01x03 - Part Three

[bunniefuu]

Ah-ten-hut!

[HARDING] At ease, gentlemen.

Exactly one year ago to the day,

the Eighth Air Force sent

up its first maximum effort.

It was a combined force of 12 B-17s.

[SOLDIERS CHUCKLE]

Today, the Eighth will

be sending up a max effort

with three air task forces.

- [SOLDIERS WHISPER] Yeah.

- Totaling 376 heavy bombers

and 240 fighters.

- Not bad, huh?

- Yeah.

That's the largest air armada ever

assembled in the history of mankind.

- [CHEERING, WHISTLING]

- Yeah!

Yes!

Now, we will be in the first task force

targeting the Messerschmitt 109

engine assembly plant in Regensburg.

Second and third task forces will

hit the ball bearing factories

in Schweinfurt.

And no w*r machine moves

without ball bearings.

If we succeed,

we knock German production

off line for months.

There's no telling how

many lives we could save.

Corporal.

- Dear God.

- Oh, boy.

This is Regensburg.

[SOLDIERS CLAMORING, WHISPERING]

[HARDING] And you're probably thinking

that's a lot of flying

time over Kraut territory.

It is.

It's the deepest we've

attempted to reach.

But the mighty Eighth has a plan.

Major Bowman?

Go get 'em, Red.

It's a three-punch combo

and the Krauts will only be

able to defend one of them.

So, execution and

timing will be essential.

[CURT] Uh, Major?

Why does that red line go

all the way down to Africa?

That is a characteristically

astute question, Curt.

And I'll answer that

in a moment, if I may.

[SOLDIERS LAUGH]

All right, all right.

Laugh now. All right.

Now, the three task forces will

assemble over the channel together.

And then split here.

Now, the Luftwaffe will only be

able to mount a sizable defense

against our first task force

before having to head back

to base to rearm and refuel.

And when they finally

get back in the air,

the second and third task forces

should be dropping their bombs

on the ball bearing

factory in Schweinfurt,

while we're dropping

our bombs on Regensburg.

Now, to answer your question, Curt.

- As we drew the How can I put this

- [CHUCKLES]

the shitty end of the

stick on the approach,

and we're taking the brunt

of the enemy fighters,

the brass, they've-they've

come up with an ingenious plan

that is sure to confuse

the hell out of the Krauts

when we're a no-show for the return.

That's because you're

headed to Africa, gentlemen.

[SOLDIERS WHISTLING, CLAMORING]

The 12th Air Force will welcome

you with open arms, ice-cold beer

- and lobster tails.

- [SOLDIERS CHEERING]

It'll be It'll be like

a holiday. Y'all like beer.

If we get lucky.

[HARDING] Thank you, Red.

And now for some bad news.

In our wing, we're tail-end Charlie.

[SOLDIERS MURMURING, CLAMORING]

Worst spot in the squad.

[HARDING] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Lives ain't worth a nickel.

The lead squadron is the 418th

with Major Kidd as

command pilot of the group.

In addition, Major Egan will be

flying in Captain Cruikshank's fort,

as, um, reserve command

pilot of the group.

Major Veal leads the 349th and

the 351st in the high position

What, I got a f*cking passenger?

Apparently so.

There you are.

[HARDING] Now, uh, it seems like

we have a little tricky weather pressure

in the early hours. Stormy?

Let me guess, it's gonna rain.

Hundred-percent chance.

That's, uh, quite right, sir.

Over the base today, gentlemen,

cloud cover stands at about

five-tenths stratus at 4,000 feet.

Topped by five-tenths

What the hell is a

"reserve command pilot"?

I I don't know.

- You had nothing to do with it?

- [STORMY] Visibility will be

What?

Cloud invisibility should

be good over the Alps

and on your way south to Africa.

Thank you, Stormy.

Now, the success of this mission

rests upon getting all three task forces

precisely coordinated over the channel.

If we don't rendezvous in sync,

well, there's no pass fake.

That means a fake pass in sports talk.

05:20 in ten seconds.

Good luck

and I'll see you all in a few days.

Hack.

[TOWER OPERATOR] This is

Clear-up Radio to aircraft 567.

