History records that the invasion...
which was to liberate Europe
from the German army began in July of 1944.
D day was already behind us.
We'd stormed the beaches
and fought through the hedgerows...
and reached the rubble
of village streets.
For a while we thought
it was gonna be a walkover, but 30 miles inland,
between the towns of Saint-Lo
and Piriere, we ran into it:
a wall of German men and guns
planted there by Der Fuhrer with one order:
Hold or die.
The Germans didn't have
any corner on giving orders. We issued an order of our own:
Break through.
And so, on July 27,
the Allied army swung
all the way from the floor,
and we hit the west wall
with everything we had,
Lightning Joe Collins'
Seventh Corps showing the way.
It took three, long,
never-forgotten days,
but the wall cracked,
and the crack became a hole...
and the hole, a doorway.
Through the door, more armor
poured into France than the Germans knew existed.
General Courtney Hodges'
First Army moved east toward the Seine.
Field Marshal Monty Montgomery's
21st Army group took a cut north heading for Antwerp.
And General George S. Patton's
Third Army...
Well, George, he took
his tanks, his men,
added a dash of
his private brand of courage...
and led them
straight up the center for Paris.
Hey, knock it off,
you jerk!
You feel like makin'
some noise, get down the road and join the war!
I'll give you ten seconds to get out of there!
Yeah?
Well, I'll give you
just ten seconds to knock that racket off...
before I give you
a punch right in the...
- Good morning, sir.
- I hope I didn't break up a crap game, Lieutenant.
No, sir.
Why are you lying doggo in the road?
Are you lost
or afraid or both?
Neither, sir.
We only had one can of gas left. I thought we'd save it.
For what? You can't win a war
against enemy you don't capture or terrain you don't take.
- Get back in that tank
and start moving! - Yes, sir.
Wow.
So we burn up our last can of gas. Then what?
Maybe there's
some gas stations along the road somewheres.
Aw, sure. This is
a regular Route 66.
Free air, free water
and registered rest rooms.
Yeah. They wash
your windshield with an 88-millimeter shell.
Why don't they send up those back-line supply troops?
Those jokers?
If you expect them to keep
up with old Blood-and-Guts,
I'll bet my bottom stripe
we take Berlin with slingshots.
Hey, Charlie,
they got another cartoon in here about General Gordon.
I'd give $20
to see his face when he sees...
Get your money up,
Lieutenant.
I hope it was worth it.
Now get on that telephone and
get the advanced section of the communication zone, Col. Carter.
It's in Le Mans.
Yes, sir. Make the call, Corporal.
Yes, sir.
This is Tippecanoe six.
Give me Tatter forward.
This is a high priority
call. Get that: a high priority call.
I want Colonel Carter
for Major General Lee Gordon on General Patton's staff.
Yeah, yeah? Who is it?
This is Major General Lee Gordon speaking.
Can you hear me?
Uh, yes, General. Can you hear me?
Doesn't make any difference
whether I can hear you because you're not going to be talking.
Ten days ago, you told me that
supplies were being sent up. Where are they?
Uh, uh, well, you see, sir, uh...
I'm fed up with promises!
I want gasoline, gasoline
and more gasoline.
I want small-caliber ammunition
and rations, and I want them as fast as you can get them to me.
General, your outfit's
been moving four times as fast as anybody thought it would.
We'll catch up to you eventually.
"Eventually"!
Get me those supplies!
Ten-hut.
Here's the situation, men.
At ease. In the 23 days since
the Allied troops broke through the main German line of defense,
General Patton's army
has fought its way to the Seine River.
That's 270 miles
into enemy-held territory.
It's the most important
push in the war,
But General Patton
has outrun his line of communication support.
He's virtually drinking
gasoline, chasing Krauts with 30-caliber bullets.
He's dangling out there
all by himself.
It's our job to
get him off that hook and keep him rolling.
No reflection on Patton's
ability as a field commander,
but military history has proved
that war is an inchworm.
The head has to stop
while the tail catches up. Our supply line...
Right now, Colonel,
General Patton is rewriting military history.
He's already demonstrated
that many military concepts are obsolete,
especially our concept
of supply.
But, General, how do you
supply an army that's moved as fast as his?
There are no forward airfields,
and it'll take 60 days to put those railroads back into shape.
I'll tell you how
we're gonna do it:
with trucks, trucks
and more trucks.
We'll clear our own
private route.
We'll make it off-limit
for everyone, from French civilians to combat units.
We'll set up our own
one-way, private road to Patton and back.
That road'll have to go through
points that Patton's bypassed.
How do trucks get through
enemy pockets?
They fight
their way through.
What's your vehicle
situation, Colonel?
I could have better than
6,000 trucks ready to roll by morning.
All right. Before
we leave Le Mans tonight,
we'll have
a beachhead-to-front Red Ball Express.
One way out
and one way back.
General, we might have
the trucks, but we haven't men enough to put in all of them.
Then get the men.
Every man in the E.T.O...
who isn't shooting
or kicking Krauts out of their holes...
is going to find himself
pushing a truck.
All right, gentlemen.
We'll reassemble here at 1300,
put all the plans
together and get this Red Ball rolling.
Ten-hut!
I'd give a six-hour pass
if I knew what this was all about.
I already did.
I still don't know.
Then stop beatin'
your brains out thinkin'.
You do guess it right; they'll
change the whole thing, even if they have to lose the war.
This is the highest-price
quiz show of all times.
We're in the transportation
corps, aren't we? That means we'll be driving trucks.
Yeah. The kind of work
they don't care who does.
Trucks! Who wants to drive a truck?
Nobody.
And most of all me. Somebody
oughta tell the government what's goin' on over here.
A year and a half we train.
The Fightin' 104th, they call us.
And I know what it means. Only
104 of them are gonna fight.
- The rest of us are gonna
wind up as wheel jockeys. - Why don't you stop beefin'?
