The Eagle Has Landed

September 12, 1943.

German paratroopers snatched Mussolini

from his mountaintop prison in Italy.

This daring and successful exploit stunned the world.

Inspired by the rescue of his ally,

Hitler ordered an even more daring bid

to capture his greatest enemy.

- Morning. - Good morning, Herr Admiral.

- Oberst Radl-- send him to me at once. - I have notified him of your arrival.

Thank you.

- Come in, Radl. - Herr Admiral.

Come and sit down.

The meeting went well? The Fiihrer had something specific in mind?

A simple exercise in logistics.

Nothing very complicated.

He merely wants Winston Churchill

brought from London to Berlin!

And we are ordered to make a feasibility study.

Today's Wednesday. By Friday, he will forget it.

But Himmler will not.

Reichsführer Himmler approved?

Only of my being put on the spot.

You should have seen that meeting.

There was Hitler, ranting, cajoling,

then perfectly rational,

then raging and stamping like a--

like the ringmaster of some freak circus!

Goebbels, hopping from one foot to another like a--

like a schoolboy!

Bormann-- a vulture!

Perched in the corner, watching, listening, never speaking!

And Mussolini-- Mussolini!

An automaton, Radl.

I looked round that room,

and I wondered, "Am I the only one who can see it?"

And if so, what must I look like to them?

Admiral, the feasibility study...

Will be a total and unnecessary waste of time.

Make it immediately.

Complete for the last month.

If Herr Oberst could give me a rough idea of our problem...

I can be quite specific about it.

The Führer has instructed us to kidnap Winston Churchill.

Good God!

Well, Karl, do at least a feasibility study on it.

Something which might fit our needs came in yesterday.

Just a mention, if I may, sir...

Eh, no...

Ja, here it is.

From Codename Starling.

A village in England called Studley Constable.

How do we receive reports from this Starling?

From the Spanish Embassy in London, by diplomatic pouch.

There is also a radio contact.

Exactly where is... Studley Constable?

The east coast of England, the county of Norfolk.

Let's have a look at the place.

- Larger scale. - Jawohl, Herr Oberst.

Ah, here.

Ah! Herr Oberst.

Isolated coastline, very rural, wide beaches, salt marshes.

Ideal.

Now, a man to lead it, Karl.

"Crash-landed, 1940, glider assault, Belgium.

Dropped into Crete, '41. Wounded at Maleme, Knight's Cross.

Led volunteer assault, group of 300, special action, Leningrad.

Stalingrad-- Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.

January this year, dropped into Kiev, with 167 surviving in unit,

to get two cut-off regiments out of Russia.

Oberst Kurt Steiner."

- What is the language? - "Educated in England."

Third time in the last month. Despite Goering's personal guarantee.

Are you familiar with Jung's works?

I am aware of them, not familiar, Herr Oberst.

A great thinker, a rational man...

and yet he speaks of something called "synchronicity"--

events having a coincidence in time,

so that one feels a much deeper motivation is involved.

- Ja, I understand. - Take this affair.

The Führer comes up with an absurd suggestion that we abduct Churchill.

For political reasons, we are prodded into making a worthless report on this.

Suddenly, synchronicity rears its disturbing head.

Ja, I see that.

We receive a routine report with a brief notation

that next month after visiting a local bomber command,

Churchill will spend the weekend

in a country manor less than 7 miles from a deserted coastline.

At any other time, this report would mean nothing.

At this particular time, in that particular file...

it becomes a circumstance which titillates,

a coincidence to... tease us.

Surely Herr Oberst doesn't really believe this thing could be carried off?

A wink from a pretty girl at a party results rarely in climax, Karl.

But a man is a fool not to push the idea as far as it will go.

Find this man for me, Karl. He's been out of Germany too long.

Hans. Hans!

- Hmm? - Let's stretch our legs.

Stay on the train! No one allowed off the train!

I beg your pardon, sir.

Sir, I'm sorry, but you must remain on the train.

