King And Country-HD (1964)
King And Country-HD (1964)
Category
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TVTranscript
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00:04:40 Here dead lie we,
00:04:42 because we did not choose to live and shine the land from which we sprung.
00:04:48 Life, after all, is nothing much to lose, though young men think it is.
00:04:54 And we were young.
00:04:57 [music]
00:05:24 [music]
00:05:27 [thunder]
00:05:29 [music]
00:05:43 Ha ha ha.
00:05:45 What does it remind you of?
00:05:47 [laughter]
00:05:49 Remind you of anything?
00:05:51 [laughter]
00:05:53 When this war's over, I think I'll get me a job in the sewer.
00:05:55 So you should do.
00:05:56 Well, it's the same smell, the same company.
00:05:58 The perfect soldier.
00:05:59 Aye, the perfect soldier.
00:06:01 Loved his country.
00:06:02 Killed rats.
00:06:03 Killed lice.
00:06:04 Went without food.
00:06:05 Without drink.
00:06:06 Without sleep.
00:06:07 Without...
00:06:08 [laughter]
00:06:12 Went over the top.
00:06:13 Killed a Kaiser, won the war.
00:06:15 Home again.
00:06:16 Honorable discharge.
00:06:17 Fat pension.
00:06:19 From his grateful country.
00:06:20 Women waiting for him.
00:06:22 Children fondling.
00:06:23 Liquor is free for him.
00:06:25 He sleeps in the sun.
00:06:30 Remind you of anything?
00:06:32 [laughter]
00:06:34 [thunder]
00:06:39 I suppose they think I've let them down, Corp.
00:06:42 No.
00:06:45 I reckon I'll get a fair trial.
00:06:47 Aye.
00:06:49 It'll come out all right.
00:06:51 Aye.
00:06:52 Of course it'll come out all right.
00:06:54 [thunder]
00:07:07 Well, I'm sorry this job has to be wished on you, Charles.
00:07:09 It's not your fault.
00:07:10 If we weren't moving up so soon, I suppose it could all be a bit more formal.
00:07:13 That would make it all the more futile, wouldn't it?
00:07:15 What?
00:07:16 Well, he is on trial for his life.
00:07:17 Doesn't make him original.
00:07:18 We're all on trial for our lives.
00:07:20 The only thing that makes him original is that he's failed.
00:07:22 Failed as a man and as a soldier.
00:07:24 How blasted things are wasted time.
00:07:27 If a dog breaks its back, you don't sit around chatting all day, you shoot it.
00:07:31 Excuse me, sir.
00:07:32 Oh, yes, come on.
00:07:35 What were you like as a child?
00:07:38 The same.
00:07:40 Is he in there?
00:07:41 Yes, sir.
00:07:43 Might I have a word with you, sir?
00:07:48 I've no idea what could happen to him, sir.
00:07:51 At least he don't give no sign of knowing.
00:07:54 I suppose he's bound to know.
00:07:56 He's bound to know what he did.
00:07:57 He's bound to know what could happen to him.
00:07:59 Have you been talking to him?
00:08:01 Yes, sir, a bit.
00:08:03 I know it's laid down we shouldn't.
00:08:06 Shall I come, sir?
00:08:09 Is it necessary?
00:08:11 No, sir.
00:08:25 My name's Hargraves.
00:08:26 Yes, sir, I know you, sir.
00:08:28 Do you?
00:08:29 Trowens Wood, sir.
00:08:31 Warland Court as well.
00:08:33 How long have you been out here?
00:08:34 Fourteen, sir.
00:08:36 Best part of three years.
00:08:38 You know, of course, that you're entitled to the help of a defending officer.
00:08:41 Oh, yes, sir, soldier's friend.
00:08:44 I suppose I can be as much used to as anybody else.
00:08:46 Subject, of course, to your acceptance.
00:08:50 Any objections?
00:08:51 Oh, no, sir.
00:08:52 I'd like to thank you, sir.
00:08:55 So as if you have to do it, sir.
00:08:57 I don't see any pretension when you're speaking to an officer.
00:09:00 I didn't think it mattered any, sir.
00:09:03 But it does matter.
00:09:05 Pretty sub to go, eh?
00:09:13 Now, your...
00:09:15 Hamp, Arthur James, age 73.
00:09:17 73426, sir.
00:09:19 Age?
00:09:20 23, sir.
00:09:21 Occupation?
00:09:24 I'm a soldier, sir.
00:09:27 I mean, civilian life.
00:09:28 Oh, yeah, I had a trite, sir, bootmaker.
00:09:32 Handmade boots, sir, I come from Islington.
00:09:35 Do you know him, sir?
00:09:36 Yes, sir.
00:09:37 Yeah?
00:09:38 Were you a cobbler all your life?
00:09:40 Since I left school, sir.
00:09:41 At what age?
00:09:42 12, sir.
00:09:44 Started young, as they say.
00:09:46 Were you a good one?
00:09:47 Oh, yeah, yeah, a good cobbler, yeah.
00:09:49 My father and grandfather was cobblers before I was, see.
00:09:52 My grandfather, he started...
00:09:53 Are you married?
00:09:54 Yes, sir.
00:09:55 Any children?
00:09:56 Yes, sir.
00:09:57 How many?
00:09:58 One, sir.
00:10:00 A little boy.
00:10:02 Do you understand why I'm asking you these questions?
00:10:09 You know best, sir.
00:10:12 All right, stand at ease.
00:10:13 Sir.
00:10:15 I, uh...
00:10:18 I'd better ask you some questions about your...
00:10:21 About your home life.
00:10:23 Home life?
00:10:26 We... We never really had a proper home life, sir.
00:10:30 We always lived with our mother.
00:10:33 Good job.
00:10:35 Were you one, uh...
00:10:37 Please sit down, sir.
00:10:38 Oh, yes, sir.
00:10:40 Were you on good terms with your wife?
00:10:42 I asked somebody who said something to you.
00:10:46 Would you mind answering my question?
00:10:48 About the wife?
00:10:49 Yes.
00:10:55 She's took up with somebody else.
00:10:57 That's what I got told.
00:10:59 Who told you?
00:11:00 I got a letter.
00:11:02 From a kind friend?
00:11:03 Yeah, Len.
00:11:04 I see.
00:11:05 Len Wilson.
00:11:06 Lives just a couple of doors away.
00:11:09 That'll do for mitigating circumstances, anyway.
00:11:16 Sir?
00:11:18 A reason.
00:11:20 An understandable reason.
00:11:24 Did you keep the letter?
00:11:25 No, sir. I never thought.
00:11:27 That's a pity.
00:11:31 Did you, uh...
00:11:34 What did you...
00:11:36 Did you mention this letter to anyone else?
00:11:38 Yes, sir. I did. Yeah.
00:11:40 Willie Bryson.
00:11:41 Private Bryson in the platoon.
00:11:43 Did you know him, sir?
00:11:45 No, no, no, no, I didn't. I didn't know him.
00:11:47 Ah.
00:11:48 Yeah, he got killed.
00:11:50 He had a passion die.
00:11:53 Did this...
00:11:55 Did this trouble with your wife have anything to do with the...
00:11:59 With, um...
00:12:01 With what you're accused of doing?
00:12:03 No, sir. I never thought of it.
00:12:05 Do you reckon maybe it was a reason, even if I never thought of it?
00:12:08 I don't know.
00:12:09 That's for you to tell me.
00:12:11 Ah.
00:12:13 I see.
00:12:18 This kind of story is so often true that, uh...
00:12:22 Well, you... You could be lying.
00:12:24 And I have to believe you before I can defend you. Do you understand that?
00:12:28 You can believe me, sir.
00:12:30 It'll come out all right, sir.
00:12:35 Why did you volunteer?
00:12:40 King and country.
00:12:42 Sir.
00:12:44 Mm.
00:12:46 They dared me.
00:12:48 Who dared you?
00:12:49 The wife and her mother.
00:12:52 I never thought I'd go.
00:12:54 Yeah, I reckon it was that more than anything else.
00:12:57 I wanted to surprise them.
00:12:59 And they got a surprise when I told them.
