First Comes Courage (1943) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Nicole agrees to marry Dichter because she believes the marriage will protect her from suspicion as a spy. With the Nazi heat intensifying on her resistance activities, the marriage would provide cover and allow her to continue her intelligence work. However, Dichter also knows about her spying by the wedding day and proceeds with the marriage planning to stage her death on their honeymoon instead.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes show Nicole using her relationship with Dichter to extract military intelligence, establishing the precarious balance she must maintain.

• Nicole Larsen
• Dichter
• marriage
• spy
• cover identity
• resistance

The British send an assassin because Dr. Aanrud conceals a message on an eyeglass requesting their help. With German raids increasing and Nicole becoming a prime suspect for the leaks, killing Dichter would provide Nicole with a plausible escape route and remove a key Nazi officer from the district. The British plan involves staging Dichter's death as a casualty during a commando raid on oil dumps to avoid German reprisals on locals.

Foreshadowing: The escalating raids and Colonel von Elser's pressure on Dichter to find the leak source create the immediate危机 that prompts this extreme measure.

• British
• assassin
• Dichter
• oil dumps
• commando raid
• escape plan

Thorsten betrays Allan and Ole because he is Ole's cousin, and the Nazis likely pressured or rewarded him for information about the resistance. His betrayal results in Ole being killed and Allan being captured, nearly derailing the entire mission.

Foreshadowing: The timeline notes that the local resistance network is imperfect and suspicion is growing, setting up the vulnerability that allows the betrayal to occur.

• Thorsten
• Ole
• betrayal
• capture
• Nazi
• cousin

Allan escapes from the hospital with help from Nicole and Nurse Rose Lindstrom. Despite being wounded and captured by German forces after Thorsten's betrayal, they smuggle him out and hide him in Nicole's basement to avoid interrogation.

Foreshadowing: Nicole's position as Dichter's companion gives her access to the hospital and the ability to move freely around town, which becomes crucial for the rescue.

• Allan Lowell
• escape
• hospital
• Nicole
• Rose Lindstrom
• basement

Allan kills Dichter to save Nicole from being murdered. After the wedding, Dichter drives Nicole home and confronts her about her spying, planning to kill her in a staged accident. Allan, who has been hiding in the house, intervenes and shoots Dichter dead, freeing Nicole from both his control and the danger he posed.

Foreshadowing: Allan had earlier asked Nicole to call off the assassination, showing his personal investment in her fate beyond the mission.

• Allan
• Dichter
• murder
• save Nicole
• wedding
• confrontation

Colonel von Elser dies in the explosions at the oil dumps. After Allan and Nicole flee with Dichter's body, von Elser pursues them in his car but arrives at the oil dumps just as the commandos detonate the explosives. He and his men are killed in the blast, ending the Nazi pursuit.

Foreshadowing: The commandos' raid on the oil dumps was planned as a simultaneous operation, and the timing creates the fatal opportunity.

• von Elser
• oil dumps
• explosion
• pursuit
• death

Nicole chooses to remain in Stavik as Dichter's widow because she believes she can still be useful to the resistance in that role. The marriage provides her with a new cover identity and continued access to German military intelligence, allowing her to continue fighting the occupiers despite the personal cost of separation from Allan.

Foreshadowing: The film establishes Nicole as a dedicated resistance member whose sense of duty outweighs personal happiness, making this sacrifice consistent with her character.

• Nicole
• Stavik
• resistance
• widow
• duty
• Allan
• stay

The wedding is intentionally scheduled to coincide with the raid because the British plan to stage Dichter's death as a casualty of the commando attack. This way, the Germans would believe Dichter was killed in the fighting rather than assassinated, preventing reprisals on the Norwegian population. Allan is instructed to rendezvous with his unit on raid night.

Foreshadowing: The British plot to make Dichter's death appear as battle casualties is established early, explaining why the timing matters.

• wedding
• raid
• oil dumps
• same night
• timing
• Allan

The message hidden on the eyeglass, concealed by Dr. Aanrud, urged the British to dispatch an assassin to eliminate Major Dichter. This was meant to create an escape route for Nicole, whose position was becoming increasingly dangerous as the Nazi hierarchy pressed Dichter to find the source of the intelligence leaks.

Foreshadowing: Dr. Aanrud's role as Nicole's contact with the British establishes him as the one who would arrange such desperate measures.

• eyeglass
• message
• Aanrud
• British
• assassin
• Dichter
• escape

Dichter proceeds with the wedding even after learning Nicole is implicated in espionage because he plans to kill her during their honeymoon trip in a staged accident. This would allow him to remove the threat to his career while appearing blameless to his superiors.

Foreshadowing: The tension between Dichter's professional interests and his personal feelings for Nicole creates the moral complexity that drives this decision.

• Dichter
• wedding
• spy
• knows
• accident
• honeymoon
• murder plan

Allan's arrival significantly complicates the mission because he is Nicole's former lover, rekindling their past passion. This personal connection creates additional emotional tension and conflict, especially when Allan asks Nicole to call off the assassination plan. However, his presence also strengthens the resistance's ability to execute the operation, and his eventual help in killing Dichter becomes crucial to Nicole's survival.

Foreshadowing: The description mentions that the Allies discover the assassin is Nicole's former lover, setting up the romantic conflict that parallels the espionage drama.

• Allan
• Nicole
• former lover
• relationship
• mission
• rekindled