Introduction

The story of Easy Company of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division, and their mission in World War II Europe, from Operation Overlord, through V-J Day.

Outline of Episode 06

Easy Company experiences the Battle of the Bulge and have to hold ground near Bastogne, while running low on ammunition and other supplies. The episode focuses on medic Eugene “Doc” Roe as he helps out his fellow soldiers where he can, while also scrounging for medical supplies, of which the Company is dangerously low. He also befriends a Belgian nurse in Bastogne, who is later killed during a German bombing raid.

Band of Brothers Series

You can find a full index of Band of Brothers here.

Book Inspiration

The miniseries is based on historian Stephen E. Ambrose’s 1992 non-fiction book Band of Brothers.

Trivia & Goofs

• Prior to production, the various directors were told that the actors were in contact with the veterans they were playing. If the actors said that the veterans disapproved or disagreed with something in the script, it would have to be changed. Many of the actors frequently got themselves taken out of certain scenes after the respective veterans said they weren’t there for the event in question.
• By the third episode of shooting, the special effects department had used more pyrotechnics than were used in the entire production of Saving Private Ryan (1998).
• During the liberation of Eindhoven in episode four, the real Private Edward ‘Babe’ Heffron can be seen in one of the shots. He is sitting down and waving a Kingdom of the Netherlands flag.
• “Currahee” is the American Cherokee Indian equivalent of “Stands Alone”. The original members of the 506th were trained at Currahee Mountain, Georgia. “Currahee” was the cry of the 506th as they cleared the door on their first jump, and it continued to be their cry when in combat.
• Donald Malarkey is seen meeting an American-born German POW who had lived in Oregon, Malarkey’s home state, but whose family had returned to Germany before the war. That incident actually happened, but with one crucial difference, in the film, Malarkey hadn’t known the man back in Oregon. In real-life, the two had actually worked across the street from each other for years.
• A heavy day of filming required up to fourteen thousand rounds of ammunition.
• The forest set, recreating the Bois Jacques in Bastogne, was built in an airplane hangar using real trees, as well as two hundred fifty trees created by the special effects department.
• Over three hundred thirty thousand pounds of recycled paper were used to create the snow for the forest set, the largest ever used in a production, and it took four weeks to dress the entire set. The total budget for the miniseries was one hundred twenty million dollars. Of that, construction costs were seventeen million dollars.
• The actors endured a grueling ten-day boot camp where they learned the basics, from how to wear a uniform and stand at attention to sophisticated field tactics and parachute jump training. The average day was sixteen hours long, beginning at five a.m., rain or shine, with strenuous calisthenics, and a three to five mile run, followed by several hours of tactical training, including weapons handling and jump preparation.
• The Art Department reconstructed four World War II-era tanks, using the frames of Soviet T-34 tanks from World War II, and British Army personnel carriers as the foundations.
• Around seven hundred authentic weapons and almost four hundred rubber prop weapons were used in production.

Production & Filming Details

• Creators: Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg.
• Writers: Erik Jendresen, Tom Hanks, John Orloff, E. Max Frye, Graham Yost, Bruce C. McKenna, and Erik Bork.
• Directors Phil Alden Robinson, Richard Loncraine, Mikael Salomon, David Nutter, Tom Hanks, David Leland, David Frankel, and Tony To.
• Producers: Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman, Tony To, Erik Bork, Erik Jenderesen, Stephen E. Ambrose, and Mary Richards.
• Music: Michael Kamen.
• Cinematography: Remi Adefarasin and Joel J. Ransom.
• Editors: Billy Fox, Oral Norrie Ottey, Frances Parker, and John Richards.
• Distributor: HBO Home Entertainment, HBO Enterprises, Warner Brothers Television Distribution.
• Release Date: 07 October 2001 (US).
• Running time: 705 minutes (total running time).
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

YouTube Link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYbkNIwAh-8