Band of Brothers Carentan - the real story!

How did Band of Brothers take Carentan?
Band of Brothers - Episode 3 depicts the men of Easy Company in the fight for the city of Carentan in Normandy during June 1944, but what actually took place a week after D-Day in the struggle for the city?
While the episode did a good job of depicting a small element of the battle there was a much wider fight that took place over a 3 day period for the city that the tv show failed to acknowledge.
Using period reports and excellent reference sources I have pieced together the wider battle that took place for the city and the subsequent defence against the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division and the 6th Fallschirmjager and the relief by Combat Command A of 2nd Armored Division.
#bandofbrothers #normandy #ww2documentary #ww2history #fallschirmjäger #waffenss #documentary #war #history #historydocumentary
Sources used:
Captain Ronal Speirs Report:
mcoecbamcoepwprd01.blob.core....
Tonight We Die As Men:
www.amazon.com/Tonight-Die-Me...
17th SS War Diary
www.naval-military-press.com/...
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[@WW2Wayfinder]

Have you been to Carentan and walked the group that the 101st fought on during the 3 day battle for the city? What did you think to Episode 3 of Band of Brothers? Let me know in the comments below 👇

[@seegurke93]

exactly what I did about a week ago :)

[@maverick4177]

I have, over several different visits, the last 2 occasions i have stayed in the 101st Airborne hotel in Carantan itself (right where the famous picture of the paratroopers are in the Kubelwagen) Such an important and largely well preserved part the battle for Normandy, Having visited and Met Frank, the now owner of Donville manor, the history on that land alone is amazing, I highly recommend a visit, tour of the grounds including dug finds and the house itself which has some unique secrets and some permanent reminders of what happened there, without giving anything away, it’s superb

[@russellmay7347]

You are asking a very good question!that has been very well presented!! without a doubt channels and videos and content of this standard help a lot for anyone who is trying to piece all of it together. personally I've done 4 battlefield tours to cover OP MKT GRDN and was lucky enough to be based nr the Netherlands border to be able to get to NIJMEGEN at weekends etc ;that being in younger times in RAFG and RAF REGT service ...more recently now in my early 60s it's gems such as the 100th anniversary tour when we got to see and had a tour of the 506th night assault on the flak guns :the spot where PVT DUKEMAN was Kia spotting fr ARTY RNDS and the varied EASY COY manoeuvres during the action that night ! coming home and finding the same on you tube a week later. Reference to CARENTAN I was able to visit some yrs ago on a "help fr heroes" charity fund raiser that I was on with some other veterans NOT the best of company for such a trip and i had no really extensive knowledge of the 101st screaming eagles ops in the area ..having to wander off on my own and make the best of it in what little time was available ,however I came away with enough basics to conduct further research etc UNFORTUNATELY I was unable to get to st Marie du mont or anywhere else useful on that trip. AS FAR AS the TV series portrayed it majority of we history affiacanados thought that overall the series was great when initially aired on TV but the character portrayals and individual profiles have altered to suit TV drama and a no. of paratroopers were not included in the series OK ! GREAT WORK and this is very informative too many THANKS!

[@scotrichardson6142]

Raising hand. Such a wonderful trip.

[@nuancolar7304]

Having watched Band of Brothers many times, I found the sub-plot of Albert Blithe (based on a real person) in that episode somewhat curious as far as how it fit into the broader story. I guess it served to represent all the guys who had to dig deep to find the courage to fight on, with so many being killed or wounded.

[@walterecklund1502]

Col. Cole who was describing the bayonet attack was awarded the Medal of Honor for this action. Unfortunately, he was killed by a sniper in Operation Market Garden in September. He’s buried in the American Cemetery at Margareten (I think) in Holland.

[@WW2Wayfinder]

Correct, it was sad that he never received his award. He was a true combat leader! Thanks for watching!

[@patrickturner2788]

Yes I visited Margareten and the American cemetery there. I was amazed at the amount of soldiers who died up to 5 months after the German surrender. They were all part of bomb disposal group. I found what I'm sure are 2 brothers same last name buried side by side. It's a very beautiful place rolling hills and things you don't see in most of Holland. We took train from Amsterdam to Maastricht, then a bus to cemetery.

