Von Ryan's Express: Frank Sinatra & Trevor Howard Star

This exciting 1965 film, based on a popular novel of the time by David Westheimer, is set in Italy (largely filmed there, too), beginning in August 1943. The Allies are about to complete the conquest of the Italian island of Sicily and Italian morale is low. Colonel Joseph Ryan of the U.S. Army Air Corps, played by Frank Sinatra, is captured by the Italians when his plane is shot down. Italian soldiers hide their prisoner from a couple of German army officers who come looking to see what happened to the pilot of the downed plane. Ryan is sent to an Italian prisoner of war camp, whose main prisoners are British army troops, now under the command of Major Fincham, played by Trevor Howard, as the previous British commander has just died as a result of spending a long time in a special little prison coop, called "the sweat box." Now Ryan is the senior officer, but he at first defers to Fincham and Ryan feels it will not be long before they are freed, so the overall strategy should be to survive in the best conditions they can get and await the arrival of the Allies. Ryan finds, however, that Fincham has let his own men and a couple of Americans suffer in sick bay with malaria, while holding back on medicines and some other supplies for a possible escape attempt. Fincham's contentious style has made the Italian commandant, Major Battaglia, played by Adolfo Celi, respond in a harsher way than he might otherwise have done. Ryan shows Battaglia the potential British escape tunnel and Battaglia has the showers turned on, razors given out and delousing powder dispensed to the POWs, but he will not issue the prisoners fresh clothing, because he is selling the Red Cross provided clothing to make money for himself. Ryan orders all of the prisoners to strip and to throw the raggedy uniforms into a fire they've built. This forces Battaglia to issue the fresh clothing, but he has Ryan locked in the sweat box.

The Allies invade the Italian mainland and Italy surrenders, causing the Italian guards to desert the camp. Ryan is freed, and Battaglia is locked in the sweat box, at Ryan's order, rather than being hanged as Fincham wanted. The 400 prisoners, now helped by anti-Nazi Italian officer, Captain Oriani, played by Sergio Fantoni, try to get to the not too distant coast in hopes of being rescued by Allied naval forces. German military forces arrive at the camp and free Major Battaglia and they then begin to pursue the fleeing prisoners, who have a number of sick men. Oriani goes ahead of the main group to see if he can contact the Allies. The Germans surround the prisoners, killing some, but the rest are captured. All but the sick and wounded are loaded onto a train. Fincham believes Oriani betrayed them, but Oriani is found badly beaten on a railway car, as he has been captured too. Who walks out and gives the fascist salute? Battaglia! The Germans shoot the sick and wounded, bringing Fincham to say, "You let Battaglia live ... You'll get your Iron Cross for this, 'von' Ryan." (The Iron Cross was a German military decoration.) Ryan is depressed. The train moves out and stops in Rome on its way northward headed toward the German border and Innsbruck (Austria was part of Germany, at that time). The train comes under the command of Major von Klemment, played by Wolfgang Preiss. If you've seen any World War Two movies with German officers made in the 1960s, you've seen Wolfgang Preiss.

Meanwhile, Ryan sees an opportunity to pull up some loose floor boards in his boxcar. When the train slows down, some of the men drop down onto the tracks, then climb up and overpower the guards stationed on top of the cars. They put on the helmets and the uniforms of the guards. When the train stops for water, the men now overpower the remaining guards, toss their bodies onto the train, capture von Klemment and take over the train. Off they go! Now you get the title... "Von Ryan's Express." When the train in underway, the men find a young Italian woman in von Klemment's car, ah... undoubtedly there to darn the major's socks. Von Klemment tells the men the train is scheduled to stop in Florence to feed the German troops and the prisoners. The British chaplain, played by Edward Mulhare, had studied some in Germany years before, and he is fluent in German. They dress him in the uniform of one of the killed German officers, so he will be able to address any German personnel when the train stops. He is highly effective and he helps to keep the group from being found out; after which, he promptly faints.

Ryan and Fincham find out from von Klemment that the train will switch crews and guards when it gets to Verona. So now, Ryan cannot take the train into Verona, or it will all be over. Von Klemment says to divert a train, there will need to be an order issued by a high ranking German officer. * The chaplain now goes back to portraying the German officer and he tells the Germans at the regional command center that he needs to change the train route because it is carrying important things for Hermann Göring. The ruse works, but it isn't long before the Germans check with the regional commander about the Göring shipment, about which, of course, he knows nothing. The alert goes out and a chase begins, as an SS officer takes a train load of troops and calls in air support. In the meantime, von Klemment and the woman escape, and Ryan first kills von Klemment, and then the woman, as she heads for a police office. No more sock darning for her... Damn! (or maybe 'Darn' would be more appropriate?) Ryan, Fincham and company head for the Swiss border, but the German planes attack as the train speeds through a number of small tunnels. The men manage to down one of the aircraft, but the planes damage a walkway on a mountainside and bring down rocks onto the tracks, blocking the train's advance. Meanwhile, the German troop train is nearing. Ryan has most of the men clear the tracks and repair damages to the rails with rails pulled up from behind the train. Ryan, Fincham and a few others try to hold off the German troops who are now moving in on them by foot. Lots of fighting takes place, and several of the men are killed, as well as many Germans, but finally the tracks are cleared and the train is ready to roll. Ryan and the rear guard, including Fincham, break off the fighting and dash for the train, which is just beginning to move. Ryan is the last to run for the train and the German troops are not far behind. The German commander grabs a submachine gun and fires a burst, striking Ryan as he nears the train. He dies on the tracks as the train and the rest of the men roll toward Switzerland and freedom.

* Just a little history: Mussolini was ousted from power in late July 1943, but the new Italian government proclaimed its loyalty to the alliance with Germany, although not so completely secret negotiations began with the Allies to get Italy out of the war. With the Allies in the process of conquering Sicily, the Germans sent more forces to strengthen the Italian mainland. In early September the Allies invaded the mainland and the surrender of Italy was announced, with Hitler reacting by sending more forces and literally taking over Italy, except for the far southern region, which was quickly occupied by the Allies. A very slow and bloody campaign to conquer Italy then began, ending only in late April/early May 1945. The movie shows how the Germans have taken over Italy, including the rail system, which retained many Italian personnel, but under German supervision; thus, written orders had to be from German military officers.

Photo is of Fox War Classics, 20th Century Fox 2001 DVD.

WORD HISTORY: 
Express-This prefixed word has uses as a verb, an adjective and a noun; all coming from the same ultimate source. The prefix, "ex," goes back to Indo European, "eghs/ekhs," which had the notion of, "out from." This gave Latin "ex," with the meanings, "out from, from the inside, out of, from or since a period of time." This became a prefix in forming some words. The "press" part of the word goes back to Indo European "per/pre," which had the notion of  "to go forward, to go through;" thus also, "to apply force (to go forward or to go through)." This gave Latin "premere," meaning, "to squeeze, to compress." The two gave Latin "exprimere," which meant, "to make a visible impression or representation by squeezing;" thus also, "to make clear, to make known." Its participle form produced Latin "expressare," "to squeeze out, to make oneself clear." This passed to Old French, a Latin-based language, as "expresser," ("to make clear or known, to squeeze or compress). This was borrowed from French by English in the second half of the 1300s, but likely with influence directly from Latin, as the word meant, "to state clearly," but also, "to make a representation through a work of art." The Latin adjectival form ("expressus") had also given Old French the adjective "espres/expres," meaning, "clearly or distinctly stated." This was then also borrowed into English, but not until the second half of the 1400s. The noun in English came about from its initial meaning of, "direct messenger;" that is, "one who delivers directly from one location to a precise person or location." This meaning has carried over to modern times with the mail and package services. The further meaning of the modern noun, as in, "the Express," meaning, "express train, express bus," goes to the notion of "being direct, with travel service directly from one location to a precise destination." From all of this has also come the notion, "fast delivery or transport."       

The Best of Enemies, Good Film From the Early 1960s

It is hard to write about war movies that are lighthearted, since in war, REAL people get killed and wounded, and all participants return with scars to their bodies or to their minds, or both. However, this somewhat rare war "dramedy," released in 1962, might bring a few smiles to your face, and the ending just might find you having to hold back a tear. This is a delightful Italian production, produced by Dino De Laurentiis, the grandfather of television cook Giada De Laurentiis, but the film was directed by English director Guy Hamilton. It is about a little known part of World War Two; the war in East Africa; more specifically in this case, the war in Abyssinia (also known as Ethiopia). The British and the Italians both had colonies in eastern Africa, and both countries used the local populations to help them retain control of their respective colonies; that is, both used colonial military units. This movie is not easy to find, but it has been on television, including, "if I'm not mistaken," on TCM (Turner Classic Movies). You can also check sources that show movies online. It is available more easily on DVD, but in (dubbed) Italian with English subtitles, although you might find a few DVD copies in the original English. It will be well worth your effort. 

