There’s no denying that Band of Brothers is one of the greatest war series ever produced. I’d challenge anyone here to think of a better series. The show as historically accurate and the production duo of Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg put a lot of effort into research.
This is great for us history nerds, because it means we can retrace exactly where Easy Company went during their time in Normandy using the same source materials used for the show. If you’re going to visit France, why not make it a Band of Brothers tour?
Logistics
How to get there, where to stay, etc
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Amateurs study tactics. Professionals study logistics. Be a professional and figure out how you’re going to travel, sleep and eat before you set out.
Carentan is the best place to set up a travel HQ on your Easy Company tour. This French town was a strategic point joining the causeway between Utah and Omaha beaches, and all of Easy Company’s Normandy actions were within easy distance of this town.
The Louis Auberge Normande is a higher-end hotel that is filled with French charm and all the comforts, but you’ll pay for it. Considering the goal is to be out in the fields, not relaxing with a glass of Bordeaux on a balcony, I highly suggest avoiding these fancy hotels.
Aim for a bed and breakfast (Normandy is filled with them) and stick to under $120/night. The cheaper, the better.
You’ll also want to rent a car. Sure, you can try to use the various tour bus companies around, but then you’re stuck going where they tell you (and when). With a car, you have freedom.
Food is not a problem anywhere in France. There are restaurants and shops and markets everywhere. Remember to bring a good water bottle, because you’re going to need in while exploring Easy Company’s exploits.
1. Start at the Airborne Museum in Sainte-Mere Eglise
The Airborne Museum is a sprawling complex of five pavilions spread across a big park. You can explore the only remaining WACO glider in the world, tour a C-47, and experience a D-Day night jump as if you were there!
The museum features weapons and gear from the American, British, Canadian and German armies used during airborne operations in the Battle of Normandy.
The museum is located in the heart of Saint-Mere Eglise and has dedicated parking.
Start with the building that houses the C-47 aircraft replica. This aircraft model gives you a sense of what the paratroopers experienced during their jump into Normandy.
Move to the next exhibit hall, where you’ll find personal items, weapons, and uniforms of the paratroopers. Engage with interactive displays that simulate the paratroopers’ experiences. These exhibits offer a hands-on understanding of the challenges faced during the airborne operations.
Then, examine the detailed diorama of Sainte-Mère-Église on D-Day. This model shows the town’s layout and the strategic positions of the paratroopers and German forces.
This immersive experience sets the stage for the rest of your tour, and makes for a great “jumping off point.” Get it?
2. Visit the landing zones
The paratroopers were scattered all over Normandy and most of the “sticks” were mixed up. The flak was intense and the fleet of C-47s bringing the paratroopers were scattered. Many paratroopers found themselves alone in the dark, surrounded by German troops.
We don’t know precisely where many of the men of Easy Company came down, although we can guess. The C-47s carrying the men of Easy were hit by flak as they approached Saint Mere Eglise. Those planes that survived disgorged their troops all over the region.
Dick Winters famously landed near a small wood and a 40mm flak position, where he met up with Private Hall. We know that the Germans did have a 40mm gun about 500 meters north of the town, at the edge of a small copse of woods. While there are numerous theories about where Winters came down, the consensus is that this is likely the general area.
Popeye, Guarnere, and Joe Torres came down together north of the town near one of the main roads leading to the coast and along a small rail line. There was also a small river here, which makes it easy to guesstimate their general landing area. They met up with Winters and Hall slightly to the north of the town, along this road.
Malarkey and Lipton both came down in the actual town. Lipton’s landing was practically dead-smack in the middle of town, just behind the town hall. He found himself trapped in a walled garden and had to climb out. The town garrison was on full alert and there was a raging gun battle going on with paratroopers from other companies. The famous story of John Steele, who hung precariously from his parachute that was entangled on a church steeple, comes from this town. Lipton made his way out without incident.
Malarkey also came down close by, in a small field right at the edge of town, just behind a stone house. He managed to scramble away into the darkness. Bull Randall, meanwhile, came down further to the west and ended up hiding out all night as German patrols were all around him.
Lieutenant Spiers, although not part of Easy Company but who figures prominently in the show, came down all alone far away to the north-east of the town. He trudged towards the town on his own, dodging the alerted German patrols in the darkness.
You can tour around the roads and fields just north and east of town and you’ll be on the same ground where most of Easy Company came down, or at least walked over on the night of June 5/6, 1944.
3. Brecourt Manor
Fans of Band of Brothers know about the famous assault on the Brecourt Manor battery on D-Day, when Dick Winters led Easy company in a textbook attack. You can visit this site on your way out of St Mere Eglise. Head east on D67 and then turn south-east on D14, towards Utah beach. You will enter a town called Le Grande Chemin, and there are several memorials here. This is Easy Company’s makeshift assembly point and where the scattered paratroopers made their way. It was from here that a nearby German battery of 105mm artillery began firing on Utah beach as the D-Day landings began.
Start by visiting Easy Company’s command post, on the edge of town. This is where Winters learned that Meehan had been killed and he was now C/O of the company. Then he, Compton, and Spiers made their plan to attack the German battery.
