,756 Speaker 1: has injected a little egalitarianism into the clientele, such as 402 00:28:02,796 --> 00:28:07,876 Speaker 1: super a reduction in crisis has heard people like Greta 403 00:28:07,876 --> 00:28:10,876 Speaker 1: Hayward and her army cap and would now feel able 404 00:28:10,916 --> 00:28:13,356 Speaker 1: to cross its venerated threshold. 405 00:28:13,556 --> 00:28:15,916 Speaker 3: Three martis on a known to Stammach. 406 00:28:16,036 --> 00:28:19,476 Speaker 1: The star attraction is Ken's snake Hips Johnson and the 407 00:28:19,476 --> 00:28:23,476 Speaker 1: West Indian Orchestra. Often billed as the only all black 408 00:28:23,556 --> 00:28:26,956 Speaker 1: swing band in Britain, They're seen as the height of 409 00:28:27,036 --> 00:28:33,036 Speaker 1: glamour sophistication and receive glowing reviews wherever they play. Twenty 410 00:28:33,116 --> 00:28:36,356 Speaker 1: six year old Ken is a key part of the allure. 411 00:28:36,916 --> 00:28:40,676 Speaker 1: Though his role is ostensibly as bandleader, Ken's grasp of 412 00:28:40,796 --> 00:28:46,356 Speaker 1: music is basic. His real talent is dance. As his 413 00:28:46,436 --> 00:28:50,236 Speaker 1: bandmates play, Ken will make a pretense at conducting them 414 00:28:50,236 --> 00:28:53,436 Speaker 1: with his baton, but then launch into one of his 415 00:28:53,716 --> 00:28:55,036 Speaker 1: trademark ro teams. 416 00:28:55,836 --> 00:28:59,116 Speaker 6: He was so graceful in his white dinner jacket, his 417 00:28:59,276 --> 00:29:02,396 Speaker 6: whole body was so electric and fluid as he moved 418 00:29:02,396 --> 00:29:05,036 Speaker 6: it in time to the music, it was easy to 419 00:29:05,036 --> 00:29:07,196 Speaker 6: see why they billed him as Snake Hills. 420 00:29:07,836 --> 00:29:11,556 Speaker 1: The Cafe de paris several floors below ground, and many 421 00:29:11,636 --> 00:29:14,356 Speaker 1: have been lulled into thinking that it is invulnerable to 422 00:29:14,436 --> 00:29:18,236 Speaker 1: the bombs of the Luftwaffer. In fact, the club is 423 00:29:18,276 --> 00:29:21,156 Speaker 1: known for its insoussians when it comes to air raids. 424 00:29:22,316 --> 00:29:25,956 Speaker 1: When the sirens sound, snake Hips Johnson tells the drinkers 425 00:29:25,956 --> 00:29:28,076 Speaker 1: and dancers that they're free to seek shelter in the 426 00:29:28,116 --> 00:29:31,556 Speaker 1: basements even deeper below the club, but if they do, 427 00:29:32,036 --> 00:29:34,636 Speaker 1: they'll miss the time of their lives on the dance 428 00:29:34,636 --> 00:29:40,316 Speaker 1: floor in the skies. High above the club, the kru 429 00:29:40,396 --> 00:29:44,996 Speaker 1: of a German bomber lets go its deadly cargo. The bombs, 430 00:29:45,436 --> 00:29:50,996 Speaker 1: specially designed to demolish buildings, hurtle earthwords, shrieking and whistling 431 00:29:50,996 --> 00:29:54,636 Speaker 1: as they pick up speed. Even the keenest of ears 432 00:29:54,636 --> 00:29:57,396 Speaker 1: would have missed their sound, for snake Hips and his 433 00:29:57,556 --> 00:30:03,396 Speaker 1: orchestra have just launched into another number. A one hundred 434 00:30:03,436 --> 00:30:05,996 Speaker 1: and ten pound bomb tears through the roof of a 435 00:30:06,116 --> 00:30:10,316 Speaker 1: cinema above the Cafe Delrie, and it keeps go slicing 436 00:30:10,356 --> 00:30:13,196 Speaker 1: through the floor, half the floor until it reaches the 437 00:30:13,236 --> 00:30:17,396 Speaker 1: balcony right above the heads of snake Hips Johnson and 438 00:30:17,516 --> 00:30:19,596 Speaker 1: as guitarist Joe Denise. 