The movie was filmed in Israel to simulate the very rough terrain of parts of Abyssinia in 1941. In that year, the British forces were on the advance against Italian forces in Abyssinia, and the movie depicts an Italian infantry company, "supported" by some Abyssinian warriors, including a few with only spears, that captures a British officer, Major Richardson, played by David Niven, along with his pilot, when their plane crash lands. The Italians want to get back to their main force, but their radio goes bad, so they are out of touch with their headquarters. The experienced and professional Italian commander is killed when a British reconnaissance vehicle comes into the Italian camp, so the writers make sure we still see the reality of war. This leaves Captain Vittorio Blasi in charge, played by Alberto Sordi. Blasi is not the most competent officer, to say the least, and when he is interrogating the captured British officers, he accidentally tells the British where he and his men are headed, which is more information than he can get from his prisoners, who give only name, rank and serial number. Still, the mistake seems harmless, since the information is of little use to the British prisoners at the moment. Major Richardson sort of bullies Captain Blasi at first by pulling rank on the Italian and frequently demanding a salute from him. He then brings up the Geneva Convention about treatment of prisoners, leaving the uninformed captain to wonder if he is violating a law of warfare. The two officers engage in some shouting matches at various times. Blasi may not be a professional officer, but he is a good man who is tired of the war. He only wants to get himself and his men to safety, but, in perhaps a mocking by the scriptwriters of Mussolini, he tries to portray himself as tough, but there is little substance to his posturing.* Blasi decides to make a deal with the condescending British major, who has a contemptuous opinion of the Italian captain. Blasi decides to let the two Brits escape, with the understanding that Richardson will then tell his superiors that the little Italian force is weak and not worth bothering with; thus allowing the Italians to get to safety unscathed.

All goes well, the British men escape (but they take the Italian mules, which wasn't part of the deal) and their commanding officer is pretty well sold that the Italian company is no threat to his own forces, but Richardson then casually mentions where the Italians are heading (Blasi's earlier mistake comes into play by Richardson now making the mistake of saying too much). Another British officer then informs the commander that the Italians are regrouping in the aforementioned place, so the commander decides to send a reluctant Richardson with some armor (British spelling: "armour") and motorized units to destroy the Italian company. Richardson and his men find the Italians in a fort already abandoned by the main Italian force. When the British pull up near the fort, Richardson puts up a white flag to signal he wants to talk. The inexperienced Captain Blasi thinks the British want to surrender and frets over how he will care for his prisoners. Another Italian soldier has to tell the captain it is only a signal the British want to talk and that Blasi must now also show a white flag to show agreement. When Blasi finds Richardson leading the British force against him, he sees Richardson as having broken their agreement and he is furious. Blasi is given one hour to surrender, but in that time, and unknown to the British, Blasi and his Italian men sneak away from the rear of the fort, as Major Richardson failed to order the fort to be surrounded, as he can't imagine Blasi being competent enough to pull a fast one. Who's incompetent now? When more than an hour passes, the other British officers want to open fire, but Richardson doesn't want to kill the Italians and suddenly out of the fort comes some men. Blasi had told some of his colonial soldiers to march out to surrender to the British in one hour, but he failed to give them a watch so they would know when the hour was up, that's why they are late! It's too funny!

The Italians are now on the run. Both the Italians and the British make their respective camps in something of an oasis, near a lake. When the spear-armed Abyssinian warriors kill the Italian mascot, an antelope, Blasi orders the warriors to leave, but this affront brings the warriors to start a fire in the brush. The dry grass and trees are quickly whipped into a major fire which destroys the British vehicles and sends both the Italians and the British men fleeing for their very lives to an island in the middle of the lake. So we now have two armed enemies together, but striving to just stay alive from a common enemy... FIRE! When the fire dies down, the Italians lay down their arms and surrender. With everyone now on foot, the column meets a group of native tribesmen who want the British to turn over the Italians and the Italian guns to them, ending with, "Death to the Italians." Richardson refuses the request and the British and their prisoners move on. The British enter an abandoned native village and make camp, as one of their men is very sick with pneumonia. The Italian doctor treats him, but the writers pull us back from lightheartedness to reality, as the soldier dies. The two sides get involved in a soccer match (football to most of the world), which then evolves into a fight. Damn! Just like a real soccer or hockey match. The situation changes dramatically when the earlier native tribesmen reappear in large numbers. The British withdraw a short distance to a better defensive position.

Captain Blasi asks Major Richardson to give the Italians their weapons, so they can help defend themselves, but Richardson won't do it. While the group waits for what they assume will be an attack by the tribesmen, Blasi and Richardson get into personal details about their lives, and we find out that Captain Blasi has a wife and two children, and he shows Richardson their photo. He tells the major, "My wife said, 'I don't care if you are a coward, come home to me.' " Richardson at first denies having a family picture, but Blasi catches him when he takes the photo from his wallet. The two discuss their dislike of the war, and the major tells him they still have a job to do, but that Blasi doesn't really make the effort. Blasi then tells Richardson that he would willingly fight for his home, but that serving so far from Italy in Africa, he doesn't feel that he is doing that. With this, Richardson decides to give the Italians their weapons, only to learn that his second in command left the Italian ammunition behind. We're back to another competency evaluation.

The group tries to escape under cover of darkness, only to be captured to the last man. The tribesmen not only take their weapons, but their boots too. So now we have a group of barefoot British and Italian soldiers with no weapons. The tribal chief tells them to get out of his country and go fight in their own countries. The men move out in the direction ordered by Richardson, and finally they reach a paved road, but they don't know where they are, although they assume they are behind British lines. Richardson orders the prisoners to the rear, but when Captain Blasi steps off the road to relieve himself, he sees the road marker indicating that they are only 10 Km (about 6 miles) from Addis Ababa, the capital of Abyssinia and thus the center of Italian military command. Blasi bursts out laughing, yelling out, "We are behind the Italian lines." Richardson is furious and frustrated, and he tells Blasi that he should have fired on the Italians when they were hiding in that fort. So now the tables have turned again, or have they? Blasi now also turns serious in response to Richardson. He tells the major, "It's not the best and bravest who win the wars, but the ones who make the least mistakes." The Italians march off toward Addis Ababa and the British march off in the opposite direction. When trucks approach, the British hide off of the road until the column has passed. When they get back on the road, another truck column approaches, but this time with soldiers singing ..... in ENGLISH! Richardson and his men find out that Addis Ababa has fallen to the British and these men are on their way to the victory celebration. Meanwhile, the first truck column approaches the Italians, who are singing in happiness, only to have to raise their hands in surrender... AGAIN!

Later, the Italian prisoners are lined up to board a train to carry them to a prisoner of war camp. Major Richardson and his men are there too, as they have just been issued new vehicles to replace those destroyed earlier. The two groups can't help but notice one another and to think of all they've been through together. The difference is striking, as the British are decked out in new uniforms, while the Italians are in their dirty, torn and ragged uniforms. Major Richardson and Captain Blasi look at each other. The British troops look back at Richardson, seemingly hoping he will say or do something, but Richardson gives the order for his men to march off. Then suddenly he has his men do an about face and he orders them to present arms in a salute of respect for the Italians. Richardson salutes as the train begins to pull out, as a smiling Captain Blasi shouts "Ciao!" The Italians look on as the British men flash big smiles and even a "thumbs up" to them. Captain Blasi and the Italians finally get some respect, and the two groups are really "the best of enemies." 

* Mussolini was known for his strutting and serious poses in newsreels and while giving speeches, but his military forces were ill prepared, ill led, ill trained, ill equipped and ill supplied during World War Two (that's a lot of 'ills'), leaving 'ill' ... I mean... Il Duce's boasting to ring more than a little hollow.

WORD HISTORY:
Enemy-The ultimate origin of "enemy" is uncertain. It goes back to Latin "amare," which meant, "to love, to be fond of, to like." This produced Latin "amicus," meaning "friend." When coupled with the negative Latin prefix "in," tracing back to Indo European "n/ne," this gave Latin "inimicus;" literally, "not a friend" or, "an unfriend;" thus, "enemy," but also with the extended religious meaning, "someone possessed of evil, someone wishing to bring harm to others." This passed to Latin-based Old French in various spellings: "inimi, anemi, animi, enemi" (remember, there were not standards in those tymes... ah, I mean, times), and with the same meanings. English borrowed the word from French circa 1200 as, "enemi/enemy," before settling on the latter as the spelling. It replaced, in specific meaning only, "feond," which had meant "enemy," but "feond" has remained in English right up to the present, but with the updated form "fiend," although its close German cousin, "Feind," still is the primary German word for "enemy."   

Cross of Iron, Sam Peckinpah's Tale of War

While I kept some of my original article from 2016, this is essentially a new article as of May 11, 2020.


