Under a War-Torn Sky

Henry is on the run for two weeks. He dumps his prison uniform and takes clothes from the clotheslines he passes, including a woman’s red sweater. He takes what small amounts of food he can find from farms, including dried apples, honey, grain, and eggs. During daylight he hides.

One night, he is taking cherries from a small tree in an orchard when he is confronted by the teenage girl who lives in the nearby house. She angrily tells him it is not his food to take, but then grudgingly invites him into the house, where she cooks him an omelette. Having found out that he is a pilot, she says that the next day she will take him to the nuns at Vézelay, who will likely be able to help him.

The next day, the girl, whose name is Claudette, returns from the bakery where she works with bread and different clothes for Henry, including the jacket of a British pilot’s uniform. They walk to another village, as Henry, whose spirits are at a low ebb, worries about encountering German patrols and whether he can trust Claudette.

He is reassured when they meet with a group of Resistance fighters, including André, who is Claudette’s boyfriend. Claudette says she hates the Nazis and wants to kill as many of them as she can—the Germans killed her mother and ransacked their home.

A skirmish then breaks out between the Resistance fighters in their jeep and Germans in trucks and on motorcycles. One of the trucks explodes after being hit by a grenade. As the fight goes on, Henry pulls Claudette down and they crawl through the grass. Henry takes a grenade from a dead maquisard and tosses it at a German truck, which explodes. Henry falls, hits his head on the ground, and loses consciousness.

When Henry comes to, he finds out that only four maquisards have survived the battle. André is dead and Claudette is holding his body, refusing to allow his burial. She waves André’s gun at her companions. Henry appeals to her to give it to him, but instead she aims it at him and pulls the trigger. Fortunately, the gun is empty, and the other men grab her.

The maquis, with Henry, Claudette, and their dead on-board, drive off in their jeep through the mountains until they reach a large Resistance camp. Martin, the leader, invites Henry to join their group. He says the maquis are ready to rise up against the Nazis as an army, disrupting them at every opportunity.

The next day, Henry suggests that Claudette, who is still angry and difficult to handle, assist him in fixing one of their cars that is in need of repair. Claudette’s slender fingers prove useful, and a Mercedes is soon running again. Henry and Claudette also put together explosive devices that have been dropped by the British. Henry observes that she now looks very happy.

In August, the maquis blow up railroad lines, knock down telegraph wires, and attack truck convoys. Henry tries to find out from Martin whether Pierre is safe. Martin thinks he probably is, since he was hidden at an abbey. However, he tells Henry that the Resistance built a landing strip for the Allies in Vassieux, the village that Pierre and his family were from. The Nazis discovered it and bombed the village, and then massacred all the civilians. Henry wants to search for Pierre, but Martin discourages him, and Henry is angry that he can do nothing to help the boy. Claudette comforts him and they share a tearful embrace.

News arrives that the Allies have reached Paris, and the maquis rejoice. The camp is soon in turmoil, however, as the Nazis are attacking nearby villages. The maquis decide to pursue the fleeing Pétain, leader of the German-controlled French government, who is in Saulieu, just 10 kilometers away. If they can catch him, they might be able to gain the release of some Resistance prisoners. Henry and Claudette decide to ride their bicycles to Saulieu.

Henry and Claudette arrive in Saulieu. Henry spots two Nazi staff cars and a maquis jeep, and Claudette discovers that Pétain has already left the village. They hear gunfire and run.

On the edge of town, they encounter a crowd of people who are tormenting a teenage girl whom they accuse of being a collaborator. Claudette grabs a knife and shouts that she wants to kill the girl, but Henry restrains her and carries her away. German trucks arrive and Henry and Claudette hide. Then Henry runs back to the town, aiming to draw the troops away from Claudette. He is captured and imprisoned in Germany.

Two months later, he has given up hope of getting home. An old German soldier, acting on orders, takes him to a field and tells him to dig a trench, which Henry knows will be his grave. However, at the last minute, the soldier has a change of heart. He gives Henry a document that states he is a German soldier who wants to give himself up, thus guaranteeing Henry his safe passage. He kicks dirt into the grave, unshackles Henry, and tells him to go home. He fires his rifle once into the air so his officers will think he has carried out the execution. Henry knows he is only three miles from the American lines and believes he can make it to safety.

On Thanksgiving Day, 1944, Lilly Forester is preparing a special dinner. Cousins will be coming later. Her husband thinks Henry is dead, but Lilly still clings to hope.

Patsy stops by to buy some eggs. Lilly knows that Patsy wants to ask about Henry, so she says there has been no news. A taxicab arrives. Henry has been through a long process—convincing the American soldiers that he is an American pilot, waiting to get to the coast and cross the English Channel, riding in a transport plane filled with wounded soldiers to New York, and being interviewed by the Army and given medical tests before being allowed to take a train to Virginia.

It takes his mother a moment to recognize him, and they have a long embrace. Then Henry embraces Patsy, and he and his father also share a hug. His father’s eyes fill with tears.