All aircraft are advised

that takeoff has been delayed

due to heavy fog.

The entire wing is on temporary hold.

Stand by for further instructions.

[CREW MEMBER] Clear-up

Tower, this is aircraft 567.

Roger temporary hold. Standing by. Over.

[TESKA] "Lord, guard

and guide the men who fly

through the great spaces of the sky.

Be with them traversing the air in

darkening storms or sunshine fair.

Thou who dost keep with tender might,

the balanced birds in all their flight.

Thou of the tempered winds, be near,

that having thee they know no fear."

[SERGEANT] All three

task forces are socked in.

We got a 30-minute delay.

[TESKA] " Fly through

lonely ways beneath the sky."

You're on the way through purgatory

and you reach a fork in the road.

One road goes to Valhalla,

the other goes to hell. Damnation.

On each of the road is a goblin.

One goblin always tells the truth.

The other is a tricky little

fucker. He always lies. Okay?

What's the one question

that you need to ask

that's gonna tell you

the right way to go?

Jesus Christ. [CHUCKLES]

[HORN HONKS]

- Hey, Lieutenant. You got a visitor.

- That is a class woman.

[SERGEANT] Stand by for 30 more minutes.

Do you ever have any good news, Garcia?

[GARCIA] You got complaints?

Take it up with operations.

- Hey! Strongly worded letter to follow!

- [VEHICLE DEPARTS]

Delayed another half hour, fellas.

Why can't we just take off?

Because we can't. It's fog.

Haven't the pilots

been trained for that?

Yeah. [STAMMERS] Isn't

that what they get paid for?

Sure.

They can fly upside down with

a lollipop in their mouth.

But if there's a cow on the runway

A cow on the runway?

Where do you come up

with this sh*t, Quinn?

We're in a flying fortress.

We can take on a cow.

[QUINN] Alice isn't a Buick, Baby Face.

She's a tin can.

If we go head-to-head with a cow,

she'd accordion. With us in it.

[CHUCK] Oh, I see your cow.

Peanut butter, peanut

butter, peanut butter, jam.

[SIGHS]

I'd turn your cow into ground beef.

Bucky.

Bucky.

- Bucky.

- Yeah, Crank?

[CRANK] How'd you convince

Harding to let you fly?

What do you mean?

You, Buck, Veal, Kidd?

Three squadron COs and an Air Exec.

Lot of eggs in one basket.

Yeah, I've never seen so much

brass in the same mission before.

Well, I wasn't gonna miss

this one, was I? [CHUCKLES]

[CROSBY] Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Do you ask it, "Are

you the good goblin?"

Uh, no.

No, but you're getting closer.

You're smarter than I thought, Croz.

Ten bucks says the second

and third task force

- is already up in the air.

- [CROSBY] Ah, nah.

Nah, they wouldn't hit their target

before we formed up with them.

Ah, what if they do?

Then this genius plan is sh*t.

[SNIFFS]

Come here, Meatball. Come on.

- [MEATBALL WHINES]

- Good boy.

[CURT] Hey, Buck.

Hey, Curt. [SIGHS]

[CURT] Some soup, huh?

Yeah.

We have fog like this back home.

Always spooked me as a kid.

[BUCK] No one likes the fog.

How your boys doing?

Antsy.

Not me.

I'm feeling good.

I feel like this could

be a big one, you know?

- It is.

- I think we could do some real damage.

Well,

better get back to the ant farm.

See you in Algeria.

See you there, Buck.

Here you go, sir.

LeMay wants us wheels up.

He doesn't wanna wait

for the other task forces.

What do you mean?

They'll have to catch up, sir.

[SNIFFS]

Engine start at 06:40. Send up

a flare to resume operations.

Yes, sir.

We're sending them straight into hell.

Alone.

Command pilot to crew.

Anyone see the other task forces?

- [SOLDIER 1] Radio, negative.

- [SOLDIER 2] Waist negative.

[SOLDIER 3] Tail, negative.

[SOLDIER 4] Negative, sir.

Negative.

Not what they f*cking said!

They said we'd get

the brunt of it, buddy.

Yeah, I know. I know.

But the other task forces were

supposed to be sweeping up after us

to make sure they don't

come back for seconds.

