Winston.
Where were you?
Beaches always bring it back.
Almost 30 years have gone now.
So many young men.
So much waste.
It's getting late.
Come on.
I mustn't let it happen again.
Winston.
Good God.
Winston!
- I was working. - You're late.
Burden.
Give me a Louis XIII, Smuts.
For five years we have asked our men,
to endure the tribulations of war.
No, no, no... The trials of war.
Yes. For five years we have asked our men,
to endure the trials of war.
Suffering of war. Yeah, sufferings of war.
You are ready to go.
Honestly, darling, I think you will need these.
- Knee-breeches. - Weren't you allowed to wear the uniform?
- The king will be there. - Will so the Americans.
His Majesty takes precedence, even over them.
That is the way it is done.
Americans respect military uniforms.
I am choosing between trials and tribulations.
Do stop adding to them.
This is all gonna go splendidly.
The Cabinet Office has sent you a new secretary.
- Could you say hello? - Why do I need a new secretary?
Because you ate the last one.
- Helen Garrett. - My dear.
Who's envy you to drop to the floor my dear? I am not royalty.
Sorry, I... It's such a honor...
to meet you, Mr. Churchill, sir.
- My mother and I are huge supporters. - Ah, yes?
Yes. Well, you are the one, sir. The one who will see us through.
You won't give up on us.
My dear Miss Garrett, that's why I fight on every day.
And now I must go forth and do just that.
- I'll try to reel him in. - You can try.
Miss Garrett.
The sufferings of war. No, no, no. No.
For five long years
our people have endured the sufferings of war.
The soldiers have born their burden with pride.
The soldiers have born their burden with valor.
Valor is better than pride.
The soldiers have born their burden with valor...
and pride.
Attention!
- Here we go. - Winston.
General Eisenhower.
Field Marshal Brooke.
- General Montgomery. - Mr. Churchill.
What a gathering.
Sorry to expose you to the English summer.
- We couldn't risk this meeting in London. - Just think...
if Hitler were to drop a bomb on this little patch
he would at one blast...
destroy the entire high command of our allied forces.
Let's hope we get through it?
Thank you.
Sir.
Majesty, gentlemen. This is our last briefing on...
Operation Overlord, the assault on the German
occupying forces in the north of France.
We have only a three day window, before the tides change
making it impossible to land our crafts.
So it is a great throw of the dice. But if we win the day,
we'll go a long way toward, winning the war.
We are in final stages,
but as usual I welcome any criticism to this plan as it stands.
We must all work together, to pull this off.
Prime Minister?
This will be the greatest campaign
yet mounted by our allied forces.
Operation overlord would require 200,000 vehicles,
a fleet of 7,000 ships, swarms of planes...
most essentially a quarter of a million men.
All this, will be focused, in one place.
Taking the German army head on.
- That's right. - No, gentlemen, no.
This plan may be admirable in its bravery
but in its risk it is fool hearted.
- Jesus Christ. - Our own causality estimates predict
that anything up to 160,000 French civilians will be killed.
If Overlord fails, which would all too easily could...
we will lose at one strike most of our war material,
along with tens of thousands of our own men.
Who then will defend England?
Would you have us do nothing with the Nazis amassing 20 miles off our shores?
No! I would have us do more!
We must split the advance, to spread the risk.
- No. - Don't you see?
We could tempt Hitler's forces into the Aegean.
Draw his eye away from the coasts of France.
The plans for D-Day have been in place for over a month.
For five long years we have asked our men,
to endure the tribulations of war.
They have born their burden with valor.
But I have seen beach landings such as this before
in the first war.
The potential for disaster is too great.
We must not rush in. We must think
and we must fix this broken plan,
before it ends in tragedy.
Well, that sounds rather if...
we are discussing different operations.
Sir, Overlord has been fully prepared.
I would be happy to send you a detailed plan.
Do that. Thank you.
Excuse me, Gentlemen, I have...
another ship to launch.
Your Majesty.
You haven't believed in this all along.
Someone had to speak on behalf of the ordinary fighting men.
Brooke, could you ride with me?
Bastard.
- Why? - Oh, don't look so shocked, Smuts.
I just saved the war.
Winston, please. We must discuss this.
Quite right. We must start preparing changes to the plan immediately.
- No, wait! - No time to wait.
You can't just change everything over the heads of our allies.
I can! I can! Weakness doesn't impress Americans.