When I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, movies and television had lots of Westerns and war stories. The production codes of those times very much limited how realistic these stories could be, and thus they were often romanticized well beyond the grim truth. Sam Peckinpah was one of the directors to break down the walls of romanticized and glamorized stories that were really horror stories. It's tough for some to get a handle on how showing graphic violence is "antiwar," but by showing how devastating, horrible and gruesome war really is, it might just give people encouragement to pressure warmongers to put the brakes on, and to keep war as a last option; although of course, the warmongers can take a gun and go off to war on their own or as part of some "merry band" and fight one another. This 1977 movie isn't really so much about Germans fighting Russians; rather, it is Peckinpah showing the soldiers of any nation who fight and often die or are wounded, versus the "higher ups," and the "medal scavengers," as he calls them in one scene of the film. I've got to believe Peckinpah saw Sergeant Steiner as himself, as Peckinpah was not one to toe the mark. Some thought the film was overkill (no pun intended ... okay, it WAS intended), but that was Peckinpah's point, the film doesn't say "war is hell," it screams, "WAR IS HELL AND NOBODY WINS!" "Cross of Iron" is one of the greatest war films ever made, but it is graphic and it should certainly dispel anyone's idea of war being some glamorous endeavor. I guess that's what makes it so great.
     
Many years ago I bought a paperback book called, "Cross of Iron," by Willi Heinrich, who was born in Heidelberg, and who was a former soldier in both Hitler's Wehrmacht and later in the West German Bundeswehr. The book, originally translated into English and published as "The Willing Flesh" in the 1950s, is a novel about a platoon of German soldiers fighting in the Soviet Union in 1943. The story is set in the Taman Peninsula in the southern part of the Soviet Union, an area where the author served during World War Two (he was wounded several times). I don't remember exactly, but I believe I hadn't had the book very long, when along came the movie by that title, "based" upon the book. The film was directed by Sam Peckinpah, who is best known for directing "The Wild Bunch," starring William Holden.

Cast (I'm using the English translation of the German military ranks and the cast is more extensive than what I'm listing here):

Corporal, then Sergeant Rolf Steiner ......................................... James Coburn
Captain Stransky ........................................................................ Maximilian Schell
Colonel Brandt ........................................................................... James Mason
Captain Kiesel ............................................................................ David Warner
Corporal Krüger ......................................................................... Klaus Löwitsch
Private Kern ............................................................................... Vadim Glowna
Lieutenant Triebig ...................................................................... Roger Fritz
Private Anselm ........................................................................... Dieter Schidor
Eva .............................................................................................. Senta Berger
Private Maag ............................................................................... Burkhard Driest
Corporal "Schnurrbart" (nickname means "Mustache") ............. Fred Stillkrauth
Lieutenant Meyer ........................................................................ Igor Galo
Zoll .............................................................................................. Arthur Brauss
Private Dietz ................................................................................ Michael Nowka

The film opens with the title, cast and credits displayed over snippets of a series of real German propaganda and military newsreel films showing children in the Hitler Youth, young people in cheering crowds, soldiers receiving medals, Hitler in various poses and soldiers fighting as bombs explode around them. In the background, the German children's song "Hänschen Klein" ("Little Hans") is playing. The first line of the song is, "Hänschen Klein ... ging allein ... in die weite Welt hinein" (Little Hans goes alone into the wide world).  

Corporal Steiner, who is later promoted to sergeant, is a highly respected, cynical, anti-authority soldier, who is well liked by the other men of his platoon. Steiner and the men are largely weary and disillusioned by the war and all the horrors they've seen and experienced; horrors that never seem to end, either in real life or in their minds, and these soldiers are gradually worn down by it all. The men are committed to each other, not to political beliefs and Nazi ideology in their struggle to stay alive against the advancing Red Army. Early on the men capture a teenage Russian soldier and bring him back to their camp, in spite of standing orders to execute Russian prisoners. Upon arrival with the Russian boy, the new company commander, Captain Stransky, orders the prisoner executed per the standing order. Steiner refuses, but one of the men speaks up and says he will do it, saying this only to deceive the captain, as they take the boy with them and hide him in their quarters. Stranksy is an aristocratic Prussian officer who pulled strings to be sent to the Russian front, as he is obsessed with winning the Iron Cross* so it can adorn his uniform and he can show it off to his family and others. He had been stationed in France, which was relatively quiet at that point in the war, as the Allied invasion didn't come until the next year; thus in 1943, there was little chance to win an Iron Cross while in France. The Iron Cross has already been won by Steiner and others; in fact, Colonel Brandt, the cynical regimental commander, offers to give one of his own medals to Stransky, so little meaning the medal has for the colonel; and further, when Stransky tells Steiner that he has been promoted to sergeant, Steiner is totally unimpressed and he stands there expressionless. So Steiner and Colonel Brandt each has a medal they see as meaningless, and Stransky wants to be awarded the same medal, a situation that is highly unlikely, as Stransky cringes every time a Russian shell explodes in or around the unit's position. Stransky knows that Steiner is a tough soldier, and that he himself can never be like Steiner, so he must win the Iron Cross in another way.

Later, in what Steiner wants to be an act of humanity, he takes the Russian teenager and releases him right near the front line, only to see the boy shot and killed by Russian soldiers as he heads toward the Russian lines. The boy's killing deeply affects Steiner. War makes humanity difficult, even when it's something seemingly as simple as releasing a prisoner. The boy's killing was by Red Army soldiers moving up to launch an attack on the German positions, which they do. German casualties mount, and one of the officers, Lieutenant Meyer, is bayoneted while rallying his men in a counterattack to throw the Russians back. As all of this happens, Stransky remains in his bunker, emerging only to shout, "We're winning, we're winning," and he then dashes back into his bunker as his forehead is scratched by flying debris. On a call with Colonel Brandt, Stransky makes sure to tell the colonel he is wounded. Steiner suffers a severe concussion and Corporal Schnurrbart is wounded and both end up in a hospital, where Steiner can't get the images of his dying men and of the Russian boy out of his head. He hallucinates at times. A general comes to the hospital to see which men he can send back to the battered front. In a tragic, but great scene, the general goes to shake the hand of one of the wounded who is in a wheelchair, but the man has lost his right hand, and the soldier then offers the general the remnants of his left arm. The general stares and defiantly the soldier sticks up his leg, if the general wants to shake it, but the general moves on and orders that 65% of the hospitalized men be sent back to duty within three days. Steiner looks on in amazement. He develops a brief relationship with his nurse, which gives him an escape from all that has gone on, but in the end, he chooses to return to his unit, instead of taking convalescent leave in Germany.

Upon return to his unit, Steiner is introduced to a Nazi, a former member of an SS Einsatzgruppe,** named Zoll, who has been placed in the platoon by Stransky. Steiner bluntly tells Zoll, "I don't care what you believe or what you've done. Your duty is to us, the platoon and me. Fulfill those duties, or you will have a bayonet up your ass. Clear?" While Steiner was in the hospital, Stransky claims HE led the attack to throw back the Russians and he is nominated for the Iron Cross. Stransky names Lieutenant Triebig and Sergeant Steiner as witnesses that he led the attack. Stransky has found out that Triebig is gay (then "homosexual" was the term used), and he blackmails Triebig for his support, with Triebig signing a statement literally lying about Stransky's role in the battle that day. With Stransky coming from the Prussian aristocracy, he's accustomed to getting his way by influence or money, and he has a talk with Steiner to get him to sign the paper. Steiner asks Stransky why "the worthless piece of metal" is so important to him, and Stransky tells him that he would not be able to face his family if he returns home without the Iron Cross. Steiner bluntly tells him he doesn't think Stransky deserves an Iron Cross. Other men in the unit testify that Lieutenant Meyer led the counterattack against the Russians and that neither Captain Stransky nor Lieutenant Triebig were seen. When Colonel Brandt questions Steiner, the sergeant says Lieutenant Meyer led the attack and that Stransky was not present. Triebig doesn't really give Colonel Brandt a direct answer about Stranky leading the attack, but rather he tries to dodge such an answer, even though he signed the paper with the statement saying Stransky led the counterattack. Colonel Brandt tells Triebig it is contemptible to steal the laurels of a man who was killed in action (Lieutenant Meyer), but that's what Stransky is willing to do for glory. Steiner, sick of the arguing and lying over medals, won't reaffirm his statement about Stransky not being seen during the battle.

The German high command for that part of the Russian front decides to pull back quickly, with no rear guard for the retreat. Stransky and Triebig do not inform Steiner and his men of the retreat, and they are left all alone, with a widening gap between the platoon and the withdrawing main German forces. The Red Army attacks the platoon, complete with tanks, and a vicious battle takes place. Steiner and several of his men are able to get away, but they must now find their way to the German lines. Meanwhile, Colonel Brandt receives orders that Stransky is to be sent to Paris within a week (presumably arranged by Stransky through his connections, now that he will get his medal), and Brandt knows that if Steiner won't speak up, Stranky will get the Iron Cross and, "strut all around Paris, the arrogant, unbloodied bastard."

