T V | House of Stapleton

Combat! (1962)

Rating

Run Time: 60 min

Color: Black and White

Aspect Ratio: 1.33 : 1

Sound: Mono

Producer: Selmur Productions

Genre

Action
Drama
War

Seasons: 5

Episodes: 152

Overview

A series that follows the World War 2 combat experiences and adventures of a squad of US infantrymen in France in 1944. In particular we share the experiences of the squad leader, Sergeant Saunders, and the platoon commander, Lieutenant Hanley.

Pvt./PFC William G. Kirby

Pierre Jalbert

PFC Paul "Caje" LeMay

Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5

1. The Bridge at Chalons

First Aired September 16, 1963

A bitter demolition Sgt. escorted by Saunder's squad to blow up a bridge, feels his men are bunch of incompetent fools, that will get him killed before reaching the target.

2. Bridgehead

First Aired September 23, 1963

Sgt. Saunders and his squad are assigned to take a strategic heavily protected bridgehead in fifty-five minutes since a convoy needs to cross with no delay. Sgt Sunders plots a suicidal plan while his men question the order. Will they succeed in his plan?

3. Masquerade

First Aired September 30, 1963

Sgt. Saunders suspects a GI corporal and lieutenant, with a Nazi colonel in custody, are really impostors who want to sabotage command. But Saunders isn't believed by Lt. Hanley.

4. The Long Way Home: Part 1

First Aired October 07, 1963

Sgt. Saunder's squad is captured and placed in a temporary stockade, where they are interrogated by a cruel SS officer.

5. The Long Way Home: Part 2

First Aired October 14, 1963

Still interred in a German POW camp, Sgt. Saunders and his squad must find a way to escape before they are all killed.

6. The Wounded Don't Cry

First Aired October 21, 1963

The squad finds a German field hospital in a French village. Sgt. Saunders and a German soldier must travel together to get a truckload of plasma, but they have an uneasy alliance with each other.

7. Doughboy

First Aired October 28, 1963

While on patrol in the woods, Sgt. Saunders is taken prisoner by a slightly insane American soldier in a WWI uniform. He believes he is still fighting the First World War, and that Saunders is a German soldier.

8. Glow Against the Sky

First Aired November 04, 1963

Hiding in a bombed out town, Saunders and his squad leave a badly wounded, delirious Pvt. Nelson for the Germans to find and try to save.

9. The Little Jewel

First Aired November 11, 1963

Saunders' squad encounters a hungry French orphan gobbling rotted food in a bombed-out village. As PFC Caje doles K-rations to the boy Bijou (which means Little Jewel), the orphan swipes Caje's wallet, and claiming he found it, asks for a reward of chocolate from the Cajun soldier. While the squad races to bomb an oil depot, the cynical Kirby suspects the Little Jewel is following along to trade the infantry's attack plan to the Germans. Is Bijou a clever child trying to simply survive or one serving whichever side it benefits him most?

10. A Distant Drum

First Aired November 18, 1963

A wounded Lt. Hanley is pursued by a squad of Germans, and takes refuge in a French farmhouse at great peril to the mother and daughter living there.

11. Anatomy of a Patrol

First Aired November 25, 1963

Saunders' squad rescues a badly wounded pilot in the woods and his recon film, but then they are chased by a resourceful Nazi Sgt.

12. Ambush

First Aired December 02, 1963

Losing her family in the war, a young French woman becomes embittered against both armies. She witness the Germans setting up their artillery, and Sgt. Saunders must convince her to reveal the Germans' location.

13. Barrage

First Aired December 09, 1963

Lt. Hanley's squad is assigned to a suicide mission to locate the German artillery on a hill. Lt. Hanley, Caje and Kirby split from Sgt. Saunders and Private Clark looking for the hidden artillery. Saunders and Clark stumble upon a German machine gun nest and Clark is killed and Saunders is wounded before destroying the nest. He crawls into a cave and passes out. When he awakes, he meets the German deserter Hans that has treated his wound. Saunders summons Hans to move with him to the American lines and the German agrees. But when his Sergeant arrives in the cave with his squad, he tells that he has captured Saunders.

