March 2, 1945: Venlo Netherlands, Groote Heide

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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.

 

Kronenberg Netherlands: Stirling 1942

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I was advised by my Air B&B host to go see this roadside memorial just a short drive from where I was staying. On October 2, 1942 a British Short Sterling R9167 (call sign OJ-N) Bomber crashed in the woods, right where this memorial stands. None of the 7 crew members survived the crash. The aircraft belonged to the RAF’s 149th Squadron and was shot down by a German Messerschmitt Bf110 night fighter. It was loaded with phosphorus incendiary bombs. It was on its way to Krefeld Germany. After the crash the aircraft burned for days. This monument was erected on October 7, 2017.

The monument was designed by artist Ruud van der Beele. The Stirling 1942 is shown resting on top of a grenade launcher. The plane crashed in the Groove Velt near Kronenberg Netherlands. The names of the  men can be found inside the monument as welll as a shiny steel rose which is made from a section of the plane’s fuselage.

For the Fallen. “They shall not grow old; age shall not weary them, nor the years condemned, at the sun set and at the sun rise we will remember them.” – Robert L. Binyon  September 21, 1914. The translation of this might be off by a bit.

As I was sketching this memorial a woman parked on the road behind me and placed fresh flowers inside the memorial and lit the candles. It is amazing that after more than 80 years, the site is so sacred and well cared for.

This crash happened a year before Arthur Thorspecken began his military training, so it doesn’t relate directly to the movements of the 75th Infantry Division thorough Europe. But it shows that these types of memorials are everywhere in Europe. You don’t see this level of remembrance in America. Arthur spent the rest of his working life after the war designing gyroscopes for aircraft and aero space.

The crew:
1 Squadron Leader Pilot: William Roy Greenslade, R.A.F. (DFC-AFC-MiD)
(Youngstown Alberta, Canada) Age 25.
Jonkerbos War Cemetery 20.D.3 Nijmegen – The Netherlands

2 Flight Sergeant Air Gunner: William Orange, R.C.A.F.
(Bedlington Morpeth-UK) Age 27.
Jonkerbos War Cemetery 20.D.8 Nijmegen – The Netherlands

3 Sergeant Flight Engineer: Marshal Kenneth Smith R.A.F.
(Cambridge-UK) Age 21.
Jonkerbos War Cemetery 20.D.6 Nijmegen – The Netherlands

4 Sergeant Wireless Op./Air Gunner: Frederick Leonard Hughes R.A.F.
(Shoreditch, London-UK) Age 21.
Jonkerbos War Cemetery 20.D.7 Nijmegen – The Netherlands

5 Sergeant Wireless Op./Air Gunner: Ernest Leslie Moore R.A.F.
(Leicester-UK) Age 20.
Jonkerbos War Cemetery 20.D.4 Nijmegen – The Netherlands

6 Sergeant Air Gunner: Benjamin Frederick Goldsmith R.A.F.
(Prestwick Lancashire-UK) Age 22.
Jonkerbos War Cemetery 20.D.5 Nijmegen – The Netherlands

7 Flight Sergeant Air Observer Robert Francis McIntyre R.C.A.F.
(Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) Age 25.
Jonkersbos War Cemetery 20.D.9 Nijmegen – The Netherlands

February 19, 1945, Kessel Netherlands: The Maas River

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On February 19th 1945 the 75th Infantry arrived at the Maas River in the Netherlands. Right to the west of Panningen Netherlands is Helden Netherlands where the 75th Infantry had improvised facilities for billeting. The Heidenweg road from Helden leads straight south west to Kessel on the Maas River. The 75th occupied a 24 mile stretch of the river. That is where I got to hike along the Maas River and do a sketch. 75th Infantry Division troops held this as a defense area from February 15th to February 23rd when OPERATION GRENADE began,

The Parish Church of Our Lady of the Nativity, was right on the Maas River with a staircase down to the waters edge. There was a walking trail all along the banks. It was a beautiful spot. Walking down those stone steps, I saw the Maas River for the first time. It is rather wide, maybe 100 yards or so. The river flowed swiftly. Ducks flapped their wings taking a bath.

Just 25 yards up river from the staircase there was a destroyed casement made of cement and stone. A couple sat on a bench next to the destruction and ate lunch. I sketched with my back to the Maas River and looked up at the church tower. I had a pear to eat, so the couple didn’t get spooked that I was staring at them.

The Dutch 3rd Battalion of the 3rd Company of the Netherlands 41st Infantry was tasked with defending this area before WWII. Along the river there were 16 of these casements constructed of steel and porcupine light reinforced concrete. Each had 3 port holes for a field of view of 190 degrees. This casement was number S76.

