HBO " the pacific " series EP 01 oddities

hi - as i only have freeview digital TV here in the UK - i am only just watching episode one

but already - i have had a WTF is that moment

the scene :

the officer briefing men of the 1st marine division -

the oddity :

a wall map , purporting to show areas held by the axis powers - it shows all of occupied europe in red , BUT also a large swathe of africa too - and i mean a large swathe - far beyond morrocco , algeria , libyia , abyssania etc

the map showed almost all of west africa in red - including nigeria

and that wasnt the end of it - iceland was shown in red too

WTF ?????????????????

has any one else spotted oddities of accuracy ????

or can explain why the map showed what it did

I noticed this as well. It was in the scene where "Chesty" Puller is giving the briefing right? I thought it was very unusual, in reality Iceland was occupied by the US and the UK and Nigeria was a British colony called the Gold Coast at the time.

Surely the producers can't be that stupid right?

I tried to help you out with a photo, but this is all I could find after a quick search on Google images. Here's a link to a Wikipedia article about Iceland during WWII, and the photo I found on Google.

en.wikipedia.org...

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/0d76d128afd8.jpg[/atsimg]

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Enlarged color saturated Africa portion of photo:



edit: resized photo

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Maybe England was playing both sides?

The arrow pointing to Ethiopia, isn't that where the arc of the covenant supposedly is?

Originally posted by 12.21.12
Maybe England was playing both sides?

The arrow pointing to Ethiopia, isn't that where the arc of the covenant supposedly is?

No, The Ark is not there (IMHO).
Second line for the purpose.

Originally posted by 12.21.12
Maybe England was playing both sides?

The arrow pointing to Ethiopia, isn't that where the arc of the covenant supposedly is?

That is indeed one of the purported locations for the ark of the covenant.

"The Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims to possess the Ark of the Covenant or tabot in Axum. The object is now kept under guard in a treasury near the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, and used occasionally in ritual processions.[11] But versions of the Axum tabot are kept in every Ethiopian church, each with its own dedication to a particular saint, most popularly Mary, George and Michael.[12]

The Kebra Nagast is Ethiopia's greatest national document, composed to legitimise the new royal line established in 1270 by claiming its descent from Menelik I, the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, and contains a reference to the Ark of the Covenant being brought to Ethiopia by Menelik. However, recent study suggests[which?] that reference is a later interpolation: many important manuscripts later than the thirteenth century[which?] make no reference to it, and it only became a core element of Ethiopian beliefs in the seventeenth century.[citation needed]

On 25 June 2009, the patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia, Abuna Paulos, said he would announce to the world the next day the unveiling of the Ark of the Covenant, which he said had been kept safe and secure in a church in Axum, Ethiopia.[13] The following day, on 26 June 2009, the patriarch announced that he would not unveil the Ark after all, but that instead he could attest to its current status. This event was known as 'The Great Ark Fail'.[14]" -Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org...

I can't seem to find a very good map of Nazi Occupied Africa, but the North Africa Campaign didn't extend as far south as the map in the HBO series shows. Unless I'm mistaken.

www.desertrats.memorialassoc.btinternet.co.uk...

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I think they are including the French colonies that joined Vichy France. When Metropolitan France was conquered in 1940 some of the French colonies sided with the Free French (mostly the ones in the Pacific and the Caribbean) while the ones in Africa and Asia mostly sided with the German puppet state of Vichy France. Over time the various Vichy French colonies were recaptured by the Free French (ex. Lebanon in 1941, Senegal and Reunion in 1942, etc).

Originally posted by 12.21.12
Maybe England was playing both sides?

The arrow pointing to Ethiopia, isn't that where the arc of the covenant supposedly is?

I wouldn't be surprised if England played both sides.

The United States bankers played both sides of WWII, backing FDR's government on 1 side, and Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) working with German Industrialists/Bankers - Thysssen/UBC, on the other side. At the same time, Averill Harriman (BBH) was working with Joseph Stalin.

The war ended and Prescott Bush (BBH) was deep into Operation Paperclip. Hmmmmm, strange bedfellows these bankers make.

It should surprise no one that bankers fund both sides and make money no matter who wins.


"Behind every great fortune there is a crime."

Honore de Balzac, French realist novelist (1799 - 1850)

Originally posted by ChrisF231
I think they are including the French colonies that joined Vichy France. When Metropolitan France was conquered in 1940 some of the French colonies sided with the Free French (mostly the ones in the Pacific and the Caribbean) while the ones in Africa and Asia mostly sided with the German puppet state of Vichy France. Over time the various Vichy French colonies were recaptured by the Free French (ex. Lebanon in 1941, Senegal and Reunion in 1942, etc).

Yes, I think this is correct.

As for Iceland, I think it belonged(s) to Denmark, which was occupied by the Nazis.

Originally posted by heyJude
As for Iceland, I think it belonged(s) to Denmark, which was occupied by the Nazis.

This is correct but Iceland was occupied by the British in May of 1940, more then two years prior to the events in Episode I of The Pacific in which this map is displayed. The only thing I can think of is that the indicate Axis control because Denmark is occupied and they had a legal uion with Iceland.

Vichy France controlled Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The rest of the African countries shown in red were French colonies but not part of the Vichy Republic.

Hello, so busy looking at the 'orange' northern America, I did not notice the other countries, Egypt was under British control, and on British maps of that era, the British empire was shown in red.
Perhaps that map was to take our minds off of other c*ck-ups?