Digging Band of Brothers

Thanks to many publications and even a television series, perhaps the most famous Allied military unit involved on D Day was Easy Company of the 506^th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101^st Airborne, US Army.

These were the so-called ‘Band of Brothers’. This group parachuted into Normandy in the early hours of the 6^th June with their objective to secure locations and destroy enemy positions that might hinder the landings, particularly at ‘Utah’ beach. Their exploits became legendary fighting through Normandy, the low countries and the Battles of Arnhem and Bastogne (part of the ‘Battle of the Bulge’) before finally ending at Hitler’s ‘Eagle’s Nest’ at Berchtesgaden. What is less well known is the presence of these paratroopers, the ‘Screaming Eagles’, in Wiltshire before and after the landings in Europe.

This project had one main aim in mind – to locate the huts used by this legendary unit before the ‘Day of Days’ – with military personnel of more recent conflicts leading the way