beneath hill 60 final shooting

No portion of this script may be performed, reproduced or used by any means, or published in any medium without prior written consent of The Silence Productions.

_____________________________________________

BENEATH HILL 60

Written by DAVID ROACH

FINAL SHOOTING DRAFT With German Translations

Copyright © The Silence Productions 2008-2010

A PARAMOUNT/TRANSMISSION PICTURESCREEN AUSTRALIAIn association withSCREEN NSW andSCREEN QUEENSLANDWithLUCKY COUNTRY PRODUCTIONS andTHE SILENCE PRODUCTIONS

INTANDEM FILMS UK

DAVID ROACH c/-Kate RichterHLA MANAGEMENT PTY LTDPO Box 1536 Strawberry Hills NSW 2012 AustraliaPh: (61 2) 9549 3000 fax: (61 2) 9310 4113www.hlamanagement.com.au

FADE IN

INT. 1920’S SITTING ROOM - DAY

A SERIES OF CLOSE IMAGES

Hands lacing ARMY BOOTS, the edge of an officer’s tunic. An Australian Officer is getting into his dress uniform. We’ve yet to see his face.

Just outside the window, banana trees. The murmur of voices. A parent shushes a child. A SCREEN DOOR SLAMS and the officer stops his lacing --

We hear the steady rasp of CICADAS.

We are still in CLOSE SHOT as the officer stands. He has MEDALS, a MILITARY CROSS. He buckles his belt, slides a CEREMONIAL SWORD into its scabbard.

He picks up a small WOODEN BOX from the mantelpiece. Runs his fingers over its smoothed surfaces. As the sound of the CICADAS increases in intensity we CUT TO --

BLACK

-- and no sound at all.

SUPER:

The following is based on real events...

Now we hear water dripping. In the distance, shuffling FOOTSTEPS, laboured breathing and we find ourselves in a --

LOWER LATERAL TUNNEL. ARMENTIERES. WESTERN FRONT

A flickering LIGHT. A figure approaches from a long way off. The tunnel is lined with timber, just wide enough for a man but not high enough for him to stand upright.

SUPER:

Armentieres, Western Front France. May, 1916

A crouching tunneller shuffles towards us carrying a CANDLE. Stained officer’s uniform covered in mud. GAS MASK hanging from his belt. A CANARY in a cage.

Lieutenant OLIVER WOODWARD is sweating. He coughs, tries to get some air. Then he rounds a corner, comes to --

A DEAD END.

-- doubles back. Takes another turn. It's a maze. He searches his pockets. Pulls out a crumpled PLAN. Studies it in the candle’s glow --

(CONTINUED)

WOODWARDChrist!

He holds his breath. Listens --

Scurrying RATS. The dull THUD of heavy ARTILLERY. He swigs from his water flask. Nearly empty. Then -- The sound of someone SCRAPING SOIL --

Woodward moves towards the sound. Comes to an intersection. The digging sounds are coming from a SMALL TUNNEL. He hangs the canary cage on a spike, cocks his REVOLVER and, trying to control his fear, crawls on all fours into --

A SHORT DEFENCE TUNNEL

-- where two sweat soaked TUNNELLERS are working in the dim light. Short handled RIFLES with bayonets against the wall. JIM SNEDDON, 42, pushes back on a board using a CLAY KICKER’S shovel.

His son, WALTER SNEDDON, a big, solemn 18 year old, loads the clay lumps onto a trolley. He’s the first to see WOODWARD --

WALTER SNEDDON(quietly to Jim)

Dad.

Jim turns to stare at Woodward who holsters his revolver --

WOODWARD(breathless whisper)

Lieutenant Woodward. I’m your new Commanding Officer...

The men don’t salute. A small CRUCIFIX glints around Jim’s neck.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...I’m looking for Sergeant Simpson.

JIM SNEDDONYou need to speak to Corporal Fraser. He’s up top.

WOODWARDI can’t seem to find my way out. They gave me a plan...but...

He holds out the PLAN to the older man who ignores it. The man raises his chin to indicate the direction --

JIM SNEDDONFollow the lateral. 30 yards on it forks. Take the right. Gets real narrow but you’ll make it. You’ll find a shaft. Left at the top.

BH60 Final Shooting Draft 2.CONTINUED:

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

25 yards, there’s an another shaft. That’ll take you to daylight.

WOODWARD30 yards. Right fork. Left at the top. 25 yards. Thank you.

He shuffles backwards out into the --

LOWER LATERAL TUNNEL

-- where he keeps going until he comes to a FORK. Woodward turns right and enters a --

NARROW TUNNEL

-- where he crawls on his hands and knees for several yards. But the tunnel gets even smaller. Woodward pulls himself forward along the tiny tunnel on his belly. He almost gets jammed but manages to squeeze out into a --

SMALL GALLERY

There’s scrawled sign, “TOWNSVILLE” with an arrow pointing up. Woodward finds a makeshift LADDER heading up a SHAFT. He squeezes in and begins to climb.

SHAFT/UPPER LATERAL TUNNEL.

Sweating, breathless, Woodward emerges from the shaft, turns left and shuffles along gasping in the fetid air.

As he passes an INTERSECTION a DIM LIGHT at the end of a tunnel catches his eye.

VOICEPSSST! PSSST..!

Someone signals him with the light. Woodward looks ahead towards where the exit shaft must be. He takes a deep breath then turns and heads down --

102 DRIVE LEFT.

Crouched at the end of the tunnel is FRANK TIFFIN, 18, his face lit by a flickering candle. His tunneller’s uniform appears far too big for his small frame. No more than a soft-faced boy. Terrified.

Woodward whispers in the young tunneller's ear --

WOODWARDWhat’s your name, sapper?

TIFFIN(whispering urgently)

Tiffin sir...I heard something...


JIM SNEDDON (CONT'D)

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

(pointing to the wall)...Just through there..!

He hands Woodward a LISTENING DEVICE like a rubber water bottle. Woodward places it against the wall. Puts his ear to it.

TIFFIN (CONT’D)(agitated)

...Hear that..?

Woodward shakes his head. Gestures for Tiffin to remain completely still, concentrates hard.

TIFFIN (CONT’D)...Listen, can you hear ‘em diggin’ sir? There! Fritz! They're gonna break through! Swear ta god! They're bloody breakin’ through..!

WOODWARDShsh...The sound you heard, is it like this..?

Woodward makes a THUMPING SOUND. Tiffin clutches at the lieutenant’s arm, his flesh quivering.

TIFFINThat's it!

WOODWARD(softly)

It's your heart.

The boy tunneller looks at Woodward in silence --

TIFFINWhat?

Woodward puts a hand on the boy's chest. Whispers in his ear --

WOODWARDFeel it. You're hearing you're own heart beat...

The young tunneller presses his face into his hands trying to hide his terror, his shame, his tears. Woodward hands back the listening device.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...I only just learned how to use these bloody things myself. Heard my heart beat twice last week. Felt like a complete arse...

The young tunneller picks up his CANARY CAGE and holds it as if for protection.


TIFFIN (CONT'D)

(CONTINUED)

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...Make sure you clip that little fella’s claws...Otherwise the bugger can be dead and still sitting on its perch...

He turns to leave. Tiffin follows him. Woodward stops --

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...When does your shift end?

Tiffin shakes uncontrollably with claustrophobia and panic.

TIFFINDon’t make me stay.

Woodward looks at the terrified young tunneller --

WOODWARD(reluctant)

Come on then...At least one of us should be able to find his way out.

Tiffin grabs his rifle and listening device and follows Oliver Woodward back along the tunnel and around the corner as we CUT TO --

BLACK.

-- and the sound of distant bird song and we PULL OUT TO REVEAL --

A LARGE TUNNEL ENTRANCE - MORNING

OLIVER WOODWARD, 24, rides out of the SHADOWY TUNNEL into the dazzling morning light. Crisp white shirt, sleeves rolled. Skin brown from the sun. A KITBAG tied to his saddle.

SUPER:

QUEENSLAND

18 Months Earlier

Woodward pulls his horse to a stop on the ridge and surveys the land before him.

A VAST PLAIN stretches away into the distance. A river snakes through it. The smoking chimneys of a MINING TOWN in the distance.

Woodward moves off down the trail.

EXT. THE WADDELL’S HOMESTEAD - LATER THAT AFTERNOON

An old “Queenslander” with broad verandahs shaded by tall trees.

BH60 Final Shooting Draft 5.CONTINUED: (2)

(CONTINUED)

WOODWARD rides towards the front gate. A serious young boy COLIN, 8 sits on the horse behind him. His brother GORDON, 9 runs alongside.

WOODWARD(calling)

Anyone home?

MRS EMMA WADDEL 40’s, appears on the verandah, her apron covered in flour. ISABEL, 11 and shy, watches from the door.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)Found these two rascals down by the creek. They don’t belong to you do they?

For a moment Mrs Waddell doesn’t recognise the rider. Then her eyes light up --

MRS WADDELLOliver, is that you?

WOODWARD(smiles)

Mrs Waddell.

She comes down the steps. Colin slides from the horse.

MRS WADDELL(to the boys)

Colin! Gordon! Get around the back and clean yourselves up before you father gets home. Now please!

Colin and his brother race each other to the back of the house. Woodward dismounts as Mrs Waddell comes to the gate.

WOODWARDI was hoping I might catch Moffatt.

MRS WADDELLToo late I’m afraid. He’s joined up.

WOODWARDLight horse?

MRS WADDELLOf course...

She looks at Woodward and smiles.

MRS WADDELL (CONT’D)...We thought the headhunters must have got you.

WOODWARDNah, they took one look at my head and ran away...


(CONTINUED)

Mrs Waddell laughs.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...I tell you, I could have stayed there forever.

MRS WADDELLI know someone who’ll be glad you didn’t.

WOODWARDShe’ll laugh when she sees what I’ve got her. She at school?

MRS WADDELLShe finished last year...

She turns to go back inside.

MRS WOODWARD...Put her in the stable and come over to the verandah.

Isabel is still peeping around the door.

WOODWARDHello Isabel.

But shy Isabel ducks back inside as we CUT BACK TO --

INT. MAIN DUGOUT. FORWARD TRENCH. ARMENTIERES - DAY

In a freshly dug section, balding tunneller TOM DWYER, 33, uses planks to line a wall. Sinewy Aboriginal man BILLY BACON, 20, is stripped to the waist. He hands Dwyer another plank.

The dull THUD of EXPLODING SHELLS. The crack of SMALL ARMS. RATS scuttling about.

TOM DWYER...We’ll put the billiard room through here.

BILLY BACONYou ever play billiards Tom?

TOM DWYERBest bloody billiard players in the world, Australians.

BILLY BACONWho says?

Dwyer slots the plank into place --

TOM DWYERAsk anyone...best billiard players, best horsemen, miners...


(CONTINUED)

BILLY BACONBullshitters...

CORPORAL FRASERKeep it down you blokes..!

Battle-hardened CORPORAL BILL FRASER, 37 cleans his rifle with a “Pull Through” - a felt covered wire with a string attached.

Beside him gangly tunneller NORMAN MORRIS, 24 peers through his thick steel rimmed spectacles as he burns LICE from Fraser’s uniform with a candle.

Sapper PERCY MARSDEN, 31 works a metal strip into short bladed knife. Sapper “GINGER” MICK O’DONNELL 24, is smoothing the splinters from a clay kicking board.

The dugout has a corrugated iron ceiling. A small entrance ramp leading to the trenches. Rudimentary bunks and benches. Tools and short handle rifles leaning against the wall.

FRASERPercy, Ginger, go down and relieve the Sneddons.

PERCYRighto.

FRASERThey’ll have dug through to China by now.

PERCYWe’ll bring you back some chopsticks.

Percy and Ginger grab their weapons and a candle lamp and head down into the tunnel.

MORRISIf there was any justice...

A sizzling sound.

FRASERBurn you little bastard!

MORRIS...If there was any justice in the world, rats would only eat lice. They’d eat all the bloody lice until there was none left. And then they’d starve to fuckin’ death.

Morris kicks a box and we hear RATS scuttling away. Fraser scratches his lice bites.


(CONTINUED)

FRASERIf there were any justice in the world Pull Through, we wouldn’t be in this rat hole defending the honour of Archduke flamin’ Frederick or whoever the prick was.

Dwyer speaks with the authority of a school teacher --

TOM DWYERArchduke Ferdinand. Austro-Hungarian. The Serbian Nationalists knocked him off. Killed his wife for good riddance...

FRASERWell Christ knows what it’s got to do with us.

Dwyer puts down his tools. Bacon rolls his eyes --

BILLY BACON‘ere we bloody go.

TOM DWYERThe Archduke’s boys called in the Germans to go after the Serbians. But the Serbians had ties with Russia who are mates with France who have a deal with the Brits. So we’re here because...

FRASERWe’re here because we’re here because we’re fuckin’ here!! Christ Dwyer! I know you like to broaden our minds. But could you just stick to broadenin’ the fuckin’ dugout..?

Bacon stifles a laugh.

FRASER (CONT’D)...And put your uniform on Billy Bacon. At least pretend to be in the bloody army!

BILLY BACON(slipping on his shirt)

Orright Corp.

There’s a sizzle as Morris destroys another louse. His candle gets too close and almost catches Fraser’s hair alight --

FRASERIt’s fried lice we’re going for here Pull Through! Not fried bloody Fraser!

Everyone laughs.


(CONTINUED)

MORRISSorry mate.

The laughter stops as WOODWARD emerges from the tunnel.

FRASERWho are you?

WOODWARDLieutenant Woodward...Your new C.O. Are you Fraser..?

He nods. Tiffin emerges, shaking. Eyes on the ground.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...I’m looking for Sergeant Simpson.

FRASERHe’s dead.

Woodward turns to Morris.

WOODWARDSapper..?

MORRISNorm Morris...Sir.

BILLY BACONExcept we call him Pull Through. Or sometimes, His Lankiness.

Woodward looks at Dwyer and Bacon --

TOM DWYERTom Dwyer, sir.

BILLY BACONBilly Bacon, sir

MORRISAnswers to Streaky.

Corporal Fraser remains silent.

WOODWARDMorris, I want you to take over the listening post at...

(to Tiffin)...Where is it?

TIFFIN(quietly)

102 Drive Left.

WOODWARD102 Drive Left.


(CONTINUED)

Morris looks at Tiffin who avoids his gaze --

MORRIS(reluctantly)

Sir.

WOODWARDBetter go with him Dwyer.

TOM DWYERSir.

Dwyer puts down his hammer. Grabs his rifle and a candle lamp. Morris cleans his spectacles.

JIM and WALTER SNEDDON emerge from the tunnel, filthy and too exhausted to speak.

Fraser nods to Morris. Morris picks up his rifle and reaches for Tiffin’s CANARY. Tiffin attempts to hold onto the cage but Morris yanks it from his grasp then follows Dwyer down the tunnel.

WOODWARD(to Tiffin)

Show me to the Officer’s dugout.

Corporal Fraser, Billy Bacon and the Sneddons watch as Woodward and Tiffin head up the ramp towards the surface.

EXT. FORWARD TRENCH ARMENTIERES. FRANCE - MORNING

WOODWARD and Tiffin emerge into the grey chaos of the WESTERN FRONT. An ARTILLERY SHELL screams overhead. EXPLODES in the distance. Blinking in the light they crouch against the trench wall and turn their faces to the drizzle, gulping in air.

Air thick with mist and smoke. Mud covered British INFANTRYMEN are pressed against the trench wall firing at the enemy lines.

The trench is deep and in reasonably good repair. We can only just see over the sandbagged parapet.

Tiffin gets directions from one of two YOUNG SAPPERS repairing a damaged LOOKOUT OPENING. Their words are drowned out by gunfire.

Woodward peers through the opening --

HIS POV - NO MAN’S LAND.

-- A few shattered trees. Barbed wire. Craters filled with putrid water. A half ruined building.

Tiffin taps Woodward on the shoulder and he follows him, slipping and sliding on the mud covered duck boards.


(CONTINUED)

BRITISH VOICE...WALKIN’ WOUNDED! MAKE WAY..!

Five BRITISH INFANTRYMEN, struggle along the duckboards. Mud-caked uniforms, sallow skin, blood-soaked bandages. The blinded walk with their hand on the shoulder of the man in front. Woodward watches as they disappear around the corner.

Then...a SHRIEKING SOUND, voices yelling --

VOICESTAKE COVER!!

Woodward shoves Tiffin into the trench wall as the earth EXPLODES around them. One of the YOUNG SAPPERS is obliterated. The other slides back into the mud covered with blood and screaming. WHISTLES blow.

VOICES (CONT’D)STRETCHERS! STRETCHER BEARER HERE!

STRETCHER BEARERS race to the aid of the wounded. Woodward and Tiffin’s uniforms are stained with the blood of the dead Sapper. Tiffin freezes as he sees a bloodied LIMB lying in the mud nearby.

A SIGN points to TRENCH 95. Woodward grabs Tiffin and they make a run for it.

TRENCH 95

Woodward and Tiffin round the corner. AT THAT MOMENT a German MACHINE GUN opens up and bullets SLAM all around them. They flatten themselves against the trench wall. A little further down the trench is an entrance to a DUGOUT --

INT. OFFICERS’ DUGOUT. ARMENTIERES - MORNING

British Lieutenant ROBERT CLAYTON, late 30’s, waits for water to boil on a “Tommy Cooker” tin stove. Australian Lieutenant WILLIAM MCBRIDE 30’s, sits at a rickety table manning a FIELD TELEPHONE. Two CARRIER PIGEONS in a cage. The rattle of the machine gun outside. McBride has to press the earpiece to his ear.

MCBRIDE...Yes...Nine by three oregon wall timbers...Twenty man-loads...What sort of...correct. What sort of infantry support can we...no, West...correct. 1st Australian Tunnellers, Number 4 section...What sort...

(louder)...What sort of bloody support can we...SHIT..!

(to Clayton)...Line’s dead again...


(CONTINUED)

At that moment TIFFIN pushes through the gas blanket and collapses to the ground breathless. WOODWARD is right behind him.

CLAYTON(to Woodward)

For godsake Australia, this is an officer’s dugout!

A clipped accent betraying class and education.

MCBRIDEWoodward! Bill McBride...

Woodward recognises McBride. They shake hands but Woodward is too breathless to speak.

MCBRIDE (CONT’D)...I was wondering when I’d see you...

(to Clayton)...We were at mining school together. Charters Towers boys! This is Bob Clayton, Northumberland Fusiliers. Oliver Woodward, 1st Australian Tunnellers. Explosives man, right Woody?

WOODWARD(breathless)

Could blow up at any time.

Clayton snaps open his cigarette case. Lights a ready-made.

MCBRIDEWhen did you get here?

WOODWARDTwo weeks ago...Feels like a year.

CLAYTON(derisive)

If you survive the year, it will feel like a bloody lifetime.

An ARTILLERY BARRAGE starts up. Though muffled, the concussion shakes the timbers. Dirt falls from the ceiling. Clayton calmly covers the water with his hand.

WOODWARDNearly came a gutser. Fritz machine gunner got a bead on us.

McBride points to a spot on a MAP pinned to the wall --

MCBRIDEThat’s Boris. He’s in this farm building here. They call it the Red House.


(CONTINUED)

CLAYTON Solid as bloody Gibraltar. Our artillery's been blasting away at it for a week.

