Spiers from band of brothers RIP

[El Dopa]

what's the deal with the shooting prisoners thing?

From reading between the lines in the book, it sounds like he flipped out for a moment, and when sanity returned, there were a bunch of dead german PoW's in front of him. One minute he was talking to them and handing out cigarettes. The next....bambambambambam.

As someone else has said, reality isn't sanitised like Hollywood is.

how apt that BoB last night showed the heroic Speirs running through the middle German occupied town with tanks galore to meet up with Allied support, then he decides hell run back to his troops after that. Thats bloody legendary, could just imagine the germans seeing him running amongst them and wondering whether to shoot or stare in amazement.

RIP Speirs

If you liked the series you should get a copy of the Stephen Ambrose book as well, its a very good read.

Having read the book, it's amazing how closely the series sticks to reality, barring a few changes for the sake of narrative continuity. Those guys really were heros, and went through hell on earth.

If you enjoyed the book, I recommend the 'Pegasus Bridge' one he did about the Brit paras who glider dropped onto the bridges at the far east of the D-day landing zone to stop the Germans outflanking the beaches.

The one about the bomber pilots isn't bad, either.

[Timber020]

Nothing wrong with shooting prisoners, as long as they are bad guys. A great old guy I know was in the dutch free forces and they didnt take a german prisoner for 3 years.

[Dave Lobster]

I've read most of Stephen Ambrose's books. They're all pretty good. He's interview fecking thousands of blokes to write them.
He was quite involved in the filming of BoB, hence the closeness to the book. Most of it was filmed in Hertford in the UK. A couple of people I used to know were extras in it.

In a similar vein, Charles Whiting's books are good too. He was there..

[Dooly]

My mother's step father was a junior officer in the Waffen SS in Russia then Normandy before capture.
The conversations I had with him and his reflections of the Eastern front before he died 15 yrs ago were amazing.

[Timber020]

I have relatives on both sides to, all dead. 2 of them on the russian front with the wermacht, the rest on the allies. Would make for an interesting family reunion.

[Chisanga]

I recall one of my officers during infantry training telling us that the time for the enemy to surrender is BEFORE the attack is begun. If they fight back and THEN try to surrender they basically lose all their rights.

Having never served in a combat zone I have no idea if the above is indeed reflected in reality.

[El Dopa]

Nothing wrong with shooting prisoners, as long as they are bad guys. A great old guy I know was in the dutch free forces and they didnt take a german prisoner for 3 years.

When the 82nd airborne landed on D-Day, their job, along with the 101st, was to secure the western flank of the beach landings. A group of Germans holding an important bridge in the canal system which criss-crossed that part of the country attempted to surrender to units of the 82nd, who shot several of them dead as they tried to cross from the german position to the para's position.

None of the accounts of this incident that I have read indicate that this was anything but a deliberate action on the part of the US paras: they knew the germans were attempting to surrender, they encouraged them to come out of their positions, and then they shot them.

I make no comment on that. However, the remaining Germans, realising that they now had nothing to lose, then fought to the death, causing the 82nd considerably more casualties, and holding up the allied regrouping for considerably longer, than would otherwise have been the case.

Sometimes accepting a surrender from an enemy who knows it will be accepted and that they will at least remain alive is tactically and strategically sound.