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The technical advisor for this series was Yvonne Cormeau (1909-1997.) She was a member of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) F (for France) Section. Her code name was Annette and she was the wireless operator (pianist) for the Wheelwright Network that was lead by George Starr. The life expectancy for a radio operator in Occupied Europe was around six weeks. Her accuracy and speed on the Morse key were legendary. She was praised by master cryptographer Leo Marks for her skills. In over 400 transmissions, she never made one single mistake. She was one of the fastest senders in the SOE and averaged 18-22 words a minute. Most operators could only send 12 words a minute. In 1941, she was recently widowed with a young daughter. She and her husband were in their home when it was hit in a bombing raid. She was protected when a bath tub flipped on top of her. Her husband was killed. She did lose the baby she was pregnant with. Seeking revenge on some level, she enlisted in the WAAF, Women's Auxiliary Air Force. In a combat area where the life expectancy of a radio operator was six weeks, Yvonne Cormeau survived for thirteen months. She was parachuted into France on the night of August 22, 1943. She was offered a cyanide pill in the event of capture but declined to take one with her. She was armed with a .22 caliber revolver but on the advice of her circuit leader, she didn't carry it. If she got stopped and searched and they found a cyanide pill and a pistol it would be a certain death sentence for her. Depending on the radio system she carried, she would be carrying a device weighing anywhere for eight pounds to 31 pounds. For her own safety, she had to limit her radio transmissions to less then 20 minutes. She would stay in one location no longer then three nights and would often bicycle over 31 miles to get to a safe spot to transmit her signals. Only one agent sent more messages than her, another woman agent named Auguste Floiras. She was nearly captured in June 1944. But she managed to escape, with her radio, despite getting shot in the leg. Her blood stained dress and the briefcase that house her radio are on permanent display at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, England.. She was relived from her duties after the liberation of Paris having been on the ground from August 1943-September 1944. She was awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire), Legion d'honneur, Croix de Guerre, Medaille de la Resistance, the Defence Medal and the 1939-1945 Star. She completed her SOE training with two other women, Yolande Beekman and Noor Inayat Khan. She would be the only one of her class to survive the war.

I very much enjoyed both seasons of Home Fires. I loved the character development over the two seasons. I'm not going to put out any spoilers for those that have not seen this terrific series. The second, and thus far final season, ends with a real cliff hanger that leaves me frustrated. I want to see this series to continue and to pick up from where it left off in September 1940 while England and her allies were neck deep in the Battle of Britain. It's a cruel way to leave us hanging.. We all know how World War II ends. What about the characters we've become invested in? We need some closure.

I'm going through the miniseries for the second time. Both times it was a binge. I totally enjoy this series. I can relate to a lot of what goes on in this series. I do love the fact that they are progressing slowly through the war calendar. It's still early 1940 when we get to Dunkirk in May 1940. Seeing people pull together through adversity as a community and ass a country is a quality that seems to be, or at least feels like, it is fading away. Seeing children off to military service, going in harms way and facing the possibility, and in some cases, not returning are very to me. I love it.

I did a review in the Season 1 Episode 8 chapter that did go over generally what I thought of the series. But the last episode of the run, I felt deserved some attention of it's own so here goes. The first time I saw it, I thought that it was a bunch of bunk. No SOE agent is going to walk into a Nazi HQ and speak to the top man and tell him that she's a British spy and give up several of her code names, in this case "Christine." I thought this to be totally insane and unbelievable. However, after seeing the series the first time, I got highly interested in the SOE F Section. I started researching and getting books. Since then I've acquired over 20 books on the SOE. I was proven dead bang wrong. Not only did a female agent do that, but the code name she used was in fact, "Christine." The same name that Liz Grainger used. SOE agent Krystyna Skarbek was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1908. She had been serving as a spy since 1940. In 1941, she changed her code name to Christine Granville. She met face to face with a member of the police, Captain Albert Schenk, and told him she was a British agent. The Americans were only 37 miles away after their landings on the south coast of France. She stated that one of his prisoners, Francis Cammaerts (Roger) was her husband and that she was the niece of General Bernard Montgomery. The Gestapo had captured Cammaerts and two other SOE agents just days before. She promised that retribution would be swift and merciless if they were killed. She also reminded them of the recent battle and massacre at the Vercors Plateau. In that engagement, 840 French resistance fighters and civilians were murdered. This is also depicted in this last episode as the battle for Le Crest. She also sweetened the deal with a bribe of 2 million Francs. The deal was sealed with the help of the local Gestapo Chief, Max Waem. The three SOE agents were released and taken to safety by Christine Granville. However, the bribed officials did not get to enjoy the money. So by way of reading, I was able to confirm that the battle for the fictionalized Le Crest was based on a real occurrence. Likewise, the bold move of walking into the Gestapo and pretty much saying, "Hello, I'm your local British spy and I have a proposition for you" did in fact happen. The three season run is definitely worth watching.

