[soldiers chattering]
Here, let me see that face.
You ought to report to the hospital after interrogation. You got it?
Yes, sir.
You want this?
No. Thank you, Doc.
Thank you.
- Some coffee, Major? - John? Some coffee.
[Bucky] Ms. Tatty.
- Give me that. - Thank you.
You're welcome.
Came through the clouds about 5:00 high. I mean, I couldn't see anything.
Are you fucking kidding me? The EAs are like ghosts.
Hinton said he saw four chutes, but I didn't see any.
There was cloud cover, start to end. It was a-- it was a soup, Lieutenant.
- Couldn't see. - Islands?
Geez, I never saw any islands.
At that point, I saw muzzle flashes. No bursts.
Yeah, I mean, those 190s,
they screech right by us at what? 500 miles per hour?
Chutes? Did anyone see any chutes?
[crew member 1] No, Major. It was chaos up there.
There was zero visibility. Hard to see anything.
Son... [clears throat] ...I'm gonna show the Major your wounds.
Yes, sir.
Bosser's frostbite is gonna require more attention than we can give him here.
[Buck] Hang in there, Bosser.
We're gonna send you to Redgrave Hospital.
Get you all fixed up.
Can't wait to get back in the fight, sir.
[Buck] Good man.
They have got to remember where they are.
It is 25,000 feet and 50 below zero.
Their piss freezes against their skin.
These sorts of casualties are unnecessary losses for the group.
Not to mention, we just lost another CO.
- Huglin? - Yeah.
He burst an ulcer when he landed.
I've just put him on a transport to London to see a specialist.
- Okay. Thank you, Doc. - All right.
I mean, Christ. What kind of idiot am I? It's freezing cold,
and I got to grab the gun with my bare hands.
[Curt] In that icebox?
- Could've been worse. - [sighs]
Well, it's not happening again.
- Good. - [Buck] Gentlemen.
All right. Heal fast, Dickie. I need my copilot back.
- Thanks, Curt. - Take care.
Uh, Bucky and I kind of thought we should have some drinks
with a few of the boys. You want to come?
Oh. Thank you, Curt. I'm-I'm gonna-- I'm gonna stay in tonight.
- Okay. - All right.
- You tell the others for me? - Of course. Take care.
How you doing, Dickie?
Here's to Adams. Schmalenbach.
Petrich.
And all their brave men.
[Bucky blows raspberry]
[Curt] You good?
Do you feel anything?
- Huh? - [Bucky] You feel anything?
Mmm. Yeah. I miss those guys.
Because me, I don't-- I don't feel a thing.
[Bucky sighs]
Can you do me a favor?
- What? - Come here.
I want you to hit me.
That's an order. Come on.
All right.
I want you to land one right on my beak.
- Right here. - Major.
Don't give me "Major." I don't want "Major." Ranks off.
- [breathes heavily] - Stop horsing around, man.
Horsing around? I'm not a horse.
- Huh? - Huh?
- Stop-- - You're from New York, right?
So, hit me. [grunts]
[sucks teeth]
[groaning]
[exhales sharply, breathes heavily]
I felt that, Curt.
[chuckles]
[breathes heavily] Felt that.
[sighs]
Whoo!
All right, Meatball.
[sighs, chuckles]
[groans]
I gotta meet that goddamn new CO.
First thing tomorrow. [sighs]
Today is tomorrow.
[breathes heavily]
[colonel] You hungover, Major?
No, sir.
That won't come for another couple hours.
You're still drunk.
Coffee sharpened me, sir.
Colonel Huglin didn't think much of your skills as an Air Exec.
- Well, I didn't think too much of-- - [colonel] Too much of his flying?
[colonel sniffs, sighs]
[sucks teeth, blows]
Well, I ain't Colonel Huglin.
No, you're not. [sighs]
- [Bucky] Can I get some coffee? - [server] Yes, sir.
Thanks.
Boys.
Bucky.
Well?
I got demoted.
[Buck] To?
CO of the 418th squadron.
Sorry, Jack. The boys are back with me again.
Long as I get my fort back.
[smacks lips] Yeah, Harding wants to see about that.
What? I'm Air Exec?
- You son of a bitch. - [Bucky] Wasn't my idea.
Huglin recommended you.
Then you're both sons of bitches.
Goddamn Air Exec.
Look at it this way.
