March 29, 1945: Dorsten Germany

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I spent several days in Dorsten Germany since this city was so critical for my father’s C-Company of the 75th Infantry Division as they pushed east into the Ruhr pocket after they crossed the Rhine River. The most obvious landmark in each German city  I sketched would be the church steeple. I would locate a church steeple and that would be what I used to orient myself as I explored the city streets.

The medieval core of the city of Dorsten was significantly damaged by allied bombing. This sketch shows the oldest building in the Dorsten Market Square built in 1567, known as the City Weigh House. In 1935 the Local Dorsten Historical Society opened a museum in the former town hall rooms. In 1945 the building was miraculously only partially destroyed from allied air raids. After the war, the building served for a short time as a tavern.

The Saint Agatha’s Church was first built on the 13th century. The first church on the site was expanded into an opulent gothic hall church. A fire on 1719 severely damaged that church. The bells for the church were first cast this year. In 1945, that church was completely destroyed by allied bombs. The pews and the parish archives went up in flames. The rubble of the old church is now incorporated into the new concrete building which has a smaller and less opulent steeple.

As I was doing this sketch, a gentleman spoke to me for some time about cities in the area, he wondered why I was in Dorsten Germany, because there were far more popular cities for tourists to visit. One thing he said stuck with me. He said, “In America you don’t have much history. 200 years is nothing compared to the history you find in European cities.” Of course America hasn’t invaded neighboring countries sparking off a World War or sent citizens to concentration camps to be exterminated…..yet.

In March of 1945, the XVICorps which included the 75th and 30th Infantry Divisions along with a battalion of the 8th Armored Division had crossed the Rhine River on landing craft the day before. On route to Dorsten Germany the American combat group unexpectedly encountered resistance from the remnants of the German 116th Panzer-Division and the 15th Panzer Grenadier-Division.

The 9th Army Group General Willaim Simson originally planned to bypass Dorsten on his drive towards Berlin Germany. But then orders were received on the night of March 28, 1945 that Dorsten would be taken by 0800 hours the next morning. A new task force was created, under command of Lieutenant Colonel Harris, the 2nd Battalion Commander, 290th Infantry Division and consisting of the 2nd Battalion minus G Company. Another division moved into position 3 kilometers east of Dorsten. Task Force Pointer was told to hold in place at the forward advancing position because the main effort against the town would come from the east instead of the west.

The 75th Infantry Division had already by passed Dorsten to the south but were ordered to backtrack and help take the city which was needed to get allied supplies from the north to the south across the Lippe Canal. The division backtracked at night until they reached the railroad tracks that run south out of Dorsten. The tracks were an obvious place to stop and approach the city from the south. The infantry jumped off at 0600 hours on the morning of March  29, 1945 following a 15 minute artillery preparation by 15 battalions of artillery.

Between the Lippe River and Lippe Canal Germany

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I stayed in this camper in Froliche Nachtigal in Shermbeck Germany. This little camper park is between the Lippe Canal and the Lippe River to the north west of Dorsten Germany. I am not yet able go conform the exact location where the 75th Infantry Division crossed the Lippe Canal heading south east towards Dorsten.

The Lippe Canal ran right next to the camping site. Since the distance between the river and the canal is just about 500 feet, there would he a very good chance that my father and the C-Company men he was leading would have passed right through here 0n their way to  The gap between the Lippe Fiver and the Lippe Canal at this site is just 50 yards. If the 75th Infantry was still clearing the gap between the waterways to this pint then They most certainly walked right through this site that is now set up with campers. I was camping right where they passed or perhaps set ip camp themselves. The Lippe Rover was to the right of thr camper I was staying in just a gew yeards away and there was a sign that let campers know that swimming was encouraged.

American engineer battalions we hard at work creating temporary bridges to make the canal crossing easier. 1st Lieutenant Arhtur Thorspecken was actually an engineer himself in civilian life. Arthur had attended NYU Engineering School but he dropped out af6er 2 years so he could join the army which needed boots on the ground.

Crossing the Lippe Canal left the troops exposed to enemy fire.

March 26, 1945: Gahlen Germany

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After crossing the Rhine River, and expanding the bridgehead on the opposite side of the river, American forces  including the 75th Infantry Division, crossed the Lippe Canal around March 30th, leading to rapid advances eastwards as German defenses crumbled.

