IN WHICH WE SERVE 173
rapidly, and Capt. Edward Kinross (Noël Coward) orders his crew to abandon
ship. A group of sailors and their commanding officers find a life raft just as sur-
vivors are fired upon by German planes. The narrative moves to a series of flash-
backs of the men who have made it to the raft. It begins with Capt. Kinross, who
remembers a time in the summer of 1939 when a naval ship, the HMS Tor r in, is
sent into battle off the coast of Norway. During the battle, a rattled stoker (Richard
Attenborough) flees from his station while Ordinary Seaman Shorty Blake ( John
Mills) commits to his post even after his other crew members are torpedoed. Once
the ship safely harbors, Capt. Kinross lauds his crew’s bravery while cautioning the
sailor who abandoned his post. Back in the pres ent, the men on the raft watch
the Tor r in begin to sink. Blake is wounded by German fire. Blake then remembers
first meeting his soon- to-be wife, Freda (Kay Walsh) during his leave. It turns out
that the Tor r in’s Chief Petty Officer Walter Hardy (Bernard Miles) is her relative.
When Hardy and Blake return to their posts on the water, Freda goes to live with
Hardy’s wife and mother- in- law. The Tor r in assists during the Dunkirk evacuation
of 1940. Meanwhile, the Luftwaffe’s nightly Blitz is decimating British towns and
cities. During his time at sea, Blake receives a letter with the news that Freda has
given birth to the couple’s son in the midst of an air raid. However, the letter also
reveals that Hardy’s wife and mother- in- law were killed during the very same raid.
Blake breaks the awful news to Harvey, and the flashback ends. The scene recom-
mences in the pres ent just as the life raft survivors watch the sinking Torrin
get swallowed by the sea. The men give a last “three cheers” for the Tor r in, but
German planes swoop overhead and shoot at the raft, resulting in more deaths and
injuries, when suddenly another German plane rakes the raft with machine- gun
fire, killing and wounding more men. On board, Capt. Kinross collects addresses
from the dying sailors, and sends tele grams to relatives, letting them know the sad
news about their loved ones. Kinross and his fellow survivors are ferried to a mili-
tary post in Alexandria, Egypt. Kinross gives an inspiring speech to his fellow sur-
vivors, stating that the deaths of their comrades and their ship should only spur
them on to fight all the harder in the next battles that they will face. Capt. Kinross
shakes the hand of each man as they collect their new assignments. An epilogue
in voice- over praises Britain’s seamen and Capt. Kinross is shown in command of
a battleship, ordering its massive main guns to open fire on the enemy.
Reception
In Which We Serve premiered on 27 September 1942 in London as a benefit for
several naval charities. The movie then went into wide release throughout Great
Britain to critical accolades and strong box office results. It ultimately took in
2 million pounds— more than double its production cost. Released in the United
States just before Christmas 1942, In Which We Serve was also popu lar with Amer-
ican audiences and critics. Manny Farber pronounced it the movie of the year, and
Bosley Crowther was almost grandiloquent in his praise, calling it “one of the most
eloquent motion pictures of these or any other times... truly a picture in which
the British may take a wholesome pride and we may regard as an excellent expres-
sion of British strength” (Crowther, 1942).