Roermund Netherlands

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Roermund Netherlands was a 75th Infantry Division Command post sometime between February 21 and March 11, 1945. The 75th Infantry Troops secured a 24 mile front on the west shore of the Maas River. There were nightly patrols where a squad of men would cross the river to find out anything possible about German defenses. While the troops dug in along the river the big brass got to enjoy this gorgeous historic city.

During the winter of 1944-45 Roermund was a frontline city when the initial Allied advance stalled. The city was heavily shelled by the Allies while it was under German occupation, and most of the civilian population was evacuated. The Germans occupied the city since 1940 but in February 1945 the Allies pushed their way into the city.

Construction first started on theSaint Christopher Cathedral in 1410. It has been the backbone of the Catholic faith in Roermund since then. The retreating Germans blew up the Cathedral tower on the day before the cities liberation. The tower was restored after the war.

Since I knew of this historic photo of the destroyed bell tower, I decided to find the spot where the photographer took the shot. There is a sweet little foot bridge that crosses over a Roer River tributary. It was a glorious hot day as I sketched. I was afraid I might get a sun burn. Occasionally people would stop and watch me work. If they commented, I would assume it was a compliment and say “Bedankt”, which is the one Dutch phrase that came in quite handy.

One couple turned out to be Urban Sketchers from England who spoke English. They were riding their bicycles over the bridge and they suggested I go to a war memorial site. I also got to flip through his sketchbook to see his wonderfully loose and spontaneous sketches. It felt so good to discuss art with them.

This WWII sketch project has had me living in complete isolation for several months now. It turns out I crave a little conversation in my native tongue now and then. The only conversations I have now are with my iPhone Google Maps navigator lady. She is usually quite reliable but tends to go stone silent when I need her help the most. She tends to tell me to tun to early and several times sent me down walking trails. We argue a bit. Or rather I argue and she ignores me as I get mad.

So, was 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken in Roermund, probably not. He would likely send a messenger to the command post if communication was needed. Or better yet radio communications back from the front lines. Then again if granted a few days leave, he might just explore the city which at the time was 90% destroyed.

March 2, 1945: Venlo Netherlands

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After a solid day of hiking through the woods of Groote Heide in search of the elusive Luftwaffe airport, I decided I should go into the city of Venlo and see the central market. This is tourist central so it would be very different that how it would have looked in February of 1945.

Venlo was liberated by the 35th Infantry Division on March 1, 1945. Immediately after the city’s liberation efforts were made to feed the starving population of the war torn city.

During the month of March the 772 Tank Destroyer Battalion was attached to the 75th Infantry Division. March 3rd the 75th Infantry, 3rd Battalion was moved to an area near Venlo Netherlands. It doesn’t sound like they went into the city itself for sight seeing. The Battalion was almost immediately alerted for a further move to Westerbroek Germany. The 290th Infantry entered Germany for the first time to relieve elements of the 291st Infantry providing a screen for the division sector. 290th Company’s I and R contacted the First Canadian Army to let them know the 291st was being relived. 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken was in the 75th Infantry’s 1st Battalion, C-Company. I am not sure of their exact position at this time but it would have been close to the movements of the 3rd Battalion.

From March 8-11 the 75th Infantry Division was occupied with clearing Venlo – Roermund and Kaldenkirchen of isolated German strong holds. A few days earlier another unit had accomplished a breakthrough and they didn’t have the time to thoroughly reduce all the enemy installations in the area. Prisoners were taken, suspects were processed and coal mines were marked that had large quantities of weapons and ammunition.

“At Venlo, C-Company was on the left flank of the American troops, next to the British, to the north. This was a holding semi-reserve position with only some shelling by the Germans and reconnaissance probes by us out in front of the dikes. Here we learned that the British fought a relatively civilized war, with no shelling at “tea-time”. Naturally, the Americans ruined this sort of short truce by shelling the Germans during this wonderful peaceful time and they retaliated, as one would expect. At Venlo my platoon lived in an old Brick Factory. We had found German carbide lamps that give good light but left us looking very black with soot, sort of like negative raccoons especially for these with glasses. Living in the ovens gave us, finally, a relatively safe, quiet place to relax.” – 1st Lieutenant Joe Colcord.

