March 2, 1945: Venlo Netherlands, Groote Heide

Posted on by Thor

When in Venlo Netherlands, I decided I would hike into the woods at Groote Heide and search for the remains of a former German Luftwaffe airport. Called Flieglerhorst Venlo-Herogen, the air strip is right at the border of the Netherlands and Germany. The Germans liked the position of the airport because it was so far  west and therefore within striking distance of England.

When the Americans took over the airport on March 1, 1045, they renamed it “Yankee 55”. The airport needed extensive restoration because of all the demolition the a Germans did before they retreated. The Germans started retreating on September of 1944 because they feared that the allies were much closer than they actually were.

Translated, Groote Heide means large heath in Dutch. In German, Heide means heap. Every coal mine in Germany had large Heides or heaps of refuge which is the rock that did not contain coal.

I didn’t find an exact location of any of the airfield remnants online, so I drove to the Heide and decided to hike the trails in hopes that I might stumble across some former airfield buildings. The main tower is used by climbers as a training site. On the hike I did find five foot wide craters which must have been fox hole or bomb impact craters. I decided not to sketch since they were just holes filled with tall grass. I didn’t consider it an interesting sketch opportunity.

I hiked all around the woods on all sides of this large open field. The field is used to launch hang gliders. The truck uses a very strong winch which lifts the glider off the ground and when it is directly overhead, the line is released. The gliders can stay airborne for quite some time. I lost sight of one in the clouds and it didn’t land for a longo time. A skilled pilot can ride the air currents rising repeatedly.

I decided this was as close as I was going to get in my quest to sketch the Luftwaffe air field. Those hangers and now overgrown building are out there somewhere, maybe I will return to search and sketch another time.

Herbert Thorspecken served in the Luftwaffe in WWII. Herbert and 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken are distant cousins 4 generations removed. Arthur’s great, great, great, great Grandfather , Augustus, came to America in the 1830s where he became a doctor during the Civil War. His brother stayed behind in Germany, and Herbert is a 4th generation descendant of him. Herbert and Arthur probably never came close to one another in the war, because Herbert was in the air and Arthur was boots on the ground.

 

Civil War Monument, the Capitol Mall Washington DC.

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It is one of the most magnificent memorials in Washington
D.C. It is a monument to Grant and all the soldiers who fought in the Civil War.
The section I decided to sketch features soldiers moving a cannon into
position.

This monument was first proposed by the Society of the Army
of Tennessee who wanted to honor the general who led the Union Army to victory.
It was created by sculptor Henry Mervin Shardy who spent 20 years of his life
working on it. When
Shardy and architect Edward Pearce Casey won the commission to design the memorial
in 1902, they had no idea the scope of what they were getting involved in. The
budget for the memorial was $250,000.

The artist researched the project with ambition. He joined
the National Guard and spent four years learning military practice. He found
and researched Union equipment and gear and he read countless books and  studied paintings
about the Civil War to familiarize himself with Grant and his military tactics.
He was criticized several times for the slow pace of his work. The amazing
amount of detail however proves that it was time well spent. He used his own
likeness in one of the soldiers in the charge, forever memorializing his own
likeness.

He worked at a frantic pace at the end of the project
suffering through many sleepless nights, and illness. Sadly, the artist died
two weeks before the sculpture was publicly unveiled on April 27, 1922 one
hundred years after Grant’s birth.

It was freezing cold the day I did this sketch and I ended
up sitting in a puddle of ice cold water on the granite bench I sat on, literally freezing my butt. It was a minor inconvenience
compared to Shardy’s long suffering commitment to this work of art.

Ses-qui-cen-ten-nial

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Joe Rosier with his grey beard and weather worn leathery complexion is a dead ringer for confederate general Robert E. Lee. It was raining like a banshee when I parked my car near the Orlando Fringe Festival. I waited in my car until the rain slowed a bit. When I did step out, I was amazed to see the tires half engulfed in a raging muddy gutter flow. It looked like the car could be swept away.

The premise of the presentation was that General Lee was addressing students at Washington College in Lexington Virginia, recounting his time in the Civil War and his relationship with General Ulysses S. Grant of the Union troops.  The Purple Patron’s Room Venue was empty when I found a seat. Only two other theater goers came in. Joe later confided that the woman in the third row was a theater reviewer from the Orlando Weekly. The General let us know he was pleased that we had all braved the elements to hear his story.

I think you need to be a real history buff to fully appreciate the show. At one point the general had some trouble remembering the battle of Appomattox. He apologized for his brief memory slip as he is getting on in years. I couldn’t decide if it was the actor searching for a line or the General’s lapse in memory. I paid close attention as he recalled his surrender to a very disheveled Grant. Grant let the rebel officers keep their side arms after the surrender. The General was spry for his age, moving constantly on the stage. I caught him in a rare moment when he chose to sit.

Tonight 

10PM – 2AM

Girls at Gay Days Kick-Off Party “One Hot Mess”

Drip 8747 International Dr. Suite 102 (Behind Denny’s and Senor Frogs), Orlando, Florida 32819

I will be doing a live large scale painting of two Drip dancers embracing.  I should be able to sketch several other willing couples as well. If you are an exhibitionist, come on by and get sketched. This is likely to be a hell of a party. It is preceded by a Drip show with an all female cast which is very hot. The show is $35 but the “One Hot Mess” after party is free.

  • DJ Lez Spins
  • Appearance by Jude the Lesbian
  • Budlight colored beer taste testing
  • Barefoot Wine Bar with special grape stomping performance by DRIP.
  • DRIP performance art in white powder
  • DRIP dancers performing in rain
  • DRIP ticket giveaways
  • Dancing
  • Interactive Paint Station
  • Body Painting
  • Gay Days themed visual art show
  • Art Sales