Drivin' a truck is
the softest touch in the world.
Ya sit down
all day long.
Ya pick up some stuff here.
Ya put it over here.
Nobody breathin'
down your neck. Ya carry a couple jugs of cognac.
And mademoiselles...
What they won't do for a ride...
and a gallon of gasoline
to take home to Papa.
Can't be done.
Hey, you make it
sound like heaven.
I wouldn't even wanna
drive a truck in heaven.
You know, I don't know
the first thing about one of these gadgets.
It's a cinch. Take you
ten minutes to learn.
Back in the States,
I pushed rigs from one coast to the other.
- All kinds of weather:
rain, snow, desert. - Yeah?
Yeah. Let me tell you
about the time I was on the Mojave Desert run.
It was 120 in the shade,
and I was loaded with popcorn.
All of a sudden, this stuff
started to pop.
Boom, boom, boom.
Would you believe it?
By the time I got to Phoenix,
all I had to do
was add the butter and the salt.
Yeah.
Very entertaining.
Oh, that was nothin'.
Once I was drivin' in the Rockies, see...
Rockies?
- Yeah.
- I pushed a few rigs over those hills myself.
Oh? Pretty cold,
wasn't it?
Hey, what are you
workin' on there, a formula for a secret weapon?
This? This, my friend,
is my future fortune.
The first real novel
that's gonna come out of this war.
Well, what are you gonna call it?
How do I know?
Haven't finished it yet.
What, what, what, why, why, why.
Look, Shakespeare, you write
anything about this outfit, leave me out of it, will ya?
I'm beginnin' to feel like
an end man in a minstrel show.
Then why don't you
tell a joke?
Aw, come on.
He was only kiddin'.
Unit, halt!
Left face.
Rest.
All right, you men,
the army's got a bug in its ear.
That's new?
Don't it always?
Hurry, hurry, hurry,
and then you never go anywhere.
Well, this time the army's gonna
make it up to ya. This time you're really goin' someplace.
Hey, Sarge, don't we have
at least a general or somethin' in charge of us?
There'll be an officer
here in a minute, wise guy.
When he gets here, I want you
to show him you're in the army.
That means you act
like soldiers, not clerks, messengers or ward boys,
even though that's what you were a few hours ago.
Detail. Ten-hut!
How are you, Red?
All right, Sergeant,
take your post.
At ease, men.
My name's Campbell.
I know you're wondering
what this is all about.
The army is setting up
the biggest trucking detail in history.
They're gonna call it
the Red Ball Express.
That's an old railroad term
meaning high priority freight.
We're gonna be part of it.
Our orders are to load up,
catch General Patton, unload...
and then drive right back
and do it all over again.
Load, roll 'em,
unload, roll 'em, until we're dizzy.
There isn't anything
I can add to that.
These are our vehicles
right behind us.
Two men to a truck.
Mount up and follow me
when we move out.
Sergeant Kallek?
Dismiss the company,
Sergeant.
Company, dismissed!
Fall out.
Sergeant Kallek.
Yes, sir.
Put Corporal Green
and anybody else you want in the jeep.
I'll drive
the lead truck.
I thought you lost
your taste for trucks.
You know how the army is. They
sneaked a look at my Form 20 and found out I was a trucker.
They find out
from your Form 20 what kind of a trucker you were?
Okay, Red, if that's
the way you want it.
I'll only mention this once.
We have a job ahead of us...
that has nothing to do with
you or me, so don't let your personal feelings...
get in the way
of those stripes.
Good morning.
Mind if I ride with a professional?
Say, not at all.
I'm one of the Smiths. Call me Taffy; everybody does.
Taffy it is.
My name's Partridge. This is livin', isn't it?
Excitement, drama,
drivin' the open road.
See France
the easy way.
Well, if you go for
this kind of ease, give me just lying around back home.
What'd you do in
civilian life, Taffy?
Bop!
That's what I did.
Sat up on those high traps
with Eddie Mulaney's band, just keepin' the beat.
I've heard Mulaney play
many times. Out of St. Louis, wasn't it?
Out of St. Louis,
out of Chicago, out of New Orleans.
We been kicked out
of lots of places.
Well, as they say in that
other service, I'm glad to have you aboard.
I'm gratified to be ridin'
with a man with your drivin' background.
But after the Rockies,
this'll probably seem like a soapbox derby.
Yeah.
Uh, say, uh, I wouldn't
like this to get around,
but how do you start
one of these things?
Oh!
Now what?
Step on the starter!
Where is it?
Sir, the sergeant said
I was to ride in this truck.
Well, hop in.
Move over, Mack. I'm drivin'.
Oh, sure, Sarge, sure.
My name's Heyman.
I'm Red Kallek.
What do you think
of this outfit, Sergeant?
With an officer like Campbell
in charge, not much.
- You got somethin' against him?
- Yeah, I got somethin' against him. He killed my brother.
I guess we should
get to know each other a little better.
My name's Andrew Robertson.
My friends call me Robbie.
Nice to know you,
Robertson.
I come from Detroit.
Worked on the sports desk of a Negro newspaper there.
I guess that's because
I picked up a medal once in a Golden Gloves.
- Where you from, Lieutenant?
- Hmm? Uh, Colorado.
You work for a trucking company there?
Yeah.
That's a coincidence.
Sergeant Kallek's a trucker from Colorado. D'you know that?
I guess you two
knew each other before the service.
Look, Corporal,
I appreciate your interest.
If ever I want to go
to confession, you'll be the first one I call on.
Sure, Lieutenant.
I get it.
Grab your mess gear!
All right, we'll take
a half-hour for chow while they're loadin' the trucks.
Make it snappy, huh?
Whaddya know,
stew.
Stew, stew.
This is new?
Hey, the guy's a poet
and don't know it.
Lift and load
Lift and load
When the trucks
are loaded, Lieutenant, where are we headed?
