March 7, 1945: Heidhausen Germany

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On March 7, 1945bas part of OPERATION GRENADE, the 1st Battalion of the 75th Infantry Division assembled in Heidhausen Germany, south of Venlo Netherlands. The 2nd Battalion assembled in Bruch Germany and the 3rd a battalion assembled in Hulst Germany. I kept my focus on 1st Battalion since my father 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thospecken was in charge of C-Company in the 1st Battalion. They were assembling to prepare to clear Venlo, Roermund and Leutherheide Germany.

OPERATION GRENADE involved crossing the flooded Roer River and driving the Germans back across the Rhine River to the east. The Rhine River was the last natural barrier keeping American troops from sweeping towards Berlin Germany.Rhine

Troops were billeted in the finest homes in town. For 3 days they screened the surrounding towns for prisoners of war, weapons and to clear any remaining pill boxes. Once this area was cleared they would push east to the Rhine River.

Today, Heidhausen is very much a small rural community. I parked the rental car on a small suburban street and then hiked out onto the long expanses of farming dirt roads. The community church in Bruch Germany can be seen in the distance.

March 7, 1945: Leutherheide Germany

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The 75th Infantry Division Command Post was in Leutherheide Germany on March 7, 1945. The troops were in Kaldenkirchen Germany a 10 minute drive to the west. During World War II Kaldenkirchen was located near the Siegfried line which was a critical German defensive position along the Western front. Allied forces encountered the Siegfried line in the final months of the war. The Rhineland campaign which involved allies clearing the area west of the Rhine and then crossing the Rhine River involved significant fighting in this area.

About 65 German soldiers marched into Leutherheide Germany. An allied patrol spotted the troops and reported their position back to the 135th Infantry Division headquarters. A convoy was assembles of anti tank guns, assorted vehicles and 7 jeeps carrying troops from Company’s K and L. When the American troops rolled into town the German troops were completely surprised. About 40 surrendered and the others fled. There were no casualties.

The saying on the large headstone with the German helmet on top, translated says…”We remember our hero’s.”

What I sketched was the Peter and Paul German War Graves in Leutherheide Germany. After completing the sketch I was getting back in the rental car when an old woman drive her motorized scooter up to my drivers door window. She asked me a question in German and I didn’t understand. She sounded upset or annoyed, soI decided to just show her my sketch. Then she pointed at the gate to the cemetery and I understood enough words to realize she wanted me to let her into the cemetery. I flipped open the squeaky iron latch and swung the gate open for her. She thanked me and motored inside. When I left the gate swung closed. Now I am wondering how she got back out of the cemetery. If she couldn’t open the gate going in, then she wouldn’t be able to open the gate to get back out.

 

March 8, 1945: Kaldenkirchen Germany

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The 8th Armored Division passing through Kaldenkirchen Germany on March 3rd with little resistance. March 6, 1945 the 75th Infantry was ordered to move to an assembly area south of Kaldenkirchen Germany. That troop movement was completed by March 7, 1945. On March 7th there was small arms fire near the 75th Infantry Command Post. The Headquarters and Service Companies were alerted but no enemy troops were found in the area.

On March 9, 1945, a jeep patrol from the 75th Infantry division hit an anti-tank mine just east of Kaldenkirchen in farm country, resulting in several casualties, including one killed in action. The night of 10 March 1945, the 75th Infantry Division relieved Task Force Murray of the 35th Infantry Division working with the 8th Armored Division. The bridges to Wesel across the Rhine River had been blown by retreating Germans and the movement across the Rhine, halted.

From March 8-11 1945 the 75th Infantry Division was involved in clearing the area around Kaldenkirchen Germany as well as Venlo and Roermund Netherlands. The 35th Infantry Division had accomplished a breakthrough in this area but did not have time to completely eliminate all the enemy installations in the area. It fell to the 75th Infantry Division to take out each installation one at a time. German prisoners were taken, suspected were processed, mine fields were marked to keep troops from injury and for future clearing and large quantities of weapons and ammunition were confiscated.