[@Walk-OnWarrior]

And Winters got NOTHING!!! Crazy

[@localbod]

Indeed, a true leader of men and courageous soldier. His rank was Lieutenant Colonel.

[@only1dutchgirl]

Yes, he rests at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands. I Always visit his grave when I visit the soldiers whose graves I have adopted.

[@TabzNeustria-hg5mb]

The sobriety of the commentary, the detail of the operations and the authentic footage combine to make this a model for Second World War documentaries. This work is without flaws.

[@WW2Wayfinder]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@preest_nz]

I would say the only flaw is the swallowing noises you can hear between speaking.

[@Thorpex1960]

Band of brothers didn't fail to capture the wide battle because it wasn't in the remit........Band of Brothers was about the part Easy company 506pir played in the battle and wasn't about other companys or regiments so wouldn't have shown their role in the series.......Considering the whole series was about Easy Company only, it isn't a failure not to mention what units of the 503pir or 502pir played in the attack on Carentan.....Dog and Fox companys often got a mention as flanking companys but the story wasn't about them so were just extras in the story...... With all that aside...this is actually a very good documentary about the bigger picture of the full battle with all units involved and mentioned

[@ardeljaylagat]

Just what I thought.

[@stevemercer5769]

Agreed totally. It’s like saying that Band of Brothers didn’t fully tell the story of the Utah beach landings - it’s the story of Easy Company’s part in various WW2 actions

[@truthsearcher596]

Absolutely fantastic footage of which I've never seen before, your channel content and research is invaluable. Please post anymore footage you can find of combat soldiers on both sides talking & in action during the war, absolutely amazing many thanks.

[@WW2Wayfinder]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Eric-kn4yn]

​@@WW2Wayfindertake advice from Cole keep those hands arms from flying around

[@anthonywilson4873]

Huge losses sustained no doubt about bravery and objective achieved. Seen comments on other channels recently with comments saying Germans where over hyped. This proves the known status written by people who knew what they where on about. Here is video proving the same. I trust those who where there rather than some armchair historians trying to rewrite history.

[@WW2Wayfinder]

Agreed. I think those who say they’re over hyped forget that it took a war on two fronts and numerous nations to defeat them. While I believe aspects of their forces/equipment have been made into something they were not over the years ultimately they fought with dogged determination on multiple fronts for years without the advantages the Western Allies or Soviet Union enjoyed in terms of natural resources etc.

[@jimpatino-ye8qs]

This is incredible footage! Thank you for sharing this!😂🇺🇸

[@WW2Wayfinder]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@the1magageneral323]

The Operation Room did a great video explaining this battle.

[@donaldgrant9067]

I understand that it was a larger operation than what was described in the book, but I believe in the heat of battle that you really don't realize that it includes other elements to succeed. You are focused on your men and that is about it. So when telling the story, Winters wrote it that way. That even though there maybe a 1000 men fighting for the town, your company is all alone.

[@kennethabshire9669]

Where you find such Great War footage ?

[@alexhyams2091]

That was bloody brilliant👏🏻

[@WW2Wayfinder]

Alex thank you! I hope to cover more of it later next month when I visit Normandy and walk the ground there. Thanks again for watching!

[@richardmardis2492]

Wow, never see this footage before!

[@WW2Wayfinder]

Coles interview is incredible isn’t it?!

[@richardmardis2492]

@@WW2Wayfinder Unscripted, doing his best in front of a film camera, not finding the words right away- honest. Such a wonderful thing to have seen!

[@darekcieslik6838]

Excellent video enjoyed watching it.

[@WW2Wayfinder]

Thank you!!

[@troykauffman3963]

Hi Jon, absolutely brilliant presentation sir. I’m catching up on all your earlier content that I have not watched.

[@WW2Wayfinder]

Thanks Troy! I can't wait to get back to Normandy and walk the ground around Purple Heart Lane this year and really show what the terrain was like there.

[@dongochoangkhang]

0:08 soldier with number 23 sign is Wallace Strobel

[@american_cosmic]

This is such a cool channel, thanks for doing these videos!

