Desperate Journey (1942) Movie Script
Halt! Halt!
Two-eight-two squadron.
Two- eight-two squadron.
Crew of D for Danny.
Report to operations room.
That's us, Canada.
Two- eight-two squadron.
Crew of D for Danny.
Report to operations room.
Yeah, yeah. Be right with you.
Seven, so I win again.
Is it a rule of the game
that you Yankees always win?
We win at this,
you pick up marbles at cricket.
But we don't use marbles for cricket.
- Terry. Terry.
Yeah?
CO wants us in ops.
- Okay.
Did my transfer to Interceptor Command
come through yet?
You're going to be sent back
to Australia to that new intelligence outfit.
- Huh?
- He is?
Yeah, going to search kangaroo's pouches
for fifth columnists.
Very funny. Very funny.
They're keeping you Australians
in the bombers.
Keeping in the Australians
in the bombers?
Well, if that isn't typical
brass hat idiocy.
The Australians are fighting men.
We're not truck drivers.
Oh. Very well, Mr. Bones. Why are they
keeping the Australians in the bombers?
They have sensible men
to keep them from running amuck.
I see.
And he sang as he sat
And waited while his billy boiled
- Are you still eating breakfast?
- No, sir. Lunch.
Learned during the last war,
never miss the meal in front of you.
Crew of D, reporting.
Flight Sergeant Connors is on leave.
- All others, present.
- Yes, I know that, Lane-Ferris.
We detailed Hollis to take his place.
Squadron Leader Lane-Ferris
is captain of your aircraft.
- You will report to him for orders.
- Sir.
Glad to have you.
Take the wireless operator's position.
- Very good.
- Get your crew seated, please.
Sir. Carry on, men.
Are you the son of Lloyd Hollis
who got 43 Jerries during the last war?
- Yes.
- Didn't take you long to get in this.
Wouldn't that be expected
of an ace's son?
I saw your dad get two of them.
In a trench near Bar-le-duc.
He was above...
Stop talking and pay attention, please.
All right. Sit down.
Squadron Leader Clark from Group
Headquarters has something to tell you.
- Will you carry on, please?
- Very good, sir.
A few hours ago, we received a report...
...that the rail intersection
east of Schneidemuhl...
...was dynamited last night
by Polish saboteurs.
This is the switch point.
All these lines carry
abnormally heavy traffic.
And a sizable blockade of munition trains
has undoubtedly occurred.
The Nazis are sure to reopen
the right of way within the next 12 hours.
But if we can put one stick of bombs
there before dawn...
...we will have done more to advance the
cause than ten raids on as many factories.
That's your job, gentlemen.
The enemy is sure to have a heavy
concentration of anti-aircraft batteries...
...to protect the point.
But if the weather permits...
...you should be able to carry out
your attack from high altitude.
- That's all I have to say, sir.
- Thank you.
May I have
the large-scale map, please?
Thank you.
Now, here is Schneidemuhl.
Quite a bit beyond
our normal bombing territory.
Actually on the edge
of the old Polish border.
Now, you make your approach
along this line...
...crossing Denmark,
coming over the Baltic...
...swinging inland
over Pommersche Bay.
From there, you shouldn't have difficulty
in reaching your objective.
- Terry?
- Yup.
I want you to help me
with a star sight this trip.
Sure. I'll get you a nice, new shiny one
every ten minutes.
Every half hour will be enough.
That's if you can keep serious that long.
This is important.
Johnny, old Canada
is going serious on us again.
Throw him a leadful of decimal points.
He'll be happy.
Here's the result
of long Canadian winters.
Nothing to do but sit by the fire,
figure out income tax.
Now, no kidding. Star sights will be
most important this trip.
Most of the way,
we'll be going over the water...
...with no chance for contact checks.
And if we can't keep a...
I was saying
that most of the way, we'll...
Say, look at these new fighters.
Yes.
Gee, that's where I'd like to be,
flying one of these babies.
Things like that in the air
and we fly an ice wagon.
Yeah, sure. Now, look, Terry.
If you take one sight
just after we set the course...
...and another about...
- Oh, sure.
Sure, I'll get you
all the figures you want.
Air speed, wind speed, drift, oil pressure,
engine temperature, altitude, the works.
And if you play your cards right...
...I may throw in a couple of old
telephone numbers for good measure.
- I'll fly the first leg, Terry.
- Okay.
Take these with you.
- I want to check the first wireless bearings.
- How could I refuse?
Mother Hubbard
goes down into her cupboard.
Yeah, to lay a few eggs.
- Are your starters plugged in?
- Yes, sir.
- Starboard rear gunner in position, sir.
- Okay.
- Wireless operator in position, sir.
- Okay.
- Port roar gunner in position, sir.
- Okay.
- Navigator in position, sir.
- Okay.
- Midship gunner in position, sir.
- Okay.
- Bomb aimer in position, sir.
- Okay, Mother.
Crew in position.
Ready for takeoff, sir.
Cockpit check complete.
Ready to start up.
- Start up your port outboard engine.
- Yes, sir.
Cut it out, will you?
This is very important.
Here's your figures, sweetheart.
Thanks.
Say, can't you get
some hot conga music on that?
German stations are off the air.
Boys must be giving a pasting tonight.
- How are we doing, navigator?
Oh, seem to be right on course.
What's our indicated air speed, please?
Three forty.
- Thanks. You guessed right.
- Guessed it?
I felt it. Tell him how
your old man flew the last war...
...with a float compass
and the seat of his pants. Go on.
If you get a kick
out of doing figures, go ahead.
But I'll tell you
when we're over the target.
That's you again. You promised you'd
tell me how to do that. You never did.
- Will you have a sandwich, sir?
- Yeah, thanks.
- Will you save me the bag?
- Yeah, here you are.
Hello, skipper?
Position due north of Swinemunde.
Turn to one-six-two.
Turn to one-six-two.
Right.
Put one-six-two on the gyro.
- Take over now, Terry.
- Right.
Look at those clouds.
- I bet they stretch clear into Poland.
They may open.
I'll bet you five
to a stick of bombs they don't.
You can hold the stakes in your lap.
- Any contact checks?
- Nope. Not a thing.
We're nearly over the objective.
Hello, Johnny?
Keep an eye open for landmarks.
Landmarks? I'm more likely to see
a noodle in that soup.
Halt.
Attention, attention, airport.
Four-motored bomber,
9500 meter, position M-5.
Well, looks like we go down under, eh?
We've got an hour's extra petrol.
We'll stay high.
- Maybe the clouds will open.
- Those clouds? Ha.
Why not go down, get it over with?
Too chancy.
You heard what that fellow said...
...about a concentration of anti-aircraft
to protect the point.
- Yeah, but...
- We'd be sitter shots.
Under that low ceiling.
Bet you if we did go down,
we'd take them by surprise.
Could blast them out
before they knew what hit them.
If we had the flight here,
we might try it with one plane.
But since we're the only plane
and the objective must be knocked out...
...we'll cruise around.
Keep your eye open...
...for a break in the clouds.
- All right.
What's that?
- What's what?
I don't know. Looks like a shadow.
Jed. Get him out of here, quick.
We got him. We got him.
You got him. Get 42 more,
you'll tie your old man's record.
Nice shooting. Hang on to something.
- I'm going down through this muck.
- But skipper said...
Brace yourself, boy. Ready up front?
- Ready here.
- All right.
First one to spot anything,
give me a call. Hang on.
Hello, Johnny. Drop a flare. Drop a flare.
There's the rail line.
Hello, Johnny. Hello, Johnny.
We're gonna circle and come back in.
Bomb doors open.
Going in now. Going in now.
One thousand feet at 300 per.
One thousand feet at 300 per.
Ten degrees right. Ten degrees right.
You're on.
Steady as you go.
Both port engines are gone.
Hello, Edwards. Hello, Edwards.
Communicator's knocked out.
Tell the men to stand by
for a crash landing.
- Are we hit bad?
- Yeah.
Take the skipper back.
I think we're gonna land hard.
Motorcyclists, attention!
To the scene of the crash, approximately
three kilometers cast of the main road.
Terry.
Terry.
You all right?
Yeah, I think so.
Johnny, Johnny, how are you?
I'm all right.
Had the wind knocked out of me.
Who's got that light?
- It's me, Edwards.
- Somebody give me a hand with Hollis.
- Go ahead, Johnny.
Jed, give me a hand with the skipper.
I can make it. Don't bother with me.
I'll go back and help the others.
- Is he badly hurt, sir?
- Pretty bad. Give me that flash.
Yes, sir.
I'm all right. Just a bit dizzy.
Get them away.
Everything's soaked with petrol.
- Are the others?
- Yeah, all of them.
Hey, what's that?
Into the bushes, quick.
- But Kenton, Warrick, Evans.
- All dead, kid.
- But their bodies.
- He had to do it. The bomb sight's in there.
Come on, quick. Get moving.
Don't go so close. It may explode.
- Prussians.
- Did he say so?
No, but I know the accent.
You understand that stuff?
- Come again?
- I said sure.
Come on. We can go.
They are all burned, anyhow.
I think so too.
The sergeant guessed
they'd all been killed in the crash...
...and the trooper agreed with him.
Come on. We gotta get out of here.
The skipper's bleeding pretty badly.
Look, blood.
Did we...?
Did we did we flatten the target?
Sure, you bet, skipper. Knocked it cold.
Three direct hits.
I knew we could.
If we stayed high.
Told you.
Going in low...
...suicide.
Hands up. You are prisoners.
The major orders to bring in
the English prisoners right now.
The major orders to bring in
the English prisoners right now.
Come on. Come on.
Line up the prisoners
in front of the desk.
Says line up.
Step back.
Major, the prisoners
have been brought in.
The questions I will ask you
are purely routine.
Your names will be given
to the International Red Cross...
...so that your country may be notified
that you are prisoners of war.
Your name and rank.
Go ahead, kid. You can tell him that.
- Your name and rank.
- Lloyd Hollis II, flight sergeant.
By any chance the son
of the English ace of the last war?
He's my father.
I see. Too bad you will not have
the opportunity...
...to follow in your father's footsteps.
- You?
- Flying Officer Johnny Hammond.
You?
Flying Officer Jed Forrest.
You?
- Well?
- Kirk Edwards, sir. Flight sergeant.
T. Forbes, flight lieutenant.
Lieutenant,
your squadron and station numbers.
- Don't tell him that.
- Why not?
Group 929, station 428.
I am quite aware
there're not so many units...
...in the British Air Force.
You will give me the correct numbers.
Okay. Group one, station one.
As senior officer,
you will have the good sense...
...to tell your men that full cooperation
will be to their advantage.
We have decent instincts,
but we have also an iron fist.
No?
You are prisoners, gentlemen,
and you are going to a prison camp.
That is a circumstance
over which you have no control.
Your stay at the camp
can be either tolerable or otherwise.
That depends upon you.
If I make a little check mark here...
...it will indicate that you are eligible
for exchange at a later date.
If I make it here,
it will tell an entirely different story.
I can assure that a prison camp
can be most annoying.
It's all right for a visit.
Wouldn't care to live there.
Oh, we could stand it for a month or so.
Already counting
upon the possibility of escape?
We won't have to bother
about escaping.
Your blitzkriegs have stopped blitzing.
War will be over before we gnaw our way
through your barbed wire, even if ersatz.
A most deluded viewpoint.
Nothing can stop our armies.
And your bombing attacks
have been little more than an irritation.
As for the assistance
of a few decadent democracies...
I see you find the view most interesting.
Let it go. Already too late.
Too bad you saw that.
Now you cannot even
be considered for exchange.
You will be placed in separate confinement
for the duration of the war.
How unlucky to be so observant.
Just at a moment when we seem to be
reaching a realistic view of your problem.
I regret that it must be the iron fist.
And so, gentlemen,
our interview is concluded.
You are dismissed.
Lead the prisoners out.
You, the last man.
- Me?
- Yes. Come back here.
I have some questions to ask you.
- Your name is?
- Johnny Hammond. What's yours?
Major Otto Bau...
You will find that, in your position,
impertinence does not pay.
I didn't join up with this war
to make money.
- You are an American?
- Half American, half Jersey City.
You may sit down, Hammond.
- You may go.
- Yes, major.
Americans are good businessmen.
They are noted for their ability
to make smart deals.
Means they had the good sense
to take advantage of the situation.
