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Combat! Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
32 Episodes 1962 - 1963
Episode 1
Forgotten Front
Tue, Oct 2, 196260 mins
Searching for a Nazi gun emplacement, the GIs try to pump information from a German deserter who is unsure of his loyalties.
Episode 2
Rear Echelon Commandos
Tue, Oct 9, 196247 mins
In desperate need of replacements, the squad is finally given three new men. However, the new troops are not quite what Saunders was expecting--one is an overage, overweight former cook, another is an arrogant radio announcer who wants nothing else than to get back to his former cushy job in London, and the third was a ballet dancer before he got drafted--and none of them have any combat experience whatsoever.
Episode 3
Lost Sheep, Lost Shepherd
Tue, Oct 16, 196260 mins
A lone wolf tank commander whose men revile him, saves Hanley's squad. Then, without explanation, the tank sergeant blows the cross off a French village's church, and roughs up its wounded priest. Now the whole infantry squad hates Sgt. Dane too. Sgt. Saunders confronts Dane to find out why he's so violent, while the 2 squads occupy the mysteriously abandoned town.
Episode 4
Any Second Now
Tue, Oct 23, 196248 mins
When a time bomb crashes unexploded in a church, a rattled British officer's the only disposal expert in the sector. The Tommy seems more wired than the bomb, despite just being put on leave. He sniped at Lt. Hanley for having an innocent chat with his ex-girlfriend, then refused to join the rest of patrons in the French tavern's wine cellar during a Luftwaffe raid.
Episode 5
Far from the Brave
Tue, Oct 30, 196260 mins
When the squad's BAR man is killed saving them from being wiped out in an ambush, the men aren't too happy with his replacement--including Saunders, who was especially close to the man, and particularly Kirby, who expected to be promoted to BAR man. The fact that the new man was, up until a few days ago, a cook's helper with no combat experience doesn't help matters, either.
Episode 6
Missing in Action
Tue, Nov 13, 1962
Retrieving a downed pilot becomes even more nerve-wracking, because Lt. Hanley's battle-fatigued squad mistakenly shot the messenger who delivered the U.S. war hero pilot's whereabouts to them. Hanley doesn't want this mission, but he's assured that a grizzled Maquisard truck driver will transport them safely to the farm where French Resistance hide the wounded bomber pilot.
Episode 7
Escape to Nowhere
Tue, Nov 20, 196260 mins
A German general calmly kills his chauffeur and forces Hanley to replace him. While playing possum behind enemy lines, the wounded Hanley was captured, then interrogated. When Hanley wouldn't cooperate, Gen. Von Strelitz took Hanley away for further questioning. Von Strelitz refuses to explain what he's plotting, and Lt. Hanley doesn't appreciate the promotion to Kapitan in the Heer.
Episode 8
The Celebrity
Tue, Nov 27, 1962
Del Packer, a famous baseball star who was drafted into the army, winds up as a replacement in the squad. While Kelly looks for a way to make some money by setting up a baseball game with a neighboring outfit, Billy--a devoted baseball fan--is awestruck to be in the same squad as one of his heroes. However, Packer has his own demons to fight, and while the other squad members are too star-struck to notice that something may be wrong, Saunders isn't.
Episode 9
Cat and Mouse
Tue, Dec 4, 1962
Saunders is ordered to join a reconnaissance patrol whose Sergeant doesn't like him or want him along.
Episode 10
I Swear by Apollo
Tue, Dec 11, 196260 mins
Behind enemy lines, Saunders and his men struggle to keep a critically wounded French partisan alive.
Episode 11
A Day in June
Tue, Dec 18, 196260 mins
In a flashback story told as the men rest on a rainy night, Sgt. Saunders recalls the experiences of himself and several other men on the day of the D-Day invasion, including tales about Braddock, who won the platoon pool for when the invasion would take place; Doc Walton, who was reluctant to go into battle; Caje (called "Caddie" in this episode), who is accompanied by another Cajun; and Lt. Hanley, who at the time was still a sergeant, and had little battle experience compared to Saunders. Following the landing, the men move inland and come upon a farmstead held by a squad of German infantry.
Episode 12
The Prisoner
Tue, Dec 25, 196260 mins
Braddock, while on duty as Lt. Hanley's runner, is "appropriated" by a tough-talking, overbearing colonel as his jeep driver. Unfortunately the colonel decides to drive the jeep himself, and his reckless driving results in an accident in which both men are knocked unconscious. When Braddock awakens he is captured by a German patrol, but since he happens to be wearing the colonel's coat--which he put on to keep warm while the colonel was zooming around the countryside--the Germans think that he actually IS a colonel, and nothing Braddock can say or do will convince them otherwise.
Episode 13
Reunion
Tue, Jan 1, 196360 mins
When Saunder's squad arrives at a small French town, Pvt. Paul Viller asks to seek out his estranged father that lives in the town. Paul is authorized to look for him with Sgt. Saunders and soon he meets his father, Dr. Emile Viller, and his aunt Claire Brouchard. Sgt. Saunders leave the family together and Paul sees members of the French underground accusing his father of collaboration with the Germans. Saunders returns to take Paul back to the front but he is wounded by the Germans and Paul brings him to the house of his father. When they overhear a conversation of his father with the German Col. Hoffman, he suspects that Dr. Viller is indeed a collaborator.