If memory serves me, the Polish Army surrendered in 1939.

Sir?

Who are these people?

- Well, Jews, sir. - Jews?

We are razing the ghetto to the ground. Burning them out.

- They put up a hell of a fight. - Oh? How? With umbrellas and crutches?

Halt!

- I'll take the prisoner. - "Prisoner"?

What is...

- What is your name? - Brana.

Good luck, Brana.

Identify yourself.

Oberst Kurt Steiner, commanding the Twelfth Parachute Detachment.

A salute is customary to a general, Herr Oberst, even to one of the SS.

You didn't seem quite so discriminating a moment ago.

I have nothing for or against the Jews personally.

But I have seen too many good men die for cause

to watch a young girl be killed for sport!

Sturmfijhrer Straub was doing his duty.

He reminds me of something I pick up on my shoe in the gutter!

Very unpleasant on a hot day.

If you have the dubious honour of commanding this senseless slaughter,

I advise you to keep him downwind at all times.

That's if you can tell the difference anymore.

For God's sake, Kurt.

What am I to do with you?

You're a military hero,

awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.

Yet responsible for the attempted escape of an enemy of the state,

abetted by the mutinous conduct of your men!

By rights, you should all be court-martialed!

Difficult decisions

are the privilege of rank, Herr Gruppenfijhrer.

But as for my men...

they seem to feel a certain... loyalty to me.

L, uh,

don't suppose you could content yourself with my head

and overlook their part in this thing?

Huh?

There you are, you see, Hans?

It's infallible.

I can always tell a thoroughgoing bastard when I see one.

- Herr Oberst? - In here, Karl.

- Good morning. - Good morning, sir.

The material arrived from Starling. It is excellent, Karl, truly excellent.

Starling's to be commended.

Ja, ja, that is good.

What news of Oberst Steiner?

Well, we are having some difficulty in tracing him.

He appears to be back in Germany,

but as to exactly where, we have run into roadblocks.

Even rumors of a court-martial. But we'll find him.

I'm sure of it.

And now-- Here. A possible undercover operative.

I've decided on this man.

He is currently lecturing in that university here in Berlin.

- Send for him immediately. - Yes.

Oh, and, Karl, send this message to Starling.

Yes, Herr Oberst.

- Where is Herr Oberst Radl? - In the map room, Herr Admiral.

Thank you.

This message has been sent out. Did you originate it?

I did, Herr Admiral.

"Very interested in your visitor of 6th November.

Would like to drop some friends in to meet him

in the hope they might persuade him to come back with them.

Your comments expected by usual route with all relevant information."

You've exceeded your authority!

You were told to prepare this feasibility study, not embellish a joke!

With Herr Admiral's permission it is no longer a joke. It could be done.

- In my opinion, it should be done. - What if Churchill prefers to die?

What if abduction becomes assassination?

No one specified dead or alive.

God in heaven! Kill Churchill, when we've already lost the war?

I'm sure you've done a good job, Radl. Very thorough.

But this operation could make the Charge of the Light Brigade

look like a sensible military exercise.

Drop it.

Herr Oberst, he has arrived.

Come in, Colonel. Radl, isn't it?

Top 0' the morning to you.

It's not Irish whisky, but it'll do to be going on with.

Better for you to drink than me.

I've a feeling I might be needing it.

" May I?

The last time I was invited up here to Section Three,

one 0' the lads persuaded me to jump out of a Dornier,

5,000 feet above Ireland, in the dark.

And me with this terrible fear of heights.

You planning a holiday to England, are you? Brighton's lovely this time 0' year.

Mother of God! What the Christ is that?

They're Russian, Mr. Devlin. I picked up a taste for them in the Winter War.

They're probably the only thing that kept you awake in the snow.

Here... and here.

Now...

I had a proposition to put to you, Mr. Devlin.

- "Had"? - Mm-hmm.

Have.

- I'm working, you know, Colonel. - At the University.

For a man like you, that must be like a thoroughbred racehorse