Fall Eagle One

A wildlife photographer studying Arctic Wolves finds a World War II German bomber melting out of a glacier on Ellesmere Island. The National Geographic article announcing the discovery sparks old memories for Evan Thompson, an elderly attorney who was once a U.S. Navy codebreaker. He recalls his assignment to Bletchley Park in England to work with a team of experts decrypting the message traffic of the German High Command. Siegfried von Rall, the premier reconnaissance pilot of the Luftwaffe, becomes Reich Marshal Göring's technical advisor. Evaluating ideas to counter heavy RAF raids on German cities, he flies at night with the Wilde Sau, single-seat fighters forced to find British bombers by visual contact. Enraged by horrendous civilian casualties and determined to counter Göring's incompetence, Siegfried devises a scheme to kill President Roosevelt and forestall the invasion of France. Employing a prototype ultra-long-range bomber and first generation "smart bombs," he plans to fly across the Arctic and blow up the White House. Göring, who is desperate to restore his sagging prestige with Hitler, creates a special detachment of heroes commanded by Major Werner Brandt to carry out the mission. The unit trains on existing aircraft while awaiting completion of their Amerika-Bomber. A woman assigned to film their exploits wreaks dissention with sexual liaisons. Shot down over Berlin, Siegfried becomes enamored with Eva von Seecht, a young physician, while recuperating at home. Werner and Siegfried fly harrowing electronic intelligence sorties to the American coast. At Bletchley Park, Evan's team reads every signal about Brandt's unit but wrongly believes it an anti-shipping force. Just as Brandt prepares to mount his strike, Roosevelt goes on vacation, prompting Siegfried to send new target coordinates by radio. Evan at last discerns Brandt's mission. A desperate race ensues, with the Allies scrambling to warn the isolated President while the Amerika-Bomber wings toward the U.S.