From March 13 to March 23, the 75th patrolled a sector along the west bank of the Rhine from Wesel to Homburg.

 

Tor to the Rhine

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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.

 

Koblinz Germany: The Patron Saint of Artillerymen

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This sketch marked a deviation from the military route of the 75th Infantry Division. I drove several hour south to Koblenz Germany to visit with my very distant cousin Nini Thorspecken-Friebe. To help cut the weight of my travels at the start, I shipped 6 empty sketchbooks to Nini from America. That saved considerably on the weight I would have to carry when I flew into Europe. Since I decided that a car rental was the only way to accomplish this sketch project, I could pick up the six sketchbooks and keep them in the trunk of the car.

On day one of this trip I had my identity stolen with someone trying to buy a plane ticket to Amsterdam using my credit card information. I had to cut the credit card in half and Seacoast Bank refused to work out a way that I could access the money I had saved for travel expenses. The only way the bank would allow expenses is if I had the new credit card they were sending out. The problem of course was that I was constantly on the move in Europe. I had that card shipped to my brother in Connecticut and then he sent it to Nini where I picked it up on September 28. I had to be clandestine about the process since the bank was treating me as if I was a criminal. That first month of travel was rough, but I always found something to eat. Apples and and pears were plentiful in the Netherlands. I would always throw fruit in my art bag if I saw them roadside.  The first month was certainly a lesson in keeping expenses low. The habit persists. If a breakfast buffet has apples in a bowl, one will always leave with me.

In Koblenz, I stayed in an Air B&B which was in the old city. Built in the 1600s the place was constructed in the traditional style with large wooden beams and stucco. The top floor room I had wasn’t build for someone who is six foot two. I bumped my head a few times and started to walk hunched over. A block away was Mozart’s childhood home. There was so much history in such a small cramped area.

The Barbara Monument is only a block or so from where Nini and her husband Raoul live in Koblenz. The Barbara-Monument features the central figure of Saint Barbara holding a gun barrel and palm branch, flanked by two allegorical figures representing War and Peace. Saint Barbara is the patron saint of artillerymen. I didn’t realize there was a patron saint of artillerymen. Besides being a monument it also functions as a fountain, although the water feature was off when I did the sketch.

Nini and Raul treated me to a very traditional German breakfast. Small breads rolls are called brötchen in German. There were meats and cheeses, jams and Nutella, and locks. The royal touch is a hard boiled egg prepared just right so the yoke is semi solid but a bit runny. The egg top is cut off and a tiny spoon is used to scoop out the egg white and yoke. I made it a point to try and find places that offered such a delicious spread to start the day.

Raoul really seemed to appreciate my project. He is in the German military as a medic. He is an anesthesiologist. He showed me his military backpack which I absolutely envied. I asked him about where he thought I might see the dragons teeth which were set up on the western front before World War II to stop an allied advance into Germany. He had plenty of suggestions. When he saw my sketch of the Sherman tank decked out as a mine sweeper, he pulled up YouTube videos that showed the vehicle in action. When Raoul saw sketches of beautiful Belgian cities with historic buildings surrounding a large square, he lamented that Germany once had such beautiful city centers before World War II saw them all destroyed.

He and Nini are world travelers. They have a map in their apartment that shows all the countries they have been to. It is an impressive display. I should set up a color coded map some day. Nini took me up in a lift which went across the Rhein River to the Koblenz Ehrenbreistein, which is a huge fort that acted as a military barracks. I had a-ent many days looking for a route across the Rhine River and now I found myself floating over the river on a lift.

Koblenz is on the confluence of the Moselle and the Rhine River so it is importantly militarily. That evening after the sun set, I walked a long path down from the fort, not exactly sure where the path would lead me to. Descending that dark path as the sun set behind the Koblenz skyline on the opposite shore of the Rhine, I felt this really was an adventure. I was hoping to resolve the tech issue with my laptop refusing to power up, and the financial problems of dealing with SeaCoast Bank. I couldn’t solve everything in the one weekend but at least the wheels were in motion. For this one moment, walking in the dark, I felt at peace.

