Band of Brothers Mini Series

Band of Brothers is a 2001 ten-part television World War II mini-series based on the book of the same title written by historian and biographer Stephen Ambrose. It's title came from the famous 'Crispin Crispian' speech which Henry V gave in Shakespeare's play just before the battle of Agincourt in which he stated '. . .we few, we happy few, we band of brothers . . .' It was executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks after their successful collaboration on the Academy Award-winning World War II film Saving Private Ryan (1998). The episodes first aired in 2001 on HBO and is still run frequently on various TV networks around the world.This is the story of "E" Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division from their initial training starting in 1942 to the end of World War II. They parachuted behind enemy lines in the early hours of D-Day in support of the landings at Utah beach, participated in the liberation of Carentan and again parachuted into action during Operation Market Garden. They also liberated a concentration camp and were the first to enter Hitler's mountain retreat in Berchtesgarten. A fascinating tale of comradeship that is, in the end, a tale of ordinary men who did extraordinary things. Cast includes: Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, Matthew Settle, Donnie Wahlberg and Tom Hardy.

Link :

Part 1 "Curahee"
Part 2 "Day of Days"
Part 3 "Carentan"
Part 4 "Replacements"
Part 5 "Crossroads"
Part 6 "Bastogne"
Part 7 "The Breaking Point"
Part 8 "The Last Patrol"
Part 9 "Why We Fight"
Part 10 "Points"

Band of Brothers's Weapons Review

Handgun 

 M1911

 The M1911 is a single-action, semi-automatic, magazine-fed, recoil-operated handgun chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge,^[1] which served as the standard-issue side arm for the United States armed forces from 1911 to 1985. It was widely used in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The M1911 is still carried by some U.S. forces. Its formal designation as of 1940 was Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911 for the original Model of 1911 or Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911A1 for the M1911A1, adopted in 1924. The designation changed to Pistol, Caliber .45, Automatic, M1911A1 in the Vietnam era.^[1] In total, the United States procured around 2.7 million M1911 and M1911A1 pistols in military contracts during its service life. The M1911 was replaced by the M9 pistol as the standard U.S. sidearm in the early 1990s, but due to its popularity among users, it has not been completely phased out. Modern M1911 variants are still in use by some units within the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps.^[4]

 

^Riffles

M1 Garand

 The M1 Garand (officially designated as United States Rifle, Caliber .30, M1 and later it was just called Rifle, Caliber .30, M1, and also abbreviated as US Rifle, Cal. .30, M1) is chambered for the .30-06 Springfield rifle cartridge. It was the first semi-automatic rifle to be generally issued to the infantry of any nation.^[4] Called "the greatest battle implement ever devised" by General George S. Patton,^[5] the Garand officially replaced the bolt-action M1903 Springfield as the standard service rifle of the United States Armed Forces in 1936 and was subsequently replaced by the selective fire M14 in 1957. However, the M1 continued to be used in large numbers until 1963 and to a lesser degree until 1966. Like its predecessor, the M1 originated from the Springfield Armory.

The M1 "is an air-cooled, gas-operated, clip-fed, and semiautomatic shoulder weapon. This means that the air cools the barrel; that the power to cock the rifle and chamber the succeeding round comes from the expanding gas of the round fired previously; that it is loaded by inserting a metal clip (containing a maximum of eight rounds) into the receiver; and that the rifle fires one round each time the trigger is pulled ".^[6] After the eight rounds have been shot the clip automatically ejects causing a "ping" noise to occur.

M1 carbine

The M1 carbine (formally the United States Carbine, Caliber .30, M1) is a lightweight, easy to use semi-automatic carbine that became a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and was produced in several variants. It was widely used by U.S. and foreign military, paramilitary and police forces, and has also been a popular civilian firearm.

In selective fire versions capable of fully automatic fire, the carbine is designated the M2 carbine. The M3 carbine was an M2 with an active infrared scope system. Unlike conventional carbines, which are generally a version of a parent rifle with a shorter barrel (like the earlier .30-40 U.S. Krag rifle and carbine and the later M16 rifle and M4 carbine), the M1 carbine has only one minor part in common with the M1 rifle (a short buttplate screw) and fires a different cartridge.

 M1903 Springfield

The M1903 Springfield, formally the United States Rifle, Caliber .30-06, Model 1903, is an American clip-loaded, 5-shot, bolt-action service rifle used primarily during the first half of the 20th century.

It was officially adopted as a United States military bolt-action rifle on June 19, 1903, and saw service in World War I. It was officially replaced as the standard infantry rifle by the faster-firing, semi-automatic 8 round M1 Garand, starting in 1937. However, the M1903 Springfield remained in service as a standard issue infantry rifle during World War II, since the U.S. entered the war without sufficient M1 rifles to arm all troops. It also remained in service as a sniper rifle during World War II, the Korean War and even in the early stages of the Vietnam War. It remains popular as a civilian firearm, historical collector's piece and as a military drill rifle.