They respect strength.
There is a difference between strength and arrogance.
Last time you British tried to tell them what to do...
- You lost the colonies. - You forget, Smuts.
I am half an American myself. My dear, late mother
was native of Brooklyn, New York! No less.
They don't care about your mother.
Good afternoon.
We must draw up new plans.
- Briggs, give me the admiral routine. - Yes, sir.
We must set up a distraction in the Aegean.
Fanshawe, find out, if General Alexander has reached Rome yet?
He must keep driving the Nazis back.
Miss Garrett, get combined ops on the phone.
Someone there who knows about Norway.
We must amass all our resources.
This is our chance.
It is time to win this war.
Have you finished being rude about my mother?
- Why are you doing this? - D...
D-Day will be a disaster, Smuts.
Throwing all those men at one spot
on a well defended coast line, teeming with Nazis.
They would be slaughtered. That's not warfare.
It's butchering. And I can't let them do that to our men.
- Winston... - Ah, Brookie, I'm glad you are back.
We must talk about this plan for Bordeaux.
- Eisenhower wants to see you. - Good. Good.
I think of less formal wear, don't you?
- I tried. - We all have.
You know that there comes a time when
even the greatest of the leaders has gone as far as he can go.
Winston!
Attention!
Present arms!
Follow me please, gentlemen.
You will listen to Ike, won't you, Winston?
Yeah, we will listen to each other.
An exchange of views.
Brooke.
- Winston. - Ike.
I'm glad to see you...
I hope we can talk about the Bordeaux landing site plan.
Why don't you sit down?
That was hell of a speech today, Winston, hell of a speech.
Much needed to be said.
- You should said some of it to me earlier. - You said yourself you welcome criticism.
I do. I welcome any thoughts on...
how to increase Overlord's chances of success,
decrease causalities, short supply lines...
But start talking about turning it into a totally different operation,
in front of the men who have spent months planning it
in front of the king of England, well...
That could be seen as unhelpful.
Unhelpful?
You must remember, Ike, we fought the Germans and France before.
Even if you break through in Normandy,
even with the massive causalities, civilian and military,
what will our boys face in France?
Another western front? Passchendaele?
The Somme? Trench warfare!
Winston, we have an air force. We have self-propelled artillery,
armored divisions, the age of pushing infantry to the front is over.
Operation Overlord is not the only way of winning this war.
I should know, I have seen a great many wars.
Sure. Some of them in the last century.
- I beg your pardon? - The war you are talking about
was 30 years ago. I don't think you truly appreciate
how much things have moved on...
- What is this, Brookie? - The thing is, Winston.
We don't have the capacity, to carry out these other plans of yours.
Bordeaux, Italy or anything.
All I'm trying to do is win this war.
You see, I think you're trying to win the last war.
With the same ideas and tactics they had then.
They were lessons we learned in the last war.
I don't want to make the same mistakes.
- Of course. - And I shall not be stopped...
from speaking my mind.
You are, of course, the Prime Minister.
Which is exactly why we can't have you trying to disrupt things.
I am imprecisely to disrupt it.
The invasion of France is a deadly gamble
and must be stopped!
No, sir, you must be stopped!
Look, we're all tired.
You told me yourself, Winston. You are no longer leaping out of your bed
first thing in the morning, rarely up before noon.
Perhaps you should vouch your energies to politics...
keeping the nation's morale, that sort of thing.
What? Am I to be a clown?
Entertain the masses while you send young men to the death?
Winston, we're taking care of it.
I have commissioned alternative plans from the forces.
They should be here tomorrow, and then...
The forces are not carrying out your plans.
You counter mandate my orders?
And...
You both feel this?
You need to let us do the job.
Well, if you excuse me, I must be on my way back to London.
- I'll come with you. - I rather you didn't.
I have papers, that I must look at in the car.
Winston.
Thank you for hearing what we had to say.
You are great asset to this country,
to this ally war effort. We all know that.
Absolutely.
I am fine.
Very good, sir.
Left, right, left, right...
Look!
Left, right, left, right...
That would be all. Yes, thank you.
Oh, Winston.
I'm going to the Russell fund meeting.
Margaret's holding a dinner afterwards.
Ike spoke to you, didn't he?
I ran this country and this war for more than two years,
before these Americans even turned up.
Yet, as if my experience, my knowledge of warfare
accounted for nothing.