[@WW2Wayfinder]

You're most welcome! hopefully it helps keep alive the memory of what that incredible generation went through.

[@american_cosmic]

@@WW2Wayfinder Most definitely does. My grandfather joined up with the 30th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division a few days prior to them going ashore at Anzio and was with them for the rest of the war. He passed in '89 and I wasn't really old enough to talk to him about the war, but I started researching his service in WW2 a few years ago, and ever since then I've been on a non-stop WW2 binge. There is so much to learn about it, that will never end. And the more I study it, the more I see its impact still playing out today. Anyway, I like looking for good WW2 videos/channels and recently found yours... I love it. Keep up the good work!

[@stewartorr1939]

Brilliant showing the Belgian gate Only you and wwII tv Yours was an actual picture. Love the attention to detail. As an old 82nd troop Who was put in the trees by 101 path finders, I look forward to seeing what you do with them.

[@WW2Wayfinder]

Thank you sir!

[@the1magageneral323]

What Band of Brothers lacked was Robert Cole's charge and how Dick Winters kicked his men to get them moving to take the T junction.

[@Colin-Fenix]

But Band of Brothers was about the 506th, not Cole’s unit. I don’t get the premise of this video…

[@Lee69111]

oh lord, incredible footage!!👌

[@WW2Wayfinder]

Thank you!

[@Lee69111]

@@WW2Wayfinder what is the primary piece of music used in this video, its beautiful. :)

[@charliedoom]

Great doc!

[@WW2Wayfinder]

Thank you!

[@PeterGunn1958]

Another excellent video, kudos also for using archival footage that's rarely seen instead of the same old video many others use. The Colonel Cole part was especially both exciting to see but also poignant as I see he was killed a few months later during Market Garden. Also loved the M5 Stuart footage, don't see that very often and the Sherman's moving out also is footage I've never seen before. Your narration is also spot on, hat's off to you sir. Some point after I retire next year my wife and I tentatively plan on a Normandy trip, with a side trip to Saffron Waldon (the old Debden airbase). However, if that doesn't come to pass your videos are a damn good facsimile, so at least we can see it vicariously through your work.👍

[@WW2Wayfinder]

Thank you! I hope you’re able to make that trip as it would be amazing! Debden is now a home to a British Army Regiment but they do host tours there as the barracks still has most of the wartime buildings there. Cole’s interview is incredible and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a MoH recipient (albeit still to be confirmed when he was filmed) talk about the action at the spot where it happened!

[@stevenrafters7817]

Again excellent insight as usual. Thank you

[@kevgoeswandering8488]

Every week i discover more and more first class content......please keep up this extraordinary work. You bring history to the next level, the quality of research you put into the videos are astounding. never have i even heard of these military movements. I personally enjoyed all episodes of BOB. but ep 3 was quite powerful P.S @29:08 to the right of the man with the flag a soldier is seen with a sword.....would you have any information on this?...is there a story with it ? seems a strange weapon to bring to combat in ww2. i know of one guy who stormed the beach with such a sword......his name escapes me tho....thanks again

[@WW2Wayfinder]

The trooper with the machete is Pvt Jerry Giarritano of B Co. 502nd PIR. ‘Mad Jack’ Churchill is the chap that was photographed with a sword coming ashore from an LCA but I believe it was during a training exercise in Inveraray where that happened.

[@kevgoeswandering8488]

@@WW2Wayfinder ty sir

[@vmestegivem]

Как много у них было снаряжения жаль многие потеряли его при высадке (( еще печальнее что многие так и не достигли земли живыми. Вечная память всем героям союзных армий.

[@WW2Wayfinder]

They jumped with nearly 100lbs of gear and as you say many lost equipment during the jump itself and couldn’t find it in the dark!

[@vmestegivem]

@@WW2Wayfinder это печально потому что порой противник находил их раньше чем они находили свое снаряжение. Но несмотря на это они все равно выполняли свои задачи.

[@Dontwlookatthis]

I am pleased that you are offering the Army Air Corps shirt for sale, my dad was in that branch of the military in WW2. I do have a souvenir pillow cover that he sent to his mom which has The U.S. Army Air Forces stitched into it, so either is correct to say.