March 2, 1945: Venlo Netherlands, Groote Heide

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When in Venlo Netherlands, I decided I would hike into the woods at Groote Heide and search for the remains of a former German Luftwaffe airport. Called Flieglerhorst Venlo-Herogen, the air strip is right at the border of the Netherlands and Germany. The Germans liked the position of the airport because it was so far  west and therefore within striking distance of England.

When the Americans took over the airport on March 1, 1045, they renamed it “Yankee 55”. The airport needed extensive restoration because of all the demolition the a Germans did before they retreated. The Germans started retreating on September of 1944 because they feared that the allies were much closer than they actually were.

Translated, Groote Heide means large heath in Dutch. In German, Heide means heap. Every coal mine in Germany had large Heides or heaps of refuge which is the rock that did not contain coal.

I didn’t find an exact location of any of the airfield remnants online, so I drove to the Heide and decided to hike the trails in hopes that I might stumble across some former airfield buildings. The main tower is used by climbers as a training site. On the hike I did find five foot wide craters which must have been fox hole or bomb impact craters. I decided not to sketch since they were just holes filled with tall grass. I didn’t consider it an interesting sketch opportunity.

I hiked all around the woods on all sides of this large open field. The field is used to launch hang gliders. The truck uses a very strong winch which lifts the glider off the ground and when it is directly overhead, the line is released. The gliders can stay airborne for quite some time. I lost sight of one in the clouds and it didn’t land for a longo time. A skilled pilot can ride the air currents rising repeatedly.

I decided this was as close as I was going to get in my quest to sketch the Luftwaffe air field. Those hangers and now overgrown building are out there somewhere, maybe I will return to search and sketch another time.

Herbert Thorspecken served in the Luftwaffe in WWII. Herbert and 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken are distant cousins 4 generations removed. Arthur’s great, great, great, great Grandfather , Augustus, came to America in the 1830s where he became a doctor during the Civil War. His brother stayed behind in Germany, and Herbert is a 4th generation descendant of him. Herbert and Arthur probably never came close to one another in the war, because Herbert was in the air and Arthur was boots on the ground.

 

Kronenberg Netherlands: Stirling 1942

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I was advised by my Air B&B host to go see this roadside memorial just a short drive from where I was staying. On October 2, 1942 a British Short Sterling R9167 (call sign OJ-N) Bomber crashed in the woods, right where this memorial stands. None of the 7 crew members survived the crash. The aircraft belonged to the RAF’s 149th Squadron and was shot down by a German Messerschmitt Bf110 night fighter. It was loaded with phosphorus incendiary bombs. It was on its way to Krefeld Germany. After the crash the aircraft burned for days. This monument was erected on October 7, 2017.

The monument was designed by artist Ruud van der Beele. The Stirling 1942 is shown resting on top of a grenade launcher. The plane crashed in the Groove Velt near Kronenberg Netherlands. The names of the  men can be found inside the monument as welll as a shiny steel rose which is made from a section of the plane’s fuselage.

For the Fallen. “They shall not grow old; age shall not weary them, nor the years condemned, at the sun set and at the sun rise we will remember them.” – Robert L. Binyon  September 21, 1914. The translation of this might be off by a bit.

As I was sketching this memorial a woman parked on the road behind me and placed fresh flowers inside the memorial and lit the candles. It is amazing that after more than 80 years, the site is so sacred and well cared for.

This crash happened a year before Arthur Thorspecken began his military training, so it doesn’t relate directly to the movements of the 75th Infantry Division thorough Europe. But it shows that these types of memorials are everywhere in Europe. You don’t see this level of remembrance in America. Arthur spent the rest of his working life after the war designing gyroscopes for aircraft and aero space.

The crew:
1 Squadron Leader Pilot: William Roy Greenslade, R.A.F. (DFC-AFC-MiD)
(Youngstown Alberta, Canada) Age 25.
Jonkerbos War Cemetery 20.D.3 Nijmegen – The Netherlands

2 Flight Sergeant Air Gunner: William Orange, R.C.A.F.
(Bedlington Morpeth-UK) Age 27.
Jonkerbos War Cemetery 20.D.8 Nijmegen – The Netherlands

3 Sergeant Flight Engineer: Marshal Kenneth Smith R.A.F.
(Cambridge-UK) Age 21.
Jonkerbos War Cemetery 20.D.6 Nijmegen – The Netherlands

