Deins! Rhineberg Germany

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I took a second day in Rhineberg Germany to try and figure out exactly where the 75th Infantry Division would have crossed the Rhine River. I treated myself to a nice traditional German breakfast (fruhstuck). I was proud of myself for ordering breakfast in German, although I am sure the waitress knew I was English. I am glad I went here to sketch the dark wood beams and quaint interior. Who doesn’t love a gnome behind the bar?

The owner’s dog sat nervously by the bar waiting for her morning walk. There were mini bread rolls and cheese with ham, tomatoes, lettuce, jams Nutella and here boiled eggs that are served in an upright cup. You cut the top off of the egg shell and then scoop out the egg inside. I have come to like eggs served this traditional German way.

The waitress stopped by a few times to look over my shoulder and when I was done she asked to take a photo for the restaurant Facebook page and I let her. I knew I would be hiking a lot to find a route to the Rhine River from the town, I knew that many routes would be blocked by private farms and businesses. Back in 1945, the troops would have marched right through such obstacles and the civilians population would have evacuated.

The owner of the Air B&B I was staying in knew quite a bit about the World War 2 history of the area. He felt that the troops would have crossed at a spot just south of the town where there is a ferry crossing today. I listened intently, but didn’t quite agree since I saw a war map of the area and it showed 3 distinct crossing sites north and west of Rheinberg. I wanted to hike to each of those sites if it was possible. The 79th Infantry might have taken the southern route my Air B&B host was suggesting.

The rental car was often a problem since there was no parking available on those small country roads. I would leave the car in a town and then hike through the farm country towards the river. There were biking and walking trails along the river so once I got to those I should be golden. I knew the three crossing sites encircled a large curve in the river. With a full belly from a big breakfast, I set off to hike my way to the Rhine crossing sites.

American intelligence had identified the remnants of 21 German divisions lined up across the Rhine, but all were believed to be exhausted, seriously understrength, and incapable of putting up a sustained fight. Hitler’s hope of drawing a firm line at the Rhine was dashed on March 7, 1945 when elements of the 9th U.S. Armored Division captured the still-standing Ludendorff railroad bridge over the 980-foot-wide Rhine at the town of Remagen, between Cologne and Koblenz Germany. The allies had a clear path into Germany8 from that one crossing site. Every other span across the river had been destroyed. A massive mobilization began with engineers, soldiers, equipment and supplies being prepared for one of the most important river crossings of WWII.

March 12, 1945: Rheinberg Germany, Fallen

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On March 12 1945 at 9:35 PM the 75th Infantry Division  replaced the 135th Infantry Division in Rheinberg Germany. Rheinberg is a quaint little village on the west short of the Rhine just south of Wiesel on the opposite shore. There was a change of course for the Rhine River over the years, so Rhineberg isn’t as close to the river as it used to be. It was a walled city in medieval times and there are some remnants of the ancient walls that remain.

From the village center I decided to hike straight east towards the Rhine. There was a path between the church and a day care that lead to a wide open field. As I crossed the field I began to hear heavy traffic in front of me. The feeling that I might hike right to the waters edge just like in 1945 began to fade. I probably could have sprinted across that highway, but this fallen tree caught my eye. It must have been stuck by lightning or snapped in a very heavy wind because the tree was splintered like a toothpick.

With the fallen tree leaning forward, it looked like it was struggling to get back to its roots. To me it looks like a man leaning forward as he gets ready to run. So much of what I have been sketching is architectural, a church, a headquarters a village square, and I decided I can just observe nature as well. The times I feel I am truly walking in my father’s footsteps are these quiet moments wandering across a field or through the woods with my hiking boots getting wet from the dew, and navigating by the direction of the sun.

On the 24th of March the Rhine River crossings started. Code named OPERATION FLASHPOINT, the Ninth US Army’s assault was lead by General William H. Simpson. Montgomery’s 21st Army Group occupied the northern part of the Allied line, but it lacked adequate combat power to execute main effort operations on its own. The American Army was well equipped with plenty of supplies and artillery ire power. The two field armies with the British Second Army in the north and the Ninth US Army in the south, would cross the Rhine abreast at four crossing sites. A massive artillery barrage would precede the crossing, after which the war’s largest deployment of paratroopers in a single-lift, OPERATION VARSITY, would take place across the Rhine, just north of Wesel Germany.

