Posted on 07/02/2018 5:34:42 PM PDT by eastforker
Before he could complete his degree in psychology from Brooklyn College, Brooks was drafted into the Army to fight during World War II. He served as a corporal in the 1104 Engineer Combat Battalion, 78th Infantry Division as a combat engineer. One of his tasks during the war was to defuse land mines, and he also fought in the Battle of the Bulge. It has been reported that when the Germans played propaganda recordings over loudspeakers, Brooks responded by setting up his own sound system and played music by Al Jolson, a Jewish musician
(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...
“That’s Fronkensteen”.
Long before he was spoofing Hitler, he was over there actually trying to kill Hitler.
Mel’s funniest war story
I was a corporal in World War II. One day, I took eight guys out on a scouting mission, and we found a box of German rifles. Nearby, there were telephone polls with the ceramic insulators at the top. So I say, “A buck a piece—whoever can knock off the most insulators gets the pot.” We grab the rifles and start shooting. Somebody from Arkansas—they know how to do it—knocked off all of them and gets the nine bucks. When we get back to our base, sirens are going off. Everybody’s running around. I see my sergeant and ask what’s going on. He says, “Communications have been cut off between the 7th Army and the 26th Corps. All the telephone lines are down. We think there are snipers and we’re getting a patrol together to find them.” Now, I’m a little scared. I know exactly who’s at fault. So I said, “Okay, count me in.” and out I went again. We never did find them.
I wasn’t expecting that! :-)
I was wondering in that story, why they used German guns when Combat Engineers were armed with Garands. Then I recall Daddy saying they fired them as little as possible because every time one was fired it had to be thoroughly cleaned.
The German guns they could just leave.
I saw Mel at one of those special screenings of Young Frankenstein. He spoke for an hour after and told a story about singing Toot Toot Tootsie goodbye to the German troops across the river. He was great.
Emperor Skroob had something for old Schicklgruber
My late father-in-law served in a 105mm field artillery battalion in the 78th “Lightning” Division during WWII. The division was on the very north edge of the Bulge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/78th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)
As a side note, in the original “Battlestar Galactica” TV series, the crew of one of the ships wore the 78th’ patch on their uniforms.
Stanton’s WWII Army Order of Battle shows no 1104 Engineer Combat Battalion existed.
After attending Abraham Lincoln High School for a year, Brooks graduated from Eastern District High School and then spent a year at Brooklyn College as a psychology major before being drafted into the army in 1944.
He was placed in the Army Specialized Training Program and sent to the Virginia Military Institute to be taught skills such as military engineering and later underwent basic training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
He served in the United States Army as a corporal in the 1104 Engineer Combat Battalion, 78th Infantry Division, defusing land mines as the allies advanced into Germany during World War II.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Brooks
Combat veteran of WWII. Yet another reason to love Mel Brooks for all his wonderful politically incorrect films. He knew what the Nazis and their descendants in today’s PC fascist movement are all about.
Geez, I didn’t even know about his combat record.
“Springtime for Hitler” is an undying classic.
Which Engineer Battalion was assigned to the 78th Infantry Division?
The number 1104th jogged my memory. After the war ended, every man in my Father’s battalion was given several poster sized histories of their Battalion.
I just looked at one which gave the history of the 1104th Engineer Combat Group. It contained maybe 25 Battalions, about half were Engineer Combat Battalions. The rest were odds and ends.
My Father’s battalion, The 208th ECB, has a poster listing every man in the Battalion including men lost and transferred.
It sounds like Brooks confused ECB with ECG. He was in the 1104 Engineer Combat Group just like my Father and they were in really heavy combat during the Roer River Crossings. Having numerous bridges blown up and having to start all over.
He recounted that story in an excellent interview Bob Costas conducted one time on his show years ago. Brooks is without a doubt one of the best story tellers there is. His stories of when he was a writer on Your Show of Shows with Sid Caesar are hilarious.
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