During World War II Koblenz hosted the command of German Army Group B and, like many German cities, was heavily bombed and rebuilt afterwards. From March 16-19, 1945, it was the scene of heavy fighting by the U.S. 87th Infantry Division in support of Operation Lumberjack. The 75th Infantry Division was much further north fighting in the Ruhr pocket of Germany at the time.

The sketch opportunities in Koblenz were endless, but I needed to get back north and on the trail of the 75th Infantry Division’s movements into the heart of Germany.

Crossing the Rhine River

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It turned out there was a very simple route to get to the Rhine River from Rheinberg Germany. Just south of Rheinberg is the town of Orsoy which has a ferry that crosses cars over the River. Since this is a narrow crossing site, my Air B&B host was convinced this is where my father would have crossed the Rhine. However I have a detailed military map that shows three crossing sites further north. I am convinced the 75th Infantry division would have crossed at the northern most crossing sites since records show that they were the northern most troops along the western edge of the Rhine. To the north of the 75th Infantry Division, Montgomery’s British Infantry Divisions began.

I stayed at an Air B&B in Alpen Germany and according to the military map I have that town was the division line between the British troops and the American Troops. I actually returned to Alpen Germany a second time when I realized the 75th Infantry had been just south of the town and very likely in the town.

I hiked to the ferry south of Orsoy Germany. A motorcyclist was the first to arrive to wait for the ferry. He waited a while for another motorcyclist and they compared their tricked out bikes.  Several cars lined up and then the ferry arrived from the western shore of the Rhine. The ferry kept sailing back and forth as long as cars lined up at the docking points. I considered sketching on the ferry but realized the trip would not have allowed enough time to get a sketch. The biggest landmark at the crossing site was a huge nuclear reactor on the western shore. That was certainly not at the river’s edge in 1945.

The 75th Infantry Division was in position on the western shore of the Rhine by March 13, 1945 in Rheinberg and Buderich Germany. Since the 75th Infantry Division was tasked with clearing the area between the Lippe River and the Lippe Canal, I decided that the most likely crossing sites would be at Buderich Germany. Buderich is famous for being the site where General Montgomery showed Winston Churchill  how the Rhine River crossings were proceeding. This  happened on March 25, 1945 one day after the 75th Infantry Division had already made the crossing.

On the day that the 75th Infantry Division made their crossing, a pontoon bridge was under construction near Wallach Germany where American heavy artillery was stationed. That bridge was completed at 4pm and it would have been the first bridge across the Rhine but a landing craft got swept up in the river’s current and it crashed into the structure, dismantling it. The 75th didn’t have the luxury of a bridge, they had to make the crossings in small landing craft.

On the 1945 Military map there is a place called Milchplatz. It isn’t a town, but rather a gravel mining company that is still in operation today. I found this out the hard way on one of my hikes east from Rhineberg Germany to get to the Ruhr River. I was making good progress when the Milchplatz mining facility blocked my movement east. Closed metal gates blocked the path east. Since it is private property, I abandoned the hike to the Rhine. If I was tenacious, I probably could have hiked around the large mining facility, but I didn’t want to hike off trail to accomplish that task. I just satisfied myself that I got very close to the southern most crossing site of the three in the 75th Infantry Division’s area of operations. I am convince that would have crossed further north.

The 75th on the military map was identified as a covering force. A covering force operates in conjunction with a larger force with the role of providing a strong outpost line, in this case to the north. The covering force is capable of operating independently of the main force. A covering force usually operated forward of the main force in offense or defense.

Rhineberg Germany: The Gate of the Dead

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The Gate of the Dead was inaugurated on June 17, 1964 and it commemorates all the victims of the wars of 1866, 1870-1871, World War I 1914-1918, and World War II 1939-1945, from Rhineberg–Mitte Germany. It is a symbolic Gate opening to the east made of meter high shells of Rhine gravel cement. Some surfaces of the vertical shells are smooth while others are rough as if exposed due to bomb blasts. The two shells enclose a large bronze plate which had three bronze crosses on the front and a large inscription on the back which says, “We have gone before you in dark times. Remember us and see the will of him who gives and takes away.” The names of  650 war victims are imbedded in the ground in the inner area.

