March 24, 1945, Milchplatz Germany: Crossing the Rhine

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I wanted to hike to each of the three Rhine River crossing sites. Milchplatz was on the World War II Rhine Crossing battle map. Milchplatz isn’t a town but a business which mines gravel. I got this far and decided to sketch. I realized That the mining operation was between my position and the Rhine River. I am sure the troops hiked straight through the private property but I wasn’t willing to take the chance.

My father 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken crossed the Rhine River on March 26, 1945. Orders were received which had the 75th infantry Division as part of the 290th Infantry to move with the 8th Armored Division. They crossed the ro[ver in landing craft. Days later pontoon bridges were built to get heavy vehicles and equipment across the river.

Rumors circulated that the men would ride with the tanks half way to Berlin. However the supreme commander Dwight D. Eisenhower decided to let the Russians take Berlin from the east. Americans troops would instead work to cripple the Ruhr Pocket which contained the heart of the industrial German war machine.primarily coal was mined which was being converted into a cheap diesel  fuel for the tanks and half tracks.

My father’s C-Company was tasked with clearing out the narrow strip of land between the Lippe a river and the Lippe canal. rather than a fast dash to Berlin the troops would face grueling house to house combat while moving through small hamlets where snipers could easily hide.

Just three days after the Rhine crossings, the isolated bridgeheads at Wesel, Bislich, Rees, Dinslaken and Spellen Germany had been combined into on large bridgehead east of the Rhine.

The following 75th Infantry Division, C-Company soldiers under the command of 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken, from were killed in action at the Rhine River bridgehead…

Staff Sargent James Lowell Steele from Multnomah County, Oregon was killed in action on March 29, 1945 in Hunxe Germany.

Sargent Alexander Stephany from Los Angeles County, California was killed in action on March 29, 1945. At the Rhine River bridgehead. He was 27 years old.

“On the 24th of March we crossed the Rhine in small boats operated by the Navy without incident and this put us in combat against the vaunted Siegfrid Line. It, like most fixed defenses from Hadrian’s Wall on, it was rendered obsolete by flanking movement only pockets of resistance were encountered.” – 1st Lieutenant Joe Colcord of the 75th Infantry Division.

March 17, 1945: Wallach Germany

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On March 10, 1945 Task Force Murray and the 137th Infantry Division advanced and seized Borch and Wallach Germany with light resistance.Task Force Murray was formed under the command of the 35th Infantry Division and included elements of Combat Command B (CCB) of the 8th Armored Division and the 137th Infantry Division. Specifically the 3rd Battalion of the 137th Infantry including Company K, captured the town of Wallach.

On the night of March 10, 1945, the 75th Infantry Division relieved Task Force Murray in the area around Kaldenkirchen, Germany. By March 11, 1945 the Allies had cleared the entire area West of the Rhine River. The plan was to gain a foothold on the eastern bank of the Rhine to then advance into Germany.

Between March 12 and 17th the 772nd Tank Destroyer Battalion was attached to the 75th Infantry Division. They were -repaired for direct fire on the West Bank of the Rhine River.

On March 17, 1945 Anti Tank guns were brought forward to a position south of Wallach Germany. The heavy artillery moved into Wallach was critical for the success of the crossing of the Rhine River. The gins fired until they were too hot to handle, barrels had to be replaced and entire artillery guns replaced.

On March 18, 1945 a squad from the 2nd Battalion of the 75th Infantry Division crossed the Rhine River and discovered defensive positions with 2-4 Germans. The squad made a detailed terrain study of the area noting roads through the German sector.

On March 21, 1945 a boat full of 5 man Germans was sighted near Company G of the 75th an infantry Division. Four Germans were killed and an officer captured. The goal of the 75th Infantry Division was to keep the Germans from gaining any intelligence about the impending Rhine River crossing.

On March 24, 1945 the Americans began the heavy artillery fire. There were 55 divisions of artillery. It would have been hell on earth on the opposite bank of the Rhine River. A-Company of the 772nd Tank Destroyer Division attached to the 75th Infantry Division fired 193 rounds and C-Company fired 23 interdiction rounds, 22 harassing rounds and 770 Normal rounds. 