439 00:30:20,076 --> 00:30:24,196 Speaker 2: I can't describe the sound. It just was oh hm, 440 00:30:26,036 --> 00:30:29,076 Speaker 2: and everything went black. I tried to stand up. I 441 00:30:29,116 --> 00:30:31,596 Speaker 2: thought I was uninjured. The next thing I know, I 442 00:30:31,676 --> 00:30:35,276 Speaker 2: just fell down again. I looked down and saw a 443 00:30:35,596 --> 00:30:38,996 Speaker 2: nasty mess where my leg had been. It was chaos, 444 00:30:39,636 --> 00:30:42,716 Speaker 2: screams and shouts and dust and dirt. 445 00:30:44,236 --> 00:30:50,196 Speaker 1: Joe Denise is horrifically wounded. Snake Hips Johnson is killed outright. 446 00:30:51,076 --> 00:30:53,916 Speaker 1: The oddities of bomb blasts mean that musicians to their 447 00:30:53,996 --> 00:30:57,956 Speaker 1: left and right are entirely unscathed, while others have been 448 00:30:57,996 --> 00:31:01,556 Speaker 1: cut to ribbons. Some dancers haven't so much as a 449 00:31:01,636 --> 00:31:05,796 Speaker 1: hair out of place, but a stone dead. Others still 450 00:31:06,236 --> 00:31:10,236 Speaker 1: have been stripped of their clothes but have survived. Around 451 00:31:10,276 --> 00:31:15,116 Speaker 1: thirty four staff and guests are dead. An off duty 452 00:31:15,196 --> 00:31:17,956 Speaker 1: nurse does her best to help the many wounded, for 453 00:31:18,036 --> 00:31:21,716 Speaker 1: aside from the bomb's own shrapnel, flying glasses and shattered 454 00:31:21,756 --> 00:31:26,036 Speaker 1: wine bottles have inflicted terrible injuries on the revelers. The 455 00:31:26,116 --> 00:31:30,116 Speaker 1: woman is hailed as a hero for her efforts. However, 456 00:31:30,796 --> 00:31:34,236 Speaker 1: there is a telling PostScript. In an article printed in many. 457 00:31:34,076 --> 00:31:37,956 Speaker 4: Newspapers, the young nurse had little to say about her work, 458 00:31:38,156 --> 00:31:40,876 Speaker 4: but mentioned that while she was helping the injured, someone 459 00:31:41,116 --> 00:31:45,236 Speaker 4: ransacked her handbag, taking from it objects of sentimental value, 460 00:31:45,436 --> 00:31:46,716 Speaker 4: including a fountain pen. 461 00:31:47,276 --> 00:31:51,876 Speaker 1: The selfless nurse has been robbed. Corpses too, have been 462 00:31:51,916 --> 00:31:56,076 Speaker 1: stripped of watches, wedding rings, and jewelry. While the coming 463 00:31:56,116 --> 00:31:59,196 Speaker 1: of war has encouraged some people to act with bravery 464 00:31:59,316 --> 00:32:05,436 Speaker 1: and compassion, it's also created tempting opportunities for the more unscrupulous. 465 00:32:05,876 --> 00:32:09,796 Speaker 1: In fact, the blackout is a boom time for criminality 466 00:32:09,796 --> 00:32:14,036 Speaker 1: in London. Indeed, it will be an important thread running 467 00:32:14,076 --> 00:32:15,156 Speaker 1: throughout this series. 