- Hartsock: "We spent most of the night near a village called Hiesville. After some rummaging, I found a BAR in the back of a crashed glider. Belonged to a guy named Hardigan."
- Marshall: "How do you know that?"
- Hartsock: "He was holding it. It's amazing how few dead bodies you have to see before it stops affecting you."
- —Hartsock Interview
Hell's Corners is the 5th chapter of Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood.
Summary[]
After taking Vierville, Hartsock and both 2nd and 3rd squad push on to the Barquette Locks to assist Col. Johnson.
Plot[]
Red explain how he got a BAR from a dead paratrooper in a glider he found during the mission. His next task after Vierville is to help the 501st PIR to secure Barquette Locks which is significant that effect the campaign as the locks control the river flow and the water in Normandy. The squad is under heavy fire from Germans. They complained about Baker and Allen not joining due to helping Mac for the push towards St. Come. Campbell arrived and brief them on marking signal flares on supply drop before supporting the 501st.
Red's team saw the supply drop and Germans entering the battlefield, they engage the Germans while marking every supply they found. After completing their objectives, they headed to the locks which heavily defended by the Germans. Red grabbed a Kar 98k sniper rifle and shot every German opposite the locks. The fight is supported by 501st PIR troops as well. After the battle, Col. Johnson, the 501st commander complained about the reinforcement and sent some of his troops to collect supplies. He commanded Red's team to move towards the riverbank and secure the road junction.
Red's team is in a disadvantage as the land favoured the Germans with the uneven ground and the junction is defended by German MGs. Red uses his tactics and sniper rifle to clear any German resistance in the area.
They arrived to help part of 501st to fend off the German attackers by moving through the left flank. Red's team move through the left flank and eliminate the Germans. After the battle, the paratroopers collect prisoners of war but Paige bullied one of the prisoner which caused a scuffle with Campbell. Johnson told Red to control his men behavior.
Objectives[]
Mark all supply bags with smoke flares[]
Supply air drops were called in by radio. Paratroopers used distinctly colored orange smoke grenades to mark their positions.
Rendezvous with Colonel Johnson[]
Colonel Johnson and his men were dug in around the Barquette Locks since the first night of the invasion - isolated and battered by mortar and artillery fire.
Secure the cross roads[]
The crossroads came to be known as "Hell's Corners".
Eliminate all Germans on Colonel Johnson's left flank[]
Colonel Johnson couldn't move and risk revealing his weak position - holding the left flank became essential to successfully bluffing the Germans into thinking that they were a stronger force.
Characters[]
- Colonel Howard R. Johnson
- Colonel S.L.A. Marshall
- Staff Sergeant Gregory Hassay (Mentioned)
- Sergeant Matthew Baker (Mentioned)
- Corporal Jacob Campbell
- Corporal Joseph Hartsock (Playable)
- Corporal Franklin Paddock
- Private Larry Allen (Mentioned)
- Private Michael Desola
- Private Michael Garnett
- Private James Marsh
- Private Derrick McConnel
- Private William Paige
- Private Dean Winchell
- Ballard (Mentioned)
- Hardigan (Mentioned)
Weapons[]
American Weapons[]
German Weapons[]
Teams[]
Assault Team[]
- Cpl. Paddock - M3 Grease Gun
- Pvt. Marsh - M1 Garand
- Pvt. Desola - M1A1 Thompson
Fire Team[]
- Pvt. Garnett - M1 Garand
- Pvt. Winchell - M1A1 Carbine
Transcript[]
- Main article: Hell's Corners/Transcript
Talking to Squadmates[]
Template:Empty section
Extras[]
La Barquette Locks: Then, Now and In-Game[]

The chapter titled "Hell's Corners" takes place near the La Barquette Locks near Carentan, France. Here, Director Brian Martel surveys the locks to be recreated in Brothers in Arms Earned in Blood.

The locks were a critical objective for the Allies in the invasion. When opened, as seen in this photo taken by the Gearbox survey team, the water flows freely between the Normandy estuaries and the English Channel.

This map shows the flooded areas near Carentan. In 1944, the German occupiers closed the locks in order to flood the land - a strategy meant to slow invading Allied ground forces and drown paratroopers falling from the sky. Many dozen paratroopers were, in fact, killed by drowning in the flooded areas.

Some of the flooded areas are clearly seen in this photograph taken during the invasion from an aircraft above St. Come-du-Mont looking to the southwest across the causeway towards Carentan.

After the locks were captured and opened, the flooding quickly ebbed away. The fields are clearly dry in this picture, taken several weeks after the fighting from an aircraft above Carentan looking to the North towards St. Come-du-Mont.