Interdiction and Harassing rounds were a military tactic, especially associated with artillery and mortars, where standard High Explosive (HE) or other general-purpose shells were fired at suspected enemy areas, movement routes, or assembly points at random intervals, often throughout the night. The most common “normal” round for artillery was the High Explosive (HE) shell, which could be fitted with various fuzes (impact, graze, or time) to detonate at different times or upon impact. 

Aachen Germany: Siegfried Line

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The Siegfried Line known in Germany as the Westwall, was a German defensive line built during the late 1930s. Started in 1936, opposite the French Maginot Line, it stretched more than 390 miles from Kleve Germany on the border with the Netherlands, along the western border of Nazi Germany, to the town of Weil am Rhein Germany on the border with Switzerland. The line featured more than 18,000 bunkers, tunnels and tank traps.

German propaganda promoted the WestwWall as an impenetrable line. To counter this propaganda, a British song writer wrote a song titled: Hang Out the Washing on the Siegfried Line.

Finding these Dragon’s Teeth involved a long hike deep into the woods. It was a lovely hike to start. There were a few other people on the trail and then, as I got ready to sketch the sky once again threatened rain. When the rain hits, it comes in like a sheet of grey, darkening the woods. I worked fast knowing that I had a decent sketch from the previous day, of dragon’s teeth. These teeth were taller and more imposing and I suspect they had been cleaned off since there was far less moss growing on them.

From September 17-25 1945, Operation Market Garden, conceived by British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery was a bold, single-thrust strategy designed to outflank the Siegfried Line from the north. The goal was to seize key bridges in the Netherlands with airborne troops and then have ground forces advance rapidly to link up with them, crossing the Rhine and pushing into Germany. The operation failed due to German resistance, a captured operational plan, and a slow ground advance down a single congested roadway, resulting in heavy losses for the airborne troops at Arnhem Netherlands.

After the failure of Market Garden, Supreme Commander Dwight D. General Eisenhower preferred a broad front approach to advance through the Siegfried line and into Germany. The American forces launched a slow advance, attacking strongpoints and bunkers directly all along the line. The 30th Infantry Division led an attack along a 14-mile front to clear areas and reduce the defenses. Other units, like the 1st and 28th Infantry Divisions, also engaged in hard-fought battles to breach the line. This method was a “grinding and bloody” approach that made slow, costly progress against the heavily fortified German positions. The Siegfried line was breached in October of 1944. By the time the 75th Infantry Division was crossing the Siegfried line in March of 1945, the hardest battles to push through the defenses had been fought. The next line was to cross the Rhine River.

The Siegfried Line

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West of the Roer River the 75th Infantry Division would have faced the Siegfried Line which is a a fortified area meant to stop an allied advance. There is not much of the Siegfried line still in existence today. After the war, many sections of the Siegfried Line were removed using explosives, but I found these “Dragon’s Teeth” in a forest in Aachen Germany.

The bunkers consisted mainly of unarmed shelters, which were built of concrete. The bunkers were often placed near agricultural farms for reasons of camouflage. Thinking a man Mande fortification might stop an army in World War II was rather medieval. Any modern mechanized army would find ways to move over or through such fortifications.

Since 1997, with the motto “The value of the unpleasant as a memorial”, an effort has been made to preserve the remains of the Siegfried Line as a historical monument. It was intended to stop reactionary fascist groups from using the Siegfried Line for propaganda purposes.

The Siegfried line in the area that the 75th Infantry Division moved through west of the Roer River was known as the Geldernstellung referring to the fortifications of the Westwall, in particular to the unarmed but massively built concrete bunkers from the Second World War. These bunkers were often referred to as “standard buildings” and were originally intended to camouflage the agricultural landscape, as they were built near farms.

The bunkers consisted mainly of unarmed shelters, which were built of concrete. The bunkers were often placed near agricultural farms for reasons of camouflage. Thinking a man made fortification might stop an army in World War II was a rather medieval  fantasy. Any modern mechanized army would find ways to move over or through such fortifications.

