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DZ CHARLIEBATTLEFIELD FIELD GUIDES

EVERY BATTLEFIELD
HAS A STORY.

One collection of free guides to the battlefields of Europe. Each plans your route, finds the exact spot with no signal, and tells you what happened there.

Find a guide for my trip →Try a stop: Pointe du Hoc
THE COLLECTION · 4 GUIDES · MORE COMING
EASY COMPANYNormandy to the Eagle's NestFOOTSTEPS OF WWIIThe whole war in EuropeSPANISH CIVIL WARSpain 1936–39 · en españolINTO EUROPEItaly 1943–45
THE COLLECTION

PICK YOUR BATTLEFIELD

EASY COMPANYNormandy · Holland · Germany
1 · Normandy ›2 · Holland & Bastogne ›3 · Germany & Austria ›
THE SPANISH CIVIL WARSpain 1936–39En español
FOOTSTEPS OF WWIIThe whole war in Europe 1939–45 INTO EUROPEItaly 1943–45
DZDZ CHARLIEFIELD GUIDES · FREE
FREE BATTLEFIELD GUIDES FOR YOUR PHONE

EVERY
BATTLEFIELD
HAS A STORY.

Free guides for visiting battlefields. Say where you are going and how many days you have: the guide plans the route, finds each exact spot with no signal, and tells you what happened there.

Find a guide for my trip →Explore an example stop
  • ✓ Free
  • ✓ No sign-up
  • ✓ No app store
  • ✓ Works offline
WHY “DZ CHARLIE”? DROP ZONE C, NORMANDY, THE NIGHT OF 5–6 JUNE 1944. WHERE OUR FIRST GUIDE BEGINS.4 GUIDES LIVE · MORE INBOUND

How we count: 532 sites in the four guides (Easy Company 118, the Spanish Civil War 158, Into Europe 96, Footsteps of WWII 160). About 50 famous places, such as Pegasus Bridge, appear in two guides, so that is roughly 480 different places to stand.

TRY A STOPSee exactly what a guide gives you: Pointe du Hoc, D‑Day
TRY A STOP · FROM FOOTSTEPS OF WWII

POINTE DU HOC

One stop, exactly as the guide gives it to you. Every guide has hundreds like it.
NORMANDY, FRANCE · 6–8 JUNE 1944Allow 1 hrHIGH exact spot known

What happened

German guns on this 35-metre headland between Utah and Omaha were thought to threaten both beaches. On 6 June 1944, 225 men of the 2nd Ranger Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel James Earl Rudder landed late, at about 07:10, and climbed the cliffs with rocket-fired grapnels and ladders under fire. At the top they found the casemates empty: the guns had been moved inland. Patrols found five of the six in an orchard and wrecked them with thermite grenades by about 09:00. The Rangers then held the headland against counter-attacks until relieved on 8 June, by when only about 90 were still fit to fight.

What you see today

The ground is still a moonscape of bomb craters around ruined casemates and the observation bunker at the cliff edge, topped by the granite Ranger Monument. Look over the edge at the cliffs the Rangers climbed.

Where accounts differA popular myth says the assault was pointless because the guns had gone. In fact the guns were nearby and could still reach the beaches, and the Rangers found and disabled them on the morning of D-Day.
YOUR MISSION, IN THREE PHASES

YOUR FIELD GUIDE TO HISTORY

Every DZ Charlie guide works the same way, whichever war you choose.

The tour planner in a guide
BEFORE YOU GO

PLOT YOUR ROUTE

  • Got 2 hours or 2 weeks? Pick your area and the guide builds the tour
  • Or build your own route, day by day
  • Read the briefing: the whole war in a few pages
  • Save it for offline, print the PDF
The map in a guide
ON THE GROUND

FIND THE EXACT SPOT

  • “Where am I?” shows the nearest site and how far
  • Road maps down to village level, no signal needed
  • The story of every stop, and what you still see today
  • Battle maps, the people and the weapons they carried
AFTER ACTION REPORT · DAY 2CARENTAN“Stood at the crossroads where they came in at dawn. Quieter than I imagined.”VISITED
AFTER THE DAY

KEEP THE STORY

  • Your trip diary: the day's places, in the order it happened
  • Add your own notes to every stop
  • Send the page to family, or print a trip booklet
  • No account. It all stays on your phone

Every place is marked HIGH MEDIUM or LOW for how sure we are of the exact spot.

