This way, they could fire at troops crossing from one part of the forests to another and keep an eye on the roads.

They chose positions on the edge of forest and fields. With a shortage of ammunition, suitable winter clothing or strategic plans, the 101 Easy Company dug themselves in. 101 Airborne Easy Company (Band of Brothers) in Bastogne & Foy: foxholes It was the task of the 101 Airborne Easy Company (Band of Brothers) to defend this region, together with other allied companies.

Knowing that tanks and army trucks were the core of this offensive/counter offensive, it is clear why Bastogne was a highly important target for armed forces on both sides.īastogne, and the nearby village of Foy, and the forest around these towns, needed to be defended against the incoming German forces. The city was important for both Allied and Nazi forces, because the city is the crossroad for no less than 7 roads that connects you through the whole region. You find the city of Bastogne in the middle of the Ardennes region. The winters are very hard in this part of Belgium with heavy snow and temperatures that drop below -10° Celcius. The Ardennes lay in the south of Belgium and its characteristics are rocky mountains and pine forests. After D-Day and the failed Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands, the German army tried to strike back during the Battle of the Bulge that took place in the Ardennes.

First things first: what happened with the 101 airborne Easy Company (Band of Brothers) in Bastogne and Foy?įor those who have not seen the (incredibly good) HBO serie Band of Brothers, let me explain what happened.ĭuring the winter of 1944, the city of Bastogne was in the middle of a strategic battle that was decisive for the Second World War. I will tell you all about it in this article. We also made a walk through the surrounding forest to find the relics of the real Band of Brothers. You probably saw the episodes that depict this in the serie Band of Brothers.īut did you know that you can still visit these forests and see, even find, traces of Easy Company? Together with some friends, I paid the city of Bastogne a visit. soldiers of the 101st Airborne Easy Company dug themselves in, in the for them unknown forest of Bastogne in Belgium. Shifty's War is a tale of heroism and adventure, of a soldier's blood-filled days fighting his way from the shores of France to the heartland of Germany, and the epic story of how one man's skills as a sharpshooter propelled him to a life greater than he could have ever imagined.It was during the winter of 1944 that the U.S. He parachuted into France on D-day and fought for a month in Normandy eighty days in Holland thirty-nine in the harshly cold winter of Bastogne and for nearly thirty more near Haguenau, France, and the Ruhr pocket in Germany. As one of the original men who trained at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, Shifty was one out of only two soldiers in Easy Company to initially earn the coveted expert marksman designation. Little did Shifty know his finely-tuned skills would one day save his life-and the lives of his fellow paratroopers. His father trained him to listen to the woods, to see without his eyes. As a boy, Darrell Shifty Powers's goal was to become the best rifle shot he could be. From D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge and more, here is the authorized biography of one of the most celebrated paratroopers of Easy Company, Sergeant Shifty Powers, the legendary sharpshooter from the Band of Brothers.

Band of brothers shifty powers bastogne