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In this episode the 157th Infantry Regiment are transferred to Southern France for Operation Dragoon. The army arrive in Cologne expecting resistance but finding none. A man on a bicycle greets them and asks exactly what’s taken them so long. It’s a welcome respite but one that doesn’t last.On the way, the soldiers get acquainted to one of their own called Otaktay while enjoying the pleasures of “the champagne campaign”, which sees the soldiers all enjoying themselves and making the most of these rare luxuries.

Sparks remains guarded, believing the Germans are drawing them into their territory before launching a counter attack. Sparks is given a distinction for his efforts in Anzio and 3 other medals – those 3 obviously being for the only other survivors.

A more pressing concern is the upcoming mission. With their ranks at 50% strength and no reinforcements inbound any time soon, Sparks is forced to lead the men through treacherous winter conditions to the Vosges mountains.

The soldiers get stuck in and dig their foxholes ready for the inevitable conflict to come. It’s just in time too, as mortar blasts come raining in. They’re pinned down, forced to try and withstand this horrific shelling, as Major Sparks does his best to get supplies up to them.

Unfortunately that supply truck is hit by a grenadier and comes under heavy fire. Even worse, a sniper has them pinned down too so there’s no way of leaving.

When Sparks receives radio silence from E Company, he demands they get on the radio and bring in reinforcements – including tanks and artillery.

Under heavy shelling, the German soldiers break through the tree line and start marching toward them. Only, they’re not just any troops – they’re SS. The two separate groups are pinned down with little respite – but that also goes for the Germans too. In a rare sight, we see two SS soldiers huddled together talking of home.

Meanwhile, our US Father and son duo make an impossible decision while in their fox-hole but it’s one that ultimately pays off.

This man makes it back to base and informs the Major exactly what they’re dealing with up by the bridge. With the metal skeletal remains of the previous reinforcements lying in their wake, these 2 SS soldiers watch as Major Sparks heads up to tend to his troops himself.

They can hardly believe their eyes as he runs across the battleground and brings his men to safety. With a finger on the trigger, our Germans decide to show mercy. That mercy comes in the form of Sparks formally surrendering to the German Major.

With their group surrounded and little other choice, Sparks tells the men he’s going to take the General up on his offer. It’s either that or be killed by the SS soldiers that haver them in their line of sight.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWUa6bJY0Ps

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Allied Invasion of Sicily | Animated History

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With 4 platoons of soldiers and several tanks to contend with, the company retreat to the nearby ridge, doing their best to dodge mortar blasts and relentless artillery on the way. With all hope seemingly lost, air support comes in just in time to save them. On the back of this battle, expository text informs us we’re in September 1943. Two soldiers – Garcia and Rosa – are tasked with checking the nearby barn. As they creep inside, they find a young boy cowering in the corner. Given Spigs can speak Italian, they need him to translate. Only, as we soon see he’s actually been captured by Germans. This Nazi captain scoffs at the notion of various races being part of the American army, especially given how things are back in the US. With a gun to his head, Spigs is told to reveal everything he knows about the condition of the bridges. Spigs claims they haven’t been touched, prompting the Nazi to tell him the war for him is over – and this time tomorrow so it shall be for the rest of the platoon when they come riding in. With Spigs gone, the platoon do their best to try and understand this young boy and what happened to him. Apparently his parents are dead and he’s been hiding for the past month. He doesn’t know where the Germans are either…but Gomez is not so sure. He brandishes a knife and it immediately sends the kid reeling across to the fire. Calmly, the Captain tells the men to translate his words to him – which includes his promise that the Germans aren’t coming back. The next day E Company launch a counter-offensive but the Captain winds up hit in battle. With a medic calling in for reinforcements, the plasma isn’t enough as the jeep arrives to take him back to the aid station.In the midst of all this carnage, we cut back to Fort Sill 2 years earlier. With war on the horizon, the depression causes Lieutenant Sparks (not a captain yet!) to re-enlist in a bid to make money. J Company have failed every live fire test and it’s just the ticket he needs to prove himself and jump back in the thick of it. He’s got one week to get them up to scratch.
Lt Danalli is the one in charge for now but that’s about to change. All of these men are segregated thanks to the Indian and Mexicans not liking each other. They’ve been kept in separate cells but Sparks tells them all to get up so he can meet them.Coldfoot is passed out and uncooperative but the rest of the men have their own stories, which they share to their new Lieutenant. Regardless of their history, Sparks briefs them all and tells them they can have a 48 hour pass off campus… but only if they pass the live fire test. It’s enough to get the men outside and start training. Coldfoot was demoted from Corporal which explains his poor attitude, especially given he’s also a proud Indian. Out on the shooting range, the Master Sergeant berates these men until Sparks shows up to stop him. In fact, Coldfoot is even allowed a small measure of revenge as he beats this man withn Sparks’ permission. After gaining the respect of the men, Coldfoot heads out intending to challenge the men inside a segregated bar. Sparks shows up though and stops him. He’s put the man up for Sergeant and, thanks to him, it looks like their luck is about to change. We then cut forward to the Rearguard Hospital Unit in Algeria where Captain Sparks happens to be recovering. He’s told the war is over and he’s got a first-class ticket back home. He’s not the only one either – his fellow Captain has lost his leg and is also heading home. Sparks is conflicted though and isn’t so sure this is the right move. He believes he should be there for his men in Italy. After writing home to his wife Mary, Sparks returns to his men in the chilly wasteland where his platoon happen to be – right on the frontlines. Sparks knuckles down with them and begins joining in the fight.

