9 real historical locations · Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands
Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks' landmark HBO miniseries follows Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division from training through D-Day, Market Garden, the Battle of the Bulge, and into Germany. Based on Stephen Ambrose's account of the real soldiers, it remains the definitive WWII television drama.
CinemaMapped has mapped 9 real historical locations where the story takes place, spanning Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands.
Episode 1 — Lt. Winters leads a 13-man assault on German artillery at Brécourt Manor on D-Day, June 6 1944.
The Brécourt Manor assault is studied at West Point as a model infantry attack. Winters destroyed four 105mm howitzers with only four American casualties. He was recommended for the Medal of Honor but received the Dis...
View location →Episode 3 — Battle of Carentan. Easy Company fights through the town against fierce German resistance.
Carentan was captured June 10-12, 1944 after a brutal fight to link the Utah and Omaha beachheads. The town was retaken briefly by a German counterattack before being permanently secured by American armour.
View location →Episode 4 — Operation Market Garden. Easy Company drops into the Netherlands and advances through Eindhoven.
Eindhoven was liberated on September 18, 1944 — the first Dutch city to be freed. Citizens flooded the streets in celebration. That evening, the Luftwaffe bombed the city centre, killing 227 civilians.
View location →Episode 4 — The failed objective at Arnhem frames Easy Company's role in Market Garden.
The British 1st Airborne held the north end of Arnhem Bridge for four days against two SS Panzer divisions. Of 10,000 men who dropped, only 2,163 escaped across the Rhine. Market Garden failed to end the war in 1944.
View location →Episodes 6–7 — Battle of the Bulge. Easy Company holds the frozen Bois Jacques forest around Bastogne under intense bombardment.
Bastogne was completely surrounded from December 20-26, 1944. When German commanders demanded surrender, Brig. Gen. McAuliffe replied with a single word: 'Nuts!' Patton's 3rd Army broke through the encirclement on Dec...
View location →Episode 7 — The assault on the village of Foy, Belgium. One of the series' most iconic combat sequences.
Foy was taken on January 13, 1945 after weeks of fighting in the surrounding forest. The attack was nearly disastrous when Easy Company's commander, Lt. Dike, froze during the assault and had to be relieved mid-battle.
View location →Episode 8 — Easy Company's patrol mission across the Moder River near Haguenau.
The Moder River line in Alsace was held by the 101st Airborne in February 1945 while the strategic focus shifted elsewhere. Haguenau itself had been devastated by fighting as the front moved back and forth through Als...
View location →Episodes 9–10 — Easy Company reaches Hitler's Eagle's Nest retreat. The war in Europe ends.
Hitler's Berghof and Eagle's Nest were captured in early May 1945, abandoned by the time Allied troops arrived. American soldiers found cellars stocked with champagne and artworks looted from across Europe.
View location →Episode 9 — Easy Company discovers a concentration camp. One of the most powerful moments of the series.
The Kaufering camp complex near Landsberg was a satellite of Dachau. Over 30,000 prisoners were held across eleven sub-camps; thousands died from starvation and disease. SS guards burned prisoners alive in barracks as...
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