As the platoon moves on to try to reach the German lines, they come upon some Red Army forces, including a women's military unit. The platoon takes several women prisoners inside a house. Steiner takes the women's uniforms to disguise some of his men so that they can get through the Russian lines by deception. Being around the women stirs the hormones of some of the men, bringing one German to shout, "This isn't a brothel; this is a war!" Steiner witnesses the death of one badly wounded young Russian woman, but he begins to reestablish some order in his men. While Steiner is outside, one of the women plays up to young Private Dietz, which allows her to get close to him, and she then stabs and kills him. Meanwhile, Zoll (the Nazi) begins roughing up one of the women and he takes her into the stable area for sex. She bites him, ah, not on the ear, and Zoll screams as blood covers his pants. Steiner runs in and then gets the other women prisoners and leaves them alone with Zoll, and they beat him to death.

Back at the German lines, the Red Army is pounding the German forces, and Colonel Brandt arranges to have the more intellectual Captain Kiesel evacuated. Kiesel is Brandt's adjutant and he doesn't want to leave, even as he and Brandt discuss his evacuation as shells explode, machine guns rattle and men fall dead all over. Brandt tells him, "For many of us Germans, the exterminator is long overdue, but I've decided you are worth saving." While Kiesel says there are better people than himself, Colonel Brandt explains that when Germany is defeated, the "new" Germany that develops will need men like him. Kiesel goes to be evacuated.

When Steiner and his men get to the Russian lines, he has those dressed in Red Army uniforms hold guns on those still in German uniforms, as if they are marching German prisoners off. Corporal Krüger, one of those in Russian uniform, is fluent in Russian and he speaks to a small party of Russian troops who stops them. All goes well at first, but the Russians see those dressed in Red Army uniforms are wearing German boots. A firefight breaks out and the Germans kill the Red Army soldiers. Steiner and his men make it to the front line, and Steiner has a radio message sent to the German front line telling them he will be coming in with several Russian prisoners, so there should be no shooting. He will use the password "demarcation." Stransky and Triebig are informed of the message, and both men see their chance to be rid of Steiner. Stransky tells Triebig that no one could ever question him if he fired on a number of men dressed in Russian uniforms in the early morning light. He then orders Triebig to "take care of it," and he reminds Triebig that his connections could get Triebig transferred to quiet Biarritz in southwestern France. Triebig goes to the front line, but he doesn't tell the men stationed there about the message or password. Steiner and his men begin to approach the German positions with those in Red Army uniforms with hands behind their heads. The men shout "demarcation" and "Steiner is coming in." Russian artillery fire picks up and Russian troops can be seen, which only confuses the situation even more, as the German troops at the defensive position believe a trick is afoot. The German troops open fire on Steiner's men, and the desperate cries of the men cannot be heard over all of the firing. Triebig urges the troops to keep firing as he shouts, "It's a trick!" Finally Steiner can be seen and the German troops know there has been a terrible mistake that has taken the lives of all but two of Steiner's men. Triebig tries to get away, but Steiner follows after him and shoots him repeatedly, and when Triebig still shows life, Steiner pumps more bullets into him.

The Red Army attacks as Steiner sets off to find Stransky, who is panicked by the German collapse as he tries to get out per the order for him to be transferred to Paris. As Steiner makes his way to Stransky's office, Red Army men are breaking through everywhere and artillery shells are crashing all over. He finds Stransky putting on his coat and he gets a gun and hands it to Stransky. At first Stransky aims it at Steiner's back, but he then says he'll go with Steiner, and show him "how a Prussian officer can fight." Steiner answers, "Then I'll show you where the Iron Crosses grow." When they go outside the German troops have broken and are fleeing. Colonel Brandt comes out with a gun and tries to halt the rout, leading the German troops to stand their ground as the intense shelling continues. Once again the German children's song "Hänschen Klein" begins playing in the background as Steiner and Stransky try to get away from the advancing Red Army soldiers. Stransky stops to reload, as Steiner calls to him to get going, but Stransky is unnerved and is unfamiliar with how to even reload his gun. Steiner begins to laugh hysterically, which continues until real still photos of Germans killing civilians pop onto the screen, followed by a still photo from Vietnam, then what "appears" to be a photo from the Middle East and one from Africa (remember this film is from 1977, when the Vietnam War was still fresh in the minds of many and when tensions in the Middle East were very high, and areas of Africa were engaged in warfare.) Steiner's laughter starts again and a real photo of children behind barbed wire is shown. Steiner's laughter stops with him saying, "Oh shit," but what it means is unclear. Is it just exasperation? Is he looking at Red Army troops closing in on him and he's about to die? German writer Bertolt Brecht's quote comes onto the screen as the final touch, "Don't rejoice in his defeat, you men. For though the world stood up and stopped the bastard, the bitch that bore him is in heat again." 

As I mentioned earlier, in my opinion, this is one of the greatest war films ever made, but I say that from the "big picture" viewpoint, as the main plot is not really believable to me. The idea that a colonel in any army couldn't use testimony from numerous men in a military unit, and the spoken testimony of someone like Steiner against Stransky's lying claim of leading an attack, just doesn't hold water with me. Likewise with Triebig's lying to help Stransky. Later too, near the end, as Stransky is hurrying to get out so he can head to Paris, Colonel Brandt tells him on the telephone that the situation is bad and he needs him to stay, but Stransky, a captain, says he has his orders to leave for Paris. Again, this just doesn't fit; however, I forgive the movie its shortcomings. Also the ending has gotten criticism, as Steiner kills Triebig, Stransky's underling, but he allows Stransky to live, although we don't know for certain what happens to either Stransky or Steiner. Maybe those down the chain pay the price, while those above don't necessarily pay? I don't know.    

* The Iron Cross (German: Eisernes Kreuz) was a decoration awarded for some special military action, including bravery, or in very rare cases, for some special non combat service to the German military. It was awarded in second class and in first class.

** The Einsatzgruppen (plural), literally "action groups," were execution units that followed behind the German forces in the Soviet Union, killing Russian Jews and other civilians. They were murderers! There were other such units earlier in the war too. 

The photo is of the Hen's Tooth DVD

 WORD HISTORY:
Medal-This word, distantly related to "mid" and "middle," and more closely related to "medial" and "medium," goes back to Indo European "medhyos," which had the notion, "amidst, in the middle, between two points." This gave Latin "medius," meaning, "middle," which then produced "medialis," meaning "in or of the middle;" thus also, "average," and this produced "medialia," one of its plural forms, which meant "halves, small halves." This then became "medalia," which meant "half the amount of a denarius" (a Roman coin), and this was rendered in Italian as "medaglia," and then borrowed by French as "médaille." English borrowed the word in the latter part of the 1500s. The verb form, meaning "to manufacture medals," developed in the mid 1800s in English, and the verb form, meaning "to win a medal in an event, often in the Olympics," developed in the 20th Century.

"A Bridge Too Far" and History

Some information added 12-1-21 to clarify performers roles in the film or to give background to their acting profession.  

The movie "A Bridge Too Far" is based on a non-fiction book of the same name about "Operation Market Garden," a combined Allied airborne and ground attack against German forces in Holland. The subject was long a sore spot for many British, American and Polish political and military leaders, as the operation failed at great loss of life. The book was written by Cornelius Ryan,* published in 1974 by Simon and Schuster in New York. The movie, directed by Richard Attenborough, was released in 1977 by United Artists, and it features a long list of international stars, including, in no particular order: Laurence Olivier (as Dutchman Dr. Spaander), Michael Caine (as British Lt. Colonel Vandeleur), Sean Connery (as British Major General Urquhart), Gene Hackman (as Polish Major General Stanislaw Sosabowski), Robert Redford (as Major Julian Cook, U.S. 82nd Airborne Division), Edward Fox (British Lt. General Horrocks), commander, British XXX. Corps), Anthony Hopkins (as British Lt. Colonel John Frost, a battalion commander in the British 1st Airborne Division), Ryan O'Neal (U.S. Brigadier General Gavin, U.S. 82nd Airborne Division), Hardy Krüger (see further below), Maximilian Schell (see further below), Liv Ullmann (as Dutch housewife Kate ter Horst), James Caan (as U.S. Staff Sergeant Dohun, U.S. 101st Airborne Division), Wolfgang Preiss (see further below), Dirk Bogarde (as British Lt. General Browning, commander of the British Airborne Corps), Elliott Gould (as Colonel Stout, regimental commander with the U.S. 101st Airborne Division) and many others.

Historically, the Allies had invaded France on June 6, 1944, D-Day, by landing a large force in Normandy. While the landing operation was successful, the advance inland was slow to proceed due to difficult terrain and tough German resistance until late July and early August, when a breakout was accomplished. The Allies rolled across France and into Belgium, as disorganized German forces fled into Holland. The Allied advance had been so swift, they began to experience supply shortages, which forced a slowdown in the advance by September.** This respite allowed the Germans to regain their footing somewhat, although the staggering losses suffered by the Germans during the summer made an end to the war still seem possible before the end of the year.*** In an effort to launch a major drive into the heart of Germany, British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery had plans drawn up for a large scale airborne operation to drop and glider land thousands of troops behind German lines in Holland to capture key bridges, near Eindhoven, at Grave, at Nijmegen, and at Arnhem, to be held until a simultaneous ground offensive advancing through Holland could reach each bridge and advance. If the operation were successful, the Allies would be able to go around the German defensive line known to the Allies as the "Siegfried Line" (German: "der Westwall," "the West Wall") and they would have a direct route into the Ruhr industrial area of Germany, which lay not far away. With the industries of the Ruhr out of operation, the Germans would not be able to continue the war for long.