So Ike has a great deal of experience in warfare.
Maybe you should listen to him.
Is everyone to overrule everything I say?
The king appointed me Prime Minister of this country.
And it's my duty to lead them through this war!
Don't you see you aren't the only one capable of making decisions?
Is this about the war...
or is it about you and me?
- Do you want to be cuddled, Winston? - I would settle for some respect.
Then don't complain, when someone tells you the truth.
I'll be late.
Bastards.
Where is everybody?
I should think they're still at breakfast, sir.
I'll be going to the coast today. I shall need Smuts.
Miss Garrett, take a telegram.
Begins.
To Halifax, British Embassy, Washington DC.
We celebrate success of campaign in Italy.
Pushing Nazis back. Americans must now see need to slice up hard
into soft underbelly of Europe.
The amphibious landings, they plan for Normandy,
must not become a distraction. I hope you impress this on
President when next you meet.
Leaving him in no doubt, of how a pro fervent enthusiasm
for our American allies. Ends.
Give me clop.
Clop! Clop!
Clop.
What are you doing?
Working.
The word I used was pro fervent,
Miss Garrett, meaning intense. According to your draft
I would have our ambassador impress on President Roosevelt
my perverted enthusiasm...
for our American allies.
I'm terribly sorry.
He had rather a tiring day yesterday.
- And I don't take it's over. - I'm fine.
Good to hear.
Oh, was that necessary?
I'm trying to run a country and a war.
I can't afford mistakes.
- The car is ready, sir. - Oh, thank you, Briggs.
- Why do you need your car? - I am going inspect Monty's troops.
Has he invited you?
Clemmie, I may only have a day
before they launched this show. The least I can do...
is to give some small words of encouragement to those young men,
they are sending to die on the beaches.
And just remember, Win. They need to respect their commanders.
- That isn't your shooting party. - I am only going to speak.
That's rather what I am afraid of.
No, it looks to me,
that Monty has his numbers wrong.
For all these vehicles only this many men?
- No, this is right. - It's far too weak on infantry.
He knows what he is doing.
When you speak to his men, to keep it short, will you?
Perhaps you could say something generous about him?
I have had the good fortune
to speak in public on a few occasions before, Smuts.
I should think, I will manage this one.
- Good afternoon gentlemen. - Monty.
Why don't we take a look around?
- What bloody hell is going on? - He means to inspect your troops.
- They don't need inspecting. - You tell him that.
- All right. - No, wait.
- He needs to feel part of it. - Oh, for Christ sake.
Most of the men have already shipped direct.
Look, can you let him see a few maps
then I will be able to get him away, I promise.
- You are serious, aren't you? - Please...
Prime Minister, if you care to join me. I'll show you the plans.
Oh, very good.
The 21st Army Group is splitting to landing points along the beaches.
Seventh corps to Utah Beach here, Fifth at Omaha,
the 30th between Gold and Juno, the first Juno and Sword.
How great is the whole distance of
this coast line, Utah to Sword?
About 50 miles.
We must attack along the wider front.
If you land them in pocket such as this
the men will be surrounded instantly by Germans.
They'll be we cut off, slaughtered.
We have the advantage of surprise.
What if they use poison gas on our men?
- We would retaliate. - What? Well they could fire it from planes,
strewn across villages.
We would bomb the hell out them and they know it.
- Are you sure? - I am so sure,
I am not even letting my men carry gas masks.
Does he mean that?
Well, landing has been planned, Churchill.
- That's the end of the matter, I insist. - And who are you to insist?
- Oh, for Christ sake, Winston. - Gentlemen, please.
We have this chance! Only one chance...
to drive the Nazis back and liberate Paris!
You will have beaches chocked with the bodies of
British and American youths!
We all know that warfare has consequences!
Who cares when so many human lives are at stake?
Have you not thought of the cost if we go?
Have you not thought of the cost if we don't?
This plan is for slaughter.
The Germans are in position.
They have reserves available.
There will be obstacles, minefields, unknown hazards.
- Exactly. - Then we must get the men sing red.
They must be completely on their toes with absolute faith in the plan.
No one must undermine their confidence, including you.
- What? - I heard...
what you said in front of the king and our allies.
I won't have you speaking like that to the men going to those beaches.
I only want to boost up their courage!
And yet the last time you spoke it was all doubt and treachery.