Somewhere off the Seine
River, if General Patton's still there.
That Patton. He's really makin' a war out of this.
We must be a pretty important
outfit to be picked to supply the hottest general in the army.
McCord, I have a feeling
before we're through,
this is gonna be one
of the biggest things the army's ever done.
You really think so?
I could be wrong.
I don't think so, sir.
You know, it's great to be on a winning team for a change.
Back in the high school
I went to, we were always getting beat at football.
We won just one game
in four years...
and then only because
their fullback dropped the ball behind the goal line.
One of our boys tripped
and fell on it accidentally.
What position did you play?
I was a cheerleader.
With a team like that,
you must have had the softest job in school.
The softest job? Did you
ever try to get up in front of your student body and scream:
All right, gang,
remember what they did to us last year?
Are we gonna let 'em get away
with it again? We are not.
Let's have a big locomotive
for the team.
Tell you what.
When the going gets rough,
you give us a big locomotive
for the team.
Yes, sir.
And one for the fraulein
One for the fraulein
One for the boys
All right, fellas.
Sorry to break it up,
but gather round, huh?
Come on.
Let's go, everybody.
Here we go.
Now listen carefully.
Finally got the scoop.
Here's the water.
Here's Cherbourg, where we are.
Saint-Lo, Paris,
the Seine River.
Now Cherbourg's gonna be
our main supply dump.
Pick up the supplies here
and move 'em to a forward supply dump...
that'll be designated
by the Red Ball every day.
What's our first objective?
A dump north of Paris, somewhere along the Seine River.
We'll get specific instructions
at a forward control point.
Paris is 270 miles
from here.
The way those roads are,
it'll take us ten days to get there.
We'll make it in a day
and a half, driving a maximum speed of 35 miles an hour.
I've seen those roads.
You can't shoot a bullet 35 miles an hour down 'em.
The roads'll be cleared for us.
Incidentally, Sergeant, speakin' of bullets,
see that every man's been issued
a belt full of ammunition anda rifle.
We gonna shoot rabbits
or somethin'?
Could be. We better keep
our engines hot in case we have to cook 'em.
In addition to rations,
we're gonna be carryin' ammunition and gasoline,
so I don't have to
warn you to be careful.
You have any questions?
Okay, everybody,
in the trucks.
All except you,
Sergeant.
Quit buckin' me,
will you, Red? I wanna make an outfit out of these men.
With these goldbricks,
troublemakers and misfits?
Guys other outfits
wanted to get rid of?
We're gonna make a good outfit
out of 'em. The large part of it's gonna be your job.
Don't worry. When
the goin' gets rough,
you won't see me
jumpin' out of a truck and runnin'.
You better get
in your vehicle.
Oh, that Partridge.
If his truck lasts long enough, he may learn how to drive.
Get that vehicle off the road.
I'll check the damage.
All right, you deadheads, move
this hunk of junk off the road before it starts growin' roots.
Aw, go oil your shoes.
They squeak.
It's dolls.
Real American dolls!
- How can you tell
in these outfits? - I can tell all right.
- I guess I'm just lucky.
- Well, wonderful. Now that you've established our gender,
I don't suppose
you'd mind giving us a hand.
Take two. I wish
I was an octopus.
I'll bet he is
in the back seat of a car.
What's this
Red Cross business?
Don't tell me there's
a disaster up here.
We're Red Cross workers,
Sergeant. This is our clubmobile.
We're supposed to ride this
road, serve coffee and doughnuts to the Red Ball Express drivers.
- We haven't seen any yet.
- Well, ya have now, sweetheart.
I'm one of these heroes
you've been waitin' for. Break out the grub.
Okay. Comin' up.
Hey, you guys!
Off your duffs! Chow!
Stay where you are!
The situation's taken
kind of a twist.
The dames are here
to entertain the enlisted men.
Coffee, tea and doughnuts
will be ready in a minute.
Tell the men they
don't have to line up. We'll bring it down to them.
I know this is gonna sound
stuffy, but there are some men up near Paris...
who need gasoline and ammunition
much more than we need coffee, tea or doughnuts.
So will you please move?
While I'm changing the tire,
they can be passing out
the refreshments.
You're not gonna change
anything. Get in your truck along with the rest of the men.
Take it easy, Sergeant.
You wouldn't look good with a court-martial.
I'll do my own fighting.
I'll bet you could lick him, too, lady.
Everybody, in the trucks.
Prepare to move out.
This boy's the soul
of generosity.
In order to have a soul,
I hear you gotta be human.
Sergeant Kallek?
We'll take ten here.
Have the men check their loads, tires, gas and water.
Anything else, sir?
Yeah.
Yeah, put out
a four-man security patrol and check the road ahead.
Security patrol?
Now look, Lieutenant, this isn't combat we're in.
This is behind-the-lines
communication zone work.
I don't wanna tell you your job...
I'd rather you wouldn't.
Just put out
the patrol.
All right, you men.
Everybody up here!
You, too, Higgins!
On the double!
Come on. Let's relax.
Relax?
Are you kiddin'?
Security patrol.
I take it, Sergeant, this is
where we sweat out the rest of this dangerous mission.
You take it
right.
Whoever give the lieutenant
the idea for this security patrol, Sarge?
I think he read a book on
Napoleon once, so now he wants to capture Europe single-handed.
If there's a Kraut within
50 miles of this place, I bet he's laughin' himself to death.
Say, how do you laugh in German?
Grab your guns and take cover
away from these trucks!
Wonder where
the lieutenant's goin'.
Probably back to Cherbourg to get his transfer.
Here, Red.
Let's take a look.
If those Krauts come around
that bend, they'll blow this convoy to bits. Let's go.
I'll cover you, Lieutenant.
Don't worry about us.
Just don't fire
unless they attack the convoy.
I'm gonna draw
their fire, Red. You pinpoint 'em.
They're over there
in that cluster of trees, but they're low.