That plane you were flying,
American-built, wasn't it?
One of the new ones.
We have heard a good deal about them.
We know that they are capable
of operating at amazing altitudes.
How do you manage
to supercharge the engines...
...at the extreme cold
of those high altitudes?
If I told you,
the others wouldn't find out?
Certainly not.
Sure they can't hear us out there?
Quite sure.
Now, about the supercharger.
- It's done with a thermotrockle.
- A what?
Thermotrockle amfilated
through a daligonitor.
Of course, this is made possible because
the dernadyne has a franicoupling.
- I do not understand you.
- I knew you wouldn't.
The amsometer on the side
prenulates the kinutaspel hepulace.
That's the entire secret.
There you have it.
I do not follow you.
Well, maybe I could make it more clear
if I drew a diagram.
Certainly.
There's three things
you gotta understand.
As I said before, the daligonitor
is amfilated by the thermotrockle.
It's made by its connection
with the franicoupling of dernadyne.
Even at cruising speed...
...the kinutaspel hepulace
is prenulated by the amsometer.
Makes no difference.
Could be taking off.
Snowing or raining, any pilot will tell you
that the altitude, 10, 20, 30, 40,000 feet...
Who is spitting at me?
That must stop.
- Oh, Terry. He wants to talk to you.
- Oh.
- Stay there.
- The major wants to see me.
Go.
The iron fist has a glass jaw.
At your command, major.
Schuman,
the major wants you. Hurry up.
Attention.
About face.
Now, bring in my comrades. Come on.
The major orders to bring
in the prisoners once more.
Come on. In here.
Here we go again, boys.
Major!
- Out the window, quick!
The Fuehrer speaks in five minutes
over the radio...
...from Russia.
Probably news about a victory, major.
Major.
Major. Major.
Memo. Request for transfer.
Kirk's in trouble.
He's run into them
or he'd be back by now.
Don't worry. He can handle himself.
I don't know.
Hey, here's a dilly. Listen to this.
"To the commandant, the Ninth District.
If our gallant allies on the Russian front,
the three picked Italian Infantry Divisions...
...continue to advance at present rate,
they should reach their objective by spring."
- What's their objective?
- Rome.
Oh.
- Looks as though...
- Something important?
"Prenzlau, Grlitz..."
- We've hit the jackbox.
- Jackpot.
- Yeah.
- What is it? What is it?
Baumeister's recommendation for protection
of the underground Messerschmitt factories.
Those trucks at Arnswalde
weren't coming out of a gopher hole.
That's not all. There's five more of them.
"Prenzlau, Grlitz, Luckenwalde,
Freiberg, Eger."
Enough information on the camouflage plan
to lead our bombers right to them.
We take that back to England,
they'll give us Buckingham Palace.
Johnny, here's something
that'll interest you.
"These factories must attain
top production within two months."
Very interesting. What does it mean?
Oh. "These factories must
attain maximum output within 90 days.
They are our Fhrer's answer
to America's exaggerated promises...
...of assembly line production.
With the new Messerschmitt 114s
gaining air supremacy...
...over the English and Irish ports...
...our bombers will make certain that not
one soldier or bullet will reach England...
...from the degenerate democracy
across the water."
Degenerate democracy.
That's a great crack, coming from Adolf.
People in Jersey City
aren't gonna like that.
If we can get this information home,
we'll flatten Adolph's prize factories...
...faster than his generals get apoplexy.
- But how...?
The one at Arnswalde,
we'll keep for ourselves.
We'll tell the CO we ought
to get the first crack at it, because...
- Wake the kid. Go ahead.
- Hollis, wake up. Shh. Quiet.
Any luck?
- There is no food left in Germany.
I went through three farm houses. Nobody
lived there. They hadn't left a crumb.
- Met a rat in a closet, eating its heart out.
- Who was it, Goebles?
It couldn't been if it had a heart.
What now?
We'll do better further west.
Where are we now?
As near as I can figure, we're here.
That's roughly 400 miles
to the Channel coast.
Well, let's get started. We'll head west.
Maybe we'll get
to swipe a car or something.
- Still got this.
Wait a minute.
We can't take risks like that.
You like slogging
around in this muck?
I'm as cold and hungry
as the rest of you.
But there's more at stake
than our own necks.
We've got information to take back.
Valuable information about those
Messerschmitt factories.
Or maybe you'd forgotten about that.
No, I haven't forgotten about it.
You got the makings
of a first-class brass hat.
Oh, come on. Let's break it up.
Let's get started.
I don't understand it. Every time
I went foraging during the last war...
...I always came back with something.
A ham or a chicken or a cheese.
I remember once we were billeted
back at Wipers and I got a cow.
A whole cow.
I got the head of it mounted
in my living room now.
- What did you do with the rest of it?
- I ate it.
Hang on, kid.
Soon as the sun comes up,
you can sleep until it sets again.
Hang on to me.
Quickly. We cannot lose any time.
I brought the map along,
and can give you an exact report.
- Speak English?
- Like I was in London born.
- Heard anything?
- They have not been found yet.
Where are your posts?
At each red circle, a sentry.
At each square, a guard post.
- What of these bridges?
- Since there are sentries here and here.
Put a guard on every bridge,
on every boat landing.
- Yes, sir.
- They'll make their way through the swamp.
The bridge guard will take them.
- You told him of those flyers?
- Not yet.
Silly ox, what are you waiting for?
Get me the sentry
on the Mannenheim Bridge.
Hey, sun's gone down.
Time to get started.
Why do you have to wake me up every
time I got a date with Ann Sheridan?
Come on, sonny. Daddy's gonna take us
for another nice long walk.
Hey, wait a minute.
"Fellows, rather than bring
the whole party to a standstill...
...l'm going to give myself up.
The best of luck, Lloyd."
- That crazy kid.
- We could have taken turns carrying him.
Or course we could, if he'd let us.
- His trail, through the rushes.
- Hasn't much of a start.
- It's a cinch he can't go fast.
- Sure. Come on.
I think the kid is right.
He knew we could never make it with him.
I suppose you want us to give him up.
- You're still in command.
- Thanks.
- Anything?
- Not a trace.
- Must've stayed on the pavement.
- lf he did, he's likely under arrest by now.
Hey! Hey!
- So tried to powder out on us, huh?
- We ought to give you a spanking.
- I thought that...
We couldn't get you through?
No, but that information, it's important.
And without me to slow things up...
Listen, kid.
You're just as important
as that information.
You'll reach Piccadilly
if I have to carry you piggy-back.
If that's where we're going,
get started. I'm hungry.
- This is the right direction.
- Let's stay close to the rail.
Wait a minute. What's that?
Over the side, quick.
Say, sir, I've been thinking.
Suppose we get separated somehow.
Could you teach us enough German
to make answers, in case...?
I know enough already.
Say, "Ja, hail Hitler,"
and, "Nein, hail Hitler."
Suppose someone asks
you what time it is.
Show him on your fingers.
Yeah? Suppose it's 12:00.
You can always say, "No saber, senor."
Look, you better just listen to him
in English.
Halt! Hands up!
Come on, higher!
Okay, okay. Don't get itchy.
Englishmen! Three steps closer.
He says, "Come closer."
Halt! Detachment, about face! March!
Turn around.
Hey, what time is it?
Shut up or you'll be shot!
Getting late.
Come on, you big pickle-puss.
Give me one chance to kick you
in your goose step.
Your whining won't help you any.
You have to be quiet, understand?
Said pleading will get us nowhere.
Obviously doesn't understand English.
What is that?
- I'm telling them.
Uh-huh.
Now, when I say go, you hit him high.
Jed and Edwards, tackle him low.
I'll grab his pistol.
- Do you understand?
- I understand, Daddy.
Get on your mark, get set, go.
Now what?
Relief guard, halt!
At ease.
Koenig!
Koenig!
Where is that guy again?
What's that?
I think it come from under there.
Shut up, you idiot!
Follow me.
He's been drinking again.
Get that swine away from here.
Thunder and glory.
I'm gonna look conspicuous wearing
these clothes and you all wearing...
Here comes my outfit now.
Looks like my size.
Pardon me.
Do you mind a slight dent in the helmet?
Fifty-two. Just right.
Green's just your color too.
- lf I looked good in blue, I'd be in the Navy.
Hey, look what I found.
- Here, Terry.
- Why me?
You speak the language.
You do the shopping.
- Heading west, isn't it?
- Sounds like it.
- Come on. Hurry up.
- Pull, Johnny.
I never saw a man
so attached to a uniform.
Hey, this is Goring's private car.
It's on its way for an overhaul.
Good enough for Goring
is almost good enough for me.
Come on.
The major, the...
Guard at the Mannenheim Bridge is missing.
Also the men sent to relieve him.
Signs of blood were nearby found.
The Englishmen. My car. My overcoat.
Come on. Hurry.
To the Mannenheim Bridge.
Give it all the gas possible.
No further news, major.
The uniforms and the bicycle
we found underneath the bridge.
Yes. Somebody has been
asleep on his post. At ease.
You are conversant with English?
I'm sorry. Cannot understand the major.
That's right. You wait here.
- Come here.
- Yes, sir.
Speak English.
I don't want anyone to understand.
The men must be found
and mustn't be taken alive.
They'll be shot when they resist arrest.
Don't worry.
- What do you mean?
- You can trust me.
I'll make sure Herr Colonel won't discover
they learned about the factories from you.
Like to be transferred
to front-line service in Russia?
No. No.
- Keep your tongue to yourself.
- Yes.
The men took uniforms
of a sergeant and three privates.
Get more men, Kruse.
Circle this area thoroughly.
Ask him how many trains stopped
at the water tower...
...the past two hours.
- Yes.
How many trains have stopped
within the last hour at the water tower?
Only one. About 12:00 midnight.
Goes right through to Berlin then.
Only one. Westbound.
No stops until Berlin.
I heard him. Berlin. Stay here
and take charge of the search in case...
What?
- The men aren't on the train...
...when I meet it in Berlin.
- Yes.
Hurry. Let's go. To the airport.
I'd trade places with that guy,
whoever he is.
- What guy?
- Some bandit in a plane headed west.
Making ten miles to our one.
We're not doing so badly.
Goring's private car,
luxurious furnishings.
Funny pictures to look at.
Say, Terry and Edwards have been
gone a long time, haven't they?
About 15 minutes.
Hey, I'm getting pretty good.
Hit him right between the medals.
Writing a book about your trip
through Germany?
No. Facts and figures.
You just can't get over
having been a bookkeeper, can you?
No, I liked it.
These are copies of the plans
of the factories.
Five copies. So if only one of us
gets back, any one of us...
- Cheerful little cuss, aren't you?
- No, just practical.
Maybe they got in trouble.
I ought to go help them.
- lf they did, you'd better stay here.
- And let them have all the fun?
Look, the boy scouts are awake.
Thought you were from the finance
company. Pull up a swastika, sit.
Did you find out anything?
- Yeah.
This is the only deadhead car.
The rest's a hospital train.
We climbed on top,
peeped through ventilators.
- Cars are jammed with wounded.
This train's from the east.
- They're from the Russian front.
- That's right.
All of those stories we hear
about them hiding their wounded are true.
- Windows are blacked out, doors are locked.
- Terry heard doctors talking.
Said most cases go to hospitals
in occupied France.
Only the most serious cases
were put off at Berlin.
- Didn't they, Terry?
Mm-hm.
- Berlin?
Let's see.
We got on about 2:30
and the train's averaging 40.
We should be there
in about three hours.
Better jump off in the yards
when the train slows.
Well, suppose it doesn't slow down?
Heh. Oh, don't worry about me.
- I'll make it.
- He'll be all right.
If we get off soon,
we can detour around the city.
Detour, nothing. We're going right in.
No better place to hide than a big city.
Sure, then the kid can rest up
for a few days.
- Yeah.
- And we could get some food.
And get in a little
constructive destruction.
- Well, if the right chance shows up.
- We'll make the right chance.
- Now, if I can forage some explosives...
- Berlin's full of factories.
- Look at us. We're a five-man invasion.
- That's the way to talk.
We'll be the first invasion
to hit Germany since Napoleon.
Except he missed a few things
that we won't overlook.
- Look who thinks he's Napoleon.
- Oh. Don't be silly.
I didn't say I was Napoleon.
I said...
- He says he's Napoleon, he's Napoleon.
I didn't say I was Napoleon. l...
