Day of days

Historian Stephen Ambrose, whose best-selling book Band of Brothers was turned into a successful TV mini-series, has died aged 66 after a struggle with lung cancer. Band of brothers has always had a special significance in my life. It is undoubtedly one of the best TV series to be aired ever.

BAND OF BROTHERS tells the story of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army. Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as well as soldiers’ journals and letters, BAND OF BROTHERS chronicles the experiences of these young men who knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear.

Band of Brothers is a ten part mini-series, based on an elite rifle company hat follows the Easy company from their boot camp in camp taccoa to the airborne landings in normandy to fighting in the Battle of the Bulge and capturing Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest at Berchtesgaden. They were also a unit that suffered enormous casualties, and whose lives became legend.

The best part about BoB is the way they have captured the real horrors of war, the bond between fellow soldiers, they pain the agony and also the moral side of the war itself.

"Day of Days" and "Bastogne" were two of my favourite episodes from the mini series. Here's a 'sneak peek' at the two episodes:



Day of Days

Planes carrying thousands of paratroopers cross the English Channel into French airspace, where German flak causes the pilots to drop them in a less than safe and unorganized fashion.

Lt. WINTERS lands alone in a field, soon joined by a Pvt. JOHN HALL (Andrew Scott) from another company. Having lost his rifle in the jump, Winters leads the anxious Hall off to find their units, carrying only a knife. They link up with a few more Easy Company men and ambush a German horse-drawn supply convoy. In a nearby town, Winters finds Easy's Lt. "BUCK" COMPTON (Neal McDonough), who tells him 90% of the company is unaccounted for, including their commander -- which puts Winters in charge. Winters is then asked to lead an attack on a cluster of German artillery pieces nearby, which are probably firing onto the seaborne infantry trying to take Utah Beach. Winters deploys his small group on the entrenched enemy positions and eventually takes four artillery pieces in succession, disabling them with TNT. The euphoria is tempered, however, when Winters finds Pvt. Hall dead, killed by machine gun fire. The mission is successful, but Winters looses his first man as acting company commander.

Breaking point

Having held off the German attempts to overrun Bastogne, Easy is now faced with the task of taking the nearby town of Foy from the enemy.

Company First Sergeant CARWOOD LIPTON (Donnie Wahlberg) tries to hold the company together as they withstand several fierce artillery bombardments, during which several Easy veterans are killed and maimed. Sgts. JOE TOYE (Kirk Acevedo) and BILL GUARNERE (Frank John Hughes) each lose a leg. This precipitates an emotional breakdown by Lt. COMPTON, who has to leave the line. Morale is further dampened by the incompetence of their commander, Lt. NORMAN DIKE (Peter O'Meara). Lipton warns Capt. WINTERS about Dike, but Winters is well aware of the problem and can do nothing about it. But when Dike freezes up during the crucial attack on Foy, Winters sends Dog Company's Lt. SPEIRS to relieve him. Speirs successfully leads the taking of the town, and Lipton is happy that Easy finally has a true combat leader again.

BoB is a must watch for all the WW II enthusiasts and also if you want to see some exceptional piece of acting and realism.