Plague Cross of Frohlinde Germany

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Frohlinde means Joyful in German. The plague cross, known locally as the Bookenkreuz, dates back to the time of the Thirty Years’ War, when the plague raged (1618 and 1648). The farming communities of Frohlind95h e, Obercastrop, and Rauxel, as well as other surrounding villages, erected plague crosses and obligated themselves to hold annual processions to these crosses and distribute alms, bread, money, and other donations to the local poor.

While the 291st Infantry Division was attacking Castrop-Rauxel Germany, my father, 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken, was leading his C-Company of the 290th Infantry, 75th Infantry Division, into Frohlinde. Heavy 75th Infantry artillery and air bombing was aimed at the city before the attack, effectively leveling the city.

All Allied units had been ordered by XVI Corps to attack south to the Ruhr River as quickly as possible. What resulted was that all the allied units raced against one another in their dash to the objective. This race to the objective resulted in some chaos as units surged forward without being aware of the progress of units to their left and right. The result could be units separated and isolated behind enemy lines.

On entering a city and seeing the type of fighting needed, the Company Commander should have given his platoons very definite zones of operation. That platoon zone should have then been broken down into individual squad areas. Only then could mopping up operations be successful in a Company zone. In the heat of battle, however, such strategic planning can fall apart.

A definite front line can evaporate, with some units pushing forward quickly while others might be stopped or delayed by heavy enemy resistance. Communication between companies could be problematic, with radios down or a messenger delayed in delivering a message.

The overall objective of General Ray Porter’s 9th Army Group was to drive east after crossing the Rhine River, and then attack south to defeat the estimated 370,000 German defenders trapped in the Ruhr Pocket. Dortmund Germany was the largest industrial City in the area of attack and Frolinde was on the north West outskirts of Dortmund.

According to the XVICorps estimate, the 75th Infantry would face the veteran 116th Panzer Division’s 16th Panzer Grenadier Regiment. The Germans could convert the villages, cities, and industrial plants into strong points to delay the advance.

Useful information was gained from prisoner of war interrogations. Interrogation teams faced a torrent of German prisoners with more than 3,600 passing through the division’s cages. From this flow came a large amount of all kinds of information, including the insight that the Germans planned to continue delaying actions, withdrawing after the first significant contact.

Major General John B. Anderson, the XVI Corps commander, commended the 75th Infantry Division for its “aggressive patrolling, constant observation, and the activities of [its] intelligence agencies.”

The Approach to Dorsten Germany

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The 9th army XVICorps which included the 75th Infantry Division were my father 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken was leading C-Company swept around Dorsten Germany on their drive towards Berlin Germany. The 9th Army Group General William H. Simpson wanted to avoid Dorsten in the rush to reach Berlin. After passing Dorsten he got a direct order to take the city of Dorsten. Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower had decided at about this time to abandon the rush towards Berlin. He decided t let the Soviets take Berlin and instead the American troops would get the task of crippling the industrial Ruhr Pocket of Germany.

On the evening March 29, 1945 the 75th Infantry Division was south west of Dorsten Germany. The order came to backtrack and take the city of Dorsten. It is hard to advance through enemy territory in day light, it is even harder to advance at night.  The unit headed straight west until they found the railroad lines that would lead straight up towards the city. At daylight the 75th Infantry moved north towards Dorsten with heavy resistance.

Miscellaneous German artillery battalions, engineer battalions, and Anti Artilery units, in short, every available German soldier who was not manning an Anti Tank gun, or who was not already a part of the 180 Infantry Division or 116 Panzer Division was thrown into the battle line to bolster the weakening enemy forces. During the night of March 28-29 1945, Dorsten was attacked. The Germans used railroad flat cars to transport thru large weapons.

This city offered good bridging sites over the Lippe Canal which were desired by Ninth US Army. By noon ofMarch 29, 1945, Dorsten had been cleared but only after the enemy had defended it in severe house to house fighting, employing, 88mm Flak guns, and “Vengeance Weapons” (V-Waffen), primarily the V-1 flying bomb, a feared, versatile anti-aircraft cannon used as a tank killer, mortar and heavy caliber artillery fire.

After Dorsten was secured, the XVICorps established bridgeheads over the Lippe Canal to protect engineers building a crossing, facing sniper fire and enemy artillery, with some units clearing blocks house-to-house before the division moved on.

 

 

March 5, 1945: Crossing the Roer River into Germany

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The 75th Infantry Division had to wait on the western side of the Roer River for several weeks because the Germans had destroyed a dam up river and flooded the entire river valley. The river ain’t that wide in peace time, maybe about 25 to 50 yards.

OPERATION GRENADE which was a push from the Rowe River to the Rhine River began on February 6, 1945, once the waters had subsided a bit. The 75th Infantry likely crossed the Roer south of Heinsberg and north of Geilenkirchen Germany. After studying maps of the area, I decided Hilfarth Germany fits in the sweet spot where the troops might have crossed the river.

A historical sign at Hilfarth pointed out that American troops used the bridge to advance over the Roer River. The bridge was partially destroyed but perhaps only passable by foot. The bridge was repaired and reopened to car traffic on May 18, 1949.

The 75th Infantry was part of the 9th Army Group under General William Hood Simpson. On March 1, 1945 the 75th Infantry was assigned to the XVI Corps as they advanced into Germany. by March 5, 1945 the 75th had advanced as far as Rheinberg Germany. C-Company commanded by 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken was among the most northerly of the American Troops with the British to their left in the north. The British push to the Rhine River from the Roer was known as OPERATION VERITABLE  The 75th took up a defensive position on the Rhine just south of Wesel Germany on the opposite side of the Rhine.

All of these movements seemed so abstract when I read them at first but once I followed the route and sat to sketch the Roer River, things fell into place and made sense to me. Once C-Company of the 7th Infantry got to the Rhine, they stayed behind the levies during the day and patrolled along the rivers edge at night. The goal of C-Company was to keep the Germans in the dark about when and where the 9th army would cross the Rhine River. If the Germans found any intelligence about the next crossing, then many American lives would be lost.