4 Sergeant Wireless Op./Air Gunner: Frederick Leonard Hughes R.A.F.
(Shoreditch, London-UK) Age 21.
Jonkerbos War Cemetery 20.D.7 Nijmegen – The Netherlands

5 Sergeant Wireless Op./Air Gunner: Ernest Leslie Moore R.A.F.
(Leicester-UK) Age 20.
Jonkerbos War Cemetery 20.D.4 Nijmegen – The Netherlands

6 Sergeant Air Gunner: Benjamin Frederick Goldsmith R.A.F.
(Prestwick Lancashire-UK) Age 22.
Jonkerbos War Cemetery 20.D.5 Nijmegen – The Netherlands

7 Flight Sergeant Air Observer Robert Francis McIntyre R.C.A.F.
(Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) Age 25.
Jonkersbos War Cemetery 20.D.9 Nijmegen – The Netherlands

American Sherman Tank

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The only thing my father, Arthur Thorspecken ever told me about World War II was that a bullet hit a tank rather close to his leg. I was less than 10 years old at the time, so I might not be remembering that correctly. The tank he would have been standing next to would be the Sherman Tank. This Sherman tank was right in front of Winter Museum 1944 in Gingelom Belgium.

1st Lieutenant Dick Sassin of the 75th Infantry Division remembered Belgium. “There were a series of hills up there in Belgium. I saw in the spring of 1945 a farmer plowing a field, and shells were going both ways. This guy’s got to get his crops in. I mean that is his urge. He’s got to get his crops in, so he can eat. Now that’s another war, a real war.”

Someone had the brilliant idea of mounting huge bright spot lights on top of Sherman tanks. The thought was that the light would blind the enemy, and make it easy for the 75th Infantry soldiers to pick off the Germans at night. The problem was that the spot light was an easy target for the Germans to shoot out. And it negated any form of camouflage. The same tank with the huge light mounted on it tried to cross a bridge, but the weight of the tank caused the bridge trusses to give out. They managed to back out of the situation without loosing the tank.

The 290th, 75th Infantry Division, C-Company was assigned to the Ninth Army, 12th Army Group, but attached to the British Second Army for operations and the British VIII Corps for administration. The Air Force launched OPERATION CLARION, which blocked German transportation from the Ruhr. The targets were bridges, communication centers, dikes, and railroad yards. 42,000 flights dropped 5000 tons of high explosives. Not all bombs found their targets so there was plenty of cilvilan damage.

The 75th Infantry relieved the 6th British Airborne Division. The 75th occupied a 24 mile stretch along the West Bank of the Maas River. They mostly had to deal with harassing mortar and artillery fire from the Germans on the opposite bank of the river.

Poker

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There were moments of levity and even leisure between military engagements. This sketch was done in Gingelom Belgium after the Americans had won the battle re-enactment. This isn’t a location that 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken would have been at. I went to see Museum Winter 44 to get more of an overview of what happened in Belgium during the war. The museum is close to where the Battle of the Bulge happened. The 75th Infantry was in that battle but Arthur arrived in Europe after those dates.

The helmet on the table held the bets for the cards that had been dealt. This moment felt the most like history was coming alive. War isn’t always about big explosions and heroic deeds. It is more often about passing the time and waiting for what may come next.

This is the courtyard at Museum Winter 44. It had started to rain. The poker players were under a giant Coke umbrella, but I wasn’t. The sketch is covered with tiny explosions from the rain hitting the watercolor. Most rain I had experienced in Belgium was sporadic and light, never fully committed to a downpour, so I kept sketching. I would just lean over the sketch while I worked.

It  had been a long day of sketching and I was famished. After the game of poker was over and my sketch was complete, I ordered some spaghetti and pulled up to the table. I couldn’t follow all the Dutch conversations, but several  soldiers were kind enough to speak to me in English. One wanted to know all about the 75th Infantry. He was looking for a bit of information I had not provided. I finally realized he wanted to know that the 75th infantry was part of the 290th Infantry Division. It turns out he collects books about American Infantry divisions and he had several history books that took him years to find. This reminded me that I have the broad strokes of where the 75th Infantry went during WWII but for the specifics of actual battles I have very little information. I have several written memoirs from 1st Lieutenants from the 75th Infantry, but those PDF documents are on a laptop that died in the Netherlands. I think I will be doing much more research once this sketch journey is complete.

