A question about tactics in Band of Brothers

I have a coupe of questions based on scenes in Band of Brothers but they seem more appropriate here than under films. Moderators please move if I am in error:

In the scene showing the attack on Sainte-mer-Eglise the order is give to attack straight down the road into the town. Does that make any sense?
They were aware of MG 42's were they not. In a similar situation would not it make more sense to use cover to advance from multiple directions?
Were they concerned about friendly fire. I do not want to stir up a discussion about the film, rather one about tactics.

In the segment where Foy is attacked a similar situation ensues The company advances across a mostly open area toward a dug in adversary with mortars and armor. Would not the attacking company have artillery support, at least mortars and even armor in support. And again it appears the flanks were better than a straight in approach.

Last question. In the attack on the Stug 111, would the two bazooka guys have run out in the front of the Stug and set up, a tempting target for German supporting infantry. I realise the bazooka had limited range . Was such a scene likely?

Perhaps this is just Hollywood or were these situations realistic for reasons beyond my understanding.

I realize most post here are factual based so I apologise if this is off base but I am curious.

GB

 

What you are seeing is a combination of Hollywood and what actually happened. There are simply things you don't see as a result of a director needingto get "the shot". It annoys the hell out of me when troops are seen patrolling accross an open area with 5 feet between each man.That is one area that "The Pacific" got it right, most of the time.

As far as the methods of attack are concerened that's the way it is done and in Foy, they were attacking the flank.

In Re: The Bazooka Crew, they would often fire from an exposed position so as not to attract an 88 into the lines. The machinegunners would suppress any infantry that took any interest.

In Re: Assualting the MG-42, it's better to have 30 guys try and take on one machinegun than to have 30 guys take on 5 machineguns with interlocking fields of fire. One element suppresses the gun (fire element) while another element manuvers around and flanks the gun (manuver element).

 

Thanks, I appreciate your comments. I agree it is strange to see infantry walking close to one another in a combat ream, ala, John Wayne in The Longest Day when he is in the cart and it looks like a parade !

To Administrators, thanks for putting this in the right place.

GB

 

This scene was Carentan, not St. Mere-Eglise. To this day, "Buck" Compton swears he walked through Carentan after the battle, not under fire. So, memory plays a role here. But other accounts, Ambrose, and Band of Brothers memoirs describe the scene where Winters is inspiring his men to get moving and not seek cover in the road-side ditch while MG-42 bullets are hitting all around him.

Movies always have to have a close shot. If you look at actual photos of the tree line where the 506th PIB were dug in and the distance to the village of Foy, it is farther than could be shown in a battle scene. The Paratroopers probably actually advanced in a longer wider arch then the movie shows.

Again, a closer/tighter shot for the movie, but Ambrose and Band of Brothers memoirs describe this scene as actually happening. Pretty hairy when you think what was involved to prime the American bazooka.

Hollywood no doubt took liberties. For example, the scene in the Dutch village where Easy Company encounters the German SS unit appears to happen in the course of an hour or less. In fact, Hollywood condensed two seperate firefights in two seperate villages, over the course of two days into one. Also, the scene in the movie where the new lieutenant gets shot by the sniper because he is out too far in front of the column, shows him about 50-feet out in front, where in fact, according to Winters, the Lieutenant was about 100 yards or more out in front. Winters noticed him all by himself from way across an open field.

Greg C.