April 14, 1945: Wetter Germany

Posted on by Thor

By mid April, 1945, the Ruhr factories were silenced.  Thousands of German prisoners filled the Allies’ compounds.  Elements of the German army were retreating further east.  Concentration camps were discovered and liberated.  The indescribable conditions at these camps shocked the world.

After the American President, Franklin D. Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, the final stages of the Ruhr battle were still under way.  Vice President Harry Truman was now Commander in Chief. Wetter Germany is on the Ruhr River. It is southeast of Witten. My father, 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken, was leading C-Company of the 75th Infantry Division when they captured Wetter on April 13, 1945. There was desperate German resistance since the German troops knew they were surrounded.

When the 75th came into one German town, they found a barbershop where some of the men decided to stop in to get a haircut and shave. One of the soldiers would stand watch over the others while they were getting a clean shave. The soldier, who was standing guard, left his post early when a chair became available, but before someone else could keep guard. The exposed soldiers felt a bit nervous that the German barbers might cut their throats with the straight edge razors and drag them out back with no one the wiser. Thankfully nothing of the sort occurred and the men tipped the barbers VERY well for the services provided.

Most cities seen by C-Company soldiers were completely demolished.  The Allies encountered pockets of German resistance in the drive to the Ruhr industrial complex.  Hundreds of German soldiers were captured daily. Many were teenagers.  Others were much older—in their sixties or more.  These young and old, made up the untrained German people’s army. Conscripted soldiers from occupied nations were glad to be captured. They were aware a prisoner of war of the Allies was assured of food and shelter—much better than being a weary and starving German soldier.

The truck driver of C-Company was busy transporting food and supplies to the liberated forced labor camps.  Those forced laborers were taken to rail stations to be returned to their homelands.  Most did not know if their homes and families survived the war years. Many would find they would be greeted at traitors when they got back to their home country.

As Allied troops, including the 75th Infantry Division, closed in the SS forced thousands of concentration camp prisoners on “evacuation” marches to prevent their liberation, resulting in mass deaths from hunger, exhaustion, and shooting. Despite the war being clearly lost, Nazi officials continued to demand high-speed production of war materials, with prisoners working in subterranean tunnels, factories, and on construction projects. The liberation of these camps was a slow, sometimes violent process. Many survivors were in critical condition, and thousands died even after liberation.

The 1st and 9th Armies split the Ruhr Industrial Pocket in half by April 14, 1945, specifically in the Hagen-Witten area, which is immediately west of Wetter on the Ruhr River. The organized resistance in this specific area collapsed around April 18, 1945, after the pocket was subdivided.

Margraten Netherlands: Prelude to the Rhine Crossing

Posted on by Thor

Margraten Netherlands is the burial site for all the American soldiers who died crossing the Rhine River and encircling the Ruhr Industrial Pocket. Margraten is the only American cemetery in the Netherlands.  8,301 American soldiers are buried here. This is where the soldiers who died under the command of 1st Lieutenant  Arthur Thorspecken would be buried. So Margraten was not on the route of the 75th Infantry as they pressed forward into Germany but it became the final resting place for many. The names of 1722 Americans whose remains were never recovered or not identified are listed 0n two long walls on either side of the Court of Honor. There are 106 graves marked “unknown”.

At the entrance to the cemetery are two large stone murals that depict the movements of all the allied troops as they attacked Germany in 1945. The maps were protected by waste high glass partitions that discouraged visitors from touching the wall. I was surprised at how many people visit this cemetery even on a cold morning in September.

There was one very large map that depicted the entire history of all the troop movements. Then there was the second tall mural which depicted the movement to cross the Rhine River into a Germany. On this map, I could find the movements of the 75th Infantry Division. The 75th wasn’t specifically identified, but they had been assigned to the US XVI Corps as part of the 9th Army and that division was on the map. I recognized the cities I had already sketched and the cities I was about to sketch.

Depicted on the cemetery map was OPERATION GRENADE in which the 75th infantry as part of the 9th Army advanced from the Ruhr River to the Rhine River which was the final water barrier before advancing towards Berlin Germany. I only drew the movements of the 75th infantry and ignored everything else. Operation Grenade began February 5, 1945 and went through March 5, 1945. The Germans had blown up a dam up river which flooded the entire Roer River valley which delayed the beginning of the campaign. The German General Field Marshall Gerd von Rinstedt wanted to withdraw behind the Rhine, but Hitler would not allow him, saying that it would only delay the inevitable fight.

Engraved in the granite walls was the description of the Allied advance. “In the early morning hours of 23 February, following an intense artillery bombardment, the leading units of the 9th Army lowered their boats into the swirling waters of the still flooded Roer River. The swift currents and enemy artillery fire at the crossing sites made passage across the river hazardous. Once across the river the US 9th Army offensive rapidly gathered momentum. On 25  February, the XVI Corps crossed on the left flank. Armored units were committed as the direction of the advance turned northward and broke through enemy lines.”

The 75th Infantry Division, C-Company would cross the Rhine on March 24, 1945 late in the afternoon.