- Did he say treachery? - I'm sure he didn't mean that.
That puffed up little shit!
The men won't follow him.
As you can see,
today we have some important visitors,
who can't wish you well.
We're going soon.
Very soon.
You are young all of you.
Many of you have never been under fire.
And you don't know, what you are about to go through.
Some of you are fearful. That's natural.
But let's band together.
Look out for your brother in arms and they will look out for you.
So let's all get in there.
Shoot straight. Smash those bastards.
- Yes sir! - Get the job done.
- And get back here. - Let's do it, lads.
And I want you all to remember one thing
as you land on those beaches. What's your most important possession?
- It's your life. - Yes! Yes, sir!
- And I am gonna save it for you. - Yes! Yes!
- Oh, yeah! What are we gonna do? - Get Nazis out! Yeah!
You and I together will see this thing through!
Yes! Yes, sir!
Just keep it short and polite.
Whatever you do, don't insult anyone.
I won't speak.
Won't?
- He said all that's need to be said. - Good luck.
Well put, sir.
Thank you, sir.
I might take a strode onto the beach.
Only a minute.
Winston, the car is ready!
He is a gremial dog, that Monty.
But I'd say one thing for him. He's prepared to fight.
He will go with those men. He will see action.
- Far too few of our leaders do. - You did in the last war.
The Western Front.
After... after what happened in the Turkish campaign.
But it isn't right, it isn't right,
to set out the whole war in an office in London.
Sending thousands of soldiers into gunfire
- with the flourish of the pen. - That is the job...
- of a political leader. - But Monty gets to be a real leader.
I should be on those boats, at the front with the men!
Get there, even before Monty does.
- I want to tell you a story. - Must you?
Yes. It's about the end of the Second Boer War,
in which we both saw action.
- Is there a point to this? - 1902. We, Boer, set lost.
And it felt to me to meet your lord Kitchener
make peace, the other commanders were furious.
I was called a coward. But I knew
that there was no glory for us or for me in fighting on.
- We would only damage ourselves. - Smuts.
Being a great leader doesn't always mean seizing the glory.
Sometimes you have to accept
that you cannot lead everything from the front.
You and I are like two old lovebirds,
mooting together on a perch, but still able to peck.
- I'm not pecking. - You are pecking.
Eisenhower will listen to me.
He is a man of reason, a man of integrity.
- A great man, I think. - Winston, please.
Don't add yourself to his problems.
Well, I want to talk to him.
Where is General Eisenhower?
- Winston. - Ike.
Apologies for the short notice.
I wanted to tell you about my plans for D-Day.
- Your plans? - I have arranged a berth myself.
- On HMS Belfast. - This ship is sailing into battle.
I know you and I haven't agreed on all points of this operation,
but surely we must agree on its importance.
The men need to feel, that the nation is with them.
- So I shall go. - Is this a joke?
- Not in a million. - But for Christ sake, you can't go.
- Why not? - Because if you get killed on one of my ships,
- it's my responsibility. - The HMS Belfast is not one of your ships.
- She's one of the king's. - Let's not split hairs.
I have accepted you as the supreme commander...
of the British forces involved in Overlord,
but in the Navy there are 4 of our men to every one of yours.
- Christ, Winston... - But you're an American general.
You may not regulate the compliments of British ships.
I am not trying to regulate your goddamn ships.
- I am just telling you not to go. - I'm the Prime Minister
of the United Kingdom, a Minister of Defense.
I shall go, where ever I consider it necessary,
to the discharge of my duty! You may not tie me down!
- Tie you down? - I've seen this before,
in the first war. Big men, fighting from the safety of their armchairs.
It's no good. Commanders must see the battlefields for themselves.
You're not a god damn commander!
Is this about Montgomery? You just trying to get on the beaches before him?
Of course not. I didn't even thought of that.
- What if you get shot? - I've been in wars before.
You are the sitting Prime Minister. We can't risk your life.
You are asking a quarter of a million young men to risk their's.
That's their job. It's not yours!
If you want me to submit, to this unquestionably dangerous plan,
the least you can do is let me lead my men into battle.
I will not sit back in London with my paws crossed,
listening to them being mooned down by German bullets on the wireless.
I shall go with them. I shall share their fate.
Don't ask me host your goddamn amateur theatrics!
There is a war on!
I am not asking you to host anything.
I shall be travelling to France as the king's Prime Minister,
aboard the king's ship.