468 00:32:18,556 --> 00:32:21,196 Speaker 5: As the enemy bombers turn for home and the groan 469 00:32:21,316 --> 00:32:24,756 Speaker 5: of their engines fades away, As the fires of burning 470 00:32:24,796 --> 00:32:28,516 Speaker 5: furniture and burning floorboards and rafters are doused, as the 471 00:32:28,596 --> 00:32:32,916 Speaker 5: dust of the pulverized plaster, brick and stone settles, the 472 00:32:32,996 --> 00:32:37,116 Speaker 5: task of rescuing the trap, recovering the dead, and reclaiming 473 00:32:37,156 --> 00:32:42,956 Speaker 5: whatever valued possessions have survived must now begin. The bohemian 474 00:32:43,116 --> 00:32:47,276 Speaker 5: and slightly seed West End neighborhood of Soho has been 475 00:32:47,356 --> 00:32:51,716 Speaker 5: battered in this air rate. Whole buildings have disappeared in 476 00:32:51,756 --> 00:32:55,196 Speaker 5: the night, and their remnants now block Soho's narrow streets. 477 00:32:56,476 --> 00:33:00,236 Speaker 5: A rescue worker spots a miraculously undamaged bottle of whiskey 478 00:33:00,236 --> 00:33:03,316 Speaker 5: in the rubble and recommends that the dazed and dusty 479 00:33:03,356 --> 00:33:06,756 Speaker 5: homeowner takes a swig. She's not impressed. 480 00:33:09,116 --> 00:33:11,636 Speaker 3: Alone is for emergencies. 481 00:33:12,316 --> 00:33:15,996 Speaker 5: Unlucky residents stumble over the rubble and sift through the 482 00:33:15,996 --> 00:33:22,116 Speaker 5: wreckage for salvageable clothing, furnishings, ornaments, or other valuables. It's 483 00:33:22,156 --> 00:33:26,276 Speaker 5: a race against time. For many dread that looters will 484 00:33:26,316 --> 00:33:31,956 Speaker 5: swiftly descend to pick clean the bomb site. Some criminal 485 00:33:31,996 --> 00:33:36,996 Speaker 5: gangs organize sophisticated looting operations. Teams of men arrive in 486 00:33:37,076 --> 00:33:42,636 Speaker 5: trucks and swarm over a bomb site, cutting away anything 487 00:33:42,676 --> 00:33:46,316 Speaker 5: of value. So brazen and so methodical are they that 488 00:33:46,436 --> 00:33:50,596 Speaker 5: onlookers sometimes presume they are official reclamation squads working for 489 00:33:50,636 --> 00:33:55,516 Speaker 5: the property owner. However, such events are rarer than newspaper 490 00:33:55,516 --> 00:34:00,076 Speaker 5: coverage would have us believe, and most looting is opportunistic. 491 00:33:59,676 --> 00:34:01,556 Speaker 3: And trivial through your pockets. 492 00:34:05,116 --> 00:34:08,676 Speaker 5: For serious criminals, the war has brought far easier and 493 00:34:08,796 --> 00:34:11,956 Speaker 5: far more more lucrative ways of making money than scrabbling 494 00:34:11,956 --> 00:34:15,836 Speaker 5: around in the rubble. The conflict means that everything from 495 00:34:15,916 --> 00:34:20,356 Speaker 5: luxury goods to basic foodstuffs is in short supply. Many 496 00:34:20,396 --> 00:34:23,716 Speaker 5: items are rationed by the government, so even citizens with 497 00:34:23,836 --> 00:34:27,356 Speaker 5: money to spare can't legally buy all the things they want, 498 00:34:28,796 --> 00:34:33,076 Speaker 5: and so black markets flourish, pulling people who might be 499 00:34:33,196 --> 00:34:37,796 Speaker 5: scrupulously law abiding in peacetime into the orbit of thieves 500 00:34:37,836 --> 00:34:41,876 Speaker 5: and gangsters. Women are often drawn into the trade for 501 00:34:41,956 --> 00:34:45,196 Speaker 5: its women who must feed and clothe their families, and 502 00:34:45,236 --> 00:34:47,796 Speaker 5: if a husband is away in the armed forces, his 503 00:34:47,996 --> 00:34:52,956 Speaker 5: pitiful rate of pay makes that task nearly impossible. If 504 00:34:52,996 --> 00:34:55,836 Speaker 5: a wife tries to find paying work for herself, an 505 00:34:55,876 --> 00:34:59,676 Speaker 5: abysmal lack of childcare options can mean the heartbreaking choice 506 00:34:59,956 --> 00:35:03,836 Speaker 5: of leaving children in a less than ideal setting in 507 00:35:03,916 --> 00:35:06,876 Speaker 5: some cases. All this makes the pull of the black 508 00:35:06,916 --> 00:35:11,916 Speaker 5: market trade hard to resist. In one court case, more 509 00:35:11,956 --> 00:35:14,916 Speaker 5: than a dozen lawn dresses were charged with stealing army 510 00:35:14,956 --> 00:35:19,116 Speaker 5: blankets and using the material to make coats. The thefts 511 00:35:19,196 --> 00:35:22,836 Speaker 5: went unnoticed during the warm weather, but when temperatures dropped, 512 00:35:22,836 --> 00:35:26,676 Speaker 5: the military authorities found there were twelve hundred blankets short. 513 00:35:27,796 --> 00:35:31,556 Speaker 5: What started as petty pilfering spread through the laundry women 514 00:35:31,716 --> 00:35:36,876 Speaker 5: like a form of cancer, said the prosecutor. Soho is 515 00:35:36,916 --> 00:35:40,196 Speaker 5: no stranger to the black market. With supplies of booze 516 00:35:40,236 --> 00:35:44,116 Speaker 5: constricted by the war, bootleggers filled the gap with stolen, 517 00:35:44,356 --> 00:35:50,116 Speaker 5: counterfeit or simply homemade hooch. At one illegal still discovered 518 00:35:50,116 --> 00:35:53,116 Speaker 5: in the back of a cafe, colourings and flavorings were 519 00:35:53,116 --> 00:35:56,076 Speaker 5: added to pure alcohol to mimic the look and taste 520 00:35:56,196 --> 00:35:57,476 Speaker 5: of genuine spirits. 521 00:35:58,396 --> 00:36:01,516 Speaker 6: Whiskey, gin and rum could be made so apparently perfect 522 00:36:01,876 --> 00:36:04,716 Speaker 6: that only an expert could detect that they were synthetic. 523 00:36:05,956 --> 00:36:09,036 Speaker 5: But many of those drawn to Soho are not merely 524 00:36:09,236 --> 00:36:10,236 Speaker 5: thirsteth for drink. 525 00:36:14,156 --> 00:36:19,196 Speaker 1: We're in Soho's Windmill Theater. This establishment has two claims 526 00:36:19,236 --> 00:36:22,916 Speaker 1: to fame. One, the show here went on even at 527 00:36:22,916 --> 00:36:25,876 Speaker 1: the height of the bombing, when many other theaters went dark. 528 00:36:26,636 --> 00:36:30,276 Speaker 1: And two, it's the only place in town to see 529 00:36:30,436 --> 00:36:32,076 Speaker 1: naked female flesh. 530 00:36:32,356 --> 00:36:35,956 Speaker 2: It puts on a kind of glorified burlesque called revou Deeville. 531 00:36:36,076 --> 00:36:39,556 Speaker 1: Time magazine's Walter Greatman tells his American readers. 532 00:36:39,476 --> 00:36:43,356 Speaker 2: For an audience composed mostly of bald headed businessmen from 533 00:36:43,396 --> 00:36:44,196 Speaker 2: the provinces. 534 00:36:45,436 --> 00:36:49,356 Speaker 1: The Windmill avoids the prudish censorship laws by arguing that 535 00:36:49,476 --> 00:36:55,356 Speaker 1: it shows aren't pornography but art my classical statues. The 536 00:36:55,476 --> 00:37:00,396 Speaker 1: naked women on stage stand stock still. Any movement will 537 00:37:00,396 --> 00:37:05,716 Speaker 1: break the spell and see the show close down for obscenity. 538 00:37:06,716 --> 00:37:10,396 Speaker 1: Evelynoebly lives a few streets from here. For many years, 539 00:37:10,436 --> 00:37:12,876 Speaker 1: her husband Harold has believed that she worked at the 540 00:37:12,876 --> 00:37:14,116 Speaker 1: famous Windmill theater. 