As long as we stay behind
the lip of the road, we're all right.
Yeah, but we could
stay here all night.
I'm gonna try
to go around and get behind 'em.
You get as close
to the lip as possible.
When I yell,
we both go.
All right, Red!
Red!
- Thanks.
- Thanks for what?
I was hoping
they'd kill ya.
You might as well realize
what happened just now can happen anytime.
This isn't what a lot of you
guys have been thinkin'... a bus line or a gravy train.
There's hundreds of Germans been bypassed, and lot of 'em...
Hold that fire!
Think I'll buy you
a slingshot.
You the officer in charge of this outfit?
Yes, sir. Lt. Campbell.
Don't your men even recognize their own army?
Yes, sir, but...
You might have killed us. I had
to drive 50 miles back from the front to find a supply column.
To have it fire at me
is a little more than I can take.
We had a run-in with
the Krauts, sir. We're a little trigger-happy.
I see. Get your men
in the trucks. I'll show you where to take the stuff.
Major, these men
need a break. They've been driving 30 hours.
A break? Nobody's
getting any breaks up where I came from.
We need this ammo and gas,
and we need it bad.
Yes, sir.
Unless our speedometer's
broke, we've done 275 miles in the last 36 hours.
Yeah. Hey, that's just what
the lieutenant said we'd do.
This is where we drop it.
This area's been cleared for mines.
Where's the Seine River?
The other side of those hills.
Soon as Patton gets
another bridge built, his boys'll pick this stuff up.
Hey, Major, which way is Paris?
Ten miles in that direction.
Uh-huh.
It's not gonna do you any good. The Germans still hold it.
Germans?
Ten miles away?
You nervous
because the Krauts are ten miles away?
That's a little
close, buddy.
Well, don't spread this
around, but they're only two miles in that direction.
Hey, Major.
Where are the unloading crews?
Sergeant, this is not a reception center.
This is war.
Up here, we do our own unloading.
So let's get this stuff
on the ground.
Let's move,
Sergeant.
All right, you guys.
The next hour
will be devoted to physical education.
Next he'll want us
to pour the gas in their tanks,
load their guns
and pull their triggers for them.
I guess this is the life of a soldier.
Soldiers?
We're nothin' but bus
drivers and travelling gas station attendants.
Hey, Taffy, you know
that book I'm doin' on my war experiences?
I'm afraid that's gettin'
a little depressing.
If you ask me,
you've lost readers by the hundreds already.
There's no point in you
going back empty, Lieutenant. Give these Krauts a ride...
back to the P.W. enclosure
at Cherbourg.
We don't have anyplace to keep prisoners up here.
We'll take good care of 'em.
Halten Sie!
All right, Red Ball,
we got passengers.
Load 'em up, Sergeant.
There's nothin' that guy
won't have us do to make him look good.
You know
by the time that we reach Cherbourg,
we'll have driven
550 miles...
in 72 hours...
without sleep.
That's a miracle,
Wilson.
Y'know,
I'll have the...
first... book...
You all right?
Fine, fine.
How 'bout you?
Think so. I just fell asleep.
You two go somewhere to relax and settle your nerves.
We'll take care of your truck.
Sorry, Wilson.
As of now, I'm on detached service.
Hey, wait a minute.
I'm not selling anything. I just want...
Lachez-moi.
Je ne suis pas sur que vous n'etes pas un bon conducteur.
Ce n'est pas a vous que je souriais. Allez-vous-en!
Well, I see...
I'm gonna have
a little trouble here.
Say, do you know
the semaphore code?
That's, uh, hello.
You understand?
Au revoir.
Au revoir?
That's "good-bye"!
Hey! Hey,
what's your name?
You. Uh, name.
Nom.
Marie?
Claudette? Cherie?
Hey! Hey,
wait a minute.
All I wanna know is your name.
Antoinette DuBois.
Ronald Partridge.
Me, Ronald.
Ronald?
Whew. This is like Tarzan and the apes.
Tarzan?
Yeah!
Tarzan, Jane.
No. Antoinette.
Hey, wait.
I can't run and talk
at the same time.
Say something to me,
even in French. S'il vous plait.
Shove off.
Hey, wait a minute.
That was English. You don't speak English.
Not only do I speak English; I speak English without an accent.
That's remarkable.
Say, where'd you get that "shoove off" stuff?
You have heard, perhaps, of the Eighth Air Force?
Oh.
They were here?
Mm-hmm.
Well, I guess
I will shove off.
I heard that American soldiers
fight for what they want.
Honey, if those
big-winged birds came down out of the sky first,
with $280 a month plus
flight pay and that line they teach 'em at basic training,
there's nothing
left around here worth scrounging for.
Wait a minute,
Ronald.
You remembered.
Don't worry about the air corps.
We just helped send
some of them back, through the underground.
Oh, well.
Uh, uh, friend!
Americano!
Uh, uh, amigo!
Yeah, cheri. Antoinette!
Say, cigarette? Si vous
saviez seulement, qu'il n'y a pas de cartouches dans le fusil.
I'm with her.
Americain?
Oui.
Oh, merci!
Monsieur, entrez. Je veux vous offrir I'hospitalite...
de notre maison,
s'il vous plait.
Entrez, monsieur.
Entrez.
Je suis tres content
d'avoir un Americain a la maison. Louise!
Oui? Qu'est-ce que c'est?
Un Americain.
Ma femme. Un Americain.
Hi, uh, uh...
Oh, bonjour.
How do you do?
Et ici ce sont
mes deux enfants.
J'en ai une autre toute petite comme ca.
Marie? Oh, la voila.
Oh, cute! Hi!
Elle est gentille, mais c'est une petite gamine celle-la.
Non, non pas
sur la table hein. Donnez-la moi.
Eh, bien, asseyez-vous.
Oh.
Asseyez-vous.
Mettez-vous
la a votre aise, monsieur.