He spoons tea leaves into a tin TEAPOT.

MCBRIDE(winks at Woodward)

A direct hit would make a bloody difference.

Clayton gives McBride a look. Then stares at Tiffin trembling in the corner. He’s wild eyed, dishevelled, his uniform covered in mud and blood.

CLAYTON(to Woodward)

They have their own dugouts you know.

WOODWARDBit of air should see him right...

But Tiffin’s fear has infected Clayton. He checks the water on the tin stove. Nearly boiled. He takes a tin mug and a small bag of sugar from a box.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)(to Tiffin)

...Where’s home son?

TIFFINW...Wollongong, sir

WOODWARDCoal miner..?

Tiffin nods.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)(to McBride)

...Gold, right?

MCBRIDESilver lead. Broken Hill.

McBride has a photograph of a YOUNG WOMAN on the table.

WOODWARDThat your sweetheart?

MCBRIDEWife...

Woodward shows McBride a PHOTO which we don’t see.

MCBRIDE (CONT’D)...Wife?


(CONTINUED)

WOODWARDSweetheart...

Clayton pours the boiling water into the teapot. Extinguishes the stove.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...Got a photograph, Tiffin..?

Tiffin takes a photo from his pocket, hands it to Woodward. It shows a WOMAN at least twice Tiffin’s age.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...She’s...um...

TIFFIN(tiny voice)

My mum sir.

He starts to cry softly.

CLAYTON(quietly)

You’re not even real soldiers are you..?

Woodward glances to McBride, back to Clayton.

CLAYTON (CONT’D)...I mean, what in God’s name are you doing here?

WOODWARDTunnelling under the German lines. Protecting your trenches.

CLAYTONFrom..?

WOODWARDGerman tunnellers.

CLAYTONWho didn’t show up until you arrived. And who are now attempting to do the exact same bloody thing!!

WOODWARDYour point being..?

CLAYTONThat it was bad enough my men getting shelled from above and shot at from in front. Now they’re being mined from underneath..!

Woodward and McBride share a look. Clayton stubs his cigarette, grabs his helmet and gas mask --


(CONTINUED)

CLAYTON (CONT’D)...If the man is wounded, Woodward, for Christ’s sake send him to the dressing station. If he is not then he should be back on duty. Either way he shouldn’t be here. And if you want my opinion, neither should you.

He flings the gas blanket aside and storms up the stairs.

WOODWARDGood to feel wanted, eh Tiffin? Wouldn’t want to think we were over here putting our skinny arses on the line for nothing.

This gets the briefest of smiles from the young tunneller.

MCBRIDEClayton’s all right. Just got the wind up is all.

WOODWARDHides it well.

MCBRIDEPeople do.

Woodward picks up the teapot pours himself a cup --

WOODWARDNo sense in wasting this...

(British accent)...Spot of tea, old man?

MCBRIDE (goofy British accent)

Ra-ther.

Woodward pours cups for McBride and Tiffin.

At that moment there is an EXPLOSION as an artillery shell lands nearby. Debris falls from the ceiling into their tea cups. Tiffin SCREAMS and covers his head.

TIFFINMam! MAAAM..!!!

WOODWARDIt’s alright Tiffin. It’s alright son...

We HOLD on the boy’s anguished face as we CUT TO --

EXT. VERANDAH. WADDELL’S HOMESTEAD - AFTERNOON

Overlooking a tropical garden. WOODWARD is having tea with MRS WADDEL and her husband, Scotsman WILLIAM WADDELL 50’s.


(CONTINUED)

On the table; white lace tablecloth, cakes, scones, a pot of tea, a little WOVEN PAPUAN TOY PIG. ISABEL feeds BIRDS in a small CAGE. COLIN and GORDON play with toy soldiers and Papuan toys on the floor.

Woodward examines a photograph of a YOUNG OFFICER in Light Horseman’s uniform. Mr Waddell has the remains of a Scottish accent --

MR WADDELL(proudly)

...He’s a major now.

WOODWARDNot surprised. In school we called him Captain. He was captain of everything.

MR WADDELLAnd were there complaints? No.

WOODWARD(grins)

No sir. We wouldn’t dare!

MRS WADDELLThat’s our Moffatt.

Colin pulls Woodward's sleeve.

COLINMr Woodward, Gordon can hold his breath for one minute and thirteen seconds.

WOODWARDCan he really?

COLINWatch...

Gordon hyperventilates for a moment then takes a HUGE breath.

COLIN (CONT’D)...One, two, three, four...

As Colin counts, Woodward turns to Mrs Waddel --

WOODWARDWhere’s he been posted?

Mrs Waddell wipes crumbs from the table.

MRS WADDELLWe don’t know. Egypt we think.

They sip their tea.


(CONTINUED)

COLIN...thirty one, thirty two, thirty three...

MR WADDELLIt’ll be the Engineers for you I’d imagine. I‘d hate to think I’d wasted my time training you up.

Mrs Waddell shoots a look to her husband.

WOODWARDThey’ve asked me not to join up, sir. They need to keep the mine running.

Mr Waddell is silent.

MRS WADDELCopper for the war effort. You know that, Bill.

WOODWARDCan’t get it out of the ground fast enough apparently. God knows how many shells they think they’ll need.

MRS WADDELL An army needs munitions.

Mr Waddell hasn’t taken his eyes off Woodward.

MR WADDELLAn army needs good men, first and foremost.

Their eyes hold.

COLIN...forty nine, fifty, fifty one, fifty two...

Gordon is red in the face and about to BURST when....

VOICEWoody..!

Gordon blurts out a lungful of air as...

MARJORIE, an auburn haired 16 year old, races up the stairs and rushes down the verandah talking ten to the dozen --

MARJORIE(excited)

....When did you get back? How was Papua? What are you doing now? Are you going to stay with us again? Are you..?

(to her mother)...Can he, Mama?


(CONTINUED)

MRS WADDELLMarjorie, just slow down, please! And it’s Mister Woodward.

MARJORIE(grins sheepishly)

Sorry Mama.

Woodward stands and shakes Marjorie’s hand --

WOODWARDMarjorie.

MARJORIEMister Woodward.

WOODWARDThe answers to your questions are; two days ago. Hot. I’ll be working at Mount Morgan. And, thank you but I have my own accommodation in town...

Marjorie laughs. Then spots the little WOVEN PIG. Picks it up.

MARJORIEIs this for me?

WOODWARD(embarrassed)

Well, yes. But...it’s silly. It’s...

MARJORIEOh no, I love it! It’s beautiful! Thank you...

She plonks herself at the table beside Woodward. Woodward picks up Moffatt’s photo --

MARJORIE (CONT’D)...Doesn’t he look wonderful? Some men are just born to be in uniform, don’t you think Woody..?

MRS WADDELLMist...

MARJORIE...Mister Woodward?

WOODWARDYes.

MARJORIEMay I have some tea, please Mama?

MRS WADDELLIf you go and refill the milk jug...


(CONTINUED)

Marjorie kisses her mother on the cheek then hurries off to the kitchen with the milk jug.

MRS WADDELL (CONT’D)(calling after her)

...And re-tie that ribbon, young lady.

MARJORIE (O.S.)Yes Mama.

Woodward turns back to Mrs Waddel.

WOODWARDShe’s so grown up!

MRS WADDELL(quietly)

Well, she thinks she’s grown up. But between us, she has some way to go.

Mrs Waddell pours Marjorie’s tea. The sound of something BREAKING comes from the kitchen --

MARJORIE (O.S.)(cheerily)

It’s all right.

MRS WADDELL(to herself)

What now..?

She heads to the kitchen. Gordon and Colin have gone back to their toy soldiers.

GORDON(to Colin)

I’ve outflanked you!

MR WADDELLActually, I believe Colin’s outflanked you. Look...

While Mr Waddell’s attention is drawn to the boys’ game, Woodward surreptitiously pours the contents of the SALT SHAKER into Marjorie’s cup.

MARJORIEMister Woodward, do women ever go down mines?

Marjorie and her Mother return with the milk. Marjorie has fixed her hair.

WOODWARDI don’t think so. Bad luck they reckon.


(CONTINUED)

MARJORIEWell that’s good. Because I don’t know that I’d like to be so deep underground. It must feel awfully claustrophobic.

She picks ups her cup and is about to sip her tea.

WOODWARDIt’s funny, I quite like it down there.

MARJORIEReally? Why?

Woodward thinks about it for a moment then smiles.

WOODWARDIt’s snug.

Marjorie considers this.

MARJORIESnug

She picks up her cup and drinks her tea. Then suddenly SPLURTS the salty tea over the table. Isabel and the boys can’t believe their eyes.

MRS WADDELL(shocked)

Marjorie!

Realising what’s happened, Marjorie laughs hopelessly. But she doesn’t give the game away.

MARJORIE(spluttering)

Sorry...I...

Woodward hands her a handkerchief.

WOODWARDAre you alright?

MARJORIEYes..I...

MRS WADDELL Go and clean yourself up please.

Marjorie heads off inside as Mrs Waddell begins clearing the table.

MR WADDEL One minute she is an adult and the next a child.

WOODWARD16 is a very difficult age.


(CONTINUED)

Marjorie hears this remark and pokes her head around the door. She makes a FACE at Woodward that only he sees. He smiles. Then notices Mrs Waddell watching him.

EXT. WADDELL’S HOMESTEAD - LATE AFTERNOON

MARJORIE and the BOYS lead Woodward’s HORSE around the side of the house. WOODWARD is waiting with MR and MRS WADDELL who are with ISABEL at the front gate.

MRS WADDELL...While Moffatt is away, I want you to visit us whenever you can. Do you promise?

WOODWARD(smiles)

I promise.

Marjorie hands the horse’s reins to Woodward.

MARJORIEMr Woodward, I hope you’ll forgive my silly indiscretion at the table.

WOODWARDOf course. Think nothing of it...

Woodward slips his foot in the stirrup. Hoists himself up.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)....Well, goodbye aaaalllll...!!!

His saddle SLIDES SIDEWAYS and he lands beneath his horse with the saddle on top of him. Marjorie, Isabel and the boys burst out laughing.

MR WADDELL(anxious)

Help him! Quickly!

They help untangle Woodward from his saddle and stirrups.

MRS WADDELL(furious)

Marjorie Waddell, did you have anything to do with this?

Marjorie is about to give the game away when --

WOODWARDIt’s my own stupid fault I’m afraid...

(gesturing to the horse)...She got into the lucerne this morning. Suffered terrible flatulence on the ride over. I think perhaps that’s how we got here so quickly...


(CONTINUED)

Marjorie tries to keep a straight face.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...So when I arrived, I loosened her girth. Must have forgotten to cinch it up. Stupid of me...

Marjorie and the boys help Woodward adjust the saddle, tighten the girth strap.

MARJORIEAre you sure you’re not injured?

WOODWARDI’m fine, honestly.

He climbs back on the horse. Standing behind her mother, Marjorie gives Woodward a secret mischievous GRIN.

Woodward GALLOPS AWAY smiling to himself as we CUT BACK TO --

INT. 102 DRIVE LEFT. ARMENTIERES. FRANCE - DAY

TOM DWYER concentrates on the listening device. NORM MORRIS cradles his rifle. The area is dimly lit by the flickering CANDLE LAMP. Both men struggle to breathe in the thin air.

MORRIS(whispers)

Anything..?

Dwyer shakes his head. He polishes his spectacles with his handkerchief, checks them, slips them back on. He tries to clear the wax from the candle wick but it burns with a tiny flame --

MORRIS (CONT’D)(whispers)

...Somethin’ up with this bloody candle...it’s just makin’ it darker.

DWYER(whispers)

It’s not the candle, Pull Through, it’s the air...Not enough oxygen for it to burn.

Morris tries to stretch out his long legs. There’s not enough space. He scratches lice. Stares around the dank tunnel --

MORRIS(quietly)

Christ.

DWYERCould be worse.


(CONTINUED)

MORRISTommo, how could it possibly be worse?

DWYERThey could send us to Hill 60.

MORRISWhat’s Hill 60?

DWYERIt’s at Messines Ridge. Just across the border, near Wipers. Blokes from the 40th were sent off yesterday. Fritz’s got the high ground. Our blokes trying to fight in bogs and bloody marsh land. Hundreds of thousands killed over there. Trenches running like rivers of blood, they say.

They sit in silence.

MORRISJust talk prob’ly.

But Morris is spooked. The CANARY lets out a little tweet. Dwyer smiles --

DWYER(whispers)

Shoosh, you little bugger. You’ll get us all...

Suddenly the candle burns with a BRIGHT GLOW. Morris and Dwyer stare at it as if it’s magic. Then...A SCRAPING SOUND. Very close. Then...

CRASH! Five yards away, the tunnel wall SPLINTERS INWARDS and a GERMAN SOLDIER forces his way through the gap. He’s holding a short BAYONETTED RIFLE. He swings around to see --

-- MORRIS raising his rifle. For split second they look at each other. Then -- Morris FIRES -- The sound of the gun shot in the tunnel is overwhelming. He fires again. And again...The German goes down.

The suddenly a SECOND GERMAN LOOMS OUT OF THE DARKNESS. He has a KNIFE. Morris swings his rifle, but the German charges at him. Morris and the German crash to the ground almost on top of Dwyer. The candle is knocked over and goes out.

The sound of STRUGGLE in the pitch darkness. A SCREAM cut short. An awful GAGGING SOUND.

Silence.

The rattle of a MATCHBOX. A MATCH flares. Morris stares at TWO BODIES on the ground. Then --


(CONTINUED)

-- One man turns his head. It’s Dwyer. The German tunneller is dead. His throat has been cut. Dwyer is gasping for breath. His short tunnel fighting knife is covered in blood.

MORRISHow did you know it wasn’t me?

DWYERLucky guess.

Morris swallows.

MORRISJesus Christ...

Dwyer grabs the candle and lights it off the Morris’s match. He moves over to examine the first German.

MORRIS (CONT’D)...Is he dead..?

Dwyer nods. Morris lets out a sigh. Smiles.

MORRIS (CONT’D)...Call it even, eh Tommo...?

At that moment...an EXPLOSION BLASTS DWYER FROM HIS FEET. The tunnel goes black.

INT. OFFICERS’ DUGOUT ARMENTIERES - A SHORT TIME LATER

Tiffin sitting up now drinking a nip of rum. He feeds bread to the cooing PIGEONS. Woodward and McBride at the table. A SHELL EXPLODES nearby rattling the ceiling. Dust and debris fall into Woodward’s tin cup. He tries to pick it out.

WOODWARDDamn!

MCBRIDEDon’t worry. We won’t be here long.

WOODWARDWhere, France...the war?

MCBRIDEArmentieres. The Generals call it the Nursery. We’re just here to be blooded. Get a little battle experience. Same for Fritz they say.

WOODWARDNeat little arrangement.

MCBRIDEMeans it’ll get worse...

Then the field telephone RINGS.


(CONTINUED)

MCBRIDE (CONT’D)...Line’s fixed...

(into phone)...McBride...location..? Repeat..?

(scribbles notes)...How many?..Right...

(hangs up)...102 Drive’s been crumped. Looks like Fritz’s fired a mine...

Woodward grabs his revolver --

WOODWARD102?..Casualties..?

MCBRIDETwo missing...

(checks notes)...Morris and Dwyer...

Woodward glances to Tiffin who sits horrified. As Woodward races out the door, McBride picks up Tiffin’s rifle and hands it to him.

MCBRIDE (CONT’D)(to Tiffin)

...On your feet Sapper..!

The young Tunneller hesitates.

MCBRIDE (CONT’D)...Sharp now! Follow your O.C!

Tiffin grabs his rifle from McBride and heads outside.

INT. 102 DRIVE. ARMENTIERES - A SHORT TIME LATER

By the time Woodward arrives putting on his PROTO breathing apparatus, a three man RESCUE TEAM also wearing breathing gear is squeezed into the collapsed tunnel digging frantically. Air thick with dust.

We hear the hiss of air from the cylinders.

The Tunnellers pass the debris hand to hand. CORPORAL FRASER takes out his mouthpiece and signals for them to stop. Woodward takes out his mouthpiece. The two men struggle for breath.

WOODWARD...If they...were near the face...

Fraser coughs violently.

FRASER...Not a chance...not a fuckin’ chance in the world...


(CONTINUED)

WOODWARD...They may have found an air pocket...This strata holds up sometimes....We struck some in Papua. Sort of...dense...

Fraser hawks and spits.

FRASERPointless...the whole miserable stunt...

Woodward reaches forward and takes a piece of rubble from Sneddon.

WOODWARDLively boys!

JIM SNEDDON drags away a shattered pit prop to reveal -

- a BOOT filled with blood and gore. He passes it to Woodward who looks at it in silence. Fraser takes the boot from Woodward and examines the STEEL SOLES.

FRASER(expressionless)

Steel soles. German. Stupid pricks. Hear ‘em comin’ a mile off.

He spots the German’s SHORT BAYONET in the rubble. He reaches in and grabs it. Tucks it into his belt. Jim Sneddon is exhausted. He breathes hard through his mouthpiece.

A section of ROOF BOARDS has fallen but remained intact.

WOODWARDJim, move back...

Sneddon squeezes back. Woodward pushes forward to the collapse. Using the shovel, he tries to lever the roof boards away.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...Help me here.

A tunneller scrambles in beside him. It’s TIFFIN. Woodward is too exhausted to register any kind of surprise. Together they heave at the roof section.

FRASERWe’re wasting our time.

WOODWARD(furious whisper)

Just shut up Fraser! Either help me or bugger off!

Walter removes his mouthpiece.


(CONTINUED)

WALTER SNEDDONLet me have a go...

Walter and Woodward lever up the roof section. Young Sneddon is strong and the section begins to rise. A NARROW OPENING is revealed just beneath the roof boards. Woodward props it up as Tiffin peers in.

There’s a mangled BODY face down in the rubble.

TIFFIN...It’s Tommo.

Jim Sneddon makes the sign of the cross. Woodward and Tiffin reach in and drag the body back through the gap. Fraser and Jim Sneddon pull it up into the tunnel. It leaves a trail of blood.

A SOUND. Woodward holds up his hand. Everyone is still. He takes out his REVOLVER. Silence. Then, a faint VOICE...

MORRIS (O.S.)...Boys...That you boys...?

WALTER SNEDDONDad, it’s Pull Through!

JIM SNEDDONThank God.

Tiffin holds up his candle lamp and sees --

-- Morris’s blackened face. Spectacles covered in soot. Bloody nose. A trickle of blood from his ear --

MORRISCan you...get me out?...Thought...I was a goner...

WOODWARDHold on Morris...just...

The men scramble to widen the opening. There is less dust now --

WOODWARD (CONT’D)....Careful now. Don’t dig away too much...Don’t let it collapse...

JIM SNEDDONWatch his specs.

FRASEREasy, easy...

Hands reach in and drag Sapper Morris, blackened and bloody, through the narrow opening.


(CONTINUED)

FRASER (CONT’D)...Ya didn’t think you could get out of the bloody war that easy did you old son? Thought we’d...

As Fraser continues speaking we CUT TO --

MORRIS’s POV -- Fraser is talking but we can’t hear him. Voices are muffled, distant.

Fraser gives Morris water from his tin. Wipes away the blood. Jim Sneddon cleans his spectacles on his dirty shirt then slips them back on. They’re not that clean but Morris doesn’t notice.

