The Rat Patrol (1966–1968): Season 2, Episode 22 - The Double Jeopardy Raid - full transcript
The Rat Patrol is tasked with linking up with a group of Partisan fighters deep in the African desert. The people they meet surprise them being no more than children, but the Rat Patrols instructions are clear.
How are we supposed to meet
these partisans or guerrillas
or whatever they are.
In their part of the country.
They'll be contacting
us I expect.
Sarge!
Looks like we've got the
wrong kind of company coming.
Well, they're sure not
heading around us, Sarge.
Well, they're not going
through us, either.
Come on, mount up.
Guys!
I'd say we found
our partisans, Sarge.
Yeah, we sure have.
They're kids.
Nothing but kids.
You say, Sergeant, that General
Headquarters had sent you
to set up a liaison with
me and my fighters.
Well, here we are.
Jean-Claude.
Headquarters expects
us to let this bunch of kids
in on top-security plans?
Those are the orders.
"Brief the partisans,
"so they can give
behind-the-line-help
"when the big offensive starts."
This officer is still alive.
No prisoners.
"Just a bunch of kids."
Monique, how
badly is he wounded?
The shoulder only.
Then we will take him with us.
He will tell us about their
defenses at Bir Akromba.
Francois, we take
this one with us.
Bir Akromba. That's an SS camp.
Knocking off a small unit
like this is one thing but...
Sir, for six months,
we have made chaos
behind the lines of these Boche.
Jean-Claude knows what he does
and where he leads us.
Bir Akromba will not
be an SS base camp
for very much longer, Sergeant.
We intend to demolish it.
Sergeant.
You remember those layout
maps we saw of Bir Akromba?
Without heavy
weapons to take that fort,
even with a
trained-combat unit...
I know, I know.
Hitch, Andy, bring them up!
Francois, follow me!
It's suicide to try a
raid on that SS camp.
You'll be picking up
your people with a blotter.
Sergeant,
one week ago, a small village
gave us shelter for three hours.
The next day, a unit
of SS from Bir Akromba
burned that village
to the ground
and murdered every human
being they found there.
Comprenez-vous, Sergeant?
Well, regardless, you
are to give me maps
and a briefing on
the Allied offensive.
Forget it.
This is a war, not a
neighborhood gang fight.
It is a personal
thing, this raid.
We don't have time
for personal things!
We need your people
alive to harass the Germans
when the time comes.
That's the important thing here!
Sergeant!
You are right, of course.
The Allied offensive is
the most important thing.
I am, perhaps, not yet
a very mature leader.
You'll do.
All right, now,
at 0600 hours on the 21st,
British artillery,
positioned here and here,
will hit the German defenses.
At the same time,
air cover comes over.
Sorry.
Someone's gotta do this if
you don't want blood poisoning.
Swine, how many
men at Bir Akromba?
When do the sentries change?
One of you, hold his shoulder!
You must have some
anesthetic, something.
Nothing until he tells
us what we wish to know.
Speak, murderer!
Speak! What is
the matter with you?
You behave like this, you're
no better than the SS yourselves.
Moffitt!
Have you any
anesthetic? Anything at all?
Francois...
A moment or two more, he would
have told us about Bir Akromba.
It does not matter.
I have decided against
the raid on the SS camp.
You mean, he has decided, huh?
Monique, it is time that we
no longer fight a private war.
The Allied offensive
will need us alive...
The Allied offensive?
I see now why you have
taken command, Sergeant.
I command here. No
one rules my thinking.
And what would we know about
such great things, Sergeant?
The Allied offensive.
The Nazis, they kill our
families, we learn to kill the Nazis.
That is all we know.
It was his simple thinking
that we must destroy this
ugly, murdering Boche.
Until you came, we did not know
that you were so
stupid and weak.
Sergeant Troy,
perhaps you and
your friend will join
your other friends
outside for some food.
Not until I'm sure this
prisoner is in proper shape,
if you don't mind.
Thank you, Sergeant. Thank you.
