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Easy Company’s Crossroads Battle Was More Brutal Than You Think (No AI)

Battle Guide

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Across this very field as dawn was breaking in October 1944, 35 men, with bayonets fixed, raced headlong towards more than 250 heavily armed SS. In the minutes that followed, and in an episode immortalised in the series ‘Band of Brothers’, Captain Dick Winters and the men of Easy Company reigned chaos across this now peaceful landscape. But how exactly did that episode come about? What really happened on that day? and do the events around this crossroads match those presented on screen? In this video using the latest technology, wartime aerial imagery and the actual accounts of those who were there, we’ll explore the Charge at Heteren Crossroads.

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General Sources:
• US National Archives (NARA)
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Credits:
• Research & Script: Dan Hill
• Narration: Dan Hill
• Editing: Shane Greer
• Thumbnail Design & Production: Linus Klassen
• Music & Sound Effects: Shane Greer
• Dubbing: Lydie Moreno & Julius Houben

20 Comments

@BattleGuideVT Creator 3 weeks ago Pinned

Our new book INFERNO is officially out now!
INFERNO takes a deep dive into 12 pivotal battles across the World Wars, exploring how they each helped shape the 20th century, taking you far deeper into each battle than we can achieve in a single video.

We are also very excited to share that the Audiobook is narrated by Dan!
Get the Audiobook here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Inferno-Battles-World-Shaped-Century/dp/B0GMZTJGMH

Available now on Amazon in Hardcover and eBook: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Inferno-gripping-account-battles-century/dp/000881886X

Thank you so much for your support.

@TimDoyleMusic 5 months ago

A REAL video? No A.I.? Count me in!! Thank you!

@jossgower 5 months ago

I worked on BoB in that scene as a German soldier running away and being shot. Amazing to be part of recreating the battle.

@SammiAllen1970 10 months ago

I served as squad leader in A (Easy) Company 2nd BN 506IN during my second tour in Iraq, from 2005-2006. Quite the legacy we had to live up to. CURRAHEE!

@quantumdog_enlisted 1 year ago

This is like Band of Brothers episode supplement material. Amazing!

@drkmriggs 1 year ago

It’s astonishing how little has changed on the battlefield since then. Makes it easy to imagine being there. Great job!

@markpekrul4393 1 year ago

I've watched BoB many times, but this video helped me understand the tactics and events of the episode "Crossroads" better than ever. Any time you'd like to make more videos explaining engagements like Carentan, Foy, etc. please do so!

@jessefokkenovelist 11 months ago

I'm at the actual location right now as I'm placing this comment 😂 this video was a wonderful explanation, thanks!

@clickingcookie5246 11 months ago

I'm 16 years old an I have been living in Heteren since I was about 4 years old. I have always been fascinated by ww2 and I have found lots of ww2 items including a bomb and a tool used in a B-17. It's crazy how you can still easily find so much to this day!

@DLYChicago 1 year ago

It is strange to see modern footage of cars driving by blithely on just another day, in a place that was once the scene of such historical drama.

@Buencamino-w6q 4 months ago

Winter’s & Easy Company’s assault on Brecourt Manor allowed Elliot Richardson and his medical unit to exit Utah Beach. Richardson went on to serve as Secretary of Defense, U.S. Attorney General, Secretary of Health, Education & Welfare, Secretary of Commerce, Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Attorney General for Massachusetts, Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts and other distinguished positions. After reading the book Richardson thanked Winters, writing that he finally understood why the heavy German artillery fire that was pinning his unit down on Utah Beach had abruptly stopped.

@xKINGatLIFEx 8 months ago

One thing I like about how when Winters was pressed, and stuck in a rut. He feared the enemy would flank along the dyke to his right flank. Then he would have been a sitting duck and likely a huge quantity of his men would have been killed.

Think about this for a second. That is exactly what happened to the Germans thanks to Winters bravery and courage to do to them what he feared they would do to him. In many ways it is a reversal of what he feared, and a genuis one at that. Not to mention he always led from the front so he could appraise the terrain. Many officers would have not done that and ordered their men to charge in without them. That is what made Winters so brilliant I reckon. Simply the fact that he could gather the correct information before acting. Setup his men in such a way so that they would attack single mindledly and focussed like lightning to the point that the enemy was suprised each and every time.

@luispiros 1 year ago

This finally puts it all in a broad perspective. Thank you!

@MrMetroMantis 5 months ago

you Saying Richard Winters was only 26 blew my mind and drastically changes my perspective on the depiction of him in the show

@marcaurel2610 1 year ago

It was an impressive movie. And the depiction of reality almost surpasses it. The scene where the young German SS man was shot haunted me. The one who seemed to surrender. My father was also a young German soldier who was to be sacrificed in the last days of the war.
That showed me once again that wars on the battlefield are usually fought by young people and in this case children. Most SS units had already been re-established three or four times by that time because they had been wiped out in Russia. They were mostly young and very young recruits. This puts into perspective the image we all have when we hear reports about the abbreviation "SS". At the end of the war, these were mostly not battle-hardened fighting machines, not master-race soldiers, but blinded children driven by an ideology that despised humanity. It makes me sick.

@scepterfuge 1 year ago

The visual breakdowns of these battles are so good. So much more you can get than from a description in a book or from a film.

@longtabsigo 1 year ago

12:34 thank you! I get so sick of modern narratives say “only” when referring to casualties and KIA’s of 1-4 men. You did CPL Dukeman a solid tribute the way you classified his death.

@D2C3R5 5 months ago (edited)

I was at the site about 8 yrs ago. I was surprised how much the site the series used looked like the actual place. I walked the entire area with my sons, retracing the route that Winters took to the site. Then went down to the local farmhouse and took my picture at the same place Winters stood. The reactions of the Germans who crossed over the dike upon hearing all the shooting tells me they were inexperienced or had inexperienced leaders. Instead of panicking and knee jerk reacting, an experienced leaders takes a second to assess the situation. If any group of them had moved to their left about 50 meters and crossed the dike behind Easy Co, the Easy would have been boxed in and likely all killed.

@sandville2396 1 year ago

I mean, you even got walking footage from the exact position in the field for us. This is beyond the call of duty, great documentary and great job - thank you so much !!