:01:01
And these once-proud stones,
these ruined and shattered temples...
:01:06
...bear witness to the civilization
that flourished and then died here.
:01:13
And of the demigods and heroes
who inspired those legends...
:01:16
... on this sea and these islands.
:01:19
But though the stage is the same,
ours is a legend of our own times...
:01:23
...and its heroes are not demigods,
but ordinary people.
:01:27
Ýn 1943, so the story goes...
:01:30
... 2, 000 British soldiers lay
marooned on the island of Kheros...
:01:34
... exhausted and helpless.
:01:37
They had exactly one week to live.
:01:40
Ýn Berlin, the Axis had determined on
a show of strength in the Aegean Sea...
:01:44
... to bully neutral Turkey into
coming into the war on their side.
:01:51
The scene of that demonstration
was to be Kheros...
:01:54
... itself of no military value,
but only miles off the coast of Turkey.
:01:59
The cream of the German
war machine, rested and ready...
:02:02
... was to spearhead the attack.
:02:05
The men on Kheros
were doomed...
:02:07
... unless they could be
evacuated before the blitz.
:02:11
But the only passage
to and from Kheros...
:02:13
... was guarded and blocked
by two great...
:02:15
...newly designed,
radar-controlled guns...
:02:18
... on the nearby island of Navarone.
:02:24
Guns too powerful and accurate...
:02:26
... for any Allied ship then
in the Aegean to challenge.
:02:39
Allied Ýntelligence learned
of the projected blitz...
:02:42
... only one week before
the appointed date.
:02:45
What took place in the next six days
became the legend of Navarone.