Colditz

Simon, give you a hand. - No, leave me alone.

But... - Just leave me alone.

I was only trying to help.

Simon.

I thought the MO told you to rest that up as much as you could.

Um, I'm just exercising the damn thing, sir.

It's early days, isn't it? That was quite a fracture.

I want to get it better as soon as possible.

Don't overdo it.

I don't suppose there's any news yet? - No, not yet.

Well, that means they must have got away.

Yes, sir. Full investigation is in train, of course.

Yes. Yes, as you know, sir.

He's on the way now.

Very good, sir.

The General will be paying us a visit.

He'll want a full report on how four British officers managed to escape.

As yet, sir, the method used has not come to light.

Yes, I know that, Ulmann.

Do you imagine Berlin will be satisfied with that?

No, sir.

Colditz is supposed to be escape-proof.

Yet four prisoners managed to escape at once. Four.

This reflects very badly on all of us.

The least we can do is to ascertain the method

and to assure the authorities that no further escapes will take place.

That is what the General will wish to hear.

I shall do my best, sir.

And also, my new second-in-command has been appointed.

A Major Mohn. Do you know him?

If it's the same Mohn we read about in the newspapers...

Yes, it is. I wondered if you had met him, by any chance?

No, sir.

Well, his abilities should help us considerably.

Yes, sir.

Long time no see.

We shall soon put that right, Mr Player.

After three weeks. All that for nothing.

Pilot Officer Muir. Do you know how he is?

Pilot Officer Muir was taken to a hospital.

They operated last night.

They think he will recover. - Thank you.

I managed to get one of the guards to talk.

Muir was shot.

Did they kill him? - No.

Apparently, when he and Player were cornered, he tried to make a break.

They fired over his head at first, but when he kept on going

they put one into him.

They dug the bullet out of him in hospital.

Leaves Pat and Phil. - Two down, two to go.

Lieutenant Player, your useless and ill-advised attempt to escape

has caused considerable difficulty with the civil and military authorities.

In recognition of this, the Oberkommando at Leipzig

has awarded you 28 days solitary confinement,

which will give you time to reflect on your foolishness.

Have you anything to say? - No.

I shall now leave you with Hauptmann Ulmann.

I should remind you, you are still under German military discipline.

And you will answer Hauptmann Ulmann's questions with that fact in mind.

Sit down, Mr Player. Here.

We are going to talk, Mr Player. We shall talk all night if necessary.

And tomorrow and the next night as well, and so on.

Well, there's not much else to do.

How's it going? Still playing you up?

It's taking a hell of a time.

There's that damn censor at last. The mail's in.

It's all right. You don't need to chase it. You'll get yours.

How's Dick?

Have you heard anything?

Word is he is being interrogated practically continuously.

He won't give anything away.

It isn't easy when you're on your own.

They'll question Muir, too.

All right.

Three for you, Ian.

Anything for Simon and me, Paddy? - Just the one, I think. That's right.

Two for you, Simon.

Hang on, there's a postcard as well. Here we are.

Thanks. - Frank, letter for you.

It's been three weeks now, sir.

Well, the committee's still working, isn't it?

Oh, yes, we've recruited new members and we're getting on with things,

but what I really wanted to ask you, sir, was

when you're going to appoint a new escape officer?

Well, I want to be absolutely sure that I make the right choice.

Did you have anyone particular in mind? - Why?

Well, sir, I've served on the escape committee since it was formed.

I've had a shot or two myself, I think I know what the score is.

Well, what I'm trying to say is, sir, that...

I know the escape officer has got to stick it out here,

forgo the chance of escape himself, and I wouldn't mind that.

I'd like to have a crack at it, if you think I might be suitable, sir.

Thank you very much, Tim, I'll bear that in mind.

Come in.

Oh. Sorry, sir. - That's all right, Simon, what is it?

I... I just got this.

Ulmann, sir. Security Officer.

Hauptmann Ulmann.

I understand the Kommandant is with General Schaetzel.

Yes, sir.

So, this is Colditz.

Gather round, will you, gentlemen, please? I have something to tell you.

Flight Lieutenant Carter has received a postcard

which he thinks may be of interest to us all.

