The Longest Day Page #5

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What a day!

Welcome to France.

Welcome to Colleville!

Most kind of you.

Very nice to meet you...

Look at this. I kept it for you all.

But I don't think there

will be enough for everyone.

Perhaps next time. We have

a previous engagement: The war!

Mustn't lose that champagne!

All right, men, fall in!

Millin, "Blue Bonnet."

Goodbye.

Thank you, boys! Thank you!

Long live France!

Long live the Allies!

If you ask me, Flanagan...

...there's a lot of very

peculiar blokes on this beach.

Welcome!

Welcome to you all!

Rommel speaking.

Good morning.

What?

What!

Where?

Normandy!

There it is.

You mean to tell me

that's all we gotta climb?

They're not as high

as the practice ones.

They wasn't shooting at us then.

Why can't the Air Force

or Navy do this job?

The big guns in bunkers behind the

cliff can't be seen from the air.

We knock them out or they'll

murder our guys on the beach.

Yeah, well if you ask me...

...three grandmothers with brooms

could sweep us off there...

...like flies off of a sugar cake.

That's it, the one we're after.

It's empty.

The Air Force and Navy

really plastered this baby.

But I don't get...

The guns.

There ain't no mounts.

They've never even been installed.

You mean...

...we come up all this way...

...for nothing?

Don't worry, sarge,

you'll be all right.

Medic! Medic!

I wonder what "bitte, bitte" means?

What the hell are you

wearing a life preserver for?

I can't swim.

Normandy. It really is Normandy.

Yes, Field Marshal.

Call him?

What's that?

Here, let me help you.

You all right, Tom?

Come on, they're up there.

-Sir.

-Well?

Mr. Smith says to tell you

he's stood his men too.

The Jerries are moving up

into the woods...

...with machine guns and mortars.

-Tell the men to stand firm!

-Tell the chaps...

Tell them to expect another

counterattack, a heavy one.

-Here you are, mate.

-Ta.

What's the matter?

Listen. I thought I heard bagpipes.

Don't be daft!

I told you I heard bagpipes!

It's the reinforcements.

It's Lovat!

Come on!

Come on!

-Sorry I'm late.

-Better than never, sir.

Glad to see you, Shimmy.

You boys are right on target.

What's the situation?

Jerry's regrouping in the woods,

about a mile.

With mortars and machine guns.

Numbers?

No idea, Shimmy, but they seem

to be moving forward in force.

In that case, we won't wait.

We'd better get moving.

All right, we're going across.

-Millin!

-Sir?

"Black Bear," sir.

All right, come on.

Everybody up!

On your feet!

There he goes. He's at it again.

Ever hear such a bleeding racket

in all your life?

Yeah, it takes an Irishman

to play the pipes.

Hold until relieved.

Hold until relieved.

North by east, north by east.

Sainte-Mre-Eglise is that way.

Somebody turned that sign around.

Doesn't anybody in this outfit

look at a compass besides me?

Hey, you guys!

Over here! Over here!

Over here, on the double.

-Where you taking that?

-We don't know, sir.

We took the wrong road.

What do you got in here, ammo?

Yes, sir.

You 82nd?

No, sir, 101.

Well, you're in the 82nd now.

-But, sir, we're...

-But what?

Nothing, sir.

All right, move out.

-Knock that sign down!

-Yes, sir.

-Something's moving up there, colonel.

-Hit the dirt! Take cover.

Lieutenant Sheen, sir, A Company.

Colonel, it's me!

-Where did you come from?

-Sainte-Mre-Eglise.

We hold the main road

and north side of the square.

The Germans have a battery

on the other side of the town...

-...and command the countryside.

-And Major Lance?

-Holed up in a building in the square.

-F Company?

They overshot the drop zone

and landed in the middle of the town.

Go on.

It was a nightmare, sir. A slaughter.

They were mowed down

before they hit the ground.

Major Lance sent me to try

and contact you, sir.

He wants your permission to pull back

and regroup outside of town.

No, damn it. We came here

to take Sainte-Mre-Eglise.

We're gonna take it and hold it.

Follow the lieutenant, gentlemen.

-Sir.

-Thank you.

British and Canadians advancing

steadily from Sword, Gold, and Juno.

Anything from Omaha?

Nothing since the first message:

Heavy fighting, heavy casualties.

Sir.

Omaha?

No.

I can't understand why Jerry hasn't

brought his heavy armor into play.

All the panzer divisions

except the 21 st...

...seem to be sitting it out

in the rear.

Sir.

French commandos driving inland

from Sword...

...have reached the outskirts

of Ouistreham.

Ouistreham.

Fall back!

Take cover!

Fire!

Get the wounded out of here!

Go back!

Get out of here!

It's a tank!

It's Kieffer!

In the other direction!

Clear away the debris! Hurry!

Yeah, yeah, you're trying.

That thing still work?

Yes, sir, now and then.

-Anything from the other beaches?

-Not directly.

A while ago the sergeant picked up

some flashes from the destroyers.

The 4th Division is off Utah Beach

and moving inland.

Inland?

-What about the 1 st Division?

-They're hung up, sir.

Like we are.

Move out.

-What do you think?

-Think?

We must have close to a thousand

casualties up to now.

Do you want me to have the ships

start picking us up?

-You think it's that bad?

-I don't see what else to do.

We can't get up this hill.

If we don't get off this beach,

we won't have any division left.

What?

These are our men, Tom.

You think we brought them in so some

die and ask the rest to turn tail?

Hell, no.

We're gonna get up that hill.

Find me somebody to speak

for the Rangers.

Back down the beach

on the right there's a gully.

With a heavily defended roadblock

and machine gun nests on both sides.

-If we can blow our way through...

-We've hit it three times.

-We didn't get close.

-Three times isn't enough.

We're gonna hit it again.

Can you find me some engineers?

They're all around you!

I mean engineers

with equipment still working.

Then I shouldn't radio the ships?

No, damn it!

We need bangalore torpedoes,

bazookas, mortars, wire cutters...

...and every man that can stand.

Pass the word, will you?

Okay, Norm.

Now listen to me, all of you.

You guys got to snap out of it.

We're getting off of here,

and we're going inland.

What about weapons, General?

My men lost everything.

They gotta have something

to fight with.

Strip the dead and the wounded.

Pick up anything that'll shoot.

I don't have to tell you the score,

you all know it.

Only two kinds of people

are gonna stay on this beach:

Those that are already dead and those

that will die. Get off your butts!

You guys are the fighting 29th!

I've looked at the naval reports.

Yes?

According to reports from the offshore

destroyers, Omaha is a shambles.

There's no evidence...

To quote the report exactly:

"There is no evidence of any movement

that can be observed off the beach."

I'd better have a look through these.

How is Ike taking it?

Like everybody else, sir.

Hanging on by his fingernails.

Can you hear me?

Nonsense!

Yes, General.

-Where is everybody?

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