LeMay thinks we're the least disciplined bomb group
in the entire wing, maybe you can make a difference.
I don't wanna be the guy wiping your ass, Bucky.
- [server] Major. - Thank you.
You got up early this morning.
Did I?
See Colonel Harding before me?
Oh, I can read upside down, Buck.
All I said was the army's right about you being a leader.
That you lead best as a squadron commander.
You don't got to send me any flowers.
[sighs]
I made one last request before being demoted.
- [Buck] Hmm. - I want to write the letters
to the families of the boys that we lost. [exhales sharply]
I think it would be better coming from-- from me,
not someone that they never met.
I'll help you.
I'd appreciate that.
You know, uh...
if this whole thing ended
and there were only two pilots left up in the air--
[exhales sharply]
It'd be me and it'd be you, Buck.
Don't count on it.
[ground crew chattering]
[Crosby] Every man who flew a B-17 thanked God for our ground crews.
There was no glory in what they did.
No medals were handed out for patching flak holes
or rebuilding carburetors.
Our crew chiefs were responsible for keeping our planes in the air
on any given mission.
Which meant they were responsible for the lives of dozens of men.
Corporal Ken Lemmons was one of our best crew chiefs.
He was 19 years old.
[laughing]
[kid] Lemmons! [laughs]
Hot potato flying in.
[inhales sharply] That's one hot bastard.
You ought to get one of these.
What do you think?
Salt and pepper like you asked.
- It's perfect. - Anything else?
See here.
This bird's been dripping oil.
- See it? - Oh, yeah.
Tomorrow after the boys take off, we're gonna clean the hardstands.
What are we gonna clean it with?
- Fire! - [Lemmons] Fire.
- What? - Fire.
- [Lemmons] I could use some help. - [kid] Yes, please.
[explosion]
[ground crew screams, gasps]
[chattering]
- What happened? - Uh, practice mission.
He went into his turn too early, too slow.
Stalled out.
Who was it?
[Bowman] One of the 349th. New crew.
Barnhill.
[Jack] That's six forts in less than three weeks.
We're still waiting on replacement forts from Podington.
I am hoping to get one or two of those next week.
Okay.
Bill, you'll get both of those.
Thank you, sir.
Lastly, we're already down 66 combat aircrewmen.
Out of our starting strength of 350.
Until we get the other replacement crews,
we're gonna have to make do with what we've got.
Turner, if a mission order comes in tonight,
some of your crew are gonna have to fly
- with the 349th. - [Turner] Yes, sir.
- Buck, same goes for you. - Yes, sir.
That's it. Dismissed.
Yes, sir.
[chattering]
There we go. I'm going to bank that, boys. Whoo!
- You're not gonna do it. - Watch me. [blows]
- Moxie on this guy. Come on. - Come on, baby. [blows] Come on, baby!
[cheers, laughs]
That's how it goes! That's how it goes.
You've got to have the worst luck I've ever seen, Quinn.
- Ooh. - Well, dang.
Well, in dice, I mean.
Yeah, you better. 'Cause if I ever go down, we all go down.
- [Cliff] Come on. Lighten up. - [soldier 1] Okay.
[soldier 2] That's him told.
- Alice From Dallas. - Ooh.
- Alice, our palace. - Alice is our dame.
- Dame! - She certainly is.
Tommy, Tommy.
[Tommy] Major.
- Lil. - John.
- Major. - Major Dye.
Could I get, uh, six whiskeys and a ginger beer?
- [bartender] Coming up, mate. - [captain] I admire you Americans.
You're up there in broad daylight, seemingly oblivious to the downsides.
I-- I don't understand what you're saying, Captain.
Never mind, old boy. One for the higher-ups.
It's a question of philosophies.
We bomb at night because it doesn't matter what we hit, so long as it's German.
But bombing during the day is suicide.
- [Lil giggling] - [Tommy speaking indistinctly]
I could foresee in the future, American strategy adjusting
due to the unfortunate losses you'll no doubt continue to suffer.
Maths.
- Maths? - I mean, maybe if you bombed
during the day, you'd hit your targets.
And why the hell do you Brits add an S on the end of math?
[scoffs]
Because there's more than one of them.
- [mocking] There's more than one of them. - I can see more than one of you too.
- I could knock all of you out. - [soldiers clamoring]
- [Veal] Okay. Okay. - Probably in one punch. In one punch.
