The Bells Go Down - Plot

Plot

On September 3, 1939, at the start of World War II, several East End Londoners join the London County Council Auxiliary Fire Service. Tommy Turk (Trinder) is a light-hearted gambler who avoids work, living with his mother (Varley) who runs a local fish and chips shop. Tommy has bought a greyhound pup he names "Short Head" and hopes to race. Bob Matthews (Friend) is a newcomer to the East End who just lost his job and has to postpone his wedding to Nan Harper (Hiatt) as a result. Tommy and Bob meet in The Hopvine, a pub run by Ma and Pa Robbins (Muriel George and Pierce), whose son Ted (Mason) is a fireman with the London Fire Brigade. Ted's girl Susie has just joined the brigade as a dispatcher, but Ma Robbins' cannot hide her thinly disguised disapproval of Susie's love of dance halls. The Army won't accept new enlistments, so Tommy persuades Bob to join the AFS with him. Sam, a small-time thief of Guinness, inadvertently joins the service trying to avoid the clutches of Eastchapel Police Constable O'Brien (Richard George), who dogs him with the persistence of Javert. The three are assigned immediately to the "Q" sub-station of the East End's District 21, set up in a school to train under Ted.

"Q sub" responds to its first call at Christmas. Although the fire is out when they arrive, crusty District Officer MacFarlane (Currie) is impressed with Ted's efforts and posts him, along with Tommy, Sam, and Bob, as a crew at District 21's superintendent's station. Nan and Bob finally marry and take a flat near Benjamin's Wharf. She becomes pregnant, suffering fainting spells, and befriends Ma Turk. Ted is reluctant to marry, so Susie goes dancing with ladies' man Tommy as a means of making Ted jealous, while Ted rides Tommy for his apparent aversion to fighting fires. Tommy races Short Head, who perpetually loses, costing not just Tommy, but his fellow firemen who have wagered on her. Tommy continues to steal barrels of Guinness, but O'Brien begins to close in.

In August 1940 the Battle of Britain is raging, but London has not been bombed. The 21-Q crew still have yet to fight a serious fire and has become sensitive about it. Tommy discovers Short Head has been losing because Ma Turk has been feeding her doughnuts, and he enters her in a high-stakes race on September 7, planning to wager all his money. His plans are interrupted that afternoon by the first massive German air raid on London, which targets the East End Docks. The widespread fires cause chaos as water lines are broken and AFS crews are pressed into front-line service. Ted saves Tommy's life by using a high-pressure hose to knock him away from a delay-action bomb just before it explodes. The second night of the blitz, the 21-Q crew, still struggling to bring the Docks' fire under control, have forged bonds with their full-time counterparts and officers in action. Ted's parents are unaccounted for, and Susie goes to find them. The Hopvine has been bombed, but through Susie's persistence, they are found in the cellar and rescued. The next morning, during a break, Tommy learns that Short Hand won her race—but he forgot to place the wager.

The third night German bombers return again, creating a huge fire at Benjamin's Wharf, and the District 21 crews are shifted there. Bob ironically finds himself fighting a warehouse fire from his inside own burning flat, which has been declared expendable. However he takes comfort in the knowledge that Nan, about to give birth, is safe with Ma Turk at St John's Hospital. P.C. O'Brien arrives to arrest Sam, but a bomb explosion blows him into the Thames River, where Sam rescues him from drowning. Soon they learn that St. John's Hospital is also on fire. Chief MacFarlane transfers Ted's crew to the hospital fire and enters the burning building to direct efforts to save the main building. Bob learns that Nan is safe and he has a new son. Another bomb strikes the hospital, trapping Chief MacFarlane. Tommy beats Ted to the ladder and finds the chief, but the building collapses, killing both. Some time after the fire is out, all the survivors and their families gather to christen the baby, who Nan and Bob have decided to name "Tommy".