The German situation and perspective in the movie is presented through various scenes with Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, Field Marshal Walther Model, and SS General Willi Bittrich, as well as an SS General Ludwig (a made up character based on real SS General Heinz Harmel).**** The scenes are in German with English subtitles, so if you are learning German, or if you need to brush up a little, these will give you a great way to do so. Von Rundstedt was known for his snide remarks, and the movie accurately displays this a couple of times, as when a staff officer, who had just related the terrible state of the German forces to the field marshal, asks him what they should do, and von Rundstedt answers, "Quite simply, end the war" ("Ganz einfach, den Krieg beenden"). When the officer later explains to von Rundstedt that the Allies must have supply problems and that he can't otherwise imagine why they haven't advanced into Holland, the field marshal smiles and replies, "I believe the reason is, we're retreating a lot faster than they can advance" ("Ich glaube der Grund ist, dass wir uns viel schneller zurückziehen, als sie vorrücken können").

The movie, available on DVD, briefly, but essentially, addresses this overall military situation and the possibilities for a stunning Allied victory. It also addresses the desire by some military leaders for the operation to go forward, in spite of some intelligence reports indicating German armored forces being in the area. The reports are dismissed, but the lightly armed Allied paratroopers later are vulnerable to these German forces. The Allied ground offensive encounters problems, slowing the advance, and they are "the cavalry, riding to the rescue of the paratroop forces," to use a frequent American "Western" movie plot. The paratroops desperately hold on against mounting German forces, but with mounting casualties.

Historically, the Germans had withdrawn the remnants of two badly mauled Waffen SS Panzer divisions to the Arnhem area prior to their being reequipped. While a number of the divisional units had already shipped out, enough remained to form a striking force against the Allied paratroopers, which, by their very nature, had no heavy combat gear, as once landed, paratroopers are light infantry. Also historically, another thing was, the German commanders threw together any and all small units they could get their hands on to oppose the Allied paratroops and sent them into combat. With Germany not far away, various replacement and training units were quickly dispatched to Holland to help contain and smash the Allied landings. In the end, the operation failed, even though the early objectives were reached, although more slowly than hoped, but the Arnhem bridge remained in German hands,*****  and thousands of Allied paratroops died or were captured, as the "rescuing cavalry" couldn't make it to them quickly enough, if at all. The movie depicts all of this, but with lots of individual stories about British, American and Polish soldiers, as well as some Dutch civilians, including a Dutch father and son who relay information to Allied intelligence about German forces.****** The movie is very much based on fact, but it is not a documentary, and there are liberties taken for the flow of the film and to maintain interest.
        
The film also points out the mistakes made by the Allies, as the rushed operation had errors in the details. In the end, Field Marshal Montgomery sends word that he's pleased with the results, but this was a positive spin put onto a virtual disaster, similar to the oft quoted line by a doctor, "The operation was a success, but the patient died," as the Allies suffered about 17,000 casualties in just one week, and German morale was boosted by their near decimation of the Allied airborne force. It would take the Allies another six months to really move decisively into Germany. World War Two saw the first large scale use of airborne forces, with their advantages and their limitations much in evidence. Earlier in the war, the Germans used a major airborne operation to capture the Greek island of Crete. While successful, their casualties were high, and thereafter Hitler never again used his paratroops (German: "Fallschirmjäger") for such a large operation, most often committing these well trained men to ground fighting, and only to limited jump operations. In fact, as the war went on, fewer and fewer German "paratroops" were actually even trained to make jumps.  

I've read the book, which is very good, and the movie is well worth seeing, especially if you like war movies. There is the human side to the movie too, including the Dutch civilian population, and one American soldier who goes through hell to get his wounded buddy to a field hospital, where he can't get the doctor to examine his friend (I won't disclose the outcome). Of course, courage is on display in various instances, and there is a brave, but light touch to one scene, where the surrounded, badly outnumbered and outgunned British paratroopers are told by an English speaking German officer that "my general is willing to discuss surrender." The British officer replies that, "We don't have the facilities to take all of you Germans prisoner, so we have to reject the offer." The confused German officer walks away.

* Cornelius Ryan was an Irish journalist and author who later moved to the United States and worked as a journalist for some magazines, the most prominent of which was "TIME."

** The Allies had to transport supplies hundreds of miles from Normandy across France to reach their forces in eastern France and in Belgium.

*** The Allied belief that the war could soon be over was not without justification, as the Germans had suffered some 550,000 to 650,000 casualties (killed, wounded, missing/captured) in western Europe from the time of D-Day until September (including southern France, where another Allied invasion took place along the Mediterranean coast in August). Estimates are difficult, but perhaps 20,000 casualties had been taken in Italy in the early summer, where Rome fell on June 4, 1944, and German forces withdrew to northern Italy. In Russia, the southern sector of the front had been pummeled, and Rumania, a German ally, had surrendered and changed sides in August, with German losses of about 250,000 killed, wounded and missing/captured. In the north, Finland, a German ally, battered by Soviet attacks, agreed to a ceasefire in early September, in preparation for the signing of a formal armistice about two weeks later. In central Russia, a huge Soviet offensive in late June brought the virtual destruction of an entire German army group (Army Group Center), and casualties of at least 350,000 killed, wounded and missing/captured (figures vary) in just six weeks time.

**** Von Rundstedt is played by long time German actor Wolfgang Preiss, who played many a German general or other German officer in World War Two movies during his extensive career. SS General Willi Bittrich is played by well known actor Maximilian Schell, who was born in Vienna, but then moved to Zurich, Switzerland with his family because of the Nazis. He was the brother of actress Maria Schell and he won an Academy Award for his performance in "Judgment at Nuremberg," and he was nominated for Academy Awards in other films. Field Marshal Model is played by Austrian actor Walter Kohut, who was married to Immy Schell, another sister of Maximilian Schell. Kohut died just about three years after "A Bridge Too Far" from a circulatory disorder at the age of 52. SS General Ludwig is played by German actor Hardy Krüger (usually as 'Kruger' in English), who is known for a number of non-German films like "Hatari," with John Wayne and "The Secret of San Vittorio," with Anthony Quinn. 

***** As the Arnhem bridge didn't fall to the Allies, thus, "a bridge too far," a comment one British general made about the operation.

****** As with the German scenes, the Dutch scenes are in Dutch, with English subtitles, so if you are learning Dutch, this would be good practice.

Photo from MGM Home Entertainment DVD release, 1998

WORD HISTORY:
Grim-This word goes back to Indo European "ghrem," which had the meaning "to thunder," but also the figurative "to be angry." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "grimmaz," which meant "furious, fierce," and by extension, "gloomy." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "grimm," which meant "fierce, dire, severe, with pain."  This then became "grim," where it has remained for many centuries. The modern meanings of "gloomy (for outlook), downcast (for demeanor), evil looking (for appearance), fierce (for determination), all generally trace back to the old meanings. Old English also had a noun form, "grima," which meant "warrior mask," which "seemingly" led to an association with death, and the further meaning "ghostly figure," and that association with death and ghostly figure most certainly had influence on the development of the term "the Grim Reaper" in the 1800s. Forms in the other Germanic languages: German has the noun "Grimm" (intense feeling of anger, fury) and the adjective "grimmig" (fierce, severe, grim, ferocious); Dutch has "grimmig" (harsh, unpleasant, sullen, gloomy of outlook); Danish has "grim" (ugly); Icelandic "grimmur" (fierce, cruel);   Swedish has "grym" (cruel, wild, fierce); Frisian and Low German Saxon once had "grim," but no longer use the word, and I could not find a form in Norwegian.

"The Longest Day" Very Good D-Day Movie

"The Longest Day" is a  star-studded movie* from the early 1960s available on DVD. The movie is "based" on a historical book of the same name by Irish historian Cornelius Ryan.** Rather than go with a straightforward retelling of the D-Day operation, Ryan chose to use the individual stories of some of the real people involved, on both sides, to tell the overall story of the great invasion of June 6, 1944. The movie was filmed in black and white, although I'm not really certain if that was a money saving measure for the expensive film, or if it was purposely done to give the movie a sort of newsreel feel or to make it more in line with films of the World War Two era, when color films were still pretty rare.