- This ought to wet your whistle, boys. - I'm sorry.
- [Curt] God. - [Bucky] Oh, thanks, Croz.
- [Curt] You are beautiful. - That is a ginger beer.
[Curt] My hero.
How about a song? I heard you sing, Major.
[soldiers chuckles, clamor]
- Pick one. What's your favorite? - [Bucky] Good idea.
Hey. You want to get Major excited?
- Baseball. - Specifically Yankees.
- [chuckles] Yeah. Yeah. - [Bucky] Oh, my buddy Buck here,
he thinks they're a waste of time, don't you?
- It's not just sports he doesn't follow. - Huh? Huh?
- Hey, Buck? - [chuckles]
I mean, you don't follow anyone, do you?
- [chuckles] - I follow you, Curt.
And he would still find a way to show off.
For example, I-- You-You remember Walla Walla?
- Yeah. - [Curt] We had a visit from wing.
Cleven here, slow-timing Hollenbeck's engines.
Just so they remembered who he was,
- he buzzed the tower... - [Bucky chuckles]
- ...all engines feathered. I-- - No. Three-- Three engines.
- He still had one. - I remember
- he called you "One Engine Cleven." - Hey. Hey, hey, hey, hey.
I'm-I'm telling the story here, all right? It's my story.
It's four engines.
Next thing, I see this fort sailing 25 feet over the runway.
Yeah. [clicks tongue] Silent as the grave.
- [Jack] Beautiful. - [Curt] Hmm.
Wanted to do that all my life.
- [chuckles] - [Jack] I'll drink to that.
No Engine Cleven.
[soldiers] No Engine Cleven. No Engine Cleven. Here we go. Hear, hear.
Would you rather have been a fighter pilot, Major?
Buck is a fighter pilot. A fighter pilot who happens to fly a bus.
- And so are you, Bucky. - So are you.
Bubbles.
So, let me get this straight. Y-You're Buck and he's Bucky?
Yeah.
Is there a shortage of nicknames in the 100th?
[laughs]
No. Just a shortage of crews.
Ah. Mmm.
- [Bucky] Mmm. - Pity.
[sighs] Pity. Pity.
Yeah. Pity, pity, pity, pity, pity, pity. What?
I said it's a pity.
You'd have more if you flew your missions at night.
[Curt exhales sharply]
Why'd you have to go and say something like that?
Well, perhaps I was getting bored of all of the heavy petting going on
at your end of the table.
I don't even know what that means.
[Bucky, Veal] What does that mean?
- Know what that means? - I don't know.
What does that mean?
Let's make a bit of sport ourselves. How about it?
- [Curt] Mmm. - Any one of you will do.
- I think that's an excellent idea. - [Curt laughs] Oh, here we go.
Hmm.
Hey, hey! Please.
I want this guy. Please let me. I'll owe you one.
- I've got this, okay? - [Lil giggles]
Please. [chuckles] I got it.
- I got it. - Okay, but you owe me one.
- Ladies, let's go. - Shall we?
- [Curt] After you. - Good man.
Oh. He's a-- He's a sweet guy, but he recently had the clap.
I'm just saying.
There you go.
What does RAF mean?
- Riffraff. - Hey!
- [both laugh] - Aah!
Won't be a second, gentlemen. Time to show them what we're made of.
Absolutely.
[Bucky sighs]
So, now why does this sport interest you?
- Boxing? - Mm-hmm.
Test of manhood.
That so?
About as true a measure of your will to fight as any,
and it's man-to-man.
Oh, so you just don't like team sports?
How'd you end up commander of a plane leading a squadron in a war,
where you don't want to be on the losing side,
and still not like team sports?
I just don't lose sleep over whether the pinstripes beat the polka dots.
[sighs] Right. Well, we're all just uniforms anyways.
You know that?
Now, seeing as you like to do your fighting at night, Bryan.
- [laughs] - [soldiers clamoring]
Oh, hey.
Hey! Come on, come on.
[clamoring, laughing continues]
[grunts]
- [Curt] Oof. Must have felt that, right? - Oh.
[chuckles]
- All right. All right. Give him some room. - Guess who can hit their target at night!
- [chuckles] - [Chuck] What did I tell you? Pay up.
- Is he all right? - Sir, let me help you. Get up. Come on.
- That was too much of that. - Hey. Too much--
That's what that was.
I got a nickname for you and it ain't Buck!