Faites comme si vous etiez chez vous.
C'est Americain, n'est-ce pas?
Eugene!
Tu n'as pas honte?
J'allais seulement le sentir.
Je te connais.
Oh! Say, this is great!
C'est le meilleur vin de la maison.
Uh... No, go ahead.
Non, non, non.
Go ahead.
Non... Oh, merci, merci.
Marie!
Say, come on.
I'll get you some food.
Oh, non, non!
Je vous en prie, monsieur, prenez cette soupe.
Prenez cette soupe.
Elle est tres, tres bonne.
Thanks very much, but I'll get you some food.
Mais non! Ecoutez!
I'll be back.
Oh, bon, bon. Au revoir, monsieur.
Let's take off.
Wait a minute. I gotta find my buddy...
If he isn't here, that's his tough luck. Take off!
Wait a minute!
Hey! Wait for me!
Whoo, I'm in a lot of trouble.
Let me borrow your bicycle.
I'll come back with plenty of food. You wait for me.
I will wait, Tarzan.
Oh, ho, ho.
All right, you guys,
grab your socks.
We gotta be
loaded and rollin' in 20 minutes.
We gotta be outta here
by 0500.
Aw, man, if this is what they
call a soft touch, I'll go back to combat duty any day.
Now what would you wanna
go back to combat duty for?
Personally, I think that this is a pretty...
Okay, okay. Knock it off.
Okay, fellas,
up and at 'em.
Brother.
And load
One for Hitler
And one
for the road
Lift and load
What are they tryin' to prove?
These men need 40 hours' sleep, not four.
Patton took the supplies
we brought him yesterday, moved up 25 more miles.
Guess he needs supplies
more than we need sleep.
Are we the only company in this
Red Ball? What's the matter with the rest of 'em?
They were dropping stuff
at their forward dump ten minutes after we left.
The line of trucks
between here and the front is almost continuous.
Tomorrow there'll be
a truck every 50 yards of that 250-mile road.
A load of supplies will be
dropping behind Patton every minute, day and night.
What'd they do,
give you a speech to learn?
If you spent half as much time
workin' as you do gripin', we'd make an outfit out of these men.
Now get to work!
One for Hitler
And one
for the road
Lift and load
Lift and load
- Good morning, sir.
Where do we sleep? - Where've you been?
Oh, that. Sir, if I live
to be 100 years old,
I hope I never
get into a hassle like the one I just got out of.
Due to a failure of the steering
mechanism, our vehicle sustained superficial damages yesterday.
In an effort to follow
your example as a thorough and cautious soldier,
I felt it my duty
to put out a one-man security patrol...
while the able mechanics
were tending to the needs of the vehicle.
During the course
of my investigation of the surrounding terrain,
I flushed out a very
suspicious party.
She was... He was...
I...
It's a very long
story, Lieutenant.
Okay. But I oughta make you
go through the whole thing just for punishment.
- After this, see your French
girls on your own time. - Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
My own time?
My own time. Yeah, I had a lot of that...
at least
two whole seconds a day.
We climbed into those trucks
and didn't get out of 'em for the next three weeks.
And I was the guy who
once said drivin' was a cinch,
just a matter of
pickin' stuff up here and puttin' it down there.
Well, my vast
driving experience... ahem...
had left out something
quite important:
little things like
your hands swelling up into two big blisters...
and your feet gettin'
slow-baked on the floorboards...
and more aches and pains
than were ever squeezed into six feet of human body.
Cobblestones, dust, blackout
lights and hairpin turns weren't enough, it seems.
Somebody had to throw in
eight days of rain,
followed by 65 miles
of freshly churned mud.
The road was not only long;
it now became deep,
and we fought a war
within a war... with time and distance.
This mud was
strictly G.I. issue,
not to be confused
with the ordinary variety.
This stuff was composed
of two parts glue and one part perversity.
Some of the Red Ballers claimed
that the army had seasoned it with meanness...
meanness squeezed from
the first sergeant's heart.
But as bad as the mud was,
there was always somethin' tougher ahead.
Accidents. Sure,
we had 'em, but their wheels would hardly stop turnin'...
before a repair crew hauled 'em
back on the road and gave 'em a little mechanical motherin'...
and sent 'em
back to the job.
For any of us who got cold,
there was an occasional bonfire.
We didn't stop for a rally.
It was our gas and our friends goin' up.
When we hit the towns again,
or what was left of them, Taffy kept askin' me:
"Where those mademoiselles that
were supposed to be waitin' to throw their arms around us?"
I was too tired to even
think about mademoiselles.
Friend, that's about
as tired as I ever get.
Then just when you thought
you couldn't drive another mile, you turned a curve,
and the army handed you
one of its many surprises.
Well, what is this,
Sergeant?
It's a relief camp for you Red Ball drivers.
Relief camp?
Now all we gotta do is get
a medal every time we drive ten miles... just like the air corps.
Have your men get the gear off the trucks.
What for?
While you rest,
somebody else drives your trucks.
When you get up, you
drive somebody else's.
Really keeps those
supplies movin'.
That's pretty good. Sergeant,
will you have the men take their stuff off the trucks?
All right, men, take your
personal stuff off the trucks!
9415! Outside
and mount up!
Take it easy, baby!
Come and get it!
Come and get it!
Oh, boy, hot coffee.
Here ya are, boys, all you can eat and drink.
Hey, hey. Can we look too? Huh?
Sure, long as you don't touch.
Boy, this is just like home!
What are you two dames doin' tomorrow night?
Same thing you're gonna be
doing, Sergeant: drivin'.
What a romantic item
for my book!
Two dames chase me
halfway across France and back.
Hold it for rewrites.
Before we're through,
we'll chase you
all the way across France and back.
What happened to that lieutenant
who doesn't think women belong up here?
Oh, Campbell? Who cares about him?
Yeah, forget about him.
How about giving me
a couple of those doughnuts.