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In this episode we learn about E Company and who is in it. The men who are in it are Mexican, Native Americans and Cow-boys. Lt Sparks takes command and tells them that race doesn't matter to him and proves to his CO that these men are just as American as white men. Lt Sparks is also very loyal to his men, he wishes to be with them and not elsewhere.

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Captain Sparks returns to his Company and his men are shocked. He returns to his company while it is attacked and truly shows his men that he really cares for them. He and his men then wait at the Via Anziate for 3 weeks while awaiting orders. The Captain tells his men that they are leaving and advance towards Anzio and were attacked by the Germans. They experience a fierce fight and eventually win. In this episode Sparks exhibits his bravery and also shows that he cares more for his Company's survival than his. The Company are then ordered to wait at the 'Caves' until they advance to find a small footbridge. They hide from German troops and then find an irrigation ditch where they are found. A firefight commences and the Company surrender, but then fight they're way through. They take a German Lt and force him to guide them to the bridge.

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In the last episode, Captain Sparks goes AWOL (Absent With Out Leave), which leads to him being ordered (by Military Police) to be arrested. The MP who is ordered to arrest Sparks decides to stay with Sparks and his Company. This truly shows the devotion of his men to the Company. It also shows that Captain Sparks loves his men and believes that they are all equal and that they all deserve a chance.

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In The Mood by Glen Miller, of the Glen Miller Big Band was the most popular song in 1944.
Check out this link to check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CI-0E_jses

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The episode starts off in Aschaffenburg, Germany where a wounded German soldier lives. A few minutes later, the man is arrested by German, Military Police, and dragged out of his home to be hung. The reason he is arrested is because he was ordered to report to reserve battalions to defend Germany, but his doctor orders him to stay and rest because of his state. The soldier is hung and has a sign on him saying: "This is the reward for cowards." Later in the episode, E Company engages in a firefight with a German sniper and machine gunner. A squad is clearing houses when they find a family hiding in the corner. The mother tries to guard the door, indicating something or someone precious. The GIs barge in and find a young teen in a Hitler Jugend uniform, holding a rifle. One GI discards the rifle out the window, trying to show that he will be killed if he is seen in the uniform. Then, Gomez and his squad clear another house, finding nothing. However, Gomez finds a trapdoor and shoots the sniper. Gomez is hit and is trapped in the room until Coldfoot finds him. Gomez unfortunately doesn't make it.

The 157th Regiment continues to Munich, when they encounter Dachau, concentration/death camp. The soldiers are furious when they find the prisoners. Sgt Walsh and his squad find wounded Germans, Sgt Walsh proceeds to shoot them. They find more wounded Germans, about 17, and massacre them, unarmed and heavily wounded. This is what was known as the Cole Yard Incident, which was investigated for a while after.

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Colonel Sparks is goes through an emotional phases, previously losing all of his men, then Gomez. He is ordered to a  Military court where the charges against him are presented.

(Colonel Sparks' men 'were following orders' so Colonel Sparks is technically responsible for the shooting.)

He is then sent to the Chief Military Justice which turns out to be General Paton. Colonel Sparks is bewildered and confused. General Paton tells Sparks about his military career which mounted to 350 days in combat and then tells Sparks that he has over 500 days in combat. Paton tells Sparks to "Go home Felix."

