It’s 17.00 on a cold starlit night in December 1942. Royal Navy Submarine HMS Tuna is surfacing from the dark waters of the Atlantic … One of the most daring and courageous operations of the Second World War … blow up enemy shipping … A daring raid on the coast of France. Timewatch: The Most Courageous Raid of WWII: The Cockleshell Heroes, BBC 2011
As a leader, [Herbert] Hasler always inspired his men by example. ibid.
Hasler was ordered back to the Combined Operations Headquarters in London. Here he was given the file on the Bordeaux operation – now christened Operation Frankton. ibid.
This would be a one-way journey. ibid.
There was another operation under way: organised by the Special Operations Executive, or SOE, their agents had been given exactly the same mission as Hasler and his men. ibid.
A Whitehall cock-up on a mighty scale. ibid.
It’s one of the great legends of the Second World War, a daring new weapon, a raid of daring and courage. Nineteen Lancasters flying deep into the heart of the Third Reich at night at just one hundred feet. History knows them as the Dam Busters. Timewatch: Dam Busters: The Race to Smash the German Dams, BBC 2013
The Second World War has gone down in history as the greatest show of military power the world has ever known. Since it ended over seventy years ago historians have poured over every detail of the battle … The events may not change, but how we see them does. Saul David, World War II: A Timewatch Guide, BBC 2016
Television has helped create a more definitive picture of the war. ibid.
‘Two and a half million troops from India, Pakistan and the rest of the sub-continent formed the biggest volunteer army in the history of the world’. ibid. Timewatch documentary
Doc, I don’t want to fly any more – it’s dangerous. Catch 22 1970 Starring Alan Arkin & Martin Balsam & Richard Benjamin & Arthur Garfunkel & Jack Gilford & Anthony Perkins & Martin Sheen & Jon Voight & Orson Welles & Buck Henry & Bob Newhart & Paula Prentiss et al, director Mike Nichols, pilots' mess Yossarian
Doc Daneeka: They’re crazy.
Yossarian: Then why don’t you ground them?
Doc Daneeka: Why don’t they ask me to ground them?
Yossarian: Because they’re crazy, that’s why.
Doc Daneeka: Of course they’re crazy. I just told you they’re crazy, didn’t I? And you can’t let crazy people decide if they’re crazy or not.
Yossarian: Is Orr crazy?
Doc Daneeka: He sure is.
Yossarian: Can you ground him?
Doc Daneeka: I sure can. But first he has to ask me to. That’s part of the rule.
Yossarian: Then why doesn’t he ask you to?
Doc Daneeka: Because he’s crazy. He has to be crazy to keep flying combat missions after all the close calls he’s had. Sure, I can ground Orr. But first he has to ask me to. ibid.
There’s a catch – Catch 22 – anyone who wants to get out of combat isn’t really crazy, so I can’t ground them. ibid. Doc Daneeka
A syndicate, an enterprise – there are tremendous profits to be made, Colonel. ibid. Cook
Where the hell’s my parachute? ibid. Yossarian
I don’t want anyone to come in and see me while I’m in my office. ibid. Major Major
I think we have keep our supernatural episodes down to a minimum. What with a war to win and all that. ibid. Lieutenant Colonel
Atheism is against the law, isn’t it? It isn’t well – it’s un-American isn’t it? ibid. Colonel
Take him out and shoot him … You mean I can’t shoot whoever I want to? ibid. General
We’re presenting these men with medals for doing a lousy job … A direct hit on the ocean? ibid.