The port holes are made for machine gun placements. The casements were often referred to as spider head because of the large protruding hooks used for attaching camouflage netting. This casement was built starting in March 1939 and completed in August 1939. The machine guns could fire 450 rounds per minute.

Three soldiers manned the casement. When war broke out on May 10, 1940, this casement was destroyed from a direct hit from a German anti tank gun. The shell went right into one of the portholes. Two of the soldiers inside were seriously injured. 8 Dutch soldiers and 6 German soldiers were killed on May 10th between Kessel and Kessel-Elk. After midnight, the last casement was attacked from behind by the Germans and destroyed.

As Germans retreated back across the Maas River in 1944 they destroyed the Parish Church of our Lady of Nativity. They didn’t want the Allies to have the advantage of using the bell tower to view German encampments on the opposite side of the river. Locals speculate that the Germans melted the Bells to make more weapons.

At the end of November 1944, Panningen, Helden, Maasbree, Kessel and Barlow Netherlands were liberated by the Allies. The devistation as the Allies pushed the Germans back east was immense. Many buildings and churches were destroyed by bombs. Families had to flee their homes.

This casement would have stood where it is, in its destroyed state when the 75th infantry set up to defend the West Bank of the River Maas

Museum Peel & Maas, Helden Netherlands

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After assembling in Panningen Netherlands, the 75th Infantry troops were then transported to Helden Netherlands, near the Maas River. Translated, Helden means “Hero’s”. The 75th took up defensive positions on the Maas River to keep the Germans from crossing over. The 75th was under the command of the British Second Army’s VIII Corps, 21st Army group under Field Marshall Montgomery.

1st Lieutenant Dick Sassin outlined the situation, “We wound up in Holland right next to the British. There was harassing mortar fire and artillery from across the river. There was intensive training on assault boat techniques. C-Company was again at full strength due to replacements and returns from hospital stays.”  1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken was one of the replacements Sassin was referring I sketched the Peel and Maas Museum since it had an exhibit on World War II. The building was constructed in 1929 as a Roman Catholic a parish of Saint Lambertus Helden. It was built for the sisters of Divine Providence who settled in Helden in 1879. The building would have been here when the 75th Infantry was assigned to defend the country.

After the invasion of Normandy, on June 6, 1944, people in the Netherlands hoped that freedom would come in a matter of weeks.  They would have to endure 5 more months before complete liberation. On October 8, 1944, a month before liberation, the Germans captured 2000 men and boys on the West Bank of the Maas during Sunday services. Men tried to hide in between the pipes of the organ. During the following week, another 1000 were captured. Of these ca-turned men 836 were from Peel and Mass. In the years 1940 to 1945, 299 residents of Peel and Maas lost their lives due to the war, and the bombing destruction that accompanied the war.

Frits Bruijnen remembered… “It’s foggy at Christmas. We are on the train going towards Watenstedt and the Herman Goring Works. At factory Aktion 88 I usually at night had to stack shells on train wagons without rest. So we stack hundreds every night. The shells were likely fired at Limburg our home Provence. In Watenstadt there was little to live for. Every week we got 1200 grams of bread that needed to last the week. After being liberated, I walked home. My mother asked ‘who are you?’ She didn’t recognize me.”

February 20, 1945: Panningen Netherlands

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The 75th Infantry troops probably didn’t enter Panningen Netherlands, but instead they would have had an assembly area and camp outside of the city. This is probably where 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken first met the soldiers he was to command from C-Company. They were battle hardened troops who probably didn’t appreciate an academic officer who hadn’t been through the Battle of the Bulge or the Colmar Pocket. It would have been a challenge to gain the trust of such seasoned soldiers.

Nazi occupation in Panningen brought a host of atrocities, including the persecution of the Jews, resistance fighters and other perceived enemies. There were thousands of civilian casualties during the war. Many roads, bridges and other infrastructure were destroyed in the fighting.

The liberation of the Netherlands began in September 1944 with operation Market Garden by Allied forces but the whole country wasn’t liberated until May or 1945. Panningen was occupied by the Allies when the 75th Infantry assembled there. Any fighting would occur along the Maas River which was about 4 miles west of the city. The 75th would have moved into position along the Maas River rather quickly, so they would not have been in or near Panningen for long.

I sketched the Rooms Catholic Church in Panningen Netherlands. Arthur Thorspecken was raised Catholic, even going to Catholic School in the Midwest and NYC. However he married Elvira Corr who was Methodist. I was told he was excommunicated from the Catholic Church but haven’t found evidence to support that yet. Arthur married Elvira in North Carolina while he was still training for the military. Several other officers were his best men and witnesses. The couple had their first child in 1943 while he continued his military training. He had every reason to want to get back to the United States alive.