Most of the land around here is private property so you can’t simply go traipzing through the fields. Further down D14 from the command post is a monument to Easy Company, but this is not the field where Winters led the assault on the battery. You’ll need to turn down Rue Brecourt and head to the field opposite the manor. THIS is the field you’re looking for.
The most you can do is admire the field from the road. Band of Brothers did a pretty good job recreating the scene, so see if you can piece together the moments from Episode 2 “Day of Days” while you scan the field from the gap in the trees.
4. Carentan
Great news! You’ve already got a hotel or B&B in Carentan, so your second day is going to be local.
Easy Company of the 506th joined in a multi-pronged attack on this key strategic town. They had to move from St Mere Eglise and march southwest overnight to make their assigned jump-off point to the south of the town. The 327th Glider Infantry Regiment would be assaulting Carentan from the north simultaneously.
The German 6th Parachute Regiment of the 1st Fallschirmjaeger division was ready and waiting for them, while the 17th SS Panzer Division was assembling further south for a counter-attack. The US 4th Division was bogged down in the bocage and supplies were tangled up on Utah beach, so the attack was left to the airborne. It was vital that they take the city and link up forces from Utah and Omaha, which were threatened with a strong German armoured attack.
Dick Winters led Easy Company south along route D974. The glider infantry had managed to clear the road, and there was debris from the fighting still burning all along the route. Easy Company got separated from Baker Company at one point, and even got lost for a brief moment, and this delayed the assault by nearly an hour. By 5 am they were in position to the southwest of Carentan
Easy Company attacked over a small hill towards a Y junction of Route D’Auvers and Route de Six Chemins. A house with three windows on the roof had been converted into a blockhouse by the defending fallschirmjaeger and an MG-42 opened up and pinned Easy Company down on the road. Many men were killed here.
Captain Winters braved the machine gun fire and urged his men on. They began to break into the town in groups, some flanking to the north and south of the road to get cover from nearby houses.
The house where the German machinegun was located is still there, and while all the other houses next to it have been rebuilt in the 80 years since then, that one was left as is. Several bazooka rounds managed to silence the MG and the men were able to push into the town.
The south of Carentan was surprisingly empty once this machine gun was taken out. Most of the men were able to walk casually towards the center of town. It’s when they reached the rail line that cuts the town in two that they encountered stiff resistance.
Sergeant Lipton and a squad of Easy Company ran into an MG-42 firing south from the ground-floor window of a house on Rue Holgate. Private Lyall ran at the house and tossed a grenade in the window, silencing the gun. Fighting flared up. There was house-to-house fighting and the Germans had left many booby traps and mines behind. German snipers posed the biggest threat, and caused many casualties.
Rue Holgate and (today’s) Rue de la Liberation were scenes of heavy fighting for Easy Company, and where they suffered most of their casualties in Carentan.
Easy company became entangled with Dog and Fox companies of the 506, and general order broke down. German 88mm artillery and nebelwefer rockets from the 17th SS located just a few miles south opened up on the town.
It took two days to clear Carentan of all the snipers, and it was under intermittent artillery fire the entire time. Much of the town was destroyed. The 101st Airborne suffered 128 casualties, including seven from Easy company.
On 11 June the 506th was given orders to attack south and clear out elements of the 17th SS that had been gathering there. Easy Company took up positions in a hedgerow just to the west of road D971 and hunkered down for the evening. They were slated to attack across a farm field, up a slight rise, in the morning to clear out German infantry dug in along an opposing hedgerow.
But the German 17th SS Panzer attacked first as the sun rose on 12 June and there was an intense battle in what became known as “Bloody Gulch.” Baker and Fox companies fell back as German Stug IIIs, Panzer IVs, and two Panther tanks slammed into their lines. Easy company held, although they were on the flank of the German assault and only faced a single Jagdpanther tank, which they were able to dispatch with bazookas.
In a miraculous show of “just in the nick of time,” American tanks and tank destroyers from the 4th Division moving down from St Mere Eglise arrived and began to engage the German attack. The German attack faltered and fell back.
You can visit the Bloody Gulch battlefield. There’s a monument to the battle erected there and you can walk along the hedgerow where Easy company was dug in. This is a short five minute drive from Carentan, or grab a bicycle and enjoy a nice 20 minute ride.
5. Utah beach
Don’t forget to visit Utah beach while you’re here. The story of Utah beach is intimately tied to the story of Easy company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st “Screaming Eagles” Airborne Division.
While Utah beach was one of the great success stories of the D-Day landings, it wasn’t without its casualties. Both Utah and Omaha beaches are easy to reach, being only a few miles from your stay in Carentan. There are some excellent museums on both beaches, and some even better pubs for lunch and a pint!
Easy Company was withdrawn from Normandy after Carentan. They were sent back to England and were reinforced with replacements. They had suffered 73 casualties in Normandy, including 22 killed. This included six men that were killed when Captain Meehan’s C-47 was destroyed during the D-Day jump.
They would spend the rest of the summer in England, but would be called on again for a new ambitious operation - the airborne invasion of Holland.