00:13:02 And, of course, uh...
00:13:04 We didn't know what it was gonna be like, did we?
00:13:07 Well, I didn't think about it too much,
00:13:11 but I suppose you reckon to yourself, in my kind of life,
00:13:15 "It can't be much worse than this."
00:13:17 It was not you, sir, but my sort and most of the lads.
00:13:21 But we was wrong.
00:13:23 Up there, we're...
00:13:26 It's worse than anything, innit?
00:13:29 It's no worse for you than anyone else.
00:13:31 I know that, I know that.
00:13:33 I'm only talking about it 'cause you're asking me.
00:13:36 All right.
00:13:38 Go on.
00:13:40 Well, when I volunteered, we didn't know any better, did we?
00:13:45 What do you mean by that?
00:13:47 Ah, just a manner of speaking, sir.
00:13:51 You'll have to learn to be careful of your manner of speaking.
00:13:55 Yes, sir.
00:13:57 The funny thing is...
00:14:01 The fellas I come out with...
00:14:04 Do you know, there's none of them left except me.
00:14:08 Luce.
00:14:10 Luce, that was the first one.
00:14:14 Yeah, it was a long time, that one.
00:14:16 Troundswood.
00:14:20 Gommie Caw.
00:14:23 Walden Court.
00:14:26 Yeah.
00:14:28 And now this one here.
00:14:30 Passchendaele.
00:14:32 Worse than anything.
00:14:36 (thunder rumbling)
00:14:38 (wind howling)
00:14:41 Have you been wounded?
00:14:51 Not properly, sir.
00:14:53 I was bleeding a few times and there was one time I got sent down to a GCS.
00:14:58 But it was nothing much, they sent me back the next day.
00:15:02 Of course, you hear the fellas wishing they could lose an arm or a leg.
00:15:06 Same as everybody else, I've heard of...
00:15:09 Some of the lads that have tried it on themselves.
00:15:11 Have you tried it?
00:15:12 Sir?
00:15:16 Have you tried it?
00:15:17 Oh, no, sir, no.
00:15:19 Me and Willie, uh, Bryson...
00:15:22 We was thinking of trying it once, but we never did.
00:15:26 It wasn't long after that that Willie's...
00:15:30 Number came up.
00:15:32 When here?
00:15:35 Oh...
00:15:37 Oh, sir, I'm so sorry, sorry.
00:15:40 I've got to go someplace.
00:15:42 Corporal!
00:15:44 Sir!
00:15:46 Latrines.
00:15:48 Yes, sir.
00:15:49 Go on.
00:15:50 (thunder rumbling)
00:15:56 (thunder rumbling)
00:15:58 Come on, Hatt.
00:16:02 I will.
00:16:04 Sergeant, get the rest of your platoon outside with their gear.
00:16:07 Pretty lousy. Come on, out.
00:16:08 Yes, sir. Right, sir.
00:16:09 Now, tune up, pretty lousy!
00:16:11 All out, pretty lousy!
00:16:15 Come on!
00:16:17 Come on, outside, pretty lousy!
00:16:23 Get inside with all your gear, pretty lousy!
00:16:25 Come on, out!
00:16:26 Captain Hargreaves, prisoner's friend.
00:16:32 Prisoner's friend, fair trial.
00:16:34 Fair trial and a quick death.
00:16:35 Very funny.
00:16:36 Didn't you think it was funny?
00:16:39 Not funny if you're in hampshoes.
00:16:41 (thunder rumbling)
00:16:44 (thunder rumbling)
00:16:48 (footsteps)
00:16:50 Ready, Fuser.
00:17:00 I told you he was a strange one, sir.
00:17:03 Attend to that, will you?
00:17:07 I wouldn't be in hampshoes if I'd done it.
00:17:15 I wouldn't have got caught.
00:17:18 Right, get your picks and shovels!
00:17:20 I've got a job for you.
00:17:23 First to hang him, eh, Mr. Fuser?
00:17:25 (laughing)
00:17:26 God, it's a job.
00:17:28 Oh, God.
00:17:29 First to hang one.
00:17:30 Hang him by one.
00:17:33 Thanks for the smoke, sir.
00:17:46 (thunder rumbling)
00:17:48 Did you expect to get away with it?
00:17:51 Well, I wasn't really thinking about it, sir,
00:17:55 one way or the other.
00:17:57 I just couldn't stand it anymore.
00:18:00 Not the first time, sir.
00:18:02 What?
00:18:03 Well, I nearly did it once before.
00:18:05 I mean, I thought of it.
00:18:07 Time of Warren Court.
00:18:09 I got sent back on a water party.
00:18:12 I was thinking I'd get anyway,
00:18:13 but an MP got his eye on me, so I...
00:18:15 I didn't.
00:18:16 And that was all?
00:18:18 Yes, sir.
00:18:19 Supposing the others had, um,
00:18:22 cleared off and left you on your own at...
00:18:24 Loose or...
00:18:26 Trone's Wood?
00:18:27 I don't think it could have been much worse, sir.
00:18:30 Fine, well, forget about that.
00:18:34 Now, tell me about the, uh...
00:18:37 Well, the last time,
00:18:38 the time you said you couldn't stand it anymore.
00:18:40 What about that?
00:18:43 The time this really started going in my head,
00:18:46 I got blown into a shell hole.
00:18:48 Two of the lads pulled me out with their rifles.
00:18:52 Well, I'd seen it happen to a bloke a couple of days before.
00:18:57 He slips off the duckboards into the hole.
00:19:00 You see, and he's bobbing up and down in the mud.
00:19:03 You know, like an egg boiling in water
00:19:05 with his pack on and everything.
00:19:07 Well, I didn't help him, nobody did.
00:19:08 He slid down.
00:19:09 So, of course, when I gets in the mud,
00:19:11 I thought that was my lot, see?
00:19:12 I'm gonna drown in it like he did.
00:19:14 Sucked into it, fighting it, drowning in it.
00:19:17 Oh, after that, I couldn't stand it anymore.
00:19:21 But the battalion was relieved.
00:19:25 You came back here for a rest.
00:19:28 Yes, sir.
00:19:29 And you waited ten days until you went.
00:19:33 Yes, sir.
00:19:34 Why?
00:19:36 Like I said, sir, I can't say anything different.
00:19:39 I couldn't stand it anymore.
00:19:41 What, even out of battle?
00:19:42 It didn't matter where I was, sir.
00:19:43 Any place I could hear guns.
00:19:45 That's never the only way you can't hear them.
00:19:46 Yes, sir.
00:19:47 I mean, Mr. Webb, he knew, he knew.
00:19:50 He gave me extra rum.
00:19:52 Did you say anything to him about it?
00:19:55 Oh, not much.
00:19:56 There's nothing I could expect a gentleman in his position to do,
00:19:58 except what he did, give him the extra rum.
00:20:01 Well, it made any difference to what I did on you,
00:20:03 I wasn't gonna go back.
00:20:05 You mean you planned it?
00:20:09 No, sir, no.
00:20:10 I didn't have a plan.
00:20:12 I haven't got the sense, have I?
00:20:14 Maybe one time I would have had the sense, but not...
00:20:18 No, it was like being dead, sir.
00:20:22 And why did you wait ten days?
00:20:24 Oh, I don't know, sir. I didn't have a plan.
00:20:27 I went to the MR that time, yes.
00:20:30 And what did Dr. O'Sullivan say to you?
00:20:33 He gave me a number nine, sir, for me bowels.
00:20:36 I spit it out and he wasn't looking.
00:20:39 Maybe there was some sort of medicine that would have helped me,
00:20:41 but one thing I didn't have any need of was a number nine.
00:20:45 And did he give you any other advice?
00:20:47 Well, he said I've got cold feet, sir.
00:20:49 He said I was a soldier and I should be a bloody soldier.
00:20:52 Mind you, I didn't expect any different,
00:20:55 I didn't expect him to say anything, except what he did.
00:20:59 And why did you go?
00:21:00 Well, I thought he might give me some sort of tonic,
00:21:03 something to stop my diarrhoea,
00:21:07 stop me shaking, help me sleep.