Episode 14
The Medal
Tue, Jan 8, 196360 mins
D'Amato and Wharton, two close friends within the platoon, become separated from the rest of the men when the platoon comes under fire from a German tank and its machine gunner. D'Amato manages to flank the armor and capture the machine gun, which he then uses against the supporting German infantry. D'Amato is wounded in the process, however, and by the time the rest of the platoon reaches the position, Wharton has taken over the machine gun -- making Lt. Hanley think that it was he, not D'Amato, who singlehandedly captured the German armor.
Episode 15
Just for the Record
Tue, Jan 15, 1963
Sgt. Saunders is taken prisoner by a German patrol, and is being transported with three other men (two Canadians and a French civilian) when they are freed by a group of Resistance fighters. The civilian turns out to be a Resistance operative as well, and with the unwitting help of a woman named Annette, who provides ration coupons, he is able to buy gasoline to transport the three Allied soldiers to Paris. Annette initially resists providing further help when they reach Paris, but reluctantly agrees to take in Saunders for a few nights -- but it seems Annette has some secrets of her own.
Episode 16
The Volunteer
Tue, Jan 22, 1963
An exasperated Hanley finds himself saddled with a 13-year-old French orphan who wants to join the squad.
Episode 17
The Squad
Tue, Jan 29, 196360 mins
Saunders' and Hanley's platoon is joined by a replacement soldier from Georgia named Moseby Lovelace, who comes complete with a new set of boots that the other troops, especially Saunders, highly covet. Lovelace is eager to see action, but not interested in the ordinary work of soldiering, such as digging foxholes. He jumps at the chance to join a night reconnaissance patrol headed by Hanley that will check to see whether the Germans have pulled back their lines.
Episode 18
Next in Command
Tue, Feb 5, 196360 mins
A battle-hardened corporal joins Sgt. Saunders squad, but remains distant and aloof from the other members, causing dissension in the ranks.
Episode 19
The Chateau
Tue, Feb 12, 196360 mins
Doc, Braddock and several wounded GIs take refuge in a French château owned by a wealthy aristocrat and his daughter. The father, concerned only with saving his estate, wants no part of them and orders them off the property. Unfortunately, a strong German patrol shows up intending to use the château as an artillery observation post, and the GIs are taken prisoner. While the captured soldiers make plans to escape, the aristocrat sees a kindred spirit in the seemingly cultured German commander, but doesn't realize that the officer has designs on the château's treasures--including the aristocrat's daughter.
Episode 20
Off Limits
Tue, Feb 19, 1963
When a new squad member named March suddenly kisses a nurse at the evacuation hospital, it shocks everyone, until they learn the two are married. During the night, Kirby sneaks into the French village to carouse but is beaten up in a fight. The next morning he's AWOL, forcing March to take his place on a patrol where he is severely wounded and sent to the same aid station where his wife is working. While Kirby is recovering from his injuries, he discovers March's wife is really in love with the surgeon at the hospital.
Episode 21
No Time for Pity
Tue, Feb 26, 196360 mins
When the squad enters a French village, they discover a small patrol of German paratroopers have established an observation post in the town. A ruthless, battle-hardened German Lieutenant is holding five French children, a pretty young librarian and an old man hostage in hopes of buying more time. Lt. Hanley pulls his squad back and decides to infiltrate the village alone, in an attempt to rescue the children and woman before the allies begin shelling the town at 2200 hrs. He has little time to accomplish his mission.
Episode 22
Night Patrol
Tue, Mar 5, 196360 mins
Sgt. Saunders and his squad are assigned by Lt. Hanley to capture a German soldier alive as prisoner in a night patrol in an area near the border. Soon they succeed but the prisoner is killed by a soldier that identifies himself as Lt. Joe Cranston. They wait a little longer to capture another German and they realize that they are under siege of the Germans. Cranston brings Saunders and the squad to a creepy cave where they discover many truths about Cranston and his squad.
Episode 23
Survival
Tue, Mar 12, 196360 mins
Running low on ammunition and facing superior German numbers and firepower, Saunders' and Hanley's unit is forced to surrender. The men are taken to a barn where a chance artillery strike allows the men to escape, but leaves Saunders with badly burned hands and forearms, and separates him from the rest of the squad. Meanwhile, Hanley and the rest of the men fare little better; they are behind German lines with no weapons, food, or warm clothes -- and one man even has lost his boots.
Episode 24
No Hallelujahs for Glory
Tue, Mar 19, 196360 mins
French underground blow their cover, believing their village is liberated. Actually Hanley's squad are retrieving a female photojournalist star, who ducked through military lines to grab a scoop. The undisciplined photog at first provided comic relief for U.S. infantry, anxiously waiting out a chilling rain for the go-ahead to liberate Trois Anges. Hanley and Saunders fear her actions endanger the villagers.
