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.

Colombian Consulate

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By Thomas Thorspecken

After driving to Alligator Alcatraz for the first time, Stella P. Arbelaéz Tascón wanted to pick up her Colombian National ID at the Colombian Consulate (280 Aragón Avenue, Coral Gables FL.) It was a quick drive across the state. The building with its Mediterranean Revival architecture blends well into the very posh neighborhood.

Walking to the consulate we passed a Pilates class and the Coral Gables Museum. A group of woman still in their tight exercise leotards must have just left the class as they passed me as I setting up my art stool in front of the Museum.  It was very early, and the museum was closed, so I was less concerned about a museum guard shooing me away.

Stella left me to watch Boo Boo her adorable tiny pup. I tied his leash to my belt as I sketched. A second group of Pilates warriors stopped to ask his name and give him all the pets. A man about half way up the block from me, seated on the sidewalk looked like he might be homeless, then again, I probably looked about the same having just come from the sweaty Everglades.

The last time Stella was here, she had to wait overnight since the line to get into the consulate had been so long, snaking around the block. This time the line did not extend past the width of the building. Also She did not have to wait in line since she was just picking up her document. The bureaucratic process still gave me enough time to complete this sketch, so she must have been inside over an hour.

With the United States spiraling into a dictatorship, having official documents is more important than ever given, the ICE raids of workplaces and family gatherings. Stella and I watched a video of a realtor talking about how many rich people are leaving the country, selling their million dollar properties. She used to see one such sale every few months but now she is seeing a flood of people getting out of the country.

I was considering purchasing a home in New York State, but now I am reconsidering the idea of buying a property in the United States. My new plan is to travel Europe, sketching each day, for eight months, following the movements of the 75th Infantry, C Company, in the final months of WWII as they defeated Fascism. My father Arthur Harold Thorspecken was a 1st Lieutenant in C Company and I am now plotting their battles, breaking it down by the day. My sketches will be dated based on the events taking place in 1945. I am pouring over several pamphlets my father had been given at the end of the war and a written recounting of the infantry’s movements based on the recollections of another 1st Lieutenant of C Company. My father never talked about the war. My brother warned me about the winter weather, but C Company had to deal with freezing conditions as they moved around Europe. I will just have to deal with whatever weather is thrown my way.