00:21:10 Wouldn't have made any difference to what I did,
00:21:12 I knew I wasn't going to go back up the line.
00:21:15 Did you know the term was going back into the line before you went?
00:21:18 Yes, sir.
00:21:19 Is that what finally decided you?
00:21:22 No, sir.
00:21:23 Then what did decide you?
00:21:25 I don't know, I just started walking.
00:21:29 Walking away from the guns.
00:21:33 Did you know where you were walking to?
00:21:35 No, no.
00:21:36 After I'd got a few miles away from the guns,
00:21:39 I got it into my head that I was making for Al.
00:21:43 He's listening to me now.
00:21:45 Al.
00:21:46 Didn't make any sense, perhaps, what I'd got in my head.
00:21:50 I must have walked a long way, cos I remember,
00:21:56 I took my boots off and my big toe was bleeding.
00:22:01 Then I was in a cart sitting on some potato.
00:22:05 Then I was in a train,
00:22:08 and some fellas was playing cards.
00:22:12 And I was walking again.
00:22:15 Then I was talking to this priest,
00:22:19 but he was foreign, I didn't know what he was talking about.
00:22:22 It was like a dream, sir,
00:22:26 I didn't know what was really happening or what wasn't.
00:22:30 Weren't you ever challenged?
00:22:32 Only when they picked me up.
00:22:34 Not till then?
00:22:35 Oh, no.
00:22:36 Didn't you hide in ditches and things to avoid?
00:22:43 Oh, no, sir, no.
00:22:45 Did they say anything to you about the aristotle?
00:22:48 Well, just about me being a deserter,
00:22:52 and I heard one of them saying to the other about it being a shooting job.
00:22:59 Nothing else?
00:23:00 You see, there's nobody left in my company,
00:23:03 it's been out here as long as me, so he can't shoot me.
00:23:06 It's likely that you'll be found guilty of desertion.
00:23:10 And I'd be failing in my duty if I left the least shadow of doubt in your mind as to the consequences.
00:23:15 Well, I don't reckon I'll get off, sir, but that I can't shoot me.
00:23:19 Unless I can convince the court that you were acting under extraordinary strain at the time that you committed this crime,
00:23:26 you'll almost certainly be sentenced to death.
00:23:29 Well, it's for the first time, sir.
00:23:32 Mr. Webb, sir, he said I hadn't been a bad soldier.
00:23:35 He might say the same to them if he was asked.
00:23:37 Yes, he might.
00:23:40 Yeah, I thought that was worth mentioning, sir.
00:23:42 Can you think of anything else that's worth mentioning?
00:23:46 No, sir, no.
00:23:49 Did I tell you about Willie?
00:23:53 Bryson, yes, you told me about the letter.
00:23:55 Well, about when Willie was killed.
00:23:57 You told me that he'd been killed.
00:23:59 Well, I don't know if you can tell him about something like that.
00:24:04 Well, it's important for you to tell me.
00:24:06 Well, see, I was alongside of him when it happened.
00:24:10 Same as many a time before, five, six yards away.
00:24:14 It wasn't the first time I'd seen a man blown to bits, of course.
00:24:20 He wasn't even as if Willie was anything special to me.
00:24:23 Well, just a bit, you know, because he came from up our street.
00:24:25 But that's all, I mean, nothing special.
00:24:27 One thing about Willie, he was quick.
00:24:30 See, I never saw it.
00:24:32 I'm five or six yards away, I turns around, and now Willie's nowhere.
00:24:35 Except over me.
00:24:37 Oh, I'll tell you, I had to get me a new uniform.
00:24:42 This is a...
00:24:49 This is a question that I may have to ask you in court, sir.
00:24:53 I shall ask you now.
00:24:54 If they were lenient enough to send you to prison,
00:25:01 could you be relied upon to do your duty when you came out?
00:25:05 I'll try my best, sir.
00:25:07 I don't mean that.
00:25:08 Could you be relied on to go up the line and stay up the line?
00:25:13 I mean that exactly, nothing less.
00:25:19 Do you understand me?
00:25:23 Yes, sir.
00:25:24 Well, do I have to tell you the truth, sir?
00:25:29 Could you?
00:25:31 Can you tell me, sir?
00:25:34 Can you tell me anyway, being sure?
00:25:41 I can't tell you anyway, being sure.
00:25:44 (rain falling)
00:25:46 (rain falling)
00:25:48 (rain falling)
00:25:54 (thunder)
00:26:03 (rain falling)
00:26:05 The prisoner's ready, sir.
00:26:17 It shouldn't take long, sir.
00:26:18 It's a bad business.
00:26:19 Who's in charge of the later formalities?
00:26:23 One thing at a time, Sergeant Major.
00:26:26 Yes, sir.
00:26:27 (metal clanging)
00:26:28 (rain falling)
00:26:44 (rain falling)
00:26:46 Give us that with this.
00:27:03 What is it, horse or mule?
00:27:05 Any of them.
00:27:12 If we was left to ourselves, now we'd all be home in bed, haven't we?
00:27:15 Yeah, but I didn't say anything about that.
00:27:17 You can't win a war lying in bed, can you?
00:27:19 No, but...
00:27:20 So you do what you're told.
00:27:21 It doesn't make sense.
00:27:25 That's not our fault, is it?
00:27:27 Keep an eye open, cop.
00:27:30 Pity to waste it on that lot.
00:27:32 Where's the best bit?
00:27:33 This bit.
00:27:34 Chopper.
00:27:35 Knife.
00:27:41 (knife chopping)
00:27:42 Mmm, dixie.
00:27:45 Right.
00:27:50 Well, now we see what we can do for our officers.
00:27:53 (laughing)
00:27:54 A bow, Sub-Captain?
00:27:55 How's that?
00:27:57 I'd have got him all spruced up like for his wedding.
00:28:00 Cut himself shaving, of course.
00:28:02 Well, if they shoot him, we won't have to belly him.
00:28:04 We just push him over and watch him sink.
00:28:06 They won't do it.
00:28:09 You're in a gil, sir?
00:28:10 Yes.
00:28:11 No, I think he's had it.
00:28:12 All the fragile shadows, you know.
00:28:15 Yah!
00:28:17 Yah!
00:28:19 You going to get this silly bastard off, do you think?
00:28:25 You think so?
00:28:27 I hope he's right.
00:28:28 I'll certainly do my best.
00:28:32 Oh, don't misunderstand me.
00:28:33 My interest is purely personal.
00:28:34 I don't want my men used as a firing squad.
00:28:36 And I certainly don't want to be the jazzy, bloody sabre
00:28:39 that has to shout "fire."
00:28:40 Why you?
00:28:41 Oh, I'm number one on the Colonel's sweat list at the moment.
00:28:45 I see.
00:28:46 Now, when it comes to my turn,
00:28:47 I'll perjure myself in the manner, if you like.
00:28:49 Truth will do.
00:28:51 Good luck, my learned friend.
00:28:53 (shouting)
00:29:05 (shouting)
00:29:07 (shouting)
00:29:08 (shouting)
00:29:14 (shouting)
00:29:16 (shouting)
00:29:29 (shouting)
00:29:33 (shouting)
00:29:34 (shouting)
00:29:47 (shouting)
00:29:50 (shouting)
00:29:52 (shouting)
00:29:55 873426, private house.
00:29:59 Sir.
00:30:00 Is that your name and number?
00:30:02 Yes, sir.
00:30:03 Mr. Prescott, would you pass me that?
00:30:05 The accused, number 873426, private ham, Arthur James,
00:30:12 soldier of the regular forces,
00:30:14 you're charged with, when on active service,
00:30:18 attempting to desert his majesty's service,
00:30:22 in that you absented yourself from duty
00:30:24 without orders from your superior officer
00:30:26 for approximately 0700 hours on October the 10th this year
00:30:30 at a place called Jackdaw Tunnel
00:30:33 until October the 11th of this year
00:30:35 when you were arrested by the military police near Calais.
00:30:38 Guilty or not guilty?
00:30:40 Not guilty, sir.
00:30:42 Speak up.
00:30:43 Not guilty, sir.