And what's more, the king will be coming with me.
- What? - His Majesty and I...
are in complete agreement, we must be there...
to lead the men and there is nothing you or Monty
can do about it.
I need to speak to number 10. We're running out of time.
Winston, I've been looking for you everywhere.
A man needs a moment of quite contemplation,
before heading into battle.
You must come.
You have a visitor.
Good evening, Winston.
Your Majesty.
I was told, I might find you here.
I had to...
come over.
It's about the plan
to go on the...
the ship.
We can't.
- I see. - I know I agreed when...
When you telephoned earlier, it was...
That was rash of me.
That...
That changes often
at this moment...
could be a serious matter for the empire.
And Lilibet is...
is only 18.
Such a determined girl,
but still so very young.
So, no, I can't go.
And I don't need to say to you,
what you'd mean for the allied
cause if a chance...
a bomb should remove you from the scene.
Sir, it's... it's all arranged.
More over the risk is negligible.
Our presence would be an embarrassment, Winston.
To those responsible...
for the fighting.
Whether we wanted it to be or not.
The right thing to do, is what normally
falls to those at the top on such occasions...
to remain at home.
And wait.
I served in the last war, as you do.
Sailed a ship, flew a plane.
Bloody hell, that was exciting.
I know this will you seek.
Everyone thinks they are the most powerful man in the world.
Until not allowed to do anything at all.
My job is not to fight,
not to die.
I must exist.
And be gracious...
tonight.
Bring hope.
And that is my duty.
And it is yours too.
My duty.
Go easy on Ike and Monty.
You mustn't go to war, Winston.
And you must not go to France.
Well?
Sir, you are my king.
And I must do as you command.
The anxiety...
down the coming days would be
greatly increased for me if
in addition to everything else
well, was even the slightest risk, of loosing you.
Yeah. I must be off.
They'll fight for sure if I don't get back soon.
Good night, Winston.
Britain will thank you for it, Winston.
I believe all of us will.
Forever.
Majesty.
- Did Ike send him? - Ike asked me.
I telephoned the palace.
Why, Clemmie? Why?
Couldn't you have talked to me?
When was the last time that you actually listened to anybody?
When was the last time that you sat and had a conversation with me?
Oh, I am sorry. I must have been distracted by this little matter
- of trying to win a war. - General Eisenhower sends his wife
long letters every weekend, even though he's thousands of miles away.
Why don't you marry General Eisenhower?
Perhaps some younger men, still in his prime
who everybody seems to think is a real war hero.
Not some clapped up, moth-eaten old lions,
whose teeth have been pulled, so he's not to frighten the ladies.
Try acting like a hero, Winston.
And then maybe people will believe that you are one again.
Why don't you just have me stabbed?
Please take your seats.
Gentlemen, we are here at this unsocial hour,
to make the greatest decision of our lives.
The armada of Overlord has began to sail.
This is the last moment, the last crucial moment,
in which we must decide whether this operation proceed today as planned.
Of course we must consider the conditions,
wind, rain, tides.
So let's have report. Troop Captain Stagg, the weather.
Gentlemen, the fears my colleagues and I have had
with the weather over the next three or four days have been confirmed.
The sea will be rough. Winds up to four six.
A lot of low clouds.
We have had a report from the West Irish station,
that their barometer is falling rapidly there.
A further depression is heading our way.
I'm sorry, sir. It's not a good picture.
General Montgomery, what do you recommend?
We are there nearly out of time.
I think we must launch now.
- Air chief Marshall? - I'm afraid I disagree.
These are terrible conditions for air support.
I don't know how much I can provide in this weather.
But it won't be much.
Admiral, what do you think?
It's dreadful. I think we must consider
how feasible it is to land craft in a storm.
Damn it, Ike. My men have already sailed.
Admiral, how long do we have, before the ships will have gone too far,
to call them back?
Perhaps 30 minutes.
There could be another chance tomorrow. Stagg?
Sir, there may be a short break in the storms tomorrow morning.
But for the next 24 hours it will be very hard to say.
Which risk do you prefer to take?
Call them back.
We meet back here tomorrow at the same time.
Until then pray for good weather.
Ike, you call them back.
This hasn't been planned with any alternatives.
It has been planned as a victory, that's what it's going to be.
We are going down there,
we're gonna throw everything we have at it, and make it a success.