14. Thunder from the Hill

First Aired December 16, 1963

A cold blooded boss within a faction of the French Resistance, pressures Lt. Handley's squad to help raid a German ammo depot before he will take him to his leader.

15. The Party

First Aired December 23, 1963

This episode is strictly for laughs. The squad is left in a French village to wait for a ride to meet up with Saunders, and Kirby is placed in charge. Three good looking gals smile at our guys as they pass by, and Kirby, Caje, and Billy immediately want to come up with a plan to delay their ride so they can woo the three gals. Littlejohn wants no part in it and tells them, "It won't work." Three Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) sergeants already have dates with the gals, and our guys connive to beat the sergeants out of their dates. Their efforts do not quite succeed, and the episode ends with Littlejohn shaking his head and telling them, "I told you it wouldn't work."

16. Gideon's Army

First Aired December 30, 1963

Saunders' squad happens upon a Nazi concentration camp, occupied only by a few starving Poles. SS overseers killed most prisoners, then fled with the strongest inmates, but in their hurry to flee left behind these men, mostly from the same village. The squad has orders to move on, but few of the liberated are able to walk with them. The men's leader, their former mayor, begs Saunders to stay and help, while their former kapo, also a Pole, wants out with the squad, before the furious prisoners kill him.

17. The Pillbox

First Aired January 06, 1964

While falling back under intense pressure from the attacking Germans, Lt. Hanley stops to help one of his men who is severely wounded. The Germans are advancing rapidly, so Hanley and his man take refuge in a vacant pillbox. As the rains begin to fall, Hanley attempts to head for his own lines, but is stopped when three German soldiers also enter the pillbox, making for a dramatic standoff. Hanley must make a decision to save his man and kill the Germans, or surrender himself.

18. The General and the Sargeant

First Aired January 13, 1964

Hanley refuses to let an elderly French ex-general lead Sgt. Saunder's squad in their search for an observation post, but he follows them anyway to prove his usefulness.

19. The Eyes of the Hunter

First Aired January 20, 1964

A soldier is assigned to guide Sgt. Saunder's squad to a hidden German artillery post, because he knows where they are located. Saunders is warned to keep a close watch on the soldier, but he doesn't know the reason why.

20. The Hostages

First Aired January 27, 1964

Saunders, Doc, and Caje get the opportunity to shower at an abandoned barber shop found by Private Barnabo. While the three are showering, however, Barnabo is murdered and the rest are taken hostage by German Captain Aptmeyer and his NCO, who have been trapped behind American lines and are trying to get back to their own side. Aptmeyer holds Saunders and Caje hostage while he frees Doc to get an ambulance to transport them out of the village and back to German territory. Doc becomes the central character in this episode as he goes about getting an ambulance for which he has no authorization. Aptmeyer continues to hold them all hostage as Doc uses the ambulance to get them out of the village and back near German territory. Instead of releasing his hostages at that point, however, we learn that Capt. Aptmeyer has one more chore in mind for the Americans.

21. Mail Call

First Aired February 03, 1964

Sgt. Saunders' squad blames his bad treatment of likable new member Trenton on his foul mood caused by a letter he has just received but actually Saunders believes Trenton is a coward who fakes injuries to avoid battle.

22. Counter-Punch

First Aired February 10, 1964

Chaos ensues as the Germans make a breakthrough, and all rear-echelon troops are ordered to get their weapons. Never able to form up into any sort of fighting force, they become stragglers separated from any cohesive unit. Saunders and Caje are also separated from their unit, and they pick up several of the rear-echelon stragglers as they discover they are all now many miles deep in German territory. While the rear-echelon guys have no combat experience, they each contribute in their own way in their effort to get back to their own forces. During their trek back, Saunders hijacks a locomotive with several cars carrying German troops, and his new "squad" has to get rid of the German troop cars so they can then take the engine in the direction of their own lines. As might be expected, one of the rear-echelon guys knows how to operate a steam locomotive. The shots of the locomotive action do make for some very nice cinematic scenes.

23. A Silent Cry

First Aired February 17, 1964

Sgt. Saunders must deliver radios to the French underground, and a radio-expert named Sgt. Perkins goes with him. It's Perkin's first combat mission, and he is very anxious and displeased.