Come on, you just take a seat.
Just be seated here.
The rest will do you good.
We'll tell Josephine you're tired.
Quiet, the emperor sleeps.
Hey, Napoleon?
Where'd you put the brandy?
Say, has it occurred to you guys...
...what's gonna happen
if we're caught in these uniforms?
Yeah, you're not kidding. Good night.
Hey, drop that curtain.
- Hey, Terry. Rise and shine.
- Hm? What?
Does Goring go for smelly soap.
Eau de violet, so help me.
Hey, what happened to you?
- I'm clean, if that's what you mean.
- I'll say you are. Hey, fellows, look.
He's turned white over night.
You've been holding out on us.
- That thatch of yours is a dye job.
- Why, Grandpa.
I didn't intend for you to discover it,
but I had to touch it up.
Sure. Got a face lift, too, didn't you?
This is serious. They don't take men
in the service over 39.
If we get back, don't tell the CO.
- I told him I was 38.
Thirty-eight?
You're old enough to be my old man.
Terry kept my secret.
Why won't you fellows?
Sure. Lay off him, fellas.
We ought to have him retired
for his own good.
Heh, heh. He's had four years of fighting
in the last war.
Ought to have left this one
to the young men.
That's what he thought,
until he lost his son at Dunkirk.
What are we stopping
in the suburbs for?
I don't know.
Better got your things together, quick.
Listen. Shh. Listen.
With this grease, nobody can do anything.
This is nothing but soap water.
Conductor, you are right.
Well, for 25 years, I have been
with the railroad company now.
But they've never delivered anything
like this to us before.
I wouldn't give this to my dog.
Well, what are you doing in this car?
Will you see that you see
that you get out of there?
Looks like we're gonna get
the royal roust.
- Should we jump him before he jumps us?
- Keep quiet and leave him to me.
- Tell him you're Napoleon.
- What?
Cut out that Napoleon stuff.
I'll tell him we're on leave...
...in a hurry to see our girls.
- Ask him if he knows any girls.
Aha.
The general staff.
Attention.
Well, you've really made it
very cozy here for yourself.
Is there anything I can
do for the gentlemen?
- Excuse me, but we thought...
- You're not supposed to think.
Do you cattle happen to know
where you are?
In the salon car of the
General Field Marshal Von Goring.
And you cattle have the nerve
to act as though were at home.
Now, just look at this mess here.
Well, are you really sure that this is the
cigarette that tastes best to you?
- Yes, yes.
- Well, that really makes me very happy.
Pull your bones together,
you stuffed pig.
Out with you. All of you.
Or I'll chase you around with a gun...
...so that you won't know
whether you're fish or flesh.
Something like this, in my whole life.
Hail, Hitler!
Attention! Search the train.
- Hey, you. Did anybody get off the train?
- Yes, major.
In the salon car of Field Marshal Von
Goring. I found five soldiers.
- I sure kicked them out.
- So, you fool, I chase after these guys...
...for hours and you, ox, let them go.
I'm going to report that. Come on.
Search the station yards.
Not you, you nincompoop.
You've made enough trouble.
I cannot understand that
they leave a house like that empty...
...now when thousands of wounded arrive
every day from the east.
It could be fixed up for a hospital.
Look, where does that smoke come from?
Not at all bad.
Needs a little something, though.
Kirk, is that really gonna turn out
to be something we can eat?
I was famous for the way I cooked
my stew at Wipers in November, 1918.
- What happened to the men who ate it?
- Nobody ate.
They used it for explosives.
Germans signed the armistice the next day.
Think they could hold out
against my cooking?
How much longer before it'll be done?
It should be ready by the time
Terry gets here with the drinking water.
Well, you better start dishing it out.
Here he comes now.
Search that guy.
Let's see if he's got a revolver on him.
Back up.
Let's see what else you've got on you.
To the wall. Back up.
We're going to show you how to behave.
Obedience, respect. We are going to
show you what you have to do.
Ridiculous gang.
Hey, Krauts.
How about giving us a break...?
Back up to the wall.
Well, how was the stew?
It was good.
- I feel up to anything now.
- You do?
Gents, I have a little suggestion
to make.
What about a spot of sabotage
at the chemische Versuchsanstalt?
What's that, sir?
- Chemical plant. Makes incendiary bombs.
I remember that.
Second objective, night we dumped our load
on Stettiner freight yards.
I passed the place on my way
to get the beer.
- It's about a half a mile from here.
- So that's what held you up, huh?
Uh-huh. Oh, baby.
What a beautiful fire that's gonna make.
And oh, baby, do I love a beautiful fire.
Imagine the CO's face when we get back
and tell him we got it from the ground.
We get the Victoria Cross,
each of us with 37 palms.
- At least.
- With a spot of luck.
Suppose we don't have that spot of luck.
It's worth taking a risk to knock off
a chemische Versugar...
Whatever you call it.
Why? That's always been
a secondary objective.
Information on Messerschmitt
factories is important.
We'll get that back, but let's knock off
this chemical plant first.
Two jobs at once.
We haven't the right to risk getting back
on side issues. Weigh the values.
That's what comes of being
a bookkeeper.
Add everything, plus and minus,
stick in a decimal point...
...and let it take all the fun out of life.
- Fun?
I didn't get into this war for fun or
adventure or because it was expected of me.
I got in because it was a hard,
dirty job that has to be done...
...before I can go back
to doing what I liked.
Before a hundred million other people
can go back to doing what they liked.
It's no bright game to me.
It's just a job.
A job that has to be done as rapidly
and as efficiently as possible.
Look, Jed, if you think
I'm playing games...
...well, that's your opinion.
I'm leading you into something desperate.
I know that.
But I figure we've got about one chance
in 10,000 of ever getting out of here.
And if we are gonna get knocked off...
...I just want to leave a couple of bouquets
behind to be remembered by.
That's all.
Do you wanna put it to the vote?
Never mind.
What's your plan?
I made a sketch of the factory.
There's an iron door leading in the back,
right here.
- When does our relief come?
- Oh, in about ten minutes.
That's about time.
The time goes awfully slow tonight.
Detachment. Halt!
Order arms! Forward, march!
Here, try this.
Right.
Lloyd, you stay here and keep watch.
Now, if we don't make it,
set fire to these oil drums.
- Do you understand?
- Yes.
- Here, take this. You got a match?
- Yes, sir.
Okay. Come on, Johnny.
See, here is
the Chemical Experimental Plant.
Put your guards all around,
here, here, here and here.
At once, major. Come, Come,
don't stand around. Do something.
Come, come. Such a mess.
For two days, these men have
been running around free in Berlin.
Light, quick.
I copped a good one, didn't I?
Don't talk now, kid.
Here, put it under his head.
- We've got to get him to a doctor.
- No. No, mustn't.
- You'll all be arrested.
- Don't worry about that.
Don't risk a doctor.
- You'll all be caugh...
- Shh.
- I don't think she heard us.
- No.
Look, I'll scout the neighborhood,
try and find a doctor.
Is that all for today, miss?
Do you need anything else?
No, thanks.
- Pardon, miss.
- Where is the nearest doctor?
- Dr. Franz Schneider.
Where is that?
Maasson Street, twenty-nine.
Thank you.
Send him to my uncle.
- One moment, please.
This doctor is out of town.
Go to Dr. Ludwig Mather,
Crown Street 24.
- Yes?
- Excuse me, is Doc...?
- Oh.
- Come in, please.
- You are Englishmen?
- Yes, and desperate.
You're quite safe. In here.
I had the druggist direct you here
so that my uncle and I could help you.
How did you know?
He spoke as I passed by
your hiding place.
Water. Give me water.
Keep him quiet.
There's a patient
in my uncle's office now.
Doctor, here is an emergency case.
Oh. Excuse me, Mrs. Raeder.
- Englishmen, fugitives.
- Shh.
How long ago was he shot?
About half an hour.
Can you help him?
I can try.
I'll get rid of my patient.
So, Mrs. Raeder,
that looks already pretty good.
- Shall I come back, doctor?
- This way, please.
Take the bandage off tomorrow
and if it's not quite all right...
...come back again.
Good night, Mrs. Raeder,
and a speedy recovery.
Thank you, doctor. Good night.
Please, sir, just a glass of water.
Sure, kid. Right here.
Please, sir, some water.
- Good night, miss.
- Good night.
Here you are, kid.
Ooh. Better take it slowly.
How's that? Better?
- Can I help you, doctor?
- No, my niece can assist me.
You'd best wait in the other room.
Mr. Forbes.
- Yes, kid?
- I'm sorry I forgot to dodge those bullets.
- What are you talking about?
Soon as the doctor takes them out, you can
wear them on your watch chains for charms.
Would you...?
You'd better not talk any more now,
kid.
You're a lucky guy.
I envy you, lying there...
...with a pretty nurse
to take care of you and everything.
If this doesn't work out,
tell the others good luck.
But you'll be telling them yourself
in half an hour.
- You think so?
- Why, sure.
Tell Dad I only had 42 Jerries to go.
You can bring your friends
into the outer office if you wish.
You can trust me. You're not the first
I've helped to escape.
Hey, there.
The wound seems to be pretty deep.
Look.
Why don't you tell them, huh?
- Why don't you say what's in your mind?
- Terry, sit down.
We'd all be safe in England
if I'd obeyed the skipper's orders.
He'd still be alive if it weren't for me.
Hollis wouldn't be fighting for his life
if I hadn't led you on a crazy stunt.
Go on. Go ahead.
- Say it.
- You're in command, Terry.
You did what you thought best.
- We'd have all done the same thing.
- Sure, we would.
You wouldn't have,
because you were right and I was wrong.
All right, from now on,
you're in command.
When we want a change,
we'll ask for it.
We've stuck this far.
We'll stick all the way.
Can I see Dr. Mather?
I'm sorry, but the doctor is busy.
Secret State Police, miss.
In the other room, quick.
Police.
There's a room across the hall.
Where is the soldier
who spoke English?
Not in here. The doctor is operating.
Where is the man
who brought the soldier in here?
I don't have any idea.
Please, do not disturb me in my work.
Looking for who brought Hollis.
- Answer me, where is the man?
- I don't know.
Stop it! Stop it!
Here, I'll handle this.
Try to get out the back way.
Hey, wait a minute. Let's toss for this.
Leave me alone.
This is a matter of life and death.
If you don't tell me right away
where he is, I will break your neck.
Hands up.
- What's he say?
- Hold up your hands.
Hands up.
Ask him, please,
to let the doctor finish his work.
I'm the one they're looking for.
That is the man you're looking for.
Tell him to bring his comrade
to my car.
He orders you to carry
your comrade out to his car.
But I can't do that. The boy will die.
I'll go with him.
But you can't touch the boy now.
- Oh, be quiet! Nobody asked you!
I told you fellows to be on your way.
We know when to disobey orders too.
Gentlemen, your comrade is dead.
I can't thank you enough, both of you.
I am sorry I couldn't save the boy.
I know you did all you could.
Don't worry about the Gestapo men.
We'll dispose of them
so that you won't be suspected.
- Goodbye, sir.
- Goodbye and good fortune.
Thank you.
I'll be leaving soon for my home
in Mnster.
If you come that way, my father and I
will help you as we've helped others.
- We'll make it a point to come that way.
- The address, 37 Bismarckstrasse.
- My father's name is Herr Brahms.
- Brahms.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
There's some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England.
We make Stendal by dawn.
Let's get moving.
Keep riding.
Halt.
Where to?
Army supplies to Warnsdorf.
Okay. Can pass.
Hey. Where you coming from?
- Good evening, captain. On the way to...
- Help my driver to get my car going.
- Yes, captain. Give a hand.
Come on. Come on. Come on. Come.
Here. You are strong enough for this job.
Oh.
The back wheel here,
that's the hardest job...
...you understand?
We must get that out first.
Captain, would you please
come out here?
- What do you want from me?
- To look over the damage, captain.
- Something is wrong with the car there.
- Where?
All right. You fellows give her
a shove forward and I'll put her in gear.
That a captain of the German air force...
...is fooled that much by fugitive English
prisoners, that is too much.
But major, I told you.
They all wore German uniforms.
Yes, yes. One moment, please.
Telephone, captain.
Eggerstedt, air force.
Yes? What? Muenster?
- Imagine. They found my car in Muenster.
- In Muenster?
Call Staaken right away.