00:30:45 Very well.
00:30:47 I have to ask you if you object to any members of the court,
00:30:50 myself or either of these two officers.
00:30:52 I'm surprised to hear that as convening officer
00:30:56 you're also president of the court martial.
00:30:59 There are no other field officers available, Captain Hargraves.
00:31:01 I must appoint myself.
00:31:02 Are you making a formal objection?
00:31:04 No, sir.
00:31:06 You may stand at ease, private ham.
00:31:08 I've spoken to Captain Mildred
00:31:11 and we've agreed that I won't dispute the facts of the case.
00:31:13 So all the witnesses will be called by the defense.
00:31:15 Good. That will save the court's time.
00:31:17 I submit that the prisoner
00:31:23 absented himself at a time when, because of his mental health,
00:31:26 he was not fully responsible for his actions.
00:31:28 Mental health, Captain Hargraves?
00:31:29 Do you mean that the prisoner is lunatic?
00:31:31 No, sir.
00:31:33 Or mentally deficient?
00:31:34 No, sir.
00:31:36 There must be hundreds of thousands of men
00:31:38 who are in an unhappy mental state,
00:31:40 but who have not absented themselves from their duty.
00:31:43 I realize that, sir, fully. I assure you.
00:31:47 Are you ready for your first witness?
00:31:50 Yes, sir.
00:31:56 Call Corporal Hamilton.
00:31:57 Corporal Hamilton!
00:31:59 Hold the book in your right hand.
00:32:07 I swear by Almighty God
00:32:10 that the evidence I shall give before this court
00:32:11 shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
00:32:13 I swear by Almighty God
00:32:15 that the evidence I shall give before this court
00:32:16 shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
00:32:18 Corporal Hamilton, I believe that you apprehended the prisoner.
00:32:21 Yes, sir.
00:32:23 What did he say to you?
00:32:24 Not much, sir.
00:32:25 Only...
00:32:26 Well, he tried to tell us he was going on leave, of course.
00:32:29 Yes.
00:32:30 A soldier going on leave
00:32:31 is required to carry with him a full pack and equipment,
00:32:33 is he not?
00:32:34 Yes, sir.
00:32:36 And the prisoner was carrying?
00:32:37 Gas helmet, rifle, and bandolier, sir.
00:32:40 Wouldn't have stood very much chance
00:32:42 of getting on board a leave ship in that gear, would he?
00:32:44 No, sir.
00:32:45 Rather a silly story, wasn't it?
00:32:46 Yes, sir.
00:32:48 And how do you account for it?
00:32:50 Well, sir, he could have.
00:32:52 For all I know,
00:32:53 he could have been just stupid.
00:33:21 Gives us a day off, though, doesn't it?
00:33:23 I'm not going up to the front and leave that bloody bastard behind me alive!
00:33:45 Come on!
00:33:48 Bloody, bloody rat!
00:33:50 Get him in!
00:33:51 Execute him!
00:33:52 Get him!
00:33:53 Corporal Hamilton,
00:33:58 I presume that during the course of your duty
00:34:00 you have arrested other deserters,
00:34:02 other men who have absented themselves from service.
00:34:05 Yes, sir. Quite a few, sir.
00:34:06 Did any of them behave in the same way as this prisoner?
00:34:09 Much the same, sir.
00:34:10 In particular, did some of them, to use your own words,
00:34:12 did some of them appear to you to be stupid
00:34:14 or behaving as if in a daze?
00:34:16 Yes, sir, I suppose so.
00:34:19 In short, was there anything remarkable or extraordinary
00:34:23 about this prisoner compared with others?
00:34:25 I mean, if there had been something extraordinary,
00:34:28 you would have thought about it, wouldn't you?
00:34:30 The thing that surprised me, sir,
00:34:32 was how he got so far, sir.
00:34:34 By rights, he shouldn't have had a hope.
00:34:36 He must have been through places thick with patrols,
00:34:40 like Popper Injun, that.
00:34:42 Perhaps he wasn't quite as simple as he seemed.
00:34:44 No, sir, I didn't mean...
00:34:45 After all, he did get very close to an embarkation point, didn't he?
00:34:48 That's all, corporal. No more questions. Thank you, sir.
00:34:51 Look at that.
00:35:05 There must be dozens of them in there.
00:35:07 And two full. They'll be nippy.
00:35:10 - Shall I jump on in? - No.
00:35:13 (SALVAGE BALLS ROLLING)
00:35:15 Right.
00:35:26 When I say now, dump the belly.
00:35:30 Now!
00:35:32 (ALL SCREAMING)
00:35:40 Captain O'Sullivan, do you remember the prisoner
00:35:42 reporting sick to you on or about October the 8th of this year?
00:35:45 On the 7th, yes. I looked it up.
00:35:48 And what did he complain?
00:35:50 I remember quite clearly.
00:35:54 He complained of nerves.
00:35:56 Nerves.
00:35:57 He didn't tell you that he was finding it impossible to sleep?
00:36:00 He may have. Yes, I believe he did.
00:36:03 But you didn't take this very seriously?
00:36:05 No. It's not uncommon.
00:36:07 It certainly isn't uncommon for me to be told such things.
00:36:10 You mean you didn't believe him?
00:36:12 No, I didn't say that.
00:36:14 Every medical officer hears this kind of thing five or six times a day.
00:36:17 Did you believe this man?
00:36:19 No.
00:36:22 Why not?
00:36:24 It seems a permissible question.
00:36:26 Why not?
00:36:28 Why didn't you believe him when he said he couldn't sleep?
00:36:30 I didn't say I didn't believe that.
00:36:32 Very well.
00:36:35 What other symptoms did he complain of?
00:36:37 I said he was off his food. I said he was feeling a bit shaky.
00:36:40 Shaky.
00:36:41 Uncontrollable bouts of trembling?
00:36:43 I don't know about uncontrollable.
00:36:46 You don't know about it, but did you bother to find out?
00:36:49 Are you challenging my competence?
00:36:51 I don't want to interfere with your defence, Captain Hargraves,
00:36:54 but must you attack the witness?
00:36:56 It's not Captain O'Sullivan's competence which is at stake, sir.
00:36:59 It's this man's life.
00:37:01 You said you didn't believe him.
00:37:03 What didn't you believe?
00:37:05 Oh, damn it, Charlie, I knew what he was after.
00:37:07 Did this man lie to you? And if so, what did he say?
00:37:09 I knew what he wanted, to be sent down the line.
00:37:12 Did he say so?
00:37:14 Did he what?
00:37:15 Did he ask to be relieved from duty?
00:37:17 Not in so many words. Of course he didn't.
00:37:19 And, er, how long did this interview last for him?
00:37:31 Five minutes, ten minutes.
00:37:33 And after that you lost interest in the man?
00:37:35 What do you expect me to do? I haven't got time for everyone's emotional problems.
00:37:39 But you were sure that an interview of five or ten minutes was sufficient for this case?
00:37:44 Yes.
00:37:45 Why were you so sure?
00:37:47 Experience. My own judgement, of course. Experience.
00:37:51 And you usually prescribe the same treatment?
00:37:59 More or less, more or less.
00:38:01 Laxative pills.
00:38:03 A good clean-up never hurt anybody.
00:38:05 Is that the only relief you can offer a man? Laxative pills?
00:38:08 I'll prescribe one for you in a minute.
00:38:10 Captain O'Sullivan, were laxative pills in the slightest degree relevant to what was wrong with this man?
00:38:17 There was nothing wrong with him. And I told him so.
00:38:20 Did you? What did you say?
00:38:22 I talked to him man to man.
00:38:25 I told him he wasn't the first soldier to feel a bit jumpy.
00:38:28 I told him he'd be all right, back to normal.
00:38:31 Told him to try to eat, try to get some sleep.
00:38:34 What else could I say? I told him to pull himself together.
00:38:38 Has the incidence of medical reports of this sort been growing recently?
00:38:41 I haven't got time for statistics.
00:38:44 Or diagnosis, it seems.
00:38:45 No, no, no.
00:38:47 What are the symptoms of shell shock?