"The Longest Day" was filmed in the manner of the book, with individual stories used to paint a bigger picture. Remember, this is not truly a documentary, although there is most certainly a basis in fact to many of the scenes, but as with all such movies, scriptwriters consolidate real historical events into more limited numbers of scenes to get their point across. Several military participants from the real D-Day battle, both Allied and German, were consulted about the movie's filming.*** The movie only deals with the build up to the D-Day landings, including Eisenhower's decision to go ahead with the invasion, and then the landings themselves on that first day, including the glider landings and paratroop drops made in the overnight hours by the Allies. Scenes go back and forth from action scenes to scenes at German defensive positions and German headquarters, to show how the German commanders reacted to the initial reports of Allied actions.**** All in all, it is a pretty impressive film and well worth seeing.

* The cast includes for example: John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton, Sean Connery, Eddie Albert, Peter Lawford, Sal Mineo, Kenneth More, Robert Ryan, Gert Fröbe, Curd Jürgens and many, many more, including a number of French actors/actresses, and several German actors, known for their war movie roles, although not likely known to the general world public by name. NOTE: German actor Gert Fröbe became internationally known for his role in the James Bond movie, "Goldfinger." Fröbe's acting career was controversial for a time, as he had been a member of the Nazi Party during much of the 1930s, although he then seemingly halted participation in party activities before the war. A Jewish family praised him for his help in saving them from the clutches of the Gestapo. German actor Curd Jürgens was locked up by the Nazis during the war for his anti-Nazi views. For more on Fröbe, see: http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/08/the-james-bond-movie-goldfinger-was-once-banned-in-israel/

** The title came from a quote by German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who, about six weeks prior to the Allied invasion, had told his aide that the decisive battle would be "the longest day" for the Allies and for Germany ("Für die Alliierten und für Deutschland wird es der längste Tag sein").

*** There were still criticisms of the movie; for instance, one being that the dummy paratroops dropped to distract the Germans were too sophisticated in the movie as compared to the real dummies used by the Allies. Also, the movie strongly "suggests" that the Germans only used two aircraft to attack the Allies on D-Day, which was untrue, but the fact was, the Luftwaffe was limited in its use during the invasion. The most stinging criticism has been that Canadian forces are not even shown in the movie!

**** For those learning German or wanting to test their German skills, the German scenes are all realistically done in German (never fear, there are English subtitles), with these German scenes directed by Austrian actor-director Bernhard Wicki, who was imprisoned for a time by the Nazis in Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin. There are also some French language scenes, also with subtitles.

WORD HISTORY:
Two (Twain)-This common word goes back to Indo European "dwoh/dwah/duwo," which meant "two." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "twaina," with the same meaning. This gave Old English "twegan," which was an old form (masculine, in grammar terms) of "two." This later became "tweyne" (the "e" blended with the "g" to produce the "ai" sound), before the modern version "twain." "Twegan's" feminine and neuter forms (again, feminine and neuter in grammar) was "twa," which then became "two" (the "w" was pronounced), where it has remained for many centuries, although the pronunciation later changed to "too/tu."  Low German, Dutch and Frisian once had "twene," Old High German had "zwene," and Old Norse had "tveir," all corresponding to English "twain." Low German and Dutch have "twee," German has "zwei" and "zwo," West Frisian has "twa," Saterland Frisian (a surviving form of East Frisian in northern Germany) has "two," Danish and Norwegian have "to," Icelandic has "tvö," and Swedish has "twå," all corresponding to English "two."

Stalingrad Movie Depicts Horror Of War, Part Two, The Movie

There have been a number of movies over the years about the titanic struggle at Stalingrad from late summer 1942 until early February 1943. The movie I'm referring to here is the German produced film of 1992, released in early 1993. The film is in German, but is available with English subtitles. It is available on DVD, released by Fox Lorber Home Video, it was directed by Joseph Vilsmaier. I want to be sure to say that the movie graphically depicts war, and if you are the least bit squeamish, you probably should not see it. Also, this is NOT a total scene by scene presentation of the movie, but rather some select scenes and a more general presentation, and there is much more to the movie than what I'll cover here. Remember, this is a movie based on the real battle of Stalingrad, but it is not a documentary; however, you can refer to "Part One" of this article for the general historical info.

This anti-war movie follows a platoon of German specialist combat engineers, known as "Sturmpioniere" ("storm" or "assault engineers"), who were trained for close combat and for the use of explosives, and who were equipped with a high proportion of automatic weapons (remember, this was World War Two, when such weapons were not as common as today). The movie opens with the men enjoying leave in Italy, after serving in North Africa, where their platoon commander was wounded. Their new commander is from the German nobility, as his name is "von" Witzland (played by Thomas Kretschmann); the "von" indicating the tie to the nobility. He has not seen combat, and one of the experienced men, known as "Rollo" (played by Jochen Nickel) makes a bet with him, that he will outlive the new lieutenant. As one of the other men points out, if one lives and one dies, how will the survivor collect from a dead man? Anyway, the lieutenant is idealistic, but even many of the more experienced men think they will be able to deal with the Russians handily. The brutality of the Eastern Front is seen immediately upon their arrival in Stalingrad, when they witness Russian POWs being beaten, kicked and bludgeoned, as they are marched off.* When the lieutenant protests the brutal treatment of the POWs to a nearby captain, the captain laughs at him.

The platoon is put into a special battalion with other assault engineers, and before going into battle, they attend a religious service, where the chaplain tells them what a duty it is to defend western civilization and Christian values against the "eastern" Bolsheviks, "who have no time for God." Of course the men of this platoon have just seen the Russian POWs beaten, with one being beaten to death and left lying in a mud puddle.

Off the battalion goes to take a large factory complex, which they do with heavy casualties. During the fighting inside the factory, one soldier (played by Sebastian Rudolph) is told to shoot anything that moves, but when he does so, it turns out to be his friend, who dies. The young man is distraught for killing his own friend, but when the fighting calms down, one of the more experienced guys (played by Dominique Horwitz) befriends him and cheers him up. In this calmer phase, we also learn that the battalion started the attack to take the factory with 400 men, but more than 300 became casualties. The radio man for the platoon (played by Heinz Emigholz) puts a speaker up so the men can hear a speech by Hitler in Munich; a speech in which Hitler mentions the Stalingrad fighting.** The disconnect of the speech and the cheering Nazis with the actual soldiers doing the fighting is evident by the looks on the faces of the men, and a comment or two. Fighting erupts again, as Soviet troops are right across the street in another building. The radioman is seriously wounded and the men carry him to a temporary hospital full of bloody, wounded troops, but staffed by only a few medical personnel. When one of the men points a gun at a medical attendant in an effort to get the radioman treatment, a captain (the same captain who laughed at the lieutenant's complaint about the treatment of POWs) has all the men arrested. We learn during this same time that the Soviets have launched a major offensive which is about to cut off the entire force in Stalingrad. As punishment for the hospital incident, the men are put into a "penal battalion" ("German: "Strafbataillon"), with the dangerous task of clearing minefields from the snow and ice. They are given a chance to "redeem" themselves by defending a sector where a Soviet attack is expected very soon. The men dig into the snow, and sure enough, here come Russian tanks, covered with Red Army infantry riding along. The battle scene is absolutely gory, as men are blown apart by shells and bullets from both sides. In the end the Germans halt the Soviets, but there are only a handful of the men left. They return to their camp believing they will get leave (it's the Christmas season ), only to be told that all leaves have been canceled. A German force trying to break through the Soviet lines to free the entrapped army is halted, and the men and the entire army await the inevitable end.

Survival now becomes paramount to some of the men, and three of them, including the now totally disillusioned lieutenant, try to board a plane leaving from the last operating airfield in Stalingrad. To do so, they find dead German soldiers (frozen to death) and remove their "wound tags" (German: Wundzettel), which have the authorized signature of a doctor. The rush of soldiers toward the plane (which turns out to be the last plane to take off from Stalingrad) leaves the men unable to get aboard and the plane departs. The men return to the camp, where their fellow platoon survivors are sheltering from the bitter cold. They hear a plane flying over and several of the men run outside, only to see the plane drop some supplies by parachute. They find some food, as well as useless things like medals. As they enjoy some of the food, who shows up but their nemesis, the captain from previous scenes. He pulls his pistol out and tells them he can have them shot for stealing army supplies. There is an exchange of gunfire and the captain is killed, but so is one of the men; the young man who had earlier accidentally shot his friend inside the factory. Before the captain is shot, he tries to bribe the men by telling them he can give them food and shelter in exchange for his life, but by telling them where this food is, they go there after killing him. They find a well stocked building, complete with heat. So the ruthless captain had been stealing and hoarding food and other supplies all along. Each man now contemplates what he should do. One veteran (played by Sylvester Groth), who had earlier told how his wife and children had reacted to his changed personality when he had gotten leave a year before, puts a gun into his mouth and pulls the trigger (the scene is graphic, so keep that in mind, if you watch the movie). When relating the leave story, the man had told the other men that he was only happy when he returned to his unit on the Eastern Front, and that only then was he "really home."