Thank you.
Well?
Well, she challenged his
leadership in front of all the others.
And?
And he's young.
Loves her, I think.
Doesn't want to lose
his respect in her eyes.
And?
And he's changed his mind.
They're going to hit that
SS camp tonight after all.
If he wants to kill
himself, let him.
And what if he's captured?
He knows everything there is to
know about this whole operation.
If they catch him on this
raid and question him...
Especially by the SS.
He could tell them everything.
Hitch, Andy, I want you guys...
Get out to the jeeps
and get on those 50s.
We can't let those kids go
on this raid. Right, Sarge.
You and I'll walk over
and talk to Jean-Claude.
Francois!
Come on, slop it up.
I assume Sergeant
Moffitt has told you
I have decided to
make the raid after all.
Well, I'm sorry, but my
men are on their 50s.
Nobody leaves here.
Your men did not reach
their guns, Sergeant.
You're not only
risking your lives now,
but I've entrusted
you with the details
of a very important military...
Enough! Jean-Claude will
deal with your military problems
when he returns.
Oh, yeah, if he returns.
Well, they've sure
been long enough.
Maybe they pulled it off.
I guarantee you,
such young maniacs
couldn't even reach the camp,
let alone destroy it.
What makes you so sure
about that, Lieutenant?
Why wouldn't they make it?
It's just an opinion, Sergeant.
Sergeant.
We never even got close
enough to see the sentry gates.
They were waiting for us.
Jean-Claude saw
that we were finished.
He ordered us to run away,
but he himself would not go,
he just stood there
shooting back at them.
Until we escaped, five of us.
The lieutenant was so sure they
wouldn't even reach the place.
It's all my fault.
I questioned his courage.
I made him do it when
he knew it was wrong.
Now they will kill him.
You mean, they
captured him alive?
Saw it from the hill nearby.
They captured most of us.
He'll tell them everything.
The whole mission
isn't worth a... What?
Jean-Claude would never
tell things to the Boche.
When the SS finishes
with him, he'll talk,
unless we can do something.
The German?
But you are
soldiers, not animals!
You cannot just leave me...
You said they'd never reach
the gates of Bir Akromba.
Well, you were right.
Which means there has to
be a special-warning system,
and you know how it
operates, Lieutenant.
I am a prisoner of war.
I'm not required
to tell you anything.
All right, take him. Hang
him by his toes if you want.
You cannot!
They are not humans,
these wretched children.
They're what you
made them, Lieutenant.
Wait!
All right.
There's a wire-alarm
mechanism underground.
It completely
encircles the camp,
500 yards from the gates.
Nothing can get
through undetected.
You lie!
No.
To my shame it is the truth.
We can still make
it before dawn.
I have told you and told you,
we have no liaison with
any of the Allied forces.
We found those
jeeps in the desert.
Their crews were dead.
We just took them for this raid.
You will be given a drug.
It will not harm you,
but it will make you
speak more freely, I think.
In other words,
because your little
band has caused
so much discomfort
to our Afrika Korps,
the Allies have set up a
special liaison with you.
Is that not correct?
Yes.
Why, Jean-Claude, is there
some special Allied plan perhaps
for this part of the desert?
There is.
Now, Jean-Claude, you
will tell me all about this plan.
Take your time.
At 0600 hours,
on the 21st,
the Allied offensive...
Good, Jean-Claude. And then?
Then the British fighter planes
will be clearing the
panzers from the main roads.
Good, Jean-Claude, good.
Halt!
Moffitt, cover us. Hitch.
What is happening?
My lancer post immediately.
Hurry, outside!
Now, Jean-Claude, the most
important part of the plan is...
Move it out, move it out!
Sergeant Troy, thank you.
I made a mistake.
Monique, perhaps our people
might wish to select a new leader.
No, a good leader
admits his mistakes.
Thank you, again.
Sergeant, one question.
Was it not, militarily,
quite unwise for you,
who also know the Allied plans,
to risk your own
capture rescuing others?