WOODWARDAre you injured?..Morris..?

Morris doesn’t hear.

MORRIS(calling)

Tom? Tommo..?(rising panic)

...He’s still in there! MAN BURIED! MAN...

Fraser says something to him but he can’t hear. Then Morris sees Dwyer’s bloody corpse lying in the tunnel. It’s the colour of the soil. Morris screams and starts to shake as the shock sets in.

WOODWARDGet him up to the dressing station.

Fraser supports Morris. Walter and Jim Sneddon drag Dwyer’s body. Woodward and Tiffin are left alone in the tunnel. Tiffin looks at Woodward then turns and follows the other Tunnellers back up the tunnel.

INT. DINING ROOM. WADDELL’S HOMESTEAD. QUEENSLAND - DAY

CLOSE ON -- WHITE FEATHERS falling from a tobacco tin.

WOODWARD (O.S.)...One arrives nearly every day...

WIDEN TO REVEAL -- WOODWARD emptying the feathers into a pile. He is at the table with the WADDELLS. The remains of desert.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...No stamp. No return address of course.

MARJORIEBut what do they mean?

WOODWARDThat I’m a coward.


(CONTINUED)

MARJORIE(suddenly emotional)

But you’re not! You’re staying here and doing you’re duty. People are such...nincompoops!

MRS WADDELLShush now Marjorie.

The boys smirk. Isabel lets out a little snort.

MR WADDELLMr Woodward knows there’s a way to stop the feathers.

Marjorie glares at her father.

MARJORIESo you agree with them?

MRS WADDELL(to Woodward)

Let’s just hope there won't be any more.

WOODWARD(to Mr Waddell)

On the contrary. Just a few more feathers and I’ll have a whole chicken.

Isabel bursts out laughing.

MR WADDELL(furious)

Isabel!

The room falls silent. Marjorie turns to Woodward.

MARJORIEDo you think you’ll miss Papua?

WOODWARDI’m worried about the local workers. Bougainville’s just up the coast. It’s a German colony. If they send the German Fleet down those boys will be completely unprotected.

WADDELLOh good lord, man, what would the Germans want with Papua? They’ve bitten off far more than they can chew in Europe...

There’s a knock on the front door.

VOICE (O.S.)Anyone home? You there, Bill?


(CONTINUED)

Mr Waddel stands.

MR WADDEL...Anyway, word is the whole thing will be over by Christmas.

Mr Waddell gives a warning look to the boys then walks off down the hall. The tension remains in the room.

MRS WADDELLClean the plates away please Marjorie.

MARJORIEYes Mama.

She heads off to the kitchen with the empty plates. Woodward puts the feathers back in the tin. We hear hushed O.S. VOICES. The sound of the front door closing.

A moment later Mr Waddell reappears. He’s holding a TELEGRAM and is as white as a ghost --

MRS WADDELL(suddenly concerned)

William..?

MR WADDELLIt’s Moffatt.

Mrs Waddell puts a hand to her mouth to stop herself from crying out. Marjorie reappears from the kitchen. She stops when she sees the look on her parents’ faces.

MARJORIEMama??

Mrs Waddell tries to hold everything inside.

MRS WADDELMarjorie, take the children to their rooms.

MARJORIEIsabel, boys, come on. Now please.

She hurriedly leads the younger ones away.

MRS WADDEL(terrified now)

William...tell me...

MR WADDELLNot good news I’m afraid...

Mrs Waddel begins to tremble, she sits. Mr Waddell seems completely lost. He grabs Woodward’s hand, tears coming now --


(CONTINUED)

MR WADDELL (CONT’D)...Why would they send the Light Horse to Gallipoli, Oliver? It’s...it’s just cliffs...isn’t it? Isn’t it all just cliffs?

WOODWARDI don’t know sir. I don’t know...

EXT. THE WADDELL’S HOMESTEAD - DUSK

Woodward is alone in the garden. The rumble of distant storms. Hearing a sound, Woodward turns --

WOODWARDMarjorie...

She is filled with grief and pain. He takes her hand. She has no words, looks away. We hear hushed VOICES from the house, glimpse FIGURES in the lamp light on the verandah.

MARJORIEYou don’t have to go.

WOODWARDI’m...

MARJORIEJust because Moffatt...you know, you don’t have to go to the war...

She looks into his eyes --

MARJORIE (CONT’D)...I just couldn’t bear it.

She throws her arms around him and holds him, burying her face in his neck. At first Woodward doesn’t know what to do with his hands. Then he holds her. She looks up. Their lips are nearly touching now.

Then they kiss. Softly at first then passionately...Until Woodward pulls away. They stand in silence as we CUT BACK TO --

INT. MAIN DUGOUT. FORWARD TRENCH. ARMENTIERES - EVENING

Socks hang on a string. FRASER on an AMMUNITION BOX smoking and shaving at the same time. GINGER drinking tea, eating a cold boiled potato. PERCY MARSDEN attempting to put his rifle back together.

JIM SNEDDON on a stack of sand bags darning a sock. WALTER SNEDDON and Tiffin in their bunks. Walter is labouring to write a letter. They are all listening to --

-- MORRIS -- who cleans his spectacles with his handkerchief --


(CONTINUED)

MORRIS....When I come to, I couldn’t move anythin’. Me ears was stuffed from the blast. There was no sound. Just...nothin’...

He slips his spectacles back on --

MORRIS (CONT’D)...And blackness...pressin’ up against me bloody face like a wet rag. I started to think I was in me coffin...

He shivers, takes a sip of tea --

MORRIS (CONT’D)...Only way I knew I was alive was ‘cause I was bustin’ for a leak...

A grin from the men.

MORRIS (CONT’D)...Then I’m thinkin’, maybe this is purgatory. Maybe purgatory is sitting in the bloody dark bustin’ for a leak for ever.

The men share a laugh. Except for Fraser --

FRASERThe point is...

MORRISPoint is I was kaput, finished. And he got me out.

FRASER...The point, Pull Through, is you shouldn’t have been there in the bloody first place.

MORRISNo matter, I say.

FRASER(indicating Tiffin)

If the Lieutenant had listened to the kid...

Tiffin’s been following the argument.

TIFFIN I still dunno what I heard but. Maybe it really was me heart. Maybe I never heard no Germans.

FRASERCourse you heard ‘em!


(CONTINUED)

MORRISDon’t make no difference.

At that moment BILLY BACON pushes through the gas blanket, out of breath. He takes a small loaf of BREAD from under his jacket and slaps it on the table. The men’s faces light up.

GINGERGood on ya, Streaky!

BILLY BACONCourtesy of the Northumberland Fusiliers.

PERCYBloody generous of ‘em.

FRASERSend ‘em our regards.

BILLY BACON(grinning)

Prob’ly not a good idea, Corp.

The hungry men cut off slabs of bread. Jim Sneddon pours more tea. Walter watches Morris eating. For a big man, Walter has a surprisingly soft voice --

WALTER SNEDDONWe was ready to give up on you, Pull Through.

FRASERWe wasn’t!

WALTER SNEDDONWe was.

JIM SNEDDON(sternly)

Walter!

WALTER SNEDDON(to Fraser)

You was. You said...

JIM SNEDDONFinish the letter, Walt. Or get some shut eye.

WALTER SNEDDONBut the lieutenant knew about the strata, dad. How it holds up like. That’s why we kept diggin’.


(CONTINUED)

FRASERFact is, Tom Dwyer’s dead because that Woodward made a blue. A bad one. And it won’t be the last either.

MORRIS(quietly)

He’s alright, he is.

FRASERYeah? Then why’d he join late?

Nobody says anything. Sneddon grabs the butter tin --

JIM SNEDDONAnyone want the last of the axle grease?

The men shake their heads. Sneddon scrapes the butter tin with a slice of bread.

FRASERHe’s a deep thinker, no risk. I was over here killin’ Germans months before his flamin’ number was dry.

Jim Sneddon hands the buttered bread to Walter.

WOODWARD (O.S.)Evening.

They turn to see WOODWARD stepping through the entrance. Morris salutes.

JIM SNEDDONTiffin...Walt!

Walter Sneddon and Tiffin start to get out of their bunks but Woodward waves them down --

WOODWARDStay there...

(to Morris)...Surprised to see you here.

MORRISMe hearing came back. Tommy doctor checked me out. Couldn’t find a bloody thing wrong with me.

WOODWARD(smiles)

Too bad...

He takes out a tin of cigarettes --

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...Smoke?


(CONTINUED)

Morris, Tiffin and Percy take one. Fraser shakes his head. Woodward strikes a match and lights Sneddon and Tiffin’s cigarettes and is about to light Morris’s when Fraser blows out the match --

PERCYBad luck. Bad luck lighting three smokes from the one match.

WOODWARDThat so?

FRASERFirst one, Fritz sniper sees you. Second one, he gets an aim. Third one, he blows ya fuckin’ head off.

WOODWARDHe’d be a crack shot if he could get me down here.

The men laugh. All except Fraser --

FRASER(intense)

Well you never know who’s watching, do you sir?

Woodward throws the box of matches to Morris who cups his hands to light up then hands it back.

WOODWARDI’ll be writing to Tom Dwyer’s family. If he had any possessions to send back, bring them to my dugout.

At that moment British LIEUTENANT CLAYTON enters --

CLAYTONOfficer approaching. Attention!

Fraser is the first to leap to his feet. The others follow as --

-- Australian COLONEL WILSON RUTLEDGE, 40, enters and salutes the men. His uniform is immaculate and he carries a small baton under his arm. He glances around the room. The Tunnellers studiously avoid his gaze. When he addresses Woodward his voice is surprisingly soft --

COLONEL RUTLEDGEWoodward is it?

WOODWARDYes sir.

COLONEL RUTLEDGEI understand you’re a demolition man.


(CONTINUED)

Woodward glances to Clayton and back to the Colonel.

WOODWARDI’m trained in mining explosives sir, not...

COLONEL RUTLEDGE(interrupting)

You are aware that the Germans have placed a machine gun in the Red House such that it can enfilade our trench?

WOODWARDEn..enfilade?

CLAYTONFire down it lengthwise.

WOODWARDOh, yes sir.

COLONEL RUTLEDGEHow much explosive charge would be needed to demolish the building?

WOODWARDIt depends how you placed it sir. If you...

COLONEL RUTLEDGE(interrupting)

How much? To make a job of it?

Woodward thinks for a moment.

WOODWARDFifty pounds.

COLONEL RUTLEDGE(to Clayton)

Do we have that in stores or must we requisition it?

CLAYTONWe have it on hand sir.

Morris pulls out a TUNNEL PLAN. The tunnellers study it.

MORRISThere’s a listening post here at 105 Drive.

FRASERThat’d put you about 70 feet from Boris.

WOODWARDIf we drive north from that we could be under him in what...?


(CONTINUED)

FRASERThree shifts, 30 foot a day, we could do it in two or three days easy.

COLONEL RUTLEDGE(to Woodward)

We need it done before sun-up. 0400..

The men fall silent. Someone scratches.

COLONEL RUTLEDGE (CONT’D)(to Clayton)

...Arrange for a gap in our wire.

CLAYTONSir.


I’ll have the artillery give you an hour.

He heads out into the trenches. Clayton catches Woodward’s eye then follows the Colonel out of the shelter.

The tension remains in the dugout after Rutledge has left. Woodward can’t hide his disquiet. He takes a TRENCH MAP from his pocket, studies it.

Morris sits back down. Tiffin gets back on his bunk. The tunnellers talk quietly amongst themselves.

BILLY BACON(under his breath)

‘e couldn’t get out of here fast enough.

MORRISWord is, that bastard won’t get on a train ‘case it goes into a tunnel.

Billy Bacon grins. No-one else does. Woodward looks up from his map --

WOODWARDIt’ll mean going over the bags. Crossing no man’s land. Setting a charge. I’ll need two men.

Morris is on his feet --

MORRISI’ll go with you sir.

WOODWARDYou don’t have to Morris.

MORRISWant to, sir.


(CONTINUED)

The other men avoid Woodward’s eye. Young Tiffin suddenly swings his legs from the bunk and is about to stand when --

-- Fraser stands in front of him.

FRASERI’ll go.

The men look at Fraser.

WOODWARD(to Morris and Fraser)

Meet me at stores at 0200.

Woodward heads out into the trenches. Fraser suddenly notices that the men are staring at him --

FRASERWhat..?

(pointing to Morris)....You don’t think I’m going to let this streak of bloody misery out of my sight again do you? You saw what happened last time...

EXT. FIRING DUGOUT. TRENCH 95. ARMENTIERES - 4 AM

Two nuggety British Gunners, POTSY, 40 and STOAT, 21 are manning a MACHINE GUN. INFANTRYMEN are propped against the parapet with their rifles aimed at the enemy lines.

Allied shells SHRIEK overhead. EXPLOSIONS pound the German lines.

POTSY(to Stoat)

‘ere we go lads...

Stoat looks up to see WOODWARD, FRASER and MORRIS approaching along the duckboards. Morris has a heavy CANVAS BAG over his shoulder.

POTSY (CONT’D)(to Woodward)

...Bit out of your element aren’t you Australia? Thought you tunnelling chaps were wombats...

(winks at Stoat)...Come up for air, ‘ave yous?

WOODWARDActually we’ve been invited up here to blow up the Red House. Apparently your artillery blokes keep missing...

Stoat stifles a laugh.

Morris puts down the bag. Woodward opens a MAP --


(CONTINUED)

WOODWARD (CONT’D)(to Fraser)

...You’re certain the leads will reach back to here?

FRASERIf we run ‘em straight...

Fraser notices that Woodward’s hand is shaking --

FRASER (CONT’D)(to Morris)

...Set the exploder up over there.

Morris grabs the exploder from the bag and heads to a shallow dugout.

The allied barrage ceases. It’s suddenly quiet. Woodward checks his watch, studies the map --

WOODWARDRight, that’s us. The artillery will start up again at dawn.

He looks up to see Fraser watching him.

FRASER(quietly)

You’ve never jumped the bags before have you?

A beat.

WOODWARDNo.

FRASER(under his breath)

Christ..!(to Woodward)

...When we get over stay low. Don’t bunch up. If a flare goes up, freeze. Don’t bloody go to ground. Fritz machine gunners look for movement. Close one eye till the flare drops. You’ll see better when it’s dark again.

Woodward folds his map away. Tries to hide his fear --

WOODWARDThank you.

Morris returns cleaning his glasses.

FRASER(to Potsy)

Did your blokes cut the wire?


(CONTINUED)

POTSYLieutenant Clayton took a couple of the lads out earlier on.

Woodward checks his watch again, takes a deep breath --

WOODWARDLet’s go.

Morris hoists the heavy canvas bag over his shoulder.

POTSYHold your fire lads..!

(quietly to Stoat)...Ten bob says they won’t get fifty yards before one of ‘em takes a clout.

Stoat watches Woodward scramble up the wooden LADDER --

STOAT‘e’s alright that one. I’ll take that.

They shake. Morris and Fraser follow Woodward over the parapet and out into --

EXT. NO MAN’S LAND. NEAR ALLIED LINE. ARMENTIERES - NIGHT

No moon. FOG hanging above the desolate ground. Woodward crawls through an opening which has been cut in the barbed wire. Fraser and Morris are just behind him. Woodward gives a hand signal. The three tunnellers slowly creep forward disappearing into the darkness...

NO MAN’S LAND. MIDDLE - A SHORT TIME LATER

The three tunnellers crawl forward nearly stumbling into shadowy CRATERS filled with slimy water.

A FLARE goes up, bursts into light. The men freeze. Desolation. Mud. Tangled wire. Burnt trees. They hear a low MOAN. Then silence. Impossible to tell where it came from --

Darkness again. The men creep forward.

Suddenly there’s a burst of MACHINE GUN FIRE from the right. The tunnellers dive into --

A SMALL CRATER - NIGHT

Bullets sweep the air above them. Woodward finds himself beside a DECOMPOSING CORPSE, maggoty and floating in the slime. He turns and RETCHES into the mud.

The gun fire stops. Fraser puts his head up. Another burst of MACHINE GUN FIRE but away from them now.


(CONTINUED)

FRASER(whispering)

That’s Boris alright. He hasn’t spotted us but. Bastard’s just tryin’ his luck.

They clamber over the rim and creep out into the fog.

NO MAN’S LAND. GERMAN SIDE - A SHORT TIME LATER

Aware of the sound of their own breathing, the tunnellers crawl towards the German lines. Every movement amplified in the still air. Morris strains with the weight of the bag.

Another FLARE, this one much closer. The men freeze. Thirty yards ahead they see the RUINED BUILDING.

WOODWARD(whispers)

That’s it...

Darkness again. The three men creep forward.

They stop at a blackened TREE STUMP. We hear German VOICES.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)(whispers)

...Ready?

Woodward leads them out across the open ground. Morris is slow. The bag like a dead weight over his shoulder...

Finally the three Australians are lying on their stomachs near the German BARBED WIRE. They peer through and see --

-- The pock marked walls of the RED HOUSE --

Most of the top section of the brick building has been blasted away but the ground floor is still intact and solid. The barrel of the MACHINE GUN pokes out a window opening.

Deep CRATERS surround the building.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)(whispers)

We’ll have to go under it...

Fraser and Morris stare at Woodward.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...It must have a cellar.

Fraser takes out his CUTTERS and crawls towards the wire. The sound of SNIPPING seems immense in the night. As Morris follows Woodward through the small gap his sleeve SNAGS on the barbs. Fraser cuts him free him and they crawl forward.

They clamber over a pile of BRICKS. Almost impossible to be silent. They pull themselves into a --


DEEP CRATER NEAR THE RED HOUSE WALL - NIGHT

Morris eases the canvas bag off his shoulder trying not to make a sound. The three men struggle to catch their breath. German VOICES are VERY CLOSE.

They remove the CABLE and ROPE, leaving only the EXPLOSIVE in the bag.

The MACHINE GUN suddenly OPENS UP just above them. FLAMES shoot from its barrel. The sound is deafening. In the light of the machine gun Woodward sees that the deep crater has exposed the --

CELLAR WALL.

Constant shelling has loosened the bricks. The machine gun abruptly stops.

Using his bayonet, Woodward tries to ease a brick out. The SCRAPING sound seems immense in the night. The brick doesn’t budge.

Fraser picks up a half brick. Throws it off into the night. It lands with THUD!

The MACHINE GUN swings and OPENS UP. Fraser pushes Woodward aside and KICKS through the wall with both feet.

The machine gun stops firing. Sudden silence. The men freeze.

FOOTSTEPS inside the building. Low German VOICES.

Woodward nods. Morris slips the cable from the bag. Woodward attaches it to the explosive, ties off the top of the bag and fixes the rope. Fraser carefully hoists the bag over the ledge. He takes the weight on the rope then lets it out until it goes slack.

Fraser leans into the hole to check the bag. He is about to come out when he spots something. He reaches into the blackness and emerges, grinning, holding a dusty BOTTLE OF CHAMPAGNE. He puts in his coat pocket.

Woodward gives a signal and the tunnellers set off towards their own lines unrolling the cable

EXT. NO MAN’S LAND. ALLIED SIDE - A SHORT TIME LATER

-- where Woodward, Fraser and Morris flatten themselves on the ground as MACHINE GUN bullets sweep past them --

MORRIS(whispers)

That was a bit too bloody close..!

