Combat! The Counterattack

by Franklin M. Davis Jr.

Genres: Historical Fiction, War, Childrens, World War II, Military Fiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1964

Reviews

[Phoebe Hinkle]

I always look for books at thrift stores or used bookstores when I'm on vacation. While visiting family in Arizona, I went to a used bookstore, and this was the first thing I saw when I walked in. The lady at the counter was laughing because I RAN over and snatched it off the shelf.

I didn't expect great things, and I got pretty much what I expected. Basically, it reads like an average C! episode, lol. 😆 The squad finds and orphaned kid and lets him hang out with them - typical plotline that the scriptwriters seemed to LOVE (and I don't). The conflict between the squad and Saunders was frustrating because that's not how they're supposed to act! They're a found family unit, they don't argue like that! 😠 Also, it was pretty clear the author didn't actually watch the show - Nelson (also called Billy in the show) is NOT muscular and blond, Littlejohn isn't the BAR gunner, Kirby is definitely NOT a fresh-faced kid with a button nose, and Caje doesn't have such a stilted way of speaking. Saunders' dialogue wasn't always consistent with his show personality either.

On the plus side, the actual combat scenes were pretty good! I believe the author fought during WWII, and the experience shows. You've got field tactics, a bazooka firing high explosive and white phosphorus, and other good stuff. And unlike the movies, the bullets are actually SNAPPING and CRACKING, not WHISTLING. MAJOR respect. 🤌🙂‍↕️

So overall, I could write better fanfiction, but it wasn't terrible, and I'll definitely be keeping it. My brother actually wants to read it too, and inevitably we'll end up making private jokes about it. 😁

[Clark]

It's an OK book. The tie-in with the television show is marketing. Some of the characters have the same names and ranks, but there's nothing definitive that makes it the same as the visual media.

The story is too introspective to be really interesting. The squad adopts a local kid as a factotum and Sgt. Saunders instinctively feels the kid's a spy. The resulting inter-squad tension is the main focus of the book. And it's just not that interesting. Throw in weird plot trick of making the squad "airborne" and it's just sort of a dumb book. The writing and editing are good.

[John Peel]

Based on the TV show, this novel takes Sgt. Saunders and his squad on a mission deep into Germany - but are they bringing a spy with them? A young boy, Keeno, shows up, claiming to be a refugee looking for his parents, and his presence creates a rift in the squad. Despite the fact this is supposedly a children's book, it is a layered and enjoyable story, written by a man who was serving in the US Army at the time, thus giving the story authenticity and depth.

[Tim]

I might have read this book back in middle school. It was so much fun to read, possible again. well written with simple story that may be easy to follow with the ending everyone wanted. Bring back great memories of my early reading days.

[John]

When I was a teenager it was t.v. shows like combat, comic books like Sgt Rock and old WW2 movies on t.v. that got me interested in WW2 history.

[Michael P.]

Both the best and worst thing about this book is that it was written by an army vet. Col. Davis, when he wrote the book, later a Major General, brings a big—picture perspective to this story that was ever found in the TV series that spawned it. There is a very strong sense of how the activity of the squad of soldiers is helping to achieve the goal of their battalion. Though this is interesting, it works against the spirit of the series and its narrower focus and so does not serve the readers who want to experience their favorite TV show as a book. Nor does the plot, which eventually comes to involve transport gliders, a story much too big for a TV budget and so feels alien to the series and naturally provides scenes that are wrong for COMBAT!.

The other problem is that Davis mostly gets the squad, which is the focus of the series, wrong. Sgt. Saunders uses a rifle instead of a submachine gun here, until suddenly he has his usual weapon again. The wrong character fires a BAR. The personalities do not fit the names and in the case of Kirby is quite wrong. One wonders of Col. Davis saw the series before writing the book, which was released during the second season.

There are clichés. You know that when a tag-along teenager is introduced and the protagonist rejects him that the kid will redeem himself before the end. You also know when that protagonist sees a pipe running beneath a road that is large, but not large enough for a man to go through, you know exactly who will go through it and how he will become a hero. Obvious writing is bad writing. Col. Davis is also stylistically feeble except when he tends to repeat information in consecutive sentences or spell out what shell and bullets sound like.

The one positive is when Davis gets inside of Sgt. Saunders’s head as he meditates on squad unity and efficiency. This was a part of the show, but sparingly and in dialog. It is the one change to the original material that does not seem to violate it, but expand it. Still, all and all, skip this book and get the DVDs of this sometimes fine TV show.

[Julie]

It's about "Combat!" how can I not love it?

[James]

very good

[Russ Cross]

I read this book many, many years ago. I don't remember anything about it, except that I bought it when it first came out. I was always a big fan of the TV series. I probably loved it.

[Michael Condran]

The first book I ever read!