Combat! reviews by Jo Davidsmeyer * Episodes rated from 0 to 4 bayonets
Rear Echelon Commandos
(008)
Teleplay by Gene Levitt
Story by Richard Tregaskis
Directed by Robert Altman
First aired 09-Oct-1962 (Episode 2 of Season 1)
SYNOPSIS
On the frontline, the squad receives three new replacements straight from rear echelon
duty in England. They are Gainsborough (a scared, overweight cook), Temple (an equally
scared ex-ballet dancer), and Crown (a radio announcer whose cocky attitude masks his
fear). Saunders reluctantly takes these newcomers on a dangerous recon mission and
discovers that his survival depends on the ingenuity of these misfits.
REVIEW
"Rear Echelon Commandos" is a story about the lessons a soldier must learn to
survive on the front. In the episode, it is the teacher, Sgt. Saunders, who learns the
greatest lesson.
Richard Tregaskis, author of the 1943 book Guadalcanal Diary, developed this
story of a Saunders at the end of his patience with war and with the stupidity of rear
echelon orders. In the sixties, Tresgaskis also wrote two historical war books for
adolescents: From Pearl Harbor to Okinawa and From Casablanca to Berlin.
In "Rear Echelon Commandos," at first Saunders and the squad are amused by the
many inadequacies of the replacements. But the laughter turns to anger when Hanley orders
Saunders to lead these men into danger. When Saunders complains that those men
dont know the difference between a patrol and a picnic, Hanley tells him what he
should have already known. "Then teach them the difference, Sergeant." The
lessons go badly, and Saunders anger subsides into apprehension as he realises his
life depends on these unhappy and unprepared recruits.
Vic Morrow deftly plays the many layers of Saunders and gives a simple believability to
the various revelations that come to him in dealing with three people he probably never
would have known in civilian life. Here is an aspect of Saunders rarely seen in the
series: the defeated Saunders, the soldier who has completely given up. When Saunders is
wounded while his only trained soldier, Kirby, is also wounded and unable to help him, he
surrenders himself to the idea that his situation is hopeless. But his students teach
Saunders the lesson that nothing is ever lost while theres still breath, and that to
survive, you must use the resources you have at hand, even the unlikely abilities of a
ballet-dancer.
John Considine is superb in this episode as the delicate soldier who becomes a hero because
of his past, not in spite of it.
NOTES, ODDITIES, AND BLOOPERS
-
Continuity problems:
- After being shot, Kirby rolls over and in the next shot, the same roll-over is shown.
- Saunders pant leg has blood on it before he is shot.
- This is Jack Hogans second appearance as Kirby, but he is not yet signed as a
regular. He receives guest star billing.
- Littlejohn appears in the beginning of this episode, milking a cow. Saunders calls him
Littlejohn, but Dick Peabody isnt listed in the closing credits.
- Crown appears in a later episode, "Off Limits." He also appears with Temple in
"I Swear by Apollo." Arnold, the actor who plays Crown, also appears in
"The Long Way Home" as Cole, a character similar to Crown.
- Helmet switch Saunders is wearing his trademark camo helmet, but he loses it when
rescuing Kirby. He grabs Kirby's helmet and wears that for the rest of the episode.
CAST
Vic Morrow as Sgt. Saunders
Rick Jason as Lt. Hanley
John Considine as Temple
Arnold Merritt as Crown
Stephen Coit as Gainsborough
Pierre Jalbert as Caje
Jack Hogan as Kirby
Dick Peabody as Littlejohn (uncredited)
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