Where are they, huh?

Via, you sure you don't see anyone?

Not a one of 'em. Still alone.

Crank? You think we can

get, uh, closer to Blakely?

Can do.

Back seat driver.

Ha! That's right, Crank.

Backseat pilot in reserve.

Come on, Buck. Keep pace with us.

[BUCK] Looks like we got stood

up by the other divisions.

We're on our own.

[DICKIE] They ain't trying

too hard with this flak.

[CURT] Keeping it

clear for the fighters.

sh*t! Fighters at 10:00

low! Ten o'clock low!

[SHOUTING, GROANS]

They're going for Buck.

Fighters, 2:00!

[BALL TURRET] Nine

o'clock low. More Germans.

[WAIST GUNNER] I'm on the nine!

[DOUGLASS] More fighters.

Two o'clock level.

Got you, son of a bitch!

More at 11:00 low!

They're going for Claytor!

[GRUNTS] Left wing is hit.

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

Oh, she's pulling left.

Left flap locked up. Compensating.

- [GUNNER] Rockets 2:00!

- [BUCK] Holy sh*t!

[SCREAMS]

[BREATHES HEAVILY]

[CURT] sh*t! They've hit Cleven.

Norman? Strout?

[COPILOT] We're losing air

speed. We need to increase power.

[BUCK] Do it. Norman! Strout!

[STROUT] We're both here.

[BUCK] What's your damage?

[STROUT] Electrical and oxygen hoses.

- [BUCK] How's the bombsight?

- [STROUT] Checking.

[NORMAN] Bombsight is okay!

Two 190's, 2:00.

[GROANS]

Charge handle's blown off!

[BREATHES HEAVILY]

[BREATHES HEAVILY, GROANS]

Two o'clock low!

Jesus. They're coming from everywhere!

[CROSBY] I got one!

Full squad, 10:00 low!

[BUCKY] sh*t! Buck's hit.

Ah, hell with it. I'm

going down to the nose.

Roger.

[GUNNER 2] Seven o'clock low!

Another from two!

[BUCKY] All right, Murph.

I'm taking that g*n.

Sir.

Ten o'clock low! Tail

to nose, coming your way.

- [GUNNER 2] Two o'clock high!

- [BUCKY] They're gonna split, Murph!

[CREW MEMBER] They're going for Buck.

[GUNNER 3] Fighters, 2:00 high!

Copy. Got 'em. Hit 'em, boys.

[GUNNER 3] They're going

after the second element.

Tail to Cleven. Hummel's fort is gone.

You see any chutes?

All ten chutes, but

Claytor's in trouble.

He's pulling badly. He's

falling out of formation.

[GROANS]

- [COPILOT] We're losing fuel.

- [CLAYTOR] Well, I can see that.

Left wing's on fire.

[COPILOT] Should we bail, Roy?

Roy! Roy! Should we bail?

Should we bail?

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

- [ALARM RINGING]

- Pilot to crew, abandon ship.

Bail out! Abandon ship! Bail out!

- Did you say abandon ship?

- [CLAYTOR] Yes, g*dd*mn it!

Destroy the order and then bail!

Pilot to bombardier.

Open the b*mb bay doors!

Roger.

[ALARM CONTINUES RINGING]

[SHOUTING]

Lorch, drop all the bombs.

[STRAINING]

[SIGHS]

- [GRUNTS]

- [GRUNTS, PANTS]

[GRUNTS, SCREAMS]

[BABY FACE] Ball turret

to crew. I'm stuck.

- I can't get out of the turret.

- What do you mean you can't get out?

The elevation clutch is jammed.

It won't crank.

[GRUNTS]

[BREATHES SHAKILY]

- [QUINN GROANS]

- [BABY FACE] Quinn! Help me out.

[SHOUTS]

- Quinn, come on. Help me, man.

- [QUINN] Push!

[BABY FACE] Pull on the count of three.

- Trying! [GROANS]

- One, two, three.

- Come on!

- [STRAINING]

- Push, Baby Face! Help me!

- [BABY FACE STRAINING]

[STRAINING, GRUNTING]

- Come on, Quinn! Please!

- [GRUNTS]

Come on, get me out of here. Please!

