Combat!
The Bridge at Chalons
TV Flash files “The Bridge at Chalons” as a desk essential hour — Combat! (1962–1967) on ABC, season 2, episode 1, aired 1963-09-17, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E01: listed hour 33 of 152 in the Combat! guide, first listed hour of season 2. It aired 1963-09-17 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “No Trumpets, No Drums” (S01E32). Next is “Bridgehead” (S02E02).
Essential hour: “The Bridge at Chalons”. The Bridge at Chalons opens season two still in small-unit weather: Rick Jason's Lt. Hanley keeping the hour on the ground.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Sgt. Turk, the demolition expert with bad attitude, is tasked to blow up the bridge that is several kilometers behind enemy lines. What he expected as a protection is at least a platoon, but instead he gets a small squad led by Sgt. Saunders.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Bridge at Chalons sit in the Combat! guide?
S02E01 is listed hour 33 of 152 — first listed hour of season 2, season 2 episode 1.
When did Combat! S02E01 air?
The Bridge at Chalons aired 1963-09-17 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Where should I start?
A Saunders-and-Hanley small-unit hour is the grind: Morrow's weary sergeant, Jason's lieutenant, mud over glory. Ensemble war, not a single-hero comic.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Combat! is the decade's defining infantry drama: Vic Morrow's Sgt. Saunders leading a weary squad through WWII Europe with more mud than glory. Rick Jason's Lt. Hanley keeps the hour in small-unit grind. Ensemble war television that later squad stories still echo — black-and-white grit, not flag-waving, on an ABC schedule still full of westerns.
Five seasons, **152 episodes**, ABC 1962–1967: Vic Morrow's Sgt. Saunders leading a weary squad through WWII Europe with more mud than glory. Rick Jason's Lt. Hanley keeps Combat! in small-unit grind; Pierre Jalbert's Caje sits in the ensemble. Robert Pirosh's series treated war as work and cost, not parade — black-and-white grit on a schedule still full of westerns. Rex will toast the infantry hour as a cathedral of craft. The window is weekly grind, not a limited-event drop. Ensemble war television that later…
Filed against
- Vic Morrow as Sgt. Chip Saunders
Vic Morrow’s Sgt. Chip Saunders led Combat!’s weary squad through WWII Europe with more mud than glory — the decade’s infantry drama, Rick Jason’s Lt. Hanley keeping the hour in small-unit grind. Ensemble war television that later squad…
- Rick Jason as Lt. Gil Hanley
Rick Jason's Lt. Gil Hanley kept Combat! in small-unit grind — Vic Morrow's Sgt. Saunders leading a weary squad through WWII Europe with more mud than glory, Jason the officer weather that held the hour together. TV Flash files him as…
- Pierre Jalbert as Caje
Pierre Jalbert played Caje on Combat!, the 1960s infantry drama of Vic Morrow’s Sgt. Saunders leading a weary squad through WWII Europe with more mud than glory. Rick Jason’s Lt. Hanley keeps the hour in small-unit grind. TV Flash files…