Richard Attenborough stars in this 1960s British military drama based on the novel by Robert Holles. When British Sergeant Major Lauderdale (Attenborough) is sent to a military outpost in Africa with orders to keep the peace during a changeover in the local government, his troubles are compounded by the political views of contentious female officer Miss Barker-Wise (Flora Robson) and the amorous intentions of pretty young United Nations secretary Karen Eriksson (Mia Farrow).

This semi-documentary, which made stars of Jack Hawkins and John Gregson, is a look at life in an RAF fighter station during the Battle of Britain. Set in the Summer of 1940, a squadron of Hurricanes are followed as they take on the massive wave of Luftwaffe fighters and bombers that are intent on breaking down Britain's defences as a prequel to a German invasion. Without the bravery of these pilots Britain may well have been invaded.

Triple bill of war dramas set at sea. In 'For Those in Peril' (1943), Pilot Officer Rawlings (Ralph Michael) is turned down by the RAF for air service on medical grounds and instead joins Air Sea Rescue, helping to pull downed Allied airmen out of the sea. Rawlings is initially resentful of his new job, but gradually comes to appreciate its importance. When the crew of a Boston bomber become stranded at sea in a dinghy, Rawlings and his colleagues become involved in a race against time - and the elements - to save their lives. 'San Demetrio, London' (1943), set in 1940 during the battle of the Atlantic, is based on a true story. The crew of the petrol tanker San Demetrio are left with a near impossible task when she is torpedoed by the Germans. The crew are forced to abandon ship in three lifeboats. Two are picked up by other ships in the convoy, but the third drifts for days until its crew spies the burning San Demetrio on the horizon. Do they board the ship, try to put out its fires and get it back to English shores or do they stay in the drifting lifeboat in the hope of being rescued? In 'The Cruel Sea' (1953), based on the novel by Nicholas Monsarrat, World War Two Lt. Commander Ericson (Jack Hawkins) has already lost one ship to an enemy attack when he is given command of the frigate Saltash Castle. A subsequent confrontation in the North Atlantic tests Ericson's leadership to the limit once again, as he risks sacrificing the lives of his crew for the greater good.