- For God's sake. - [soldiers clamoring, shouting]
- [RAF pilot] Show's over, fellas. - Oh! Never mess with the Irish!
- [RAF pilot] Follow me. - [Bucky] Pity. Pity. It's a pity. [laughs]
[Veal] Oh, what a shame.
[Crosby] The British Royal Air Force and the American Army Air Force
had two very different approaches to the bombing campaign against Germany.
The Americans pursued daylight precision bombing,
an effort to destroy specific military or economic targets.
The British, who had been at war with the Nazis for nearly four years
practiced nighttime area bombing.
It was indiscriminate and deadly.
Which was more effective depended on which uniform you wore.
There was only one reason the Americans could even attempt
something as difficult and dangerous as precision bombing.
The Norden bombsight.
Outside the atomic bomb,
it was the most closely held secret of the war.
At night, while the crews slept,
the rest of the base worked tirelessly
to get the flight plans, equipment and planes ready.
Whether ordnance or intelligence,
they prepared us for every mission.
And even though they remained at the base,
in a way, they were on every flight with us
and would not relax until we came home.
[Bucky snoring]
- [orderly] Major Egan, sir? - I'm up.
- [orderly] Sir. - [Buck] Yeah.
I bet you a carton we're in the low-low again.
- You think? - [adjutant] Ah-ten-hut!
[Harding] At ease, gentlemen.
[Jack sighs]
[Harding] Good morning, men.
[soldiers] Good morning, sir.
The 100th will be leading the wing on today's mission.
[soldiers cheering]
[Harding] Major Egan will be the wing's command pilot
in Blakely's fort.
- [cheering continues] - And the target for today
- is... - [soldiers] Ooh.
...the submarine pens in Trondheim, Norway.
[soldiers cheering]
We have a problem, Major.
- What? - Bubbles.
He's sick as a dog. [blows]
[breathing shakily] I can fly.
Oh, the hell you can.
[sighs] Who do we have?
Sheesh, Bubbles. You look like shit.
[Bubbles] Save the compliments.
Here.
- We're leading the wing today. - What?
- I can't lead a wing, Bubble-- I can't-- - You can lead a wing.
It's just like any other mission.
We assemble the squadron at 2,000 feet... [breathing shakily]
...over Splasher Six at H plus 0112.
- You following me? - Great Yarmouth. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Don't be nervous. Croz, take this.
It's my lucky snow globe.
[breathes heavily] I want it back.
[breathing heavily] Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.
Booster pumps, pressure?
Pumps on. Pressure's good.
Fuel quantity?
Good. We're ready to start.
[grunts]
Welcome aboard, Lieutenant.
- Came as quick as I could, Major. - All right.
Well, store your gear and get ready for takeoff.
We're not going to be the reason this goes off late.
Yes, sir. [breathes heavily]
Starting one.
Morning.
Douglass.
Harry Crosby.
Oh, like Bing?
- Yeah. - Do you sing?
[sighs] They kicked me out of choir.
That's us.
All right.
Good luck, fellas.
[kisses]
Seventy, 80, 90, 100.
Gear up.
Climb power.
- [Douglass] You okay? - Huh?
I said, are you okay?
Oh. Yeah. It's, uh...
It's my first time in the lead.
Yeah, well, I've seen Bubbles do it a million times.
Can't be that hard.
[ground crew chattering]
- Ready to clean this thing? - [both] Yes.
- Yeah? Let's go! - Yeah!
- Right. Let's go. - [kid] On your side.
[Lemmons] Where do you want it? Down here?
[ground crewman] Pour it over here?
What do you say?
[both] Fire in the hole!
- [breathes heavily] Whoa. - [Lemmons] Look at that.
And that's how you clean a hardstand.
That's one hot bastard.
[Douglass] Bombardier to command pilot. I'm gonna pull the fuse pins.
[Bucky] Roger.
[breathing heavily]
[vomits]
[breathing heavily]
[Crosby] Navigator to command pilot. 95th at 3:00.
[Bucky] Roger, navigator. I have visual.
Uh, command pilot to tail. How we looking back there?
Well, Major, depends who you're asking about.
Buck's element is in a V.
But the rest of them look like an S, if you ask me.
They're all over the place.
[Bucky] Command pilot to top turret.
Send out a flare and see if they'll get in formation.
[engineer] Roger. Wilco.
