Tor to the Rhine

Posted on by Thor

In Orsoy Germany just south of Rhineberg Germany, I was walking back from sketching the ferry across the Rhine  River and decided to sketch the city gate. Orsoy used to be a walled in medieval fortress town. This gate or Tor in German faces west towards the Rhine. Steel doors have been added which can be shut if the river floods and gets to the city gate, or Tor in German.

My Air B&B host told me that the other gates to the city had to be demolished by the American troops because the American Sherman tanks could not fit through them.  This gate is larger than the rest and therefore survived the war. By March 31, 1945 there were 3 Treadway Bridges, 2 Bailey Bridges and a Heavy Pontoon Bridge built across the Rhine. No bridge was build at Orsoy, so I don’t think the 75th Infantry would have crossed there. I also know that the 75th crossed before the first of the bridges was built, they went across with landing craft.

The 79th Infantry Division likely did cross the Rhine on a treadway bridge north or Orsoy Germany  as they invaded Dinslaken Germany. A  Treadway Bridge was built by the 17th Armored Engineer Battalion, The M2 Steel Treadway Bridge, is a modular floating bridge system used by the U.S. Army to cross rivers with heavy vehicles, . had over 1152 feet of  steel runway treads and 93 pneumatic floats. The project required just six hours and fifteen minutes to complete, setting a record for the size of the bridge. The Treadway Bridge was the fasted to build. The Bailey Bridges built were much sturdier.

Regardless of the bridge crossing sites, I believe the 75th Infantry Division, C-Company, lead by my father 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken  would have crossed much further to the north. They would have crossed just south of Wesel Germany and then crossed the Lippe Canal to clear the area between the Canal and the Lippe River. I thought the canal locks likely were used to make their way north across the canal, but the German military destroyed bridges over the Lippe Canal near places like Hunxe as Allied forces pushed into Germany in 1944 and 1945. It only makes sense for the 75th Infantry to cross the Rhine right where the Lippe Canal and the Lippe River empty onto the Rhine. That small strip of land they would mean they crossed at or just south of Buderich Germany. So you can see that knowing exact;y where the troops were is a bit of a guessing game, but new facts help to zone in on the truth.

 

American Sherman Mine Sweeper Tank

Posted on by Thor

At the Overloon Oorlogs Military Museum, a curator came to meet me in the lobby. She walked me to this viscous looking Sherman Tank that sported huge thick chains on a giant spinning drum that was positioned out in front of the vehicle. She told me that my father, 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken likely walked behind one of these beasts while he was in the Netherlands. The Germans would position many mines as they retreated from the advancing Allied army.

The name of this tank is the Sherman Crab MK1. It is a flail tank with the rotating roll, that hits round bullets with a force of more than 330,000 pounds on the ground  causing the mines to explode in front of the tank. It is a way to created a safe passageway for troops to move forward. The tank would have a crew of 5 men and could reach a top speed of 25 miles per hour. It has a 75mm cannon and 2 machine guns.

Besides all the armament, there were sections of the museum which told the more personal side of having to be in an occupied country. Helene Egger was 10 years old when the Netherlands became occupied by the Germans. She was Jewish. Her parents were divorced. She lived with her 2 older brothers in her grandmothers house in Amsterdam. Her mother  developed a brain tumor and died in 1941.  Helena was devastated.

Less than 6 months later her oldest brother went to a work camp. He was actually sent to Westerbroek Jewish transit camp in Drenthe. Shortly after, her other brother went to the work camp voluntarily. He was bored of living at his grandparents home and missed his brother.

The Westerbork transit camp became a gathering place for Jews before they  were transported to labor camps in Germany. Approximately 107,ooo Jews and 245 Sinai and Roma were deported to Westerbork  and then “to the east”. They were transported in freight cars without food or water. Most were sent to extermination camps like Auchwitz and Sobibor, while other went to concentration camps like Bergen Belsen and Theresienstadt.

Her brothers ultimately were sent to Auchwitz concentration camp where they were murdered. Her father as well was later rounded up by the Nazis and murdered in a concentration camp. Ultimately Helene lost everyone in her immediate family, but her grandparents, Aunt and Uncle kept her safely hidden in the country. Helene lived to be 94 years old.

Overloon Netherlands: Russian Tank

Posted on by Thor

The Russian tanks in WWII never went as far west as Overloon Netherlands. The Russians stopped when they got to Berlin Germany. I was advised by the director of Museum44 in Overloon Netherlands to go to the  Oorlags Museum of Overloon. This Russian tank was parked in the woods leading to the museum.

The Battle of Overloon was fought in the Second World War between Allied forces and the German Army which took place in and around the village of Overloon in the south-east of the Netherlands between 30 September and 18 October 1944. The battle was an Allied victory, after the Allies launched Operation Aintree. Signs in the wooded area leading up to the museum reminded visitors that much of the fighting happened right in this wooded area

This tank is the T-34 with an 85 mm cannon. It weighs 35 tons. It was a notorious tank because it had firepower, solid armor and was very mobile. It’s designed allowed for mass production. About nine times more T-34s left the factory than German Panzer tanks. Since these tanks were fighting on Germany’s eastern front, 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken probably never saw a T-34. He most certainly would have seen German Panzer tanks.

The director of Museum44 was kind enough to call someone he knew at the Oorlags Museum so that a curator could show me items in the museum that tied in directly to the period I was researching which was in late February and early March of 1945.

The Oorlags museum is cavernous with hundreds of military vehicles on display. Having the curator walk me directly to several American Sherman tanks made my life so much easier since I am no expert on makes and models of military hardware.

One entire area of the museum is devolved just to displaying the thousands of different types of shells that were in use to kill the enemy. War is a crazy vicious business. As I was doing this sketch it started to rain. Those are the explosions you see all over the page.