Because frankly, if we don't win this,
I don't know what kind of world we will be left with.
I wouldn't disagree with you there.
- Thank you. - Thank you sir.
Until tomorrow, Churchill. You can't stop it.
No.
But the weather might.
Brooke is here to bring you up to date,
with everything that has been happening on the coast.
The General Alexander's forces,
who yesterday took Rome from the Nazi,
shall today go into the greatest battle of the war.
The Italian campaign could win it.
The Supreme allied command is focusing its hope and attention now...
- on operation Overlord. - There is very little I can do about Overlord.
I have to direct my efforts, to winning the rest of this war.
I feel like a man chained to the chariot of a lunatic.
If we can just make him feel part of it.
The political fellows are worried about him too!
With the war ends this year, they're saying he could be a liability as a leader.
Now I know you're fond of him, Smuts.
And so am I, believe it or not,
but he's testing the limits.
- He's not the man he was. - When you reach calm waters,
it is easy to forget the captain, who steered you through the storm.
I haven't forgotten how great he was in the Blitz.
- But that was four years ago. - He's still a great man.
End. Bloody fool. You are all bloody fools.
This is single spaced! Why is it single spaced?
I'm sorry sir. Someone must have reset the typewriter.
Well, it must be double spaced.
Why do you waste my time? You stupid girl!
- I'm sorry, I didn't know. - Do you realize what I have to do?
I must look after the troops, keep them safe!
Food, shelter, equipment. All must be organized!
If I needed to supply people, they will probably send dental chairs instead of bayonets.
I must focus. You must focus.
Winston?
Would you come with me for a moment please?
A great man.
I cannot work if I am surrounded by such incompetence.
I'll show Brooke and Monty, what it takes to be a real general.
I will show them, how great men win their wars.
Stop it! Just stop it!
Brooke and Eisenhower and Monty are fighting this war...
and you just keep getting in their way.
- I am Prime Minister of this country! - Exactly.
- And Minister of Defense! - Don't pull rank...
makes you seem small.
And you don't need any more of that.
Will you stop telling me what to do?
I beg your pardon?
Perhaps it's time I took some rest.
I would say so.
Dear God.
Oh, dear...
Please, please, please, let it rain tomorrow.
Let it pour.
Let the heavens open and a deluge burst for
such as never have been seen in the English channel.
Let lightening flash.
Let thunder crash and roll and bellow.
Let winds tear up the beaches
and spin the sand into storms.
Let the sea churns into peaks and troughs and tidal waves.
Call spirits from the vastly deep.
Please.
Make them call it off
and spare the lives of all those fine young men on those ships.
Please.
Do not let it happen again.
Amen.
Thank you for coming again. Take your seats.
The weather, please.
Yesterday we predicted that there would be a short break in the storms this morning.
As of 0400 that holds good.
The cloud cover 2,000 feet stands at 3 tenths,
the wind is between force three and force four.
You would have a big celebration if that forecast is accurate.
These conditions could actually work against the Germans.
They won't be able to get their reconnaissance planes up at all.
Can the navy gunners spot in this visibility?
- Yes. - Monty?
The army is ready.
It's a hell of a risk.
But it's the best possible gamble.
The question is how long can you
leave something like this hanging out there on a limb?
Okay, let's go.
Troop Captain Stagg, photograph if you please.
Thank you.
Ike.
You have said that this war is not like the last war.
But this operation...
very much is.
Men will die tomorrow.
Do not let a single one of them die in vain.
Godspeed!
They'll go in.
- Holy shit! - Winston!
- I can't obey this. - For goodness sake.
I can't.
- I will not tolerate this from you. - I can't lead this.
- It's murder! - Sit down.
I will not be able to live the rest of my life with this on my conscience.
You have no choice.
Do you hear me?
I will not be able to live the rest of my life...
Is that a threat?
By the time we wake tomorrow,
20,000 young men may be dead.
You're drunk.
This is the only thing, that brings me peace.
Well, it's not working. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Yes, could you send the maid up to the breakfast room, please?
There has been an accident.
No, everyone is fine. Just a broken plate.
Thank you. Yes...
And could you tell Field Marshall Smuts, I would like to see him. Thank you.
How is he?
Come on.
Winston?
The ships are gathering in the channel.
They set sail at 1700 hours.
I thought I could help you, prepare your speeches for tomorrow.
