Band of Brothers follows the men of Easy Company, a real U.S. Army unit that fought in Europe during World War II — but how much of the show was historically accurate?
When Band of Brothers premiered in 2001, it was heralded as a “genuine” show about the struggles of the U.S. Army during World War II. That said, the show did get some things wrong — including the date of Adolf Hitler’s death. Band of Brothers also sometimes took liberties with the true stories of the men who served in Easy Company.
Indeed, telling the stories of Easy Company was no easy task. Though the show was based on the book Band of Brothers by the historian Stephen E. Ambrose, 140 enlisted men formed the original Easy Company, and 366 had served within the unit by the war’s end. What’s more, their stories — already plenty dramatic — had to be repackaged to fit into a miniseries.
All in all, the characters in Band of Brothers stay fairly true to their real-life inspirations. But here’s where the fictional show and real unit diverge.
Dick Winters, The Heart Of Band Of Brothers
Public DomainThe real-life Dick Winters in uniform.
The heart of Band of Brothers is arguably Richard “Dick” Winters. Just like in the show, Winters came to lead Easy Company during World War II.
Winters (in real life blond, but played by the red-haired Damian Lewis in the TV show), was born on January 21, 1918, in New Holland, Pennsylvania. Though the real-life Winters had no strong military ambitions, he decided to enlist in the U.S. Army in 1941 to avoid getting drafted later on.
“I made a decision, ‘Look, I’m going to volunteer, take care of this military obligation, and then when I have that taken care of, then go get a job. Then I don’t have to worry about interrupting my livelihood,” Winters later recalled in the documentary Dick Winters: Hang Tough.
U.S. Army/HBORichard Winters, left, and actor Damian Lewis, right, who played him in Band of Brothers.
Assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Winters was sent to Georgia for training. There, just like in the show, he clashed with his commanding officer Herbert Sobel. Despite this shaky start, however, Winters rapidly moved through the ranks. When a number of Easy Company’s top soldiers were killed during D-Day, he took charge of the unit.
Just like in the show, Winters was present at some of the most pivotal moments of World War II. In addition to D-Day, Winters also fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He and other Easy Company soldiers were among the first to arrive at Dachau (though not the first) and to arrive at Adolf Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest.” So did Band of Brothers get anything about Winters wrong?
HBODamian Lewis in Band of Brothers. In all, his storyline stayed fairly true to Dick Winters’ experience in World War II.
Yes, but only small details. In the final episode of Band of Brothers, “Points,” a German soldier offers to surrender by giving Winters his Walther PP pistol. In the show, Winters tells him to keep it. In real life, Winters took it — but poignantly discovered that it had never been fired.