I'm sorry.

What do you mean? No!

- No!

- [GRUNTS]

- [QUINN STRAINING]

- [CRYING] No!

Come back, Quinn! Quinn, please!

- [GRUNTS] I can't.

- Get me out of this thing!

Help!

I can't.

[SCREAMING, CRYING] Get

me out! Please! Quinn!

- I'm sorry, Baby Face. [GRUNTS] I'm sorry.

- [BABY FACE CRYING] No! No! No!

Tail to lead pilot. Our

whole second element is gone.

Jesus. Roger, tail.

We need to join the 418th.

Redmeat Lead to Redmeat Squadron,

we're joining up with Pacer.

Roger that, Redmeat

Lead. Let's power up.

We're gonna climb and get

some protection with the 418th.

Tail to command pilot,

the whole last element

of the 350th is gone.

The rest are trying to join us.

Roger.

[CHATTERING]

[GARCIA] Come on.

Sir.

Every Luftwaffe base in

Belgium's been scrambled.

And we're still more than

three hours away from the IP.

Rockets incoming. Seven o'clock!

[SCREAMS]

Christ!

Smith, report!

Smith! Smith, report!

[TOP TURRET] Smith is

down. He-He's not breathing.

Waist to Cleven. Smith is dead, sir.

Fighters, 11:00 high!

[SCREAMS, GROANS] Son of a bitch!

[GROANS] Son of a bitch!

- You okay?

- [TOP TURRET] Yeah.

- Then get back up there and man your g*n.

- [BREATHES HEAVILY]

Main electrical panel's been hit.

- How bad is it?

- [BUCK] Generator's down. I can't tell.

Waist to Pilot. Biddick's been hit.

Pressure's dropping everywhere.

All systems. Curt, we're losing her.

No, we're not.

[GROANS]

No!

Dickie! Dickie! Dickie! No!

Best! Get down here now!

He's on the controls. Get him off.

- Get him back.

- [BEST GROANS]

[GROANS] How is he?

[BEST] I think he's dead.

No, Dickie. Dickie, wake up!

f*ck!

She's not gonna make

it. We gotta get out.

- Pilot to crew. Bail out! Bail out!

- [ALARM RINGING]

[BEST] Here's your chute, Curt.

[DICKIE GROANING]

He's breathing, sir!

[CURT] Dickie, stay with me.

I'm gonna get you down

safely. You hear me?

[BEST] You can't land

this thing, can you?

Yes, I can. If we drop him, he'll die.

Drop him. It's his best chance!

- He's gonna die anyway, Lieutenant.

- No, he's not!

We have to bail! Come on!

Go. I'll be right behind you. Go!

Promise me!

I'll be behind you.

I'ma keep her level till

everyone bails out. Go!

[BEST] You gotta get out, Curt!

[CURT] I'm right behind you. Get out!

[DICKIE GROANS]

I'm getting us down,

d*ck. I have control.

Right over there. You see

it? That long field, huh?

Dickie, stay with me. Come on.

Come on, Curt. Fly like an angel, huh?

[GRUNTING]

Oh, God.

[BOWMAN] Sir, the second

and third task forces

have just crossed the channel.

Five hours late.

God help our boys.

One o'clock high!

- [BUCK] You hit?

- [COPILOT] No. You?

No.

Got a fluid leak on the port wing.

I think the column may

be jamming on something.

Left rudder pedal feels loose

and I've only got right rudder.

- [BUCK] Compensate!

- I can't. Help me.

[BUCK GROANS]

I think we may be done.

It's not responding.

We can manage it. We'll use

throttles and rudder trim.

It's too much. We need to bail

out. Engine three is on fire too.

- Pilot to crew, get ready to b [GRUNTS]

- [BUCK] You son of a bitch!

We are going to sit here and take it.

You hear me? We're gonna take it.

Lead pilot to crew. We're

gonna stick with our mission

as long as we can fly.

Somebody check if that last

hit ruptured a fuel t*nk.

Navigator to pilot, I

see it. We got a leak.

[BUCK] Roger.

Looks like the Krauts are

heading back to refuel.

Keep your eyes peeled.

[PANTING]

They're refueling.

