While seeing the various members of Saunders' squad get injured on Combat is less common than you'd think, seeing Saunders himself get wounded is even more rare. The episode Barrage is a good example of how Saunders has to use his wits to survive after he's been separated from his men. In this episode, Saunders splits up with the others in order to try and tackle a German machine gun position with another squad member. The attack fails and leaves the squad member dead, and Saunders is hit in the leg with a bullet as well. He manages to avoid detection from the germans by hiding in a bush for several hours. When night comes, he makes his way to a cave, where he is discovered by a german soldier named Hans (Alf Kjellin), who heals his leg. Saunders wonders why Hans didn't take him back to his own squad in order to make a prisoner out of him, and comes to the conclusion it's because Hans is a deserter who has abandoned his comrades on purpose. Saunders tries to reach for his Tommy gun, but Hans is expecting this move and threatens to kill him. Saunders tells Hans he knows he's a deserter and all he has to do to get him killed is yell out to the germans nearby. The two men now understand they are each other's prisoners. Later, the sergeant of Hans' squad arrives in the cave, and Hans lies, saying he captured Saunders. The sergeant wants to know the position of American artillery nearby, but Saunders doesn't break. The sergeant beats Saunders, and Hans tells him in English to just say something so that he can lie to his sergeant about it being legitimate information. Saunders says the lyrics to Mary Had a Little Lamb, and the sergeant backs off. Some time after, an artillery bombardment causes rocks and debris to fall onto the entrance of the cave, trapping everyone inside. As Saunders and Hans are ordered to clear the way, they decide to make their move. Hans and Saunders attack the two other germans, knocking them over and taking their weapons. Lieutenant Hanley then comes to the cave and rescues Saunders and Hans. The episode ends with the two laying on beds in a field hospital, and Hans thanks Saunders for teaching him the courage needed to take a stand. I thought this episode was ok. The plot is a little bit too simple, and 90% of the episode takes place in the cave, but I did like seeing how Hans realizes that he has more in common with Saunders than he thinks. Many german soldiers during the war didn't have any affinity for Hitler, so they sometimes tried to run away from their units or even defect. The episode doesn't say what happens to Hans afterwards, but since he is in the field hospital with Saunders at the end, it's safe to assume he turned his back on Nazism. I just wish the rest of the squad was present for more than 2 minutes of screen time.
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