[@WW2Wayfinder]

They made the switch from USAAC to USAAF in June 1941. May I ask what your Father did in the Air Force?

[@Dontwlookatthis]

@@WW2Wayfinder My dad grew up working in his father's country car repair shop so he and his best friend took a bus when they graduated to Memphis, Tennessee to enlist. They both joined the Army Air Corps, dad sighed up to be a flight engineer for bombers. His job was to make sure the engines were ready to be started, and then he would have been the top turret gunner and made sure that things that went wrong with the plane during flight could be fixed if possible. However, during a training exercise my dads' write wrist was broken. It was put in a cast and he and some other men in the hospital were included in a press photo... my dad was incredibly handsome, still turning heads in his late 70s. Anyway, when they too the cast off they found gangrene. They were able to save his hand but after cleaning all the gangrene out, his wrist had to be wired together and it was immovable and he was given a 25% disability rating. Instead of releasing him from the Air Corps, they retrained him and sent him to Langley Field Virginia where he worked in the control tower, keeping track of bombers sent out on antisubmarine duty, knowing what bombs they had aboard, so that if they came back without encountering action, he could alert ground crews as to what bombs that they would need to be prepared to receive from the bombers. He reached the rank of Sergeant and I am not sure what kind of sergeant. Oddly enough, after the war my mom heard about a good looking new service manager at the GM dealer and she had a Buick convertible which had electric windows (wow, 1949!) and one was broken. So she drove there to meet him instead of the dealer where the car came from. Oddly enough, she had suffered gangrene as well. She was a beauty as well, and had been burned on her calf muscle when she was four. During the war she was asked to take a Hollywood screen test but was asked to have the scar removed. After surgery she was put in a cast and gangrene developed there, just like my dad only to save the leg the entire calf muscle had to be removed and the ankle wired to be unmovable. So, when they met, they realized they were right for each other, understanding what it was like to be slightly disabled.

[@chrissmoot7038]

What an interesting story…. Thank you for your Father’s service.

[@griftinggamer]

Imagine had the allies not known every German move like they were playing with fog of war hacks and unlimited ressources

[@DaveSCameron]

Maps a little complicated for this level but nice work Sir 👍 📚 🇬🇧 🙏 🇺🇸 📚 ☘️

[@oldsalt7534]

I have to wonder how many of the men Eisenhower visited made it back home.

[@seegurke93]

6:55 as far as I know it were 2 belgian gates and they were so linked that only one person at a time could pass. Just more info :)

[@WW2Wayfinder]

I wasn’t aware of the second gate, thank you for that!

[@excatholicatheist]

Wow! Stunning to hear LTC Cole describe the action. Carentan looks so different today, but what a great memorial there to this action

[@WW2Wayfinder]

His interview is amazing isn’t it. Not often you get to hear a MoH recipient talk about his action days after it took place on the same ground (even if at the time he wasn’t aware it would be awarded to him).

[@excatholicatheist]

thanks for including it. Loved it when the LTC asked the Private to speak as well@@WW2Wayfinder

[@the1magageneral323]

Read about this battle before Band of Brothers and seen more real talks about it.

[@michaeldelahunty2440]

I wonder why they didn't have close air support, thinking about it the planes at that time were flying out of England

[@WW2Wayfinder]

That and I think there was just so much going on all along the front.

[@eamo106]

Great story, (read from a book)? would be greater re-edited with maps and animations vs just map stills and random videos. Don't get me wrong. Its a great post. With newer tech , there should be a Version 2 ? Animations showing what you are reading ?

[@WW2Wayfinder]

All my own knowledge! I don’t bother with animations as I don’t have the skill, software or knowledge sadly. 99.9% of my work is at the locations where the battles were fought. This was something I trialled many months ago

[@clancyross3724]

It was still fucking sick but.. cheers mate

[@orelem]

20:02 Is that a cow hanging from something or am I going mad? Great video by the way!

[@orwellboy1958]

Where am I looking? I can't see a cow anywhere.