"Rollo," mentioned earlier, takes the badly wounded and sick battalion commander, also a captain ("Hauptmann," in German), outside to continue the fighting, only to see a long line of German troops, led by a general, throwing down their weapons and raising their hands in surrender. In the freezing weather, the captain dies, and "seemingly" so does "Rollo." The only two men left, which includes the lieutenant, go with a Russian woman, who the "nasty" captain had kept chained to a bed for his private enjoyment, if you get my drift. Just when she thinks she has gotten them through to safety, shots ring out from Soviet troops, killing her. The lieutenant can go no further, and the two men freeze to death amidst the blowing snow.***

* Up to this point, these men had fought the French and British and Commonwealth forces. While all war is awful, there was not the ideological and racial hatred in their prior combat; in fact, Erwin Rommel, the famous German commander in North Africa, wrote a book about the North African war called, "Krieg Ohne Hass" ("War Without Hate").

** As mentioned in "Part One," the movie uses an actual recorded excerpt from the speech Hitler gave that day.

*** There are all kinds of books, articles and documentaries (some of which may cover the entire war or the war in Russia, but have segments on the battle) available about the "Battle of Stalingrad." Check your local library. I did almost all of the historical background part of the article from memory, but that comes from many years of study (literally decades), but I did check a couple of details directly from the movie, as it has some historical info as text in the film, and online at Wikipedia. Naturally, having watched the movie several times over the years, including just about two weeks ago, this provided the info for the synopsis of the movie.

Photo is from the 1998 Fox Lorber DVD

 WORD HISTORY:

Frost-This word, closely related to "freeze," and meaning "coating of ice crystals on something," also, "the process of temperatures causing ice crystals to form," goes back to Indo European "preus," which meant "to freeze, to frost over." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "frustaz," which meant "frost." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "forst/frost," which then just became the latter from the Middle Ages until today. The other Germanic languages have: Standard German and Low German "Frost" (all German nouns are capitalized),  Dutch "vorst," ^ West Frisian "froast," Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish "frost."

^ Note the similarity to one of the two previous English forms, "forst." 

Stalingrad Movie Depicts Horror Of War, Part One, Historical Background

A little historical background: Stalingrad was a massive and famous World War Two battle, which came to symbolize, along with El Alamein in North Africa, the turning point in the war against Hitler and Mussolini. In the summer of 1942, a year after ordering his forces to invade the Soviet Union, Hitler concentrated his forces in the southern part of the Soviet Union in a strategic move to capture the oil fields of the Caucasus region, and to breach the Volga River, thus halting Soviet river traffic northwards. As the summer proceeded, Hitler divided his forces, sending one branch southward to take the oil fields, and keeping the other branch focused on the Volga at the city of Stalingrad.* The Soviets were determined to fight for the city, and German efforts to completely capture it were thwarted in August through October of 1942, bringing a street to street and building to building struggle for the remaining part of the devastated city still in Soviet hands.** In an effort to capture the last part of the city, the Germans sent in combat engineer battalions to try to gain control (the movie deals with a group of these combat engineers).*** As the slow, but brutal fighting took place, the Soviets mustered substantial forces outside the city for an offensive of their own.

With the bulk of his forces in the area tied down in and around Stalingrad, Hitler relied on his allies for forces to protect the flanks of his forces in the immediate Stalingrad area. These Italian, Hungarian and Rumanian troops were largely ill equipped to face the Soviet forces, especially to face Soviet tanks, but Hitler entrusted them with this important mission anyhow, believing the Soviets to be too weak to launch any major offensive operations, although German intelligence had reported Soviet troop concentrations on either side of German forces in the Stalingrad area, an area defended by Rumanian troops. In mid November the Soviets struck. While some Rumanian forces fought hard, the presence of large numbers of Soviet tanks eventually spread panic among their ranks and the front line collapsed. The Soviets raced to the rear of the German forces in the Stalingrad area (their 6th Army), trapping about a quarter of a million German troops, along with some Rumanian and Croatian forces.**** Hitler refused to allow a breakout attempt by the 6th Army, and a relief attack from the south was halted by Soviet resistance and winter weather. Attempts to supply the surrounded forces by air failed to adequately deliver enough supplies to keep the army going and repeated Soviet attacks gradually whittled down the size of the 6th Army. Although forbidden by Hitler to surrender, Colonel General (Generaloberst) Friedrich Paulus, then promoted to Field Marshal by Hitler as the end neared on January 30,***** decided to surrender his remaining 91,000 men to the Soviets in early February 1943. Only about 6000 of these men ever returned to Germany after the war. Prior to that time, the Soviets had attacked the Italians and the Hungarians, inflicting devastating casualties on these German allies, including many thousands killed. After the war, Italian-Soviet diplomatic relations were poor for decades, as the Italians said the Soviets had never given a full accounting for the Italian prisoners they had taken during the Stalingrad battle. "As I recall," the Soviets said the Italian prisoners, unfamiliar with the harsh winter conditions in Russia, had consequently suffered a high death rate in captivity, but the Italians felt the Soviets had mistreated their Italian prisoners, causing their deaths, or had executed many of them. The Rumanians and Hungarians, both under Soviet domination in the postwar era, could not offer any protest about their Soviet held prisoners of war until their communist governments were ousted and they were able to ask questions decades later.

This overall gigantic "Battle of Stalingrad" brought staggering casualties of at least three quarters of a million Axis troops killed, wounded or missing, and at least a million Soviet killed, wounded or missing. In addition, perhaps as many as fifty thousand Soviet civilians died.

* Stalingrad had been known as "Tsaritsyn" under the Tsars and into the early years of Soviet rule, when it was then renamed in honor of Soviet ruler Joseph Stalin. It was renamed "Volgograd," circa 1961, as Soviet leaders tried to distance themselves from Stalin's rule. Stalin had died in 1953.

** German air and artillery bombardment had left many structures in partial to total ruin, but these ruins then provided the remaining Soviet troops with excellent hiding places to ambush German units, slowly bleeding the German forces and leaving their units in a weakened state. The fighting was often confusing for the opposing forces, as later reports indicated examples where German forces would control certain floors of a building, while Soviet forces controlled other floors of the same building.

*** The movie has a scene using an actual preserved recording of Hitler giving a speech to long time Nazi Party members in Munich in November 1942. The movie has the exhausted men, who had just fought to capture a Soviet factory, sitting around and listening to the speech, which had been broadcast on radio all over Germany, and to the troops on the Eastern Front. In the speech, Hitler says he wants to take the remaining part of Soviet held Stalingrad "mit ganz kleinen Stoßtrupps" ( "with very small assault detachments"), in reference to the combat engineers. Some of the men look at each other in astonishment, as they have already suffered high casualties just taking this one factory.

**** Croatia had been established as an independent state, although with foreign policy tied to Italy and Germany, after the defeat of Yugoslavia in 1941. It was a fascist ruled nation which provided some military forces to Germany, although these forces were technically part of the "German" armed forces (Wehrmacht). Another small unit was part of the Italian military. Their other forces remained as part of their own Croatian military to combat insurrection forces in the Croatia-Serbia region, often, but not always, organized by communist leaders, most prominent of whom was Josef Tito, who later became the head of postwar Yugoslavia.

***** Essentially, German general ranks had been copied from the French long ago. Typically the Germanic languages (which includes English) place adjectives before the noun they describe, as in, "the blue car." The Latin based languages, which includes French, typically place adjectives after the noun. In the British and American armies of World War Two, there was the rank of Major General, for instance, but the Germans use the French form, "General Major" (Generalmajor, in German). Neither the British nor American armies had the specific German rank of "Colonel General" (Generaloberst) in World War Two, but it was equivalent to a four-star general in the U.S. Army. Hitler had promoted Paulus to field marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) just a couple of days before the end, with the thought that Paulus would commit suicide, rather than surrender.   

Word History:
Freeze-This word goes back to Indo European "preus," which meant "to freeze, to frost over." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "freusan," as the Indo European "p" often became "f" in Old Germanic. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "freosan," which then became "fresen," before the modern version. The figurative sense, "to remain motionless, to stop in one tracks and remain motionless," may well have developed in Old Germanic and was passed on to a number of its offspring, including English. The noun form meaning, "a period of cold temperatures in which crops freeze," came from the verb. The other Germanic languages have: German "frieren," ^ Low German "fresen," ^^ Dutch "vriezen" West Frisian "frieze," Danish and Norwegian "fryse," Swedish "frysa" and Icelandic "frysta" and "frjósa."

^ Note the change of "s" or "z" to "r," a common change (sound shift) which developed in High German centuries ago, although the "s" sound continued in this case, as Old High German had "friosan;" and it wasn't until later that that sound shift took place. Another example is, English has "I was," but German has "Ich war" (not pronounced like English "war," but rather it rhymes with "far").

^^ Low German, under influence from German (standard German is heavily based on High German), also has "freren," a borrowing with the "r" from standard German. Low German was once the general dialect of northern Germany, but the teaching of standard German in schools has brought a serious decline to Low German, although it still is used, but less than in times past. Low German is very closely related to English, as northern Germany is the ancestral homeland of Anglo-Saxon.