He's given me permission to read it to you.

Here's what it says.

"Arrived yesterday. The skiing is wonderful. Wish you were here.

"Good luck and best wishes, from Uncle Philip.

"PS, your Auntie Pat sends her regard.”

Now, the picture on the postcard, gentlemen, is that of the snow-covered

peaks of the Swiss Alps. Which means that Flight Lieutenant Carrington

and Captain Grant are now safely in Switzerland.

What's that?

It seems to be coming from the British quarters, sir.

That cable arrived today from our military attaché in Switzerland.

The remaining two escapees... - Carrington and Grant.

Yes.

They reached Switzerland, and no doubt they are in England by this time.

Sir, I can only express my profound regret and assure you...

Yes, yes, yes. We'll come to that in a moment.

Colditz was established to contain officer prisoners of war

who were difficult, ill disciplined,

or whose persistent attempts to break out from other camps

rendered them a nuisance elsewhere.

The castle was to be escape-proof.

Despite that, there have been escapes. Isolated escapes.

But now you have allowed four British officers

to break out on the same day.

Two were recaptured, sir. - That is no credit to you, Kommandant.

Your job is to ensure that no escapes take place at all!

Yes, sir.

This business has attracted unfavourable notice in the very highest quarters.

The responsibility is yours. There has been talk of replacing you.

Other even more drastic steps were discussed.

However, I was able to bring some influence to bear.

You understand me? - Yes, sir.

Karl, my personal opinion

is that you have done an excellent job here at Colditz.

Privately, I had my doubts about the policy of containing

and confining difficult prisoners to one roof.

It means continual trouble

and it's created a potentially explosive situation.

Now, you have prevented an explosion.

Also, we are by way of being old friends, huh?

Now, on this occasion, my intervention carried some weight.

But if there is another outbreak of this order...

Well, there are limits to my protection.

Do I make myself clear? - Yes, sir. And thank you.

Good. And now perhaps you will be good enough to send for Ulmann?

I wish to study your report on the methods used in this escape.

You'd better take the weight off that ankle, Simon.

Thank you, sir.

Have you seen the MO lately? - Oh, there's no need, sir.

You're not gonna be much use to anybody if you do yourself any permanent damage.

See the MO tomorrow, all right? - Yes, sir.

Now, I want your opinion.

I've held off appointing a new escape officer

until I knew whether Pat had got away,

and because I want to make sure I make the right choice.

Any thoughts? - Yes, sir, Captain Downing, sir,

he's dead keen to have a go. - Yeah.

I've also considered Captain Brent.

But on second thoughts, I don't think he's got enough authority.

Well, Downing's the obvious one, sir. He's a jolly good organiser.

Yeah.

You considered yourself?

Me? - Yes.

As escape officer?

Oh, no, no, no, sir, that's not my style at all.

I think it could be.

"Additional catwalks and machine gun positions have been installed.

"Rigorous searches continue,

"more frequent checks have been carried out,

"and a continuous study of possible escape points is going on."

That concludes the report, sir.

Ulmann, do you consider this to be a satisfactory report?

No, sir.

Kommandant? - No, sir. Though I would like to say

that Ulmann has done his utmost. - Yes, we can take that for granted.

You have had three weeks to determine how these men got out

and you have failed to do so.

A report like this will not be well-received, I assure you.

Now, Simon, I don't want you turning this down with less

than five minutes' thought about it. - There's nothing to think about, sir.

Well, I think there is.

Now, I'll tell you why I'm going to persist.

In the first place, there's your enthusiasm.

I mean, you've dedicated yourself to learning

every possible escape technique.

Yes, sir, but that's only 'cause I want to get...

If you will allow me to finish, please. - Sorry, sir.

And secondly, now that Pat's gone,

you are, without doubt, the most knowledgeable officer.

You don't suffer fools gladly, which is a good thing.

The other officers respect you,

in some cases, I think they're even a little wary of you.

Yeah, well, most of them are in the army, sir, I'm RAF

and we've got a different idea of discipline in the RAF.

Well, operational flying requires self-discipline,

which is exactly what we've got to instil into our escapers.