Gahlen Germany is between Hünxe and Dorsten Germany on the Lippe Canal. My father 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken advanced with his C-Company, in the 75th Infantry Division through this small hamlet. German troops were offering stiff resistance to slow the advance into Dorsten.

On the push to Dorsten, , the Americans encountered resistance from the remnants of German 116th Panzer-Division and 15th Panzer Grenadier-Division. The US troops of XVICorps, including the 75th Infantry Division, the 30th Infantry Division and 8th Armored Division forced the units of German 116th Panzer-Division to withdraw to Gahlen, east of Hünxe, on March 26, 1945.

On March 27, 1945 the bridgehead on the opposite side of the Rhine River had been expanded and the crossing site sectors had been united. This site became a safe zone where command posts could plan the advance into Germany and supplies could be moved east for the advancing army.

Gahlen was heavily bombed and suffered greatly from the heavy fighting at the end of March 1945. An air raid siren sounded and all the residents of Gahlen rushed to bomb shelters. School children ran from their school to join their parents in the shelters.

While I was sketching, school children were wandering the street in groups. I think they were searching for items in a scavenger hunt. There was plenty of laughter as they searched. One boy shouted for joy when he found me sketching. I don’t know everything he said. But I said “Danke” and gave him a thumbs up. He shouted to his teacher to take a look. At another moment, a little girl and her mom wanted to see what I was doing. The little girl said something in German and I said “Danke.” As she was leaning forward, she dropped a small glass bead into my art bag by mistake. She was afraid to take it out. I reached in and found it and gave it back. Her mom smiled, and they walked away, happy to have seen an artist at work.

In 1945 the residents of a Gahlen huddled in the dark listening to the explosions above. Then it grew quiet. The air raid siren cut off and people slowly emerged from their shelter. Many of the children wandered back to school. They found an UXB (unexploded American artillery shell) stuck in the ground in front of the school. Curious, the children slowly got closer to see the dud. It glinted in the sun. One student backed away and then ran. At that moment, the shell blew up killing several of the children.

March 26, 1945: Duisburg Germany

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My notes showed that the 75th Infantry Division was in Duisburg Germany on March 26, 1945. It is 22 miles south of the front lines up at Hunxe Germany. Duisburg is a much larger city than the smaller town the troops were moving through up near the Lippe River and canal. Now that I am sitting down and doing more research, I think that I made a mistake. German troops still had control of Duisburg Germany on March 26. Duisburg is on the Rhine River and now I think that in my early research I must have read that Duisburg was an objective after the Rhine crossings but it is much further south than where the 75th a infantry troops crossed the river. The 75th was assigned to the XVI Corps during OPERATION PLUNDER. I realize now that the XIX Corps would have overtaken Duisburg. That is the advantage of actually traveling to the place. Such mistakes become obvious with boots on the ground.

When in Duisburg I decided to sketch in the Ehren Friedhof German Military Cemetery in Kriesarberg Park . I focused my attention on this statue of a half naked German soldier unsheathing his sword. The sexual innuendo is pretty obvious. There were hundreds of headstones for World War II soldiers but I preferred to focus on how sexy it is to die for your country.The statue is considered controversial by some Germans because it is unclear weather the soldier is unscheathing the sword or putting it away.

Duisburg is considered by some historians to have been the most heavily bombed city by the allies during WWII, with more than 80% of the city buildings destroyed. Between 1939 and 1945 the Royal Air Force flew 299 sorties dropping bombs on Duisburg.  Being in the heart of the Ruhr Industrial area and on the Rhine River, made the city vital for German war production and logistics. The city is also a hub for railroad traffic which I noticed as I hiked into the city center. The city was the location of many chemical, steel and iron industries. To stop the German war effort, the Ruhr had to be defeated. As a major port and industrial center, Duisburg was a crucial target for capture after the initial Rhine River crossings. 

The 79th Infantry Division rather than the 75th Infantry Division played a key role in clearing Duisburg during the final push into Germany in April 1945, crossing the Rhine near the city and participating in the Ruhr Pocket battles alongside other units like the 95th Infantry Division and 8th Armored Division, with elements securing the suburb of Bruckhausen before the main city fell. 

Taking the heavily damaged city of Duisburg meant that the Allies had broken the back of the German resistance and were ready to drive into the heart of Germany.

