Band of Brothers the Second

Band of Brothers

The Second World War has definitely been the bloodiest event in the history of mankind, and, there are little chances of it ever being forgotten, with the numerous books, movies, and articles having been written on the subject. The period lasting from D-Day (June 6, 1944) and until the end of the war (May 7, 1945) has been especially significant for writers, since it relates to a symbolic battle of good vs. evil. Historian Stephen Ambrose has took special interest in the involvement of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment in the war, with the regiment's E-Company, from the Second Battalion, having had a decisive influence on the war. Consequent to performing a systematic analysis on the actions performed by the E-Company, Ambrose wrote Band of Brothers, a book describing part of the military unit's history in Europe. Movie directors Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg considered Ambrose's book to be fine material for a war-related movie.

Consequent to their successful cooperation to one of history's greatest movie belonging to the war genre -- Saving Private Ryan, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks decided to create a television miniseries based on Ambrose's book. The episodes started to air on HBO in 2001 and have been later distributed by several other TV programs. Tom Hanks had apparently been the first to recognize the value that Ambrose's book had when concerning its potential to be the subject of a TV series. HBO did not hesitate to back Hanks and Spielberg with $120 million for the series, making it one of the most expensive ever to be produced.

The movie covers almost all of the key events from D-Day and until the allies take over Hitler's Eagle Nest. The fact that the directors attempted to have their movie depict happenings that had been real brings a touch of authenticity to the film, with the audience being able to view the characters as if they are the real soldiers from 1944 and 1945. It is interesting that the literary license involved into the script does not influence the movie in a bad way, only succeeding in making the story more enjoyable to the viewers.

The fact that the Band of Brothers miniseries involved WWII history (in times when most Americans had forgotten their past) influenced people in wanting to get back their patriotism. In addition to that, consequent to viewing the movie, people would remember the times when their nation fought good wars, which actually helped other nations. The episodes are more than just a war-movie, as even those that are not specially interested in the war genre will appreciate the series. The movie presents war from a different point-of-view, soldiers are not being turned into dreamlike heroes, and, the public is able to understand war from a simple soldier's position.

It was on the first of July, 1942, when the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment was first constituted in the Army of the United States. Camp Toccoa has been a training camp at Currahee Mountain, in Georgia, and, the basis for the 506th's preparation. Apparently, one of the main characteristics for the 506th had been their ability to fight united, with "Stand Alone" being one of their mottos. Also, the Cherokee Indians considered the word Currahee to be an equal to stand alone.

It had not been in Europe when the 506th had first gotten its fame, as the regiment first caught the eyes of the public when they broke the world record for marching, walking for 137 miles in order to begin airborne training.

It had been certain that the 506th had not been a simple army unit, and, that it would play an important part in the coming war. Fort Benning has been the place where the 506th would become acquainted with everything related to parachute jumps, receiving the Parachutist badge in exchange for their efforts. The regiment later moved to Camp MacCall, North Carolina, where they continued their harsh training.

Commanders from the U.S. army generally knew that they would have to transform soldiers into powerful killing machines. As a result, the severity with which they treated their inferiors is renowned, as every commander asked for inhumane performances from his unit. However, unlike the militaries from other countries involved in the war at the time, the U.S. army treated all of its men with respect, and, in response, all of the men had been dedicated to give their best for the their country's well-being.

One of the most important days in the 506th's history is the first of June, 1943, when the regiment would be attached to the 101st Airborne Division. In response to the event, the 506th had presumably been overcome by joy, considering this to have been a fantastic honor. The regiment would continue to perform physically exhausting exercises in the U.S. until the end of August, 1943, when they started to prepare for their journey abroad. Apparently, the regiment had been the sixth parachute regiment formed in the U.S. Army. The S.S. Samaria was the ship to take the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment to Liverpool, England, at the half of September. Wiltshire County would be the home of the 506th for several months, until their involvement in the D-Day events.