 

 

February 20, 1945: Panningen Netherlands

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February 20, 1945 was the beginning of the VENLO, LIMBURG + NETHERLANDS CAMPAIGN. The 75th Infantry was sent to an assembly area near Panningen Netherlands to relive the British 6th Armored Division. I am fairly certain that 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken would have joined C-Company here or the next town they were moved to.

1st Lieutenant Dick Sassin explained the move this way, “ We’re going to move in at night. They are going to move out. We aren’t under fire.” The 75th infantry division was to operate under the command of the British Second Army’s VIII Corps, 21st Army Group under Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery. The division was to take up a defensive position along the West Bank of the Maas River. German troops were well entrenched on the East bank. The river is about 100 yards wide at the location I saw. Germans would often fire harassing mortar rounds to the far shore of the Maas River.

Panningen played a significant role in the closing stages of World War II. It became a defensive position for the Allies along the West Bank of the Maas River. Nightly patrols across the mass were a critical cactivity for the troops stationed in Panningen.

I decided to sketch the Monument Deportation Everlo. It is a memorial in remembrance of the fallen and missing residents from Panningen. In the autumn of 1944, over 1,000 boys and men in the region between the Maas and Peel rivers were rounded up by the Nazis in raids and deported to Germany for forced labor. These events cost the lives of 120 men and left lasting scars on survivors and those left behind.

There were also three metal plaques that had engravings of the names of Canadian and Royal Air Force Pilots who had crashed in the area. Also listed were names of soldiers who had died from the 15th Scottish Division, the 49th West Riding Division, the 51st Highlands Division. In all, the names of 54 soldiers were listed as fallen hero’s to the town of Panningen Netherlands.

The trip to Panningen Netherlands for the 75th Infantry troops was accomplished in weather that had turned for the better. The box cars were not a hellish ride. 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken would have been taking a similar ride on his own or with other replacements to join the 75th Infantry troops in the Netherlands.

Saint Martin’s Church Weert Netherlands

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With each new town I stop at I go to the downtown market to see which buildings might have been standing in 1945. In Weert Netherlands I decided to sketch Saint Martin’s Church built starting in 1456. Construction lasted for more than 100 years. The tall church tower was completed in 1887. The church was badly damaged in an Allied bombing raid in October 1944. The tall church tower remained standing, The Germans used the surviving tower as an  observation post.

The tower collapsed after a second WWII Allied bombing and damaged the nave below. It took years of hard restoration work to bring the building back to its former glory.

The 75th Infantry Command Post was in Weert as troops were assembled in the Netherlands. If 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken reported here before joining his C-Company he would have seen the highly damaged Church.

As I was doing this sketch I noticed a young man watching me from one of the tables at the left of my sketch. When I finished, he came over and let me know that he was sketching me at work. unfortunately I finished my sketch before he could complete his sketch. He could speak English rather well and invited me for a bite at the restaurant he was sitting in front of.

That restaurant, which is just out of view in my sketch, was MacDonalds. He told me it is the most  American of restaurants. So, I had a Big Mac, Coke and fries in Weert. Actually fries are very popular in every European country I have gone to. My goal now it to find restaurants that to not show fries on their online menus. I went to an Indian restaurant today just to avoid French Fries.

The young artist showed me his sketchbook and he had a wonderful sketch of the Saint Martin’s Church. He managed to catch all the horizontal variegated brick work which I had ignored in my rush to complete my sketch. We became instagram buddies. He had to help me locate a couple of the buttons on my iPhone needed to complete the task. Though my focus is in trying to unearth some of the history from 80 years ago, people keep introducing themselves to remind me that looking towards the future is just as important.

Of  course the artist asked me about the current United States president. I explained that having a wanna be dictator in the White House is part of the reason I am looking at the World War II past. Someone else told me that America has no history compared to Europe.

“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it” –Winston  Churchhill

“History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce”. –Karl Marx

Windmill near Weert Netherlands

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Weert Netherlands was a command post and headquarters for the American 75th Infantry Division after the Battles of the Colmar Pocket in South West France. It is possible that 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken could have reported here before joining his C-Company troops in Panningen Netherlands. The 75th Infantry was to set up- a defensive line along the West Bank of the Maas River. German troops were on the East bank of the river and the 75th needed to keep them from advancing back into the Netherlands. The Netherlands surrendered to Germany in May 15, 1940, after a five day invasion. The entire country of the Netherlands was liberated by Allied forces by May 5, 1945.

1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken would have arrived 9n the Netherlands shortly after February 17, 1945. That means German forces still occupied some areas of the country. Weert managed to escape-e major bombing destruction, although areas around the city were a battlefield. The most fighting the 75th saw in the Netherlands was in Roermond.