They get back to their feet and continue on with Morris unwinding the lead. After only 30 more yards he stops --

BH60 Final Shooting Draft 43.

(CONTINUED)

MORRIS (CONT’D)(whispering)

...I don’t believe this!

WOODWARD(whispering)

What?

MORRISWe’re short.

FRASER(under his breath)

Jesus Christ..!

Fraser looks to the east. The first thin light of DAWN has already appeared on the horizon.

FRASER (CONT’D)...If we hurry we can still make it back to the trenches.

SNIPER FIRE a long way off.

WOODWARD(to Morris)

Think you can get the exploder?

FRASERSir, we can start again tonight.

WOODWARDThey’ll have found the charge by then...

(to Morris)...Can you get it?

MORRISI think so.

FRASERStay on your bloody stomach. When you get close give a low whistle. Then identify yourself. If those Tommies see any movement...

-- But Morris is already crawling back through the mud towards the allied lines.

Another burst of MACHINE GUN FIRE sweeps the ground. Woodward and Fraser dive into a --

DEEP CRATER. NO MAN’S LAND - NIGHT

-- They tumble into the mud and slime and flatten themselves against the crater wall while the catch their breath.

The machine gun ceases.


(CONTINUED)

FRASERGeez I’d love a smoke.

Woodward and Fraser lie on their backs looking up into the sky. There are no stars. Fog and smoke drift low overhead.

WOODWARDWho’s the fastest man in our company?

FRASERNeed a runner?

WOODWARDYes.

Fraser considers this for a moment.

FRASERStreaky’s bloody quick.

Suddenly both men are aware of a low MOANING.

WOODWARDSomeone’s alive out there...

A FLARE goes up, bursts into light. The men peer over the rim of the crater.

Tangled CORPSES half submerged in the mud. Impossible to tell whether they were allied or enemy soldiers. The flare falls to the ground sending LONG SHADOWS shooting across the mud, making the corpses quiver.

The moaning again.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...Christ...

About 15 yards away, a muddy SHADOW moves slightly. The wounded man tries to drag himself out of the mud, falls back.

FRASERIs it one of our boys?

WOODWARDNo way of knowing...

The moaning is louder now, guttural.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...Poor bastard...

He glances up. A bit more colour in the sky now. A BIRD calls in the distance.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...Stay here. Morris will be back any minute.


(CONTINUED)

FRASER(frantic whisper)

Wait! It could be Fritz...Shit..!

-- Woodward scrambles out of the crater and is gone.

NO MAN’S LAND. NEAR ALLIED LINES - NIGHT

Woodward crawls through the mud toward the wounded man. A FLARE goes up. He freezes as MACHINE GUN FIRE from the RED HOUSE sweeps the ground. The flare fades.

He crawls on. Stops ten feet from the moaning man.

Uniform black with mud. No distinguishing markings. A hand pushing down into the grime. A foot trying to get traction.

Woodward pulls out his revolver. Cocks it. Aims --

WOODWARD(quietly)

Who are you..?

Woodward moves forward holding his revolver. Then the wounded soldier slowly turns his face to Woodward.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)(stunned)

...Clayton..! Where’d it get you..?

British LIEUTENANT CLAYTON has lost a lot of blood. There’s a jagged WOUND above the knee. He stares at Woodward.

More MACHINE GUN FIRE. Closer this time. When it stops, Woodward gently turns the Lieutenant on his side. Clayton moans in agony.

CLAYTONMary...Mary...

WOODWARDYou’re set now mate. We’ll get you back to your Mary. Hold on round my neck...

Crouching down he picks up the Lieutenant. Clayton groans in pain but hangs on. Woodward staggers back towards the --

DEEP CRATER - NIGHT

-- where Fraser huddles against the crater wall. Woodward suddenly appears at the rim --

WOODWARD(breathless)

Help me...

They manhandle Clayton into the crater. A round of MACHINE GUN BULLETS from the Red House rakes the air just above them.


(CONTINUED)

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...Field...dressing.

Fraser grabs a roll of bandage --

FRASERWhere?

WOODWARDLeft leg...above the knee...

Fraser cuts away Clayton’s trousers. He bites through the top of an IODINE BOTTLE, pours some into the bloody wound then wraps a bandage around it. Another round of MACHINE GUN FIRE blasts the ground. DIRT and FRAGMENTS spin through the air.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...Oh Christ..!

The men flatten themselves in the crater as they are showered with DEBRIS.

Suddenly MORRIS tumbles into crater beside them! Fraser, his lips yellow from the iodine, looks at Morris as though he’s an apparition. Fighting to regain his breath, Morris hands the PORTABLE EXPLODER to Woodward.

Fraser begins to scramble up the side of the crater when a hand grabs him.

CLAYTONWait...

At that same moment MACHINE GUN BULLETS slam into the rim of the crater where Fraser would have been. The firing stops. Fraser looks at the semi-conscious officer in disbelief.

CLAYTON (CONT’D)...Bastard’s...got a pattern...

FRASERThanks mate.

He closes his eyes again. Fraser scrambles over the lip and returns with the ends of the FIRING LEADS. Woodward strips away the covering and attaches them to the exploder --

WOODWARDPray they aren’t broken.

Woodward grabs the plunger. Fraser crawls to the top of the crater and peers over just as --

A MASSIVE EXPLOSION lights up No Man’s Land and we CUT TO --


FIRING DUGOUT. TRENCH 95. ARMENTIERES - NIGHT

-- where Potsy and Stoat turn to see BURNING FRAGMENTS of the Red House flying into the night.

In seconds it’s a SMOKING RUIN.

They sit back down. Stoat is the first to speak.

STOATThat were a pleasant bloody surprise.

DEEP CRATER - NIGHT

Clayton reaches up and grasps Woodward’s hand, relief on his face --

CLAYTONThank you...Thought...I was...going to die alone out there...

WOODWARDYou’ll be right now.

Clayton doesn’t let go of Woodward’s hand.

Morris notices that Woodward’s back is covered in blood --

MORRISSir, are you wounded?

WOODWARDDon’t think so.

Fraser gently opens Clayton’s tunic. His stomach’s a mess of blood. Clayton hasn’t taken his eyes from Woodward’s.

Woodward can only stroke the British Officer's hand as he watches him die. As a distant clattering sound FADES IN we CUT TO --

INT. RECEPTION ROOM/OFFICE. BURNS PHILP COMPANY - DAY

The clatter of typewriters. OLIVER WOODWARD looks into the Office to see --

-- MARJORIE and three other young women, AGNES, EUNICE and DOTTY, working the typewriters. Their supervisor, MRS THORN, severe and 40, whispers to Marjorie. She glances up.

The typing abruptly stops. The girls whisper and smile as Mrs Thorn escorts Marjorie to Woodward.

MRS THORN(to Marjorie)

Be very quick.

Marjorie swallows --


(CONTINUED)

MARJORIEYes, ma’am...

Mrs Thorn turns back to the room and the typing resumes.

MARJORIE (CONT’D)...Hello Mr Woodward.

WOODWARDMarjorie...How are things at home?

MARJORIEWe’re coping.

He takes a deep breath --

WOODWARDThey’ve formed a Mining Battalion. It’s a secret I think. They’re looking for miners and engineers...I’ve joined up...

There’s an awkward silence. The sound of typing has stopped again. Woodward presses on --

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...I’ll be leaving for training in a few weeks. After that, I expect I’ll be sent to the war.

Marjorie holds it all inside --

MARJORIEI see.

Silence again.

WOODWARDMarjorie, I’m nearly ten years your senior. You’re only 16...

MARJORIE(tiny voice)

I’ll be 17 in a month...

WOODWARDI signed the papers this morning...I wanted to ask you if I could write to you...While I’m away.

Marjorie breathes deeply. The hint of a smile --

MARJORIEI would be very happy if you wrote to me. But if you are asking me to wait for your return, then you must first speak to my father...


(CONTINUED)

She studies Woodward’s face. Then glances to Agnes, Eunice and Dotty who are trying not to stare.

MARJORIE (CONT’D)(To Woodward)

...Thank you for taking the trouble to see me.

She raises her hand and runs her fingers slowly, sensuously across Oliver Woodward’s lips.

Agnes, Eunice and Dotty’s fingers are frozen above the keys, their mouths agape.

As Marjorie turns and heads back to the office FURIOUS TYPING recommences and we CUT BACK TO --

EXT. SOMEWHERE BEHIND THE FRONT LINES. ARMENTIERES - DAY

LOW ANGLE looking up at Woodward’s intense face.

WOODWARD(whispers)

...Come in close...

A group of tunnellers including JIM and WALTER SNEDDON, TIFFIN, FRASER, MORRIS, PERCY MARSDEN, GINGER and BILLY BACON lean in very close to Woodward. We’re looking up at their faces.

In the distance, SMALL ARMS FIRE, the dull thud of MORTARS.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...If they’re going to put on a big push, it’ll happen right now. They’ll try to hit us where we’re most vulnerable...

FRASER(looking at Morris.)

Our left flank.

WOODWARD...Whatever happens, we need to hold our line. Understand..?

There are murmurs of agreement.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...The men we’re up against are no more than barbarians. They don’t have the training that we’ve had. But barbarians have no sense of self preservation. That's what makes them so dangerous. From here on, it's do or die...

The tunnellers are nervous but resolute. They shake hands.


(CONTINUED)

WOODWARD (CONT’D)(quietly)

...Streaky?

BILLY BACONSir.

WOODWARDStay close.

BILLY BACONRighto.

POTSY (O.S.)(calling)

YOU CONVICTS GONNA PLAY OR WHAT??

WE PULL BACK TO REVEAL that we are in the middle of --

AN IMPROVISED RUGBY FIELD. ARMENTIERES - DAY

A mile or so back from the front. FOG and SMOKE hang low over the landscape. The NORTHUMBERLAND FUSILIERS, lead by POTSY, are waiting to kick off. Both teams have cobbled together football uniforms from anywhere they could find them.

A makeshift SCORE BOARD shows the score: 3 all.

POTSY(to his men)

Come on lads! Ten to go. Don’t let these bloody colonials show us up!

The Fusiliers kick off and we CUT TO --

A SERIES OF IMAGES

The nuggetty Fusiliers are fast around the ruck. They take the lanky Australians’ legs from underneath them. Burrowing into the scrum, scrambling for the ball, pushing forward. STOAT almost scores but is SHOVED INTO TOUCH.

AT THE LINE OUT

-- lanky “PULL THROUGH” MORRIS leaps to secure the ball for the Australians. Through FRASER’S hands it goes to big WALTER SNEDDON. He STEAMROLLERS over two short Fusiliers before slipping the ball back to WOODWARD. Fusiliers close in.

WOODWARD(shouts)

Where’s my runner??

BILLY BACONHere!

Woodward fires a cut-out pass to BACON on the wing. He takes off with astonishing speed.


(CONTINUED)

He splits the defensive line and, with defenders flinging themselves at his heals, races off in a zig-zag run.

Only the FULLBACK to beat. Bacon sidesteps him and SCORES beside the wobbly old post.

The Australians Tunnellers cheer. Referee MCBRIDE blows the whistle.

MCBRIDEThat’s full time gentlemen! Victory to the first Australian Tunnellers 6 points to 3.

A CHEER from the Tunnellers and we CUT TO --

THE SIDELINE - A SHORT TIME LATER

-- where the two teams are putting on their uniforms. Their weapons and gear are stacked nearby. GINGER has found a couple of ORANGES and has cut them into wedges.

POTSY...We'll have ya next time, ya Troglodytes.

MORRISOh yeah, you and whose army?

Fraser grabs the DEMIJOHN OF RUM.

FRASERToo early for the grey hen Lieutenant?

WOODWARDNever too early...

TUNNELLERS(together)

...Never too late.

The miners grab their MESS TIN LIDS. The Fusiliers watch enviously as the Australians down their rum.

MORRIS(to the Fusiliers)

Well, don’t just stand there...

The Fusiliers crowd around and the Australians share their rum and slivers of orange. Percy hands a lid of rum to Stoat.

PERCYYas play like girls, ya know.

General laughter.


(CONTINUED)

GINGEROh Mademoiselles from Armentieres Parley-vous...

The Australians join in, “serenading” the Fusiliers.

TUNNELLERS...Oh, Mademoiselles from Armentieres, Parley-vous/ they'll do it for wine, they'll do it for rum...

STOAT...They’ll stick a finger up ya bum..!

EVERYONE...Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous..!

As the singing continues Fraser refills mess tin lids from the demijohn.

COLONEL RUTLEDGE makes his way across the field towards WOODWARD. He hands him a DESPATCH --

RUTLEDGEWe’re moving out.

WOODWARD(reading)

Where?

RUTLEDGEBelgium...

(to McBride)...Your section’s going too. There’s something big on up there.

Fraser makes his way over. Salutes Rutledge.

FRASER(to Woodward)

What’s up, Lieutenant?

RUTLEDGEIt’s Captain, actually.

Woodward takes this in. Fraser salutes --

FRASERWell done sir.

Seeing Fraser’s salute and sensing some news, the men have quietened down.

WOODWARDThank you Sergeant Fraser...

This gets a MOCK CHEER from the tunnellers. Rutledge glances to the men with their mess tin lids of rum.


(CONTINUED)

RUTLEDGEAs you were.

He heads back to the trenches. The men turn to Woodward who finishes reading the despatch.

WOODWARDWe’re moving up the line. We load up at midnight.

A murmur from the men.

POTSYHow come you bastards get to leave this shit-hole before us?

PERCYBecause only real soldiers get to go up the line!

CHEERS from the Tunnellers.

MORRISWhere are we headed for sir?

WOODWARDBelgium. We’re going to Hill 60...

Dead silence.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...Better get your gear.

Woodward and McBride turn and head back towards the trenches. Fraser turns to the Tunnellers.

FRASERRighto you blokes, let’s go.

The FUSILIERS move back as the Australians get back into their gear and heads down towards the trenches.

BRITISH SOLDIERS(subdued)

...You’ll be right...Keep y’r heads down lads...Give ‘em one for us...

Fraser is the last to put on his jacket and pick up his gear. He stops when he gets to Potsy.

FRASERNearly forgot. A present from Fritz...

He pulls the dusty CHAMPAGNE BOTTLE from his tunic pocket.

FRASER (CONT’D)...He said to say thanks for all your help.


(CONTINUED)

Potsy grins. Takes the bottle. They shake and Fraser follows the men as we CUT TO --

EXT. FRENCH/BELGIAN BORDER - NIGHT

A moonless night. A darkened LORRY is trundling down a narrow road. It's a moving shadow with only slits of light emanating from its head lamps. The sound of distant ARTILLERY FIRE.

SUPER:

The Road to Ypres

November 3rd, 1916.

INT/EXT. THE ROAD TO YPRES - NIGHT

From behind the DRIVER we see the road ahead in the dim light of the head lamps; discarded SHELLS and AMMUNITION BOXES, wrecked CARTS, DEAD HORSES. The detritus of war. Wounded SOLDIERS. A WOMAN wearing layers of clothing struggles through the night carrying a crying BABY.

INSIDE THE LORRY

-- WOODWARD, now wearing a CAPTAIN’S UNIFORM, has been looking through the opening. He drops the curtain and turns back to the TUNNELERS. They are dozing or lost in their own thoughts.

FRASER now has sergeant’s stripes. It’s freezing. The men look like strange creatures. Wearing everything they have; sheepskin vests, mismatching gloves and beanies from home, rolled sandbags as scarves.

MORRIS is wide awake. He’s been watching Woodward.

MORRIS(quietly)

Is there a stunt on? ‘Cause, it’d be good to know in advance like.

WOODWARDAll we know is that we’re to relieve the 3rd Canadians at Hill 60.

MORRIS(anxious)

The 3rd Canadian Tunnellers sir?

FRASERNo, the 3rd Canadian Navy, Pull Through. Of course the bloody tunnellers...!

Tiffin and Bacon grin. Woodward folds away his map. A nearby EXPLOSION rocks the lorry but it continues on.

The men lapse back into silence. Fraser turns to Woodward. Speaks softly.


(CONTINUED)

FRASER (CONT’D)...Too early for the grey hen Captain?

Woodward grabs the DEMIJOHN OF RUM.

WOODWARDNever too early...

The men hold out MESS TIN LIDS as Woodward tries not to spill the rum with the lorry lurching. Ginger hands round a paper bag of DATES.

Jim Sneddon opens a COMFORT PACKAGE. Gloves and a scarf. He hands them to Morris who’s been shivering. Partly cold, partly fear. Morris shakes his head --

MORRISI’m right.

JIM SNEDDONTake ‘em. You’re just skin and bones.

GINGERFirst skeleton ever to make Corporal!

Morris doesn’t react.

JIM SNEDDON(quietly)

Come on son. She’ll send me another parcel tomorra’ more ‘n likely.

Morris wraps himself up in the scarf. Pulls on the gloves.

MORRISThey’re a decent fit.

JIM SNEDDONElsa’s a first rate knitter. When we get back she’ll have probably knitted herself a new husband.

FRASERIt’d want to be a bit better lookin’ than the old one.

-- this gets grin from Jim and Woodward. But the others sit in silence.

WOODWARD(to Jim Sneddon)

Your boy’s going be a great prop forward.

JIM SNEDDON(proudly)

Don’t I know it. An’ he’s still growin’!


(CONTINUED)

WOODWARDYou join up together?

Walter looks down. He’s heard the story before.

JIM SNEDDONOne of them recruitin’ blokes come through town...

(nods at Walter)...Gets the young fella all excited with his stories of adventure and seein’ the pyramids and what have you. Next thing we know Walt’s walkin’ into the kitchen sayin’ he’s joined up...

(shakes his head)...Never spent one bloody night away from home and he’s quit the pits joined up! Elsa nearly had bloody kittens, didn’t she Walt?

WALTER SNEDDON(sheepish)

Yep.

JIM SNEDDONWell, ya can’t unjoin. So after Walt goes to bed, I says to Elsa, “I’ve looked out for him all his life. I’m not gonna stop now...”

He glances at his son. Back to Woodward.

JIM SNEDDON (CONT’D)...I told her, if I joined up I could bring him back safe...

(sips his rum)...Elsa didn’t know what was worse, her boy goin’ off to war by himself, or the both of us goin’...

(another sip)...She’s been knittin’ like buggery ever since.

The lorry trundles on. The men lapse into silence again. Woodward notices that big Walter Sneddon has slipped his hand into his father’s.

Suddenly a VOICE yells from the front of the truck --

DRIVER (O.S.)Douse them flamin’ lights!

The men quickly extinguish the lamps as the THUNDEROUS SOUNDS of an ARTILLERY BARRAGE are heard and we CUT HARD TO --


EXT. YPRES SALIENT. BELGIUM - NIGHT

EXPLOSIONS and CANNON FIRE burst across a hellish landscape. WOODWARD and his men jump from the LORRY. GINGER throws down their gear. Jumps off as the lorry lurches away.

The men huddle with their gear. Woodward looks around.

HIS POV: the muddied detritus of war. Half buried CORPSES. The shattered remains of GUN LIMBERS. a HORSEMAN trying to control a SCREECHING HORSE. Silhouettes of MEN racing for cover.

The sound is astonishing. The scream of INCOMING SHELLS, bursts of ARTILLERY, WHISTLES, the SHRIEK of HORSES and MEN.

