Historical reference

Question

To what does the phrase “band of brothers” refer?

Answer 1

During the Hundred Years War, the English had achieved a string of victories against France on the European continent. In 1415, the English camped outside the French village of Agincourt and were preparing for a major battle with their enemies. The French severely outnumbered the English, and many Englishmen thought the total destruction of the English army by the French in the upcoming battle was all but assured. In Shakespeare’s telling of the tale, the English leader, King Henry V, stirs his fellow warriors in an exhortation the night before the battle. In one of the most rousing speeches in all of English literature, King Henry assures his countrymen not only that they will win the battle, but also that their victory will live on “from this day to the ending of the world, but we in it shall be remembered; we few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother . . .”

The English did indeed win the Battle of Agincourt partially because of some lucky weather that weighed down the French in their heavier armor and also partially because the English were employing a better technology than their French opponents (the long bow vs. the cross bow).

The 20th century historian, Stephen Ambrose, re-purposed Shakespeare’s phrase, “band of brothers,” to refer to the 101st U.S. Airborne division which was part of the Allied line attacked by the Germans in December 1944 during World War II in what became known as the “Battle of the Bulge.” The Allies had successfully executed the Normandy invasion in June 1944 and had methodically moved their armies eastward across the continent. By the end of 1944, the Allies were camped in Belgium, Luxembourg, and France and were threatening an invasion of Germany itself. The end of the war seemed near at hand.

However, the Germans, seizing on the element of surprise, counterattacked in December 1944 and threatened to overwhelm the defensive positions of the Allies. If the Germans had succeeded in this effort, they would probably have been able to push the Allied line all the way to Antwerp, and might possibly have been able to negotiate a stalemate end to the war rather than the “unconditional surrender” that the Allied leaders had agreed on at Casablanca.

The Germans pressed their advantage against the 101st Airborne on three sides and demanded that the Americans surrender. The embattled 20^th century “band of brothers” sent a one-word answer to the Germans in reply to this demand: “Nuts!”  The 101st Airborne was able to resist the Nazi counterattack with the last-minute arrival of the U.S. Third Army led by General George Patton. This army, which was south of 101st Airborne, had been intending to press eastward into Germany, but turned northward instead to provide relief to their Allied brethren.