Matt Bevan

And it was a total wreck.

I mean, the Soviets hadn't been looking after it because it was a, you know, czarist sort of decadent, ridiculous czarist era relic.

It had been used as a mental hospital.

It had been used as various other types of hospitals.

The Nazis had been living in it.

And it was destroyed.

It was this horrible place.

I mean, there were a couple of toilets that worked.

They decided to put Roosevelt in a room that had a working toilet.

But we're talking about the absolute high command of the Allied military is there, and they are being put in rooms that don't have toilets and don't have any access to toilets.

And so every morning there would be a massive queue of...

Outside the one working toilet on the ground floor of the Lavardia Palace, many generals and admirals were forced to relieve themselves outdoors.

There was mosquitoes everywhere.

There was not proper running water.

It was an absolute tip.

But one thing they did have, though...

Was lots of alcohol, right?

They did, absolutely.

And Roosevelt and Churchill both did love a cocktail.

And so in a meeting, one of the stories that comes out of this is that Roosevelt had a meeting with Stalin one night.