Black boy, you give orders to nobody. You take 'em.
I'm not taking any from you.
All right,
break it up. Let me through.
Break it up!
All right, all right.
Now get out of here, both of you!
He was the one...
I said get out of here. You tryin' to start a riot?
Lieutenant, what happened
was not that man's fault.
Lady, you run your clubmobile.
I'll run my company.
Now beat it.
Get into the tents.
And, everybody,
break it up!
All right!
Go on! Break it up!
Lieutenant Campbell, sir.
Robertson?
Come on in.
Corporal Robertson
reporting, sir, with a request.
Why all
the formality?
It's a formal
request, sir.
Okay, relax and
tell me what you want.
I would like
to request a transfer to another outfit.
Why?
I'd rather keep my reasons
to myself, sir.
'Cause of what just happened?
That might be a part of it.
'Cause I had
to bark at you?
Well, that's my job
whenever you or anyone else gets out of line.
Would you rather have
thrown a few more punches?
Punches I can handle, sir.
Look, Robertson,
I'm not educated to all the
subtleties of race relationship, but it was never my intention...
to treat you
any differently from anyone else in this company.
To the best of my knowledge,
I haven't. Transfer? No. There aren't any to be had.
I don't think any of us
wanted to be in this outfit.
That didn't make
a bit of difference to the army.
It makes even less
difference that any of us wants to get out.
Is that all, sir?
Yeah.
Okay, turn out.
Ah!
Thank you, my friend.
Oh, hi, Robbie.
I just asked for a transfer.
Why do you want to do a thing like that?
Because I don't like
the way I'm being treated, especially by him.
Campbell?
What can I do about it?
Nothin'!
He outranks us the way
we've been outranked all our lives.
Ever think you could be wrong?
Wrong?
Readin' things
into Campbell's mind that aren't there.
Look, you don't ride
with him all day. You don't know.
Robbie, I've been
all over the world, seen all kinds of people.
This is the greatest
bunch of fellas I've ever worked with,
even if half of them
are white.
All I ever heard 'em do
is argue and complain, feel sorry for themselves,
try to take their misery
out on somebody else.
Arguin' and complainin'
isn't bad. That shows they've got spirit.
All they've gotta do
is get that spirit movin' in the same direction.
When they do, you're
gonna see an outfit grow right up in front of you...
one you'll be
proud of.
Proud? With him commanding.
There's nothing wrong with that boy.
The day'll come, Robbie,
when you're gonna like that boy.
This is no easy job.
He's got a lot on his mind,
and the best thing we can do
is to try to help him work it out.
Hold it! Hold it!
How long ago did this happen?
About a half an hour ago, sir.
Why hasn't the road been cleared?
We don't have equipment, sir.
Our convoy will go around it.
We'll leave our wrecker here to clear the road.
I wouldn't advise that,
sir. This area is pretty heavily mined.
Why don't we send someone
back to the next patrol point for an engineer crew?
We'd be here all afternoon.
Red Ball would be piled up from here to Saint-Lo.
No, we can't wait.
I'll take the first truck
through myself. McCord, you get back in your vehicle.
Yes, sir.
I'll circle the craters,
sweep the ground with a machine gun.
If there are any mines,
the bullets should explode them.
All we need's a path ten feet
wide. Sergeant, will you get the men together?
Yes, sir.
All right, you men, assemble up here!
On the double!
Stay on the road!
Keep close to the trucks!
Here's the situation.
This area is undoubtedly heavily mined.
We can't wait...
Stop that truck!
I'm takin' it through,
Lieutenant. Here's a big locomotive for the team!
Okay, you heroes!
This way to the front!
Take your helmets off.
What's this convoy
stopped for?
Holding services for
one of our men, Captain.
The chaplain'll take care
of that, Lieutenant. Hop in your trucks and get moving.
Take your helmet off, sir?
Do you move or do I put you under arrest?
Court-martial
the whole outfit, if you'd like.
Dear God,
this is Private
Davey McCord.
A good man.
He always said he wanted
to win something someday.
He never did.
Maybe You could fix up
kind of a prize for him.
He earned it.
Amen.
Something you wanted,
Captain?
No. Just try
and make up for lost time.
Lieutenant, have your men put this stuff back
in their trucks. Why?
There's a tank outfit
bogged down on the road 15 miles up.
You'll have to move up
alongside and unload.
All right, hold it! Put
everything back in the trucks and prepare to move out.
Oh, no.
Oh!
Hey, do you suppose
we're gonna drop this stuff behind the German lines...
so it'll be waitin' for
Patton when he gets there?
I wouldn't be
a bit surprised.
My family used to say,
"That boy Ronald. He'll go far. "
At the time,
I didn't realize how far they meant.
Good morning, Lieutenant.
Morning. How's it goin'?
It's gonna go a lot better since you're here, thanks.
Good. Red, get 'em unloaded.
All right, let's work
on this truck first!
With your permission,
I'd like to have some of your guys help us.
Sure. Max, get the boys
and give 'em a hand, will ya?
Okay, you guys,
on the double!
How many tanks
have you got here?
We have ten, but
there's more coming up.
Put 'em in the trucks.
Take 'em out of the trucks.
Put 'em in the trucks.
Take 'em out of the trucks. That's a good rhythm.
Hey, what happened?
You boys take the wrong road?
You're up here
where the men are doing the fighting.
We came up to check on a rumor
that you fellas were sellin' this stuff to the Krauts.
Yeah, we are.
But you oughta see the price they're payin' for it.
Oh, you jokers
have got a soft touch.
You know,
you sit on your butts all day driving around the country,
but when you get here,
we have to do your work for ya.
Lift and load
Lift and load
Lift and load
Lift and load
One for Hitler
One for Hitler
And one for the road
Lift and load
Lift and load
Lift and load
They, um, look like they
work pretty well together.
One for Goering
Yeah, good outfit.