Have a plane ready.
Give me Staaken, quick.
- Good evening, gentlemen.
- Good evening.
Excuse me.
Is Miss Kaethe Brahms at home?
I'm very sorry, but my daughter
is out of town.
Tell her what she said about helping
like she helped others.
Oh, I think I understand.
Come in. Come in.
- Hermann?
Yeah?
These are the gentlemen sent
by Kaethe.
Oh, that's fine. I'm Kaethe's father.
Very happy to know you. Forbes.
Glad to know you, sir.
- Forrest.
- You are welcome.
- Hammond.
- Glad to have you.
- Edwards.
- Oh, sure.
- Do I smell food?
- Oh, heh, heh.
That's the first time I ever ate
a turkey stuffed with a rabbit.
And I thought Goring was the only man
in Germany who had enough to eat.
What do you do,
print your own food coupons?
Ration cards don't bother me.
I've been careful...
...to maintain friendship
with the highest-placed Nazi in Munster.
That must be a dangerous
sort of friendship.
Perhaps. But necessary
to continue to work...
...under the very noses
of Germany's oppressors.
And I shall continue, for I know
that Germany's only hope lies...
...in the defeat of the Nazi armies.
Not so loud.
You'll manage to get us
in the concentration camp.
My wife is always afraid of the police.
She thinks even the walls have ears.
Sure.
- No, thank you.
Well, sometimes the waiting
is very hard.
I listen on my secret radio.
I hear of the men and planes
America is sending.
Sixty thousand planes a year, I heard.
And it's only the beginning.
Only the beginning.
Oh, wonderful. Wonderful.
But when they make planes so quickly,
I hope they are good.
We've only had squawks
from the Messerschmitt.
Oh, fine.
But just to have planes
and to drop bombs.
We think it's necessary to invade.
To smash these men
right on their own soil.
- Oh, well, we're gonna get around to that.
- Yes, sure, but when?
Well, so far, Winston and Franklin
haven't taken us into their confidence.
And the funny thing is they seem
to be doing all right without our help.
I don't like to eat and run,
but we should be moving.
Most of my guests have been glad
of the chance to sleep in good beds.
So would we.
But we got hold of some information...
...we're anxious to get back to England
before it cools off.
Oh, I see. I see. Something urgent?
Well, we think it is.
I'll phone to one of my friends
who will give you his automobile.
Will you excuse me, please? Thank you.
You're a gay brother.
You look like an old uncle of mine
in Potsdam.
- He could eat two schnitzels at once.
- Yes? You?
She's cute, huh? What'd she say?
She said you remind her
of an uncle she's got in Potsdam.
He was nuts.
Ha, ha, ha.
Oh, yeah?
You'd better eat your strudel.
He'll bust.
lt'll be easier for three to get
out of the country than four, so here goes.
Oh, ho.
- Kaethe. How nice to see you.
Hello, Kaethe.
- So you did get here safely?
- Yes. How's the doctor?
- Is he all right?
- Fine.
- Your plan worked perfectly.
- Good.
Should have come with us.
- Where's my father?
Outside making
telephone arrangements for us.
- He's great.
- He's always glad to do anything.
So here I have nice, hot coffee for you.
Who is this woman? This man?
You mean, you...
They're not your parents?
I've never seen them before in my life.
Who are you? What's your name?
- My name is...
Where's my father and my mother?
What has become of them?
The same that will...
Speak English. Where are they?
Where you all very soon will be.
In a concentration camp.
I was phoning my superior
at the local police office.
You'll never see England again.
See who that is, quick.
It's the police.
- Police?
They're all around.
- Any side doors or windows?
None that they can't cover.
- The roof. We can escape over the roof.
- That's it. Come on.
Quick, untie her. Hurry up.
- Where are the Englishmen?
- Ran up to the roof.
Forwards!
- To the roof.
Quick. After them.
- Can you make it?
- I'll try.
All right.
All right. Come on, Kirk.
Kirk. Come on, jump.
Come on, jump.
Kirk.
Come on, jump.
Halt!
Secret State Police, group Muenster!
- Major Baumeister.
- At your command, major.
Where are the Englishmen?
- In number 37. Our men are there.
- Good. You stay here.
At your command.
- Hey. That looks like...
- Yeah. The iron fist.
Don't let them get away. After them.
We must get these guys.
- Kaethe. Where are you going?
- I must leave you here.
Back up the car. First turn to the left.
- What'll happen to you?
- People I know will hide me.
No, you come with us.
- With any luck, we'll reach England.
- No, I must stay here.
And warn those who worked with my father
what happened to him.
- Help carry on the work.
- But you've done your share and more.
No one's share will be done
till the war is over.
There will be other men,
from prison camps...
...the concentration camps,
the conquered countries.
It's our job, the job of the underground
to return them to the fight.
We must all do our work before
we can go back to doing what we like.
- Strange, that's what Jed said.
- Go now. That way.
Take the first road to the left.
It leads to the highway to the Dutch border.
Get to Berghofen. Find Herr Van Paalt.
He will help you.
And when you are across the Channel,
tell the people in England...
...that there are people like us
left in Germany...
...still living, still hoping, still fighting.
It would be nice to know that they know.
We'll tell them.
Till we meet again.
Goodbye.
Till we meet again.
Goodbye, Kaethe. Thanks.
Car in sight. Barriers down.
- Password.
- Staff our for General von Schlegel.
Are in a hurry.
Can pass. Barriers up.
- We got away with that.
- What did you tell him?
Told him we're a staff car for
General von Schlegel, whoever he is.
Barriers down.
Did a staff car with soldiers pass here?
Yes, major.
About four or five minutes ago.
The occupants were Englishmen.
Have you got motorcycle riders here?
Yes, major. Motorcycle riders.
Quick. Follow that car.
- Hey, Johnny?
Yeah.
Do you see what I see?
First time in my life I wished
I was being tailed by speed cops.
Getting close. Can you get more speed
out of this crate?
She's doing all she can now.
Hang on, fellows.
We're going cross-country.
Looks like we lost them.
They're heading us off.
So now.
- What are you doing?
- An old Yankee bootlegger trick.
Let the fellows lie there.
Come on, let's go.
Clear the road.
Drive quicker. It will be your fault
if these guys escape us.
There is a telephone.
- Jump off and phone ahead.
- At your command.
Slower.
Telephone connection.
Connect the telephone. Official business.
Yes, sir. Right away.
Hurry up.
Your connection.
Give me post number 14, urgent.
Yes. At your command.
I understand.
It will be done immediately.
Attention. Out. Build up barricades.
Block the street. Let nobody pass.
Attention. Here.
What are you doing there?
Get in the truck.
Block the road.
The rest follow me to the wagon, here.
Lend a hand! Quickly!
Clear the wheels! Fill the gap!
Put the wagon here in this gap!
Take the boxes down.
- Have we lost them?
I think so.
No, look.
Slow down.
Keep at a distance.
- They just seem to be tailing us.
- Don't like the look of it.
Give it full gas.
Hang it all.
You oaf. Couldn't you get through?
Let me out of here.
Hey, if this is what I think it is...
It is.
Well, this is the first time I ever ran out
of gas with a couple of guys.
- Did you see that? Gas.
- He's turned off.
Well, what are we waiting for?
What's that?
Hey, that's one of our aircraft.
To the right. To the right.
Stop over there
and give a hand here. Help them, will you?
This is the biggest bomb I've ever seen.
It's like the giant Goliath.
lt'll blow out the
Battersea Waterworks into a thousand bits.
There is no doubt about it.
Watch out.
Be careful. Watch out. Be careful.
Stop! That's fine.
Come on. Let's get out of here.
Hey.
Did I hear him say Battersea Waterworks?
You did. We've gotta stop them
before they got started.
Sure. We'll walk out and say,
"We need your gasoline for a car we stole."
When that plane leaves...
...it'll be followed by a mass flight
of bombers loaded with incendiaries.
They've been trying to knock off
the Battersea Waterworks for two years.
We're steamed up because one plane
with one egg will lead the parade.
An English plane, able to come over so low,
it can't miss.
Suppose Japs had an American bomber...
...and dropped a 2-ton bomb
on the Boulder Dam power plant?
That'd cut off juice from half the
West Coast. But the waterworks...
Supplies half the water
for the fires of London.
- Why, the...
- Shh.
- lf I only had a pistol.
- Huh. How about a tank?
A pistol would do.
I could put a slug in that bomb...
...before those Krauts
knew what was going on.
We'll get a chance to do something
if they break for lunch.
- Why wait? There's only twelve of them.
- Listen.
Wait here.
Schneider. Here is the flight order.
- Have the motors been checked?
- Yes, captain.
Back up the car.
- How is the weather forecast?
- Pretty good.
Put the dogs on the trail.
There were three soldiers here.
Detachment, follow me.
Attention. About face. Forward.
- The field must be smoothed out yet?
- Yes, sir.
- We can start with that in half an hour.
- Yes.
Let the motors warm up.
- Any luck?
- Yeah. Quite a bit. Come over here.
Crew arrived, checked the ship over.
They're getting ready to leave at sunset.
- Where's the luck in that?
- Pilot wants the field smoothed off.
Unteroffizier said he'd get the mechanics,
have it cleared in half an hour.
- Leaving the plane unguarded?
- Unguarded enough.
- Supper in England.
- Supper in London.
The finest, most expensive meal
in the history of the world.
- Champagne. Buckets of it.
- Yeah. White bread with butter on it.
Lots of butter.
I know a little girl in London.
She's got a sister.
I know a little steak in London
with French-fried onions.
I'll swap you the sister for the onions.
You've got a deal, partner.
Hey, look. Is that the gasoline truck?
Yeah.
Uh-oh.
That's it, boys. Can't wait for them
to fix that field. Come on.
The work here cannot last very long.
No, captain.
In one hour everything will be done.
Well, here goes. Good luck.
Fill up these two holes here first.
No, there. A little further there. Yes.
The weather is pretty favorable today.
Yes, I have not yet flown
an American plane...
...but that won't make any difficulty
for us.
- Hey. What do you want there?
Hey, stop!
- Halt.
Halt.
What's that?
There they are. Shoot them down.
Spread out.
- Take over the guns, Johnny.
Okay.
Messy, but lucky.
Bad enough to put him in a hospital...
...and light enough
to make him dangerous for the nurses.
- Hey, how's for swinging south, Terry?
- Huh? South?
Give them back their demo bomb
in the harbor at Vlissingen.
Terry, no detours now.
He's right, Johnny. No detours.
You can dump that bomb
when we get over the Channel.
Okay.
See if you can get England
on the wireless, will you?
Lockheed Hudson GK calling 83 Control.
- Mr. O'Connor, sir.
- Yes?
Aircraft calling on our waveband.
- Not one of ours?
- No.
Have him identify himself.
Control calling Hudson GK.
Lockheed Hudson GK calling 83 Control.
- Are you receiving me?
- You are coming in very weak.
Please, identify yourself.
Please, identify yourself. Over.
Flight Lieutenant Forbes, Flying Officer
Forrest, Flying Officer John Hammond.
Returning in recaptured Lockheed Hudson
with markings GK. Over. Over.
- Hold him. Group Captain Coswick, sir?
Yes? What is it?
We're getting a report from someone
who claims to be Terry Forbes.
- Forbes?
- Hammond's with him...
...in a recaptured Hudson.
- I'd given him up.
Where are they?
Giving his position now.
Put it on the amplifier.
Can now see Channel ahead of us.
- That's Forbes.
Give me the microphone.
Estimate we'll be over
North Bank Lightship at 1625 hours...
...height 5,000 feet.
Better have an ambulance standing by, sir.
Forrest caught a nicko.
And will you have two steaks ready,
please, medium rare?
Oh, yes. Flying Officer Hammond
would like the waitress well done.
Operator, switch me over.
Forbes, this is the CO speaking.
Yes, sir?
Hey, Johnny? Just a moment, sir.
Johnny?
- Did you let that bomb go?
- Yeah, I must be out of practice.
- I missed the Channel.
- What?
I dropped it right on
that battery of big guns...
...that's been placed at Dover. Sorry.
Excuse the interruption, sir.
That's right, sir. Flight Lieutenant Forbes,
Flying Officer Forrest...
...Flying Officer Hammond of Fortress
D for Danny, mission completed.
Terry. Jed.
- England.
Yeah.