Well, I... HITCH:
Answer the man, Sarge.
Well, answer the man, Troy.
Well, rank has its privileges.
Come on, let's get out of here.
these partisans or guerrillas
or whatever they are.
In their part of the country.
They'll be contacting
us I expect.
Sarge!
Looks like we've got the
wrong kind of company coming.
Well, they're sure not
heading around us, Sarge.
Well, they're not going
through us, either.
Come on, mount up.
Guys!
I'd say we found
our partisans, Sarge.
Yeah, we sure have.
They're kids.
Nothing but kids.
You say, Sergeant, that General
Headquarters had sent you
to set up a liaison with
me and my fighters.
Well, here we are.
Jean-Claude.
Headquarters expects
us to let this bunch of kids
in on top-security plans?
Those are the orders.
"Brief the partisans,
"so they can give
behind-the-line-help
"when the big offensive starts."
This officer is still alive.
No prisoners.
"Just a bunch of kids."
Monique, how
badly is he wounded?
The shoulder only.
Then we will take him with us.
He will tell us about their
defenses at Bir Akromba.
Francois, we take
this one with us.
Bir Akromba. That's an SS camp.
Knocking off a small unit
like this is one thing but...
Sir, for six months,
we have made chaos
behind the lines of these Boche.
Jean-Claude knows what he does
and where he leads us.
Bir Akromba will not
be an SS base camp
for very much longer, Sergeant.
We intend to demolish it.
Sergeant.
You remember those layout
maps we saw of Bir Akromba?
Without heavy
weapons to take that fort,
even with a
trained-combat unit...
I know, I know.
Hitch, Andy, bring them up!
Francois, follow me!
It's suicide to try a
raid on that SS camp.
You'll be picking up
your people with a blotter.
Sergeant,
one week ago, a small village
gave us shelter for three hours.
The next day, a unit
of SS from Bir Akromba
burned that village
to the ground
and murdered every human
being they found there.
Comprenez-vous, Sergeant?
Well, regardless, you
are to give me maps
and a briefing on
the Allied offensive.
Forget it.
This is a war, not a
neighborhood gang fight.
It is a personal
thing, this raid.
We don't have time
for personal things!
We need your people
alive to harass the Germans
when the time comes.
That's the important thing here!
Sergeant!
You are right, of course.
The Allied offensive is
the most important thing.
I am, perhaps, not yet
a very mature leader.
You'll do.
All right, now,
at 0600 hours on the 21st,
British artillery,
positioned here and here,
will hit the German defenses.
At the same time,
air cover comes over.
Sorry.
Someone's gotta do this if
you don't want blood poisoning.
Swine, how many
men at Bir Akromba?
When do the sentries change?
One of you, hold his shoulder!
You must have some
anesthetic, something.
Nothing until he tells
us what we wish to know.
Speak, murderer!
Speak! What is
the matter with you?
You behave like this, you're
no better than the SS yourselves.
Moffitt!
Have you any
anesthetic? Anything at all?
Francois...
A moment or two more, he would
have told us about Bir Akromba.
It does not matter.
I have decided against
the raid on the SS camp.
You mean, he has decided, huh?
Monique, it is time that we
no longer fight a private war.
The Allied offensive
will need us alive...
The Allied offensive?
I see now why you have
taken command, Sergeant.
I command here. No
one rules my thinking.
And what would we know about
such great things, Sergeant?
The Allied offensive.
The Nazis, they kill our
families, we learn to kill the Nazis.
That is all we know.
It was his simple thinking
that we must destroy this
ugly, murdering Boche.
Until you came, we did not know
that you were so
stupid and weak.
Sergeant Troy,
perhaps you and
your friend will join
your other friends
outside for some food.
Not until I'm sure this
prisoner is in proper shape,
if you don't mind.
Thank you, Sergeant. Thank you.
Thank you.
Well?
Well, she challenged his
leadership in front of all the others.
And?
And he's young.
Loves her, I think.
Doesn't want to lose
his respect in her eyes.