The Americans prepared for the invasion of occupied Europe in missions such as operations Wadham and Rankin. The British intended to fool the Axis forces into believing that the Allies had been much larger in numbers. Operation Starkey involved the British commencing a weak attack on the German forces, with the purpose of having the latter gather their forces at a false battle zone. Consequent to operation Starkey, the 506th would interfere, along with other U.S. units, giving the Germans a false impression that the U.S. forces had been preparing an assault through Boulogne. The Allied forces had mainly intended to have the Germans retreating, thus having success through operations Starkey and Wadham. The concept that the Allied forces had gathered in great numbers in Britain would have certainly made most armies want to retreat. However, Hitler's troops had showed no signs of being scared, and, they continued to hold their grounds, expecting for the Allies to make a move. Next in line in the Allied war agenda had been operation Rankin, which related to the Allies attacking various important positions in France and in Norway, consequent to the German retreat. The fact that the Germans did not act accordingly had canceled operation Rankin, making the Allies aware that they had to put into practice operation Overlord. Finally, most of the plans involved in operation Rankin were to be assimilated into operation Overlord, which had been predicted to begin approximately during the half of 1944, when the Allied forces would have gathered most of their available troops.

It is possible that the fact that the Germans did not initially retreat worked in favor of the Allies, with them having time to prepare operation Overlord. Also, along with the passing of time, the Germans would lose some of their interest in fighting for their country because of the defeats experienced by them on the Eastern Front.

The 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment had been assigned to be taken to Normandy, France, and, at 1 A.M., on the 6th of June, 1944, the unit embarked on one of the missions for which they had prepared for two years. Their main purpose had been to secure the land behind the Utah beach sector, in Normandy. Two U.S. airborne divisions had the mission to land on the Cotentin Peninsula, in the west of the beach of Normandy. The success experienced by the Utah beach landings had been largely owed to the airborne divisions which rendered the Germans unable to properly defend themselves. Moreover, one can consider that the Normandy landings could have been much bloodier if it had not been for the U.S. airborne divisions to create confusion among the German camps.

Three German divisions occupied the Cotenin Peninsula on D-Day, having the mission to defend it. In spite of the fame owned by German soldiers as the time, the army units from the Cotenin Peninsula had lacked both experience and honor. The 709th Static Infantry Division defending the eastern side of the peninsula and the port of Cherbourg had been one of the least respectable German divisions, as part of its battalions has been operated by Russians that had formerly been prisoners of war. Furthermore, the divisions contained a large body of Polish soldiers, thus making it almost impossible for German officers to have confidence in their subordinates. The fact that the German resistance had been weak contributed to the U.S. airborne divisions having success in the area.

Even with the weak resistance defending the Cotenin Peninsula, it had not been easy for the Allies to accomplish their goal. Their mission appears to have been compromised from its very start, with the weather conditions and the heavy firing from the anti-aircraft guns working against the airborne units. As a result of the circumstances, most planes broke the formations and men were scattered all across the Peninsula, with little people actually landing in their assigned area.

The west part of the Peninsula had been defended by the 243rd Static Infantry Division, which could not work to its full potential due to the outdated weapons that it possessed. It is possible that the German troops on the Cotenin Peninsula had not been properly prepared for an attack because the Nazis did not expect one. Even if they had been expecting an attack, it is certain that they did not expect one of such importance.

The 91st Air Landing Division has been positioned in the middle of the Cotenin Peninsula, between the 243rd and the 709th. The men in the 91st had apparently been better trained than those in the other two divisions, but they had been disadvantaged because they had just arrived in the area, in May, 1944. Also, the 91st only had 7500 men a few days before the Allied invasion. However, they were joined by a unit of paratroopers on D-Day, the 6th Fallschirmjager Regiment.

Both the 82nd Airborne and the 101st Airborne had been extremely trained army units, with most of the people in the 82nd having fought in Italy, and, nearly all of the people in the 101st having volunteered to join their division. The main mission that the two divisions had, had been to secure the grounds between the Douve and Merderet Rivers in the west and the coastal floods in the east, until the army units from Utah beach would accompany them. There had been some initial setbacks in making the plan, with the 91st Air Landing Division coming to the Peninsula.