Woodward races across to the HORSEMAN to get directions. We can’t hear their voices above the barrage. The Horseman points to a scrawled sign with an arrow, FOSSE WAY.

Woodward signals to Fraser who gets the men moving.

FRASERDON’T BUNCH UP! COME ON! GET!

One by one the Tunnellers scramble over rubble and head down the DUCKBOARD TRACK.

WALTER SNEDDEN, TIFFIN and BILLY BACON are the last in line. As they race towards the track an incoming shell SCREAMS in. They hit the ground as it EXPLODES showering them in MUD and DEBRIS. Then they are up and running into the smoke and darkness...

BURIAL GROUND. YPRES SALIENT - SOME TIME LATER

A FLARE goes up and we find TIFFIN, WALTER SNEDDON and BILLY BACON crouched behind a mound of dirt. MORTAR SHELLS EXPLODE a short distance away. They yell above the barrage.

WALTER SNEDDON(terrified)

WHERE ARE WE?

TIFFIN(panicking)

WHERE ARE THE OTHERS BILLY??

BILLY BACONFOSSE WAY TRENCH.

TIFFINWHICH WAY IS IT BUT?

BILLY BACONDON’T FLAMIN’ KNOW!

The young tunnellers crawl forward. Endless mounds, some with makeshift WOODEN CROSSES.


(CONTINUED)

Others just marked with a stick or broken rifle. Tiffin stumbles over a shattered grave. The leg of a ROTTING CORPSE pokes out. He tries to control his horror.

EXT. FOSSE WAY TRENCH. YPRES SALIENT - NIGHT

FRASER shouts to WOODWARD above the gunfire and artillery --

FRASERSIR, WE LEFT THE BLOODY KIDS BEHIND!

WOODWARDWHO’S MISSING?

FRASERYOUNG SNEDDON, BACON, TIFFIN.

Jim Sneddon calls into the darkness.

JIM SNEDDONWALTER!! WALT!

SOLDIERS on their way to the front push past the tunnellers.

BURIAL GROUND.

Staying low behind the burial mounds, Tiffin, Sneddon and Bacon crawl through the mud. A MACHINE GUN suddenly sprays the ground beside them. They scramble into a --

MUDDY CRATER.

-- where the young tunnellers gasp for breath. Tiffin wipes his face with his sleeve and leans in close to Bacon --

TIFFIN(breathing hard)

How come Fritz can get at us? We’re behind the lines ain’t we??

BILLY BACONHe’s got the high ground..!

He peers over the edge. MACHINE GUN bullets slam into the crater rim around them. They fling themselves into the base of the crater as mud and rubble rain down on them.

WALTER SNEDDONShit!!

Bacon is the first to get his breath back. A VOICE calls from the darkness --

JIM SNEDDON (O.S.)WALTER! OVER HERE!


(CONTINUED)

BILLY BACON(to himself)

Fuck! We’ve missed it..! (to the others)

...The sap’s over to the right. About 25 yards. You ready..?

MACHINE GUN BULLETS rip through the air above them. Walter is quiet. He’s not going anywhere.

BILLY BACON (CONT’D)...Walt! We can’t stay here mate..!

Billy peers over the rim again then slides back down --

BILLY BACON (CONT’D)...Tell ya what. I’ll go to the left. Draw crabs...Soon as you hear the MG open up, run like buggery! Don’t bloody stop until you get to the sap..!

Sneddon and Tiffin just stare at Billy Bacon.

BILLY BACON (CONT’D)...What? I’m twice as fast as you blokes! Prob’ly make it there before yous do.

With that he climbs from the crater and races OFF TO THE LEFT. As the MACHINE GUN opens up Tiffin and Sneddon scramble over the crater lip and HEAD TO THE RIGHT...

FOSSE WAY TRENCH

The tunnellers see the Tiffin and Walter racing across OPEN GROUND through the mud and debris.

WOODWARD STAY LOW!

JIM SNEDDONTIFFIN! WALTER! OVER HERE BOY!

Tiffin and Walter Sneddon DIVE into the arms of the other men.

A lull in the firing. The exhausted young Tunnellers are pulled to their feet. Woodward peers into the blackness.

WOODWARD(calling)

BILLY...? BILLY BACON?

MORRISSTREAKY..?

Silence. Then...a distant voice.


(CONTINUED)

BILLY BACON (O.S.)They get home?

WOODWARD(calling)

THEY’RE HOME..!

Blackness. Then...A FLARE goes off and we see BILLY BACON racing towards us in a crouching zig-zag run --

WOODWARD (CONT’D)(yelling)

...RUN..!

MORRIS & TIFFIN(together)

COME ON STREAKY!! RUN!!

MACHINE GUN FIRE sends dirt and searing fragments spinning through the air just behind the young tunneller’s legs. He’s FLYING now!

FRASERGO YOU LITTLE BUGGER! GO!!

Billy Bacon is laughing! He’s sidestepping the bullets! Screaming with joy and fear like a maniac! 5 yards to go and he’s going to make it then --

A short BURST of MACHINE GUN FIRE sends him SPRAWLING SIDEWAYS into the mud.

For a moment no-one moves. Then Woodward is yelling --

WOODWARDSTRETCHERS! STRETCHER BEARER HERE!

They drag Bill Bacon down into the trench. He has a CHEST WOUND and a SHATTERED LEG. Unable to speak, he stares up at them, half grinning, trembling.

Two British STRETCHER BEARERS arrive. The older one, WILF PIGGOTT 28, jabs morphine into Bacon’s arm, bites through the top of an IODINE BOTTLE, pours it on the stomach wound. Billy looks up at him.

PIGGOTTWhat’s your name, lad?

Billy opens his mouth but no words come out.

TIFFINB..Billy. Billy Bacon.

PIGGOTTBilly, I’m gonna patch you up and get you home. You’re goin’ home son, alright..?


(CONTINUED)

The flicker of smile from Billy.

PIGGOTT (CONT’D)(without looking up)

...What company you from?

WOODWARD(breathing hard)

First Australian Tunnellers.

PIGGOTWell I’d stick to your fuckin’ tunnels if I were you. Fritz has got emma gees all over Hill 60.

The Stretcher Bearers tourniquet Bacon’s shattered leg.

TIFFINIs he gonna to be alright?

PIGGOTTDo what we can, son...

They place Billy Bacon on the stretcher. Piggott glances at the drifting smoke --

PIGGOTT (CONT’D)...Wind’s swingin’ around. Keep your gas bags handy...

He points to an empty SHELL CASE hanging from a string.

PIGGOTT (CONT’D)...You hear them being beaten, you’ll have 10 seconds to get your mask on. If you’re lucky.

FRASER(spits it out)

Dirty Boche bastards!

PIGGOTT(turns to Fraser)

Half the time it’s our own fuckin’ gas.

They stretcher Billy Bacon away. Woodward pulls out the MAP. The tunnellers nervously check their gas masks.

EXT. ENTRANCE. MARSHALL WALK TRENCH - A SHORT TIME LATER

Woodward and his men are wearing their waterproof capes. He leads them along the muddy duckboards. The barrage has eased a little. Drizzling rain has set in.

On a signpost “MARSHALL WALK” has been scrawled out and replaced with, “LOVER’S LANE”. They enter the trench and head around a corner and come upon --


THE FORWARD DRESSING STATION. MARSHALL WALK TRENCH - NIGHT

-- where about 10 YOUNG SOLDIERS with terrible wounds lie on stretchers in the rain. Some are dead, covered by blankets. Others WRITHE and SHRIEK and call for their mothers. The area is protected only by sandbag parapets.

Shocked to silence by the sight, Woodward’s men file past. Then suddenly...

TIFFIN (O.S.)Streaky...

Woodward turns to see Tiffin standing beside Billy Bacon’s stretcher. He’s dead.

The men gather in silence looking down at their young mate. INFANTRYMEN heading to the front line push past. Jim Sneddon kneels beside Billy Bacon. He closes the young tunnellers eyes. Wipes some mud off his face. Morris watches as Sneddon makes the sign of the cross.

MORRIS(angrily to Jim Sneddon)

Is this God’s flamin’ handiwork is it?

Sneddon turns to Morris. Morris just walks away.

Woodward looks at the faces of his men. Shattered.

WOODWARD(quietly to Sneddon)

Get his disc and pay book. We’ll bury him in the morning...

Jim Sneddon opens Billy Bacon’s blood soaked uniform and removes a red metal DISK from around his neck. He finds his PAY BOOK in his pocket. And the PHOTO of his family.

Tiffin hasn’t moved. Woodward puts a hand on his shoulder.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...Come on Frank.

He leads his men down the duckboards. Morris stumbles. Fraser steadies him. As the tunnellers disappear around a corner we hear the CLANG CLANG CLANG! of the gas alarms.

EXT. INTERSECTION MARSHALL WALK AND FRONT LINE TRENCH - LATER

Rain heavier. A lull in the shelling. Woodward and his men emerge from the fog and smoke wearing their GAS MASKS. Their boots make sucking noises in the mud. They reach the end the Trench. Woodward looks to the left.

INFANTRYMEN are firing over the parapet which has been bolstered with CORPSES. BODY PARTS and scraps of UNIFORMS are half buried in the rubble.


(CONTINUED)

Woodward looks to the right.

A SOLDIER wearing a waterproof cape, gas mask hanging loose around his neck, leans against the trench wall, smoking.

Woodward and his men approach.

WOODWARD(exhausted)

...Captain Woodward. First Australian...(realising)

...McBride.

WILLIAM MCBRIDE removes his cape and smiles.

MCBRIDECaptain McBride actually. Where have you been? Been waiting for hours...

Drained, Woodward removes his gas mask. His men do the same.

MCBRIDE (CONT’D)...Hell of a place, eh..?

Woodward nods.

MCBRIDE (CONT’D)...Your men can bunk in here.

Woodward and his men see only the muddy trench wall, a pile of sandbags. McBride moves a sandbag and lifts a camouflaged hessian curtain to reveal a small DUGOUT ENTRANCE.

WOODWARD(to his men)

Stow your kit. Get a couple of hours kip.

FRASERCouple of hours? Jeez Captain, they’ll turn soft on ya.

Woodward’s exhausted men follow Sergeant Fraser down the ramp.

WOODWARDSeen the tunnels?

MCBRIDECanadians took me down. You’ve got a surprise coming to you...

Woodward is too tired to respond.

MCBRIDE (CONT’D)...Officer’s dugout is down this way.

McBride moves off but Woodward stays where he is.


(CONTINUED)

WOODWARDI’ll bunk in here for the time being.

Mcbride watches Woodward make his way into the dugout.

INT. TUNNELLERS’ GALLERY. BERLIN SAP - SOMETIME LATER

Light comes from candle stubs. Railway irons support the roof. Hessian sacking covers tunnel entrances. Water oozes from the walls, runs along rough channels in the floor.

There are no bunks. The exhausted tunnellers are sprawled on the sodden ground, huddled together for warmth. Someone’s already producing a wheezy snore. Others smoke. Their movements send shadows leaping on the walls.

TIFFIN...Wetter in here then it is out there.

Walter curls up against his father’s back. He kicks an ammunition box sending RATS scuttling away.

WALTER SNEDDON‘n more rats than in friggin’ France.

FRASERYeah, but they’re Belgian rats. A change is as good as a holiday.

Woodward is wrapped in a groundsheet, his head resting on a rolled up greatcoat --

WOODWARDGas bags within reach.

He shivers from the cold, listens to the barrage, the dripping water, the scratching and breathing of his exhausted men.

JIM SNEDDONLeast we’re back underground.

GINGERThankful for small mercys, eh boys?

This is greeted with silence. We can just see Fraser’s head beneath a tangle of muddy blankets. He sucks on a rolly. Studies the roof --

FRASERThe amount of work that this place needs, my bet is that’s where we’ll be stayin’.

A shell EXPLODES. The ground shudders. Dirt falls from the roof. Morris’ eyes are wide. He’s a mass of fears and uncertainties --


(CONTINUED)

MORRISWe’ll be stayin’ underground alright...one way or another...

FRASERWhat’s that supposed to mean?

MORRISThis is what it’s goin’ to be now. Dodgin’ shells ‘n shrapnel...Then outa the blue...a bullet in the guts like poor ol’ Streaky...

Walter Sneddon covers his face. Moves in closer to his father.

MORRIS (CONT’D)...No game o’ skill down here neither. Eaten by rats...murdered in the dark by Fritz an’ buried alive for our fuckin’ troubles...

Silence, apart from the dripping water, men breathing. Fraser is the first to speak --

FRASERWell that cheered us all up.

Woodward reaches over and snubs out the candle. As we CUT TO --

INT/EXT. FRONT PORCH. WADDELL’S HOMESTEAD - LATE AFTERNOON

There’s a KNOCK. MR WADDELL answers the door to WOODWARD --

WOODWARDMr Waddell.

The grief has not left Mr Waddell’s face. He seems lost --

MR WADDELLOliver...When do you set off?

WOODWARDAbout three weeks.

MR WADDELLWill you get to see your parents?

WOODWARDNo. They only give us a few day’s leave.

MR WADDELLRight...Well...come in.

WOODWARDActually, I wanted to ask you something.

MR WADDELLYes?


(CONTINUED)

WOODWARD I would like your permission to write to Marjorie when I’m overseas. And...I’d like to spend some time with her before I leave.

Mr Waddell just stares at Woodward. An awkward silence.

THE BACK VERANDAH - A SHORT TIME LATER

MRS WADDELL and MARJORIE are at the table bottling fruit. Bottles of MANGO and PAW PAW glow golden in the setting sun.

MR WADDELL’S VOICEEmma..

They turn to see MR WADDELL and WOODWARD at the door.

MR WADDELL(to his wife)

...I’m going to take my walk now...If you’d care to come.

Mrs Waddell takes this in --

MRS WADDELLYour walk.

MR WADDELLAy. If you’d care to come.

Mrs Waddell glances to Woodward, then back to her husband --

MRS WADDELLYes...of course...

She wipes her hands then takes her husband’s arm. They head down the stairs leaving Woodward alone with Marjorie.

MARJORIEThey’ve never taken a walk together in their lives.

Woodward reaches out to Marjorie.

WOODWARDWhen I get back, I’ll take you walking every day.

He strokes and strokes her beautiful hand as we CUT BACK TO --

INT. GERMAN LISTENING POST. NEAR HILL 60 - MORNING

In the semi-darkness thick set Sergeant KARL BABEK 28, holds the listening device onto the roof of the tunnel. Presses his headphones harder onto his ears.


(CONTINUED)

Beside him ERNST WAGNER, 19, sharpens a small bayonet. He has a nervous energy. He scratches at his lice bites. Dripping water. Rats scurrying. Babek signals for silence. Wagner stops sharpening.

WAGNERKoennen Sie was hoeren, Herr Unteroffizier?

(subtitles)Anything sir..?

Babek shakes his head. Slips off the headphones and studies a PLAN. Wagner takes a crust of stale bread from his pocket. Gnaws off a piece --

He offers Babek a crust. Babek shakes his head.

WAGNER (CONT’D)Herr Unteroffizier, darf ich Sie was fragen? In welcher Grube haben Sie frueher gearbeitet?

(subtitles)Sergeant Babek, can I ask you something? Where did you work, which mines?

BABEKIn Bayern.

(subtitles)Bavaria.

WAGNERBayern ist gross. Kennen Sie die Grube in Eisenheim? Haben Sie von der schon mal gehoert?

(subtitles)Bavaria’s big place. Did you ever work the coal mine in Eisenheim? Have you heard of it..?

Sergeant Babek grunts.

WAGNER (CONT’D)Meine Heimatstadt. Es gibt eine Kirche, aber keine Glocke. Die Regierung hat sie fuer den Krieg eingezogen. Meine Mutter hat mir geschrieben...

(subtitles)...My home town. There’s a church but no bell. The government requisitioned it for the war effort. My mother wrote me...

He pulls a much-read POSTCARD from his pocket. It has a picture of a BAVARIAN village with an OLD STONE BRIDGE on a beautiful river --


(CONTINUED)

WAGNER (CONT’D)(reads)

“..Erst kamen sie wegen dem Altmetall. Dann wegen des Tafelsilbers. Jetzt ist die Glocke weg...”

(subtitles)“...First they came for the scrap metal, then the cutlery. Now the bell is gone...”

He shows Babek the postcard. Babek looks at it. Flips it over and reads...

BABEK(reads)

“...Jeden Tag weinen wir um unseren kleinen Jungen und beten fuer seine sichere Heimkehr.”

(subtitles)“...Every day we weep for our little boy and pray for his safe return.”

Embarrassed now, the young tunneller puts away his postcard. Babek puts his headphones back on as we CUT TO --

EXT. FRONT LINE TRENCH - MORNING

The TUNNELLERS make their way along the trench. INFANTRYMEN push past them. Distant mortar fire.

A PERISCOPE is set up on the parapet. Fraser peers in as the other tunnellers continue on. Morris is last in line. He’s nervous.

FRASERHill 60. Take a look...

Morris looks into the periscope.

PERISCOPE POV: A small POCK MARKED RISE across No Man’s Land.

MORRISThat’s it?

FRASERWhat were you expectin’ Morris, the bloody Matterhorn?

MORRISI was expectin’ something bigger’n a railway cutting...

He takes a second look then they move off down the trench.

INT. TUNNELERS’ GALLERY/STEEP STAIRWAY - EARLY MORNING

MCBRIDE pushes through the sacking. WOODWARD follows him down the STAIRWAY. They are wearing their “tunnellers rigout”;


(CONTINUED)

high rubber boots, feet encased in sandbags. Rolled sandbags around their heads. Gas masks and revolvers hanging from their belts.

A SIGN at the bottom reads, “Berlin Sap.” They head out into -

THE BERLIN SAP - CONTINUOUS

Woodward looks left and right. Bundles of LEADS hang from wooden pegs. The timber-lined tunnel is lit with ELECTRIC LIGHTING.

Woodward follows McBride down the tunnel. It’s wet underfoot. Mud covered TUNNELLERS & SAPPERS come and go carrying stacks of TIMBER, pushing barrows of SANDBAGS. Tunnelers pause at a wider section where an OFFICER pours them RUM RATIONS from a DEMIJOHN.

WOODWARD...Why Berlin Sap?

MCBRIDEIt goes so deep under the German lines, they reckon it almost reaches Berlin.

They leave behind the dull thud of ARTILLERY EXPLOSIONS. WATER and WET SAND pour through cracks between the timbers.

WOODWARDIt’s just mud and slurry. It’s like sinking a mine in a bog.

MCBRIDEThe clay’s further down. The whole area is below sea level.

WOODWARD and MCBRIDE round a corner and come upon --

A SMALL PUMP ROOM

-- Two exhausted Canadian PUMP MEN working a PUMP. A foot of water covers the floor.

MCBRIDE (CONT’D)Keeping the water out was their main problem.

WOODWARDWas?

MCBRIDENow it’s ours.

They head down an INCLINE into the into the darkness. We are left with the Canadian Sappers, pumping, pumping in the gloom.


LOWER LEVEL CHAMBER. BERLIN SAP - A SHORT TIME LATER

The sound of shelling has disappeared. WOODWARD follows MCBRIDE, both now filthy and soaking down muddy WOODEN STEPS. They enter a slightly wider section. Hessian SACKING is strung across the tunnel ahead.