- This has happened before? - A few times.
He gets very low and then he just sticks.
And anything you try to say to cheer him up just seems to make matters worse.
- Have you called for his doctor? - His doctor usually just sends him
to the country for a couple of weeks.
- He has to address the nation tomorrow. - I know.
Either to tell them that we're winning the war
or that we have just killed thousands of people needlessly.
Oh, dear.
Oh, dear. Oh, dear.
- Are you all right? - Yes of course.
It must be hard for you too.
I wish he would notice that.
Anyway, we must just do our best I suppose.
Why don't you let me talk to him.
I thought, if we came at this together,
we could all help write your speech for tomorrow.
It's a very important speech, Winston. Perhaps if you focus on that,
you will be able to summon the energy.
How shall we begin, Miss Garrett?
This is the Prime Minister.
Overnight, the combined allied forces
of air, sea and land began a full assault
on the German positions on the north coast of France.
This is the beginning of the greatest operation of war.
It will push the Nazis back and liberate France.
Thousands of brave young men have landed from a fleet of ships.
They have secured the beaches and pushed the German lines back.
- You don't know that. - What?
It's all too familiar, Smuts.
I've seen this before.
Gallipoli, 1915.
Massive amphibious landing.
A head on assault against the pervly entrenched army.
We had great plans, for the first Kitchener and I.
- This isn't 1915! - But the operation was cut back,
by the petty minded little snipping of the commandos.
Loose a dozen ships here. Don't send extra divisions.
They needn't have so many high explosives.
I tried to stop it. Oh, God knows I tried.
It was meant...
It was meant to be...
a little job.
We may as well have sent those men naked on to those beaches.
Warfare has moved on. Your lessons have been learnt.
A quarter of a million men were cut down at Gallipoli.
The empire blamed me. I was its champion.
But no one blames me more fiercely than I blame myself.
If that had succeeded, you would have been celebrated as a hero.
But it failed!
I sent men to die! Hundreds, thousands of them!
Their blood soaks my hands.
The men do their duty and we do ours.
- We must live with the guilt. - But we live...
and still the commanders have not learned.
For they do not care to learn.
They keep away from the battlefield and do not see the cost.
Eye shot out by sniper bullets.
Legs blown up by mines. Blood on the sea foam.
That's what the men see. That's what they face.
Half of those men on those ships today will be rotting corpses by tomorrow.
That's enough!
My fiancé is on one of those ships.
I think he is. He can't tell me exactly.
What's his rank?
He is a midshipman.
On a destroyer.
Arthur... Arthur Clayton.
How did you meet?
We grew up together in Portsmouth.
He says that he'll take care of me and my mother.
My father was in the first war.
That's still with him. He's not much good work.
Arthur says when he returns we'll get a cottage by the sea.
Fill it with children, grow roses around the door.
I want to believe that I won't end up like my mother and her sisters.
With all their men dead, or maimed, or shell shocked.
I want to believe, that he will just be alright.
That he'll just be alright.
I don't want to hear, that the man I love,
may in a few hours be dead.
And I don't want to hear it from you.
I thought that you were the bravest man in England.
I'm sorry. I have no right.
No.
You have every right.
Come. Sit down.
Thank you.
I must get dressed.
I need your help.
What are you talking about?
Duty.
Are you going?
I can't, can I?
I know I haven't been fully companion to you
for some while.
This war requires the whole of me.
And it's no easy matter, being a leader.
It's not that easy, being married to one either.
I expected to stand behind you and prop you up whenever you required
with good humor and unfailing kindness.
I sometimes wish, I could live my own life.
Would you do that?
I've had to learn, to live around your edges.
I often wondered,
if there would be another man.
- Would you care if there were? - Desperately.
I haven't made you happy, have I?
You have.
At times you really have.
But now...
Win, I don't know how to help you
if you don't understand, what it is you must to do.
We shouldn't keep them waiting.
No. No, I'll go ahead.
- Briggs. - Sir.
Did you get any word back from the admiralty?
Yes, sir. Midshipman Arthur Clayton is on one of the craft heading for Juno beach.
They are at the first wave.
Expecting a lot of German fire, sir. I'm sorry.
- Thank you, Briggs. - Sir.
They will be well on their way by now.
So many young men.
Same as in the last war. Barely more than boys.
They have grown up with this war.
They are brave.
Too young to know how to be afraid.