Now for Australia
and a crack at those Japs.
Two-eight-two squadron.
Two- eight-two squadron.
Crew of D for Danny.
Report to operations room.
That's us, Canada.
Two- eight-two squadron.
Crew of D for Danny.
Report to operations room.
Yeah, yeah. Be right with you.
Seven, so I win again.
Is it a rule of the game
that you Yankees always win?
We win at this,
you pick up marbles at cricket.
But we don't use marbles for cricket.
- Terry. Terry.
Yeah?
CO wants us in ops.
- Okay.
Did my transfer to Interceptor Command
come through yet?
You're going to be sent back
to Australia to that new intelligence outfit.
- Huh?
- He is?
Yeah, going to search kangaroo's pouches
for fifth columnists.
Very funny. Very funny.
They're keeping you Australians
in the bombers.
Keeping in the Australians
in the bombers?
Well, if that isn't typical
brass hat idiocy.
The Australians are fighting men.
We're not truck drivers.
Oh. Very well, Mr. Bones. Why are they
keeping the Australians in the bombers?
They have sensible men
to keep them from running amuck.
I see.
And he sang as he sat
And waited while his billy boiled
- Are you still eating breakfast?
- No, sir. Lunch.
Learned during the last war,
never miss the meal in front of you.
Crew of D, reporting.
Flight Sergeant Connors is on leave.
- All others, present.
- Yes, I know that, Lane-Ferris.
We detailed Hollis to take his place.
Squadron Leader Lane-Ferris
is captain of your aircraft.
- You will report to him for orders.
- Sir.
Glad to have you.
Take the wireless operator's position.
- Very good.
- Get your crew seated, please.
Sir. Carry on, men.
Are you the son of Lloyd Hollis
who got 43 Jerries during the last war?
- Yes.
- Didn't take you long to get in this.
Wouldn't that be expected
of an ace's son?
I saw your dad get two of them.
In a trench near Bar-le-duc.
He was above...
Stop talking and pay attention, please.
All right. Sit down.
Squadron Leader Clark from Group
Headquarters has something to tell you.
- Will you carry on, please?
- Very good, sir.
A few hours ago, we received a report...
...that the rail intersection
east of Schneidemuhl...
...was dynamited last night
by Polish saboteurs.
This is the switch point.
All these lines carry
abnormally heavy traffic.
And a sizable blockade of munition trains
has undoubtedly occurred.
The Nazis are sure to reopen
the right of way within the next 12 hours.
But if we can put one stick of bombs
there before dawn...
...we will have done more to advance the
cause than ten raids on as many factories.
That's your job, gentlemen.
The enemy is sure to have a heavy
concentration of anti-aircraft batteries...
...to protect the point.
But if the weather permits...
...you should be able to carry out
your attack from high altitude.
- That's all I have to say, sir.
- Thank you.
May I have
the large-scale map, please?
Thank you.
Now, here is Schneidemuhl.
Quite a bit beyond
our normal bombing territory.
Actually on the edge
of the old Polish border.
Now, you make your approach
along this line...
...crossing Denmark,
coming over the Baltic...
...swinging inland
over Pommersche Bay.
From there, you shouldn't have difficulty
in reaching your objective.
- Terry?
- Yup.
I want you to help me
with a star sight this trip.
Sure. I'll get you a nice, new shiny one
every ten minutes.
Every half hour will be enough.
That's if you can keep serious that long.
This is important.
Johnny, old Canada
is going serious on us again.
Throw him a leadful of decimal points.
He'll be happy.
Here's the result
of long Canadian winters.
Nothing to do but sit by the fire,
figure out income tax.
Now, no kidding. Star sights will be
most important this trip.
Most of the way,
we'll be going over the water...
...with no chance for contact checks.
And if we can't keep a...
I was saying
that most of the way, we'll...
Say, look at these new fighters.
Yes.
Gee, that's where I'd like to be,
flying one of these babies.
Things like that in the air
and we fly an ice wagon.
Yeah, sure. Now, look, Terry.
If you take one sight
just after we set the course...
...and another about...
- Oh, sure.
Sure, I'll get you
all the figures you want.
Air speed, wind speed, drift, oil pressure,
engine temperature, altitude, the works.
And if you play your cards right...
...I may throw in a couple of old
telephone numbers for good measure.
- I'll fly the first leg, Terry.
- Okay.
Take these with you.
- I want to check the first wireless bearings.
- How could I refuse?
Mother Hubbard
goes down into her cupboard.
Yeah, to lay a few eggs.
- Are your starters plugged in?
- Yes, sir.
- Starboard rear gunner in position, sir.
- Okay.
- Wireless operator in position, sir.
- Okay.
- Port roar gunner in position, sir.
- Okay.
- Navigator in position, sir.
- Okay.
- Midship gunner in position, sir.
- Okay.
- Bomb aimer in position, sir.
- Okay, Mother.
Crew in position.
Ready for takeoff, sir.
Cockpit check complete.
Ready to start up.
- Start up your port outboard engine.
- Yes, sir.
Cut it out, will you?
This is very important.
Here's your figures, sweetheart.
Thanks.
Say, can't you get
some hot conga music on that?
German stations are off the air.
Boys must be giving a pasting tonight.
- How are we doing, navigator?
Oh, seem to be right on course.
What's our indicated air speed, please?
Three forty.
- Thanks. You guessed right.
- Guessed it?
I felt it. Tell him how
your old man flew the last war...
...with a float compass
and the seat of his pants. Go on.
If you get a kick
out of doing figures, go ahead.
But I'll tell you
when we're over the target.
That's you again. You promised you'd
tell me how to do that. You never did.
- Will you have a sandwich, sir?
- Yeah, thanks.
- Will you save me the bag?
- Yeah, here you are.
Hello, skipper?
Position due north of Swinemunde.
Turn to one-six-two.
Turn to one-six-two.
Right.
Put one-six-two on the gyro.
- Take over now, Terry.
- Right.
Look at those clouds.
- I bet they stretch clear into Poland.
They may open.
I'll bet you five
to a stick of bombs they don't.
You can hold the stakes in your lap.
- Any contact checks?
- Nope. Not a thing.
We're nearly over the objective.
Hello, Johnny?
Keep an eye open for landmarks.
Landmarks? I'm more likely to see
a noodle in that soup.
Halt.
Attention, attention, airport.
Four-motored bomber,
9500 meter, position M-5.
Well, looks like we go down under, eh?
We've got an hour's extra petrol.
We'll stay high.
- Maybe the clouds will open.
- Those clouds? Ha.
Why not go down, get it over with?
Too chancy.
You heard what that fellow said...
...about a concentration of anti-aircraft
to protect the point.
- Yeah, but...
- We'd be sitter shots.
Under that low ceiling.
Bet you if we did go down,
we'd take them by surprise.
Could blast them out
before they knew what hit them.
If we had the flight here,
we might try it with one plane.
But since we're the only plane
and the objective must be knocked out...
...we'll cruise around.
Keep your eye open...
...for a break in the clouds.
- All right.
What's that?
- What's what?
I don't know. Looks like a shadow.
Jed. Get him out of here, quick.
We got him. We got him.
You got him. Get 42 more,
you'll tie your old man's record.
Nice shooting. Hang on to something.
- I'm going down through this muck.
- But skipper said...
Brace yourself, boy. Ready up front?
- Ready here.
- All right.
First one to spot anything,
give me a call. Hang on.
Hello, Johnny. Drop a flare. Drop a flare.
There's the rail line.
Hello, Johnny. Hello, Johnny.
We're gonna circle and come back in.
Bomb doors open.
Going in now. Going in now.
One thousand feet at 300 per.
One thousand feet at 300 per.
Ten degrees right. Ten degrees right.
You're on.
Steady as you go.
Both port engines are gone.
Hello, Edwards. Hello, Edwards.
Communicator's knocked out.
Tell the men to stand by
for a crash landing.
- Are we hit bad?
- Yeah.
Take the skipper back.
I think we're gonna land hard.
Motorcyclists, attention!
To the scene of the crash, approximately
three kilometers cast of the main road.
Terry.
Terry.
You all right?
Yeah, I think so.
Johnny, Johnny, how are you?
I'm all right.
Had the wind knocked out of me.
Who's got that light?
- It's me, Edwards.
- Somebody give me a hand with Hollis.
- Go ahead, Johnny.
Jed, give me a hand with the skipper.
I can make it. Don't bother with me.
I'll go back and help the others.
- Is he badly hurt, sir?
- Pretty bad. Give me that flash.
Yes, sir.
I'm all right. Just a bit dizzy.
Get them away.
Everything's soaked with petrol.
- Are the others?
- Yeah, all of them.
Hey, what's that?
Into the bushes, quick.
- But Kenton, Warrick, Evans.
- All dead, kid.
- But their bodies.
- He had to do it. The bomb sight's in there.
Come on, quick. Get moving.
Don't go so close. It may explode.
- Prussians.
- Did he say so?
No, but I know the accent.
You understand that stuff?
- Come again?
- I said sure.
Come on. We can go.
They are all burned, anyhow.
I think so too.
The sergeant guessed
they'd all been killed in the crash...
...and the trooper agreed with him.
Come on. We gotta get out of here.
The skipper's bleeding pretty badly.
Look, blood.
Did we...?
Did we did we flatten the target?
Sure, you bet, skipper. Knocked it cold.
Three direct hits.
I knew we could.
If we stayed high.
Told you.
Going in low...
...suicide.
Hands up. You are prisoners.
The major orders to bring in
the English prisoners right now.
The major orders to bring in
the English prisoners right now.
Come on. Come on.
Line up the prisoners
in front of the desk.
Says line up.
Step back.
Major, the prisoners
have been brought in.
The questions I will ask you
are purely routine.
Your names will be given
to the International Red Cross...
...so that your country may be notified
that you are prisoners of war.
Your name and rank.
Go ahead, kid. You can tell him that.
- Your name and rank.
- Lloyd Hollis II, flight sergeant.
By any chance the son
of the English ace of the last war?
He's my father.
I see. Too bad you will not have
the opportunity...
...to follow in your father's footsteps.
- You?
- Flying Officer Johnny Hammond.
You?
Flying Officer Jed Forrest.
You?
- Well?
- Kirk Edwards, sir. Flight sergeant.
T. Forbes, flight lieutenant.
Lieutenant,
your squadron and station numbers.
- Don't tell him that.
- Why not?
Group 929, station 428.
I am quite aware
there're not so many units...
...in the British Air Force.
You will give me the correct numbers.
Okay. Group one, station one.
As senior officer,
you will have the good sense...
...to tell your men that full cooperation
will be to their advantage.
We have decent instincts,
but we have also an iron fist.
No?
You are prisoners, gentlemen,
and you are going to a prison camp.
That is a circumstance
over which you have no control.
Your stay at the camp
can be either tolerable or otherwise.
That depends upon you.
If I make a little check mark here...
...it will indicate that you are eligible
for exchange at a later date.
If I make it here,
it will tell an entirely different story.
I can assure that a prison camp
can be most annoying.
It's all right for a visit.
Wouldn't care to live there.
Oh, we could stand it for a month or so.
Already counting
upon the possibility of escape?
We won't have to bother
about escaping.
Your blitzkriegs have stopped blitzing.
War will be over before we gnaw our way
through your barbed wire, even if ersatz.
A most deluded viewpoint.
Nothing can stop our armies.
And your bombing attacks
have been little more than an irritation.
As for the assistance
of a few decadent democracies...
I see you find the view most interesting.
Let it go. Already too late.
Too bad you saw that.
Now you cannot even
be considered for exchange.
You will be placed in separate confinement
for the duration of the war.
How unlucky to be so observant.
Just at a moment when we seem to be
reaching a realistic view of your problem.
I regret that it must be the iron fist.
And so, gentlemen,
our interview is concluded.
You are dismissed.
Lead the prisoners out.
You, the last man.
- Me?
- Yes. Come back here.
I have some questions to ask you.
- Your name is?
- Johnny Hammond. What's yours?
Major Otto Bau...
You will find that, in your position,
impertinence does not pay.
I didn't join up with this war
to make money.
- You are an American?
- Half American, half Jersey City.
You may sit down, Hammond.
- You may go.
- Yes, major.
Americans are good businessmen.
They are noted for their ability
to make smart deals.
Means they had the good sense
to take advantage of the situation.
That plane you were flying,
American-built, wasn't it?