Episode 25
The Quiet Warrior
Tue, Mar 26, 1963
While in the front, Lt. Hanley is surprisingly summoned to go to London. He goes to a hotel, where the journalist Ted Slocum unsuccessfully sounds him out in the bar. Then he receives a mysterious phone call and heads to the informed address. Hanley is interviewed by the British intelligence and asked to go to France to bring the French physicist Dr. Barole to Switzerland. Dr.Barole is an old acquaintance of Hanley, who studied with his son when he was teenager. Dr. Barole has unsuccessfully tried to flee from occupied France but lost his son. Now he does not trust anybody and is hidden and only his daughter Marie knows the hideout. Therefore Hanley is essential for the mission and his partner will be Ted Slocum, who is indeed a secret agent that speaks French and German fluently. Ted and Hanley parachute to meet three Maquis that take them to Marie. But soon they learn that there is a traitor in the French underground. Who might be the traitor and how to find him or her?
Episode 26
The Battle of the Roses
Tue, Apr 2, 1963
A young woman who cannot face the horrors of the war isolates herself in an idyllic garden which is unscathed by German bombs and refuses to leave. Saunders attempts to evacuate her before more Germans come.
Episode 27
Hill 256
Tue, Apr 9, 1963
Separated from his squad while being shelled by German artillery, Kirby is found unconscious by Sgt. Metcalf who then conscripts Kirby's service in an assault on Hill 256. Facing heavy machine gun fire that is not seen by anyone else, Kirby is forced to stop his advance and take cover. Metcalf accuses Kirby of cowardice and brings charges against him for same. Kirby faces a court martial, and the penalty if found guilty could be a firing squad. Kirby tells Saunders he was facing a German machine gun, but Metcalf insists there was none and that Kirby was simply a coward. While Kirby's court martial proceeds, Saunders and Caje decide to go to Hill 256 to find evidence of the German machine gun. While they encounter a lot of obstacles along their way to and from the hill, they do indeed find evidence of the machine gun that Metcalf never saw. Empty German ammo brass and belt links convince the court of Kirby's innocence and the charges are dismissed. Sgt. Metcalf tells Kirby he really did not see the machine gun.
Episode 28
The Sniper
Tue, Apr 16, 196360 mins
Hans Gudegast, later to become well known as Eric Braeden plays the title role in this episode. After liberating a small French village, King Company is most warmly greeted by the villagers with wine, young women, song, and good food. Told they would spend several days off-duty in the village, the GIs' celebration is quickly cut short when a German sniper shoots one of the Americans. The GIs search for the sniper but cannot find him, and shortly thereafter another GI is killed. The sniper is dressed as a villager and essentially hiding in plain sight most of the time. Saunders finally figures out who the sniper is and learns he is being aided by his French lover who works in the village café. As the sniper slips between his underground hiding place and the village where he moves freely in the streets and shops, we do not hear him speak to anyone, and we are furnished no reason why he remains to execute his own private war when his comrades have clearly withdrawn. His French lover has her own private reasons for despising the village, but in the end she finally recognizes that she is French and her lover is really the enemy.
Episode 29
One More for the Road
Tue, Apr 23, 196360 mins
Caje blows-up a heavy machine gun nest and Sgt. Saunders and his squad find a baby in the barn and his mother dead near the well of a farmhouse in the enemy lines. They have to move back to their lines in less than two hours and forty minutes since the the artillery will fire at the area. Saunders tells to leave the baby protected in the barn, but the squad convinces him to take the baby to a nearby convent. When they arrive, they find that the convent was bombed out. Now they need to bring the baby to their own lines through the enemy territory in a dangerous journey.
Episode 30
The Walking Wounded
Tue, Apr 30, 196360 mins
While in the front, a bullet grazes Sgt. Saunders' leg and he is sent to Orre to a hospital. He gets a lift in the ambulance in a military convoy that is transporting a wounded soldier. Saunders meets Captain August, a doctor that lost the motivation of his profession; the gorgeous nurse Lt. Ann Hunter, who is his lover; and the coward driver Jones. When the convoy is bombed by the Germans in Orre, August, Ann and Jones leave the patient behind to seek protection. The bitter Saunders is bothered with the situation and decides to drive the ambulance to the closest hospital in a town under siege of the Germans since the soldier is in critical condition. His attitude changes the behavior of August and Jones in the end.
Episode 31
High Named Today
Tue, May 7, 1963
Hanley, Saunders and their men are worried that the reckless bravery of a reputed one-man death-squad will get them all killed.
Episode 32
No Trumpets, No Drums
Tue, May 14, 1963
During an assault on a French village, a Frenchman taking cover in a building is accidentally killed by a grenade thrown into a window by Pvt. Caje. While attempting to make the wounded man comfortable, he soon dies leaving Caje horrified and in a state of shock. Pressing the other villagers for information, he discovers the man had a young daughter whose mother was killed by the Germans leaving her now an orphan. Racked with guilt, he spends every waking moment with the girl while neglecting his squad and responsibilities until Sgt. Saunders, having lost patience, orders him to leave the girl behind and re-join the unit. A German counter-attack on the village is repulsed and Caje finally deals with his guilt by accepting Saunders' premise that "The War" killed the girl's father, not he.