The 290th Infantry, 75th Infantry Division, C-Company would  cross the Rhine on March 26, 1945.

Artillery Overloon Netherlands

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I could have sketched for weeks in the Oorlags Military Museum in Overloon Netherlands and never run out of interesting subjects. I paused in an aisle full of military vehicles and looked d over my shoulder to see an average everyday scene of Americans firing artillery at the enemy.

The 75th Infantry had an artillery unit and 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken was well trained in how to use artillery. That wasn’t his job however, his job was boots on the ground using men to shut down enemy artillery installations and strongholds.

In the woods outside the Overloon Military Museum is a sign that says, “Stand still for a moment. Consider that the ground you stand on was once one of the most fiercely contested sectors of the Overloon Battlefield. Bitterly fought here in hand to hand combat, many young lives that survived the battlefields of Nettuno and Normandy found their end under these trees.

So what were they fighting for? Germans were persecuting people based on their race and ethnicity. The weak and infirm were euthanized. Mass extermination camps were designed and built to murder large groups of people. Auchwitz in Poland is the most well known, but there were many others such as Sobibor and Treblinka. Upon arrival a selection process would take place based on actors like age and physical condition. The weak elderly and children went straight to the gas chambers. A small group of able bodied men and women were assigned to work. Some had to assist with the gas chambers and crematoriums. As the Allied forces approached the Germans forced the prisoners to leave the camp on foot trying to get to a camp further from the front lines. Many people died from exhaustion, frostbite or they were shot. Only 5,000 Dutch Jews returned from the camps alive. I have had friends in America tell me it could never happen again. But once a leader convinces followers to persecutes others based on their race, then history has a nasty habit of repeating  itself. Europeans have a very hard time believing what they are seeing happening in America right now.

 

March 10-13 1945: Kamp-Lintfort Germany

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On March 10, 1945 the 75th Infantry Division Command Post was at Kamp-Lintford Germany. The 75th Infantry troops were also moved to an assembly area near Kamp-Lintford to replace elements of the 35th Infantry Division. The replacemts happened under the cover of darkness, because the Germans were so close on the opposite side of the Rhine River. The 75th then took up positions on the western side of the Rhine River waiting for the opportunity to cross. They were positioned along the Rhine River from Buderich in the north to Rheinberg Germany in the south. Positions were established by March 13, 1945. The Canadian 156th Brigade occupied a position just to the left of the 75th Infantry Division.

After sketching and studying maps of the area, I decided that C-Company likely would have been in a position to cross the Rhine at Buderich Germany. Outposts were established and patrols sent out to secure the West Bank of the Rhine. Engineers and mine platoons set about defusing the many mines buried by the retreating German Army.

An 11 man 75th Infantry patrol crossed the Rhine River on March 16, 1945 but encountered enemy resistance and had to retreat, gaining no  information about the far shore. Another 11 man patrol from the 75th Infantry 2nd battalion crossed the same night and they succeeded to advance some distance into the enemy territory. They found several abandoned enemy positions.

1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken was leading C-Company which was part of the 1st Battalion. I do not know yet if they were on one of these dangerous recon Rhine River crossing missions.

Another objective of the 75th Infantry was to veil American operations and objective’s of XVI Corps. As far as is known no German assault boat squad was successful in gaining information about the American positions. The planned Rhine crossing near Wesel Germany, on the northern part of the Rhine, was to be the largest amphibious and airborne operation mounted since D-Day. It’s success depended on absolute secrecy.