My main goal is to get a feel for each place as I sketch. That goal I feel I am accomplishing. Sometimes pure luck or providence steps in and I find I am sketching the exact same place that a 75th Infantry war photographer took a photo of. I can never be sure that any location I sketch is exactly where 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken might have been. Troops were usually spread out along a wide front.  But I am getting to know each town, city and village by walking the streets. The damage and devastation is gone but the spirit of the place remains.

February 19, 1945, Kessel Netherlands: The Maas River

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On February 19th 1945 the 75th Infantry arrived at the Maas River in the Netherlands. Right to the west of Panningen Netherlands is Helden Netherlands where the 75th Infantry had improvised facilities for billeting. The Heidenweg road from Helden leads straight south west to Kessel on the Maas River. The 75th occupied a 24 mile stretch of the river. That is where I got to hike along the Maas River and do a sketch. 75th Infantry Division troops held this as a defense area from February 15th to February 23rd when OPERATION GRENADE began,

The Parish Church of Our Lady of the Nativity, was right on the Maas River with a staircase down to the waters edge. There was a walking trail all along the banks. It was a beautiful spot. Walking down those stone steps, I saw the Maas River for the first time. It is rather wide, maybe 100 yards or so. The river flowed swiftly. Ducks flapped their wings taking a bath.

Just 25 yards up river from the staircase there was a destroyed casement made of cement and stone. A couple sat on a bench next to the destruction and ate lunch. I sketched with my back to the Maas River and looked up at the church tower. I had a pear to eat, so the couple didn’t get spooked that I was staring at them.

The Dutch 3rd Battalion of the 3rd Company of the Netherlands 41st Infantry was tasked with defending this area before WWII. Along the river there were 16 of these casements constructed of steel and porcupine light reinforced concrete. Each had 3 port holes for a field of view of 190 degrees. This casement was number S76.

The port holes are made for machine gun placements. The casements were often referred to as spider head because of the large protruding hooks used for attaching camouflage netting. This casement was built starting in March 1939 and completed in August 1939. The machine guns could fire 450 rounds per minute.

Three soldiers manned the casement. When war broke out on May 10, 1940, this casement was destroyed from a direct hit from a German anti tank gun. The shell went right into one of the portholes. Two of the soldiers inside were seriously injured. 8 Dutch soldiers and 6 German soldiers were killed on May 10th between Kessel and Kessel-Elk. After midnight, the last casement was attacked from behind by the Germans and destroyed.

As Germans retreated back across the Maas River in 1944 they destroyed the Parish Church of our Lady of Nativity. They didn’t want the Allies to have the advantage of using the bell tower to view German encampments on the opposite side of the river. Locals speculate that the Germans melted the Bells to make more weapons.

At the end of November 1944, Panningen, Helden, Maasbree, Kessel and Barlow Netherlands were liberated by the Allies. The devistation as the Allies pushed the Germans back east was immense. Many buildings and churches were destroyed by bombs. Families had to flee their homes.

This casement would have stood where it is, in its destroyed state when the 75th infantry set up to defend the West Bank of the River Maas

Museum Peel & Maas, Helden Netherlands

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After assembling in Panningen Netherlands, the 75th Infantry troops were then transported to Helden Netherlands, near the Maas River. Translated, Helden means “Hero’s”. The 75th took up defensive positions on the Maas River to keep the Germans from crossing over. The 75th was under the command of the British Second Army’s VIII Corps, 21st Army group under Field Marshall Montgomery.

1st Lieutenant Dick Sassin outlined the situation, “We wound up in Holland right next to the British. There was harassing mortar fire and artillery from across the river. There was intensive training on assault boat techniques. C-Company was again at full strength due to replacements and returns from hospital stays.”  1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken was one of the replacements Sassin was referring I sketched the Peel and Maas Museum since it had an exhibit on World War II. The building was constructed in 1929 as a Roman Catholic a parish of Saint Lambertus Helden. It was built for the sisters of Divine Providence who settled in Helden in 1879. The building would have been here when the 75th Infantry was assigned to defend the country.