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Most popular car in 1945 was the Volkswagen Beetle.
Link to learn more:https://www.autocar.co.uk/slideshow/most-important-car-year-you-were-born-0#2

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1961 - Jaguar E-Type

Remember all those polls that tried to establish the most important cars of the 20th century? The ones that always put the Mini or E-Type in first place? Well take one look at this picture and you'll instantly see why the Jag is so revered.

Not only does it look sleek and sexy but the E-Type was also phenomenally fast; the earliest 3.8-litre straight-six cars could just about get to 150mph, yet this was still a relatively attainable car thanks to keen pricing. Later came a 4.2-litre engine then a 5.3-litre V12, by which point the E-Type was more of a grand tourer than a sports car.

Honourable mentions for 1961: Citroën Ami, MG Midget, Renault 4, Volvo P1800

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The most important car from the year you were born | Autocar

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Remember all those polls that tried to establish the most important cars of the 20th century? The ones that always put the Mini or E-Type in first place? Well take one look at this picture and you'll instantly see why the Jag is so revered.

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The most popular food in 1943 was Cornmeal Pancakes

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Netflix.com
youtube.com-Animated History
Wikipedia.org
autocar.co.uk
smithsonianmag.com

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https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-history-netflixs-liberator-180976269/

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During World War II, the U.S. Army's 45th Infantry Division, one of the most racially integrated units of the era, went into battle wearing on their shoulders the image of the Thunderbird, a supernatural entity said to protect humans from evil spirits and exact vengeance on their moral enemies. Composed of a disparate collection of Native Americans, Mexican Americans and Southwestern cowboys, the Thunderbird Division became known as one of the hardest-fighting combat groups of the war.

Premiering Veterans Day, a new Netflix series tells the story of this storied division as it fought across Sicily, Italy, France and into Germany. Based on the book by writer Alex Kershaw, " The Liberator " depicts how the Thunderbirds staggered through a withering 500-plus days of combat in less than two years, exacting a terrible toll on Axis troops while suffering nearly 10,500 casualties during the course of the war.

In addition to their impressive war experience, what set the division apart were three of its regiments-the 157th, 179th and 180th, made of young men mostly from Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Oklahoma- that brought Mexican Americans and at least 1,500 Native Americans from 50 tribes together as a fighting unit.

A cross between " Band of Brothers" and A Scanner Darkly, the four-part miniseries uses animation to tell the real-life story of Felix Sparks, a company commander who eventually rose through the division ranks, and the experiences of the fictional Sergeant Samuel Coldfoot and Corporal Able Gomez, two composite stand-ins for the Indigenous and Mexican American soldiers, respectively, who made up the bulk of the Thunderbird Division.

"The two characters are based on several of the people on my book," says Kershaw, author of The Liberator: One World War II Soldier's 500-Day Odyssey From the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau. "When you watch it, a lot of the time you're looking at a Native American and a Mexican American. You're looking at a different racial dimension to World War II."

The series and book highlight the truly gripping and powerful drama of the 45th Division. General George S. Patton regarded the Thunderbirds as "one of the best, if not the best division in the history of American arms."

Guy Prestia, a Pennsylvania native, joined the Thunderbird Division just before it left in 1943 for North Africa, the staging area for the invasion of Sicily. The 45th played an important role in the campaign as part of Patton's Seventh Army, experiencing fierce resistance against the Hermann Göring Division, an elite Nazi Panzer force. Following the conquest of Sicily, Prestia took part in the amphibious landings at Salerno and Anzio on the Italian mainland. The bloody battles took the lives of many men in the Thunderbird Division as they attempted to push inland toward Rome.

In May 1944, a Choctaw sergeant named Van Barfoot singlehandedly took out three machine gun nests and captured 17 German soldiers. Later that same day, Barfoot turned back a counterattack of three Nazi Tiger tanks by destroying the lead vehicle with a bazooka. For these feats, he would be given the Congressional Medal of Honor and was also commissioned as a second lieutenant.

"I wasn't far from him," recalls Prestia, now a spry 98 years old. "That was near Carano in Italy. Barfoot did a lot that day."

A few days later, Salvador J. Lara also displayed bravery that earned him the Medal of Honor. The Mexican American led his rifle squad in several assaults against German strongholds, inflicting large numbers of casualties. In one attack, Lara severely wounded his leg but would not stop until the objective was complete.