Positions remained static with occasional rounds of artillery fire. “On March 10, 1945, the XVI Corps successfully completed its mission in Ninth Army’s Operation “Grenade.” From 23 February until the completion of this operation, this Corps has undergone many types of combat, including a river crossing, rapid pursuit of the fleeing enemy, and tough, slow fighting against a determined enemy who, by every form of defensive fighting, was attempting to protect his last escape routes across the Rhine in the Wesel Area.’” – JOHN B. ANDERSON
Major General, U. S. Army, Commanding

The Rheinberg War Cemetery which I sketched is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The majority of the servicemen who died are buried in the countries where they fell. There are 3335 English and American casualties buried in this cemetery. The cemetery was first opened in 1946. Most of the casualties are air men who died in air raids over Germany. Their bodies were often buried where the planes crashed, by a roadside, riverbank or in a forest. There are also 400 soldiers buried here who died on the advance from the Rhine River into Germany,

March 5, 1945: Crossing the Roer River into Germany

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The 75th Infantry Division had to wait on the western side of the Roer River for several weeks because the Germans had destroyed a dam up river and flooded the entire river valley. The river ain’t that wide in peace time, maybe about 25 to 50 yards.

OPERATION GRENADE which was a push from the Rowe River to the Rhine River began on February 6, 1945, once the waters had subsided a bit. The 75th Infantry likely crossed the Roer south of Heinsberg and north of Geilenkirchen Germany. After studying maps of the area, I decided Hilfarth Germany fits in the sweet spot where the troops might have crossed the river.

A historical sign at Hilfarth pointed out that American troops used the bridge to advance over the Roer River. The bridge was partially destroyed but perhaps only passable by foot. The bridge was repaired and reopened to car traffic on May 18, 1949.

The 75th Infantry was part of the 9th Army Group under General William Hood Simpson. On March 1, 1945 the 75th Infantry was assigned to the XVI Corps as they advanced into Germany. by March 5, 1945 the 75th had advanced as far as Rheinberg Germany. C-Company commanded by 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken was among the most northerly of the American Troops with the British to their left in the north. The British push to the Rhine River from the Roer was known as OPERATION VERITABLE  The 75th took up a defensive position on the Rhine just south of Wesel Germany on the opposite side of the Rhine.

All of these movements seemed so abstract when I read them at first but once I followed the route and sat to sketch the Roer River, things fell into place and made sense to me. Once C-Company of the 7th Infantry got to the Rhine, they stayed behind the levies during the day and patrolled along the rivers edge at night. The goal of C-Company was to keep the Germans in the dark about when and where the 9th army would cross the Rhine River. If the Germans found any intelligence about the next crossing, then many American lives would be lost.

Heinsberg Germany Jewish Memorial

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just to the south east of Roermond Netherlands, across the border is Heinsberg Germany. This memorial was placed in a quiet park setting next to a busy intersection. When I started to sketch, school children were making their way home from school, shouting and playing along the fence that borders the memorial space. The memorial was placed in honor of the Jewish citizens of Heinsberg who are victims of the holocaust.

When Hitler came into power, the Jewish citizens of Heinsberg Germany suffered. Anti Jewish leaflets circulated in the town stated: “Whoever still has honor and pride, does not buy from Jews”. All Jewish goods were boycotted. A tannery in Heisenberg was used to supply food to Jewish residents after krystalnacht (night of broken glass), when Jewish businesses had store windows broken and stores destroyed. The Heisenberg Synagogue was burned on krystalnacht. The Jewish cemetery was desecrated and destroyed. It is not possible to establish how many Heisenberg citizens helped Jews escape across the border into the Netherlands. One midwife paid for her efforts to help with her life. Despite a few citizens trying to help, the Jews were deported east where they  disappeared. Few Jewish residents ever returned home.

Heinsberg was heavily damaged during World War II particularly during the Battle of the Bulge and then OPERATION BLACKCOCK,  which cleared Germans from the area around the Netherlands border. The fighting involved fierce combat between German and British troops. The 75th Infantry Division was not involved in these battles but did operate along the Rhine River near the area in February-March 1945 after crossing from the west bank. The division’s combat actions included a patrol of the Rhine from Wesel to Homburg, a rest period in Luneville, and then moving to patrol a defensive front along the Maas River near Roermond, Netherlands, which was just west of the German border. 

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Echt Netherlands: RAF Short Stirling

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Echt Germany was the 75th Infantry Division Command Post after Pannegen Netherlands. Troops were preparing for the move east towards the Rhine River. This was likely the command post as the 75th Infantry advanced from the Roer River to the Rhine River in OPERATION GRENADE. The Roer River had been flooded by the enemy causing a delay in getting across the Roer and advancing to the Rhine River. Operation grenade began February 8th through 5 March, 1945.

