Band of Brothers Viewer Guide #2

 

EPISODE 2

the clickers  -  After confusion in Sicily, Gen. Maxwell Taylor equipped the 101^st with the toy clickers so his men could identify friend from foe.  The 82^nd did not get them.  It makes you wonder, considering the mixing of the units due to inaccurate drops, if any 101st members shot 82nd members because they did not get a double click.

There is nothing in the book about the co-pilot of Winter’s plane being killed and the pilot panicking and pushing the green light.

The book has Winters hooking up with an unidentified paratrooper.  Ambrose does not say this is Hall.

In the incident involving the ambush of the horse-drawn wagon, the book does not mention that Guarnere disobeyed orders by opening fire early.  Guarnere made no secret that he was out for blood that day. 

The use of “flash/thunder” as passwords would have been only on D-Day.  The next three days were “thirsty/victory”.

What happened to Capt. Meehan?  His plane crashed and everyone was killed.  This actually is shown in the episode, although it is unclear that it is Meehan’s plane.

NOT HISTORICAL LICENSE:  Malarkey did meet a fellow Oregonian among the German prisoners, although he was from Portland, not Eugene.  This would not have been the group of prisoners that Speirs supposedly executed. 

Did Speirs execute the prisoners after giving them cigarettes?  Private Art DiMarzio remembered that he, Speirs, and another lost soldier, encountered three Germans early after the drop.  They were under orders not to take prisoners, so Speirs ordered each to shoot one.  Later, they took four prisoners and Speirs killed them.  There was no mention of giving them cigarettes. 

Compton dropping a grenade and Toye getting wounded for the second time is not in the book.

NOT HISTORICAL LICENSE:  Compton did hit a German in the back with a grenade.  He had been a catcher on the USC baseball team.

NOT HISTORICAL LICENSE:  Malarkey did go out in the field under fire to get what he thought was a Luger.  It turned out to be a leather case for a 105 mm. sight.

The book does not mention Toye using brass knuckles.

Hall appears for the first time in the book when he joins Winters during the assault on the howitzers. (These were actually 105s, not 88s as mentioned in the episode.)   Ambrose does not mention him bringing TNT.  He did die similar to in the series.  Capt. Hester brought the TNT that was used to disable the guns. 

NOT HISTORICAL LICENSE:  Pvt. Gerald Lorraine did volunteer to join the group.  He was awarded the Silver Star.  The citation mentions him throwing back German grenades.  (He got another Silver Star for actions in Holland.  He may have been the first member of the 101^st to get two.)

The book does not mention that Speirs attacked the last gun by getting out of the trench. 

Winters mentions they killed 20 Germans in the assault on the howitzers.  It was actually 15 and 12 were taken prisoners.

Paratroopers did not use all the hand signals used in this episode.  They only had two:  a scout would put a hand up if he spotted the enemy and a closed fist pumped up and down meant for the unit to push forward with speed.