This life is not nice. ibid. Garfunkel
A contract is a contract – that’s what we’re fighting for. ibid. Colonel
They’ll be happier when you’re gone. ibid. Colonel
At least it’s nice to know you’re wanted. The Great Escape 1963 starring Steve McQueen & James Garner & Richard Attenborough & James Donald & Charles Bronson & Donald Pleasence & James Coburn & Hannes Messemer & David McCallum & Gordon Jackson & John Leyton & Angus Lennie & Nigel Stock et al, director John Sturgess, Group Captain Ramsey to German Colonel
50 of your officers were shot while escaping. ibid. German Colonel to Ramsey
Do you think it was worth the price? ibid. Hendley
Two and three and four o’clock night after night and after a hard day of his real job at Vickers. The Dam Busters 1954 starring Richard Todd & Michael Redgrave & Ursula Jeans & Basil Sydney & Derek Farr & Patrick Farr & Ernest Clark & Charles Carson & Stanley van Beers & Colin Tayley et al, director Michael Anderson, wife to doctor
Looks a bit choppy down there. ibid. bomber
Sweetheart, when you believe in a thing as much as I’ve believed this, there really isn’t any other work until you have seen it through. ibid. Barnes to wife
Everything depends on secrecy in a show like this. ibid. Gibson
Eight of the Lancasters are missing. ibid. announcement
Tobruk 1942: You’ve had just about enough, sir. Ice Cold in Alex 1957 starring John Mills & Sylvia Syms & Anthony Quayle & Harry Andrews & Diane Clare & Richard Leech & Liam Redmond & Peter Arne et al, director J Lee Thompson, army bloke to Mills
She got into a bit of a panic; we had to give her some dope. ibid. Mills
The next drink I have’s gonna be a lager – ice cold; there’s a little bar in Alex with a marble top counter and high stools. They serve the best beer in the whole of the Middle East. When we get through with this, I’ll buy you one. ibid.
Two ships and a handful of men. The men are the heroes. The heroines are the ships. The only villain is the sea. The cruel sea that man has made more cruel. The Cruel Sea 1952 starring Jack Hawkins & Donald Sinden & Denholm Elliott & John Stratton & Stanley Baker & Liam Redmond & Bruce Seton & Meredith Edwards & Virginia McKenna & June Thorburn & Megs Jenkins et al, director Charles Frend, captain’s commentary
I’m the First Lieutenant around here. And don’t you forget it. ibid. Baker
And so we went to war. The Atlantic is a very big ocean and in winter weather the finest hiding place in the world. ibid. captain’s commentary
And how to go without sleep. And how to bury the dead. And how to die without wasting anyone’s time. ibid.
Captain: There’s some chaps in the water there.
Crewman: Well there’s a U-boat just underneath them. ibid.
Bloody murderer! ibid. crewman to captain
No-one murdered them. It’s the war. The whole bloody war. ibid. captain
They don’t look very different from us, do they? ibid. number one
At a critical stage of the war, fast Merchant ships operating from Bordeaux were seriously endangering the British blockade. For political reasons saturation bombing was rejected: the Navy was unable to penetrate the defences without air cover. The Royal Marines were given the job. Portsmouth, England, March 1942. The Cockleshell Heroes 1955 starring Jose Ferrer & Trevor Howard & Dora Bryan & Anthony Newley & Victor Maddern & David Lodge & Peter Arne & Percy Herbert & John van Eyssen & Walter Fitzgerald et al, director Jose Ferrer, caption
I’ve never seen such an appalling exhibition in my life. ibid. Howard
Stealth and secrecy are our only hope. Where Eagles Dare 1968 starring Clint Eastwood & Richard Burton & Mary Ure & Patrick Wymark & Michael Hordern & Donald Houston & Peter Barkworth & William Squire & Robert Beatty et al, director Brian G Hutton, Big Knob
Broadsword to Danny Boy. ibid. radio transmissions
What did he die for? The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957 starring Alec Guinness & William Holden & Jack Hawkins & Ann Sears & Sessue Hayakawa & James Donald & Geoffrey Horne & Heihachiro Okawa & Keiichiro Katsumoto et al, director David Lean, Sheers at graveside
You British prisoners have been chosen to build a bridge across the River Kwai. It will be pleasant work requiring skill. ibid. camp big knob