MCBRIDE(whispering)

...We’re 90 feet down now. Right under the German lines. Hill 60 is directly above us...

VOICE(whispering)

The blue clay of Flanders...

They turn to see MAJOR BRADY NORTH, 29, emerging from a TINY DUGOUT. Pale, unshaven with darting eyes. He carves a curl of CLAY off an exposed section of the wall with his thumb nail.

MAJOR NORTH...Beautiful..!

He rolls it in a ball, hands to Woodward who squeezes between his fingers.

MAJOR NORTH (CONT’D)...Fritz’s still up in the schwimmsand. He can’t get near us!

MCBRIDEMajor North, Third Canadian...

The Major ignores McBride and holds open the hessian sacking --

MAJOR NORTHIf you will...

Woodward and McBride enter --

THE HILL 60 MINE GALLERY

-- It’s filled with hundreds of TINS stacked floor to ceiling. FIRING LEADS hang from pegs, ready to be connected.

MAJOR NORTH(whispers excitedly)

53,000 pounds of Ammonal high explosive! 8,000 pounds of gun cotton!

Woodward is speechless.

WOODWARDI’ve...never seen anything like this!

MAJOR NORTHNobody has. Nobody.


(CONTINUED)

MCBRIDEMajor North, Third Canadian Tunnellers. Captain Woodward, First Australian.

Major North points into the dripping darkness where another TUNNEL connects to the gallery --

MAJOR NORTH500 feet down there is the Caterpillar mine. That one’s 70,000 pounds! There’s 21 of them. We’ve undermined the whole of the Messines Ridge! Nearly a million pounds of ammonal! When this thing blows, it’ll be the biggest explosion the world has ever seen!

Woodward squeezes down beside the stack to get a sense of the scale. McBride points out the leads and connectors.

MCBRIDEEach mine has detonators and leads running back to firing dugouts on the surface...

He takes a tin of Ammonal from the stack. Major North watches him closely. Agitated that his “things” are being moved.

McBride opens the tin and takes out an ORANGE FUSE.

MCBRIDE (CONT’D)...All we have to do is keep the thing dry...and keep it a secret from Fritz.

MAJOR NORTHFritz has no idea...

(conspiratorially)...He thinks we’re digging wells...

He looks at the vast stack of explosives.

MAJOR NORTH (CONT’D)...This will finish the war...end it altogether. Think of that!

WOODWARDWhen do they plan to detonate?

The Major’s mood suddenly changes. He becomes agitated, rubbing his arms, pacing.

MAJOR NORTHW...what’s it like up there?

WOODWARD(confused)

Well...


(CONTINUED)

MAJOR NORTHNothing left. Nothing! Ypres...Such a beautiful city. Gone now. All gone...They got it wrong, the Boche. Going for the high ground...Insane...

Lost in his own world he obsessively straightens the tins.

MAJOR NORTH (CONT’D)...They’re pulling me out...It’s up to you now. It’s all up to you...

McBride pulls Woodward away and they make their way back up the -

THE LOWER BERLIN SAP.

North remains with the mine in his own shell shocked world.

WOODWARD(whispers)

Poor bugger.

MCBRIDE(whispers)

He sleeps down there. Hasn’t been to the surface for three months.

Woodward takes in the dripping walls, the mud under foot, the support timbers already beginning to rot.

WOODWARDSo when are they going to blow them?

MCBRIDENo-one knows. Could be months away.

WOODWARDMonths? What are they waiting for?

MCBRIDEWell, I’m a miner not a general. But I reckon it’s simple arithmetic. If we blow the mines now we kill a few hundred Fritz at best. But if they think there’s an attack coming, they’ll stack the trenches above us like bloody sardines.

WOODWARDThat could kill thousands.

MCBRIDETime it right, tens of thousands.

Woodward takes this in.


THE HILL 60 MINE GALLERY

-- Major North pushes the tin of Ammonal neatly back into the stack...Clank...

GERMAN LISTENING POST. NEAR HILL 60 - CONTINUOUS

SERGEANT BABEK listens through his earphones.

BABEK(whispers)

...Haben Sie das gehoert?(subtitles)

...Did you hear that?

Wagner shakes his head. Babek makes a note in his log book.

WAGNERIn Spanbroekmolen waren sie letzte Woche bis auf 12 Meter runter. Die Jungs meinten, sie haetten unter sich Geraeusche gehoert.

(subtitles)Boys at Spanbroekmolen were down forty feet last week...They reckon they heard sounds below them.

BABEKUnter sich?

(subtitles)Below them?

WAGNERSehr tief unter sich!

(subtitles)Well below!

Babek thinks hard for a moment then hands Wagner the headphones, squeezes past him and heads back up the tunnel.

TUNNELLERS’ GALLERY. BERLIN SAP - CONTINUOUS

Woodward speaks urgently to the TUNNELLERS --

WOODWARD...Jim, check every prop and every stay. Starting from here...

He points to a spot on the TUNNEL PLAN.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...all the way to the bottom of the Berlin Sap. Take Walter and Ginger with you.

JIM SNEDDONSir.


(CONTINUED)

MCBRIDE(to Woodward)

I’ll do the same with Caterpillar.

McBride puts on his helmet and heads out into the trenches.

WOODWARDPull Through, there are 26 listening posts. Check them all. Take Percy.

MORRISRighto.

WOODWARDFraser, you check the water line. I want to know the depth from the surface. I want to know where the water is ending up. I want to know at exactly what depth the sand becomes clay.

FRASERSir...

(turning to Tiffin)...Tiffin, you’re with me...

We HOLD ON Woodward’s face as watches his men grab their equipment and head down the sap.

EXT. FRONT LINE TRENCH. MESSINES RIDGE - DAY. ONE WEEK LATER

A FIGURE makes his way through the crowded trench carrying what appears to be a weapon. Small arms fire. Distant Artillery. As the man gets closer we see that it’s --

-- WOODWARD. He is carrying a THEODOLITE and TRIPOD.

Keeping his head low Woodward sets up equipment. He is about to look through it when MACHINE GUN FIRE slams into the wall beside him.

He ducks for cover. When the firing stops he lowers the tripod legs and, crouching on his haunches, peers through the theodolite towards Hill 60.

EXT. GERMAN TRENCH NEAR HILL 60 - CONTINUOUS

KOMMANDEUR OTTO FUSSLEIN, 60’s, leans against the sand bagged parapet. The months of constant bombardment have taken their toll on him. SERGEANT BABEK is beside him. A SNIPER aims with a telescopic sighted RIFLE.

Babek points. Fusslein peers through binoculars towards the allied lines.

BABEKSchiessen Sie, wenn sie soweit sind.

(subtitles)Fire when ready.


(CONTINUED)

Babek looks through his binoculars. The Sniper holds his breath. And FIRES.

EXT. FRONT LINE TRENCH. MESSINES RIDGE - CONTINUOUS

The bullet RICOCHETS off the theodolite and SLAMS into Woodward’s helmet. He crashes onto his back into the mud.

EXT. GERMAN TRENCH NEAR HILL 60 - CONTINUOUS

Fusslein and Babek peer through their binoculars.

FUSSLEINNichts.

(subtitles)Nothing.

BABEKVersuchen Sie’s nochmal.

(subtitles)Try again...

Fusslein nods to the Sniper. He aims and FIRES.

THROUGH FUSSLEIN’s BINOCULARS we see a SANDBAG BURST OPEN on the Allied PARAPET. BLUE CLAY spills out.

BABEK (CONT’D)Das ist Blaulehm

(subtitles)...It’s blue clay.

FUSSLEINNa, und?

(subtitles)So?

BABEKDas bedeutet, dass sie mindestens 25 Meter unter uns graben. Ich glaube, dass der Feind da unten alles vermint.

(subtitles)It means that they’re tunnelling at a depth of at least 25 metres. I believe the enemy is setting deep mines.

FUSSLEINBabek, wissen Sie, was fuer Geraet man braucht um 25 Meter Schlamm zu bewegen?

(Subtitles)Sergeant Babek, do you know how much charge it would take to lift 25 metres of mud?

BABEKNein, Herr Kommandant.

(Subtitles)I don’t know.


(CONTINUED)

FUSSLEINLaecherlich. Voellig laecherlich. Das ist unmoeglich.

(Subtitles)Ridiculous. Preposterous. It’s impossible.

Fusslein heads off. Babek looks back across No Man’s Land

EXT. FRONT LINE TRENCH. MESSINES RIDGE - DAY

CLOSE ON Woodward, motionless. His HELMET in the mud beside him. Blood trickles from his ear.

A HAND shakes his shoulder. No response. Again --

VOICE...You wounded Digger..?

Woodward opens his eyes to find a young stretcher bearer, WARREN HUTCHINGS, 16, crouching beside him --

HUTCHINGS...Let me see...

He wipes the blood from Woodward’s ear. Checks his scalp --

HUTCHINGS (CONT’D)...Nah, you’re alright.

He helps Woodward to a sitting position. Hands him his HELMET. Woodward goes pale when he sees the CREASE made by the sniper’s bullet --

WOODWARDBit bloody close.

HUTCHINGS(grins)

I wasn’t gonna mention it. Sniper shell by the size of it. Would of made a mess of your melon...

He gives Woodward some water. Pulls out his TOBACCO TIN and begins rolling a smoke.

HUTCHINGS (CONT’D)...Saw one bloke hit by one of them, had half his head blown off. Only his smile left.

WOODWARDHow old are you?

HUTCHINGSSixteen...

(he licks his rolly)


(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

...When they found out, they made me a stretcher bearer...Keep me away from the horrors of war.

He grins. Offers Woodward the rolly. Woodward waves it away, hands back the water tin. Hutchings lights up then heads off down the trench.

WOODWARD(calling)

Thanks...

INT. BERLIN SAP - LATER

-- WOODWARD finds JIM, WALTER SNEDDON and GINGER up to their knees in mud, trying to secure a pit prop. Ginger tries to hold his footing but slurry constantly pours through. Walter uses his strength to hoist up the roof support as the others slide the prop into place.

GINGERLike tryin’ to stop the tide with a bloody sand castle!

FRASER emerges from the darkness. Filthy and dripping wet.

FRASER...The top level is mostly sand. Clay starts around 30 feet.

Woodward follows him further down the Sap. Splashing through water and mud.

FRASER (CONT’D)...Water seeps down, pools above the clay. Where it finds a tunnel it funnels down like a bloody creak...

Muddy water seeps from between the wall boards. They stop. Water running down the floor of the sap almost covers their boots.

FRASER (CONT’D)...There are sixty men working the pumps day and night just to keep the water level down. We lose even a few of those men and the bloody mines’ll be useless.

Woodward nods. Fraser heads back up the Sap. Woodward turns and heads deeper into the darkness.

LOWER LEVEL CHAMBER. BERLIN SAP. MESSINES RIDGE - LATER

Exhausted and soaked to the skin, Woodward pushes the hessian aside and looks at the stack of explosives. Water drips from the walls, pools on the floor, saturates the firing leads.


HUTCHINGS (CONT'D)

(CONTINUED)

When he emerges, he surprises TIFFIN who has come down with a stack of SAWN TIMBER.

TIFFIN You...alright sir?

WOODWARDHave you seen Major North?

TIFFINThey came down and got him a couple of days ago. He was a bit...wobbly.

Woodward heads into --

MAJOR NORTH’S DUGOUT.

Woodward holds up his candle lamp. The light falls on the bunk with a filthy blanket. The little shelves dug into the clay hold North’s candle stubs, his collection of small BONES, ROCKS. It’s somehow prehistoric. He turns and heads back to the --

LOWER LEVEL CHAMBER.

As Woodward emerges he notices a piece timber on top of Tiffin’s stack. He picks it up. It’s smooth, fine grained with a bevel on one edge.

WOODWARDWhere did they get this lot?

TIFFINSappers are gettin’ it from wherever they can find it now, sir. All the forests have been cut down or stonkered by shellin’...

He looks at the piece in Woodward’s hand.

TIFFIN (CONT’D)...That’s oak.

A look from Woodward.

TIFFIN (CONT’D) ...Me dad’s a carpenter, sir. After the war, I’m gonna do me apprenticeship. Get out of them bloody pits...

He examines the bevel.

TIFFIN (CONT’D)...More ‘n likely come from that ruined church in town.

WOODWARDChurch? Cathedral...Ypres Cathedral?


(CONTINUED)

TIFFINProb’ly.

Tiffin watches the Captain run his fingers along the timber. Turning it over and over in his hands. Finally he puts it back on the stack.

WOODWARDSorry to hold you up.

He watches as Tiffin splashes off into the darkness.

INT. OFFICERS’ DUGOUT. OFF FRONT LINE TRENCH - NIGHT

WOODWARD sits with MCBRIDE who is eating bully beef from a tin. A PLAN of the tunnels is open on the table.

WOODWARD...That’s the lowest point in the sap?

MCBRIDEYeah. About 90 feet. It’s where everything ends up. Water, quicksand, every damn thing.

Woodward pours two nips of RUM from the demijohn. Hands one to McBride, downs the other.

WOODWARDWhat if we sink a shaft directly to that point, get the water out that way?

McBride downs his rum then shakes his head.

MCBRIDECanadians tried it. So did the Tommies. That whole middle section is unstable. “Schwimmsands”.

WOODWARDSwimming sands.

MCBRIDEShaft walls collapse after about 6 feet.

McBride forks out the last of his beef from his tin. Chucks the empty tin into a box.

MCBRIDE (CONT’D)...Besides, 90 feet vertical is a bloody long way to move water.

Woodward considers this.

WOODWARDWe’ve got electricity down there, don’t we?


(CONTINUED)

McBride nods. Woodward turns back to the plan.

INT. GENERAL LAMBERT’S OFFICE. THE FORWARD BATTALION HQ - DAY

A large organised dugout. AIDS doing paperwork. Australian BRIGADIER GENERAL LAMBERT, 50’s, sits behind an ornate desk signing reports. Behind him hangs a portrait of KING GEORGE.

WOODWARD and MCBRIDE have cleaned themselves up, (sort of,) and are standing rather nervously waiting. The dull thud of ARTILLERY and MORTAR SHELLS.

COLONEL RUTLEDGE pushes through the gas curtain and salutes.

RUTLEDGEYou sent for me sir?

Only then does Rutledge notice Woodward and McBride. He’s less than happy.

GENERAL LAMBERTThese men have a proposal...

(to Woodward)...Go ahead.

Woodward clears his throat.

WOODWARDSir, if the detonation is further than a month away then, despite our best efforts, I’m sure that the Hill 60 and Caterpillar mines will fail...

Woodward unfolds a TUNNEL PLAN onto the General’s desk.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...We propose sinking a shaft down to a gallery beneath the Berlin Sap, here...

He points to a point on the PLAN.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...Install electric pumps.

MCBRIDEIt would free up sixty men at least.

GENERAL LAMBERTRutledge?

COLONEL RUTLEDGEThat’s over 90 feet deep. I shouldn’t have thought that an electric pump would lift water that high.

MCBRIDEThe new ones will sir.


(CONTINUED)

COLONEL RUTLEDGEA shaft is simply not feasible. It's also not a new idea sir. It’s impossible to get through the wet sand without the walls collapsing. The Canadians seemed to have managed the water problem. Sir, I don’t see any need to resort to such a dangerous scheme.

WOODWARDHave you been down there Colonel?

Rutledge eyeballs Woodward.

GENERAL LAMBERTRight. That will be all.

COLONEL RUTLEDGEThank you General. I apologise for taking up your valuable time.

Rutledge salutes. Turns for the exit. Woodward and McBride don’t move --

WOODWARDGeneral, our plans differ from the ones previously tried.

Rutledge stops in his tracks.

GENERAL LAMBERTHow?

WOODWARDWe don't dig from the surface, sir. We build the shaft head 20 feet below ground level. We construct galleries large enough to house all the tunnellers and hide the blue clay.

COLONEL RUTLEDGERidiculous.

The General ignores Rutledge.

GENERAL LAMBERTThe drive would start from where?

WOODWARD(slightly embarrassed)

Here sir.

GENERAL LAMBERT(incredulous)

My office?

WOODWARDRoughly.


(CONTINUED)

COLONEL RUTLEDGECaptain Woodward..!

McBride tries to hide a grin. Woodward points to the plan.

WOODWARDGeneral, driving the tunnel from Forward Battalion HQ is the most direct route.

COLONEL RUTLEDGE20 feet down puts you right in the middle of the quicksand..!

(to the General)...Sir, I apologise again for...

WOODWARDYou’re wrong Colonel. It puts us just above the wet sand. That’s the point. We use steel sections to control the water and stop the walls collapsing

McBride unfolds working DRAWINGS of the STEEL SECTIONS, the JACKS pushing down from the roof.

MCBRIDEWe use jacks from the roof of the gallery to force the steel sections downwards.

WOODWARDOne or two men inside the shaft grubbing out the sand. It’ll be a race between the amount of water and sand coming in but once we get through to the clay we should be able to seal it off.

COLONEL RUTLEDGEAnd how many months or years do we estimate this folly would take?

WOODWARDRough estimate...

He looks at McBride.

GENERAL LAMBERTHow long?

WOODWARDThree weeks. Give or take.

This silences the room.

COLONEL RUTLEDGE(to General Lambert)

The sound of digging, let alone the handling of the steel sections, will alert the enemy, sir.


(CONTINUED)

The General smiles.

GENERAL LAMBERTI suspect the Captain would have an answer for that as well. Would I be correct in that assumption, Woodward?

WOODWARDYou would, sir.

EXT. OPEN GROUND BEHIND THE LINES - DAY

DISTANT ARTILLERY fire. THE TUNNELERS unload shovels and equipment from a LORRY. INFANTRYMEN stack SAWN TIMBER amid piles of smoking DEBRIS, SMASHED CARTS and EQUIPMENT. FUEL DRUMS have been unloaded a little further down the track.

In the distance we see the ruined town of YPRES.

Suddenly shells are screaming overhead and EXPLODING nearby. The INFANTRYMEN scatter. TIFFEN and PERCY dive for cover. WALTER SNEDDON grabs another load from the truck. JIM pulls him to safety. The tunnellers run for the trenches just as --

-- a large SHELL screams in. KABOOM! The FUEL DRUMS EXPLODE!

EXT. FOSSE WAY/MARSHALL WALK/FRONT LINE TRENCHES

The Tunnellers run in a crouch with their equipment. WHIZZ BANG! Shells BURSTING close by. They race through clouds of SMOKE. Push past INFANTRYMEN. CRASH! A heavy SHELL lands just behind them kicking up mud and soil as they dash for the --

TUNNELLERS’ GALLERY.

The HEAVY BARRAGE outside makes the walls shake as the TUNNELLERS rush in. The men breathe hard, trying not to show their fear.

MORRIS(panting)

...Christ!

WALTER SNEDDON(breathing hard)

Hell of a way to get to work!

They men dump their equipment. The adrenalin still pumping. And we CUT BACK TO --

EXT. FOSSE WAY/OPEN GROUND BEHIND THE LINES - DAY

PERCY and WALTER SNEDDON manhandle a STEEL SHAFT SECTION from the back of a LORRY. GINGER is handed a large CRATE.


EXT. FOSSE WAY - DAY

MORTAR fire. The clatter of MACHINE GUNS. THE TUNNELLERS carry long steel JACKS along the trench. It’s dangerous and awkward. INFANTRYMEN shout insults as they have to duck under.