Today, the locks are open. This photo taken in February 2005 reveals that the La Barquette locks have changed little in 60 years. In 1944, Colonel Johnson and paratroopers of the 101st Airborne fought a desperate battle against elements of the German 6th Fallschrimjager Regiment. The US Paratroopers who survived the battle named this location "Hell's Corners."

This historical photo reveals how the locks looked in 1944. This photo was taken just weeks after the Allies seized control of La Barquette and poened the locks.

This image of The La Barquette Locks from the game compares strongly to the historical photos.
Historical Director John Antal[]

Colonel John F. Antal, U.S. Army (Retired), served 30 years in the U.S. Army.

He entered the United States Military Academy at West point in 1973 and retired on July 31, 2003.

Antal has commanded U.S. combat soldiers at every level from platoon to regiment.

Antal is an Airborne Ranger and has earned the Expert Infantryman's Badge.

He served in combat units in Germany, Korea, Kuwait and the United States.

He commanded an M1A1 tank battalion in the volatile demilitarized zone in Korea.

His last Army assignment was operations officer (G3) for the 165,000 man III Armored Corps at Fort Hood, TX.

Antal now serves as military historian and advisor to Gearbox Software on gaming titles such as Brothers in Arms.
Hell's Corners Aerial Reconnaissance[]

In May 1944, the Allies used spy planes to take many aerial reconnaissance photographs of the invasion area. This photograph, depicting the La Barquette Locks area, has been re-orientated so that North is towards the top.

Gearbox used the top-down aerial photos and the perspective photos as references to recreate terrian features that don't appear on traditional hand-drawn maps. This perspective photo of La Barquette locks areas was taken in June 1944 as the invasion was underway.

S.L.A. Marshall would often include copies of the aerial photographs in his After Action Reports. This was exceptionally useful to the Gearbox team because Marshall added notations and other comments about where units were and in what direction they attacked. The title of this page in the AARs is "The Positions at Hell's Corners."

To assist in the layout phase of reconstructing the historical areas, the Gearbox team composited different historical photographs together to create a photo-map of the area where the action takes place. This is the photo-map for the chapter titled "Hell's Corners."

The photo-maps were then used as layout guides for the designers and artists who built the areas in the game. Before the area was rebuilt in the game, designers would note where combat and action took place in the area and would make decisions about how to relate the true history to a game-play experience. This is the layout guide for the chapter titled "Hell's Corners."
Development White Boards[]

Director Brian Martel's whiteboard. This is an early whiteboard which lists only 10 chapters in Hartsock's story. The original design for Earned in Blood had chapters typically about twice the length of Road to Hill 30. As the chapters themselves condensed to more manageable lengths, the total number of chapters grew considerably since this whiteboard was drawn.

A close-up of one section of Martel's whiteboard shows a simple, perspective drawing of the village of St. Martin de Varreville (drawn from memory months and months after his visit to the location). The list on the right is about the kind of locations the chapters take place in and the diagram on the bottom of the image is about menu flow from the beginning to each of three modes of play available in Earned in Blood.

This section of the whiteboard outlined an early chapter list. The chapter "Death Trips" was replaced by "Hell's Corners" because Death Traps was more of a fictional filler mission designed, in part, to shows how Hartsock picked up the BAR. Meanwhile, Hell's Corners is based on actual historical fact, so it wins out given the authenticity goals of Brothers in Arms Earned in Blood.

Writer Micheal Neumann's whiteboard. This whiteboard, using a slightly more recent version of the chapter list, focused on character patterns, arcs and progressions.

This close-up diagrams how the squad arrangement under "Mac" transitions from before the invasion to after Hartsock's promotion to lead 2nd Squad. The list on the right outlines characters who are introduced for the first time in Brothers in Arms Earned in Blood.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This Mission takes place between "Action in Vierville" & Dead Man's Corner.
- Marsh's 1st Level to appear.
- 1st & only Appearance of Col.Howard R. Johnson
- Near the end You find 2 Dead Paratroopers next to the Gate,don't know what happened.
- This is the only time that Allen & Garnett are separated.
- You got Paddock,Friar,Marsh,Desola & Garnett in your Squad in this Level.
With:
- Paddock, Marsh & Desola part of Assault Team.
- Garnett & Friar part of Fire Team. (Garnett is Team Leader.)
Difference in the PS2 Version[]
- Paddock is part of the Fire Team, carrying an M1 Garand, while Marsh is part of the Assault Team.
- Desola carries a B.A.R.
- Friar is absent.
- McConnell is absent.(Due to the PS2 Version doesn't have him.)
- Col.Johnson,Campbell & Paige are Labeled part of the Assault Team.