Walking the Ground – Foy

Walking the ground in Foy!

Today was all about checking out the key locations involved in Easy Company’s attack on Foy on the 13th of January 1945.

I spent all last night watching various YouTube videos to understand the exact spots the following events took place, but if I’m wrong, then please let me know in the comments!

First photos: I started just to the north of Foy and went into the woods. Then, I overlooked the field where Easy launched their attack on Foy (the field where Lt. Dike had his command meltdown and had to be relieved by Lt. Speirs).

Second batch of photos: Then I moved onto the famous spot where ‘Shifty’ Powers took out the German sniper who had been terrorising the American troops in the town. In the photos above, he positioned himself at the corner of the first house, and aimed for the top window of the house down the street covered in bullet holes.

The story goes that Shifty could only see the plumes of breath of the German sniper, as he was a couple of feet back from the window.

In any case, through sharp eyes alone and without any fancy sights on his rifle, Shifty spotted him and took him out.

P.S. The fact that the sniper’s house is covered in Spang must mean that other Easy Company soldiers also shot at the sniper’s house during the fighting.

Next photos: Around the corner from the sniper’s house, you can see the crossing where Lt Speirs made his famous run through enemy fire to link-up with the men of I Company. From what I understand, his sprint started from approximately where the garage from one house is now located, and he ran roughly 100 yards, under machine gun fire, across the road to a small alleyway to the left of the house in the latter photo. (There used to be a schoolyard there).

I’ve drawn a very rough blue arrow to give you an approximate idea of the run he made.

Whilst bopping around the town taking photos, I bumped into a currently-serving American soldier from the 101st Airborne, who was doing some sightseeing with his son. He didn’t know the exact positions, so I showed him what I knew, and let’s just hope I got it all right.