One of the new ones.
We have heard a good deal about them.
We know that they are capable
of operating at amazing altitudes.
How do you manage
to supercharge the engines...
...at the extreme cold
of those high altitudes?
If I told you,
the others wouldn't find out?
Certainly not.
Sure they can't hear us out there?
Quite sure.
Now, about the supercharger.
- It's done with a thermotrockle.
- A what?
Thermotrockle amfilated
through a daligonitor.
Of course, this is made possible because
the dernadyne has a franicoupling.
- I do not understand you.
- I knew you wouldn't.
The amsometer on the side
prenulates the kinutaspel hepulace.
That's the entire secret.
There you have it.
I do not follow you.
Well, maybe I could make it more clear
if I drew a diagram.
Certainly.
There's three things
you gotta understand.
As I said before, the daligonitor
is amfilated by the thermotrockle.
It's made by its connection
with the franicoupling of dernadyne.
Even at cruising speed...
...the kinutaspel hepulace
is prenulated by the amsometer.
Makes no difference.
Could be taking off.
Snowing or raining, any pilot will tell you
that the altitude, 10, 20, 30, 40,000 feet...
Who is spitting at me?
That must stop.
- Oh, Terry. He wants to talk to you.
- Oh.
- Stay there.
- The major wants to see me.
Go.
The iron fist has a glass jaw.
At your command, major.
Schuman,
the major wants you. Hurry up.
Attention.
About face.
Now, bring in my comrades. Come on.
The major orders to bring
in the prisoners once more.
Come on. In here.
Here we go again, boys.
Major!
- Out the window, quick!
The Fuehrer speaks in five minutes
over the radio...
...from Russia.
Probably news about a victory, major.
Major.
Major. Major.
Memo. Request for transfer.
Kirk's in trouble.
He's run into them
or he'd be back by now.
Don't worry. He can handle himself.
I don't know.
Hey, here's a dilly. Listen to this.
"To the commandant, the Ninth District.
If our gallant allies on the Russian front,
the three picked Italian Infantry Divisions...
...continue to advance at present rate,
they should reach their objective by spring."
- What's their objective?
- Rome.
Oh.
- Looks as though...
- Something important?
"Prenzlau, Grlitz..."
- We've hit the jackbox.
- Jackpot.
- Yeah.
- What is it? What is it?
Baumeister's recommendation for protection
of the underground Messerschmitt factories.
Those trucks at Arnswalde
weren't coming out of a gopher hole.
That's not all. There's five more of them.
"Prenzlau, Grlitz, Luckenwalde,
Freiberg, Eger."
Enough information on the camouflage plan
to lead our bombers right to them.
We take that back to England,
they'll give us Buckingham Palace.
Johnny, here's something
that'll interest you.
"These factories must attain
top production within two months."
Very interesting. What does it mean?
Oh. "These factories must
attain maximum output within 90 days.
They are our Fhrer's answer
to America's exaggerated promises...
...of assembly line production.
With the new Messerschmitt 114s
gaining air supremacy...
...over the English and Irish ports...
...our bombers will make certain that not
one soldier or bullet will reach England...
...from the degenerate democracy
across the water."
Degenerate democracy.
That's a great crack, coming from Adolf.
People in Jersey City
aren't gonna like that.
If we can get this information home,
we'll flatten Adolph's prize factories...
...faster than his generals get apoplexy.
- But how...?
The one at Arnswalde,
we'll keep for ourselves.
We'll tell the CO we ought
to get the first crack at it, because...
- Wake the kid. Go ahead.
- Hollis, wake up. Shh. Quiet.
Any luck?
- There is no food left in Germany.
I went through three farm houses. Nobody
lived there. They hadn't left a crumb.
- Met a rat in a closet, eating its heart out.
- Who was it, Goebles?
It couldn't been if it had a heart.
What now?
We'll do better further west.
Where are we now?
As near as I can figure, we're here.
That's roughly 400 miles
to the Channel coast.
Well, let's get started. We'll head west.
Maybe we'll get
to swipe a car or something.
- Still got this.
Wait a minute.
We can't take risks like that.
You like slogging
around in this muck?
I'm as cold and hungry
as the rest of you.
But there's more at stake
than our own necks.
We've got information to take back.
Valuable information about those
Messerschmitt factories.
Or maybe you'd forgotten about that.
No, I haven't forgotten about it.
You got the makings
of a first-class brass hat.
Oh, come on. Let's break it up.
Let's get started.
I don't understand it. Every time
I went foraging during the last war...
...I always came back with something.
A ham or a chicken or a cheese.
I remember once we were billeted
back at Wipers and I got a cow.
A whole cow.
I got the head of it mounted
in my living room now.
- What did you do with the rest of it?
- I ate it.
Hang on, kid.
Soon as the sun comes up,
you can sleep until it sets again.
Hang on to me.
Quickly. We cannot lose any time.
I brought the map along,
and can give you an exact report.
- Speak English?
- Like I was in London born.
- Heard anything?
- They have not been found yet.
Where are your posts?
At each red circle, a sentry.
At each square, a guard post.
- What of these bridges?
- Since there are sentries here and here.
Put a guard on every bridge,
on every boat landing.
- Yes, sir.
- They'll make their way through the swamp.
The bridge guard will take them.
- You told him of those flyers?
- Not yet.
Silly ox, what are you waiting for?
Get me the sentry
on the Mannenheim Bridge.
Hey, sun's gone down.
Time to get started.
Why do you have to wake me up every
time I got a date with Ann Sheridan?
Come on, sonny. Daddy's gonna take us
for another nice long walk.
Hey, wait a minute.
"Fellows, rather than bring
the whole party to a standstill...
...l'm going to give myself up.
The best of luck, Lloyd."
- That crazy kid.
- We could have taken turns carrying him.
Or course we could, if he'd let us.
- His trail, through the rushes.
- Hasn't much of a start.
- It's a cinch he can't go fast.
- Sure. Come on.
I think the kid is right.
He knew we could never make it with him.
I suppose you want us to give him up.
- You're still in command.
- Thanks.
- Anything?
- Not a trace.
- Must've stayed on the pavement.
- lf he did, he's likely under arrest by now.
Hey! Hey!
- So tried to powder out on us, huh?
- We ought to give you a spanking.
- I thought that...
We couldn't get you through?
No, but that information, it's important.
And without me to slow things up...
Listen, kid.
You're just as important
as that information.
You'll reach Piccadilly
if I have to carry you piggy-back.
If that's where we're going,
get started. I'm hungry.
- This is the right direction.
- Let's stay close to the rail.
Wait a minute. What's that?
Over the side, quick.
Say, sir, I've been thinking.
Suppose we get separated somehow.
Could you teach us enough German
to make answers, in case...?
I know enough already.
Say, "Ja, hail Hitler,"
and, "Nein, hail Hitler."
Suppose someone asks
you what time it is.
Show him on your fingers.
Yeah? Suppose it's 12:00.
You can always say, "No saber, senor."
Look, you better just listen to him
in English.
Halt! Hands up!
Come on, higher!
Okay, okay. Don't get itchy.
Englishmen! Three steps closer.
He says, "Come closer."
Halt! Detachment, about face! March!
Turn around.
Hey, what time is it?
Shut up or you'll be shot!
Getting late.
Come on, you big pickle-puss.
Give me one chance to kick you
in your goose step.
Your whining won't help you any.
You have to be quiet, understand?
Said pleading will get us nowhere.
Obviously doesn't understand English.
What is that?
- I'm telling them.
Uh-huh.
Now, when I say go, you hit him high.
Jed and Edwards, tackle him low.
I'll grab his pistol.
- Do you understand?
- I understand, Daddy.
Get on your mark, get set, go.
Now what?
Relief guard, halt!
At ease.
Koenig!
Koenig!
Where is that guy again?
What's that?
I think it come from under there.
Shut up, you idiot!
Follow me.
He's been drinking again.
Get that swine away from here.
Thunder and glory.
I'm gonna look conspicuous wearing
these clothes and you all wearing...
Here comes my outfit now.
Looks like my size.
Pardon me.
Do you mind a slight dent in the helmet?
Fifty-two. Just right.
Green's just your color too.
- lf I looked good in blue, I'd be in the Navy.
Hey, look what I found.
- Here, Terry.
- Why me?
You speak the language.
You do the shopping.
- Heading west, isn't it?
- Sounds like it.
- Come on. Hurry up.
- Pull, Johnny.
I never saw a man
so attached to a uniform.
Hey, this is Goring's private car.
It's on its way for an overhaul.
Good enough for Goring
is almost good enough for me.
Come on.
The major, the...
Guard at the Mannenheim Bridge is missing.
Also the men sent to relieve him.
Signs of blood were nearby found.
The Englishmen. My car. My overcoat.
Come on. Hurry.
To the Mannenheim Bridge.
Give it all the gas possible.
No further news, major.
The uniforms and the bicycle
we found underneath the bridge.
Yes. Somebody has been
asleep on his post. At ease.
You are conversant with English?
I'm sorry. Cannot understand the major.
That's right. You wait here.
- Come here.
- Yes, sir.
Speak English.
I don't want anyone to understand.
The men must be found
and mustn't be taken alive.
They'll be shot when they resist arrest.
Don't worry.
- What do you mean?
- You can trust me.
I'll make sure Herr Colonel won't discover
they learned about the factories from you.
Like to be transferred
to front-line service in Russia?
No. No.
- Keep your tongue to yourself.
- Yes.
The men took uniforms
of a sergeant and three privates.
Get more men, Kruse.
Circle this area thoroughly.
Ask him how many trains stopped
at the water tower...
...the past two hours.
- Yes.
How many trains have stopped
within the last hour at the water tower?
Only one. About 12:00 midnight.
Goes right through to Berlin then.
Only one. Westbound.
No stops until Berlin.
I heard him. Berlin. Stay here
and take charge of the search in case...
What?
- The men aren't on the train...
...when I meet it in Berlin.
- Yes.
Hurry. Let's go. To the airport.
I'd trade places with that guy,
whoever he is.
- What guy?
- Some bandit in a plane headed west.
Making ten miles to our one.
We're not doing so badly.
Goring's private car,
luxurious furnishings.
Funny pictures to look at.
Say, Terry and Edwards have been
gone a long time, haven't they?
About 15 minutes.
Hey, I'm getting pretty good.
Hit him right between the medals.
Writing a book about your trip
through Germany?
No. Facts and figures.
You just can't get over
having been a bookkeeper, can you?
No, I liked it.
These are copies of the plans
of the factories.
Five copies. So if only one of us
gets back, any one of us...
- Cheerful little cuss, aren't you?
- No, just practical.
Maybe they got in trouble.
I ought to go help them.
- lf they did, you'd better stay here.
- And let them have all the fun?
Look, the boy scouts are awake.
Thought you were from the finance
company. Pull up a swastika, sit.
Did you find out anything?
- Yeah.
This is the only deadhead car.
The rest's a hospital train.
We climbed on top,
peeped through ventilators.
- Cars are jammed with wounded.
This train's from the east.
- They're from the Russian front.
- That's right.
All of those stories we hear
about them hiding their wounded are true.
- Windows are blacked out, doors are locked.
- Terry heard doctors talking.
Said most cases go to hospitals
in occupied France.
Only the most serious cases
were put off at Berlin.
- Didn't they, Terry?
Mm-hm.
- Berlin?
Let's see.
We got on about 2:30
and the train's averaging 40.
We should be there
in about three hours.
Better jump off in the yards
when the train slows.
Well, suppose it doesn't slow down?
Heh. Oh, don't worry about me.
- I'll make it.
- He'll be all right.
If we get off soon,
we can detour around the city.
Detour, nothing. We're going right in.
No better place to hide than a big city.
Sure, then the kid can rest up
for a few days.
- Yeah.
- And we could get some food.
And get in a little
constructive destruction.
- Well, if the right chance shows up.
- We'll make the right chance.
- Now, if I can forage some explosives...
- Berlin's full of factories.
- Look at us. We're a five-man invasion.
- That's the way to talk.
We'll be the first invasion
to hit Germany since Napoleon.
Except he missed a few things
that we won't overlook.
- Look who thinks he's Napoleon.
- Oh. Don't be silly.
I didn't say I was Napoleon.
I said...
- He says he's Napoleon, he's Napoleon.
I didn't say I was Napoleon. l...