This sculpture was created in remembrance of the crash of a Short Stirling Bomber, registration W7630, of 7th Squadron, near the monastery at Echt, Limburg, Netherlands, on September 10, 1942. The plane went down in a boggy marsh near the Monistary. The plane was on its way to bomb targets in Düsseldorf Germany. Tow of the airmen were killed in the crash. One was captured and  another escaped, but was later killed in action when his plane was shot down over Luxembourg.

The aircraft was part of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and was engaged in combat operations at the time of the incident. The crash sites does not relate directly to the movements of the 75th Infantry but it shows the overall loss as so many units and divisions advanced on the European campaign.

Echt Susteren was situated under the flight routes of allied bombers heading from Great Britain to wards targets in Germany.The Maas River was a very important landmark for navigators on those flights. There  are six crash sites in Echt. Three of the six aircraft were shot down by anti aircraft artillery (FLAQ). 11 of the 63 downed airmen survived the war as prisoners of war.

I parked in the monastery parking lot and walked towards the memorial. A large bus was parked near the memorial but the students were on their way inside the monastery. They were a boisterous crowd. It was a cold fall morning. The sculpture was at the corner edge of a large field. Woods surrounded the field creating a very strong wood funnel that blew hard into the corner opening where the sculpture stood. I picked my location not based on aesthetics, but based on the fact that a sign for the memorial blocked me from being in the worst of the cold winds. The angle worked out well since I love the way the bent propeller is thrust against the light sky.

Besides the propeller, the sculpture had a V sign that holds the propeller up symbolizing victory.

Susteren Netherlands Memorial

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This is a 88mm PAK 43/41 Anti-tank gun which was captured by the Allies after heavy fighting between September 1944 and January 1945. Major John Edward Evens gifted the cannon to Susteren Netherlands when the city was still on the front lines of the fighting. The mayor of Susteren decided to leave the cannon in the public square as a constant reminder of the war. Major Evan’s is commemorated in the town of Susteren with a street named after him (Major Evanslaan). An oak tree was planted in the town square in his honor in 1985. The tree is stately and tall right next to the cannon. When I was sketching. I didn’t know the tree was planted in his honor, thankfully it is in the sketch.

Susteren Netherlands was liberated on January 17, 1945 after very heavy fighting. Residents of the town had been forced to evacuate by the Germans in November 1944. The British B-Company of the Queens Royal Regiment were responsible for capturing the town.

In May of 2001 the gun was fully restored and it now has its original sand and camouflage coloring. Susteren is one town North East of where the 75th infantry, C-Company had been stationed in Buchten and Born Netherlands They would have been in this area around March 2-3, 1945.

I am finding that on this trip I only end up eating once a day. The hope each day is to finish 2 or 3 sketches and if I do that there isn’t much time left for relaxing and eating in a restaurant. Most of the locations I am sketching are outside, so my first thought each morning is the weather. I like to check The Weather Channel app. Part of the reason is that I like the opening logo graphics. It flashed a sun, a rain drop and now a snow flake. The opening message says “Be a force of nature.” I like that. I need that little pep talk before I put on all my layers to head outside.

I now wear 2 pairs of long pants. One is the light weight camping pants with the legs that can be zippered off, then I wear the thicker pants on top of that. It is working well so far to keep my legs warm. I wear the lumberjack shirt I bought in Oregon every day and then layer a light down shell and a rain jacket on top of that. It might not rain every day, but the outer jacket kepts the heat in and the wind out.

Margraten Netherlands: Morning Woman

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The Morning Woman stands at the end of a long reflecting pool in the court of honor at the Margraten Netherlands American Cemetery. The statue represents a woman who had suffered loss due to the war. She was sculpted by Joseph Kiselewski and he considered this statue to be his finest work. kiselewski was born to Polish immigrants in Minnesota. His first language was Polish and he was the 4th of 9 children. He was trained in Minnesota, New York Paris and Rome. He had a studio 9n NYC from 1929 to 1980.

