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.

 

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 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.

Saint Martin’s Church Weert Netherlands

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With each new town I stop at I go to the downtown market to see which buildings might have been standing in 1945. In Weert Netherlands I decided to sketch Saint Martin’s Church built starting in 1456. Construction lasted for more than 100 years. The tall church tower was completed in 1887. The church was badly damaged in an Allied bombing raid in October 1944. The tall church tower remained standing, The Germans used the surviving tower as an  observation post.

The tower collapsed after a second WWII Allied bombing and damaged the nave below. It took years of hard restoration work to bring the building back to its former glory.

The 75th Infantry Command Post was in Weert as troops were assembled in the Netherlands. If 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken reported here before joining his C-Company he would have seen the highly damaged Church.

As I was doing this sketch I noticed a young man watching me from one of the tables at the left of my sketch. When I finished, he came over and let me know that he was sketching me at work. unfortunately I finished my sketch before he could complete his sketch. He could speak English rather well and invited me for a bite at the restaurant he was sitting in front of.

That restaurant, which is just out of view in my sketch, was MacDonalds. He told me it is the most  American of restaurants. So, I had a Big Mac, Coke and fries in Weert. Actually fries are very popular in every European country I have gone to. My goal now it to find restaurants that to not show fries on their online menus. I went to an Indian restaurant today just to avoid French Fries.

The young artist showed me his sketchbook and he had a wonderful sketch of the Saint Martin’s Church. He managed to catch all the horizontal variegated brick work which I had ignored in my rush to complete my sketch. We became instagram buddies. He had to help me locate a couple of the buttons on my iPhone needed to complete the task. Though my focus is in trying to unearth some of the history from 80 years ago, people keep introducing themselves to remind me that looking towards the future is just as important.

Of  course the artist asked me about the current United States president. I explained that having a wanna be dictator in the White House is part of the reason I am looking at the World War II past. Someone else told me that America has no history compared to Europe.

“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it” –Winston  Churchhill

“History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce”. –Karl Marx

Windmill near Weert Netherlands

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Weert Netherlands was a command post and headquarters for the American 75th Infantry Division after the Battles of the Colmar Pocket in South West France. It is possible that 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken could have reported here before joining his C-Company troops in Panningen Netherlands. The 75th Infantry was to set up- a defensive line along the West Bank of the Maas River. German troops were on the East bank of the river and the 75th needed to keep them from advancing back into the Netherlands. The Netherlands surrendered to Germany in May 15, 1940, after a five day invasion. The entire country of the Netherlands was liberated by Allied forces by May 5, 1945.

1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken would have arrived 9n the Netherlands shortly after February 17, 1945. That means German forces still occupied some areas of the country. Weert managed to escape-e major bombing destruction, although areas around the city were a battlefield. The most fighting the 75th saw in the Netherlands was in Roermond.

I like that in the Netherlands they train trees to grow only in tight horizontal Boxes. It started to rain very lightly as I sketched. I leaned over the drawing and waited for the rain to stop.  A fellow walking his dog stopped to see how the sketch was going. He asked if he could take a picture of me holding the sketch and l was happy to pose. This particular windmill has been around for 150 years, so it would have been here in 1945.

I walked towards the entrance of the mill, but it was not open. A pear tree had dropped ripe fruit next to the mill. The tree was on a neighbors property, but the fruit had dropped over a fence by the mill. I picked up a few pears since Seacoast Bank was still denying me access to the finds I had put aside for this trip.

when I went back to my car, I was about to get in and the fellow who had been walking his dog waved and called my name. I had parked right in fr0nt of his home. He invited me into the back yard for a coffee and we talked politics and about his job selling medical equipment. His home was lovely and they had a gorgeous garden. That is true of most homes in the a Netherlands, they love have lush gardens.

It is hard to imagine that this was a war torn country back in 1945.

Belgium Battlefield

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In Gingelom Belgium, lt was quiet in the German encampment. There was activity in the Red Cross medic’s tent so someone must have been injured previously. A rather large crowd had gathered around the rim of the valley where the German encampment lay. I sat on the edge of the hillside and started sketching the encampment before the battle started. A single American vehicle had been captured at the northern edge of the camp. It was obvious that the Americans were outnumbered and they put their hands up and surrendered before there were any fatalities.

Ater this small victory the camp settled into a short lull. Then there was a rumble of engines that could be heard. The allied troops arrived from a dirt road that lead to the camp from the west. I am assuming it was west based on the directions of the shadows I put in my sketch. The first American scouting party was overwhelmed by the Germans and they raised their hands and were captured. After that squirmish  things grew quiet for a moment. Then the roar of the rest of the Allied troops could be heard as they rolled over the hills surrounding and into the camp. Americans lay on the ground to fire at the enemy, or hid behind a German motorcycle. A vintage American WWII aircraft buzzed the field, dropping an orange plume of smoke. There wasn’t enough smoke to hide the movements of the Americans but it added to the confusion. It started to rain which added to the challenge of getting a watercolor sketch done.

