Charleroi Belgium: Ibis Styles Aero 44

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I find the small pocket sized sketchbook is great for quick informal sketches at moments like waiting for the food to come at dinner. To my right there was a large table full of guys that seemed to be together on a business trip. It was a jovial scene with everyone sharing photos on their cell phones.

Of course in WWII no Infantry soldier was allowed to shoot photos or write anything about where they had been or where they were going. ‘Loose lops sink ships” was the propaganda slogan to encourage troops to keep their lips sealed. My father 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken never wrote or said anything about the war. He kept his lips leaked up until his dying day. As a child I thought I heard him say one that a bullet had hit a tank right next to his leg once. His C-Company platoon was  assigned to work with the 8th Armored Division when the 75th Infantry Division pushed into Germany. So the tank aspect of my vague memory holds up.

Two other 1st Lieuenants from the 75th Infantry did write about their experiences in the war, and I am using their writings as a way to get a sense of what a 1st Lieutenant would have gone through in WWII.

The scene I sketched in the hotel restaurant probably isn’t much different that a scene in an infantry mess hall except for the fact that there was a woman in the room at the far table. Belgium was liberated by February of 1945 when Arthur Thorspecken might have been in the city ready to join the 75th Infantry as they moved up to the Netherlands.

After this dinner, I went up to my room and discovered that my travel credit card was missing. I tore apart my luggage and could not find it anywhere. Then I remembered getting gas on the drive to Charleroi Belgium. The gas pump just wouldn’t work with my card. I got frustrated and finally went inside to pay in Euros. I must have left the card in the machine in my frustration. In the morning I decided to make the drive back to the gas station. It was a long shot, but I had to try. I pulled into the gas station and pulled up to the same gas pump. Of course the card was not in the machine. I went inside the store with a vague hope that some good Samaritan had turned the card in to the attendant. I don’t know how to speak Flemish, but with some German, English and some hand gestures I explained that I had lost my grey card. The color gray caused the attendants eyes to light up. He went in the back room and came out with the card. For once Lucy was on my side. I had a brief retreat but pressed forward to the next city. Now if I use the card in a machine, I keep a finger on it at all times.

Place Ducale, Charlesville France

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Charlesville France was a 75th Infantry Command Post as the troops were moved up into the Netherlands after the Colmar Pocket Campaign in the south of France. The 75th Infantry troops arrived in Panningen Netherlands on February 15, 1945 about 2 days before 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken might have arrived in Europe. Losses were great after the Battle of the Bulge. Of the over 200 men of the 75th Infantry who went into that battle only 21 men came put alive. Replacements were still desperately needed after the battles in Colmar.

I am assuming Arthur Thorspecken would have reported to a command post before joining his men in the field. There were 5 command posts between Colmar France and Panningen Netherlands, so I sketched each. I can not confirm yet if Arthur was at one or all of these cities leading up into the Netherlands. I am assuming the command post would be packed up each day and moved to a new city.

That is how this sketch trip has progressed. I would arrive in a city, sketch and stay overnight and then pack up and drive to the next city. With finances in question due to my bank refusing to allow access to funds after  a fraud charge on my card, the trip always felt like jumping without a parachute. If I could not get lodging, I could always sleep in the car for a night, but that hasn’t happened.

What I remember about this Charlesville Town Square lunch was that a fly wanted to drink my Coke more than I did. I finally gave up swatting him away and moved the bottle as far away as I could to let the fly sip to his hearts content. There were also hoards of children wandering the streets. Why were they not in class? There was a puppetry museum on the corner of the square, but that wouldn’t relate to 1945, so I let it pass.

After lunch, I went to Winston Churchill Square to sketch a war memorial. I found an odd quote from Winston in a small cafe. It said, ‘You should do something good for the body so the soul enjoys living in it.” – Winston Churchill.  Now Winston was not known for being a fitness buff, so he must have been referring to food and drink.

Charlesville was occupied by Nazi Germany and the military crossed through the square in 104 was part of the Battle of the Ardennes but the square suffered little damage. Charlesville was liberated on August 31, 1944 during the rapid Allied advance through France. The British 2nd Army liberated the city. The city was firmly under Allied control in early February of 1945 when Arthur Thorspecken may have entered the city.

Rhemes France: Koboom

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After the Clamerey, France American WWII Camp Reconstruction, I drove north to Rhemes, France. Between Rhemes and Mourmelon, France My father helped run a Cigarette Camp. Cigarette Camps were set up after Germany surrendered to help troops what would be shipping out back to America. The camp the Arthur Thorspecken helped run was Camp Cleveland. I don’t thing Cleveland is a cigarette brand but other camps had names like Lucky Strike and Marlboro. Other camps were also named after major US Cities.

Since the Cigarette camps were at the last phase of the war, I will post the actual sketches done of the location at the end of this series of sketches. My goal should be to keep the order of the sketch chronological as much as possible. However sketching while I wait for a meal to arrive is basic tourist fare and separate from the other sketches being done. Solders who ran Camp Cleveland did get leave on occasion to go to Paris and Rheims France. Some solder in uniform might be seen in any of the local cafes at the time.