[Bucky] Come on, boys. Let's tighten up.
[Blakely] Pilot to navigator. New heading?
[vomiting]
Crosby?
Wake up, Lieutenant.
[groans, vomits]
[Bucky] Crosby, heading?
[Crosby] Turn right to heading 017.
Roger. 017 degrees.
- Ah, great. You're sick. - No, only at first. It goes away.
Just don't tell anyone.
Just put your mask on and read the damn maps. Come on.
[Buck] Get ready to make the turn to the IP soon.
My timing says we should be there any second now.
[Curt] Hey, what's going on up there? Shouldn't we be turning by now?
[Dickie] It's all right, Curt. Lead will handle it.
[Curt] Uh-huh.
Command pilot to navigator. How are we doing, Crosby?
Uh. Yeah. Good, sir.
Just, um-- Just doing some calculations, Major.
[whispering] There you are.
[normal] Right turn now to 075 degrees.
Nine minutes to the IP. You can see the Kraut smoke screen.
[Bucky] We got it, Croz.
- Right turn to 075 degrees. - [sighs]
[Blakely] Inbound to the target. Another right turn to 140.
[Bucky] Flak, 12:00 level.
Hang in there, fellas. Almost there.
Bombardier to pilot. I got it. Ready for autopilot.
[Blakely] Uh, holding straight and level at 155 indicated airspeed. Autopilot on.
Pilot to bombardier. The ship's all yours.
Roger. My aircraft. Bomb bay doors coming open.
[Bucky] Shit. That was close.
[Douglass] Shit.
[Crosby groans]
[gunner 1] Ball to crew, flak, 11:00, low.
[gunner 2] Waist to crew! Flak two-- 3:00, level!
[grunting]
[gunner 3] Are you okay?
[gunner 2] Yeah.
[Douglass] Eyepiece.
- [grunts] - [Crosby] Jesus Christ.
[Blakely, Bucky grunting]
[Dickie] Engine three has been hit bad.
[Curt] Shit!
[Dickie] Pressure on engine one is dropping too.
[Curt] Yeah, I got fuel spraying like a geyser over here.
Shutting down fuel. Feathering.
[Dickie] I've got mixture and throttle.
[tail gunner] Tail to Cleven. Biddick's been hit.
[Buck] Jesus. Roger that. Navigator, mark it in the log.
[Douglass] Oh, God.
You okay?
[Douglass] Jesus Christ. Yeah! Just protecting the goods, Croz.
[grunting]
Bombs away.
Bomb bay doors closing. Bombsight secure.
Bombardier to pilots, it's your plane.
Roger that.
[Crosby] Navigator to pilot.
Another left turn to 106 to the rally point.
[Bucky] Roger, wilco.
[Buck] Pilot to top turret. How's Biddick looking?
[top turret] Top to pilot. He's been hit on the starboard side.
He's slowing down.
[Buck] Roger. Keep an eye on him.
[Curt] Oh, shit. It's pulling to the right.
[Dickie] Yeah, engine four's not looking too happy.
[Curt] We're falling too far behind.
Going to max continuous power. Let's get the boost pumps on.
If engine four is going, maybe the others are too.
All right, let's warm them up with the intercoolers.
Let's see if that helps.
Huh?
[Dickie] No. It's getting worse.
Shit. All right. Shut it down. Shut it down.
We're dropping out. We're gonna radio Cleven.
Redmeat 3 to Redmeat Lead.
We're two engines down. We can't keep up with you guys.
We're gonna have to drop out. Over.
[Buck] Roger, Redmeat 3. Is it a fuel problem?
[Curt] Negative. Flak took engine one.
Four was backfiring and shaking.
[sighs] We tried everything. Out.
Roger, Redmeat 3. Stand by.
Redmeat Lead to Pacer Lead.
Redmeat 3 is two engines down and they might lose another.
They can't keep up this pace.
[Bucky] Roger.
Zootsuit Lead to Zootsuit. We got a straggler.
We're gonna throttle down and stick with him. Await instructions.
Let's slow her down to 130.
[Blakely] I got you.
[laughs] It helps to have friends in high places. Huh, Dick?
Whoo! You can say that again.
[Bucky] Crosby, I need you to adjust for our new air speed
and figure out how to get us home. Copy?
Roger, Command!
- Just give me a minute. - [Bucky] All right.
