Under a War-Torn Sky

The next night, Pierre’s mother invites Henry to dinner in the farmhouse for the first time, although the grandfather does not want Henry in the house and thinks he brings bad luck. Henry enjoys the dinner and feels at home there.

The meal is interrupted by a knock on the door. A fellow Resistance member warns the woman that the Germans have discovered their activities. Henry hides Pierre in the barn and then hides himself. The French Vichy police (who collaborate with the Germans) or the Milice, the French version of the Nazi Gestapo, are leading the raid. They enter the barn, and Henry, hiding, sees the boots of a Nazi soldier within touching distance. However, Henry and Pierre remain undiscovered and the men leave.

Pierre, who has a peephole, tells Henry that the men shot his grandfather and took his mother away. A guard has been posted outside the house, so Henry and the boy escape by a back door. They run through the orchard and climb a hill. They enter the forest hoping to find the boy’s uncle, with no luck, but they do encounter a young man with a gun, who says he has been sent by Pierre’s uncle. The uncle plans to attack the cars that are taking Pierre’s mother to a German garrison in Grenoble.

The gunman, whom Henry thinks is no more than 16 years old, now acts as a guide for Henry and the boy, leading them through the woods into a deserted village. They enter a Catholic church and a priest appears. He says the boy can safely stay at a nearby abbey, since the Nazis leave the monks alone. Henry bids Pierre a fond farewell and gives him the marble he always carries with him for good luck.

Henry and his teenage guide walk during the night and rest in a cave, resuming their journey the following afternoon. Henry tries to get the attention of a passing plane, which turns out to be a German reconnaissance plane. His guide berates him for his stupidity and drags him into the bushes for safety.

Continuing, they reach the peak of the Alps and then in the woods locate the large, well-supplied maquis (the name of the Resistance fighters) camp. Henry meets the camp commander, who asks for other men to be brought forward. Henry is surprised when Billy White appears, and they each confirm the other’s identity. Henry cannot confirm he knows another man, however, who claims to be from an American 56th Bomb Group. Henry says he does not recognize that group. The man is later executed as a German spy, based on what Henry said. Meanwhile, Henry and Billy chat and get to know each other better.

The British drop four long canisters containing supplies, including weapons, into the camp. Henry and Billy are sent out to collect snails for dinner, and they talk at length about their lives back home before they joined up.

That night, the aide-de-camp tells Henry and Billy it is time for them to go, and they climb into the back of a delivery van. They are not told where they are going. On questioning the aide-de-camp, Henry learns that Pierre’s mother survived her interrogation at Ravensbrück, a German prison camp for women near Berlin, and revealed no one. Henry desperately hopes that Pierre is safe.

Henry and Billy ride with two British fliers who were shot down a few days prior. It is June, and one of the British officers says that the Allied invasion of Europe has begun. Henry’s spirits are buoyed at this news and he hopes he will be home soon.

The travelers go through southern France for two nights, twice changing vans and drivers. On the third day they are joined by a British Special Operations agent, who tells them where they will be dropped off and the route they will walk, across the Pyrenees, to reach Spain, which will take six to eight days. Two Russian pilots who were shot down in Italy join them in the van.

When they are dropped off, a new guide joins them, and they continue their journey on foot, climbing at night and resting during the day. On the third night, Billy falls and cannot keep up with the rest. Henry refuses to abandon him, and eventually they catch up with the others, only to find they have been captured by German soldiers—their guide betrayed them for money. Henry and Billy try to escape, but Billy is shot and dies, and Henry is captured.

Henry has been beaten by the border control and is now imprisoned in a tiny cell in German-occupied Toulouse, France. Tied down in a chair, he is being interrogated in another room by a Gestapo officer. The officer demands the names and whereabouts of Henry’s French contacts. Henry is tortured for two days by having his head immersed in a tub of water until he cannot breathe, but he gives nothing away.

In a different room, the officer enters with a huge, snarling dog. The officer tells Henry that the dog will kill on command. Then he leaves the room, saying that the dog will kill Henry if he moves from his chair. Henry talks kindly to the dog and is able to pacify it by allowing it to eat the remains of a bone that it had earlier been chomping on. Henry walks out of the room, which the Gestapo officer deliberately left unlocked, and his hopes rise, but he finds the officer standing in front of him.