March 1945: Lippe River

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From the Lippe Canal I made my way straight north to the Lippe River. The distance is less than half a mile. I took the car but couldn’t find a parking spot near this ferry crossing. The ferry crossing has been closed for a long time. I ended up going back to park the car and then hiked to the Lippe River. It is on long quiet hikes like this that I truly feel like I am walking in the footsteps of my father 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken. It is a dirt road that leads through fields got me to the Lippe River. There were signs warning that cars were not allowed and that I was proceeding at my own risk.

The 75th Infantry Division hiked east in this narrow strip of land between the two water bodies so I definitely was in the spot that they once hiked. German resistance grew heavier as the 75th moved deeper into Germany towards adoration which is right on the Lippe Canal. The Lippe River is much narrower than the canal winding its way west like a snake. The water is muddy and still compared to the canal.

The Lippe River was a crucial obstinate and then a key avenue for the final allied push into Germany in March 1945 as part of OPERATION PLUNDER. The British had to cross the Lippe River as they pushed south into the Rhur Pocket of Germany. The 75th Infantry was already south of the Lippe River but would have to cross the Lippe Canal at some point before getting to Dorsten Germany. After action reports would be helpful in finding out where that crossing took place but I believe they were destroyed in a for at the National Archives.

At noon on March 25, 1945, the 290th Infantry Division recieved a 4 hour alert to move forward with the 8th Armored Division. Troops were sure they were on the road to Berlin Germany. On March 26, 1945 the 290th Infantry Division was attached to the 30th Infantry Division. They got across the Rhine River in landing craft and landed in the narrow strip of land between the Lippe Canal and the Lippe River to clear the area of any enemy troops. The 290th Infantry division worked along side the 8th Armored Division through March 31, 1945.

While overall German resistance crumbled, pockets of fierce house-to-house fighting occurred in towns along the Lippe river and canal. General Simpson of the American 9th Army Group  coordinated with the 17th Airborne Division to seize crossing sites and build bridges over the Lippe River and Lippe Canal near Dorsten. This would allow elements of the 2nd and 8th Armored Divisions to cross to the north of these water obstacles on the March 30, 1045.

On March 30, Simpson’s gamble paid off. XVI Corps armor supported by motorized infantry (Including the 75th Infantry Division) crossed the Lippe Canal and headed east, advancing 80 miles in just 36 hours. Just as the advance hit top speed, Eisenhower decided on April 1, 1945 that getting to Berlin before the Soviets was not his objective. He wanted to leave Berlin to be captured by the Soviets to mitigate the bloodshed. Instead he decided American troops would turn south and cripple the industrial Ruhr Pocket.

March 26, 1945: Lippe Canal

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My father 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken was leading the 75th Infantry Division, 1st Platoon, C-Company after crossing the Rhine River as they cleared the gap between the Lippe Canal and the Lippe River. The Lippe Canal is a made waterway with long straight stretches which is ideal for large barges to transport coal and other war time materials. The more natural winding Lippe River runs just to the north of the canal. I decided my first task should be to sketch the canal. I had already drawn the canal when I drew the Frederichfeld Lock, but I wanted to see what the distance was like between the canal and the river, so I decided to sketch each on the same day.

I am certain that this bridge near Gahlen Germany, southeast of Wesel,  had been destroyed by the retreating Germans. At some point as my father’s Division got closer to Dorsten Germany, moving east between the Lippe C1anal and River they would have appreciated having a bridge to get south across the canal. The water is certainly too deep to fjord across while holding a rifle over your head.

The Lippe Canal, was a significant barrier and objective for the advancing Allied forces in March of 1945. The 9th Army was moving east on the south of the Lippe a river while the British forces were advancing to the north of the Lippe River as part of OPERATION PLUNDER and OPERATION VARSITY.  Swift construction of temporary bridges both Bailey & Tread way by engineers was needed to overcome the destroyed German bridges, allowing a rapid advance into Germany.

Operation Plunder had allied forces including my fathers 75th Infantry Division crossing the  River in landing craft as well as temporary bridges build by engineers. Operation Varsity involved more than 16,000 paratroopers and several thousand aircraft, it is the largest airborne operation ever conducted on a single day and in one location. The parachute forces dropped north of Wesel on the eastern side of the Rhine River. They attacked south into the demolished city of Wesel and met up with the British forces crossing the Rhine in landing craft and then bridges.