In Rhemes France German General Alfred Jodl signed the act of unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht to the Allies on May 7, ending WWII in Europe. The signing took place at General Eisenhower’s headquarters in a building now known as Musee de la Reddition. It is a rather dull looking municipal building which is now a museum. Eisenhower really should have had the surrender signed in a grand palace of which there are many. Rhemes often played a prominent role in the coronation of kings of France. My focus wasn’t on the surrender since my father was not there at the signing. Instead I focused on what I could find of the Cigarette Camp he helped run along with C-Company of the 75th Infantry Division.

Oh, for dinner at Kaboom, I had a delicious Pad Thai and a good old American Coke. The guy I sketched noticed me still sketching as he left. He took a photo before heading back out on the street. The section of the city I was in was pretty swanky with a casinos and very fine dining. I am sure it was very different in 1945.

Loading the Troop Carrier

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As the sun set, the final preparations were being made to break down the American Military Camp. A large canvas tent had been folded up by two soldiers and I believe a nurse. Such preparations would have happened weekly or daily for the men of the 75th Infantry, C-Company.
I was all sketched out and wanted to collapse into a warm bed.  There was still a lot of work to be done to break down the camp, so I found Flourent and let him know that I was going to drive back to the hotel and bed down for the night.
When on the front lines and one the move infantry soldiers didn’t always have the luxury of a full camp set up. Soldiers would sleep wherever they could, be it in abandoned homes, barns or churches.

I showed the woman who was so welcoming, my father’s military identification card. He was just 22 years old and going to Europe as a 1st lieutenant. A first lieutenant is the highest rank where you are out in the field with boots on the ground. Any rank higher and you are behind a desk. A company commander was often a Captain.  C-Company  had 3 platoons with 50 to 200 soldiers. Platoons are broken down into 3-4 squads with 18 to 50 soldiers, then each squad has 6-10 soldiers. A First lieutenant often would lead one of the platoons himself. Often acting as the tip to a spearhead.

A platoon leader was usually a 2nd lieutenant or 1st lieutenant. He would be armed with an M1 carbine rifle.

There would be 1 platoon Sargent or technical Sargent armed with an M1 carbine rifle.

There would be 2 light truck drivers, armed with and M1 rifle and M7 Grenade launcher each.

There would be 2 messengers, each a Private First Class armed with an M1 rifle each.

The platoon headquarters was mounted in 2n1/2 ton trucks or jeeps with trailers acting as weapons and ammunition carriers. One truck would be armed with an M2HB heavy machine gun for local anti air defense. Three bazooka were in the Company weapons pool. Each rifle Company would consist of three rifle platoons, a weapons platoon and a ead Quarters platoon. Each platoon was commanded by a 2nd Lieutenant or 1st

The 75th Infantry’s  1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions worked together with one battalion often protecting the flanks of another. For this European sketch research trip, I decided I was only sketching the movements of the 1st Battalion, C-Company which is the company Arthur would have been leading. Different Battalions would often set up camp in different towns. It is hard enough to keep track of the movements of one Battalion and Company, I can’t imagine keeping track of all 3.

Market Day

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Stella Arbeláez Tascón and I went to the Webster Westside Flea Market (516 NW 3rd Street, Webster, FL). This is a painting of the combined haul before we divvied up the spoils of the marketing war.

Stella is great at comparing prices and finding the best deal while I just grab on impulse and sometimes forget to pay. I’m just excited to get the produce in my ancient granny cart which was rickety by the end of the shopping spree due to the produce weight.

The jar contains, Tamarind, a hard shelled pea shaped Fruit legume, which is sweet and bitter at the same time. I bit off individual seed pods and nurse the fruit off the seed with my front teeth while rolling it in my mouth.

I have become addicted to having several oranges every day. I am also a fan of cooking corn on the cob every night. It only takes 5 minutes to boil an ear so it is a quick snack.

In the background of the sketch are some ink bottles. Stella was testing each bottle of ink for it’s permanence when used with watercolor washes. It turns out one bottle is not permanent and that is the one she had been using.

My backpack for my Europe trip arrived yesterday. Each morning I put it on to walk around the block to see how it feels. I shopped at REI and maybe packed it 1/3 full. I hope on my travels I can find keep finding lush bounties of fruit as I hike, train and drive from town to town. I am getting close to finishing my itinerary. Which will give me a list of the towns and hamlets I must visit to follow in 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken‘s footsteps as his C-Company infantry unit moved from France to Belgium, Norway and ultimately the heart of Germany at the end of WWII. I think I solved the mystery of which work concentration camp his unit might have liberated and moved the victims toward Eastern Europe via train box cars. The displaced person’s didn’t want to get on the train and his unit had to hammer the box car doors shut with nails. The trip East might have been a death sentence. Skeletal faces started out from between box car boards in sorrow.