00:38:57 Shell shock is a different matter altogether.
00:39:00 Is there an exact moment in the life of a soldier before which he is not suffering from shell shock and after which he is?
00:39:06 An exact boundary about which no two doctors will ever disagree?
00:39:11 An exact boundary on the one side of which a man is required by army law to pull himself together,
00:39:17 or on the other he cannot?
00:39:20 Is liable to be shot as a criminal, is there?
00:39:23 This has nothing whatever to do with what we're all here for!
00:39:26 I must say, Captain Hargraves, I agree with that.
00:39:30 Do you, sir?
00:39:32 Then what are we here for?
00:39:34 A mock trial!
00:39:37 That remark's entirely improper, Captain Hargraves.
00:39:41 I apologize, sir.
00:39:47 Proceed.
00:39:55 Does the term "shell shock" have an exact medical meaning?
00:40:01 Yes, of course it has.
00:40:03 And a five or ten minute examination is quite sufficient time in your estimation
00:40:08 to judge whether a man is or is not suffering from shell shock.
00:40:11 It is not my job to maintain a bedroom!
00:40:14 God knows you of all people should realize I've got no time for such rubbish!
00:40:18 You expect me to leave wounded soldiers to die while I cross-question cowards?
00:40:23 What I'm asking is...
00:40:26 Is there not a borderline...
00:40:28 This was not a borderline case of anything! How many times do I have to tell you?
00:40:32 This was a case of cold feet! Funk, miserable funk!
00:40:35 Nothing more or less!
00:40:37 Are you sure?
00:40:39 Yes!
00:40:50 I ask you most earnestly.
00:40:53 Are you absolutely sure?
00:40:56 How could a man responsible for his actions
00:41:01 do such a hopeless, desperately stupid thing as this man?
00:41:07 When they found him, he was trying to walk home to England.
00:41:15 He might just as well have tried to clear a German trench single-handed.
00:41:20 Is it not obvious to you
00:41:30 that this man had lost possession of himself?
00:41:34 You've made your point, Captain Hargraves.
00:41:38 Have you any more questions for Captain O'Sullivan?
00:41:42 No, sir.
00:41:45 Captain Midgley.
00:41:47 Yes, sir, if you please.
00:41:49 Captain O'Sullivan, have any of the defending officers' questions
00:41:53 altered the conclusion you came to about the prisoner
00:41:55 when he reported to you on October the 7th?
00:41:58 No, not in the slightest.
00:42:00 In view of the speculation we have heard,
00:42:03 will you now tell the court in your own words what that conclusion was?
00:42:07 Yes, sir.
00:42:09 I found the prisoner fit for duty, provided he was kept under discipline
00:42:12 and discouraged from malingering.
00:42:14 And there's nothing you wish to add to your judgment now
00:42:17 by way of qualification?
00:42:19 Nothing whatever.
00:42:21 He's proved me right, hasn't he? And that's all there is to say about it.
00:42:25 He did turn and run, didn't he?
00:42:27 Thank you, Captain O'Sullivan.
00:42:35 (HORN BLARING)
00:42:37 Were you in the area between our billet and the cookhouse at 1500 hours today?
00:42:46 Yes, he admits he was in the area between our billet and the cookhouse
00:42:49 at 1500 hours today.
00:42:51 Right. Did you or did you not call up the private sparrow
00:42:55 and take a bite out of his earhole?
00:42:57 No, he did not call up the private sparrow and take a bite out of his earhole.
00:43:03 Right, and one last question.
00:43:05 If you had been in our billet today, would you have done a thing like that?
00:43:09 No, he's not that sort of rat.
00:43:14 Captain Minchley, would you like to cross-examine the accused?
00:43:21 You've been telling a lot of bloody lies, haven't you?
00:43:30 (KNOCKING ON DOOR)
00:43:33 No, no, I haven't been telling a lot of bloody lies.
00:43:37 You're just an ordinary rat who only eats dead flesh, hmm?
00:43:42 Hmm, I'm just a normal rat.
00:43:46 Well, then, if you're just a normal rat who only eats dead flesh, why?
00:43:53 When all the other rats were coming out of the front end,
00:43:56 what were you doing coming out of the back end, hmm?
00:44:01 (BIRD SQUAWKING)
00:44:03 He's crying.
00:44:05 (BOTH GROAN)
00:44:07 -And after that, his nerve had gone? -Absolutely.
00:44:14 I imagine that there were others of your men in a similar condition at that time, were there not?
00:44:19 Well, he must have been in a worse way than the others, sir.
00:44:22 But we don't know that he was in any worse condition than his comrades.
00:44:25 We only know that he decided to do about it.
00:44:27 With respect, sir, he did not decide to do it.
00:44:30 -If you'll let me carry on. -Continue.
00:44:32 Was the prisoner popular in his platoon?
00:44:35 Oh, yes. He always shared anything he had.
00:44:38 And he's the nearest we've got left now to a founder member, of course.
00:44:42 -And he... -Yes?
00:44:45 Well, I was just going to say...
00:44:47 I don't suppose it matters, but...
00:44:50 He brewed a damn good cup of tea.
00:44:56 Was he a good soldier before this happened?
00:44:59 First class.
00:45:00 Fair enough. Not a born soldier, but first class.
00:45:04 And you were surprised when you heard that he'd absconded?
00:45:07 -Oh, yes, I was. -From what you know of him,
00:45:09 do you believe that he'd have to be a little unhinged to do what he did?
00:45:13 Yes. I do.
00:45:16 Thank you.
00:45:17 -No more questions, sir. -Captain Midgley?
00:45:20 -First class soldier. -Yes.
00:45:22 His record is singularly blank. Neither good nor bad.
00:45:25 His principal talent as a soldier seems to be in staying alive.
00:45:29 But...
00:45:31 Surely we're not trying a man for staying alive, are we?
00:45:33 The war hasn't got to that stage, has it?
00:45:35 -Mr Webb. -Hargraves here.
00:45:37 He's the sole survivor of an assault on the sun.
00:45:40 They didn't try him for that.
00:45:41 You confine yourself to answering the questions, Mr Webb.
00:45:44 I beg your pardon, sir.
00:45:46 Mr Webb, about this mental unhinging,
00:45:48 did you see any actual sign of it yourself?
00:45:51 -Well, it depends. -I mean, if you had,
00:45:53 it surely would have been your duty to see that something was done about it, wouldn't it?
00:45:57 Did the idea occur to you before he went absent?
00:46:01 No, but he could have been ill,
00:46:04 in his mind, even if I didn't see it beforehand.
00:46:07 Can you offer any evidence that he was?
00:46:10 He'd had a bad time.
00:46:13 Well, I mean, I don't blame him. We all get the wind up sometimes.
00:46:16 I'd much prefer a man to boat beforehand
00:46:18 rather than crack up under the fire and endanger the whole platoon.
00:46:22 Mr Webb, isn't it true to say,
00:46:25 however much we may regret it and however much we may sympathize,
00:46:28 isn't it true to say that this man
00:46:30 simply allowed his fear to become his master?
00:46:33 There's more in it than that.
00:46:35 I ask you again.
00:46:38 Can you recall any evidence to support what you say?
00:46:41 I've said what I believe.
00:46:44 Thank you, Mr Webb.
00:46:46 No more questions, thank you, sir.
00:46:48 Very well.
00:46:50 [door closes]
00:46:52 [music]
00:47:19 [grunts]
00:47:20 Got it!
00:47:22 Got it!
00:47:23 Broke his bloody back!
00:47:26 It's as though a devil's got hold of me legs, see?
00:47:35 He's pulling me down.
00:47:36 I'm not even wounded.
00:47:37 I'm not even wounded and I'm going to get drowned in the mud.
00:47:40 Oh, something had it in for me, I knew that.
00:47:43 This idea that the devil was after you,
00:47:47 did it stay in your mind after you'd been rescued from the mud?
00:47:51 Not in the same way, sir, no. No.
00:47:53 So it wasn't the devil.
00:47:55 Why did you run away?
00:47:57 I didn't run, sir. I walked.
00:47:59 I just started walking.
00:48:01 I don't know why.
