Band of Brothers

The 101st was headed to Alsace to counter Nordwind, Germany’s diversionary operation that was designed to lure the Americans out of Ardennes so the Germans could recover their men and equipment there. The 101st assumed their move to Alsace was because the Germans had broken the line at Alsace, but that was just a rumor. Alsace is 160 miles south-southeast of Bastogne, and the trip there was long, cold, and dangerous because of road conditions. They arrived on January 20 and Easy Company’s regiment, the 506th, went into reserve for two weeks.

On February 5th, the 506th relieved the 313th Infantry of the 79th Division in Haguenau, a French city with a population of 20,000 that bordered the Moder River. Easy was positioned at the intersection of a canal and the south bank of the river, immediately across from the German positions on the north bank of the river. For the first time, the men were billeted in actual buildings. The buildings were in the sights of big German guns, which meant that daytime movement was restricted, though the guns were in poor condition after having been used by other soldiers on both sides. Easy’s job was to “hold the line, send out enough patrols to keep contact with the Germans, and serve as forward artillery observers” (226).