Come on, you just take a seat.
Just be seated here.
The rest will do you good.
We'll tell Josephine you're tired.
Quiet, the emperor sleeps.
Hey, Napoleon?
Where'd you put the brandy?
Say, has it occurred to you guys...
...what's gonna happen
if we're caught in these uniforms?
Yeah, you're not kidding. Good night.
Hey, drop that curtain.
- Hey, Terry. Rise and shine.
- Hm? What?
Does Goring go for smelly soap.
Eau de violet, so help me.
Hey, what happened to you?
- I'm clean, if that's what you mean.
- I'll say you are. Hey, fellows, look.
He's turned white over night.
You've been holding out on us.
- That thatch of yours is a dye job.
- Why, Grandpa.
I didn't intend for you to discover it,
but I had to touch it up.
Sure. Got a face lift, too, didn't you?
This is serious. They don't take men
in the service over 39.
If we get back, don't tell the CO.
- I told him I was 38.
Thirty-eight?
You're old enough to be my old man.
Terry kept my secret.
Why won't you fellows?
Sure. Lay off him, fellas.
We ought to have him retired
for his own good.
Heh, heh. He's had four years of fighting
in the last war.
Ought to have left this one
to the young men.
That's what he thought,
until he lost his son at Dunkirk.
What are we stopping
in the suburbs for?
I don't know.
Better got your things together, quick.
Listen. Shh. Listen.
With this grease, nobody can do anything.
This is nothing but soap water.
Conductor, you are right.
Well, for 25 years, I have been
with the railroad company now.
But they've never delivered anything
like this to us before.
I wouldn't give this to my dog.
Well, what are you doing in this car?
Will you see that you see
that you get out of there?
Looks like we're gonna get
the royal roust.
- Should we jump him before he jumps us?
- Keep quiet and leave him to me.
- Tell him you're Napoleon.
- What?
Cut out that Napoleon stuff.
I'll tell him we're on leave...
...in a hurry to see our girls.
- Ask him if he knows any girls.
Aha.
The general staff.
Attention.
Well, you've really made it
very cozy here for yourself.
Is there anything I can
do for the gentlemen?
- Excuse me, but we thought...
- You're not supposed to think.
Do you cattle happen to know
where you are?
In the salon car of the
General Field Marshal Von Goring.
And you cattle have the nerve
to act as though were at home.
Now, just look at this mess here.
Well, are you really sure that this is the
cigarette that tastes best to you?
- Yes, yes.
- Well, that really makes me very happy.
Pull your bones together,
you stuffed pig.
Out with you. All of you.
Or I'll chase you around with a gun...
...so that you won't know
whether you're fish or flesh.
Something like this, in my whole life.
Hail, Hitler!
Attention! Search the train.
- Hey, you. Did anybody get off the train?
- Yes, major.
In the salon car of Field Marshal Von
Goring. I found five soldiers.
- I sure kicked them out.
- So, you fool, I chase after these guys...
...for hours and you, ox, let them go.
I'm going to report that. Come on.
Search the station yards.
Not you, you nincompoop.
You've made enough trouble.
I cannot understand that
they leave a house like that empty...
...now when thousands of wounded arrive
every day from the east.
It could be fixed up for a hospital.
Look, where does that smoke come from?
Not at all bad.
Needs a little something, though.
Kirk, is that really gonna turn out
to be something we can eat?
I was famous for the way I cooked
my stew at Wipers in November, 1918.
- What happened to the men who ate it?
- Nobody ate.
They used it for explosives.
Germans signed the armistice the next day.
Think they could hold out
against my cooking?
How much longer before it'll be done?
It should be ready by the time
Terry gets here with the drinking water.
Well, you better start dishing it out.
Here he comes now.
Search that guy.
Let's see if he's got a revolver on him.
Back up.
Let's see what else you've got on you.
To the wall. Back up.
We're going to show you how to behave.
Obedience, respect. We are going to
show you what you have to do.
Ridiculous gang.
Hey, Krauts.
How about giving us a break...?
Back up to the wall.
Well, how was the stew?
It was good.
- I feel up to anything now.
- You do?
Gents, I have a little suggestion
to make.
What about a spot of sabotage
at the chemische Versuchsanstalt?
What's that, sir?
- Chemical plant. Makes incendiary bombs.
I remember that.
Second objective, night we dumped our load
on Stettiner freight yards.
I passed the place on my way
to get the beer.
- It's about a half a mile from here.
- So that's what held you up, huh?
Uh-huh. Oh, baby.
What a beautiful fire that's gonna make.
And oh, baby, do I love a beautiful fire.
Imagine the CO's face when we get back
and tell him we got it from the ground.
We get the Victoria Cross,
each of us with 37 palms.
- At least.
- With a spot of luck.
Suppose we don't have that spot of luck.
It's worth taking a risk to knock off
a chemische Versugar...
Whatever you call it.
Why? That's always been
a secondary objective.
Information on Messerschmitt
factories is important.
We'll get that back, but let's knock off
this chemical plant first.
Two jobs at once.
We haven't the right to risk getting back
on side issues. Weigh the values.
That's what comes of being
a bookkeeper.
Add everything, plus and minus,
stick in a decimal point...
...and let it take all the fun out of life.
- Fun?
I didn't get into this war for fun or
adventure or because it was expected of me.
I got in because it was a hard,
dirty job that has to be done...
...before I can go back
to doing what I liked.
Before a hundred million other people
can go back to doing what they liked.
It's no bright game to me.
It's just a job.
A job that has to be done as rapidly
and as efficiently as possible.
Look, Jed, if you think
I'm playing games...
...well, that's your opinion.
I'm leading you into something desperate.
I know that.
But I figure we've got about one chance
in 10,000 of ever getting out of here.
And if we are gonna get knocked off...
...I just want to leave a couple of bouquets
behind to be remembered by.
That's all.
Do you wanna put it to the vote?
Never mind.
What's your plan?
I made a sketch of the factory.
There's an iron door leading in the back,
right here.
- When does our relief come?
- Oh, in about ten minutes.
That's about time.
The time goes awfully slow tonight.
Detachment. Halt!
Order arms! Forward, march!
Here, try this.
Right.
Lloyd, you stay here and keep watch.
Now, if we don't make it,
set fire to these oil drums.
- Do you understand?
- Yes.
- Here, take this. You got a match?
- Yes, sir.
Okay. Come on, Johnny.
See, here is
the Chemical Experimental Plant.
Put your guards all around,
here, here, here and here.
At once, major. Come, Come,
don't stand around. Do something.
Come, come. Such a mess.
For two days, these men have
been running around free in Berlin.
Light, quick.
I copped a good one, didn't I?
Don't talk now, kid.
Here, put it under his head.
- We've got to get him to a doctor.
- No. No, mustn't.
- You'll all be arrested.
- Don't worry about that.
Don't risk a doctor.
- You'll all be caugh...
- Shh.
- I don't think she heard us.
- No.
Look, I'll scout the neighborhood,
try and find a doctor.
Is that all for today, miss?
Do you need anything else?
No, thanks.
- Pardon, miss.
- Where is the nearest doctor?
- Dr. Franz Schneider.
Where is that?
Maasson Street, twenty-nine.
Thank you.
Send him to my uncle.
- One moment, please.
This doctor is out of town.
Go to Dr. Ludwig Mather,
Crown Street 24.
- Yes?
- Excuse me, is Doc...?
- Oh.
- Come in, please.
- You are Englishmen?
- Yes, and desperate.
You're quite safe. In here.
I had the druggist direct you here
so that my uncle and I could help you.
How did you know?
He spoke as I passed by
your hiding place.
Water. Give me water.
Keep him quiet.
There's a patient
in my uncle's office now.
Doctor, here is an emergency case.
Oh. Excuse me, Mrs. Raeder.
- Englishmen, fugitives.
- Shh.
How long ago was he shot?
About half an hour.
Can you help him?
I can try.
I'll get rid of my patient.
So, Mrs. Raeder,
that looks already pretty good.
- Shall I come back, doctor?
- This way, please.
Take the bandage off tomorrow
and if it's not quite all right...
...come back again.
Good night, Mrs. Raeder,
and a speedy recovery.
Thank you, doctor. Good night.
Please, sir, just a glass of water.
Sure, kid. Right here.
Please, sir, some water.
- Good night, miss.
- Good night.
Here you are, kid.
Ooh. Better take it slowly.
How's that? Better?
- Can I help you, doctor?
- No, my niece can assist me.
You'd best wait in the other room.
Mr. Forbes.
- Yes, kid?
- I'm sorry I forgot to dodge those bullets.
- What are you talking about?
Soon as the doctor takes them out, you can
wear them on your watch chains for charms.
Would you...?
You'd better not talk any more now,
kid.
You're a lucky guy.
I envy you, lying there...
...with a pretty nurse
to take care of you and everything.
If this doesn't work out,
tell the others good luck.
But you'll be telling them yourself
in half an hour.
- You think so?
- Why, sure.
Tell Dad I only had 42 Jerries to go.
You can bring your friends
into the outer office if you wish.
You can trust me. You're not the first
I've helped to escape.
Hey, there.
The wound seems to be pretty deep.
Look.
Why don't you tell them, huh?
- Why don't you say what's in your mind?
- Terry, sit down.
We'd all be safe in England
if I'd obeyed the skipper's orders.
He'd still be alive if it weren't for me.
Hollis wouldn't be fighting for his life
if I hadn't led you on a crazy stunt.
Go on. Go ahead.
- Say it.
- You're in command, Terry.
You did what you thought best.
- We'd have all done the same thing.
- Sure, we would.
You wouldn't have,
because you were right and I was wrong.
All right, from now on,
you're in command.
When we want a change,
we'll ask for it.
We've stuck this far.
We'll stick all the way.
Can I see Dr. Mather?
I'm sorry, but the doctor is busy.
Secret State Police, miss.
In the other room, quick.
Police.
There's a room across the hall.
Where is the soldier
who spoke English?
Not in here. The doctor is operating.
Where is the man
who brought the soldier in here?
I don't have any idea.
Please, do not disturb me in my work.
Looking for who brought Hollis.
- Answer me, where is the man?
- I don't know.
Stop it! Stop it!
Here, I'll handle this.
Try to get out the back way.
Hey, wait a minute. Let's toss for this.
Leave me alone.
This is a matter of life and death.
If you don't tell me right away
where he is, I will break your neck.
Hands up.
- What's he say?
- Hold up your hands.
Hands up.
Ask him, please,
to let the doctor finish his work.
I'm the one they're looking for.
That is the man you're looking for.
Tell him to bring his comrade
to my car.
He orders you to carry
your comrade out to his car.
But I can't do that. The boy will die.
I'll go with him.
But you can't touch the boy now.
- Oh, be quiet! Nobody asked you!
I told you fellows to be on your way.
We know when to disobey orders too.
Gentlemen, your comrade is dead.
I can't thank you enough, both of you.
I am sorry I couldn't save the boy.
I know you did all you could.
Don't worry about the Gestapo men.
We'll dispose of them
so that you won't be suspected.
- Goodbye, sir.
- Goodbye and good fortune.
Thank you.
I'll be leaving soon for my home
in Mnster.
If you come that way, my father and I
will help you as we've helped others.
- We'll make it a point to come that way.
- The address, 37 Bismarckstrasse.
- My father's name is Herr Brahms.
- Brahms.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
There's some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England.
We make Stendal by dawn.
Let's get moving.
Keep riding.
Halt.
Where to?
Army supplies to Warnsdorf.
Okay. Can pass.
Hey. Where you coming from?
- Good evening, captain. On the way to...
- Help my driver to get my car going.
- Yes, captain. Give a hand.
Come on. Come on. Come on. Come.
Here. You are strong enough for this job.
Oh.
The back wheel here,
that's the hardest job...
...you understand?
We must get that out first.
Captain, would you please
come out here?
- What do you want from me?
- To look over the damage, captain.
- Something is wrong with the car there.
- Where?
All right. You fellows give her
a shove forward and I'll put her in gear.
That a captain of the German air force...
...is fooled that much by fugitive English
prisoners, that is too much.
But major, I told you.
They all wore German uniforms.
Yes, yes. One moment, please.
Telephone, captain.
Eggerstedt, air force.
Yes? What? Muenster?
- Imagine. They found my car in Muenster.
- In Muenster?
Call Staaken right away.
Have a plane ready.
