Foy

But they haven't moved far.

They're now in the Ardennes forest near Foy, Belgium, just north of Bastogne, occupying positions in the Bois-Jacques

woods.

Yeah, so this is a completely different Easy Company from the one we met at Takoa or Watch Jump into Normandy.

But the men of 101st aren't simply sent home to recover.

You would think they would be after everything they've been through in Bastogne, everything they've seen and had to endure.

But no, instead they're ordered to continue the offensive northwards as the 506th attack towards Ricogne and then Foy in early January.

And that is where we find the battered and broken already easy company.

So I did a bit of digging around him.

And in Band of Brothers, he's portrayed as an inexperienced and ineffective officer, particularly during the attack on Foy, where his failure to act is blamed for putting easy company men in serious danger.

The bit you alluded to where Winters tries to run out.

But the real Norman Dyke was a much more complicated character.

He was actually a decorated officer who received two Bronze Stars for bravery in Uden in the Netherlands before he even took command of Easy Company.

He demonstrated courage and leadership by helping organise the defence of strategic positions while under intense enemy fire.

So when we eventually get to his breakdown during the Battle of Foy, I think it's worth looking at him through a slightly different lens, a bit like we said with Blythe, where it's not cowardice, There's a lot of stuff has led up to this and the veterans who served with him actually later reported that his performance that day may have actually been affected by a shoulder wound that he suffered during the fighting and that can change potentially how we view the character.

Instead of seeing him as an incompetent officer who froze when his men needed him, there's another possibility that we're seeing a man physically and psychologically pushed beyond his limits in the middle of an incredibly intense battle.

But the reason why that's such a leadership example, I think, for customers, for clients, and for people in our business is because there is a point, and I don't know how familiar you are with this story, but there is a point where Captain Winters has now been elevated to a major, right? And so he's not, he's not supposed to be leading, you know, um, the, the company as much as he's meant to, to be discipling it or, or effectively leading from behind a desk and strategizing.

So it's this really interesting tipping point where he has to remove himself from the day-to-day operations, from battle, whatever it is, and they're just getting out of, out of Bastogne, which is a huge place, and taking the town of Foy.

And there's a moment, you'll know this moment.

I don't remember the exact episode, five, six, probably somewhere right in there.

And he is tempted because they're taking this town of Foy and he's got a leader who's failing, and he's watching him crumple under the pressure of the battlefield.

And there's a moment where he is, he's fuming.

He wants to storm out there and lead them in because he sees what needs to be done, but he has to call in somebody else.