24. The Hunter

First Aired February 24, 1964

Saunders and Kirby are searching the buildings of an abandoned French winery when they are spotted by two Germans who are using the tower for an observation post. A firefight ensues, and one of the Germans and Kirby are both badly wounded. The German officer, Heismann, snatches Kirby and takes him into the tower building. The wounded German attacks Saunders with a knife, but Saunders finishes him. Saunders has seen the Germans are setting up a large artillery position nearby, and Heismann uses the wounded Kirby to convince Saunders to surrender before he can report the artillery location to his HQ. While Heismann talks to Saunders, Kirby recovers enough to throw the German's radio outside where Saunders can see it is now broken. Heismann is so infuriated he decides to hunt Saunders with his special hunting rifle as if he were prey. Heismann and Saunders play cat and mouse among the many winery buildings while Saunders looks for the radio Kirby left in another building. He finds the radio, but his Thompson craps out, and he leaves the Thompson behind while he attempts to contact his HQ on the radio. Heismann finds Saunders' Thompson and smiles in satisfaction knowing Saunders is disarmed. His smile disappears, however, when finds the GI radio and realizes Saunders has reported the German artillery location. At this point, Heismann has nothing left to salvage except the satisfaction of killing his prey.

25. What Are the Bugles Blowin' For?: Part 1

First Aired March 02, 1964

A British unit holding a depot doesn't know that Allied units around them are retreating from a Nazi offensive, because the Brits' radio is broken. Sgt. Saunders' squad can't join the pullback, because Lt. Hanley orders Saunders' crew to march to the railhead in France, to let the Brits know they are being surrounded.

26. What Are the Bugles Blowin' For?: Part 2

First Aired March 09, 1964

A British captain refuses Allied orders to retreat, delivered by Sgt. Saunders. Instead, Capt. Johns commands Sgt. Saunders' battle-fatigued U.S. squad to dig in at the besieged railhead and help repulse a German advance. Saunders fears it's suicide for all, but the imperial Capt. Johns, a Sandowner and son of a general, insists they can hold the depot against a Nazi offensive.

27. Weep No More

First Aired March 16, 1964

Squad members, lead by Hanley, run into a young woman. She is, however, mentally scarred, and seeks to return to where she feels safe. She runs back there, and when Hanley goes to get her he finds out the place is now in German hands.

28. The Short Day of Private Putnam

First Aired March 23, 1964

A new squad member is aggressive and naive - because he's really only 15. Orville Putnam's actual age is discovered by a knowing French bartender he puts his unsubtle moves on, to impress his fellow infantrymen. Orville swears Fauvette to secrecy, but then the squad is ordered to recon a treacherous hill whose treetops are stuffed with German snipers. Sgt. Saunders understands that Orville is covering up for his lack of combat experience, but doesn't know the whole truth about the orphaned teen.

29. Rescue

First Aired March 30, 1964

This episode is all Lt. Hanley and a bunch of twists along the way. Concussed during an artillery barrage and separated from his platoon, Hanley starts to come out of his daze only to find he is being taken prisoner by an SS soldier. The first twist is when the SS soldier is shot by another SS soldier who frees Hanley. Then we learn the second SS soldier is really a GI corporal who just escaped from a holding area, but his wounded Colonel is still being held by the Germans and has information valuable to the Germans. As Hanley's head clears, he decides they must rescue the Colonel and keep him from giving the Germans information. They do manage to rescue the Colonel, but there are more twists in the road for Hanley before he gets back to his own lines.

30. Command

First Aired April 06, 1964

A wounded Hanley is replaced in the field by Lieutenant Douglas ('Joseph Campanella'), who proves to be surly and opinionated even by Saunders' standards.

31. The Infant of Prague

First Aired April 13, 1964

The squad discovers a group of nuns in a convent, and they travel together through enemy territory. Nearly surrounded by Germans, Lt. Hanley must call in artillery, placing them in great danger.

32. The Glory Among Men

First Aired April 20, 1964

A bitter, antagonistic replacement whom none of Saunders' men can stand (with good reason) is wounded and pinned down by German snipers...who use him to try and lure his fellow Americans into their ambush.