I just wanted to know if you all thought the movie "When trumpets fade" (a HBO predecessor to "Band of Brothers") was very historical or not? The CMP recomended it for "history and M-1 Garand action". It was entertaining but I wanted to know the historical perspective on it.

Depends what you mean- It's set in the Hurtgen Forest campaign, which was very real.
Depends if you consider the post-Omaha bits of Saving Private Ryan accurate or not.

I thought it was well done and portrayed the horror and hopelessness of a badly lead and conceived battle. I haven't watched it in a while though.

Tom

From the books that I've read, it seems pretty realistic to me. Certainly the scenery matches up with the photos I've seen (I have links to current photos of the Huertgem forest I'll post later). I wish the movie had been more of a journey thru the entire ordeal of the Huertgen, but maybe someone someday will take on that endeavor.

I agree with you guys. I thought it was certainly well done. It sure does seem like in the movie the operations were doomed to fail. I know that the battle was real. I was just wondering if a lot of the happenings in the movie had any truth behind them. I'm not talking about the main character of course, but the way the situation was presented and all.

Well, from what I've read, they did make push after push,most of the officers above the rank of Captain were in the rear, the Germans pretty much had their artillery pre-sighted, and trying to take the bridge across the river was a bloodbath.

If you want to read a really good account of the Battle, I'd suggest

Has a decent ammount of first hand accounts, as well as tactical info. Well worth the time. Watch "When trumpets fade" while you are reading the book, or afterwards, and the movie will actually seem to be a lot better.