Give me Staaken, quick.
- Good evening, gentlemen.
- Good evening.
Excuse me.
Is Miss Kaethe Brahms at home?
I'm very sorry, but my daughter
is out of town.
Tell her what she said about helping
like she helped others.
Oh, I think I understand.
Come in. Come in.
- Hermann?
Yeah?
These are the gentlemen sent
by Kaethe.
Oh, that's fine. I'm Kaethe's father.
Very happy to know you. Forbes.
Glad to know you, sir.
- Forrest.
- You are welcome.
- Hammond.
- Glad to have you.
- Edwards.
- Oh, sure.
- Do I smell food?
- Oh, heh, heh.
That's the first time I ever ate
a turkey stuffed with a rabbit.
And I thought Goring was the only man
in Germany who had enough to eat.
What do you do,
print your own food coupons?
Ration cards don't bother me.
I've been careful...
...to maintain friendship
with the highest-placed Nazi in Munster.
That must be a dangerous
sort of friendship.
Perhaps. But necessary
to continue to work...
...under the very noses
of Germany's oppressors.
And I shall continue, for I know
that Germany's only hope lies...
...in the defeat of the Nazi armies.
Not so loud.
You'll manage to get us
in the concentration camp.
My wife is always afraid of the police.
She thinks even the walls have ears.
Sure.
- No, thank you.
Well, sometimes the waiting
is very hard.
I listen on my secret radio.
I hear of the men and planes
America is sending.
Sixty thousand planes a year, I heard.
And it's only the beginning.
Only the beginning.
Oh, wonderful. Wonderful.
But when they make planes so quickly,
I hope they are good.
We've only had squawks
from the Messerschmitt.
Oh, fine.
But just to have planes
and to drop bombs.
We think it's necessary to invade.
To smash these men
right on their own soil.
- Oh, well, we're gonna get around to that.
- Yes, sure, but when?
Well, so far, Winston and Franklin
haven't taken us into their confidence.
And the funny thing is they seem
to be doing all right without our help.
I don't like to eat and run,
but we should be moving.
Most of my guests have been glad
of the chance to sleep in good beds.
So would we.
But we got hold of some information...
...we're anxious to get back to England
before it cools off.
Oh, I see. I see. Something urgent?
Well, we think it is.
I'll phone to one of my friends
who will give you his automobile.
Will you excuse me, please? Thank you.
You're a gay brother.
You look like an old uncle of mine
in Potsdam.
- He could eat two schnitzels at once.
- Yes? You?
She's cute, huh? What'd she say?
She said you remind her
of an uncle she's got in Potsdam.
He was nuts.
Ha, ha, ha.
Oh, yeah?
You'd better eat your strudel.
He'll bust.
lt'll be easier for three to get
out of the country than four, so here goes.
Oh, ho.
- Kaethe. How nice to see you.
Hello, Kaethe.
- So you did get here safely?
- Yes. How's the doctor?
- Is he all right?
- Fine.
- Your plan worked perfectly.
- Good.
Should have come with us.
- Where's my father?
Outside making
telephone arrangements for us.
- He's great.
- He's always glad to do anything.
So here I have nice, hot coffee for you.
Who is this woman? This man?
You mean, you...
They're not your parents?
I've never seen them before in my life.
Who are you? What's your name?
- My name is...
Where's my father and my mother?
What has become of them?
The same that will...
Speak English. Where are they?
Where you all very soon will be.
In a concentration camp.
I was phoning my superior
at the local police office.
You'll never see England again.
See who that is, quick.
It's the police.
- Police?
They're all around.
- Any side doors or windows?
None that they can't cover.
- The roof. We can escape over the roof.
- That's it. Come on.
Quick, untie her. Hurry up.
- Where are the Englishmen?
- Ran up to the roof.
Forwards!
- To the roof.
Quick. After them.
- Can you make it?
- I'll try.
All right.
All right. Come on, Kirk.
Kirk. Come on, jump.
Come on, jump.
Kirk.
Come on, jump.
Halt!
Secret State Police, group Muenster!
- Major Baumeister.
- At your command, major.
Where are the Englishmen?
- In number 37. Our men are there.
- Good. You stay here.
At your command.
- Hey. That looks like...
- Yeah. The iron fist.
Don't let them get away. After them.
We must get these guys.
- Kaethe. Where are you going?
- I must leave you here.
Back up the car. First turn to the left.
- What'll happen to you?
- People I know will hide me.
No, you come with us.
- With any luck, we'll reach England.
- No, I must stay here.
And warn those who worked with my father
what happened to him.
- Help carry on the work.
- But you've done your share and more.
No one's share will be done
till the war is over.
There will be other men,
from prison camps...
...the concentration camps,
the conquered countries.
It's our job, the job of the underground
to return them to the fight.
We must all do our work before
we can go back to doing what we like.
- Strange, that's what Jed said.
- Go now. That way.
Take the first road to the left.
It leads to the highway to the Dutch border.
Get to Berghofen. Find Herr Van Paalt.
He will help you.
And when you are across the Channel,
tell the people in England...
...that there are people like us
left in Germany...
...still living, still hoping, still fighting.
It would be nice to know that they know.
We'll tell them.
Till we meet again.
Goodbye.
Till we meet again.
Goodbye, Kaethe. Thanks.
Car in sight. Barriers down.
- Password.
- Staff our for General von Schlegel.
Are in a hurry.
Can pass. Barriers up.
- We got away with that.
- What did you tell him?
Told him we're a staff car for
General von Schlegel, whoever he is.
Barriers down.
Did a staff car with soldiers pass here?
Yes, major.
About four or five minutes ago.
The occupants were Englishmen.
Have you got motorcycle riders here?
Yes, major. Motorcycle riders.
Quick. Follow that car.
- Hey, Johnny?
Yeah.
Do you see what I see?
First time in my life I wished
I was being tailed by speed cops.
Getting close. Can you get more speed
out of this crate?
She's doing all she can now.
Hang on, fellows.
We're going cross-country.
Looks like we lost them.
They're heading us off.
So now.
- What are you doing?
- An old Yankee bootlegger trick.
Let the fellows lie there.
Come on, let's go.
Clear the road.
Drive quicker. It will be your fault
if these guys escape us.
There is a telephone.
- Jump off and phone ahead.
- At your command.
Slower.
Telephone connection.
Connect the telephone. Official business.
Yes, sir. Right away.
Hurry up.
Your connection.
Give me post number 14, urgent.
Yes. At your command.
I understand.
It will be done immediately.
Attention. Out. Build up barricades.
Block the street. Let nobody pass.
Attention. Here.
What are you doing there?
Get in the truck.
Block the road.
The rest follow me to the wagon, here.
Lend a hand! Quickly!
Clear the wheels! Fill the gap!
Put the wagon here in this gap!
Take the boxes down.
- Have we lost them?
I think so.
No, look.
Slow down.
Keep at a distance.
- They just seem to be tailing us.
- Don't like the look of it.
Give it full gas.
Hang it all.
You oaf. Couldn't you get through?
Let me out of here.
Hey, if this is what I think it is...
It is.
Well, this is the first time I ever ran out
of gas with a couple of guys.
- Did you see that? Gas.
- He's turned off.
Well, what are we waiting for?
What's that?
Hey, that's one of our aircraft.
To the right. To the right.
Stop over there
and give a hand here. Help them, will you?
This is the biggest bomb I've ever seen.
It's like the giant Goliath.
lt'll blow out the
Battersea Waterworks into a thousand bits.
There is no doubt about it.
Watch out.
Be careful. Watch out. Be careful.
Stop! That's fine.
Come on. Let's get out of here.
Hey.
Did I hear him say Battersea Waterworks?
You did. We've gotta stop them
before they got started.
Sure. We'll walk out and say,
"We need your gasoline for a car we stole."
When that plane leaves...
...it'll be followed by a mass flight
of bombers loaded with incendiaries.
They've been trying to knock off
the Battersea Waterworks for two years.
We're steamed up because one plane
with one egg will lead the parade.
An English plane, able to come over so low,
it can't miss.
Suppose Japs had an American bomber...
...and dropped a 2-ton bomb
on the Boulder Dam power plant?
That'd cut off juice from half the
West Coast. But the waterworks...
Supplies half the water
for the fires of London.
- Why, the...
- Shh.
- lf I only had a pistol.
- Huh. How about a tank?
A pistol would do.
I could put a slug in that bomb...
...before those Krauts
knew what was going on.
We'll get a chance to do something
if they break for lunch.
- Why wait? There's only twelve of them.
- Listen.
Wait here.
Schneider. Here is the flight order.
- Have the motors been checked?
- Yes, captain.
Back up the car.
- How is the weather forecast?
- Pretty good.
Put the dogs on the trail.
There were three soldiers here.
Detachment, follow me.
Attention. About face. Forward.
- The field must be smoothed out yet?
- Yes, sir.
- We can start with that in half an hour.
- Yes.
Let the motors warm up.
- Any luck?
- Yeah. Quite a bit. Come over here.
Crew arrived, checked the ship over.
They're getting ready to leave at sunset.
- Where's the luck in that?
- Pilot wants the field smoothed off.
Unteroffizier said he'd get the mechanics,
have it cleared in half an hour.
- Leaving the plane unguarded?
- Unguarded enough.
- Supper in England.
- Supper in London.
The finest, most expensive meal
in the history of the world.
- Champagne. Buckets of it.
- Yeah. White bread with butter on it.
Lots of butter.
I know a little girl in London.
She's got a sister.
I know a little steak in London
with French-fried onions.
I'll swap you the sister for the onions.
You've got a deal, partner.
Hey, look. Is that the gasoline truck?
Yeah.
Uh-oh.
That's it, boys. Can't wait for them
to fix that field. Come on.
The work here cannot last very long.
No, captain.
In one hour everything will be done.
Well, here goes. Good luck.
Fill up these two holes here first.
No, there. A little further there. Yes.
The weather is pretty favorable today.
Yes, I have not yet flown
an American plane...
...but that won't make any difficulty
for us.
- Hey. What do you want there?
Hey, stop!
- Halt.
Halt.
What's that?
There they are. Shoot them down.
Spread out.
- Take over the guns, Johnny.
Okay.
Messy, but lucky.
Bad enough to put him in a hospital...
...and light enough
to make him dangerous for the nurses.
- Hey, how's for swinging south, Terry?
- Huh? South?
Give them back their demo bomb
in the harbor at Vlissingen.
Terry, no detours now.
He's right, Johnny. No detours.
You can dump that bomb
when we get over the Channel.
Okay.
See if you can get England
on the wireless, will you?
Lockheed Hudson GK calling 83 Control.
- Mr. O'Connor, sir.
- Yes?
Aircraft calling on our waveband.
- Not one of ours?
- No.
Have him identify himself.
Control calling Hudson GK.
Lockheed Hudson GK calling 83 Control.
- Are you receiving me?
- You are coming in very weak.
Please, identify yourself.
Please, identify yourself. Over.
Flight Lieutenant Forbes, Flying Officer
Forrest, Flying Officer John Hammond.
Returning in recaptured Lockheed Hudson
with markings GK. Over. Over.
- Hold him. Group Captain Coswick, sir?
Yes? What is it?
We're getting a report from someone
who claims to be Terry Forbes.
- Forbes?
- Hammond's with him...
...in a recaptured Hudson.
- I'd given him up.
Where are they?
Giving his position now.
Put it on the amplifier.
Can now see Channel ahead of us.
- That's Forbes.
Give me the microphone.
Estimate we'll be over
North Bank Lightship at 1625 hours...
...height 5,000 feet.
Better have an ambulance standing by, sir.
Forrest caught a nicko.
And will you have two steaks ready,
please, medium rare?
Oh, yes. Flying Officer Hammond
would like the waitress well done.
Operator, switch me over.
Forbes, this is the CO speaking.
Yes, sir?
Hey, Johnny? Just a moment, sir.
Johnny?
- Did you let that bomb go?
- Yeah, I must be out of practice.
- I missed the Channel.
- What?
I dropped it right on
that battery of big guns...
...that's been placed at Dover. Sorry.
Excuse the interruption, sir.
That's right, sir. Flight Lieutenant Forbes,
Flying Officer Forrest...
...Flying Officer Hammond of Fortress
D for Danny, mission completed.
Terry. Jed.
- England.
Yeah.
Now for Australia
and a crack at those Japs.