Bridge On The River Kwai Has A Major Lesson

Way back in the late 1950s, I first saw one of the great pictures of film history, "The Bridge On The River Kwai." The film won several Oscars. I was just a kid and my dad had taken us to what was a common place back then, a drive-in movie. The movie was only remotely connected to real history; that being, there had been a bridge built during the war in that part of southeast Asia by the Japanese, who used forced labor of POWs and local civilians, but the film story is otherwise purely fictional.

The film centers around a British engineer unit being held in a Japanese POW camp. The Japanese are building a bridge to help move supplies to their combat forces in Burma. The camp commandant (played by Sessue Hayakawa) has been ordered to have the bridge completed on a strict schedule, so he orders the British officers to help with the construction, an order the British senior officer (played by Alec Guinness) will not follow, as it violates the Geneva Convention, a point of little concern to the Japanese commander. You know how those regulations hamper people from being mean, ruthless, exploitative and nasty; after all, it's dog-eat-dog, survival of the fittest, just ask Donald Trump or the Koch brothers. You can't have a bunch of regulations messing up that philosophy. Anyway, the refusal by the British officer to comply with the commandant's order brings harsh solitary confinement for the officer, but after a battle of wills, the commandant releases the British officer with the understanding that the British will help get the bridge built. The British officer turns into a collaborator, his feelings soothed by his belief that he is keeping his men's morale high, as well as getting his men far better treatment than before. Further, he sees the bridge as a chance to demonstrate that the British engineers are better than their Japanese counterparts, providing a boon to British pride. The fact that he is urging his men to build a bridge to aid and abet the enemy is lost on him, so blinded is he by fanaticism. He becomes so obsessed with building the best bridge possible, you'd think he were in charge of such a job in the heart of London.

Unknown to the British officer, a small group of Allied commandos are nearby as the bridge is about to open and allow passage for the first Japanese supply train. The group's assignment is to blow up the bridge. On the night before the train is to cross, the commandos set explosives in place at the base of the bridge and run the wire to the detonator. When daylight comes, the wire is exposed to view by a drop in the water level. This draws the British officer's attention and he points it out to the Japanese commandant. Together, they go down to the river to investigate. As they draw near to the plunger-type detonator, the commando designated to blow the bridge kills the approaching Japanese officer. This brings cries for help to the Japanese soldiers from the British officer, who still doesn't get it, and this results in the death of the commando by Japanese gunfire, just after he told the British officer he is there on orders to destroy the bridge. Another commando (played by William Holden) tries to get to the plunger, but he too is killed. Now the officer suddenly awakens to the reality of his collaboration as he asks, "What have I done?" If you haven't seen the movie before, you'll have to watch it to find out the ending.*

Fanaticism blinds people, even patriotic people who mean to do right. True nations have people with common goals, who make efforts to work together for the betterment of all, instead of paying heed to fanatical ideologies, with plenty of greed and egomania thrown in.   

* The film, while highly acclaimed, did get some knocks from people in Britain, who felt it disparaged them, as the officer in the movie did collaborate with the enemy. Remember, this movie originally came out not all that long after World War Two, when most war veterans were still very much alive, and when feelings about the war were still very raw. The main thing to remember is, the movie is fiction, and as some former British soldiers from those times noted, any such British officer in real life would have been "taken care of" by British soldiers in the camp themselves. I see the overall theme as being applied to far beyond war or a movie.

Photo is of the 2000 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment DVD release

WORD HISTORY:
Bridge-This noun goes back to Indo European "bhruw," which meant "(wooden) beam," and also "log;" and might actually have been the reverse originally; that is, "log" to "beam." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "brugjon," with the meaning "structure of wood built to allow passage over a gap or waterway." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "brycg," which meant "bridge." Later this became "brigge" before the modern version. Common throughout the other Germanic languages: standard German has "Brück," Low German Saxon has "Brügg(e)," Dutch has "brug," West Frisian has "brêge," Danish, Swedish and Norwegian have "bro," and Icelandic has "brú."

"Patton:" Just A Great Movie

"Patton" is just one of the greatest "personality" pictures ever made, played to the hilt by actor George C. Scott. Scott's portrayal is so intense, I cannot to this day, over forty years after the release of the picture, hear or see something about the real General Patton without thinking of George C. Scott. If I remember correctly, I went to see the movie three times during its original release. The writers worked many of General Patton's own words into the picture,* "salty" language and all, and the movie certainly captures the nutty instability, fanaticism, brilliance, showmanship and ego problems of the famous general's personality. It begins with his command of American troops in North Africa during the last stages of the war there to defeat Rommel. While he sees the German field marshal as a worthy opponent, whose defeat can enhance his own career, he also develops an enduring rivalry with another man of similar ego problems, British General (later Field Marshal) Montgomery, "Monty," during this period of the war. Rommel, played by German actor Karl Michael Vogler, and Montgomery, played by British actor Michael Bates, are two "obsessions" which drive Patton throughout the war.

The writers also took the interesting angle of providing insight into Patton's personality by showing how the German military viewed Patton, and there are numerous scenes at German military headquarters at various points during the war, where top generals try to keep tabs on Patton. Much of their information comes from an army intelligence captain (a fictional character used by the writers) who tells them how Patton is a military historian who believes in reincarnation (which he did). The captain calculates Patton's future moves through this information, such as the invasion of the Italian island of Sicily. Historically, the decision to invade Sicily was made far above Patton's command, by the Allied political leaders, with input from the military, but it was not Patton's decision. If you follow the movie closely enough, it does not claim that Sicily was Patton's decision, but it simply tries to show how the Germans began to obsess over Patton's movements, and how they attributed many major decisions to him, since they saw Patton as the "best commander" the Allies had.

The movie then takes the viewer into the campaign in Sicily, where Patton drives his army to great military exploits, often with great casualties. His reputation is tarnished by his unstable temperament which is put into the spotlight by his slapping of a shell shocked soldier in a hospital. He then threatens to shoot the soldier himself. The Germans think this whole episode is a ruse to cover what they believe is Patton's real mission, the command of the Allied forces assembling for the invasion of German-occupied France. They so respect Patton, they cannot believe his slapping of a soldier would keep the Allies from giving "their best general" the top command. Herein is one of Patton's historical legacies; he fights to free people from the Nazis, yet his love of war and his tactics, ruthless at times, are similar to those of the Nazis. The fact that the German military was so respectful and fearful of Patton has only served Patton's critics as proof of his Nazi-like similarities. That is something you'll have to decide for yourself.

The movie takes the action to France, where Patton, deprived of the top command, is given command of an army that will lead the breakthrough effort in Normandy. The Allied advance has been held in relative check by the Germans, under none other than Field Marshal Rommel. With Montgomery also present in France, Patton and Monty race to see who can get to Germany first and secure a German surrender. Patton's inability to control his temper, and his statements to the press, keeps him in hot water throughout the movie (and in real life), including AFTER the war, when he said the Allies should then have gone to war with Soviet Russia, even rearming the just defeated German troops to do so.

If you have never seen this picture, please do so! If you haven't seen it for years, see it again. It is readily available on DVD. It is a war picture, but it is really about Patton first and foremost, and George C. Scott is unforgettable in the title role. For those learning German or for those wanting to practice their understanding of German, the film has several scenes in German (with English subtitles); likewise, there is a bit of French, too.

* General Omar Bradley, Patton's close associate during the war (sometimes being his subordinate and sometimes his superior), was a consultant for the film, and author Ladislas Farago's book "Patton: Ordeal and Triumph" provided much of the material for the script. Bradley, also a highly successful American commander during World War Two, had a very different personality compared to Patton, and the two, while friends, often clashed over matters. Bradley is portrayed in the movie by Karl Malden, who then went on to star in the television crime and detective drama, "The Streets of San Francisco," during much of the 1970s.  

WORD HISTORY:
General-This word, used as both an adjective and as a noun, goes back to the Indo European root "gen," which meant "produce, offspring." This gave its Latin "offspring" (I couldn't help that) "genus," with the meaning "type, kind, stock, race," a word still used in scientific/botanical lingo. This then gave Latin "generalis," with the meaning "from the overall genus, from the whole." This gave Old French, a heavily Latin-based language, "general," with the same meaning. The word seems to have been borrowed into English in the late 1100s or early 1200s in its adjectival form and still with the meaning "from the overall body or class of something;" that is, "not specific," and we still use that meaning today, as in, for instance, "general store;" that is, "a store that sells a little of everything, not a specialty store." During the 1500s, French used the term "capitaine general" for a military rank for "a captain in charge of a large body of troops," and "general" was still an adjective in this form. French, English and other languages dropped the "capitaine" part, leaving "general," a noun form, for a superior commander. German, too, borrowed the word in the same form, "General," but the pronunciation uses a hard "g."