Ninty seven percent of Wesel buildings were destroyed by Alied bombings and artillery fire. Despite this, German forces cut down the paratroopers who were dropped in broad daylight as part of Operation Varsity. The 6th Airborne Division had suffered around 1,400 casualties killed, wounded or missing in action out of the 7,220 personnel who were landed in the operation. The 17th Airborne Division suffered a similar casualty rate, reporting around 1,300 casualties out of 9,650 personnel who took part in the operation between March 24th and 29th. 56 aircraft were lost on March 24, 1945.

Frederichfeld Cemetery

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The Friedrichfeld Cemetery in Hunxe Germany was one of the creepiest places I sketched. In front of the monument I drew was a field of tiny headstones lying in the grass all  of which were for children who were less than 1 year old. I didn’t know the story behind these children until I got home and did some research.

In World War I Frederichfeld was the site of a prisoner of war camp run by the Germans. What I sketched was a memorial for the 246 French prisoners who died in the War of 1870–71. In 1916 a memorial was erected for the prisoners of war from the German Frederichfeld POW camp. French, British, Italian, Russian, Spanish Serbian, and Portuguese prisoners who died in the camp were all buried here. Memorial plaques in the cemetery were mutilated by vandals. One plaque said, “To their comrades who, after fighting bravely, lie in exile, their comrades erected this memorial with the greatest reverence, in remembrance in the year 1916.”

During World War II all the forced laborers from the present day city of Voerde Germany were buried in the cemetery. Men and women were forced to work in the armaments industry in Krupp and Essen Germany. The forced laborers camp was build in Voerde in 1944. Most were from the Ukraine and were buried here. There are 99 graves for  children who died in the Camp. They died mainly of malnutrition and infectious diseases in the winter of 1944-45.

The Voerde camp served as a collection center for babies born to Eastern European (primarily Polish and Soviet) forced laborers employed in the German war industry. German pure blood doctrine considered Soviets and Polish to be inferior races. The camp was designed  to ensure the children of “racially inferior” forced laborers would not survive, reconciling the Nazi need for labor with their goals of racial cleansing. The makeshift nurseries guaranteed the infants’ death if “race experts” determined the child was not capable of “Germanization”.  Some women tried to sneak into the camp to steel back their children. An unsuccessful attempt would mean certain death. It would be a rare miracle for a mother and her baby to be reunited.

Women in Nazi forced laborer camps were also systematically subjected to forced sterilization, both as part of the broader eugenics program and through brutal medical experimentation.

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March 17, 1945: Wallach Germany

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On March 10, 1945 Task Force Murray and the 137th Infantry Division advanced and seized Borch and Wallach Germany with light resistance.Task Force Murray was formed under the command of the 35th Infantry Division and included elements of Combat Command B (CCB) of the 8th Armored Division and the 137th Infantry Division. Specifically the 3rd Battalion of the 137th Infantry including Company K, captured the town of Wallach.

On the night of March 10, 1945, the 75th Infantry Division relieved Task Force Murray in the area around Kaldenkirchen, Germany. By March 11, 1945 the Allies had cleared the entire area West of the Rhine River. The plan was to gain a foothold on the eastern bank of the Rhine to then advance into Germany.

Between March 12 and 17th the 772nd Tank Destroyer Battalion was attached to the 75th Infantry Division. They were -repaired for direct fire on the West Bank of the Rhine River.

On March 17, 1945 Anti Tank guns were brought forward to a position south of Wallach Germany. The heavy artillery moved into Wallach was critical for the success of the crossing of the Rhine River. The gins fired until they were too hot to handle, barrels had to be replaced and entire artillery guns replaced.

On March 18, 1945 a squad from the 2nd Battalion of the 75th Infantry Division crossed the Rhine River and discovered defensive positions with 2-4 Germans. The squad made a detailed terrain study of the area noting roads through the German sector.

On March 21, 1945 a boat full of 5 man Germans was sighted near Company G of the 75th an infantry Division. Four Germans were killed and an officer captured. The goal of the 75th Infantry Division was to keep the Germans from gaining any intelligence about the impending Rhine River crossing.