00:48:03 It's not true to say, is it,
00:48:07 that you deliberately decided to desert,
00:48:11 that you deliberately decided,
00:48:13 and hoped to get away with it?
00:48:15 I wasn't really thinking about it, sir.
00:48:17 No, I know you weren't thinking about it.
00:48:18 I was hoping that you wouldn't get me caught, sir.
00:48:20 But you really weren't,
00:48:21 you weren't clearly thinking of anything at the time, were you?
00:48:24 I just wanted to get away from the guns, sir.
00:48:27 Had you any idea where you were going?
00:48:32 No, sir, not really.
00:48:34 I just wanted to get left alone for a bit, I thought.
00:48:37 Private Hampton, you say you wanted to be left alone for a bit.
00:48:40 Does that mean that you intended to return to the battalion?
00:48:44 I don't know, sir.
00:48:46 That's because you don't remember anything very clearly, is it?
00:48:49 That's right, sir, yes.
00:48:51 You had no clear plan or reason in your mind, did you?
00:48:55 I just started going, sir.
00:48:57 You know, I couldn't help myself.
00:48:59 Well...
00:49:02 Like you told me to say, sir,
00:49:05 I was acting under extraordinary strain.
00:49:11 I... I can't think of anything else, sir.
00:49:15 Is it all right if I ask you a question, sir?
00:49:18 Yes, carry on.
00:49:20 Well, I'd sooner you tell them, sir.
00:49:22 You know more about it than me.
00:49:24 All right.
00:49:27 Are there any more questions, Captain Hargreaves?
00:49:29 Captain Midgley.
00:49:33 Private Hampton,
00:49:35 did you know you were doing wrong when you deserted?
00:49:38 If anybody tried to stop me, I'd have died, sir.
00:49:40 Or didn't you wait to make sure that there was nobody there to stop you?
00:49:43 No, I...
00:49:45 Well, I think I was just lucky, sir.
00:49:47 It's very much a matter of opinion.
00:49:49 Look, what I really want to know is this.
00:49:52 You did know, didn't you, that it was your duty
00:49:55 to stay with your battalion?
00:49:57 Yes, sir.
00:49:58 And you must have been very well aware of that
00:50:00 all the time that you were absent,
00:50:02 from the first moment that you decided to...
00:50:05 decided to leave.
00:50:07 I... I don't know, sir.
00:50:09 You could walk, talk, think, like anybody else.
00:50:13 And you managed to get quite a long way away, didn't you?
00:50:15 Well, like I just said, sir, I was lucky.
00:50:17 Well, let me put this to you quite simply.
00:50:21 Did you know what you were doing?
00:50:23 I... I knew what I was doing, sir.
00:50:26 And you realised that you were leaving your comrades at their posts
00:50:29 who were prepared to do their duty while you deserted them?
00:50:32 Didn't you?
00:50:33 Didn't you?
00:50:34 I've never done this before, sir.
00:50:36 This was the first time.
00:50:38 No more questions, sir.
00:50:44 That'll do, Private Hampton.
00:50:46 Captain Hargase, will you address the court now
00:50:57 on the prisoner's behalf?
00:50:59 No, sir.
00:51:01 I will address the court on its behalf.
00:51:06 The prisoner, when he did the thing for which he's being tried,
00:51:09 was no longer responsible for his actions.
00:51:12 This court is responsible for its actions.
00:51:15 It has not lost possession of itself.
00:51:17 This court knows clearly what it's doing.
00:51:19 This court has the power to choose.
00:51:22 Private Hampton is not a liar.
00:51:30 He's not glib, he has no ready answers.
00:51:32 He has an embarrassing honesty which made him a bad witness in his own case.
00:51:36 He could have put a bullet through his leg
00:51:38 and suffered nothing more serious than a term for imprisonment.
00:51:41 He even told me that he thought of doing so.
00:51:44 But he didn't.
00:51:46 He stayed.
00:51:48 A deserter, in full consciousness of what he's doing,
00:51:53 runs away to save his own skin
00:51:55 and leaves his fellows to do the fighting and the dying for him.
00:51:58 This man is not a deserter.
00:52:02 He volunteered.
00:52:04 He volunteered because his wife and her mother dared him to.
00:52:09 Never mind. He volunteered.
00:52:12 He's been out here for three years,
00:52:14 longer, if I may say so, than some of us have been.
00:52:17 He's seen it all.
00:52:19 A man can only take so much.
00:52:23 So much blood.
00:52:26 So much filth.
00:52:28 So much dying.
00:52:31 In the show hole, he thought he was drowning in the mud.
00:52:34 He thought his time had come, and it had.
00:52:36 After that, he was no longer responsible for his actions.
00:52:40 He hadn't got the power to decide whether to stay or to go.
00:52:44 He had one instinct only left.
00:52:48 The instinct to walk.
00:52:51 To walk home.
00:52:52 To walk away from the guns.
00:52:54 They've become a fact of our daily lives.
00:53:00 So much so that we no longer ask each other why they're being fired.
00:53:04 Is this war so old?
00:53:08 And are we so old in it
00:53:10 that we've forgotten?
00:53:13 Are we not fighting to preserve some notion of decency?
00:53:20 Some notion of justice?
00:53:23 To preserve for this court
00:53:26 the right to choose.
00:53:29 I beg to remind the court that if justice is not done to one man,
00:53:43 then other men are dying for nothing.
00:53:46 [The sound of water]
00:53:49 Natural opinion.
00:54:11 [The sound of water]
00:54:14 Mr. Prescott, you as our legal member advise the court on the law.
00:54:20 Mr. Prescott.
00:54:22 The court will remember that this soldier takes the law of England with him wherever he goes.
00:54:31 And he is protected by it.
00:54:33 The accused does not have to prove himself innocent.
00:54:36 The prosecution must prove him guilty.
00:54:39 And if the members of the court have any reasonable doubt,
00:54:42 but it mustn't be a fanciful doubt,
00:54:45 they must give him the benefit of it.
00:54:47 You've had before you the opinion of a Italian medical officer,
00:54:50 which is that at the time the prisoner left the battalion,
00:54:53 he was fit for duty,
00:54:55 and was not shell-shocked, but only suffering from what the doctor described as cold feet.
00:55:00 You mustn't be unduly swayed by the eloquence of the defending officer,
00:55:06 who has quite properly made out the best case he can.
00:55:09 If you doubt that the prisoner really meant to deserve,
00:55:13 and you believe that he merely went absent without leave,
00:55:16 and intended to return after a few days, you will give a verdict accordingly.
00:55:19 On the other hand, if you are satisfied that the prisoner really deserved it,
00:55:24 it is your duty to find him guilty.
00:55:27 As to the stress the defending officer laid upon the prisoner being a volunteer,
00:55:32 neither must you be unduly swayed by that.
00:55:36 The army is now composed of regulars, of volunteers, and of conscripts,
00:55:40 and one law applies to them all.
00:55:43 And it is the court's duty to administer the law as it stands.
00:55:48 We'll proceed immediately to our discussion of the case.
00:55:56 - Come in! - Sure!
00:55:58 Captain Hargraves.
00:56:01 Escort for the rival prisoner!
00:56:03 Prisoner escort! Turn!
00:56:07 Quick march! Here we are!
00:56:09 Left, right, left, right!
00:56:11 Thanks for cutting my way in.
00:56:28 You were overdoing it a bit. I couldn't help it.
00:56:30 I thought there was a great deal in what you said, if I may say so.
00:56:33 Thank you. You did very well, Hargraves. I hope you got him off.
00:56:36 I hope so, too.
00:56:37 But you know a proper court is concerned with law.
00:56:40 It's a bit amateur to plead for justice.
00:56:43 What do you want now, then?
00:56:54 Have you seen my letter?
00:56:56 Have you seen my rifle, Corp?
00:56:59 Why would you be wanting that?
00:57:02 Well, I just thought I might give it a clean, you know.
00:57:05 Something to do.
00:57:07 It won't have anything to do with the court-martial. It could be anybody, you know.
00:57:15 I kept forgetting how he was talking about me.
