From Hell to Victory

On August 24, 1939, six friends gather in a suburb of Paris for drinks, sharing camaraderie and promises to meet again each year despite the looming war threat. They are Americans Brett and Ray, French Maurice and Fabienne, German Jürgen, and English Dick. They enjoy their last carefree moment before the chaos of war begins to divide them.

Eight days after their reunion, Germany invades Poland, marking the start of World War II. The friends are forced to part ways, as the war's chaos and military duties pull each of them in different directions across Europe.

In 1940, Maurice and Dick narrowly survive the evacuation of Dunkirk. Maurice joins the Free French Forces, while Dick is assigned to a Royal Air Force unit. Meanwhile, Fabienne joins the French resistance, and Jürgen becomes an officer in the German occupation forces.

Ray is embedded in the RAF command as a war correspondent, reporting from the front. Fabienne joins a French resistance cell, actively participating in sabotage and underground activities. Jürgen remains in occupied France as a German officer.

Jim, Brett’s estranged son, enlists in the United States Army with the goal of becoming a commando. Brett initially hesitates but eventually agrees to write him a recommendation, hoping to reconnect with his son during the war.

Jim is dispatched on a dangerous behind-enemy-lines sabotage mission alongside Maurice. Their operation is successful, but it results in the death of Jim's unit, forcing Jim and Maurice into hiding with French partisans.

Jim and Maurice find refuge in Nicole Levin’s château, a partisan sympathizer and Brett’s former lover. Nicole hopes to reunite with Brett, but Waffen SS troops raid the château. Nicole is killed along with her servants while trying to protect the others.

Dick is shot down defending London during the Blitz, sacrificing his life hours after reuniting with Brett. Brett receives his cigarette case and a letter from Jim, expressing the desire to reconnect after the war.

Leading up to June 6, 1944, Brett successfully conducts a mission in the Netherlands to destroy a V-2 rocket fuel plant, crucial for the upcoming D-Day invasion. Ray’s health prevents him from joining his daughter at combat but they part on good terms.

Fabienne bombs a German military base with prior coordination with Jürgen. Her act of resistance leads to her arrest while trying to escape, marking a dangerous but brave stand against the German occupation.

As Allied forces push into Paris, Maurice and Jim fend off German tanks on the ground while Brett calls in air support. In the chaos, Brett accidentally kills Jürgen during the fighting, and Jim is mortally wounded by a stray explosion, dying beside his father and Maurice.

Paris is liberated, and Brett, Maurice, and Fabienne reunite at their original meeting spot from 1939. Brett pays tribute to their fallen friends as Fabienne, the last to arrive, joins them, symbolizing their enduring friendship and hope for peace.