The Allies then flanked the tents to the south and moved towards the makeshift hospital. They searched every tent to be sure each area was clear as they passed through. The Americans (and Scott’s)  far outnumbered the Germans and they were able to clear the camp. After the victory. All the Allies lines up in a row, presumably for their final orders.

This was a fairly small reenactment and I don’t believe there were any fatalities, although I didn’t have a good line of sight for half of the German camp because of a large tree. Having a vintage American WWII aircraft buzz the battle field was an unexpected surprise. “Angels on our shoulders.”

So, would 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken been in a similar battle scenario? It seems that most of the fighting in The Ruhr Pocket of Germany involved going from building to building in tight urban combat. There would have been the constant threat of enemy sniper fire. For many of the battles Arthur Thorspecken’s C-Company platoon was working along with the 8th Armored group, “Thundering Herd”.. Having a tank roll into camp would certainly intimidate an enemy infantry if they did not have similar large armaments. It was discovered however that tanks do not do so well fighting in the tight quarters of an urban city. There just isn’t room to maneuver. The infantry does better fighting in tight house to house scenarios, according to the 75th infantry’s 1st Lieutenant Richard (Dick) Sasin.

Gingelom Belgium: The Briefing

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As the time of the WWII battle approached, there was a briefing among the allies in the entry way to a courtyard across the street from Museum Winter 1944. 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken would have been in charge of handing out similar orders to his platoon of 18 to 50 men. I jotted down a sketch in my pocked sized sketchbook and finished just before the meeting broke up. From my vantage point in the courtyard entry doorway. I could not overhear the plans being put in place. I would make a horrible spy but at least I would get a few decent sketches done.

One of the solders came up to me and looked over my shoulder at the sketch. In English, he complained jokingly that I had only drawn American soldiers with the helmets. That wasn’t true because I drew several fellows with berets. He p0inted out that Scotsmen like himself wore RED berets. I quickly pulled out a red colored pencil and scribbled in some red on a beret. The soldier was quite pleased and bragged to his buddy about how he had affected the art being made.

Army troop trucks started firing up and with a roar they were off to battle. I asked the owner of Museum 1944 how far a hike was it to the battlefield and she invited me to take a ride to the site in her father’s jeep.  As we drove to the field, we passed quite a few villagers walking to the battle site. I felt a little guilty since I wasn’t in a uniform,  but at least my shirt was drab green which camouflaged me.

The German camp was in a recess in a field with hills on three sides. There were no lookouts on top of those hills. Had there been lookouts, they might have noticed that hundreds of people were gathering on top of the hills surrounding the site. There was one rather large tree which divided the camp in two. On one side, to the East, there was a Red Cross medical area with nurses. I decided to focus on the front end of the camp, with a few scattered tents.

 

City of Namur Belgium

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After seeing a very detailed model of the Citadel, I felt the need to do a detailed sketch of the city of Namur Belgium seen from the fortress. The four foot high fortress walls made it impossible to sit and do a sketch, although I saw a couple precariously perched on top of the wall. If they fell forward they could drop several hundred feet. Ahhh young love.

I stood at the wall and used the top of the wall as my desk. I was wearing 3 layers for warmth since the winds can get brisk and I needed a waterproof shell since I have been rained on just about every time I start to do a sketch. There was some sort of retreat going on down the hill to my right. They were having a race where two people had to work as a team navigating a series of obstacles.  They had a ball or water balloon between them and they needed to keep it balanced without using their hands. I stopped sketching to watch the hilarity as couple after couple failed. There was also a running group running up and down the thousands of stone steps around the fortress. No, my exercise this morning is to sketch of the city.

I love sketching old forts. I could spend a week here and not run out of sketch opportunities. I kind of regret not sketching the tunnels the American army used as a command post. However, I need to get to the front lines where the troops were preparing to defend the Netherlands at the Meuse River. Different countries s-ell the name of the Meuse differently. I am certain troops at the time often were not sure what town they were in or even what country. They just wanted to survive. I know for sure that Holland was the final destination for 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken who arrived in Europe on about February 17, 1945.

The 75th Infantry histories I have been reading refer to the Netherlands as Holland. That conjures up images of wooden shoes and windmills. Seems like a quiet romantic setting, but not at war time. Before I left, I found a thread from someone who wanted to know how his father might have died in Holland in 1945. His father was also in the 75th Infantry. The Americans were on the West Bank of the Meuse and the Germans on the East bank. Both were in sight of each other maybe 100 yards apart. The most likely cause of a death would be a random mortar blast, or a dangerous trip across the Meuse  River at night to gather intelligence. I do not know if 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken was ever on one of these very dangerous recon missions.