#bois jacques

we walked from foy to the foxholes, which was definitely further than I would have liked to run while getting shot at, and saw bullet holes in the building where shifty took out the sniper

I wasn't that bothered about seeing the mardasson memorial outside the war museum but it's scale was pretty stunning, especially in the morning when it loomed out of the mist and snow

this memorial on the way to the foxholes had eugene jackson's name on it for some reason?? maybe there were two, very mysterious

I didn't take a lot of photos in the museums because there was a lot to get through but the war museum and the war rooms were both really well curated, brilliant audio exhibitions in both and some very cool interactive exhibits at the war rooms. as well as some pretty silly reenactments. again, the war tourism industry is clearly big

So this was a tough one as I’ve chosen the prompt ‘most heartbreaking scene’ and really this show has so many scenes that have made me cry and really pulled on my heart strings but this scene has always stuck with me so I have chosen the scene in the Bois Jacques when Buck witnesses Bill and Joe being wounded.

‘Most heartbreaking scene’

Went on a Battle of the Bulge tour again. This time, Robin Laing, aka Babe Heffron in Band of Brothers, was with us. Good times were had. He also signed some art for me, which he then kept because he'll send it to Shane Taylor, who is also on the pic as Doc Roe, and then it will hopefully make its way back to me.

Cute little detail about him is that he signs as Robin Laing with "Babe" underneath, but the quotation marks are very specifically sixes and nines because "That's how Babe did it." He's also incredibly humble about it, saying: "people don't really want my signature... they want Babe's."

the woods looked sooo beautiful and eerie in the snow, we were so lucky with the weather. having been there I get buck more, I too would be thinking about the visigoths in the creepy dark woods at night

there was a vr app where they had reenactments of what happened where but we mainly just wandered about imagining it was 1944

this was looking out to foy in the mist. it was a lot further away than it looked in the show - genuinely miraculous no one murdered dike

I just thought I’d share a few pictures from my recent trip to the Belgium Ardennes following in the footsteps of the 101st Airborne Divisions Easy Company. I had an incredible but very emotional trip, to stand where those brave men where almost 80 years ago really hits home and I have such respect for the men of E Company and feel like I have a fleet connection and understanding of what they went through.

So these pictures show the Fontaine Woods where the attack on Foy started. In the second photo you can see the tree line where Dick Winters would have been watching the attack on Foy unfold. Carwood Lipton with 2nd Battalion went straight down the middle towards Foy. Lieutenant Foley went to the left with 1st Battalion and the Lieutenant Shames went right with 3rd Battalion.

In these two pictures the first one shows the house that Lipton and Spiers were taking cover behind in Foy. The second picture shows the house that Spiers ran too in order to link up with I Company and to stop them firing upon 3rd Battalion who were coming found the right hand side of the town.

In this picture it shows the house that Lipton, Shifty Powers and several other soldiers took shelter behind when the German sniper was shooting at them in Foy. The upper window you can see in the middle of the picture is the window that Shifty Powers shot the Germany sniper through.

This building is where Doc Roe set up the Aid Station in Foy.

These pictures are all from the Bois Jacques where Easy Company spent a lot of their time dug in along the frontline. You can still see some of the original foxholes in this wood and the Fontaine woods (pictured at the top of the page)

Part 2

Here are some pictures from the Henri Chapelle American Cemetery. One member of Easy Company is buried here - Richard J Hughes who didn’t feature in the Band of Brothers series but who was shot by a sniper the same night Bill and Joe lost their legs.

This is the Easy Company memorial in the Bois Jacques. This made me very emotional to see the names of the men lost from Easy Company during their time in the Ardennes.

This is the memorial for Renee Lemaire ‘The Angel of Bastogne’ who lost her life on 24th December 1944. And the second picture shows the tank in the middle of Bastogne.

The Germany Cemteray in Recogne. It’s a very peaceful cemetery surrounded by trees and is well worth a visit.

This path in the Fontaine woods is where Hoobler stood when he shot the German officer on horse back.

Part 1

I’m back from my trip to Belgium where I walked in Easy Company’s footsteps in Bastogne, Foy and the Bois Jacques. I had an incredible and very emotional time and I’ll share it all with you soon. I’ll be sharing some pictures of my trip over the next few days.