Band of Brothers: The real Crossroads location, The Island, Netherlands
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- čas přidán 19. 08. 2014
- I finally got to visit the real site of "The Crossroads", Episode 5 of the tv mini-series Band of Brothers.
The real location of what Dick Winters considered the peak action in the Easy Company story is located a mile outside Heteren, Netherlands (GPS: 51.95802,005.73094) on an area which became known as "The Island" during World War II.
The action itself took place on the night of 4/5th October 1944 when an American patrol stumbled across Germans on the location which became known as "The Crossroads" and heavily outnumbered, retreated . Winters took a small squad back to the location and discovered a number of German soldiers (actually part of the 363rd Volksgrenadiers) had set up a MG facing south towards Hemmen. Winters planned and with the squad killed a number of Germans attacked the MG position before retreating to a ditch about 200m west of the position.
Winters called in reinforecments and a small counter attack by the Germans killed Corp William Dukeman, the only American fatality in the action. In the morning, Winters realised his squard was extremely exposed and led an assault on what he thought was a small group of Germans but turned out to be several dozen. And even more poured over the main dyke road when the assault started.
The action ended when in following up the assault on the retreating Germans, an artillery strike from the German lines sent the Americans scrambling back to their own lines.
The real location is very easy to find and explore. I didn't enter the main field or visit the fall-back ditch (private property) but other then that, the area is very open and accessible. - Zábava
I visited this place in 2014. It was amazing to walk in the same place our soldiers did. I found it very moving...
Thank you for holding your camera as steady as possible and not fire hosing it around like so many posters do. Great video.
I am planning on going there next month. Thank you for the pre-view! It was very helpful!
R.I.P Dukeman
We will never forget you
Got shot by some Germans in the culvert with a rifle grenade
I know I will most certainly never be able to go there and experience it for myself first hand, so thank you for taking me with you instead. I enjoyed it. Much appreciated!
why not? as if you're being restrained and tied down
We are taking the Beyond Band of Brothers 75th D-day tour! so we will be on Omaha June 6th 2019 at dawn! 7 days in Normandy, 3 in Belgium/Bastogne and 3 in Munich/Eagles nest! We will not see the Crossroads so your tour is very much appreciated!
I will also be doing the same thing like you but me and my wife will be going as well to the mountain where Hitler try to escape
I just wanna add that me and my Wife are also gonna be going to the place where German Colonel
Surrender
Nice video. Thank you for producing, posting, and sharing real world film of what happen.
Better late than never, but I wish I'd seen this years ago. Thank you.
okay....watching further, I see it was a roller blader by my word....when I saw him at 8:04.....what a moment I had!
Thank you very much for doing this, fantastic job, so much better to see what it actually looks like other than the 'Hollywood' cinemascope version, so kudos to you!
glad you made it the crossroads. cool stuff. the netherlands is a very nice country.
I enjoy these videos. Thanks!
The 'weird, noisy lawnmower sounding cars' you comment on at the 0:35 are actually 4-wheeled mopeds with 50cc two-stroke engines and aren't allowed to exceed 45kph. They are usually used by the elderly and physically impaired to maintain mobility despite being unfit, unwilling or not able to afford a car. If you look carefully you can see a round white sticker with a red rim on the back of the thing, with '45' in the middle, warning others of it's lower speed than actual cars. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorised_quadricycle)
So pleased you explained "those noisy cars",I am Dutch and lived through this war, and times were not normal, more like hell!
And in Sweden they're used by young people not old enough to drive full sized cars.
@@philipsquire9056 happens here too, I knew a guy who was well over 2 meters tall in a tiny red one with white racing stripes.
Thank You for doing this!!
good explanation of the events and positions too.
Did you find the drainage pipe that easy co. captured the ss troops in
Thanks for this!
I live like 800 meters from there never knew this.
I have found my new favorite CZcams channel.
Awesome video!
Very good video mate! I live nearby this place and visited it a couple of times. Have you visited Schoonderlogt as well? It's just a few miles from Crossroads, check it out! :)
very interesting thank you
Its beautiful out there.
amazing.
Winters never said anything about a grenade
I'm curious... Are you referencing the book "Band of Brothers", when speaking of the actual events (not how it was portrayed in the mini-series). I'm looking to purchase the best books on the actual events. Great video....thanks for sharing.
What does the plaque say??
also, any idea why the german artillery across the river didn't enfilade or shell Easy company while positioned in the ditch?