Little from the planes succeeded in dropping their people on their assigned drop zone, and, this resulted in people being dispersed on tens of miles across the land. It seems that this unfortunate event had actually been fortunate for the Americans, with Germans having anticipated that the Allies would drop troops in certain areas which had been favorable for landings. The 3rd battalion from the 506th managed to land near its allocated drop zone, but, its apparent success quickly turned to dust when the Germans ambushed the battalion and murdered a large part of it. The battalion's commander, Lt. Col. Wolverton, and his executive officer, Maj. George Grant, died within minutes of their landing, along with a great number of their men. The only ones to survive from the 3rd battalion had been those that had been dropped in a wrong drop zone. Apparently, the battalion's remaining contingent managed to complete the mission that their battalion had. All of the men from the other battalions fought courageously in small groups until they met the rest of their unit, advancing towards their targets. Eventually, just before the sea landings occurred, the airborne divisions had managed to secure important land behind the beaches.

The fact that most of the U.S. troops failed to land in their assigned drop zones worked in favor of the Allies, with the Germans becoming confused, learning that the enemy was spread across the peninsula. Moreover, the fact that Americans had been scattered in either small or large number across the land made the Nazi leaders believe that the attack had been a stratagem, intended by the Allies to distract the Germans from a much more important mission.

The 2nd Battalion from the 506th has had limited success consequent to their landing, as the fact that they had landed in the north of the peninsula meant that they had to advance to the south. There they encountered German resistance which managed to slow them down, and, the battalion only succeeded in reaching its target after 12:00 P.M. The murdering of the 91st Air Landing Division's commander, General Wilhelm Falley, by a group from the 101st airborne had played an important role in the distress experienced in the German camp.

While fate had seemingly acted against the U.S. airborne divisions, they had actually managed to accomplish their objectives, having an important involvement in the victory that the Allies have had at Utah beach. Even with the interest expressed by General Dollman, the German Seventh Army's commander, to have the 709th, the 91st, and the 6th divisions intercept the enemy, the army units had been out of shape and disadvantaged because of several factors.

Operation Overlord had had an indisputable success, even with the fact that the Allies did not expect to crush the German forces at such a rate. Observing that the German resistance could not be a match for the powerful Allied forces, the Allied leaders felt confident that their troops could perform other successful missions deep in enemy territory. While the Allied leaders prepared another attack on German occupied territory, the Nazis continued to underestimate the level of Allied campaigns. Hitler was known to be skeptical when concerning his opinion on the danger presented by the western forces. Apparently, he believed that the D-Day troops had had lesser experience in combat and had not been dedicated to fighting for their countries. In contrast, he believed that the Soviets had been the ones to present an actual threat to the forces of the Third Reich.

At the end of the summer, British Field Marshal Montgomery came up with a plan to launch an air assault of great proportions, during daylight, similar to the German air assault on the island of Crete. The plan would be called operation Market Garden, and, it involved the Allied airborne forces cutting Holland in half, creating a passageway for British army units to reach the German border. Montgomery's involvement in the war encouraged Germans to believe that the overcautious British leader would never launch a campaign which involved such great risks.

The mission started on the 17th of September, 1944, with the Allied air force destroying several key objectives in Holland. Fighter airfields, anti-aircraft guns, and largely everything that could interfere with a successful airborne mission had been destroyed in the process. Again, the Germans did not predict the events that had been about to happen, since it had been rather usual for the Luftwaffe to be put out of service by the more superior Allied air forces.

The amount of forces involved in the operation had been immense, with more than two thousand aircrafts being part of the mission. The initial German resistance had been negligible, as the anti-aircraft positions in Holland had been already bombed twice by the Allies. However, resistance had started to intensify near Eindhoven, and, as a result, a large number of Allied aircrafts had been lost. Even with that, the overall number of forces employed by the Allies in the operation had been too large for it to be influenced by the loss of a few dozen aircrafts.