For the Second World War there are 300 fallen soldiers, 95 missing, 60 civilian victims of bombings,  20 victims of flight and 10 deaths from concentration camps listed. All the victims were men woman and children from Rhineberg. They were Christians, Jews and people of no faith.

The Gate of the Dead is not a war memorial, it is instead a beacon of hope that people might someday abandon war and tyranny.

The Gate of the Dead is right behind a day care.   I could hear the screams of children at play the whole time I sketched. Townspeople walk their dogs around the paths that run past the edifice. The Gates remind me of the entrance to Jurassic Park. I liked that a distant barren tree lined up right in the middle of the sliver of the entrance.

This edifice was not here in 1945 as the 75th Infantry Division stood at the western side of the Rhine River about to cross the largest water barrier between them and Berlin Germany. The 75th Infantry Division would ultimately not advance as far as Berlin. General Eisenhower decided that he would let the Soviets advance to Berlin from the East, and the goal of the American troops would be to cripple the German war effort by destroying the Industrial Ruhr area which was the backbone of  the German war machine.

The 75th Infantry Division was going to cross the Rhine just south of the Lippe River. Their objective would be to clear the area between the Lippe River and the Lippe Canal. This is a very narrow strip of land which eventually would lead to Dorsten Germany. The troops had to wait at the Rhine river’s edge for the start of what would be known as OPERATION PLUNDER.

 

Rheinberg Germany: Suicide Corner

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Before walking to the Rhine River, I had to stop and sketch the downtown architecture of Rhineberg Germany. These buildings likely stood here 80 years ago if they were not destroyed by allied bombings. I was seated in front of a Pizza-Donner shop that was just opening. The proprietor was getting the oven fired up and he came out on occasion to check and see my progress.

On March 5, 1945, just before the 75th Infantry Division arrived, the 36 Tank Battalion, Company D rolled in to capture the town, which was an escape route for the Germans to get across the Rhine River to Wesel Germany.

Every American officer of Company D, was killed or severely wounded in the action at Rheinberg. The company lost one soldier to sniper fire as they moved north of Kamp-Lintford Germany towards Rheinberg. The Germans were well dug in in the woods outside of the town with anti tank guns. They defended the town fiercely. In an open field to the east, there were two German 88’s entirely un camouflaged, and one very well camouflaged began firing. The American tanks backing away while firing desperately at very few visible targets. Besides the 88s there was heavy small arms fire coming from many directions. The American tank Battalion rallied at a factory which offered cover before once again advancing toward Rheinberg.

B Company knocked out four 88s and six 20mm guns protecting the larger weapons. These guns were in addition to a half -track, a tank and a truck also knocked out by the company.

The capture of Rhineberg came at a heavy cost. The 36th Tank Battalion, Company D, which had been ordered to attack from the southwest, left 17 of its 18 tanks in flames along the road and the remaining tank had to be withdrawn. The 49th Armored Infantry Battalion suffered 68 casualties, while the 36th had 131 either wounded or killed in action. From the German ranks, 512 prisoners were taken and 350 killed. The 36th Tank Battalion lost a total of 41 tanks. Company B had lost all but six tanks. Company A fared somewhat better, but a final count showed 11 of its tanks knocked out.

The next day, Rheinberg, though cleared of the enemy, also remained under heavy mortar, tank and artillery fire with the Germans concentrating their fire on the area near the town’s church. This area was soon dubbed “Suicide Corner” and those who were wise, went through it on the double, ready to hit the dirt as soon as they heard the ominous whistle of an inbound shell.

Deins! Rhineberg Germany

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I took a second day in Rhineberg Germany to try and figure out exactly where the 75th Infantry Division would have crossed the Rhine River. I treated myself to a nice traditional German breakfast (fruhstuck). I was proud of myself for ordering breakfast in German, although I am sure the waitress knew I was English. I am glad I went here to sketch the dark wood beams and quaint interior. Who doesn’t love a gnome behind the bar?