What will you say tomorrow?
I don't know. Depends on the news.
No, it doesn't.
Whatever happens tonight, you must give them hope.
Even if 20,000 men are dead, you can't lead their wives and mothers
and children thinking, they have died for no reason.
You must stand with them, make their sacrifice have a purpose.
Make them believe that by God, they will win this war.
And I will do it with them.
For that is my duty.
Isn't it?
Would you mind talking to the woman secretary without me?
I must write that speech.
Clem?
Fighting is what I have always done.
It's the core of who I am.
If I do this, if I make this speech,
I won't be fighting any more.
No, you won't.
Who will I be,
when it's all over?
If we win or it ends in disaster?
What will I be, if I'm no longer fighting?
You will always be the man, who let us through this.
Miss Garrett!
Sir.
Very good, Miss Garrett. Thank you.
Winston, news has just come through.
- The landings? - No, London.
We think the Luftwaffe will strike the new V-rockets.
We should prepare the air aid shelter.
Do we have the planes to shoot them down?
We will try, but these rockets have no pilots.
Incredibly fast.
If Hitler thinks, he can break our spirit like this,
he is wrong. Miss Garrett,
I shall need another draft of that speech.
Oh, and by the way...
Thank you, Smuts.
I have received this report on Midshipman Arthur Clayton.
He landed with the first wave. They took heavy fire,
but he himself fought with great courage and saw it through.
He is safe and well.
Oh, heavens.
Oh, and if I may...
He sends you his love.
Thank you so very much, Mr. Churchill.
Thank you, Miss Garrett.
This is the Prime Minister speaking.
First the news from the great operation in France.
This magnificent effort of co-ordinated air, land and sea...
has brought the allied forces together to push the Nazis back
and begin the liberation of France.
The passage of the sea has been made with far less loss
than we apprehended. The superior bombardment
of our ships and planes quickly reduced the German fire.
General Eisenhower's courage is equal to all that must be done.
Everything is ready, as it has never been ready before,
and we are awake to the tips of our fingers.
It's a good line.
Last night the dangers appeared very great.
This morning we have overcome them.
This great war against Nazi domination
is fought by ordinary people,
the soldiers, sailors and airmen in the field,
and also those at home.
We defy Hitler with our endurance
and our strength of character and our refusal,
to give in to tyranny, and oppression,
and the darkest evils in history.
This is not a war for glory. It is a war for freedom.
The Germans will strike back.
We do not know, where they will hit.
There new flying bombs have no pilots.
Destruction, sent forth in a soulless machine.
This is a weapon of cowards,
and cowards cannot win.
We must meet it with valor, as our soldiers do.
As those brave men fight on the beaches,
we on the home front must fight on too.
So that when they return, covered in glory,
we may share their honor.
Hitler is again, trying to menace us with fire.
Four years ago he thought he could break us with the Blitz.
He was wrong. He is wrong again now.
For we do not melt in fire.
We are tampered by fire, like steel,
and emerge, strong, and ready to fight.
Hitler has started a fire,
which must burn him out of Europe.
Our troops will fight on...
and the allies will fight on.
And I shall fight on,
until we are free.
We shall never surrender.
And I shall never surrender.
Oh, how I wish this was scotch.
Well.
- Were you listening to the broadcast? - Of course.
You were wonderful.
I was worried about you yesterday.
You did a really wonderful thing,
turn yourself around, recovering.
- I am not sure I've recovered. - Impression was good enough.
It never quite goes away.
Sometimes the color drains from the picture and it's all gray and dull.
And I can't force it to change back.
How is it looking now?
A mixture.
But I must live with that.
You know, I think I might go to Chartwell this weekend,
and spend some time in the country.
- Do a spot of painting. - That is a very fine idea.
There is a way the sun hits the lake in the afternoon,
under the willows.
Might make for a harmonious view.
- In color? - Possible...
- And what about the war? - Oh, I think...
Eisenhower and Monty have that well under control, don't you?
I would understand if you left me.
I would leave me, if I could.
I don't want you to live around my edges.
But perhaps we should
just let each other in.
- But you mustn't keep fighting. - I have given up fighting.
Do you really mean that?
The most important thing in a war, when you think of it,
is for people to feel truly unified.
Inspired, hopeful.
Maybe I'll write another speech.
I think I'll walk on for a while.
Will you be alright?
I'll manage.
Godspeed.