Visiting Aldbourne: Easy Company’s Home in England

Aldbourne: The English Village Easy Company Called Home

The sun was warm when I arrived in Aldbourne, casting long shadows across the village green on a late-summer afternoon. Birds called from the hedgerows. From the patios outside the Blue Boar and the Crown, I heard the hum of conversation. And above it all, the tower of St. Michael’s looked down—steady, unchanged.

Easy Company arrived here in September 1943. They had crossed the Atlantic aboard the SS Samaria, landed in Liverpool, and made their way south by train. Trucks took them from the station at Ogbourne St. George. Then they marched the final stretch into town by flashlight, during a wartime blackout.

They couldn’t see much that night. But the next morning, it took their breath away.

A Hollywood Movie Set, in Real Life

David Webster wrote that he thought he’d woken up in a film set:

“Fairy-book cottages with thatched roofs and rose vines… a weathered old Norman church whose clock chimed like Big Ben… ancient pubs with signboards swinging in the breeze.”
— Parachute Infantry, p. 5

Dick Winters called it a “typically quaint English town” with “neat gardens, brick and stone houses, and flowers in bloom.”

— Beyond Band of Brothers, p. 50

Compton, Webster, and others remembered the pubs, the children, the stables, the green fields—and how quickly it felt like home.

Officers were quartered in manor houses near the square. Some enlisted men stayed in Quonset huts or converted horse stables tucked behind the houses.

They trained here for nine months. Waited for the war to begin in earnest. And left their mark on the town.

What to See in Aldbourne Today

You can still walk the same lanes Easy Company did. The heart of the village remains beautifully preserved.

Don’t miss:

• The village green, where the men ran drills and gathered
• St. Michael’s Church, a Norman-era church whose bells still chime today (church website)
• The Blue Boar and The Crown, two of the pubs frequented by the men
• The Aldbourne Heritage Centre, with wartime photos and artifacts (heritage centre site)
• The thatched cottages and narrow lanes, largely unchanged in 80 years

Aldbourne isn’t a museum. It’s still a lived-in village. That’s what makes it so special.

 

Planning Your Visit to Aldbourne

📍 Aldbourne on Google Maps
🚆 Getting There: About 90 minutes west of London by car; nearest stations are Swindon or Hungerford
🍺 Where to Stop: The Crown and The Blue Boar still welcome visitors
📚 Learn More: Aldbourne village site

Bring good walking shoes. Bring a camera. And take your time—this place is meant to be lingered in.

 

Walk Where They Walked

Aldbourne wasn’t just picturesque—it was personal. This was the longest stretch Easy Company stayed in one place. It became their base, their community, their first taste of Europe.

Today, it still feels like a place worth coming home to.

To follow in their footsteps across England, France, and beyond, pick up the Band of Brothers Travel Guide.

👉 Available now on Amazon
👉 More photos and stories at bergsandburgs.com

Photo credits: Thank you to James Skeffington and the photographers of the 506th PIR.