[BLAKELY] How we looking, Croz?

Navigator to command. Hitting IP.

[JACK] Command, roger.

- [FLARE EXPLODES]

- Flares up!

IPs.

[GRUNTS]

Thirty seconds to b*mb release.

Prepare to hand over aircraft.

Trimming.

And holding 155.

Autopilot is set and servos on.

Pilot to bombardier, your aircraft.

[DOUGLASS] Roger, my aircraft.

Fighters, 10:00 high! Coming in!

[GRUNTING]

[GRUNTING]

[BUCKY] I got that son of a bitch.

b*mb bay doors opening.

Prepare to drop. We're

gonna get it done, boys.

[DOUGLASS] Bombs away!

Take that.

[COPILOT] Bombs away!

Jesus. Will you look at that?

Lead pilot to ball turret. How'd we do?

Sir, that factory is gone.

Mission accomplished, boys.

[STROUT] Can we go home now?

Not yet, Strout. We gotta make

a little pit stop in Africa.

Uh, it's it's okay. I

[IN FRENCH] German?

Américain?

Wait here.

[IN FRENCH] He's American.

[PARENT] You're sure?

[VILLAGER] Yes.

[BUCKY] Command pilot to

tail, how many left behind us?

[TAIL] Tail to command pilot, nine.

They're scattered everywhere,

I got 'em left and right.

Is Cleven's fort still with us?

[TAIL] They're b*at to sh*t

and trailing way behind,

but they're still with us.

Roger.

Menzie, we're pulling left.

How are the elevators looking?

[MENZIE] The left one is sh*t to hell.

[STRAINING]

It's not working.

[MENZIE] Tail to pilot.

We lost another fort.

I think it was Oakes.

[BUCK] Roger.

Major, I don't know how

much longer we can hold this.

We're okay.

- I think if we're gonna ditch, we should

- We can make it.

Elevator line is sh*t to

sh*t, sir. What's our pl

I'm not planning to sit this

thing out in a stalag, are you?

Menzie, Hollenbeck

and DeMarco following?

Tail to pilot. DeMarco's

sticking with us.

Hollenbeck is abandoning

ship. Eight chutes

Nine. All ten.

That's good, Menzie.

Norman. Strout. How you doing?

[STROUT] We're okay, sir!

Just taking in the view

and the fresh, thin air.

You did good. I'm

glad I had you with me.

And that goes for the rest of

you rabble on this fort too.

Great job, fellas.

Hey, Doug?

Yeah?

Do you know when we lost Biddick?

I, uh I didn't have

time to mark it in the log.

Jesus, Croz, I I don't think a

g*dd*mn navigator in the entire wing

- had time to work the logs.

- Yeah, I just want to get it right, okay?

I know, Croz.

I guess they went down, uh, 1100.

Yeah. Got it. 1100.

We're under 600, sir.

Pilot to navigator. We got

just under 600 gallons left.

Can it get us to Africa?

No, Major. It looks like we might

need more like 750, at present speed.

We've been leaking fuel since the IP.

Roger.

Lead pilot to crew. We need to

stretch our range as much as possible.

Dump everything not bolted down.

Bombsight, g*ns, a*mo, everything.

Bombardier to pilot.

You say my bombsight?

We're over water, Norm.

Krauts won't get it.

Let it go.

Release the turret.

Pilot to top turret,

how we looking up there?

[TOP TURRET] Pretty

ragged, but okay, sir.

[BUCKY] Garrison, how are the

stragglers looking back there?

DeMarco's clean. Cleven's dumping now.

It looks like Van Noy's

gonna ditch in the water.

[STROUT] Navigator to pilot,

Van Noy ditched smoothly in water.

Approximately 350 miles from land.

[BUCK] Roger.

Is it good?

Yeah.

[SPEAKING FRENCH]

Louise [SPEAKING FRENCH]

Turn around. Turn around.

You will not know my name, and

you will forget my face. Yes?

Yes.

Do you want to escape back to England?

- Yes.

- I can help you. But know this,

if you turn yourself

in to the Germans now,

you will become a prisoner

under the Geneva conventions

and likely you will survive the w*r.