Sparks takes center stage in "The Liberator." Awarded the Silver Star for valor, the heroic second lieutenant was one of only two men from his unit to make it back to Allied lines after being cut off by the Germans at Anzio. Later, as captain of E Company in the 157th Infantry Regiment, Sparks' talent for leadership came through in how he treated his Mexican American subordinates. Having grown up in Arizona, Sparks witnessed firsthand the intolerance inflicted on many Latinos.

"He told me they were treated like second-class citizens and there was terrible discrimination," Kershaw says. "Before Sparks went into combat in Salerno, he was worried. Are they going to die for a country that treats them that way? After the first day of battle, he was so proud because they were fantastic soldiers."

After Italy, the 45th Division went to France, where it participated in its fourth amphibious landing of the war at St. Maxime. The Thunderbirds continued to push the Germans back to their own border while liberating numerous towns and cities and breaching the Maginot Line.

The 45th broke through the Siegfried Line and entered Germany in March 1945. The unit fought in the battles of Aschaffenburg and Nuremburg, then was ordered at the end of April to make a bee-line for Berchtesgaden with hopes of capturing Nazi leader Adolf Hitler at his Alpine retreat. Along the way, the unit was ordered to make a detour to a place called Dachau.

"We didn't know what that was," says 95-year-old Dan Dougherty, who joined the Thunderbirds just after the Battle of the Bulge. "We hadn't been told about concentration camps. The only thing they warned us about was lice."

"Going in was the terrible experience," he recalls. "We came along a long train of boxcars, full of emaciated corpses. It just blew everybody away."

It was at Dachau that Sparks, then a lieutenant colonel, truly became a legend to the troops. They already loved him for his compassion and his fierceness as a leader. However, they worshiped him after he stood up to a superior officer for assaulting a soldier.

Major General Henning Linden led the 42nd Division into Dachau at about the same time as Sparks did as commander of 3rd Battalion with the 157th Regiment. When the two units met inside the large camp, Linden tried to take control of the situation-and grab the headlines as liberator. Sparks was having none of it, and told his superior officer that he was under orders to seal off his portion of the concentration camp. The lieutenant colonel then ordered a private to escort the general out of their zone.

"Linden took his riding crop and wacked the private on the helmet," Kershaw says. "Sparks told me it wasn't hard but he snapped. He pulled out his pistol, pointed it at the general's head and said, 'You touch another one of my men and I will (expletive) kill you right here right now.' He was a god to his men after that."

Sparks was eventually relieved of command of his battalion, though by that time, the war was nearly over and the serious fighting was all but finished. Sparks would later go to college under the G.I. Bill and become a lawyer, eventually serving as a Colorado Supreme Court Justice.

Sparks, who died in 2007, was deeply moved by his time with the Thunderbirds. He became an advocate for civil rights and spoke out frequently against racism of any kind. He also stood up to Holocaust deniers and angrily told them what he witnessed.

"I hero-worship this man like no one else from World War II," Kershaw says. "I admire and respect his toughness, his resilience, his spirit, his love, his huge humanity, his compassion. He was a working-class American hero like I have never before in my life come across. He was a kickass warrior who led Mexican Americans, Native Americans, poor cowboys, kids that had nothing. He turned them into an amazing fighting team that defeated Nazism."

Prestia was also impressed by Sparks' concern for others, especially the soldiers under his command. He recalls one incident in France when the battalion commander put his life on the line for his men. Several soldiers had been wounded by the Germans and Sparks went into the line of fire to get them.

"He was in the open," Prestia recalls. "Across the field there was a machine gun nest set up. They had him right in their sights. The German commander told his gunners, 'Don't you fire on that man. Anybody who has that kind of courage to pull his soldiers to safety, you don't shoot anybody like that.'"

Like the Thunderbird, the Liberator himself was a force for good against the spirits of evil.

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The True History of Netflix's 'The Liberator'

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During World War II, the U.S. Army's 45th Infantry Division, one of the most racially integrated units of the era, went into battle wearing on their shoulders the image of the Thunderbird, a supernatural entity said to protect humans from evil spirits and exact vengeance on their moral enemies.

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The Liberator is a unique WW2 show, it isn't cheesy or about D-Day, it is about one of the most culturally Company's in the whole war. Felix Sparks "Tell him those men are the grandsons of the greatest Indian warriors to roam the American Plains, killed mountain lion and hunted buffalo, tell him those men are the descendants of the powerful Mexican Army who defeated the French on Cinco De Mayo, tell him those men they are sons of Texas Rangers who brought the rule of law to killers and thieves." The Liberator is a true story and a forgotten one, about the most unique fighting force of the United States.