541 00:37:14,676 --> 00:37:16,156 Speaker 4: I think it was in the chorus. 542 00:37:16,956 --> 00:37:19,556 Speaker 1: While he lives hundreds of miles away in the country, 543 00:37:19,836 --> 00:37:23,236 Speaker 1: Evelyn spends most of her time in Soho, pursuing the 544 00:37:23,276 --> 00:37:26,556 Speaker 1: more glamorous life of a show girl and night club hostess. 545 00:37:27,316 --> 00:37:30,676 Speaker 1: She finds farm life in the Chicken must dull, and 546 00:37:30,796 --> 00:37:33,356 Speaker 1: Harold wants her to have her freedom to enjoy a 547 00:37:33,436 --> 00:37:38,276 Speaker 1: career that's exciting, but certainly not, as he puts it, immoral. 548 00:37:39,436 --> 00:37:43,476 Speaker 1: Evelyn's London friends claim she has another occupation. 549 00:37:45,036 --> 00:37:48,116 Speaker 3: She was earning her living by prostitution. 550 00:37:47,916 --> 00:37:49,036 Speaker 1: Says Gladys Barton. 551 00:37:49,436 --> 00:37:51,756 Speaker 3: She was very honest and when I say that, I 552 00:37:51,836 --> 00:37:55,636 Speaker 3: mean she'd never steal from her clients in London. 553 00:37:55,956 --> 00:37:59,316 Speaker 1: Away from Harold in the farm, Evelyn has adopted an 554 00:37:59,356 --> 00:38:04,516 Speaker 1: alter ego as Lita Ward. She weaves a complex patchwork 555 00:38:04,556 --> 00:38:09,836 Speaker 1: of relationships, love, sex, money, and the struggle for independence, 556 00:38:10,076 --> 00:38:13,876 Speaker 1: all exert competing claims on Evelyn, as they do on 557 00:38:13,956 --> 00:38:15,116 Speaker 1: many women in this war. 558 00:38:15,436 --> 00:38:18,236 Speaker 3: Her main problem was that she was lonely. 559 00:38:18,916 --> 00:38:22,836 Speaker 1: According to Gladys Leta as paying clients with whom she 560 00:38:22,956 --> 00:38:26,996 Speaker 1: also happily socializes, and she meets men in local clubs 561 00:38:27,036 --> 00:38:29,796 Speaker 1: and bars or on the street, bringing them back to 562 00:38:29,836 --> 00:38:33,956 Speaker 1: her modest Soho dwelling until one night when she brings 563 00:38:33,996 --> 00:38:39,436 Speaker 1: home a man with an aristocratic accent. The radio gets 564 00:38:39,476 --> 00:38:44,556 Speaker 1: turned up louder and louder until the neighbors can hear 565 00:38:44,796 --> 00:38:46,116 Speaker 1: nothing but. 566 00:38:46,156 --> 00:38:47,036 Speaker 3: The music. 567 00:38:48,236 --> 00:38:48,676 Speaker 2: She want. 568 00:38:54,636 --> 00:38:57,436 Speaker 1: So this has been your introduction to the worlds of 569 00:38:57,516 --> 00:39:02,476 Speaker 1: women such as Britta Hayward, Doorcheoane, Rachel Dobkin, and Evelyn Oatly, 570 00:39:03,036 --> 00:39:06,676 Speaker 1: a world made darker and more dangerous by war. In 571 00:39:06,716 --> 00:39:09,116 Speaker 1: the coming episodes will look not just at the case 572 00:39:09,436 --> 00:39:12,156 Speaker 1: of the Blackout Ripper, but also at the stories of 573 00:39:12,356 --> 00:39:15,316 Speaker 1: other women who didn't live to see the victory parades 574 00:39:15,396 --> 00:39:18,956 Speaker 1: and the peace women killed not by the enemy but 575 00:39:18,996 --> 00:39:23,596 Speaker 1: by husbands, by lovers, and by strangers wearing the uniform 576 00:39:23,836 --> 00:39:27,476 Speaker 1: of their own side. We'll find out who each woman was, 577 00:39:27,956 --> 00:39:30,796 Speaker 1: explore the events that shaped her, and hear about the 578 