You still need to have radio/observers and/or clear field of fire
I tend to think the second German company/rest of the battallion was on the other side of the dike already, and thought a major flanking manouvre was taking place, which would leave them in a kinda same sort of position as Winters' troop. Also not very handy to use the winter dyke as a cover because that would mean being fully exposed to the US main force at Opheusden.
let me know what book('s) you mentioned that describe this place
+devin white The two books I used to help me in the WWII related tour I took to Holland were "From Toccoa too the Eagle's Nest: Discoveries in the Bootsteps of the Band of Brothers" by Dalton Einhorn (obviously very specific to the Band of Brothers and the Crossroads incident) and "Major and Mrs.Holt's Battlefield Guide Operation Market Garden" by Tonie Holt, Valmai Holt, the best guide book if you are interested touring locations linked to Operation Market Garden.
2:18 "3/4 of a foot" is 9 inches. 1 m is 39.1 inches. I believe you meant the latter.
I watched an interview with Wild Bill and the interviewer asked how long did the assault on Brecourt Manor last and he replied 30 minutes to an hour.
According to anything I have read about the Brecourt Manor action is it took several hours to complete (there were more stages to the event after that seen in the TV series for example) For example, Winters returned to Grand Chemin during the action because his team were running out of ammo. As I noticed on a return to Brecourt, a memorial sculpture showed one of the guns in the wrong place even though Winters had been involved in the design. Memories fade.
That very first “car” was a 45 km/h elderly vehicle. Just saying...🇳🇱
at :35,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,a lawn mower goes by.
not the unusual seating and storage compartment.
how many germans and americans died in the battle?
Germans : 50
Americans : 1
This is where Dick Winters shot the young German Soldier?
Yes. The German soldier was already on the road and the were almost face to face. The soldier smiled at him just like in the series and he shot him
@@robbreeding9937 From what I understand, Winters though the kid thought Winters was a joke his friends were playing on him. I still wonder what it takes to get humans to just kill someone.
@@TimothyOBrien1958 Hmmm I’ve never heard that. He doesn’t say it that way in this interview. He just says he was startled by him being right there over the hill and that the German soldier smiled. Probably just a nervous reaction. Apparently that image haunted him for a while. Here are his words czcams.com/video/hnF6z9yyGo4/video.html
@@robbreeding9937 I read that somewhere.
Encore un endroits ou a eu lieu un combat , il y en a eu des milliers , mais evidement , vous occulter tout les autres .....................................!!
But this a beautiful fuckin landscape, innit?
the men that done it il take there word
Those weird , noisy , lawnmower cars are actually called moped cars.. you can drive them without a car drivers license they run on diesel and suck because they can not go beyond 45 km/h ... the elderly use them mostly and spoiled kids .. lol
Just Human Sounds like a POS.
Jeff Sartain
I have no idea what POS means?
Just Human Piece of Crap
U need a license for them. There are realy usefull for little trips they use barley any diesel
A rec-key? oh please....
ik woon ik in Nederland
jij ook al?
nu alleen nog nederlands leren schrijven
your breathing is killing me dude...
The only person that should narrate is a person that was there
Why you so outta breath?
I won't bore you with reading the memorial - no problem I'll just get on a jet and fly over the pond and spend a bunch of money and read it myself no need for you to take 5 min to read it screw that would be cheaper to maybe view it on a better computer maybe I could read it.
here you go Sir: "Crossroads"
Around half past five on the morning of October 5, 1944, American soldiers of Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment and soldiers of two German companies crossed each other’s paths at this very spot. The German soldiers had crossed the Lower-Rhine river probably to reinforce an attack in the vicinity of Opheusden. A patrol of five Americans were exploring the area when they were caught in the line of fire of the enemy. Although one soldier was seriously wounded, they managed to withdraw to the command post where they reported the incident. A second patrol set off immediately, to fight back the enemy.
The second patrol snuck up on the machine gun which had attacked the first patrol, fired some successful rounds and then returned to their fallback position. Firing from both sides broke loose. Later, the American commander discovered that the enemy was hiding behind a raised dike while his men were in a shallow ditch without any possibility of safe retreat. The best and only option was to attack. At dawn the orders were given to fix bayonets and to wait for the signal to charge.
The attack started when 35 American soldiers ran toward the dike, not realizing that some 150 Germans were waiting behind the embankment. The German company, however, was completely taken by surprise and panicked even though they were attacked by only a relatively small group of Americans. Meanwhile, a second German company crossed the dike toward this unexpected confrontation. Despite this reinforcement, the few Americans managed to hold out.
The Americans won the battle in spite of bitter German resistance. Fifty German soldiers and one American soldier were killed. The American soldier was hit by a shell fragment that pierced his heart. This soldier was William Heiter Dukeman Jr (2-09-1921 - 5-10-1944).
May this symbol remind us of all the soldiers who fought in this battle.
Awesome video!