- One for Goering...
- Are you guys on a gravy train?
Is this an army outfit
or a minstrel show?
You think this is
a gravy train? You drive my truck, and I'll drive your tank.
Are you kiddin', buddy?
You think I'd leave one of Patton's tank companies...
for a lousy 4-F
goldbrick outfit like this?
Sergeant, if I were you,
I wouldn't talk about the Red Ball Express that way.
Oh, the Red Ball
Express. We call it the Foul Ball Express.
Oh!
Hey, watch it!
No! No, wait a minute, Lieutenant.
What do you mean?
Your boys are liable
to get hurt. My tankers are tough. Come on.
No, I learned not to interfere
in other people's fights.
See this scar? I got that
trying to be a peacemaker.
I don't see any scar.
It's there.
Come on.
I'll tell ya about it.
Are you enjoying
yourselves, gentlemen?
Yes, sir. Ten-hut!
No, sir. Ten-hut!
Ten-hut!
- Fall in!
- Ten-hut! Fall in!
I've always said men enjoy
a fight and don't believe anybody who says I'm a liar,
but the battle is up there
ahead of you!
Save your energy for
the fanatics who got us into this war. Don't use them...
in petty arguments
with the men who supply the lifeblood to your outfit.
If it weren't
for the Red Ball Express pushing through supplies,
we might never
be able to keep attacking.
And every day we can attack
means we're that much nearer the end of the war.
Now help those Red Ball drivers
load whatever you need into your tanks.
And whenever they hand you
a gallon of gas or a bullet, be gra
because it might be
the one that saves your life and country.
And when you're through,
tankers, meet me two miles down the road.
We'll see
how eager you are to fight there!
All right, Sergeant,
get the men back to work.
Yes, sir.
Back to the trucks.
Hey, Sarge, how'd you
like the minstrel show, eh?
Good outfit.
Well, Taffy,
we're almost there.
We've passed that French girl
every three days for the past five weeks without stopping.
If I know anything about women... and I do...
she just won't
wait any longer.
Oh, she'll be there,
and lovely as ever.
Hey, there she is!
Hi, baby!
Whoo-ee! Man,
what have you got?
Her bicycle.
Now don't you be
in a hurry, Taffy!
Don't worry about me.
Don't you be.
Hey, come on!
The Army's got some inquisitive mechanics.
Okay, what's wrong
with it now?
I don't know, Max. I just
happened to close my eyes, and all of a sudden, she stops.
Just like that!
Poor little old thing.
You think
she could just be tired?
Ah!
Every time you
didn't stop, I worry.
I think maybe you're dead.
Would it make any difference?
Most certainly would. You had my bicycle.
Well, you can put in your diary...
that I would've come back
even if I were dead and didn't have your bicycle.
I like you.
Oh, hey, I almost forgot.
Here's the food I promised ya.
I guess you're a little hungry by now.
Oh, no. Three weeks ago,
I stuffed myself with a cracker or two.
I'm sorry I joked about it.
Next time I'll be around a lot sooner.
Well, you can put in your diary
I would have waited for you,
even if I'd just finished
a banquet and I didn't need my bicycle.
Who you trying to kid?
There's nothin' wrong with this truck.
Step on the starter.
Would you mind turning on
a switch, please?
The switch? Oh.
Yeah.
Then throw it in low
and keep on moving.
Come on! Come on!
What about my buddy?
I can't leave him!
Most things
we do in this army are things we can't do.
Now get moving!
Hey! Hey!
Oh, no!
Well, they did it again.
Honey, I'm gonna have
to borrow your bicycle, but I'll be back!
Oh, Robertson.
Yes, sir?
I want to talk to you.
I got some news
you might like to hear.
What news is that, sir?
I've been given permission
to approve requests for transfer.
I'm honoring yours.
You'll be in another outfit within an hour.
Lieutenant, I'd hoped
you'd forgotten that.
I don't want
a transfer, sir.
Okay.
Thank you, sir.
I see you got some very talented labor.
Not bad, huh?
How'd you get them so interested in the work?
It was you guys. When they saw
all these supplies, they figured the war was as good as over.
Hey, now that's the way
I like to fight a war. Let the enemy do it for you.
Huh! That's nothin'.
Watch this.
Hey, pretzel!
Eins, zwei!
Liftund load
Lift und load
Lift und load
- Lift und load
- One for little Adolf
One for little Adolf
And one
for the Cleveland Indians
Hey, that's wonderful!
It ain't the Floradora Sextet,
but it kills me.
You got a union.
So long.
Hey, Partridge! Where ya goin'?
Partridge. Hey!
Say, is that really
you, Higgins?
It sure is!
And you...
You can't be Wilson.
Who'd you think I was?
Eisenhower?
You could have fooled me.
This is the first time I've seen you guys clean.
We got clean uniforms,
showers and shaves.
What happened? Germany surrender?
No, Campbell did it.
He gave us
4 hours off.
Not because he wanted to.
Because the trucks are so beat-up, they won't run.
And look.
Hide that, will ya?
Before he figures some way
to take supplies up to Patton by bicycle.
Why don't you
lay off Campbell?
Yeah, I'm tired of hearin'
you gripe. You're gettin' to sound as bad as Wilson.
Joke!
We'll all be at the Maison D'Or, Partridge. You can join us.
Nothin' in the world's
gonna stop me.
I'll see ya.
For free.
Hey, say somethin' else
charming.
Why, that's easy!
Hey, hey, hey!
Come and get it!
Hi!
What do you say?
Sorry, fellas. This is high-priority merchandise.
I'm gonna Red Ball her
right to the bar.
Sergeant, don't let me
stand in your way. Baby, you're with me.
Hey, waiter!
Well, go on, Sarge.
You're spoke for.
Hey, baby,
you speak English?
What's the matter?
English a dirty word?
What's your pleasure?
Oh, you've had a few.
No, no.