00:39:30,876 --> 00:39:36,276 Speaker 1: personal triumphs and tragedies, her longings and disappointments. Will examine 579 00:39:36,316 --> 00:39:39,476 Speaker 1: why they came to be in such deadly peril and 580 00:39:39,556 --> 00:39:44,796 Speaker 1: how society was often unsympathetic to their plight. In the 581 00:39:44,836 --> 00:39:48,956 Speaker 1: next episode, available right now, we'll meet thoughtful and reserved 582 00:39:48,956 --> 00:39:55,876 Speaker 1: Evelyn Hamilton, intelligent, contained, perhaps inscrutable. Some of the people 583 00:39:55,956 --> 00:40:01,596 Speaker 1: she meets cruelly dismiss her independent spirit as mystifying, odd 584 00:40:02,316 --> 00:40:06,436 Speaker 1: and annoying. Evelyn has spent most of her life living 585 00:40:06,516 --> 00:40:10,676 Speaker 1: far away from London. New job will see her stop 586 00:40:10,676 --> 00:40:15,196 Speaker 1: in the West End only briefly between trains, but that 587 00:40:15,356 --> 00:40:18,756 Speaker 1: window of just a few hours will be long enough 588 00:40:19,356 --> 00:40:36,076 Speaker 1: for her killer to strive bad Women. The Blackout Ripper 589 00:40:36,356 --> 00:40:39,196 Speaker 1: is hosted by me Hallie Rubinholt. 590 00:40:38,596 --> 00:40:39,876 Speaker 5: And me Alice Fines. 591 00:40:40,316 --> 00:40:43,036 Speaker 1: It was written and produced by Alice Fines and Ryan Dilley, 592 00:40:43,276 --> 00:40:47,396 Speaker 1: with additional support from Courtney Guarino and Ofthur Gomberts. Kate 593 00:40:47,476 --> 00:40:51,036 Speaker 1: Healy of Oakwood Family Trees aided us with genealogical research. 594 00:40:51,676 --> 00:40:54,836 Speaker 5: Pascal Wise sound designed and mixed the show and composed 595 00:40:54,876 --> 00:40:57,996 Speaker 5: all the original music. The show was recorded at Ordoor 596 00:40:58,036 --> 00:41:01,596 Speaker 5: Studios by David Smith and Tom Berry. You also heard 597 00:41:01,636 --> 00:41:05,556 Speaker 5: the voice talents of Ben Crow, David Glover, Melanie Gutridge, 598 00:41:05,676 --> 00:41:09,836 Speaker 5: Stella Harford, Gemma Saunders and Rufus Wright to The music 599 00:41:09,876 --> 00:41:13,556 Speaker 5: you had was performed by Ed Gockan, Ross Hughes, Christian 600 00:41:13,596 --> 00:41:16,796 Speaker 5: Miller and Marcus Penrose. They were recorded by Nick Taylor 601 00:41:16,836 --> 00:41:21,036 Speaker 5: at Porcupine Studios. Pushkin's Ben Holiday mixed the tracks. 602 00:41:20,916 --> 00:41:24,836 Speaker 1: And you heard additional piano playing by the great very 603 00:41:24,916 --> 00:41:29,076 Speaker 1: wise Hi Berry. The show also wouldn't have been possible 604 00:41:29,156 --> 00:41:32,756 Speaker 1: without the work of Jacob Weisberg, Heather Fane, Carl Migliori, 605 00:41:33,276 --> 00:41:38,556 Speaker 1: Maggie Taylor, Nicole Morano, Eric Sandler, and Daniela Lukhan. We'd 606 00:41:38,596 --> 00:41:41,396 Speaker 1: also like to thank Michael Buchanan Dunn of the Murder 607 00:41:41,476 --> 00:41:46,116 Speaker 1: Mile podcast, Lizzie Mckerroll, Katherine Walker at the Royal Pharmaceutical 608 00:41:46,196 --> 00:41:50,596 Speaker 1: Society and the Earbe Historical Society. Bad Women is a 609 00:41:50,596 --> 00:41:54,196 Speaker 1: production of Pushkin Industries. Please rate and review the show 610 00:41:54,436 --> 00:41:56,916 Speaker 1: and spread the word about what we do, and thanks 611 00:41:56,956 --> 00:41:57,516 Speaker 1: for listening.