On the walls on either side of the Morning Woman are long 8 foot high granite walls with the names of the missing. 1722 names are on those two walls. On a few names there are rosettes which mark the names of those who have since been recovered and identified. The names of the cities where the men lost their lives were engraved behind the Morning Woman. Cities where The 75th Infantry fought were in Venlo, Rheinberg, and the Ruhr. I now know the Dean Bergeron lost his life somewhere between the Rhine and Dortmund Germany.

Behind the Morning Woman is a tall memorial tower. Engraved 0n it is the following, “Each for his own memorial, earned praise that will never die, and with it the greatest of all sepulchers, not that which his mortal bones are laid, but a home in the minds of men.” Inside the tower is a chapel. The government of the Netherlands donated dozens of lights which seem to float high above in the setting.

Beyond the chapel is the burial area covering 65.5 acres divided into 16 plot sections. To get to the headstone of Dean Bergeron, I walked past thousands of white crosses. Once I found the right section, then I had to find the right row. It truly is overwhelming. The fall leaves were just beginning to fall. The maintenance crews were out mowing the lawn. I feared I might get in the way while I was sketching, but one of the staff approached and respected what I was doing.

Unique to this cemetery, the Dutch people have a program where families can adopt a grave site of one of the fallen. There is a waiting list of families and individuals who want to adopt a soldiers grave site. They bring flowers to the grave sites and research the soldier as a way to honor their sacrifice.

The visitor center at the cemetery had an amazing exhibit about the campaigns where these soldiers lost their lives through narrative text photos artifacts and a film. One woman from the office saw that I was trying to locate a particular soldier and she came 0ut to help me. With her help I located a Dean Bergeron quickly. Not all the soldiers from C-Company who died are buried at Margraten. Some were sent back to the states. I didn’t research all 24 of the men killed in action under the command of 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken. My goal for the day was just to identify one of the soldiers who rest at Margraten.

One of the museum panels at Matgraten was quietly removed by the Trump Administration. The panel detailed the contributions of black soldiers who converted an orchard into the cemetery it is today just using pick aces and shovels. When the cemetery was first initiated the bodies of white soldiers just kept coming and the black soldiers worked hard to keep up with the incoming dead. These black soldiers fought on two fronts. At home in America they faced racism and in the Netherlands they faced the grueling demands of keeping up with the bodies that had to be buried. The soldiers shed tears as they lowered their American brothers in arms into the ground. Now the memory of their service is quietly being erased.

Margraten Netherlands: American Cemetery

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I decided I should look up a soldier who died under the command of my father 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken. The first soldier on the list was Private Dean Bergeron from Rhode Island. He died March 29, 1945 which is shortly after C-Company of the 75th Infantry Division had crossed the Rhine River into Germany. They had been assigned to clear the area between the Lippe River and the Lippe Canal. The 75th was in a battle to take Dorsten Germany in the north of the Ruhr Pocket. They would have had to cross the Lippe Canal to enter the city of Dorsten.  The straight, man made canal, is wide enough for two large barges to pass one another going east and west. The Germans blew a bridge to further slow the advance towards Dorsten.

The 75th Infantry was bogged down on the approach to Dorsten Germany. There were many Enemy Anti Aircraft gun encampments that were well dug in and well defended.  Each had to be aken out with infantry action.  That would mean running straight into German small arms fire or machine gun fire.

Fighting was house to house south west of Dorsten. The Intense enemy fire was worst at night, and caused an M7 Priest to ignite. The M7 carried a 105 mm Howitzer. The British gave it the Priest nickname because of the pulpit like machine gun ring. The fire from that ignited vehicle made the other vehicles easily visible to the Germans.  The fire had to be put out to allow for some camouflage that night. Somewhere in the chaos of this fight, Dean Bergeron lost his life.

Dorsten was needed to bridge the Lippe River and supply armor northward. Troops north of the Lippe River were working on sweeping around the Ruhr Pocket to the north to encircle it.

Dean Bergeron was born 13 February 1920, in Quebec, Canada. He was the son of Antoine Joseph Bergeron and Lydia Laprade. He emigrated to the United States to Vermont under the name of Aldille Joseph Dean Bergeron on 6 October 1920. He later settled in the area of Providence, Rhode Island and enlisted in the US Army on 31 July 1944 at Fort McClellan in Alabama. My father was born in 1920 so he and Dean were very close in age.