[Crosby groans]
- I'm hit! I'm hit! - [Douglass] Jesus, Croz! What? What?
[sighs] No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm okay.
- [Douglass groans] - I'm okay. I'm okay. False alarm. [pants]
Crosby, I need that plan.
On it. Coming up, sir.
[breathes heavily]
Navigator to command pilot. We-- [transmission breaking up]
[Bucky] Hey, Crosby, I didn't get a word of that.
- Crosby to Major? - [Bucky] I think your wire's tap--
We can't hear you! Damn it.
Can you check that your mic pack is on and working?
[Crosby] Major.
- [Bucky] Crosby, I can't-- - Major. Major.
I said, we go 244 and head for the Shetlands.
When we're clear of Norway
we go to 4,500 feet, take cover in the clouds.
When we hit Scotland, we go straight south.
That way, if Biddick has to put her down, at least he's on land.
All right. That's the plan.
- Whoa, hey, hey, hey! 244? - Roger, 244!
- Let's go to 244. - [left waist] JU-88s. Ten o'clock. Level.
They're heading to the low!
[Buck] They're trying to pick off Biddick. Give 'em hell.
[Curt grunts] Jesus, that was close!
[top turret] Top turret to pilot. JU-88s going away.
Roger. Keep an eye out for more out there.
[top turret] Roger that.
Redmeat Lead to Pacer Lead. JU-88s are gone.
- Biddick is still with us. - Roger, Redmeat. That's good to hear.
All right, let's make that turn to 244.
Roger. Turning to 244.
Pacer Lead to Redmeat 3.
Hang on in there. We'll stick with you long as we can. Over.
Roger, Pacer Lead. Thank you.
[pilot] We can't keep this up. We're sitting ducks at half-speed.
[Buck] And Curt and his men'll be dead if we don't.
We're not leaving them behind.
[pilot] Yes, sir.
- Pilot to crew, dropping below 10,000. - [exhales sharply]
[sighs]
Pilot to navigator. We over Scotland yet?
Uh...
[Bucky] Croz!
Yes.
Uh... [stammers] ...Yes, we are, sir. We're approaching the coast now.
Zootsuit Lead to Zootsuit. We're over Scotland.
Let's drop to devil's four
and, uh, see if we can get Redmeat 3 on the ground. Out.
[Douglass] Nice work, Croz.
[engine sputtering]
We're losing number three. Getting close to stall speed.
Redmeat 3 to Pacer Lead. We're losing number three.
We're headed down now for an emergency landing.
[Bucky] Roger, Redmeat 3. Godspeed.
All right. Let's pick up some speed on the descent.
Pilot to crew. Prepare for crash landing.
There's a good spot to bring her in.
We'll make a straight-in approach. Landing gear down.
Pilot to crew. Get ready for landing. May be a rough one.
Right gear down.
- Left gear down. - [ball turret] Tail gear down!
[Dickie] Air speed is 115.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You're too low. Too low.
- Pilot to crew. Brace yourselves. - [ball turret] Prepare for impact!
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on.
Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
[sighs]
- I mean, I wasn't that bad, right? - [sighs, chuckles]
[sighs]
[chattering]
[grunts]
I mea-- The flak, it came in so hot,
I didn't even think about it when I put it on... It must've froze.
But then these chunks, they start rolling down my forehead.
I think, "Holy mackerel, Crosby. Holy mackerel, you've been hit."
[chuckles]
[Bubbles] Yeah, of course you would narrate your own death.
Ah. Well, I mean, I could make overthinking into an Olympic sport.
I've been puking so much today, I'm starting to catch up to you.
You know, I washed my hair twice, I still can't get the smell out.
You wanna smell? Yeah, jump in.
- No. No. Get away. - No, come on.
I will-- I will puke on you. You're gonna have to wash it out.
- There he is! - Sick.
How you doing, Bubbles?
- Never better, sir. - That's good.
I was looking for you.
I'm sorry, Major.
What for?
I didn't give PRs the whole flight back.
- I messed up the rendezvous-- - I know, I know.
The radio silence really threw off those Jerries.
That and hitting the deck. Now, Harding, he couldn't be more impressed by you.
So, I'm transferring you to Blakely's crew full-time.
Bubbles, you get better. We'll find you a new fort.
And, Croz, we gotta give you an actual nickname.
They call him Bing back home.
Bing Crosby? That's just lazy.