00:57:18 Oh, Mr. Hargraves, he gave him a lovely speech.
00:57:23 This man is not a deserter.
00:57:26 Well...
00:57:31 You've been twice since you got back, already.
00:57:33 It's not my fault, is it?
00:57:35 Right, guns!
00:57:37 - Drop roll! - Let's in!
00:57:39 Right, Will!
00:57:41 Help yourself, Mr. Morris.
00:57:52 Stand easy, Mr. Prescott.
00:57:54 Um, Mr. Morris wishes to know whether we can find the prisoner guilty...
00:57:58 and recommend mercy.
00:58:00 Well, yes, sir, you may.
00:58:02 And you may either confirm the sentence yourself...
00:58:05 or send it to higher authority for confirmation.
00:58:08 - I see. - Mr. Prescott.
00:58:10 - Never mind. - Thank you.
00:58:12 Would you help Captain Cartwright prepare a finding?
00:58:15 Guilty of desertion, but, uh...
00:58:18 emphasize good conduct, length of service, that kind of thing.
00:58:21 But don't put in anything about mental health.
00:58:24 They're not interested in that sort of thing at headquarters.
00:58:27 When you've finished, have it read to the prisoner...
00:58:29 and then send it off for confirmation.
00:58:31 Right, gentlemen.
00:58:33 (Splashing)
00:58:35 Won't know anything for a bit yet.
00:58:55 - Gotta go to the generals. - It'll be a week.
00:58:57 They're all pinned down in Paris, you know.
00:59:00 What's Ham thinking, I wonder? If he's got any sense, he's not thinking.
00:59:03 Whatever happens, he's not going up the line again.
00:59:06 You know what he said when he got back?
00:59:08 "They're taking a lot of trouble over me."
00:59:10 - Feels bloody honored, he does. - Yes.
00:59:12 They're taking 24 hours to kill him. Journey wouldn't take that long.
00:59:15 He'll get the gloves, Hans.
00:59:17 (Footsteps)
00:59:19 - Governor Hargreaves, sir. - Yes?
00:59:36 I don't know whether it's allowed, sir, but he says he'd like to see you.
00:59:39 - Who? - Private Hampson.
00:59:42 Would that be legal, Mr. Prescott?
00:59:46 I'm afraid it'd be highly irregular, sir.
00:59:48 It would be kind.
00:59:50 All right, I'm coming.
00:59:54 - Yes? - Messages for the colonel, sir.
01:00:09 I see. Come with me.
01:00:11 (Footsteps)
01:00:13 - Sir, excuse me, sir. Message, sir. - Ah, thank you, Mr. Webb.
01:00:20 - Go and get yourself something to eat, corporal. - Thank you, sir.
01:00:27 Gentlemen, your attention, please.
01:00:36 The battalion will be moving into the line tomorrow morning at 0600 hours.
01:00:40 We'll be reinforcing a battalion of the Munster Fusiliers.
01:00:43 Captain Cartwright, would you ask all company commanders
01:00:46 to come to my billet after dinner at, er, 2000 hours?
01:00:49 - Right, sir. - Thank you, gentlemen.
01:00:52 (Sighs)
01:00:54 (Sighs)
01:00:57 (Footsteps)
01:01:00 (Door opens)
01:01:02 (Water drips)
01:01:10 (Footsteps)
01:01:20 (Crate rattles)
01:01:26 (Crate rattles)
01:01:28 Wilhelm?
01:01:34 Mr. Anderson?
01:01:41 Er...
01:01:44 It's just that I'd like to thank you, sir.
01:01:47 Er, in case, er...
01:01:49 Well, you know, I expect I'll get put in military prison, you know, and, er...
01:01:54 In case I don't see you for a while.
01:01:57 Well, we, er...
01:02:01 We don't know where you'll be put...
01:02:04 if you're put anywhere.
01:02:06 Well, anyway, sir, I wouldn't like to miss thanking you.
01:02:10 You've taught me a lot of things, sir, and I'm very grateful.
01:02:14 Well...
01:02:17 Rather too late, I fear.
01:02:20 (Thunder rumbles)
01:02:22 All right, thank you.
01:02:27 You, er...
01:02:30 You haven't heard anything, have you, sir?
01:02:33 No.
01:02:35 I mean, after what you said, I couldn't help but, er...
01:02:38 Well, it was the truth.
01:02:40 That's why I'm trying to sign nearly everything you said I couldn't ever have said.
01:02:44 Do you know what I mean, sir?
01:02:46 It was my duty to say it.
01:02:48 What do you know about that, sir?
01:02:50 It was my duty.
01:02:52 If you'd remembered your duty, none of this idiotic rigmarole would have been necessary.
01:02:57 How did you get that into your head?
01:03:00 Don't thank me for doing my duty.
01:03:03 I had to.
01:03:05 Just as you should have done yours.
01:03:10 Yes, sir.
01:03:15 (Running water)
01:03:17 (Thunder rumbles)
01:03:21 It's not as if I haven't thought about it, sir. I have.
01:03:29 I know what they could do to me.
01:03:32 It's just that, sir...
01:03:34 I wouldn't be thinking I stood a chance if it hadn't been for you.
01:03:42 Prisoner, shoot!
01:03:44 With your permission, sir.
01:03:48 Private Hamp, AJ, number 873426.
01:03:57 It is my duty to inform you that the general officer commanding-in-chief...
01:04:02 has confirmed the sentence passed on you by the field general, Court Marshall.
01:04:08 You will suffer death by shooting on Thursday, October the 22nd, at 0530 hours.
01:04:15 When's that, sir?
01:04:36 Tomorrow.
01:04:38 (Dog howls)
01:05:05 (Dog howls)
01:05:07 (Footsteps)
01:05:09 (Footsteps)
01:05:11 (Footsteps)
01:05:13 (Footsteps)
01:05:31 (Splashing)
01:05:33 (Splashing)
01:05:43 (Splashing)
01:06:12 More wine, Miss Lee?
01:06:14 No, thank you, sir. Would you excuse me now, sir?
01:06:17 Yes, of course.
01:06:41 Some haig over there.
01:06:43 Pure chlorine.
01:07:03 I'll pick up on it, sir.
01:07:06 (Clinking)
01:07:08 A short-aught ceremony, aren't we?
01:07:36 (Grunts)
01:07:38 Yes, sir.
01:07:40 I had too much of that today.
01:07:43 You know the verdict?
01:07:47 Just now.
01:07:51 You've lost.
01:07:54 We all lost.
01:08:04 (Sighs)
01:08:06 We're bloody murderers.
01:08:08 Don't be idiotic, Charles. Pull yourself together.
01:08:11 Pull yourself together, pull yourself together.
01:08:14 That's what they said to him today.
01:08:16 Pull yourself together? You're talking like the bloody doctor.
01:08:19 Aren't we rather overstepping?
01:08:22 You're right.
01:08:24 I'm sorry.
01:08:32 (Sighs)
01:08:34 But, er, why?
01:08:40 Hmm?
01:08:42 Actually, why?
01:08:45 Why?
01:08:47 Hmm. Was it O'Sullivan's evidence?
01:08:50 No, he's an idiot.
01:08:52 Was it my defence?
01:09:01 I... I did my best.
01:09:04 Very eloquent, Charles, but nothing to do with the facts.
01:09:08 Facts, facts, facts.
01:09:10 Don't shoot that poor little bastard simply because he went for a walk.
01:09:14 That's what it was, you know.
01:09:16 It was a technical desertion, but it's just a...
01:09:20 a bloody little walk, really.
01:09:23 And you know it.
01:09:26 Don't you?
01:09:28 These facts.
01:09:30 Your battalion moving up tomorrow.
01:09:33 Important to maintain morale.
01:09:35 Sentence of death to be carried out immediately.
01:09:38 Oh, my God.
01:09:42 Go on, Corey, share those out, will you?
01:09:52 Share those out, will you?
01:09:54 Has it ever encouraged anyone?
01:09:58 Discouraged anyone?
01:10:00 Of course it has.
01:10:03 Are you sure?
01:10:08 No, not quite.
01:10:12 (Thunder rumbling)
01:10:14 Who's in charge tomorrow?