Thompson submachine gun

The Thompson is an American submachine gun, invented by John T. Thompson in 1919, that became infamous during the Prohibition era. It was a common sight in the media of the time, being used by both law enforcement officers and criminals.^[6] The Thompson was also known informally as: the "Tommy Gun", "Trench Broom", "Trench Sweeper", "Chicago Typewriter", "Chicago Piano", "Chicago Style", "Chicago Organ Grinder", and "The Chopper".^{[7][8][9][10]}

The Thompson was favored by soldiers, criminals, police and civilians alike for its ergonomics, compactness, large .45 ACP cartridge, reliability, and high volume of automatic fire. It has since gained popularity among civilian collectors for its historical significance.

M1919 Browning machine gun

The M1919 Browning is a .30 caliber medium machine gun that was widely used during the 20th century. It was used as a light infantry, coaxial, mounted, aircraft, and anti-aircraft machine gun by the U.S. and many other countries, especially during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Although it began to be superseded by newer designs in the later half of the century (such as by the M60 machine gun), it remained in use in many North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries and elsewhere for much longer. It is very similar in design to the larger .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M2 Machine Gun, which is also a Browning-designed weapon and is still in NATO service.

Many M1919s were rechambered for the new 7.62×51 mm NATO round and served into the 1990s, as well as up to the present day in some countries. The United States Navy also converted many to 7.62 mm NATO, and designated them Mk 21 Mod 0; they were commonly used on river craft in the 1960s and 1970s in Vietnam.

The M1919 was an air-cooled development of the standard US machine gun of World War I, the Browning M1917, as designed by John M. Browning.

M7 grenade launcher

The M7 grenade launcher, formally Rifle Grenade Launcher, M7 was a 22 mm rifle grenade launcher attachment for the M1 Garand rifle which saw widespread use throughout World War II and the Korean War. The M7 was a tube-shaped device, with one end slotting over the barrel of the rifle, the other end holding the grenade in place. Blank cartridges were loaded into the rifle prior to firing. When fired, the expanding gases generated by the cartridges propelled the grenade forward with considerable force. The M7 could fire grenades up to 350 metres (375 yards), compared the maximum of 30 metres (35 yards) achieved by hand grenades.

Fragmentation, anti-armour and smoke grenades were available for the M7.

 

Mk 2 grenade

The Mk 2 defensive hand grenade (sometimes written Mk II) is a fragmentation hand grenade used by the U.S. armed forces during World War II and in later conflicts including the Vietnam War. The Mk II was standardized in 1920 replacing the Mk I of 1917. It was phased out gradually, the U.S. Navy being the last users. It was replaced by the M26-series and later M61 and M67 grenades. On 2 April 1945 the Mk II and Mk IIA1 were redesignated the Mk 2 and Mk 2A1.

 

 ^{M18 Recoilles}

The M18 recoilless rifle was a 57 mm shoulder fired anti-tank recoilless rifle used by the U.S. Army in World War II and the Korean War. Recoilless rifles are capable of firing artillery-type shells at reduced velocities comparable to those of standard cannon, but with greater accuracy than anti-tank weapons that used unguided rockets, and almost entirely without recoil. The M18 was a breech-loaded, single-shot, man-portable, crew-served weapon. It could be used in both anti-tank and anti-personnel roles. The weapon could be both shoulder fired or stabilised using a monopod. The most stable firing position was from the tripod developed for the water-cooled Browning M1917 machine gun.^[1]

^Bazooka

Bazooka is the common name for a man-portable recoilless rocket antitank weapon, widely fielded by the US Army. Also referred to as the "Stovepipe", the innovative bazooka was amongst the first-generation of rocket propelled anti-tank weapons used in infantry combat. Featuring a solid rocket motor for propulsion, it allowed for high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warheads to be delivered against armored vehicles, machine gun nests, and fortified bunkers at ranges beyond that of a standard thrown grenade or mine. The Bazooka also fired a HESH round, effective against buildings and tank armour. The universally-applied nickname arose from the M1 variant's vague resemblance to the musical instrument called a "bazooka" invented and popularized by 1930s U.S. comedian Bob Burns.

During World War II, German armed forces captured several bazookas in early North African^[2] and Eastern Front encounters and soon reverse engineered their own version,^[3] increasing the warhead diameter to 8.8 cm (amongst other minor changes) and widely issuing it as the Raketenpanzerbüchse "Panzerschreck" ("Tank terror").^[3]

The term "bazooka" continues to be used informally as a genericized term to refer to any shoulder-fired missile weapon (mainly rocket propelled grenades).

 

M2 60 mm mortar

  The U.S. M2 60 mm mortar was developed from the heavier 81 mm M1 Mortar to provide a lighter-weight alternative to company-level fire support.^[1] The M2 attempted to bridge the gap between the 81 mm mortar and the hand grenade. Normally employed by the weapons platoon of a U.S. infantry company, the M2 is of the usual mortar pattern of the day.^[1][2] It consists of a smoothbore metal tube on a rectangular baseplate, supported by a simple bipod with the elevation and traverse mechanisms. The firing pin was fixed in the base cap of the tube, and the bomb was fired automatically when it dropped down the barrel. Though classed as a light mortar, the M2 had considerable range compared to the 50 mm and 60 mm mortars of most other nations, and its fixed-firing pin design allowed a high rate of fire by trained crews.^[1]