Unless you can sing. Can you sing?
- [stammers] I c-- - [scoffs] Like a donkey.
No. No. Not a note, sir.
Ah. I'm no good either, but I'm loud.
And hell, if you commit with enough enthusiasm, it really don't matter.
I'll see you at the club, Croz. I'm buying.
- Night, Bubbles. - Sir.
[Crosby] Good night, sir.
- He thinks my nickname's lazy? - [Bubbles sighs]
You know, I had it to do over again, I wouldn't even try to be a pilot.
I'd be a radio man.
Nothing to think about but the frequency.
Well, thanks, by the way.
You hold on to it for now. It's working well for you.
What did the missus say? She mention me?
Uh... [blows raspberry] Did she mention you?
Uh. No, seems to have forgotten.
"PS, say hi to Bubbles for me." [chuckles]
I know what your favorite part is. How she signs 'em.
Mrs. Jean Crosby.
- You still can't get over that, can you? - [chuckles] No, I can't.
[chuckles] Yeah.
Rest up.
Thanks for coming.
[band member] A one, a two, a one, two, three, four.
[big band music playing]
[chattering]
Do you know what this is missing?
- Nothing. - Vocals.
No, it's not.
I'm gonna sing.
Jack, should I sing?
No.
- Should I sing? - No.
All right. You're right. You're right.
[exclaims]
It's my song, Buck.
♪ Never saw the sun Shining so bright ♪
♪ Never saw things Going so right ♪
♪ Watching the days Hurrying by ♪
♪ When you're in love My, how they fly ♪
♪ Blue days All of them gone ♪
♪ Nothing but blue skies From now on ♪
Go, boys.
It's all day, every day. That's all I'm saying.
You're drunk.
- [chuckles] - If you can't find me, boys,
I'll be over there, coming in hot on her.
- Wish me luck. - General Spaatz's daughter,
- or the other one? - [giggling]
[Douglass] The other one. Helen.
They really ought to put her into mass production.
- Two bucks, huh? - Yeah.
Two bucks says I can get her to laugh inside a minute.
You getting shot down is gonna be a sight to see.
One minute. About the same amount of time it'll take you to get to the bar
- and get us another round of drinks. - You're on.
All right, thanks.
Uh, Cliff, can I get a scotch and, uh, telephone?
- You got it. - Buck. Egan.
- Sir? - You got a call.
[Bucky] From who?
Operator, I have Majors Cleven and Egan.
- [Curt] Buck? Buck? - Yeah.
- B-- Hey, Buck. Is that you? - [stammers] Curt.
- Curt! - Buck? Buck?
Yeah, it's-- it's Buck and John. Where'd you end up?
- Ah. That's a very, very good question. - [soldiers laughing]
But we're safe and sound here.
Hey, hey, where a-- where am I?
- Where are you? In the devil's dump, son! - Where am I?
Uh. [chuckles] We made a wee bit of a mess up here.
But, uh, the people are really swell and they're looking after us.
It turns out that they don't like the English much either.
- But they like me because I'm Irish. - You're not Ir--
[Curt] I'm Irish!
Hey. My fam-- My family's Irish. I told you. I'm an American, but anyway.
Buck, yeah. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.
Uh, I wanted to call you.
Thank you, Bucky. [stammers] Thank both of you.
Saving our asses.
I mean it.
Yeah, all right. Well, you just get back here soon, Curt.
We miss you, Curt. We're glad you're still with us.
Yeah, John says he misses his little spoon.
Hey, I'm the big spoon here, remember?
- It's gonna be cold tonight, Curt. - [laughing]
Well, look, I, um-- I made him a bet.
What did you bet?
That I could make you laugh in under a minute. Two dollars.
Two dollars? Well, that is a sum of money.
[chuckles] Yeah, yeah. It is. But I'll split it with you.
Thing is, I can't laugh on cue. Can you tell me something funny?
Yeah, tell us a joke.
Okay, um.
What's the difference between a hippo and a Zippo?
I don't know. What's the difference?
Well, one's really heavy, the other's a little lighter.
[chuckles]
Think you hit a bull's-eye.
What's your name?
Douglass. James Douglass.
[Jack] Croz.
How are you, fellas?
[Jack] Good. How are you?
Hell of a shindig.
So, look, Croz.
Logan's moving up to wing.
So, we're going to need a new group navigator.