THE COLLECTION

PICK YOUR BATTLEFIELD

Every guide plans a route for the days you have, works with no signal and is free.
WHICH GUIDE?

Easy Company follows one company of US paratroopers from Normandy to the Eagle's Nest: a focused route, day by day. Footsteps of WWII is the wide view: the whole war in Europe, 15 areas from Britain to Moscow. Into Europe and the Spanish Civil War each cover one country in depth.

Easy Company guide cover
WORLD WAR II · 1944–1945 · 5 COUNTRIES

EASY COMPANY

Jump with the 506th into Normandy, hold the line at Bastogne, finish at the Eagle's Nest. 118 sites, 90 of them on the ready-made route, and 146 spoken stories.

  • WhereNormandy, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Austria
  • Sites118 sites
  • Trip length1 to 7 days for each campaign, or a ready-made 5-day route
  • LanguageEnglish
Open a campaign 1 · Normandy → 2 · Holland & Bastogne → 3 · Germany & Austria → Download the PDFs
3 CAMPAIGNS
Footsteps of WWII guide cover: an RAF operations room with plotters around a map table
WORLD WAR II · EUROPE · 1939–1945

FOOTSTEPS OF WWII

The whole war in Europe, from Westerplatte to Berlin: Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, Normandy, Arnhem, Bastogne, Stalingrad and the camps. 160 sites in 15 areas, 12 battle maps.

  • Where15 areas, from Britain to Moscow
  • Sites160 sites
  • Trip length1 day in one area, up to 52 days for the whole war
  • LanguageEnglish
Open guide → Download the PDF
NEW
Into Europe guide cover: Allied soldiers climbing an Italian hillside
WORLD WAR II · ITALY · 1943–1945

INTO EUROPE

The Allied advance through Italy, from the Sicily beaches to the Po: Salerno, Cassino, Anzio, Rome and the Gothic Line. 96 stops over 14 days, 8 battle maps.

  • WhereItaly, from Sicily to the Po
  • Sites96 sites
  • Trip length1 day to 3 weeks; the full drive takes 14 days
  • LanguageEnglish
Open guide → Download the PDF
NEW

Site directory: 532 sites from Easy Company, Footsteps of WWII, Into Europe and the Spanish Civil War, each on its own page with the story, visiting info and directions →

Trip ideas: Band of Brothers sites, D-Day, Bastogne, Monte Cassino, Sicily and the Spanish Civil War →

TAKE IT WITH YOU

DOWNLOADS

Every guide as a printable PDF, to read on the plane or print for the car.
EASY COMPANY · 4 PDFsEasy Company

The three campaigns, Normandy to the Eagle's Nest, plus the Common Reference.

4 PDFs · 15.5 MB in allChoose ▾
1 · NormandyThe night drop, Brécourt Manor, Carentan · 37 pages · 3.5 MB⬇ 2 · Holland & BastogneMarket Garden, the Island, the frozen woods · 38 pages · 4.2 MB⬇ 3 · Germany & AustriaThe Rhine, Landsberg, the Eagle's Nest · 32 pages · 3.5 MB⬇ Common ReferenceOrigins, the men, the weapons, words to know · 46 pages · 4.3 MB⬇
SPAIN · 1936–1939The Spanish Civil War

All 158 sites in 8 areas, with maps, people and timeline.

76 pages · 3.9 MB · with area maps⬇ PDF ESPAÑA · 1936–1939 · EN ESPAÑOLLa Guerra Civil española

Los 158 lugares en 8 zonas, con mapas, personajes y cronología.

82 páginas · 3,9 MB · con mapas⬇ PDF ITALY · 1943–1945Into Europe

The 14-day drive from Sicily to the Po, with maps, key figures, the armies and the timeline.

82 pages · 6.3 MB⬇ PDF EUROPE · 1939–1945Footsteps of WWII

The whole war in Europe: 160 sites, the timeline, key figures and the battles.

177 pages · 21.6 MB⬇ PDF
PUT A GUIDE ON YOUR PHONENo app store needed. It opens like an app and works in the fields with no signal.
  1. 1

    Open this website on your phone in Safari or Chrome.

  2. 2

    Tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.

  3. 3

    On Wi-Fi, open a guide and tap More › Save for offline.