But if you choose to attempt to escape,

you will be treated

as a spy if captured,

and likely you will be ex*cuted.

Do you understand?

Yes.

And which do you choose?

Surrender? Or escape?

Crank? That it? That Africa?

Yes, it is. Pilot to

crew. Africa dead ahead!

Command, navigator.

Croz, are we where we're supposed to be?

'Cause if we're not, we're

gonna land in that sand.

Yeah.

We should be seeing the

base at 184 any minute.

Croz, we're running on fumes.

Are you sure about this?

I'm telling the truth, gentlemen.

As sure as I can read and count.

[SIGHS] Come on.

Fork in the road here, Croz.

We could do with the

answer to that riddle.

The answer to the riddle's

184. Keep your eyes peeled.

I think I see it.

Twelve o'clock. And change.

[CHUCKLING]

Close enough, Croz. Close enough.

- Oh, man.

- [BLAKELY] All right. Nice work.

[JACK] Command pilot to Zootsuit

Two, airfield's in sight.

[CHUCKLES]

- Pilot to crew, prepare for landing.

- To Valhalla, boys.

[CHUCKLES] Valhalla

here we come, fellas.

[CHATTERING, LAUGHING]

Landing gear down.

Landing gear coming

down. Right gear down.

Left gear down. Quarter flaps.

Well done, boys.

[GRUNTS]

Hey, Blakely, what was

the answer to that riddle?

I was hoping you'd tell me.

Well, pretty sure this ain't Valhalla.

[BUCKY] Well, we made it, boys.

- Where's the welcoming committee?

- [GRAHAM SCOFFS]

[BLAKELY] God. Welcome to Africa, boys.

[COPILOT] There's the

airstrip. Due south.

We're dropping fuel

pressure on four. Feathering.

I'm gonna sharpen the

turn to the runway.

- [COPILOT] Now we're losing engine two.

- Feather it.

[COPILOT] All engines feathered.

[ENGINES STOP]

That's it. We're a glider now.

200 feet. Landing gear down.

Wait. It'll slow us down.

- [COPILOT] Landing gear now?

- Wait.

[COPILOT] 100 feet.

Wait.

Now.

[GRUNTS] Right landing gear down.

Left down. Flaps at quarter.

Better late than never.

- Yeah. Let's get that kübelwagen.

- [EXCLAIMS]

[PANTS]

[EXHALES SHARPLY]

[PANTING]

[CHUCKLES]

[COPILOT] Whoa!

I got you.

- You boys okay?

- [COPILOT] Yeah.

- [BUCKY] Hey, Norm.

- [GRUNTS]

- [BUCKY] You all right?

- Pull the med kits off the plane.

- Let's get these guys in the wagon.

- Guys, I'm fine.

- Get him on the wagon. Listen to Kidd.

- Up.

- Look after him, all right?

- I got him.

[GROANS]

- Major, I got him.

- You got him?

- Come on.

- [GROANS]

I don't know how you flew that

thing all the way to Africa,

but you couldn't make the runway.

It's right there. Huh?

[CREW MEMBER] All right. Watch

it, watch it, watch it, watch it.

[BUCK BREATHES HEAVILY]

Oh, boy.

- Who is it?

- [BUCK] Norman Smith. Radio operator.

[GRUNTING]

[BUCK] I lost four forts.

I know.

[BUCK] How many of us made it?

[BUCKY] Eleven out of 21.

What about Claytor? Any chutes?

I I, uh, didn't see any.

Yeah. And Curt?

I don't know.

Yeah, well, knowing Biddick,

he's probably sipping on a bottle

of schnapps right about now.

We're gonna get through this. Come

on. Don't you stop believing that.

Sure, Bucky.

[GUIDE] She's your guide,

and you will do what she says.

[JACK] Get your things,

boys. We're going home.

[BUCKY] All these are, uh, new faces

Major Egan. Major Cleven.

Think you might be the

last pretty face I ever see.

Feels like we're actually

gonna do something.

Yeah, you'll do something, all right.

To the fellas who aren't here

tonight, who should've been.

[GUIDE] German. They have tried

many ways to infiltrate our network.

We go down, they won't remember us

either. Like we never existed, Buck.

What happened to Baby Face? Is he dead?