01:10:33 Jack Webb. His man, his platoon, his mistake.
01:10:37 Teach him a lesson.
01:10:39 By the way, I've written an extra kin letter.
01:10:42 Would you mind giving it to Webb as you go out?
01:11:06 There's a porpoise clasp behind me.
01:11:09 And it's treading on my tail.
01:11:13 Oh?
01:11:16 Facts.
01:11:19 When I'm buried and all my thoughts and acts will be reduced to lists of dates and facts,
01:11:25 and long before this wandering flesh is rotten,
01:11:29 the dates which made me will be all forgotten.
01:11:32 (Thunder rumbling)
01:11:34 Humph!
01:11:56 Humph!
01:12:00 (Thunder rumbling)
01:12:02 - Is that you, Cole? - Aye.
01:12:04 Now, listen up.
01:12:06 Wilson and your lot, there'll be Nick in some room.
01:12:09 Aye.
01:12:11 We've got some other good stuff on our mate, thinking about to booze up tonight, you know.
01:12:16 - Well, I thought you were bringing it. - No.
01:12:20 - Well, where's the rest of them? - Coming.
01:12:22 - You get into trouble? - Nah.
01:12:24 To hell with that man.
01:12:26 - All right. - All right.
01:12:28 - Come on. - Let's get some red goo booze going here.
01:12:31 - Shut the door. - You'll think you're bats.
01:12:34 - Come on, young darling, have a drop of this. - Give it to us.
01:12:40 What's this for, then? Somebody's birthday?
01:12:43 (All laughing)
01:12:46 (All laughing)
01:12:48 (All laughing)
01:12:58 (All chattering)
01:13:00 (Thunder rumbling)
01:13:04 (All laughing)
01:13:13 (All laughing)
01:13:15 Is he very religious?
01:13:36 I don't think so. Official C of E, but...
01:13:40 - You'll be staying with him through the night? - Of course, if he's willing.
01:13:44 Yes, well, I've laid on something which might prove just as useful.
01:13:49 How does the idea strike you?
01:13:51 It's not for me to say.
01:13:54 Well, I've spoken to the C.O.
01:13:56 It's left to his discretion, and he's left it to me.
01:13:59 (All laughing)
01:14:06 So...
01:14:08 So, he said...
01:14:10 He said, "That man in bed with my wife was me."
01:14:15 (All laughing)
01:14:17 "Was me."
01:14:22 - Hey, hey! - Hey!
01:14:33 There is no disgrace.
01:14:35 No disgrace at all.
01:14:38 You today, gone tomorrow.
01:14:40 It doesn't matter who kills you, does it?
01:14:43 Well, you know, you've lived a long life, and...
01:14:49 And you do.
01:14:51 You rot in the mud and that's that.
01:14:55 Doesn't matter what anyone bloody well thinks about it, does it?
01:14:59 Hey, we're all moving up soon.
01:15:04 We'll be in the same boat as you are.
01:15:07 We'll all be rightful before long.
01:15:10 Last drink, you fuddle.
01:15:17 Who's gonna get it?
01:15:20 (Laughing)
01:15:24 You'd think I was entitled to it.
01:15:32 (Indistinct chatter)
01:15:34 (All laughing)
01:15:40 Oh, no!
01:15:47 - Oh! - Hey, wait!
01:15:50 - Aim for her! - Aim for the bow! Aim for the pike!
01:15:54 - Aim for the miss! - Aim for the moon!
01:15:56 - Fire! - (Hissing)
01:16:00 (All chattering)
01:16:02 Come on, Corl. Come on, boy.
01:16:05 Corl! Corl!
01:16:08 (Groaning)
01:16:11 - Is somebody there? - Yes, it's him.
01:16:14 Yes, it's him.
01:16:16 Hey, look out! The Padre!
01:16:22 Come on.
01:16:27 (Panting)
01:16:29 - Give me the... - Get out of here!
01:16:44 Here, have a look.
01:16:54 (Splashing)
01:16:56 Where are you, you bastards?
01:17:06 Come on, Corl. Come on.
01:17:12 (Laughing)
01:17:24 (Coughing)
01:17:26 Will you let me try to help you?
01:17:36 Do you want to talk to me?
01:17:40 God decides when it's our turn to be taken to him.
01:17:45 Will you be absolved of your sins?
01:17:52 My sins?
01:17:54 My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord,
01:17:59 nor faint when thou are tributed to him.
01:18:01 For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth,
01:18:04 and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
01:18:07 Our Lord Jesus Christ, who has left power to his church
01:18:12 to absolve all sinners who truly repent
01:18:14 and believe in him of his great mercy,
01:18:17 forgives thee thine offences,
01:18:19 and by his authority committed to me,
01:18:22 I absolve thee from all thy sins.
01:18:25 In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
01:18:29 and of the Holy Ghost.
01:18:31 We do not presume to come to this thy table, O merciful Lord,
01:18:38 trusting in our own righteousness,
01:18:40 but in thy manifold and great mercies.
01:18:43 We are not worthy so much as to gather the crumbs
01:18:46 from under thy table.
01:18:48 But thou art the same Lord
01:18:50 whose property is always to have mercy.
01:18:53 Grant us therefore, gracious Lord,
01:18:56 so to eat the flesh of thy dear son, Jesus Christ,
01:18:59 and to drink his blood,
01:19:01 that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body,
01:19:05 and our souls washed through his most precious blood,
01:19:09 and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us.
01:19:14 Amen.
01:19:15 (water bubbling)
01:19:18 The body of our Lord Jesus Christ,
01:19:26 which was given for thee.
01:19:43 The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ,
01:19:46 which was shed for thee,
01:19:48 preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life.
01:19:52 (groaning)
01:20:03 (groaning)
01:20:06 (groaning)
01:20:09 (groaning)
01:20:12 (thunder rumbling)
01:20:15 (thudding)
01:20:25 (thunder rumbling)
01:20:39 (thudding)
01:20:41 Where's the soul, Padre?
01:20:44 Here.
01:20:45 All that's here is a few hours of bloody nothing.
01:20:50 (thudding)
01:20:54 (thudding)
01:20:58 (thunder rumbling)
01:21:01 (thunder rumbling)
01:21:19 (thunder rumbling)
01:21:23 (thunder rumbling)
01:21:26 (water dripping)
01:21:54 (screaming)
01:21:57 (groaning)
01:22:04 This ground...
01:22:07 Oh, will grow...
01:22:12 Oh, will grow no more buttercups.
01:22:17 Oh...
01:22:21 (groaning)
01:22:24 (thunder rumbling)
01:22:30 Quick, Mark!
01:22:48 Left, right, left, right, left!
01:22:51 Left, right, left, right, left!
01:22:53 I'll cover you!
01:22:54 (shouting)
01:23:03 Make it up, make it up.
01:23:07 (thudding)
01:23:10 (shouting)
01:23:28 Left, right, left, right, left, right, left!
01:23:31 Hurry up!
01:23:33 (thunder rumbling)
01:23:36 Squad, squad, charge!
01:23:52 Standing, right!
01:23:54 (guns cocking)
01:23:56 Front right, kneel!
01:23:58 Turn!
01:24:01 (thunder rumbling)
01:24:04 Fire!
01:24:07 (guns firing)
01:24:30 No.
01:24:31 Isn't it finished yet?
01:24:53 No, sir.
01:24:55 I'm sorry.
01:24:57 I'm sorry.
01:24:58 (gun firing)
01:25:23 <i>Hamp, 10 Gifford Street,</i> <i>Islington, London.</i>
01:25:27 <i>Deeply regret to inform you,</i> <i>Private A.J. Hamp</i>
01:25:30 <i>killed in action October 22nd.</i>
01:25:32 <i>The Army Council</i> <i>expressed their sympathy.</i>
01:25:35 <i>Secretary, War Office.</i>
01:25:39 (somber music)
01:25:42 (somber music continues)
01:25:45 (somber music continues)
01:26:12 (somber music continues)
01:26:15 (somber music continues)
01:26:19 (somber music continues)
01:26:23 (somber music continues)