INT. SHAFT HEAD GALLERY. MESSINES RIDGE AREA - DAY

Tiffin and PERCY work on the last pit prop. WOODWARD draws a CIRCLE on the muddy floor. WALTER SNEDDON and MORRIS begin digging --

SOME TIME LATER

-- Mud and slurry underfoot. The TUNNELLERS have the steel SHAFT SECTION in place. JACKS attached. Working silently JIM SNEDDON applies pressure, gives hand signals to FRASER, WALTER and Tiffin. Everyone is trying to be as silent as possible

GINGER wrenches the lid off the WOODEN CRATE. He removes a new ELECTRIC PUMP from the crate packed with wood shavings.

The steel ring doesn’t move. Pressure builds. Jim looks to WOODWARD who signals to keep going. Small sections of the ceiling crumble away.

Suddenly one side of the steel ring SINKS, sending the jacks out of line. The jacks hit the ground with a loud CRASH! Everyone freezes.

INT. GERMAN LISTENING POST - DAY

BABEK is squeezed into a narrow space with his Listening Device. He’s heard something. He makes a note on a small pad.

INT. SHAFT HEAD GALLERY. MESSINES RIDGE AREA - DAY

No-one moves. The silence lasts and lasts. Finally Woodward nods and the tunnellers quietly lift the jacks back into place.

NARROW GERMAN ATTACK TUNNEL. HILL 60 - DAY

TUNNELLERS ERNSTING and WERFEL inch forward. BABEK approaches. He whispers to Werfel, signals a change of direction.

SHAFT HEAD GALLERY. HILL 60 TUNNEL SYSTEM - SOME TIME LATER

The entrance to DIVERSION TUNNELS are covered with Hessian Sacking. The steel sections have been pushed into place creating a STEEL SHAFT. The TUNNELLERS are almost out on their feet. MORRIS emerges from the shaft, coughing and soaking wet --

MORRIS(exhausted whisper)

We’re nearly there.

PERCY and WALTER help Morris from the shaft.


(CONTINUED)

WOODWARD(whisper)

Bucket it out! Get the jacks back up. Have the steel section ready to go on my order. Drive it further into the clay...

The tunnellers force themselves into action as we CUT TO --

EXT. MARSHAL WALK/FOSSE WAY - EARLY MORNING

GINGER and FRASER carry an unwieldy roll of RUBBER HOSE. INFANTRYMEN smoke and drink tea. They curse as they have to get out of the way.

The Tunnellers approach a broken section of the parapet. A scrawled SIGN reads “DANGER SNIPER”. They hurry past in a low crouch.

LOWER SUMP GALLERY - LATER

A ladder leads to the bottom of the STEEL SHAFT. WATER runs from a STEEL PIPE in the wall, pools on the floor. Hessian covers the entrance to a narrow TUNNEL.

GINGER, muddy and exhausted, descends the ladder. He pulls the RUBBER HOSE down from the shaft, ties a BRICK onto the end and places it into the pool of water. Then heads back up the ladder.

SHAFT HEAD GALLERY - LATER

TIFFIN hurries to attach the leads to a FIELD TELEPHONE.

GINGER emerges from the shaft. Attaches the rubber hose to the PUMP. Another hose runs from the pump up the EXIT TUNNEL.

Tiffen pulls a telephone lead which tangles Ginger up. They glare at each other silently before returning to their jobs.

EXT. OUTSIDE OLD FORWARD HQ. FOSSE WAY - LATE AFTERNOON

The RUBBER HOSE emerges from the dugout and runs to a small DRAINAGE CHANNEL.

COLONEL RUTLEDGE and GENERAL LAMBERT stare down at the end of hose. Distant ARTILLERY. Nearby WOODWARD and MCBRIDE and FRASER and several other TUNNELERS appear completely spent.

Woodward turns to Mcbride.

WOODWARD(quietly)

Give the order Bill. If it doesn’t work, it’s your fault.

McBride winds the FIELD TELEPHONE.


(CONTINUED)

MCBRIDESwitch it on Tiffin.

INT. SHAFT HEAD GALLERY. HILL 60 TUNNEL SYSTEM - LATE AFTERNOON

Tiffin gives a signal to Ginger who flicks the switch on the ELECTRIC PUMP. The hoses judder and shake.

TIFFINIt’s going, sir.

OUTSIDE OLD FORWARD HQ. FOSSE WAY - LATE AFTERNOON

The Tunnellers and the Officers stand looking at the HOSE. Nothing. The General looks at his watch.

FRASERNot exactly gushing.

Woodward looks worried. Checks his calculations. Colonel Rutledge glares at him. McBride winds the handle of a field telephone again.

MCBRIDEWhat’s happening Tiffin?

INT. SHAFT HEAD GALLERY - LATE AFTERNOON

Tiffin and Ginger stare at the pump. The hoses juddering.

TIFFIN I dunno sir. It seems to be working.

OUTSIDE OLD FORWARD HQ. FOSSE WAY - LATE AFTERNOON

McBride hangs up. Looks to Woodward, shrugs. Still no sign of water.

WOODWARD(to himself)

Must be too much pressure...I was sure...

RUTLEDGEA full report. By morning.

He and General Lambert turn and walk away. The tunnellers turn back toward the dugout when suddenly --

A GURGLE! The pipe VIBRATES....and MUDDY WATER RUSHES OUT! Rutledge and Lambert stop and turn back.

Too exhausted to celebrate, the tunnellers stand and watch the water flowing down the drainage channel.


(CONTINUED)

WOODWARD(to Fraser)

Go and tell the pump boys they can stand down.

FRASER(grins)

Yes sir!

SHAFT HEAD GALLERY. HILL 60 TUNNEL SYSTEM - MORNING

The sound-proofed ELECTRIC PUMP is moving water through juddering hoses. RUTLEDGE peers down the shaft. WOODWARD beside him.

COLONEL RUTLEDGE...What if the pumps fail?

WOODWARDThere are back ups standing by...

Rutledge wipes his sweating brow with a handkerchief. It obvious that he has rarely ventured underground. He is having a devil of a time keeping his uniform clean. He glances at the tunnel entrances.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...Off the shaft head we’ve built two listening posts with diversion tunnels.

COLONEL RUTLEDGEDiversion tunnels?

WOODWARDI’ll show you sir.

COLONEL RUTLEDGEThere’s no need.

WOODWARDIt’s no trouble.

Woodward lifts the hessian sacking. But before they can enter --JIM SNEDDON hurries up the narrow DRIVE towards them. He salutes the Colonel then turns to Woodward --

JIM SNEDDON(anxious whisper)

More activity near the second diversion sir. Think Fritz’s comin’ at us again.

WOODWARDMeans they’re working.

JIM SNEDDONHe’s been quiet for about four minutes. Reckon he could be ready to blow.


(CONTINUED)

WOODWARDLet them. Just the two of you down there?

Sneddon glances to Rutledge. Back to Woodward.

JIM SNEDDONJust me sir.

WOODWARDWhere’s Walter?

JIM SNEDDONHe um...went up to get me a billy o’ tea, like.

COLONEL RUTLEDGE(eyeballing Sneddon)

He abandoned his post.

JIM SNEDDONNo, he just...


Put him on report...(to Jim Sneddon)

...Why aren’t you at your post?

JIM SNEDDONAs I said sir, I think Fritz is...

COLONEL RUTLEDGEHave you been ordered out?

Sneddon shakes his head.

WOODWARDSir, the Listeners have permission to...

COLONEL RUTLEDGEI know their orders, Captain...

(to Sneddon)..Get back there.

Jim Sneddon looks at the Colonel then to Woodward --

JIM SNEDDONIf you see Walt...would ya tell him...tell him not to...

WOODWARDDon’t worry.

Jim Sneddon turns and makes his way back down the small tunnel into the darkness.

Woodward and Rutledge turn towards the exit tunnel just as --


(CONTINUED)

WALTER SNEDDON appears carrying a small tin of HOT TEA. He stops and salutes --

WALTER SNEDDON(sheepish)

Me dad likes a cuppa tea round now...

Woodward just looks at Walter for a moment. Then he abruptly turns back towards the entrance to the Diversion Tunnel --

WOODWARDJim, Jim..! JIM..!

Before he can get there --

-- An EXPLOSION sends a SHOCK WAVE hurtling out of the Diversion Tunnel knocking Woodward from his feet. Walter drops his billy of tea and races straight into the cloud of dust and debris.

WALTER SNEDDONDaddy..!

Woodward follows him. Colonel Rutledge stares into the dust. Then he turns and heads back up the EXIT TUNNEL as we CUT TO --

BLACK

And silence. Then --

-- A MATCH is struck and we find ourselves in --

JIM’S DIVERSION TUNNEL. HILL 60 TUNNEL SYSTEM

A SHAKING HAND brings the match to a CANDLE STUB. And now we see JIM SNEDDON’S blackened face. Blood trickles from his ear. He struggles to breathe. We hear distant VOICES, barely audible.

WOODWARD & WALTER SNEDDON...Jim!...Dad!...We’re comin’ for you Jim..!

But Jim Sneddon shows no signs of having heard the voices. He stares at the candle. The flame grow smaller and smaller and smaller until finally...it goes out.

EXT. BURIAL GROUND NEAR MESSINES RIDGE - NEXT MORNING

Mud clings to everything.

Jim Sneddon’s body, sewn up in an old blanket, lies in a shallow grave. WOODWARD and the TUNNELLERS stand in the drizzling rain as a PASTOR reads a prayer. MORRIS places the knitted GLOVES and SCARF on top of the body. COLONEL RUTLEDGE stands off to one side.


(CONTINUED)

WALTER SNEDDON tries desperately not to cry. He picks up his shovel in his big hands. ANGER and PAIN and TEARS erupt as he stabs his shovel into the earth and flings great loads of Belgium mud onto his father’s body.

The tunnellers hand Walter his father’s CLAY KICKING BOARD. He thrusts it into the ground at the head of the grave. Carved into the board is --

Private James Sneddon.

First Australian Tunnellers. 1876 - 1917.

The tunnellers turn and head back toward the tunnels. Fraser and Morris on either side of Walter.

Woodward doesn’t move. He stares at Rutledge who cannot hold his gaze and walks away.

VOICESir...

Woodward turns to see Tiffin.

TIFFIN...Been wantin’ to give you this...

He hands Woodward a little OAK BOX --

TIFFIN (CONT’D)...For that girl of yours, sir. I made it out of that wood you liked...From the Cathedral.

For a moment Woodward is lost for words.

WOODWARDYou made this? ...It’s beautiful...

Tiffin heads back to the trenches. Woodward turns the box over and over in his hands as if it is some tiny miracle. As the rain continues to pour we CUT TO --

THE SITTING ROOM. WADDELL’S HOMESTEAD. QUEENSLAND - NIGHT

-- where TROPICAL RAIN pelts down on the tin roof. BANANA LEAVES lash the window pains. MARJORIE unwraps a PARCEL to reveal the OAK BOX. She reads Woodward’s note --

WOODWARD’S VOICE“...This box was made from timbers of Ypres Cathedral by a nice young chap named Frank Tiffin. I'm sure you’ll get to meet him after this is over and thank him for his handiwork..”

As she examines the box we CUT TO --


TINY DIVERSION TUNNEL ENTRANCE. HILL 60 TUNNEL SYSTEM

-- where we find TIFFIN crouched in the dim light working the rope which leads to --

-- A DEAD END

Where the PICK and LEAF SPRING contraption hacks away at the clay.

GERMAN LISTENING POST NEAR HILL 60

BABEK listens carefully through his LISTENING DEVICE. Then takes off his headphones and hurries back down the tunnel.

INT. KOMMANDEUR FUSSLEIN’S DUGOUT. NEAR HILL 60 - DAY

A small, organised area. MAPS on the wall. The muffled sound of ARTILLERY and SMALL ARMS FIRE.

BABEK has spread a MAP of the tunnels and trenches on KOMMANDEUR FUSSLEIN’S desk. The two men look down at it.

BABEKHier und hier sind zwei Tunnel dicht unter der Oberflaeche...

(pointing)...Wir haben in beiden Geraeusche von Grabungs-Arbeiten gehoert. Aber in den letzten drei Tagen haben die Tunnel keine Fortschritte gemacht.

(subtitles)...There are two shallow tunnels here and here....

(pointing)...We’ve heard regular digging activity in each. But in the last three days the tunnels haven’t progressed.

FUSSLEINDas macht keinen Sinn...

(subtitles)...That doesn’t make any sense.

BABEKEben.

(Subtitles)Exactly.

BABEK (CONT’D)Und der Feind macht keine Anstalten, die Gerauesche zu drosseln.

(subtitles)The enemy is making no attempt to stifle the sound.


(CONTINUED)

FUSSLEINDas bedeutet?

(Subtitles)Meaning..?

BABEKDas hier sind nur Ablenkungs-Manoever.

(Subtitles)They are diversions.

FUSSLEINAblenkungs-Manoever? Wovon?

(Subtitles)Diversions from..?

BABEK(intense)

Minen! Ganz tief unter uns! Bei allem Respekt, Herr oberst – wenn uns diese Tunnel von etwas ablenken sollen, dann waere es genau hier..

(Subtitles)Mines! Deep mines! With respect, Herr Mayor, if the tunnels are diverting us away from something, that something would be right here.

Babek points to a spot on the plan between the two tunnels.

FUSSLEINDirekt unter dem Huegel 60...

(Subtitles)Directly beneath hill 60...

He studies the plan in silence. Suddenly Fusslein gets it.

FUSSLEIN (CONT’D)...Die sind unter uns…

(turning to Babek)Sehen Sie nach. Babek, Koennen wir einen Schacht durch den Schwemmsand graben? Finden Sie raus, was da unten los ist.

(Subtitles)...They’re underneath us...Sink a counter-shaft. Babek, can you do it? Can you get through the schwemmsands? Find out what’s down there.

Babek salutes and hurries out. Fusslein turns back to the plan.

THE FORWARD LISTENING POST

-- FRASER listens through the GEOPHONE. The tunnel is saturated. WOODWARD approaches. Unshaven and filthy, he appears almost out in his feet. He stifles a cough.


(CONTINUED)

WOODWARD(whispers)

What is it?

FRASER(whispers)

I’m not sure. 15 degrees...About 20 foot forward, fifteen foot down...

Woodward listens through the device. Shakes his head.

WOODWARDNothing...

He coughs again. Louder this time. Fraser covers Woodward’s mouth to stifle the sound. Woodward’s body convulses silently. Then settles. Fraser hands him a water tin.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...An attack tunnel?

FRASERNo. It’s different. I think it’s some kind of shaft.

WOODWARDThrough the wet sand..?

Fraser shrugs. Woodward thinks hard then shakes his head.

WOODWARD (CONT’D)...No. Can’t be.

He hands the listening device back to Fraser than turns and makes his way back up the tunnel. Worried, Fraser watches him disappear into the darkness.


Woodward emerges blinking in the light. He’s almost out on his feet. Coughing, he drags himself along avoiding the outstretched limbs of dead or sleeping soldiers.

INFANTRYMEN fire blindly over the parapet into the smoke and fog. Wounded men push through the mud and shattered duckboards. Woodward sees a --

SHALLOW FUNK HOLE

-- It’s not much bigger than a man and offers scant protection. But there’s a muddy groundsheet and a filthy blanket.

Woodward inserts himself into the tiny space. Pulls the blanket around his shoulders and closes his eyes.


INT. BOTTOM OF GERMAN SHAFT. HILL 60 - DAY

ERNSTING works tirelessly digging up clods of clay. WAGNER loads them into BAGS. The tiny shaft is lit by a candle stub. Walls are blue clay. WEAPONS and EXPLOSIVES are nearby.

BABEK is lowered down the PIPE SHAFT by rope. He looks around. Picks up some blue clay.

BABEK(whispers)

Das hat geklappt… Wir sind durch!(Subtitles)

Blue clay. We’re through!

Ernsting, soaking and exhausted, coughs, tries to get his breath back. Babek takes the shovel from him. Signals for him to go up. Ernsting puts his foot in the loop of the rope and gives it a tug. He is hauled up the pipe shaft.

Wagner holds open the bags as Babek fills them with clay.

WAGNER (anxious whisper)

Die kommen unter uns rein, oder?(subtitles)

They’re beneath us, aren’t they Sarge?

BABEKWir graben diesen Schacht um genau das herauszufinden.

subtitles)We’re digging the shaft to find out.

WAGNERAber Sie glauben, dass sie unter uns sind?

(Subtitles)Do you think they’re beneath us?

BABEKEs ist wahrscheinlich.

(Subtitles)It’s likely.

WAGNER Es ist wahrscheinlich, mehr als wahrscheinlich...

(Subtitles)It’s likely. More than likely...

The rope appears from the pip shaft the shaft.

Wagner is becoming more and more agitated --

WAGNER (CONT’D)Warum verlegen wir die Front nicht einfach um 100 Meter?


(MORE)(CONTINUED)

Dann waere das Gebuddel des Feindes umsonst gewesen.

(Subtitles)...Why not just move the lines back 100 metres? Then all the enemy mining would be for nothing.

BABEKWir uebernehmen eine Stellung und halten sie.

(Subtitles)We take the ground and hold it.

Babek keeps digging.

WAGNERWas bedeuten schon ein paar Meter hier lang oder da lang. Europa ist gross.

(Subtitles)What does it matter if we move a few metres this way or that way! Europe’s a big place!

Babek stops turns to Wagner.

BABEK(furious)

Wir sind seit zwei Jahren hier. Hier ist jeder Zentimeter mit deutschem Blut getraenkt. Glaubst Du wirklich, dass die da oben auch nur einen Zentimeter nachgeben? ...Du verstehst einfach nichts vom Krieg.

(subtitles)..Two years we’ve been here. Every inch of this place is soaked with German blood. You really think our Commanders would give ground...You know nothing about war do you..?

Wagner remains silent. Babek ties the bags to the rope. Gives it a tug. The bags are hauled to the surface.

Wagner takes out his POSTCARD and stares at it, chewing slowly.


McBRIDE makes his way along the crowded trench. INFANTRYMEN are smoking, sleeping where they can find space. McBride stops to ask directions. Moves on. A line of INFANTRYMEN file into the trench.

FUNK HOLE/FRONT LINE TRENCH. MESSINES RIDGE - DAY

CLOSE ON Woodward, almost indistinguishable from the mud. A HAND shakes his shoulder.


WAGNER (CONT’D)

(CONTINUED)

MCBRIDEWoodward...Woodward..!

Woodward stirs but doesn’t wake.

COLONEL RUTLEDGE (O.S.)Captain Woodward!

Woodward opens his eyes and sees --

McBRIDE standing with COLONEL RUTLEDGE and GENERAL LAMBERT.

He salutes the General.

GENERAL LAMBERTWe fire the mines Thursday morning. Just before dawn.

Woodward looks at the General without expression.

COLONEL RUTLEDGE0310...

(checks his watch)...That’s in 36 hours.

GENERAL LAMBERTYou’ll be firing the Hill 60 and Caterpillar mines.

WOODWARDSir.

He pushes the blanket aside, gets to his feet.

GENERAL LAMBERTMcBride, you’ll have the backup exploders.

MCBRIDESir.

GENERAL LAMBERTThere’ll be 21 blasts in all. Yours will be the final two in the sequence...