And?
And he's changed his mind.
They're going to hit that
SS camp tonight after all.
If he wants to kill
himself, let him.
And what if he's captured?
He knows everything there is to
know about this whole operation.
If they catch him on this
raid and question him...
Especially by the SS.
He could tell them everything.
Hitch, Andy, I want you guys...
Get out to the jeeps
and get on those 50s.
We can't let those kids go
on this raid. Right, Sarge.
You and I'll walk over
and talk to Jean-Claude.
Francois!
Come on, slop it up.
I assume Sergeant
Moffitt has told you
I have decided to
make the raid after all.
Well, I'm sorry, but my
men are on their 50s.
Nobody leaves here.
Your men did not reach
their guns, Sergeant.
You're not only
risking your lives now,
but I've entrusted
you with the details
of a very important military...
Enough! Jean-Claude will
deal with your military problems
when he returns.
Oh, yeah, if he returns.
Well, they've sure
been long enough.
Maybe they pulled it off.
I guarantee you,
such young maniacs
couldn't even reach the camp,
let alone destroy it.
What makes you so sure
about that, Lieutenant?
Why wouldn't they make it?
It's just an opinion, Sergeant.
Sergeant.
We never even got close
enough to see the sentry gates.
They were waiting for us.
Jean-Claude saw
that we were finished.
He ordered us to run away,
but he himself would not go,
he just stood there
shooting back at them.
Until we escaped, five of us.
The lieutenant was so sure they
wouldn't even reach the place.
It's all my fault.
I questioned his courage.
I made him do it when
he knew it was wrong.
Now they will kill him.
You mean, they
captured him alive?
Saw it from the hill nearby.
They captured most of us.
He'll tell them everything.
The whole mission
isn't worth a... What?
Jean-Claude would never
tell things to the Boche.
When the SS finishes
with him, he'll talk,
unless we can do something.
The German?
But you are
soldiers, not animals!
You cannot just leave me...
You said they'd never reach
the gates of Bir Akromba.
Well, you were right.
Which means there has to
be a special-warning system,
and you know how it
operates, Lieutenant.
I am a prisoner of war.
I'm not required
to tell you anything.
All right, take him. Hang
him by his toes if you want.
You cannot!
They are not humans,
these wretched children.
They're what you
made them, Lieutenant.
Wait!
All right.
There's a wire-alarm
mechanism underground.
It completely
encircles the camp,
500 yards from the gates.
Nothing can get
through undetected.
You lie!
No.
To my shame it is the truth.
We can still make
it before dawn.
I have told you and told you,
we have no liaison with
any of the Allied forces.
We found those
jeeps in the desert.
Their crews were dead.
We just took them for this raid.
You will be given a drug.
It will not harm you,
but it will make you
speak more freely, I think.
In other words,
because your little
band has caused
so much discomfort
to our Afrika Korps,
the Allies have set up a
special liaison with you.
Is that not correct?
Yes.
Why, Jean-Claude, is there
some special Allied plan perhaps
for this part of the desert?
There is.
Now, Jean-Claude, you
will tell me all about this plan.
Take your time.
At 0600 hours,
on the 21st,
the Allied offensive...
Good, Jean-Claude. And then?
Then the British fighter planes
will be clearing the
panzers from the main roads.
Good, Jean-Claude, good.
Halt!
Moffitt, cover us. Hitch.
What is happening?
My lancer post immediately.
Hurry, outside!
Now, Jean-Claude, the most
important part of the plan is...
Move it out, move it out!
Sergeant Troy, thank you.
I made a mistake.
Monique, perhaps our people
might wish to select a new leader.
No, a good leader
admits his mistakes.
Thank you, again.
Sergeant, one question.
Was it not, militarily,
quite unwise for you,
who also know the Allied plans,
to risk your own
capture rescuing others?
Well, I... HITCH:
Answer the man, Sarge.
Well, answer the man, Troy.
Well, rank has its privileges.
Come on, let's get out of here.