Arc 1: Becoming a Marine (1942) Battle Picture Weekly #1 – Battle 1 to Battle Picture Weekly #18 – Battle 18
Danny Budd starts out as the plucky, unlucky kid – his father was a marine in the first world war but he lives with his uncle, who favours his own son. Budd is injured in an air raid and fails his first attempt to get into the marines. He has various adventures on the Home Front, including fighting with American Rangers and Black Marketeers. He eventually gets help with his training and makes it into the Marines.
Arc 2: North Africa (1942) Battle Picture Weekly #19 – Battle 19 to Battle Picture Weekly #29 – Battle 29
Budd’s early exploits in the Western Mediterranean, including raids on German occupied Tunisia and making friends with an American Ranger named Moose Molloy and an enemy of his own Sgt Striker.
Arc 3: The Aegean (1942) Battle Picture Weekly #30 – Battle 30 to Battle Picture Weekly #42 – Battle 42
Budd is assigned to the Special Boat Section, undercover, in the Aegean. Based in Cyprus, they tangle with Germans whilst hiding out on a Greek island. During a mission with partisans in Crete to recover gold, he captures a Paratrooper colonel.
Arc 4: Yugoslavia (1942) Battle Picture Weekly #43 – Battle 43 to Battle Picture Weekly #61 – Battle 61
Back in Cyprus, Danny gets into a fight with sailors – and soon finds himself aboard a submarine with them, headed for Yugoslavia. Here, he fights the Brandenburgers (undercover commandos) and works with the partisans. He tries to keep the partisans from learning that their contact and translator in the British forces is not a fighter. Bland eventually proves his worth.
Arc 5: The Black Sea (1943/44) Battle Picture Weekly #62 – Battle 62 toBattle Picture Weekly #83 – Battle 83
Budd recovers from his injuries in Cairo, where he makes friends with a wounded Polish soldier. Budd joins the Royal Marine force headed to the Black Sea to advise Russians on marine commando tactics. He soon becomes mates with Russian sargeant Berov and embedded in their force, fighting a winter war in the Crimea. Bitten by Wolves, he is affected by a fever and the full moon.
Arc 6: The Italian Campaign (1944) Battle Picture Weekly #83 – Battle 83 to Battle Picture Weekly #99 – Battle 99
Budd meets the Polish soldier again and decides to joining a Polish unit at Cassino, where he earns a commendation in the name of his dead friend. He is then part of the attack at Anzio, where he is captured, transported to Rome and escapes again. On his return to Anzio, he discovers German secret weapons and British traitors, all of whom he defeats.
Arc 7: PoWs in England (April/May 1944) Battle Picture Weekly #101 – Battle 101 to Battle Picture Weekly #104 – Battle 104
Home on leave, Danny visits his family, and discovers his cousin is now a Sergeant at a Prisoner of War Camp. When the prisoners escape, he has to save his cousin and stop a German officer returning home.
Arc 8: D-Day! (May/June 1944) Battle Picture Weekly #105 – Battle 105 to Battle Picture Weekly #114 – Battle 114
Danny joins final training exercises in Scotland, alongside Canadians who hold a grudge against the Marines for the Dieppe disaster. They carry that grudge with them into the D-Day landings, with one of their number betraying the Marines to the Germans.
Arc 9: Battle Picture Weekly #115 – Battle 115 to Battle Picture Weekly #120 – Battle 120
Danny joins up with the French Resistance to stop the SS setting off bombs laid across Paris
Arc 10: Battle Picture Weekly #121 – Battle 121 to Battle Picture Weekly #129 – Battle 129
The Marines take part in the liberation of Antwerp, with Danny fighting against Dutch SS troops.