On March 24, 1945 the Americans began the heavy artillery fire. There were 55 divisions of artillery. It would have been hell on earth on the opposite bank of the Rhine River. A-Company of the 772nd Tank Destroyer Division attached to the 75th Infantry Division fired 193 rounds and C-Company fired 23 interdiction rounds, 22 harassing rounds and 770 Normal rounds. 


Interdiction and Harassing rounds were a military tactic, especially associated with artillery and mortars, where standard High Explosive (HE) or other general-purpose shells were fired at suspected enemy areas, movement routes, or assembly points at random intervals, often throughout the night. The most common “normal” round for artillery was the High Explosive (HE) shell, which could be fitted with various fuzes (impact, graze, or time) to detonate at different times or upon impact. 

Aachen Germany: Siegfried Line

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The Siegfried Line known in Germany as the Westwall, was a German defensive line built during the late 1930s. Started in 1936, opposite the French Maginot Line, it stretched more than 390 miles from Kleve Germany on the border with the Netherlands, along the western border of Nazi Germany, to the town of Weil am Rhein Germany on the border with Switzerland. The line featured more than 18,000 bunkers, tunnels and tank traps.

German propaganda promoted the WestwWall as an impenetrable line. To counter this propaganda, a British song writer wrote a song titled: Hang Out the Washing on the Siegfried Line.

Finding these Dragon’s Teeth involved a long hike deep into the woods. It was a lovely hike to start. There were a few other people on the trail and then, as I got ready to sketch the sky once again threatened rain. When the rain hits, it comes in like a sheet of grey, darkening the woods. I worked fast knowing that I had a decent sketch from the previous day, of dragon’s teeth. These teeth were taller and more imposing and I suspect they had been cleaned off since there was far less moss growing on them.

From September 17-25 1945, Operation Market Garden, conceived by British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery was a bold, single-thrust strategy designed to outflank the Siegfried Line from the north. The goal was to seize key bridges in the Netherlands with airborne troops and then have ground forces advance rapidly to link up with them, crossing the Rhine and pushing into Germany. The operation failed due to German resistance, a captured operational plan, and a slow ground advance down a single congested roadway, resulting in heavy losses for the airborne troops at Arnhem Netherlands.

After the failure of Market Garden, Supreme Commander Dwight D. General Eisenhower preferred a broad front approach to advance through the Siegfried line and into Germany. The American forces launched a slow advance, attacking strongpoints and bunkers directly all along the line. The 30th Infantry Division led an attack along a 14-mile front to clear areas and reduce the defenses. Other units, like the 1st and 28th Infantry Divisions, also engaged in hard-fought battles to breach the line. This method was a “grinding and bloody” approach that made slow, costly progress against the heavily fortified German positions. The Siegfried line was breached in October of 1944. By the time the 75th Infantry Division was crossing the Siegfried line in March of 1945, the hardest battles to push through the defenses had been fought. The next line was to cross the Rhine River.

The Siegfried Line

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West of the Roer River the 75th Infantry Division would have faced the Siegfried Line which is a a fortified area meant to stop an allied advance. There is not much of the Siegfried line still in existence today. After the war, many sections of the Siegfried Line were removed using explosives, but I found these “Dragon’s Teeth” in a forest in Aachen Germany.

The bunkers consisted mainly of unarmed shelters, which were built of concrete. The bunkers were often placed near agricultural farms for reasons of camouflage. Thinking a man Mande fortification might stop an army in World War II was rather medieval. Any modern mechanized army would find ways to move over or through such fortifications.

Since 1997, with the motto “The value of the unpleasant as a memorial”, an effort has been made to preserve the remains of the Siegfried Line as a historical monument. It was intended to stop reactionary fascist groups from using the Siegfried Line for propaganda purposes.

The Siegfried line in the area that the 75th Infantry Division moved through west of the Roer River was known as the Geldernstellung referring to the fortifications of the Westwall, in particular to the unarmed but massively built concrete bunkers from the Second World War. These bunkers were often referred to as “standard buildings” and were originally intended to camouflage the agricultural landscape, as they were built near farms.

The bunkers consisted mainly of unarmed shelters, which were built of concrete. The bunkers were often placed near agricultural farms for reasons of camouflage. Thinking a man made fortification might stop an army in World War II was a rather medieval  fantasy. Any modern mechanized army would find ways to move over or through such fortifications.