I like that in the Netherlands they train trees to grow only in tight horizontal Boxes. It started to rain very lightly as I sketched. I leaned over the drawing and waited for the rain to stop.  A fellow walking his dog stopped to see how the sketch was going. He asked if he could take a picture of me holding the sketch and l was happy to pose. This particular windmill has been around for 150 years, so it would have been here in 1945.

I walked towards the entrance of the mill, but it was not open. A pear tree had dropped ripe fruit next to the mill. The tree was on a neighbors property, but the fruit had dropped over a fence by the mill. I picked up a few pears since Seacoast Bank was still denying me access to the finds I had put aside for this trip.

when I went back to my car, I was about to get in and the fellow who had been walking his dog waved and called my name. I had parked right in fr0nt of his home. He invited me into the back yard for a coffee and we talked politics and about his job selling medical equipment. His home was lovely and they had a gorgeous garden. That is true of most homes in the a Netherlands, they love have lush gardens.

It is hard to imagine that this was a war torn country back in 1945.

City of Namur Belgium

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After seeing a very detailed model of the Citadel, I felt the need to do a detailed sketch of the city of Namur Belgium seen from the fortress. The four foot high fortress walls made it impossible to sit and do a sketch, although I saw a couple precariously perched on top of the wall. If they fell forward they could drop several hundred feet. Ahhh young love.

I stood at the wall and used the top of the wall as my desk. I was wearing 3 layers for warmth since the winds can get brisk and I needed a waterproof shell since I have been rained on just about every time I start to do a sketch. There was some sort of retreat going on down the hill to my right. They were having a race where two people had to work as a team navigating a series of obstacles.  They had a ball or water balloon between them and they needed to keep it balanced without using their hands. I stopped sketching to watch the hilarity as couple after couple failed. There was also a running group running up and down the thousands of stone steps around the fortress. No, my exercise this morning is to sketch of the city.

I love sketching old forts. I could spend a week here and not run out of sketch opportunities. I kind of regret not sketching the tunnels the American army used as a command post. However, I need to get to the front lines where the troops were preparing to defend the Netherlands at the Meuse River. Different countries s-ell the name of the Meuse differently. I am certain troops at the time often were not sure what town they were in or even what country. They just wanted to survive. I know for sure that Holland was the final destination for 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken who arrived in Europe on about February 17, 1945.

The 75th Infantry histories I have been reading refer to the Netherlands as Holland. That conjures up images of wooden shoes and windmills. Seems like a quiet romantic setting, but not at war time. Before I left, I found a thread from someone who wanted to know how his father might have died in Holland in 1945. His father was also in the 75th Infantry. The Americans were on the West Bank of the Meuse and the Germans on the East bank. Both were in sight of each other maybe 100 yards apart. The most likely cause of a death would be a random mortar blast, or a dangerous trip across the Meuse  River at night to gather intelligence. I do not know if 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken was ever on one of these very dangerous recon missions.

 

Bus Ride to The Woodring Wall and Museum

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Mt father was a 1st Lieutenant of the 75th Infantry Division. The 2025 reunion for the 75th was being held in Oklahoma City, so I had to go to see what I could find out that might help as I make plans to follow in my fathers footsteps through Europe.

There were several day trips planned. One to the Oklahoma National Memorial & Museum and the other to the Woodring Wall & Museum. The bus ride was a solid one and a half hours, so I had plenty of time to get a sketch done. I was also given a paperback book that was a history of the 75th Infantry so I read that on the bus ride back.

The bus driver gave us all one important warning. He said that there was a bathroom at the back of the bus but he advised against against any number twos. I’m guessing the thing doesn’t flush very well. He also advised that men sit down since he didn’t want anyone falling down with all the side to side movement of the bus.

What I recall most about the bus trip was all the gorgeous wide open countryside and and endless line of wind mills. Like an airline, there was a safety video on the multiple screens hanging over the seats.

When the buss pulled into the air field, I could see the Vietnam memorial wall. There were few name to start and then each panel filled up to it’s full height. At the far end of the long wall the names compressed once again as the wall angles down in a triangular fashion. This wall is a miniature replica of the Memorial in Washington, DC designed by then undergraduate,  Maya Ying Lin. To find the name of a loved one it is best to use the index which tells youo what panel to look at. Names on the wall are arranged chronologically, so it might take a long time to search the 58,318 names of Americans who had been killed in action. The printed index allows you to search fr the name alphabetically.

On the bus ride back to Oklahoma City, I read the 75th Infantry history ind underlined sections to double check against the list of cities and engagements I was compiling for my trip through, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany. Many accounts of what happened in the later days of WWII don’t pin point the actual days or even the cities, so I have to cross reference everything to come p with a unified plan of attack.