I had been interested in the SOE for a number of years. I was eager to see this series when I stumbled across it as an Amazon suggestion. Amazon got this choice correct. There are a lot of similarities between the characters in this series and their real life counterparts in the SOE. Colonel Cadogan is Colonel Maurice Buckmaster. Faith Ashley can be none other than Vera Atkins. She was Buckmaster's 2IC within SOE. Liz Grainger is a cross between several real life agents. These include, but are not limited to, Nancy Wake, Violette Szabo, Odette Sansom and a bit of Virginia Hall. All of them have had movies created around them and their exploits. Kit Vanston is probably a bit of Peter Churchill, who would marry Odette Sansom after the war, and Francis Cammaerts (Roger). Matty Firman is loosely based on Christine Granville who was also half Jewish and Noor Inayat Khan. Khan was also considered too timid to be an agent. She ended up being a tiger. After watching all three seasons of this series I was left pondering a bit. Some of what happens in the series would seem to be utter nonsense. However, after seeing the series I started reading more and more books on the Special Operations Executive. In particular the women agents of the SOE F (France) Section. My library now has over 20 books on the SOE. I was stunned to learn that many of the escapades that I swore were nonsense were in fact very much true. Yes, they do take some creative license with events, but buy and large they did happen. Odette Sansom would be one of three SOE women to receive the George Cross. She remains the only woman to receive this award non-posthumously. For the record: "The George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has been equal in stature to the Victoria Cross, the highest military gallantry award. It is awarded "for acts of the greatest heroism or for most conspicuous courage in circumstance of extreme danger." To say that these women were in "extreme danger" is a gross understatement. I would encourage you to watch the series and then pick up some books on the SOE. They are all over Amazon and elsewhere. In particular I would read whatever you can on Vera Atkins, Virginia Hall, Nancy Wake, Odette Sansom (Churchill, Hallowes), Violette Szabo, Noor Inayat Khan and Christine Granville. I think you'll be impressed. I would also recommend getting the movies "A Call To Spy," "Odette," "Nancy Wake" and "X Company."

This was the first movie of Montgomery Clift's to hit the big screen. It earned him an Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor. The young Czech boy, Ivan Jandl, was only 11 years old when the film was released. It earned him the 1949 Juvenile Performer Academy Award. Millions of displaced persons wandered throughout Europe following the end of World War II. Many were children. Although he is in the company of people who are trying to identify him, he runs away fearing that he is going to be gassed. The only information known about him is the tattoo on his arm indicating he was in Auschwitz. He is found hiding and surviving in the rubble of Berlin by an American soldier (Clift) on occupation duty. After a period of time, he starts to develop feelings for the boy and tries to adopt him. The only trouble is they need to identify him and learn the fate of his family.

The back story for Danny Reagan has him as a former combat veteran MARINE with two tours of duty in Fallujah. Both Police Commissioner's were Marines as well. Floating the idea of Danny having a flashback to Fallujah when the bomb goes off by yelling "Medic" is flat out wrong. A Marine would have yelled "Corpsman up." There are no Medics in the Marine Corps. We have Navy Corpsman. I've seen it with my own eyes. A friend who had two Purple Hearts from Vietnam witnessed an event ten years after getting out of the Marines and yelled "Corpsman up." A technical advisor should have caught that. Especially with ALL of the references over the last twelve years to the Marine Corps.

I liked the idea of the movie but I think the character of Colin being a "technical adviser" for a romantic novel on a Navy SEAL needed a "technical adviser." I think Steve Bacic would be a little too young to be a retired Navy Captain. That rank is one step below Admiral and he looks just too young for that rank. Lieutenant Commander or even Commander would have been more believable. In the scene where Colin has to save the day by being the photographers model irked me. I didn't pause the movie to check the correct order of all the ribbons although at a quick glance, they looked correct. However, the Presidential Unit Citation ribbon that he is wearing is on upside down. It's horizontally striped ribbon, Navy blue, gold and red top to bottom. His is red stripe up. It is something that would be a glaring mistake to a high ranking naval officer. Bottom line, though I enjoyed the movie.

Around 1969 I read a book called "Seven Men At Daybreak" by Allen Burgess. It was book about Operation ANTHROPOID. This movie follows that book in nearly a mirror image. Being a World War II history buff, I felt it was an amazing film to watch. It follows a group of Czech soldiers who have returned home after escaping to England as their country was given away to Germany by the Munich Agreement. Jan Kubis and Josef Gabchik have been handed the task of assassinating Reinhard Heydrich, who is running the Czech occupation with an iron fist. The assassination plan is not popular with the underground because they are dreadfully afraid of retaliation by the Nazis. This proves to be a justifiable fear. After the deed is done there is a terrible backlash against the country. As the few remaining underground members try to develop a plan to smuggle the seven parachutists out of Praque, they are betrayed by an informer. The resulting shootout pitted the seven men, in two relays fighting an entire regiment of 750 crack SS troops. It lasted six hours. After the assassination, siege and reprisals, the final outcome was the voiding of the Munich Agreement by Winston Churchill. The bullet scars are still in evidence in the walls of the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Prague. Hoping the movie is not overlooked at Oscar nomination time. It is beautifully photographed and historically accurate. The tension of the assassination and siege will have you on the edge of your seat.

Behind "Dragnet" and "Adam 12," this is THE definitive police show. "Police Story" paved the way for "Hill Street Blues," "NYPD Blue," and "Southland." With a great cast that includes, but is not limited to Vic Morrow, Chuck Connors, Don Meredith, Don Murray, Scot Bready, Harold Duff, Claude Akins, Loyd Bridges and Paul Burke in several re-occurring roles, this shows police work at it's most dangerous, boring, sad and funny. You don't know from episode to episode who is going to be appearing. One week it's SWAT action. The next, Robbery team detectives, Vice cops, Accident Investigation Division and, of course, Patrol Division. The cops are real people with their flaws, prejudices and guts. I was a rookie cop when Season 2 started. This was mandatory viewing for young cops back in the early 1970's. I've been a retired cop for over two years now. In that time, I had not missed being a cop one time, until I watched the first episode of Season 1, "Slow Boy." Vic Morrow made his first appearance as Sgt. Joe La Frieda and it's a gem. I can't recommend this enough. My youngest daughter made a bunch of points with sending this to me. I had no idea that it had been released to DVD. I'll be snapping up the remaining seasons as they become available.