He hands Woodward a DOCUMENT.

GENERAL LAMBERT (CONT’D)...Firing orders. It’s critical to the whole operation that each mine goes off at precisely the right time. Understood?

MCBRIDE & WOODWARDSir.

Woodward and McBride watch the two Officers make their way back down the trench.


FIRING DUGOUT. FRONT LINE TRENCH. MESSINES RIDGE - AFTERNOON

Leads from the mines connected to a SWITCHBOARD. WOODWARD and MCBRIDE are setting up the FIRING SWITCH. PERCY and GINGER are shoring up the parapet. Infantrymen are finishing a timber viewing platform. Woodward glances up as TIFFIN enters the dugout unrolling more leads --

WOODWARDYou were on Listening duty?

TIFFINAll quiet sir...

Woodward goes back to his equipment.

TIFFIN (CONT’D)....Apart from some squeaks.

Now Woodward looks up.

WOODWARDRats?

TIFFINProb’ly. Prob’ly rats fu... mating sir. By the sound of ‘em.

The tunnellers smile. Woodward doesn’t.

WOODWARDWhy do you say that?

TIFFIN(grinning)

They were sort of regular squeaks, if you get me drift.

WOODWARD(intense now)

Where?

TIFFINLower listening post. Berlin Sap.

Woodward races from the dugout. Tiffin, now worried, follows.

ALLIED LOWER LISTENING POST. BERLIN SAP - LATER

WOODWARD listens through the GEOPHONE. Just back down the tunnel MORRIS and a worried TIFFIN wait in silence. Woodward carefully moves the device to calculate the exact direction of the sound.

He takes off the headphones, his face white --


(CONTINUED)

WOODWARD(urgent whisper)

Windlass...Christ! It’s a shaft...

FRONT LINE TRENCH. NEAR FIRING DUGOUT. MESSINES RIDGE - DUSK

WOODWARD and MCBRIDE are with COLONEL RUTLEDGE and GENERAL LAMBERT. INFANTRYMEN come and go. Woodward indicates a spot on the tunnel plan --

WOODWARD....Right here.

The Officers’ faces are ashen.

GENERAL LAMBERTThat’s right on top of the mine at Hill 60!

WOODWARDWe’ve been counting the squeaks for 15 minutes now. I’ve calculated the depth.

GENERAL LAMBERTWell?

WOODWARD63 feet sir.

COLONEL RUTLEDGEWe blow in 10 hours!

GENERAL LAMBERTWhen do you predict they will hit the mine.

WOODWARDAt their current rate of progress, 9 hours Sir.

Colonel Rutledge can’t contain his RAGE. He eyeballs Woodward.

COLONEL RUTLEDGEI hold you personally responsible!

Silence. Then --

GENERAL LAMBERTDo what you have to do Woodward.

Woodward races away towards --

TUNNELLER’S GALLERY/STEEP STAIRWAY - A SHORT TIME LATER

The TUNNELLERS, all mud and whiskers. Some sleeping others smoking or scratching lice. WEAPONS and EQUIPMENT stacked nearby. They climb to their feet as WOODWARD enters. He looks at Fraser then turns to the men.


(CONTINUED)

WOODWARDWe’re driving an attack tunnel.

PERCYFrom where sir?

WOODWARDLower Berlin Sap listening post. To position six zero.

Silence.

FRASERThat’s just above the Hill 60 mine.

WOODWARDYes.

FRASERThat’s suicidal!

WOODWARDThat’s an order Sergeant.

Their eyes hold. Then Fraser salutes and turns to his men.

FRASERLet’s go...

(louder)...Come on, let’s Go!

The Tunnellers grab their equipment and duck through the hessian sacking to the --

STEEP STAIRWAY

-- then they turn and head down the BERLIN SAP.

BOTTOM OF GERMAN SHAFT. HILL 60

BABEK works tirelessly digging up clods of clay. Wagner loads them into BAGS. They are deeper now and we can no longer see the PIPE SHAFT. A LADDER leads up into the darkness.

ALLIED LOWER LISTENING POST/ATTACK TUNNEL. LOWER BERLIN SAP

WALTER SNEDDON and MORRIS are the clay kicking team. The chunks of blue clay fall onto BLANKETS to dampen the sound.


Exhausted, Wagner ties up the sandbags and pulls on the rope. The sandbags are hauled to the surface. Wagner fights for breath.

BABEK(whispers)

Geh, hol was zum Essen.


(MORE)(CONTINUED)

(subtitles)Go. Bring back some food.

Wagner heads up the ladder as Babek goes back to digging.


The Australian tunnellers stand in complete silence as FRASER concentrates on the GEOPHONE. He points to the ceiling of the tunnel --

FRASER(whispers)

They’re 10 feet forward...15 feet up.

He gives a hand signal and TIFFIN clambers onto the clay kicking board. The team works fast and silently driving the attack tunnel forward.

FIRING DUGOUT. FRONT LINE TRENCH - 2 AM

WOODWARD and MCBRIDE go through their last minute checks. McBride connects leads to the GALVANOMETER tester --

MCBRIDE...Resistance is good.

WOODWARD(anxious)

Check it again. Were the leads reconnected after the last test?

MCBRIDEYes.

Woodward nervously looks at his watch. Checks his FIRING SWITCH.

WOODWARDThese switches have failed before. Where are the...

MCBRIDETwo back up exploders behind you.

McBride and another officer run leads to two PLUNGERS. Woodward checks his watch again --

WOODWARDTwenty nine minutes. I’m going back down...

He sprints out of the firing dugout and back along the --

FRONT LINE TRENCH

-- which is now filling with the allied ATTACK FORCE. Shadows of soldiers. Hundreds, thousands. Woodward hurries through.


BABEK (CONT'D)

(CONTINUED)

No-one speaks. Men smoke, shielding the glow with their hands. MILLS BOMBS are passed around. GAS MASKS made ready. BAYONETS fixed.

EXT. GERMAN TRENCHES

FUSSLEIN stares through binoculars at the allied lines. The allied artillery barrage builds in intensity. He puts down the binoculars. Winds the handle of the FIELD TELEPHONE and picks up the hand piece.

TUNNELLER’S GALLERY/STEEP STAIRWAY

Woodward scrambles down stairs and heads out into --

THE BERLIN SAP.

It’s deserted now. Woodward races down it as fast and as silently as he can. And now we are in the --


-- where Woodward scrambles along the long tunnel. Finally he gets to the --

-- TUNNELLERS. TIFFIN is pushing hard into the clay. WALTER is passing the clods onto the other tunnellers who are bagging. Trying to control his breathing, Woodward slips on the headphones and signals for work to stop. The exhausted men fight for breath.

MORRIS(whispers)

On three...one, two, three...

The men take a GULP OF AIR. Holding their breath they stare at the ceiling of the tunnel listening intently. Then --

The sound of a SHOVEL sliding in clay! Muffled footsteps.

WOODWARD(whispers)

They’re almost on top of us.

FRASER(urgent whisper)

We’ve got to set the charge!

WOODWARD(whispers)

No! It’ll set off the main mine. Wait until they’re within a few feet and use a camouflet...

(to the clay kickers)...Another four feet forward.


(CONTINUED)

FRASER(furious whisper)

There’s no time!

WOODWARD(angry whisper)

Four feet forward Fraser. Then set the charge.

Without a word Tiffin climbs back on the clay kicking board and begins digging. Woodward races back up the tunnel as the men continue their work in furious silence.


BABEK works silently. Sandbags are stacked ready to haul away. WAGNER climbs down the ladder with a small canvas RATION BAG.

He grabs the sandbags and begins attaching them to the rope. Babek stops digging.

BABEK(whispers)

Sie sind zu langsam.(subtitles)

You’re too slow!

He hands Wagner the shovel and grabs some sausage from the canvas bag.

WAGNER(whispers)

Irgendwas ist da los. Da draussen sind Tausende von Soldaten. Das muss ein Angriff sein.

(subtitles)Something’s happening...We’ve got thousands of troops out there! There must be an attack on.

BABEKWeiter graben!

(subtitles)Keep digging!

Babek disappears up the ladder.


Tiffin is working desperately on the clay kicker. Then...

A small LUMP OF CLAY falls from the roof. Then another. The men freeze. Footsteps. A shovel slides into clay. Close.

FRASER(urgent whisper)

Set the charge! Finish the bagging boys!


(CONTINUED)

The tunnellers scramble to remove the shovels and kick boards. Ginger silently drills a hole with a BORING TOOL. Tiffen prepares a “TORPEDO CAMOUFLET”. Ginger withdraws the boring tool and Tiffen slides the camouflet into the hole, pushing it in with a rod.

Fraser unrolls the leads back down the tunnel. As he sets up the exploder, the tunnellers seal the end of the tunnel with SANDBAGS.


WAGNER has the sandbags tied to the rope. He pulls on the rope. Nothing. He leans back against the shaft wall and, in the dim candlelight, takes out his crumpled POSTCARD.


The Tunnellers block their ears. Fraser presses the plunger.

FIRING DUGOUT. FRONT LINE TRENCH. MESSINES RIDGE

A TONGUE of FLAME shoots from the enemy trenches. Woodward watches the blast dissipating in the night sky then turns to McBride.

WOODWARDThey did it.

They turn back to their equipment.


The air is so full of dust from the explosion we can hardly see the Australian Tunnellers getting to their feet. They are ecstatic.

PERCY(grins)

Those Fritz’ll be landing in Berlin about now.

MORRIS(rotten German accent)

Guess what Mutter! I’m coming home..!

He whistles like an INCOMING SHELL and makes the sound of a body landing.

MORRIS (CONT’D)...SCHTUMPA!

The tunnellers get the giggles. Patting each other on the back. Happy to be alive.

FRASERGo easy boys. Load up. Let’s get out of here.


(CONTINUED)

As they begin to collect up their equipment we CUT BACK TO --

FRONT LINE TRENCH/FIRING DUGOUT. MESSINES RIDGE - CONTINUOUS

-- where the ALLIED ARTILLERY and MORTAR BARRAGE is building to a frightening intensity. McBride has to yell in Woodward’s ear.

GENERAL LAMBERT approaches with RUTLEDGE. The General comes over to Woodward and McBride. They have to lean in close to hear him over the barrage.

GENERAL LAMBERTAll clear below?

WOODWARDYes sir, the German shaft’s been crumped.

Rutledge checks his watch and heads over to the viewing platform.

MCBRIDEAll circuits are complete.

Rutledge checks his watch.

COLONEL RUTLEDGE(yells above the barrage)

FIVE MINUTES!

Woodward goes back to check his equipment. McBride takes up his position on the backup exploder.

The BARRAGE dies down. The SILENCE is overwhelming. Woodward looks into the sky.

The clouds have cleared. There are a few stars and the first glimmer of dawn in the east.

THE GERMAN TRENCHES - CONTINUOUS

The German soldiers react with fear to the silence. Orders are whispered and passed down the line. The men check their weapons. LOOKOUTS peer through binoculars looking for he imminent infantry attack.

FUSSLEIN emerges from his bunker into the eerie silence. He stares into the night sky. We hear a distant NIGHTINGALE.

FRONT LINE TRENCH/FIRING DUGOUT. MESSINES RIDGE - CONTINUOUS

General Lambert turns to Woodward and McBride.


(CONTINUED)

GENERAL LAMBERTThis is our great occasion.

WOODWARDYes sir.

GENERAL LAMBERTGood luck.

WOODWARD and MCBRIDE grin.

ALLIED LOWER LISTENING POST/ATTACK TUNNEL - A MOMENT LATER

Fraser and the tunnellers have loaded up and are making their way along the tunnel. Fraser checks his watch.

FRASERFour minutes to go.

MORRISDid it easy...

Then...the sound of TIMBER SPLITTING, a ROAR. The men turn to see a section of rotting timbers COLLAPSE behind them. Dust and debris fill the air.

COUGHING. A SHOUT. A VOICE calling from the dust.

WALTER SNEDDON (O.S.)(calling)

Man buried!

FRASERWho is it!

Sneddon emerges from the dust blackened and spluttering.

WALTER SNEDDONTiffin! He’s back there!

The tunnellers race back into the dust and desperately CLAW AT THE DEBRIS. Fraser spots a tiny OPENING.

FRASER(calling)

Tiffin..! Tiffin..!

TIFFIN (O.S.)(breathless)

...Sarge...I’m OK...

The Tunnellers wrench at the shattered timber. Jammed solid.

FRASERIt’s gonna take time to shift this. I’ll get ‘em to hold the mines!


(CONTINUED)

Fraser races away towards the surface. The Tunnellers tear at the rubble. It’s an impossible task. Sneddon catches Morris’s eye. Fear, indecision --

WALTER SNEDDON(whispers)

What do we do?

Morris shrugs helplessly. Calls through the tiny opening.

MORRISTiffin..?

Silence. Then...

TIFFIN (O.S.)Just go...No point in all of us dyin’.

Ginger and Percy head back up the tunnel. Morris and Sneddon share a look.

MORRIS(to Tiffin)

Fraser will get ‘em to stop. We’ll come back soon as we know.

TIFFIN (O.S.)Righto.

WALTER SNEDDONBye Tiffin.

Morris and Sneddon turn and hurry towards the surface.

ALLIED ATTACK TUNNEL. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COLLAPSE.

Tiffin hears their footsteps disappearing up the tunnel. He sits down.

TIFFIN (to himself)

Cheerio lads.

FIRING DUGOUT. FRONT LINE TRENCH. MESSINES RIDGE - CONTINUOUS

It’s quiet. Woodward does last minute checks. Rutledge stares at his watch.

COLONEL RUTLEDGEOne minute.

TUNNELLERS GALLERY/STEEP STAIRWAY - CONTINUOUS

-- Fraser, exhausted, scrambling up the stairway, through the Gallery --


THE FRONT LINE TRENCH - CONTINUOUS

-- FRASER battles, claws his way through crowds of INFANTRYMEN.

FRASER...OUTA THE WAY! MOVE! GET OUTA THE FUCKIN’ WAY..!

FIRING DUGOUT. FRONT LINE TRENCH - CONTINUOUS

GENERAL LAMBERT stares through binoculars. Woodward places his hand on the FIRING LEVER. McBride moves to the BACKUP PLUNGER.

COLONEL RUTLEDGETwenty seconds...

Fraser bursts into the dugout and goes straight to Woodward --

FRASER(breathless whisper)

Tiffin’s still in there..!

WOODWARDWhat happened??

FRASERCollapse!

COLONEL RUTLEDGE...Fifteen seconds...

Woodward hasn’t taken his hand off the firing lever.

FRASERSir, please!

COLONEL RUTLEDGETen seconds...

FRASERHe’s still alive. We can have him out in a few minutes..!

A TREMOR shakes the ground. Distant EXPLOSIONS are heard.

COLONEL RUTLEDGE...FIVE...FOUR....

A BLAST OF AIR buffets the dugout.

FRASERWOODWARD! FOR CHRIST SAKES, IT’S TIFFIN!!


(CONTINUED)

A ROAR like an APPROACHING TRAIN. SHOCK WAVES now jolt the earth and the air as the CHAIN OF EXPLOSIONS approaches like ROLLING THUNDER. Rutledge YELLS --

COLONEL RUTLEDG..TWO...ONE...FIRE!

Woodward stares at Fraser...

Then he THROWS THE FIRING LEVER. For an instant there is silence. Then --

THE EARTH ERUPTS

-- HILL 60 and the MESSINES RIDGE BEGIN TO RISE.

Giant CRIMSON FLOWERS of roiling flame, soil and gas blossom and rupture with yellow and orange light then, hundreds of feet into the air, split again to flood the fields of Flanders with INCANDESCENT RED. The roar grows as we CUT TO --

A VAST QUEENSLAND PLAIN

A distant mining town. We hear the steady rasp of CICADAS. And now we are back inside --

SITTING ROOM. WADDELLS’ HOMESTEAD - AFTERNOON

A SERIES OF CLOSE IMAGES

Hands lacing ARMY BOOTS, the edge of an officer’s tunic. He has MEDALS, a MILITARY CROSS. He buckles his belt, slides a CEREMONIAL SWORD into its scabbard.

The Officer picks up the small OAK BOX we FLASH BACK TO --

ALLIED LOWER LISTENING POST/ATTACK TUNNEL - NIGHT

TIFFIN sits alone in the semi-darkness. The dwindling light of a CANDLE STUB. We HEAR Woodward’s voice --

WOODWARD (O.S.)(soft whisper)

...It's your heart. Feel it. You're hearing you're own heart beat...

WE HOLD ON TIFFIN’S FACE as the CHAIN OF EXPLOSIONS approaches like DISTANT THUNDER then we CUT HARD TO --

SITTING ROOM. WADDELLS’ HOMESTEAD. QUEENSLAND - AFTERNOON

WOODWARD catches sight of himself in a --

MIRROR

-- TEARS are streaming down his face.

A KNOCK on the door --


(CONTINUED)

MALE VOICEWoodward..?

Woodward places the box back on the mantelpiece, watches the door from the mirror. We hold on his face. Old before its time.

HALLWAY. WADDELLS’ HOMESTEAD. QUEENSLAND - AFTERNOON

CAPTAIN MCBRIDE is outside the closed door with MARJORIE WADDELL who is in a BRIDAL GOWN looking beautiful.

MARJORIEWoody? Are you alright..?

WOODWARD’S VOICEI’m fine. I’ll be out shortly.

Marjorie looks at McBride. He gives her a reassuring smile then watches as she walks out into the bright Queensland sun.

The door opens. McBride turns to see WOODWARD. Their eyes hold. McBride puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder --

MCBRIDE(quietly)

You right?

Woodward nods. And on that we CUT TO --

EXT. COUNTRY CHURCH. QUEENSLAND - AFTERNOON

A WEDDING PARTY gathered on the steps of the church for a photograph. OLIVER WOODWARD stands with his new bride MARJORIE WADDELL. Her FAMILY are beside her. A PHOTOGRAPHER climbs under his CAPE and looks through the VIEWFINDER of his camera.

THE PHOTOGRAPHER’s POV --

With Woodward is his best man, WILLIAM McBRIDE. Alongside McBride; SERGEANT FRASER, tunnellers “PULL THROUGH” MORRIS and WALTER SNEDDON, PERCY and “GINGER” MICK O’DONNEL.

They TURN TO THE CAMERA. The PHOTOGRAPHER’S FLASH ignites and we FREEZE --

SUPER:The 19 mines that went off beneath the Messines Ridge produced the largest man-made explosion the world had ever known.

The blast was heard as far away as London. Messines Ridge was one of the most successful battles of the Allied campaign. But in a matter of months the Germans had retaken Hill 60.

It was another year and a half before the Great War was finally over.


(CONTINUED)

More 16 million lives were lost.

And now we CUT TO --

AN ARCHIVAL PHOTOGRAPH

-- in which we see the real OLIVER WOODWARD for the first time. He’s standing with his young bride MARJORIE WADDELL on their wedding day, the 3rd of September 1920.

As we FADE TO BLACK there is one FINAL SUPER:

Dedicated to the extraordinary skill and courage of the tunnellers from both sides. May their descendants continue to live in peace.


beneath hill 60 final shooting

Documents

lower level chamber

machine gun fire

forward battalion hq

tunnellers gallery steep stairway

lower lateral tunnel

lower berlin sap

1st australian tunnellers

marshall walk trench