The Eagle Has Landed 1977

In 1943, after the brilliant abduction of Benito Mussolini, the crafty Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, who led Germany’s military intelligence agency, the Abwehr, received a high-level command to explore the possibility of capturing Winston Churchill, the steadfast British Prime Minister. Canaris, known for his astuteness and charm, regarded the directive as a mere whim likely to be dismissed by Adolf Hitler at a later stage. Nevertheless, he was cautious about underestimating Heinrich Himmler’s fervent zeal for the operation. Hence, Canaris wisely decided to hand over the responsibility to his reliable aide, Oberst Franz Radl, ensuring he remained unscathed by the dubious endeavor.

Radl, a cunning strategist, began to gather intel from an Abwehr sleeper agent stationed in England, learning that Churchill was set to be in a tranquil Norfolk village along the coast. As he immersed himself deeper into the operation, dubbed “Eagle,” Radl recognized the potential success and enlisted the help of Liam Devlin, an engaging IRA lecturer from Berlin’s universities, followed by the recruitment of Kurt Steiner, a distinguished and seasoned Fallschirmjäger officer, to lead the mission. However, just as Steiner prepared to set off for this covert undertaking, he was unexpectedly diverted to a different assignment — a daunting mission to save a Jewish girl from the clutches of the SS in occupied Poland. Despite Steiner’s brave efforts, his attempts tragically ended in vain, resulting in a court-martial and a stint at a penal unit on German-occupied Alderney, where he and his steadfast comrades were forced to undertake perilous human torpedo attacks against Allied ships in the English Channel.

Simultaneously, Radl was called to a secret meeting with Himmler without Canaris’s knowledge. The Reichsführer SS disclosed his awareness of Operation Eagle, presenting Radl with a letter of authority, convincingly signed by Hitler, which conferred him the power to implement any means he deemed necessary for the operation’s success. Armed with this newfound authority, Himmler proceeded to Alderney, where he covertly recruited Steiner and his remaining comrades.

As Operation Eagle progressed, German commandos disguised as Polish paratroopers infiltrated the unsuspecting village. A critical aspect of their camouflage was wearing German uniforms underneath, as a precaution against being mistaken for spies if captured. Their mission was to seize Churchill with Devlin’s aid before executing a daring escape via a commandeered motor torpedo boat. As the operation unfolded, Himmler destroyed the letter he had supplied to Radl, leaving only him in the know about the true extent of his involvement in this dangerous venture.

Upon the descent of the German paratroopers on the innocent English village, they masqueraded as friendly military forces conducting routine drills. However, a sinister truth lurked beneath their facade, unveiled when one of Steiner’s men risked everything to save a young girl from a perilous situation by an ancient waterwheel. The soldier’s ultimate sacrifice was later gruesomely discovered by the villagers, shocked to see him in a German uniform beneath his Polish attire. As tensions simmered, Steiner’s men took over the village church, imprisoning its residents. The vicar’s sister, Pamela Verecker, demonstrated quick thinking in her quest to escape and notify a nearby unit of American Rangers.

Under the command of Colonel Pitts, the inexperienced American soldiers launched a poorly planned assault on the church, leading to devastating losses. His untimely death by the village’s covert Abwehr agent, Joanna Grey, opened the door for Captain Harry Clark to step up and orchestrate a successful counterattack, which overwhelmed the German positions and cornered them inside the church. In a desperate effort to stall their capture, Steiner’s men made the ultimate sacrifice, affording Devlin, Steiner, and his injured second-in-command time to flee through a hidden passage. A local girl, Molly Prior, enchanted by Devlin’s charm, played a vital role in aiding their narrow escape.

Back on Alderney, Radl received alarming news that the mission had failed, having been harshly reminded that Himmler never had Hitler’s endorsement for the undertaking. Consequently, Radl faced arrest and execution by an SS firing squad, masked as punishment for treason.

Meanwhile, in England, when Steiner killed a body double, tragedy struck as he met his demise moments afterward. It became evident that the real Churchill was en route to the Tehran Conference when his decoy fell prey to Steiner’s betrayal. While the torpedo boat awaited at low tide for Steiner’s return, Devlin cleverly eluded capture, leaving behind a heartfelt love letter for Molly Prior before slipping back into the dark.