The Flight

John Mackay, an American World War I Royal Flying Corps (RFC) flying ace, is invited by Flight Leader Major Evan Davies, his former wing commander, to visit Scotland for a reunion in February, 1939. Davies is surprised when John brings his German-American wife, Ellie, as it was to be a reunion for "the boys," who head off to the peak of Ben Lomond for a day of climbing and camaraderie. That night, when a distraught Ellie is told John died in a climbing accident, she has no idea that he's been secretly spirited away by British intelligence for a spying mission in Germany. Fluent in German since his birth in Germany, Mackay is the ideal choice to infiltrate the Reich Aviation Ministry to learn of their suspected plans to bomb British naval assets. The Germany he finds is awash with tension and foreboding for German Jews, who are being persecuted and marginalized as Germany prepares for war. Some, known as "Mischlinge", are only partially Jewish, and are therefore still allowed to hold sensitive positions in the German government. These are the contacts who will provide him false papers to travel to Germany and infiltrate Reich Aviation Ministry headquarters in Berlin, but he is torn between completing his mission and his desire to help desperate full Jews - some of whom even commit suicide when their paths to the West are blocked and it's clear what dark fates await them. His mission very nearly compromised by his desire to help them and he finds his every step fraught with tension and fear of discovery. Finally infiltrating the ministry, he's captured and brought to face General Erhard Milch, state secretary of the ministry, for questioning. The men instantly recognize each other. Mackay shot Milch down during a 1917 dogfight and allowed the German aviator to make his way back to his own lines, according to "the airman's code," but that won't help Mackay now. Milch goes hard on him, but Mackay refuses to talk and confronts Milch, who is a Mischling. How can he persecute his own people? But Milch proclaims he is an honorary Aryan, not Jewish, and shows Mackay the certification, signed by Adolf Hitler himself. When Mackay still won't talk, Milch produces Ellie, who - tipped off that Mackay was not killed - foolishly came to Germany to find him. If Mackay won't talk, Ellie will be killed - painfully. But Mackay - not Milch - holds the trump card. He demands to meet with Milch privately. With nothing to fear, Milch dismisses his men who take Ellie away. It is then that Mackay produces his document. It's a suicide note, written by Milch's Jewish mother before she ended her life, despairing for herself and her people. A shaken Milch tells Mackay he will allow him and Ellie to get away, as Mackay did for Milch, but it won't matter. A restored Germany will exact its revenge on the Allies who humiliated the German people in the vindictive and ill-conceived Treaty of Versailles. It will be Deutschland über alles.