March 3, 1945: Westerbroek Germany

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The 290th Infantry, 75th Infantry Division Combat Diary written and edited by Technician 4th Grade Cecil J. Bond is a primary source of information for the World War II cities I made every effort to sketch. He noted that on March 3, 1945 the regiment moved to an assembly area near Venlo Netherlands where the battalions were almost immediately alerted to a further move to the forward division assembly area near Westerbrock Germany. This was the first time the 75th would be advancing into Germany. They were advancing to relive elements of the 291st Infantry.

As I sat at dinner at Gasthause Luthermuhle, I was searching for Westerbrock Germany on Google Maps on my phone. For the life of me, I could not find the town. There was a Westerbrock Netherlands far to the north which was the site of a major Nazi transit camp, it served as a gathering point for over 100,000 Jews, Sinti, and Roma before their deportation to concentration and extermination camps in German-occupied Poland and Germany. That town was way too far north, so that could not be the assembly area I was looking for. I assumed it had to be pretty close to where I was, but there was no Westerbrock Germany.
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March 7, 1945: Heidhausen Germany

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On March 7, 1945bas part of OPERATION GRENADE, the 1st Battalion of the 75th Infantry Division assembled in Heidhausen Germany, south of Venlo Netherlands. The 2nd Battalion assembled in Bruch Germany and the 3rd a battalion assembled in Hulst Germany. I kept my focus on 1st Battalion since my father 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thospecken was in charge of C-Company in the 1st Battalion. They were assembling to prepare to clear Venlo, Roermund and Leutherheide Germany.

OPERATION GRENADE involved crossing the flooded Roer River and driving the Germans back across the Rhine River to the east. The Rhine River was the last natural barrier keeping American troops from sweeping towards Berlin Germany.Rhine

Troops were billeted in the finest homes in town. For 3 days they screened the surrounding towns for prisoners of war, weapons and to clear any remaining pill boxes. Once this area was cleared they would push east to the Rhine River.

Today, Heidhausen is very much a small rural community. I parked the rental car on a small suburban street and then hiked out onto the long expanses of farming dirt roads. The community church in Bruch Germany can be seen in the distance.

March 7, 1945: Leutherheide Germany

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The 75th Infantry Division Command Post was in Leutherheide Germany on March 7, 1945. The troops were in Kaldenkirchen Germany a 10 minute drive to the west. During World War II Kaldenkirchen was located near the Siegfried line which was a critical German defensive position along the Western front. Allied forces encountered the Siegfried line in the final months of the war. The Rhineland campaign which involved allies clearing the area west of the Rhine and then crossing the Rhine River involved significant fighting in this area.

About 65 German soldiers marched into Leutherheide Germany. An allied patrol spotted the troops and reported their position back to the 135th Infantry Division headquarters. A convoy was assembles of anti tank guns, assorted vehicles and 7 jeeps carrying troops from Company’s K and L. When the American troops rolled into town the German troops were completely surprised. About 40 surrendered and the others fled. There were no casualties.

The saying on the large headstone with the German helmet on top, translated says…”We remember our hero’s.”

What I sketched was the Peter and Paul German War Graves in Leutherheide Germany. After completing the sketch I was getting back in the rental car when an old woman drive her motorized scooter up to my drivers door window. She asked me a question in German and I didn’t understand. She sounded upset or annoyed, soI decided to just show her my sketch. Then she pointed at the gate to the cemetery and I understood enough words to realize she wanted me to let her into the cemetery. I flipped open the squeaky iron latch and swung the gate open for her. She thanked me and motored inside. When I left the gate swung closed. Now I am wondering how she got back out of the cemetery. If she couldn’t open the gate going in, then she wouldn’t be able to open the gate to get back out.

 

March 1945: Kaldenkirchen Germany

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Gasthause Luthemuhle was the Inn I stayed in as I explored and sketched Kaldenkirchen Germany. It was a really nice place right on a lake and there were two horses who grazed right outside my window as the sun set. It was a quiet peaceful retreat which is the polar opposite of the 80 year old war zone I was trying to find evidence of.

The quick sketch is of the dining room. The Inn was far from the town of Kaldenkirchen, so I at here several times.

