Vic Morrow Wooden TSMG Combat!

[jim c 351]

navwings,

Rumor has it that the smallest man in the squad frequently was awarded the BAR.

I Kirbys case he desperately wanted the gun.

Jim C

[jpw43]

And their BAR man was a lefty too!

I never understood why Littlejohn carried a Garand, instead of a BAR.

A guy that size could easily handle a 20 lb BAR.

[2ndArmored]

navwings,

Rumor has it that the smallest man in the squad frequently was awarded the BAR.

I Kirbys case he desperately wanted the gun.

Jim C

 

In 1944, dad was the shortest guy in his squad. He carried the BAR from the day he left England until Uncle Sam took it back after VJ day. Trained only on the M1 .30 and M2 .50, he was told to figure it out. A farm boy and hunter, he quickly learned how to put lead where it was needed.

[reconbob]

Wow. I almost missed this. I too was a COMBAT fan. Maybe 7th grade

for me. I was allowed to watch ONE TV show during the school week and for

me it was COMBAT. I have to admit that re-watching it all these years later

it does not have the same impact and a lot of the "action" looks contrived

and dumb.

Went thru 2 or 3 Mattel Tommybursts with the perforated roll caps that

would feed on the little spiked wheel inside the magazine.

I remember the episode where the BAR man gets killed, and the

replacement is an old guy. Kirby wants the BAR and gets it when the

replacement gets killed.

Its amazing how many of us older guys have such fond memories

of the show, Sgt. Saunders, and Thompsons and here we all are now.

 

Bob

[jim c 351]

Bob,

In the episode that you refer to, it accurate portrays why the BAR man was considered a most valuable soldier in the squad.

The squad is moving up a hill when a MG opens fire on them. Every one in the squad hits the dirt, that is every one except the BAR man.

He charges the enemy MG, wipes it out and dies in the process.

That's also why the life expectancy of a BAR man, once he entered combat , was measured in minutes.

Jim C

Edited June 23, 2021 by jim c 351

[anjong-ni]

I remember a Combat! episode titled "The Tank".

Nobody in the family left the couch for 60 minutes...Phil

[nate129]

I didn't remember the episode Bob mentioned about the BAR man, did some Googling and learned it's named "Far From Brave," Season 1 episode 5:

[mnshooter]

Its amazing how many of us older guys have such fond memories

of the show, Sgt. Saunders, and Thompsons and here we all are now.

 

Bob

Taking absolutely nothing away from the Herculean effort by Tracie in producing his book(s),

I have found myself wishing Combat! and Saunders/Vic Morrow had received more mention,

given the lifelong interest in Thompsons that show had instilled in so many of us "of that age".

[jim c 351]

mnshooter,

And don't forget Eliot Ness,

Jim C

[mnshooter]

mnshooter,

And don't forget Eliot Ness,

Jim C

Absolutely.

Robert Stack was a real Gun Guy, and a National Champion Skeet Shooter, setting two World Records.

He also wrote Shotgunning columns for years in Guns magazine.

Vic Morrow was in The Untouchables S2E11 "The Tommy Karpeles Story", seen here with Joseph "DR NO" Wiseman.

Edited June 27, 2021 by mnshooter

[ranger1385]

I remember a Combat! episode titled "The Tank".

Nobody in the family left the couch for 60 minutes...Phil

Just watched that episode! After reading about the series here, I bought the entire series for like 30 bucks. Cheap entertainment. Beats a LOT of the crap on TV know days.

[navwings]

I have always been amused that Vic M always wore a Garand belt; never a Thompson pouch in sight.

[Oldtrooper]

I have always been amused that Vic M always wore a Garand belt; never a Thompson pouch in sight.

Vic always wore a pistol belt. In the very earliest episodes he did wear a six cell magazine bag. However, he soon discovered that he could carry an endless supply of mags tucked inside his 1941 battle jacket ... Mags that only ran out of ammo when the plot called for it ... The magic of Hollywood.

[jim c 351]

Old trooper,

Besides an unlimited number of XXX mags, that jacket also carried binoculars and hand grenades.

Jim C

[Ron Mills]

As has been mentioned here before, Vic's Thompson jammed a lot. Once in a while during a busy battle scene you'll see him trying to work the actuator to clear a jam, while the rest of the squad keeps firing. I saw that a few times when he was firing #8245. The other Thompson typically used was #4090, the one with the regular size comp as opposed to the "wide open" one (aka blank adaptor) on #8245.