I'm just intoxicated by your presence.
Come on. Aren't you gonna
let me buy you a drink?
Vermouth cassis.
Vermouth...
Cassis?
Certainement.
Um, how did you
find your way here?
Oh, we had to come to Cherbourg
for some supplies,
so we thought
we'd take in the sights.
- Why aren't you on the road?
- Simon Legree gave us a couple hours off.
Maybe so he could think
of something dirty to do to us when we get back.
Why do you dislike him
so much?
He, my brother Al and myself
were close friends once.
So, what did he do to ya?
Well, Al and Chick...
were drivin'
a double-trailer load of gas over the Rockies.
Somethin' went wrong
with the truck. It jackknifed,
went off the road into
the woods, turned over and caught on fire.
Campbell jumped out
when he saw trouble comin'.
Al got pinned in the cab.
Instead of goin' back
to get him, Campbell turned yellow and ran.
Didn't he have anything to say... any explanation?
Explanation?
He said he was
thrown out of the cab when the truck jackknifed.
He was knocked cold.
When he came to, Al was...
Hi, Lieutenant Campbell.
Whiskey.
Take off those bars
and come outside.
You're makin' a mistake, Red.
So I'm makin' a mistake.
Get him.
Yes, sir.
You're sort of
throwin' the book at him, aren't you, Lieutenant?
You know
what's on his mind.
So you do too.
Well, look, Miss Red Cross.
Let's get one thing straight:
When that truck
went up in flames, there wasn't anything anybody could do.
Are you sure?
I hope you never
have to see one burn.
If any of you men here are from the 2371st Truck Company,
report back to the dump
tout de suite.
That's French for
"Don't waste a minute. "
Come on.
Out here, beyond the regular
Red Ball route, is a spur.
On that spur is Moray,
where one of Patton's
spearheading tank outfits is bogged down.
For the past 24 hours,
the Germans have been trying to cut them off.
They've closed everything
behind them except the road through Grouy.
And the tank outfit
is out of gasoline.
Yes. They can hold out
as long as their ammo lasts.
But if they had enough gas,
they could break out of the encirclement.
And if they don't pretty soon,
we might as well write those tanks and men off the books.
We want a small convoy
with a maximum load to sneak through...
before the Germans
know what happened.
Now, Lieutenant, your trucks
are outside being loaded.
Get them out
in 15 minutes and drive like you've never driven before.
And don't
let anything stop you.
If you make it,
you probably won't get a medal,
but you'll save an awful lot
of good men.
Here's Sergeant Kallek for you, Lieutenant.
Thank you, Captain.
Come on. Get out.
What about the charges against him?
He's being released to me.
I'd rather take the rap.
Shut up
and come with me.
Take cover!
Take cover.
Hey, Taffy.
That's a German tank.
If we only had a bazooka.
Hey, if anything happens,
give this to Antoinette, will you?
It's all I've got.
Hey, where you goin'?
Tonight I'm a bazooka.
Okay, Red,
let's get rollin'.
Roll in. Roll in.
Well, you made great time,
Lieutenant.
I'm afraid you're a little too late.
Tank outfit captured?
No, but it's
a matter of minutes.
Krauts set fire to Moray,
and they're completely cut off.
Do we have to go
through Moray?
Well, there's only one road,
and that was it.
Then we have to go
through Moray.
That's very dramatic,
Lieutenant,
but how you gonna
get all this gasoline through a burning town?
Look at that.
Burning like election night.
Anybody get through that,
they can land a job in a circus.
You think those truckers
will try to get through that furnace?
If they do,
I'll eat these stripes.
I can't blame them
much, though.
Those guys get all the work
and none of the glory.
This is glory?
Bring it up here
on the double!
Well, there it is.
You mean we're gonna
drive through that?
At least
we'll see the road.
It might be a little dangerous
if one of the trucks gets stalled.
You get stalled
in there, buddy,
you'll be drivin' the only
ten-wheeled Roman candle in France.
Okay.
We go as fast as we can.
Only remember:
Don't crowd anyone.
Keep... 20 yards apart.
At the bottom of the hill,
you'll find the main drag.
It's the only street
that goes through the town.
You make a right turn
into her.
If the street is blocked,
ride over it, around it...
climb a building if you have to.
But don't stall your truck.
If you do, you'll pile up everybody behind you.
Sergeant Kallek
will take the lead truck.
Good luck.
When I pull out, you can swing around me.
Yeah, sure.
What truck you gonna be in,
Lieutenant? The last?
Look at that! It's murder!
So it's murder.
Get out on the running board
and tell me where to turn.
Turn right!
Turn right!
Heyman!
Turn! Turn!
There's one
of our trucks!
Hey, Lieutenant!
Here he comes! He made it!
Hey, Lieutenant,
for awhile we thought you were a goner!
What are you guys doin' here?
We're waitin' for you.
Well, come on! Let's go!
Lieutenant! Headlights out of Moray.
I don't believe it!
It's them! It's them!
Come on! Get the lead out!
Get those nozzles ready. The gasoline's coming!
Hey, what's happening?
Hey, fellas.
- Lift and load
- Lift and load
Lift and load
Lift and load
One for Hitler
One for Hitler
And one for the road
Little further down the road.
She'll be there waiting. She always is.
Hey!
Hi, Partridge!
Partridge,
you look great!
Well, sir, you wanna hear all about it?
This time, yeah.
I jumped out of that truck,
rolled off the road and hit my noggin'.
When I came to,
I picked up a bicycle, but I couldn't catch you,
so I, uh, just
peddled back here and, uh,
killed a little time.
Here's your notebook.
Oh!
Boy, have I got
a chapter to write!
Come and get it!
Okay, take ten.
As a matter of fact,
take 20!
Cup of coffee, Red?
All right! All right!
Lift and load
Lift and load
Lift and load
Lift and load
One for Hitler
One for Hitler
And one for the road
And one for the road