Band of Brothers

I've been looking forward to band of brothers reairing on the history channel in April, and rented the DVD series over the weekend. I enjoyed Ambrose's book by the same name and was pleased that they seemed to hold true to it with the series. I thought perhaps you all might have some insight as to its realism. Perhaps this is too open-ended a question, but I am curious as to the realism of the combat and relationships built

I thought it one of the finest pieces of war movie-making I've ever seen. It is streets ahead of Saving Private Ryan, also from the Spielberg-Hanks team.

all the best

I only know what I have read about and seen through films but I would have to say that Band of Brothers is one of the greatest and most realistic war films or in this case series ever made.

It seems very true to the book though it is fleshed out more and I am not sure if all the added detail is in fact true or artistic license but it rings true to me.

The attitude toward replacements seems pretty realistic from what I have read. The original members of a unit develop a pretty strong bond from shared experience and it is difficult for newcomers to break into that dynamic. From some of the remarks by the original veterans in B of B as seen after some episodes it seems that to this day the Toccoa Men have a very different if not stronger bond than later replacements.

John Dupre'

It is indeed fine and quite realistic, I guess. If with 'realism' we mean, in that specific case, how some ex-paratroopers interviewed by Ambrose reported about their war experience. All facts and actions portrayed, I suppose, are likely to happen in war the way they are portrayed in the movie, which does not necessarily mean that they actually occurred just as they are portrayed in the movie. Paratroopers are elite strongly motivated troops, therefore probably inclined to emphasize and heroize their deeds more - and sometimes talk bigger - than line infantry would. Different viewpoints - for instance, war on the far southern end of the Alamein line as Italian footsloggers could see it, 'forgotten by God and Mussolini', the way it is depicted in the recent applauded Italian movie on the battle - though wildly different from BoB realism, may well be as 'realistic' as the latter in several regards.

BTW, though I admit I never led a squad under fire, I still find it hard to understand why - assuming this is true - the earliest action of Easy Coy in Normandy, the assault on the German artillery battery, is still a celebrated model of stunning tactics and leadership quality. They catch a few artillery emplacements by surprise and make short work of them. The way I see it, as they enjoy the crushing advantage of surprise, choice of position and speed, I don't see why it is considered to be a flabbergasting achievement. They would be mediocre and horribly led soldiers if, under the given circumstances, they could *not* overwhelm the artillerymen. In comparison, the successful action against Italian pillboxes in Sicily, described in the book 'Combat Jump', stands out as a more remarkable small unit feat, and more heroic, too.

Although I put my time on the islands in the Pacific during WW11 I would say the Band of Brothers was realistic.

The movie 'A Walk in the Sun' starring Dana Andrews which was made shortly after the war was realistic. They do not compare to the Pacific because of the geography.

Winters and his men didn't just attack 4 artillery pieces and their crews. There was also a 50-man platoon defending the position. Surprise can only do so much. It takes leadership to organize and hold a unit together, especially when attacking a numerically superior foe. This action is still studied by cadets at West Point for all of its valuable lessons learned.

Winters was recommended for the Medal of Honor for his actions at Brecourt Manor. Unfortunately, it was decided that only one Medal of Honor should be awarded to a division, and, for the 101st, it went to Lt. Col. Robert Cole for leading a bayonet charge on D-Day.

Cheers and all,

The 'Replacement' system the US Army used was a complete and utter disaster, which wasn't corrected until the 1980s...

What the Army SHOULD have done was send units into combat, and then pulled them off the line to rearm, retrain and restaff off of the line... Otherwise your cohesion goes to crap.

BTW, one of the things I thought was a really cool detail was the accurate helmet markings for the 506th PIR... they even got the right battalion markings...

the white spades ?

If my references are correct, Wehrmacht recruits were assigned to a unit as soon as they were inducted, even if the unit was on the line. They were trained by wounded, recovering non-coms or rotatees from that unit. A much better system than that of the US.

It is also a pretty standard assault...

Two elements, assault and support by fire... SBF keeps bad guys heads down, Assault kills them.

While I think the representation of Winters at Brecourt Manor was impressive, it wasn't Medal of Honor material...