Winters discovers a map and decides to hold on to it, while Hall is suddenly killed by a trap. Wynn is wounded in the buttocks and is forced to leave the battle, while Winters and his squad take over the first to third guns that were in fact 105mm. Winters proves himself as a solid tactician, with a small force to ambush a more massive force on heavily fortified positions. Winters assembles the team into two squads: one led by him and one led by 2nd Lieutenant Lynn Compton. Gunshots are then heard Malarkey then turns and visually witnesses the killings, as Speirs allows one trembling German soldier to not be shot (and survive).Ĭolonel Robert Sink orders Winters to select some men to assault the suspected 88mm guns inflicting damage at the soldiers in Utah Beach at a French estate called Brècourt. As Malarkey leaves, 1st Lieutenant Ronald Speirs from Dog Company goes to the POWs. Malarkey is astonished to find a German-American soldier who turns out to be from the same state (Oregon) as he. Winters reprimands Guarnere's disobedience, much to the annoyance of "Wild Bill." The men then travel on a long walk and encounter German POWs before reaching the rallying point. Guarnere, still bothered from news of his brother being killed in action, fires prior to Winters' command, forcing the others to shoot as well. And along the way, the group hears a horse Winters observes a group of German forces and positions the men.
As they go, they encounter Privates Donald Malarkey and Robert Wynn, Corporal Joseph Toye, and Sergeant William Guarnere. As they wander through the trees, they find 2nd Lieutenant Carwood Lipton and two more paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division Winters, realizing that the paratroopers are scattered all over Normandy, manages to identify their location and decides to proceed to go to their drop zone. Just after Winters lands, another paratrooper named Private John Hall from Able Company lands and pairs with him. During the jump, many paratroopers lose their weapons and other supplies, as well as land dull of their location. Massive numbers of paratroopers jump from their planes, along with 1st Lieutenant Richard Winters. German anti-aircraft guns are firing at the planes causing many of them to be destroyed, including Easy Company's CO, 1st Lieutenant Thomas Meehan III's plane. From the official Band of Brothers episode websiteĮasy Company and other Airborne paratroopers are now aboard C47s as they prepare to jump behind enemy lines during D-Day. Winters (Damian Lewis) is later chosen to lead an attack on a fortified German artillery position the mission is successful, but Winters, now acting company commander, loses his first man. Winters links up with solitary soldiers, and they set off to find their units. None of the men land where they expected to, and many lose their weapons and supplies in the drop.
Though it was cold, the men were sweating.On June 6, 1944, D-Day, planes with thousands of paratroopers cross the English Channel to France, where they come under heavy fire. Vomit filled the bottom of the boats, and as water kept rushing in over the gunwales, the green-faced men had to bail this vile stew with their helmets. Most of the Americans were packed into flat-bottomed Higgins boats launched from troop transports 10 miles from the French coastline. Hours later, the largest amphibious landing force ever assembled began moving through the storm-tossed waters toward the beaches. Their job was to blow up bridges, sabotage railroad lines, and take other measures to prevent the enemy from rushing reinforcements to the invasion beaches. Just after midnight on June 6, Allied airborne troops began dropping behind enemy lines. It was one of the gutsiest decisions of the war. The delay was unnerving for soldiers, sailors, and airmen, but when meteorologists forecast a brief window of clearer weather over the channel on June 6, Eisenhower made the decision to go. But on the morning of June 4, foul weather over the English Channel forced Eisenhower to postpone the attack for 24 hours. “We couldn’t wait.” Meanwhile, the American and British air forces in England conducted a tremendous bombing campaign that targeted railroad bridges and roadways in northern France to prevent the Germans from bringing in reserves to stop the invasion.Īllied leaders set June 5, 1944, as the invasion’s D-Day. “We were getting ready for one of the biggest adventures of our lives,” an American sergeant said. Trucks, tanks, and tens of thousands of troops poured into England. In the meantime, they prepared ceaselessly for the attack. At the Tehran Conference in August 1943, Allied leaders scheduled Overlord to take place on or about May 1, 1944.