The owner’s dog sat nervously by the bar waiting for her morning walk. There were mini bread rolls and cheese with ham, tomatoes, lettuce, jams Nutella and here boiled eggs that are served in an upright cup. You cut the top off of the egg shell and then scoop out the egg inside. I have come to like eggs served this traditional German way.

The waitress stopped by a few times to look over my shoulder and when I was done she asked to take a photo for the restaurant Facebook page and I let her. I knew I would be hiking a lot to find a route to the Rhine River from the town, I knew that many routes would be blocked by private farms and businesses. Back in 1945, the troops would have marched right through such obstacles and the civilians population would have evacuated.

The owner of the Air B&B I was staying in knew quite a bit about the World War 2 history of the area. He felt that the troops would have crossed at a spot just south of the town where there is a ferry crossing today. I listened intently, but didn’t quite agree since I saw a war map of the area and it showed 3 distinct crossing sites north and west of Rheinberg. I wanted to hike to each of those sites if it was possible. The 79th Infantry might have taken the southern route my Air B&B host was suggesting.

The rental car was often a problem since there was no parking available on those small country roads. I would leave the car in a town and then hike through the farm country towards the river. There were biking and walking trails along the river so once I got to those I should be golden. I knew the three crossing sites encircled a large curve in the river. With a full belly from a big breakfast, I set off to hike my way to the Rhine crossing sites.

American intelligence had identified the remnants of 21 German divisions lined up across the Rhine, but all were believed to be exhausted, seriously understrength, and incapable of putting up a sustained fight. Hitler’s hope of drawing a firm line at the Rhine was dashed on March 7, 1945 when elements of the 9th U.S. Armored Division captured the still-standing Ludendorff railroad bridge over the 980-foot-wide Rhine at the town of Remagen, between Cologne and Koblenz Germany. The allies had a clear path into Germany8 from that one crossing site. Every other span across the river had been destroyed. A massive mobilization began with engineers, soldiers, equipment and supplies being prepared for one of the most important river crossings of WWII.

March 12, 1945: Rheinberg Germany, Fallen

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On March 12 1945 at 9:35 PM the 75th Infantry Division  replaced the 135th Infantry Division in Rheinberg Germany. Rheinberg is a quaint little village on the west short of the Rhine just south of Wiesel on the opposite shore. There was a change of course for the Rhine River over the years, so Rhineberg isn’t as close to the river as it used to be. It was a walled city in medieval times and there are some remnants of the ancient walls that remain.

From the village center I decided to hike straight east towards the Rhine. There was a path between the church and a day care that lead to a wide open field. As I crossed the field I began to hear heavy traffic in front of me. The feeling that I might hike right to the waters edge just like in 1945 began to fade. I probably could have sprinted across that highway, but this fallen tree caught my eye. It must have been stuck by lightning or snapped in a very heavy wind because the tree was splintered like a toothpick.

With the fallen tree leaning forward, it looked like it was struggling to get back to its roots. To me it looks like a man leaning forward as he gets ready to run. So much of what I have been sketching is architectural, a church, a headquarters a village square, and I decided I can just observe nature as well. The times I feel I am truly walking in my father’s footsteps are these quiet moments wandering across a field or through the woods with my hiking boots getting wet from the dew, and navigating by the direction of the sun.

On the 24th of March the Rhine River crossings started. Code named OPERATION FLASHPOINT, the Ninth US Army’s assault was lead by General William H. Simpson. Montgomery’s 21st Army Group occupied the northern part of the Allied line, but it lacked adequate combat power to execute main effort operations on its own. The American Army was well equipped with plenty of supplies and artillery ire power. The two field armies with the British Second Army in the north and the Ninth US Army in the south, would cross the Rhine abreast at four crossing sites. A massive artillery barrage would precede the crossing, after which the war’s largest deployment of paratroopers in a single-lift, OPERATION VARSITY, would take place across the Rhine, just north of Wesel Germany.

The 290th Infantry, 75th Infantry Division, C-Company would  cross the Rhine on March 26, 1945.