It was a rainy day when I went to sketch the Citadel in Namur Belgium. I had to take several breaks from sketching to let the rain die down. There was a quaint little restaurant at the Citadel called Le Fief de Namur and I went there for lunch. It felt very old world and the food was healthy and delicious. A man at the next table wished me Bon apatite.
The chances that 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken was at this giant fortress are slim, but the 75th Infantry did have a Command Post here. The command post would have been in the labyrinth of tunnels under the fortress. I asked about a tour that is offered of the tunnels stressing that at some point I might want to stop for some time to complete a sketch. I was told that was impossible. I would have to keep up with the tour.
Instead, I decided to walk through the museum in the fortress. The exhibits were impressive coving ancient history from the geological formations to medieval times. The most impressive exhibit was a scale move; of the fortress. Such models were built to study the possible weaknesses of the fortress. The level of detail in the model was impressive. The model has been exhibited in several fine art museums as well. I considered doing a sketch but it would have taken at least 3 hours to complete. I already had several sketches of the fortress and planned to do another of the view overlooking Namur.
The museum exhibit incorporated a series of panels. Some of the panels were blank to represent the many unknown holes to be found in any history. The panels floated through the exhibit as if on a monorail, at times the panels would spiral overhead. When the Citadel became less functional as a protective fort, sections of the vast property were turned into theater and sports complexes. Unfortunately there was little in the museum about WWII. The Germans captured the fort in May of 1940 and then the Allies took it back and used an air field close to the fortress before my father got to Europe in February of 1945.