[@lena19191]

@@orwellboy1958top RH corner , I don’t think it’s a cow , but it looks like a cow hanging on a telephone wire

[@kcw8181]

I can see it

[@kekzoet7487]

It’s not a cow, but a horse!

[@taviuslewis2865]

I can only imagine the immediate thoughts of Cole looking back only to see no one following. Conversely, imagine being one of the joes, who didnt get the bayonet charge message, trying to understand why the BN CDR was randomly charging a building alone

[@WW2Wayfinder]

It must have been hell on earth, especially after 4 days of fighting since the invasion to then have to make that charge. Quite incomprehensible and to think they did it! It’s a long way from the bridge to the farm house in full view of the MG42’s and other weapons the Fallschirmjäger had at their disposal. The area now though has some wonderful memorials there to the action

[@snook279]

Great documentary with film footage I have never seen before. Thank you for the great work!

[@WW2Wayfinder]

Glad you enjoyed it! Lt Col Cole’s description of his MoH action is priceless!

[@angloaust1575]

While waiting to embark on june5 the airborne had heard A rumour betty grable would Visit them They got eisenhower instead!

[@michaelellis4935]

It’s rather sad that not all stories are known about the combat soldiers. But BoB only tried to encapsulate the average hardships endured by all. It was never meant to diminish or belittle the actions of other units so please don’t generalize. Even the men of Easy knew they weren’t the only participants in their war. I do enjoy your showing another piece of the larger picture however and enjoy your thorough research

[@conroc01]

Our best.

[@richardabraham6105]

whooaaa....

[@bradmiller6023]

It seems to me that the movie built Dick Winters up to be a big hero along with all the rest of Easy Co. and rightfully so. Though if you look at this instance and the Strobol instance it shows Winter's to be a mean spirited man. If he did not like you he did everything he could to get rid of you. He complained about Fox Co. Commander pulling back, and got him removed for doing the same thing Spears did, (pull back do to his own judgement of the situation) but said not one word about Spears doing it, and also leaving his wounded to fend for themselves. Talk to the guy Spears left to fend for himself and see what he thinks of Spears. Why not remove Spears? Now Winter's is human and I am not saying he was good or bad just a man as were all the rest who fought in the war.

[@WW2Wayfinder]

Some very good points! the danger of that series has been the elevation of the main officers and men Ambrose and the series focused on without any consideration for their more human traits.

[@lukycharms9970]

There are 101 comments on this video while I’m watching it hahah that’s kind of funny

[@scablord9099]

Are casualties deaths? Or injured? Or both? Because death is a lot worse then most injuries.

[@jeanlouis7086]

photo grandeur nature vue au musee air borne de sante mère l église

[@Eric-kn4yn]

Above top secret was BIGOT classification

[@midnightspecial3827]

In yer go lads, the bankers will be proud of you, whatever side yer on

[@griftinggamer]

Based....except the alleged bad guys ended usury, destroyed the internstional banking cartel's control over it, recognized what communism was doing, and was going to do, and who was behind it all and the entire world came together to turn them to ash and rubble. Kinda like modern times when certain places talk about selling oil outside usd and decoupling just to wake up to mysterious uprisings and nato bombs.

[@kyleowens9629]

Despite Hitlers terrible decisions. The Germans had their shit together.

[@WW2Wayfinder]

Very much so! The Fallschirmjäger were a formidable enemy!

[@griftinggamer]

Interesting to throw the Austrian painter under the bus, had General Franz Halder have listened to the corporal, Stalingrad would have been taken, the soviet supply lines cut, and perhaps 1944 would have been a gigantic disaster for the allies instead of the axis. Halder disobeying moustaxhe man and absorbing several heavily equipped divisions from army group south just prior to the bulk of the fighting in the south was a blunder among blunders. Even tik, a notorious british fencesitter, acknowledges in his life's work on the stalingrad campaign that the generals didnt listen enough to the grand strategy of the east in the early war , fousing on Moscow and seiging Leningrad instead of pushing past stalingrad and cutting off oil and gas to the red army. The war was lost in 1942 in the frozen hellscape of the east. 3 years of desperation followed.