I was wondering if you could recommend someone?
Oh, boy. That's more of an office job. The-- Planning the missions, right?
But you still go out when our group's the lead.
Anyone come to mind?
Bubbles. Lieutenant Payne, sir.
Uh, he is great at all of it, but he's really good at planning.
You know, he's-- he's kind of a genius that way.
- What about you? - Me?
Yeah. You did a good job today.
[laughs] No, I mean, look. I was working from Bubbles's charts,
and even then it took me forever to pull the group together.
- Harry. Do you mind if I call you Harry? - No, no.
You brought the group back home.
And you got Biddick to Scotland. Alive.
I got lucky.
[Claytor] Let's go!
Come on, everybody. Bike race in the mess hall! Who's in?
- [soldier 1] Count me in! - I am.
[patron 1] Come on!
[Buck] Me too.
- Bike race in the mess hall. - [clamoring]
[Lorch] Hey. You gonna bet your money on this race?
[soldier 2] All right. Three, four, five. Okay.
Rank has its privileges, boys.
Out the way.
I see money changing hands. I hope that's going on me. [chuckles]
- [soldier 3] I got five on you. - [lieutenant] Here's the deal, boys.
You got one lap to the officers' mess, two laps to the enlisted men's mess.
- I'll tell them. I'll tell everybody. - When you hear the starter pistol, go.
Are you ready?
- Let's go, Graham. - [cheering]
- Hands on handlebars, boys! - [gunshot]
- [whoops] - [cheering]
Get your ass in there. Get your ass in there.
[Crosby] Go, go, go, go, go, go!
- Come on. Whoo! - [shouting indistinctly]
[crowd shouting, cheering]
Let's go!
- Ah! - [soldier 4] Come on now!
[soldier 5] Go, go, go! Come on, go!
[soldier 6] Come on, Bucky! Keep moving!
- [shouting, cheering continues] - [Bucky] Move!
[soldier 7] Come on, come on! [laughs]
[laughing] There they go.
[Bucky] I'm gaining, Buck. I'm on your tail.
Whoo! Ho!
[panting]
You're never gonna catch me, Bucky.
[grunting, panting]
[soldier 8] Hey, come on!
[soldier 9] Come on, Egan. You lard-ass.
[grunting, panting]
[grunting continues]
- You lost. [chuckles] - [grunts, panting]
- [siren wailing] - [Jack] Hold up! Hold up!
Don't you hear those sirens?
[announcer] All personnel, take shelter. All personnel, take shelter.
Heads up, fellas.
All right, let's head for the shelters.
- I had you beat. - Hurry it up.
- [soldiers clamoring] - [soldier 10] Go, go, go.
[siren continues wailing]
[Buck] Looks like they're hitting Norwich.
Some poor bastards are getting it handed to 'em.
Yeah. We could be next.
Oh, we're getting through this.
Says the gambler.
Well, if I'm gonna bet on anything, I'm gonna bet on us, Buck.
You sound like my dad, John.
My father liked to drink.
When he drank, he gambled.
I can't tell you the amount of nights I spent sleeping on benches
in Casper's parlors and pony tracks.
Didn't matter if it was a ball game, horse, dog,
game of cards,
he'd bet.
He'd usually lose.
[Bucky] Mmm.
[Buck] But he kept doing it.
He'd always tell me when his luck was down,
"Gale, this time I can feel it."
Was always looking for the shortcut.
[sucks teeth]
- Buck. - Mm-hmm?
Buck.
That's why you don't like sports.
Mmm.
That RAF prick was right. These daylight missions, they're suicide.
Then why didn't you agree with him?
[inhales deeply] Didn't like his delivery.
Huh. Well, if you aren't a betting man, what's the move?
We lead our boys through it.
[inhales deeply] We do.
[Curt] I feel like this could be a big one, you know?
I think we could do some real damage.
[Curt] Uh, Major?
Why does that red line go all the way down to Africa?
[Harding] You're probably thinking
that's a lot of flying time over Kraut territory.
But if we succeed,
there's no telling how many lives we could save.
If we go head-to-head with a cow, she'd accordion. With us in it.
- [alarm ringing] - Pilot to crew, abandon ship. Bail out.
Help me! Come on!
- [Quinn] Baby Face! - Get me out of here! Please!
I think we may be done.
- Get ready to b-- [grunts] - We are going to sit here and take it.
You hear me?