 

Jim c 351: Then there were those maps inside Vic's jacket pocket too...

[colt21a]

Yes the loadable military jacket Have the dvd series seems like everybody else has and music man Mills sent me the combat series log book. a great read.w/o going thru the shows does anybody remember Chip firing a 1911 45 auto in the series.And never once can i remember them picking up a MP-40 if they ran low.RON K.

[Oldtrooper]

Sergeant Saunders combat load, or pretty close ... His .45 mag pouches were always empty.

 

 

 

[Ron Mills]

Yes the loadable military jacket Have the dvd series seems like everybody else has and music man Mills sent me the combat series log book. a great read.w/o going thru the shows does anybody remember Chip firing a 1911 45 auto in the series.And never once can i remember them picking up a MP-40 if they ran low.RON K.

RK: Vic's 1911 is used in Episode 19, Season 3: "More Than a Soldier" with Tommy Sands guesting. The Thompson runs outta ammo around the 3 minute mark, so out comes the 1911 and he starts firing it. You can also see the Thompson jamming before that, less than a minute into the opening scene. Those dang blanks anyhow.

Ron

[colt21a]

Thanks FOR THAT RON.will watch it/Tommy Sands have not heard that name in years Frank Sinatras son in law and performed with him and CLINT WALKER IN NONE BUT THE BRAVE.{ man this freaking new chink k board is a bear}Met him in chicago well over 30 years ago.

 

was a decent movie including greaseguns and carbines.Sinatra did a number of good war flics.in Never So Few they used the m.g.m. guns.Everybody chimed in on this one with good info. wonder who ended up with Saunders 45 auto.?

RON K.

[mnshooter]

Saunders carried an unusual "M1911", as seen in S19E3, and a few appearances in other shows.

It had a top rib and adjustable sight at the extreme rear of the slide; very Gold Cup like, but definitely not a GC.

Never have figured out just what it is.

 

Not the best photo, but here it is.

No external extractor, and some sort of enlarged front bushing; possibly a blank adapter of some sort.

Also shows Vic's short index finger, the reason for always using his middle finger on the trigger.

Edited July 6, 2021 by mnshooter

[DINK]

Possibly a Star or Llama 1911 clone. I dimly recall that Hollywood had a hell of a time getting 1911s to work with blanks back then, but for some reason the Spanish copies were easier to adapt. I somehow remember Richard Basehart holding one with a locked-back slide in an episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea or something.

[gijive]

Saunders carried an unusual "M1911", as seen in S19E3, and a few appearances in other shows.

It had a top rib and adjustable sight at the extreme rear of the slide; very Gold Cup like, but definitely not a GC.

Never have figured out just what it is.

 

Not the best photo, but here it is.

No external extractor, and some sort of enlarged front bushing; possibly a blank adapter of some sort.

Also shows Vic's short index finger, the reason for always using his middle finger on the trigger.

Marc,

 

I don't have access right now to some publicity stills from "Hear No Evil", where Saunders is temporarily deaf. There are some close up stills of him holding the 1911 pistol, which I believe is actually a 9mm pistol adapted for blanks, based on the muzzle diameter. It has the adjustable rear sight. Maybe it is a Gold Cup series pistol, apparently they were introduced in the late 1950's. I believe in one of the photos you can see the round emblem with the Colt Trademark "Horse" on the grip. I'll check my photos when i get home in a few days and make another post on this topic.

Edited July 6, 2021 by gijive

[DZelenka]

Yes the loadable military jacket Have the dvd series seems like everybody else has and music man Mills sent me the combat series log book. a great read.w/o going thru the shows does anybody remember Chip firing a 1911 45 auto in the series.And never once can i remember them picking up a MP-40 if they ran low.RON K.

There was one episode about a country boy who turned out to be an odd but effective soldier. He uses a captured MP40 if I recall correctly.

[Mk VII]

I remember the very smallest guy in our platoon - Chambers - getting the very heaviest weapon - the Charlie G.

[mnshooter]

Here's a screen grab from "Hear No Evil", showing Saunder's 1911.

A German grenade lands close, and makes Saunder's deaf for most of the show.

Looking forward to seeing the still photos.

If there is ever a Trivial Pursuit -"Combat Edition", board members here would run the entire card set.

Edited July 6, 2021 by mnshooter