After the invasion of Normandy, on June 6, 1944, people in the Netherlands hoped that freedom would come in a matter of weeks.  They would have to endure 5 more months before complete liberation. On October 8, 1944, a month before liberation, the Germans captured 2000 men and boys on the West Bank of the Maas during Sunday services. Men tried to hide in between the pipes of the organ. During the following week, another 1000 were captured. Of these ca-turned men 836 were from Peel and Mass. In the years 1940 to 1945, 299 residents of Peel and Maas lost their lives due to the war, and the bombing destruction that accompanied the war.

Frits Bruijnen remembered… “It’s foggy at Christmas. We are on the train going towards Watenstedt and the Herman Goring Works. At factory Aktion 88 I usually at night had to stack shells on train wagons without rest. So we stack hundreds every night. The shells were likely fired at Limburg our home Provence. In Watenstadt there was little to live for. Every week we got 1200 grams of bread that needed to last the week. After being liberated, I walked home. My mother asked ‘who are you?’ She didn’t recognize me.”

February 20, 1945: Panningen Netherlands

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The 75th Infantry troops probably didn’t enter Panningen Netherlands, but instead they would have had an assembly area and camp outside of the city. This is probably where 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken first met the soldiers he was to command from C-Company. They were battle hardened troops who probably didn’t appreciate an academic officer who hadn’t been through the Battle of the Bulge or the Colmar Pocket. It would have been a challenge to gain the trust of such seasoned soldiers.

Nazi occupation in Panningen brought a host of atrocities, including the persecution of the Jews, resistance fighters and other perceived enemies. There were thousands of civilian casualties during the war. Many roads, bridges and other infrastructure were destroyed in the fighting.

The liberation of the Netherlands began in September 1944 with operation Market Garden by Allied forces but the whole country wasn’t liberated until May or 1945. Panningen was occupied by the Allies when the 75th Infantry assembled there. Any fighting would occur along the Maas River which was about 4 miles west of the city. The 75th would have moved into position along the Maas River rather quickly, so they would not have been in or near Panningen for long.

I sketched the Rooms Catholic Church in Panningen Netherlands. Arthur Thorspecken was raised Catholic, even going to Catholic School in the Midwest and NYC. However he married Elvira Corr who was Methodist. I was told he was excommunicated from the Catholic Church but haven’t found evidence to support that yet. Arthur married Elvira in North Carolina while he was still training for the military. Several other officers were his best men and witnesses. The couple had their first child in 1943 while he continued his military training. He had every reason to want to get back to the United States alive.

 

 

February 20, 1945: Panningen Netherlands

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February 20, 1945 was the beginning of the VENLO, LIMBURG + NETHERLANDS CAMPAIGN. The 75th Infantry was sent to an assembly area near Panningen Netherlands to relive the British 6th Armored Division. I am fairly certain that 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken would have joined C-Company here or the next town they were moved to.

1st Lieutenant Dick Sassin explained the move this way, “ We’re going to move in at night. They are going to move out. We aren’t under fire.” The 75th infantry division was to operate under the command of the British Second Army’s VIII Corps, 21st Army Group under Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery. The division was to take up a defensive position along the West Bank of the Maas River. German troops were well entrenched on the East bank. The river is about 100 yards wide at the location I saw. Germans would often fire harassing mortar rounds to the far shore of the Maas River.

Panningen played a significant role in the closing stages of World War II. It became a defensive position for the Allies along the West Bank of the Maas River. Nightly patrols across the mass were a critical cactivity for the troops stationed in Panningen.

I decided to sketch the Monument Deportation Everlo. It is a memorial in remembrance of the fallen and missing residents from Panningen. In the autumn of 1944, over 1,000 boys and men in the region between the Maas and Peel rivers were rounded up by the Nazis in raids and deported to Germany for forced labor. These events cost the lives of 120 men and left lasting scars on survivors and those left behind.

There were also three metal plaques that had engravings of the names of Canadian and Royal Air Force Pilots who had crashed in the area. Also listed were names of soldiers who had died from the 15th Scottish Division, the 49th West Riding Division, the 51st Highlands Division. In all, the names of 54 soldiers were listed as fallen hero’s to the town of Panningen Netherlands.

The trip to Panningen Netherlands for the 75th Infantry troops was accomplished in weather that had turned for the better. The box cars were not a hellish ride. 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken would have been taking a similar ride on his own or with other replacements to join the 75th Infantry troops in the Netherlands.