There was little resistance when 8th Armored Division first took Kaldenkirchen on March 1, 1945. My father, 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken and the men of C-Company of the 75th Infantry Division were in this area from March 8th to March 11, 1945 clearing isolated pockets of German resistance. They did the same in Venlo Netherlands and Roermund Netherlands which are both close to Kaldenkirchen Germany.

XVI Corps command post, was located in Kaldenkirchen Germany in early March 1945. The 75th Infantry Division was assigned to the XVI Corps for OPERATION GRENADE. That Operation had the troops advancing across the Ruhr River  which had been flooded by the retreating Germans, to the western side of the Rhine River. The British and Canadians were to the north as the troops advanced towards the Rhine River.

 

March 8, 1945: Kaldenkirchen Germany

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The 8th Armored Division passing through Kaldenkirchen Germany on March 3rd with little resistance. March 6, 1945 the 75th Infantry was ordered to move to an assembly area south of Kaldenkirchen Germany. That troop movement was completed by March 7, 1945. On March 7th there was small arms fire near the 75th Infantry Command Post. The Headquarters and Service Companies were alerted but no enemy troops were found in the area.

On March 9, 1945, a jeep patrol from the 75th Infantry division hit an anti-tank mine just east of Kaldenkirchen in farm country, resulting in several casualties, including one killed in action. The night of 10 March 1945, the 75th Infantry Division relieved Task Force Murray of the 35th Infantry Division working with the 8th Armored Division. The bridges to Wesel across the Rhine River had been blown by retreating Germans and the movement across the Rhine, halted.

From March 8-11 1945 the 75th Infantry Division was involved in clearing the area around Kaldenkirchen Germany as well as Venlo and Roermund Netherlands. The 35th Infantry Division had accomplished a breakthrough in this area but did not have time to completely eliminate all the enemy installations in the area. It fell to the 75th Infantry Division to take out each installation one at a time. German prisoners were taken, suspected were processed, mine fields were marked to keep troops from injury and for future clearing and large quantities of weapons and ammunition were confiscated.

From March 13 to March 23, the 75th patrolled a sector along the west bank of the Rhine from Wesel to Homburg.

 

Kaldenkirchen Germany: Cross and Mary Garden

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Kaldenkirchen Germany is just a little bit south east of Venlo Netherlands. The 75th Infantry Division was in Kaldenkirchen Germany from March 7 to the 11th of March 1945. The were involved in clearing Venlo Netherlands and the surrounding area including Kaldenkirchen, of remaining German resistance. Kaldenkirchen was close to the Geilenkirchen salient, a German defensive position within the Siegfried line. The salient restricted Allied movement and therefore became a target of the Allied offensive.

The city was evacuated in the final weeks of a World War II before more heavy fighting occurred. The Cross and Mary garden I sketched was built on the ruins of the German Westwall. A pastor discovered a blasted bunker and in 1947 decided to convert it into a garden. On Pentecost, the townspeople come here to honor the people lost in World War II.

As I walked through the garden, I noticed that a farmer was plowing his fields right behind the lush landscape. The Cross and Mary Garden uses a bunker complex built by the Germans as the foundation for building a tiered garden. On the path that winds around the edge of the garden are 12 sculptures that depict the 12 stations of Christ carrying the cross. In a central area there is a deep pit that is surrounded by stone work. There is then a flat elk aged staging area that is probably used for a pulpit during outdoor sermons.

I sketched a bust of Christ inset on a brick column. On each of the faces of the column there were metal plaques with names of fallen Herman soldiers. The saying 0n the fr0nt face of the column translates to… “Good peace and freedom against forgetting.”. There were some really amazing relief sculptures with height contrast of white figures against  dark ground. There was one in the distance behind the Christ bust I sketched and another under the elevated staging area.

Locals seem to use the garden to walk their dogs. One woman was walking her tiny fluffy pup. Then a man was on the garden with his hunting dog. The hunting dog was not on a leash. As I was finishing my sketch, I noticed the dog run past the bust of Christ with something in its mouth that was moving. It was a dove. The dog stopped and shook its head violently until the dove stopped struggling. Then the dog disappeared onto the woods with the prize on its mouth. The man wanted to leave so he shouted for the dog to come. It returned to the man but the dove must have been left behind on the woods.