Paris Bomb Shelter

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The Paris Liberation Museum features an original 1940s underground bomb shelter used as a Resistance command post. Located twenty meters under the museum, the command post used during the Liberation by Colonel Henri Rol, head of the French Forces of the Interior (FFI) which was the unified military wing of the French Resistance that played a crucial role in the August 1944 liberation of Paris. It has 10-foot thick concrete walls, pedal-powered ventilation, and gas-tight doors. The memory of World War I gas attacks made keeping the bunker airtight a priority.

Built in 1938 as an air raid shelter. It was constructed to protect against potential aerial attacks.. The bunker, which features a 250-line telephone exchange, served as the operational command post for the final battle to liberate Paris, rather than as a civilian shelter. The bunker never really saw any action as a shelter, Paris was largely spared from air attacks during WWII, and there was little danger of poison gas.

The bunker was used as the headquarters for French Resistance leaders including Colonel Rol-Tanguy during the August 1944 uprising. It features a restored “disinfection room” gas masks, and a bicycle used to generate electricity. In this bunker, plans were set in place for the city’s liberation. In one room there are still telephone switchboards and a typewriter as if staff had just left yesterday.

Starting on August 15, 1944, thousands of FFI members and Parisian police initiated a general strike and armed insurrection. They seized police stations and barricaded streets before Allied forces arrived. The FFI hoped to liberate the city themselves, but their limited, mostly light, weapons cache forced them to rely on the arrival of General Leclerc‘s 2nd Armored Division and U.S. 4th Infantry Division, which entered the city on August 24-25, 1944.

The Allies were still pushing the Germans toward the Rhine River and did not want to get embroiled in a battle for the liberation of Paris. The Allies thought that it was too early to take Paris. They knew Adolf Hitler‘s Nero Decree required the German military to destroy the city if the Allies attacked.  Charles de Gaulle persuaded them to attack.  De Gaulle,  learned the French Resistance had risen up against the German occupiers and he was unwilling to allow his countrymen to be slaughtered like the Polish Resistance during the Warsaw Uprising. He petitioned for an immediate frontal assault. He threatened to detach the French 2nd Armored Division and to order it to single-handedly attack the German forces in Paris, bypassing the chain of command in so doing, if Eisenhower delayed approval.

Paris was considered to have too great a value, culturally and historically, to risk its destruction. The Allies were also keen to avoid a drawn-out battle of attrition like during the Battle of Stalingrad when Germany was stopped in it’s tracks by the Russians. Ultimately the Allies liberated the city.

The FFI’s actions, including securing key Paris buildings, prevented the German garrison from destroying the city. The actions of the FFI allowed the city to be liberated on August 25, 1944, with relatively light resistance.

Plague Cross of Frohlinde Germany

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Frohlinde means Joyful in German. The plague cross, known locally as the Bookenkreuz, dates back to the time of the Thirty Years’ War, when the plague raged (1618 and 1648). The farming communities of Frohlind95h e, Obercastrop, and Rauxel, as well as other surrounding villages, erected plague crosses and obligated themselves to hold annual processions to these crosses and distribute alms, bread, money, and other donations to the local poor.

While the 291st Infantry Division was attacking Castrop-Rauxel Germany, my father, 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken, was leading his C-Company of the 290th Infantry, 75th Infantry Division, into Frohlinde. Heavy 75th Infantry artillery and air bombing was aimed at the city before the attack, effectively leveling the city.

All Allied units had been ordered by XVI Corps to attack south to the Ruhr River as quickly as possible. What resulted was that all the allied units raced against one another in their dash to the objective. This race to the objective resulted in some chaos as units surged forward without being aware of the progress of units to their left and right. The result could be units separated and isolated behind enemy lines.

On entering a city and seeing the type of fighting needed, the Company Commander should have given his platoons very definite zones of operation. That platoon zone should have then been broken down into individual squad areas. Only then could mopping up operations be successful in a Company zone. In the heat of battle, however, such strategic planning can fall apart.

A definite front line can evaporate, with some units pushing forward quickly while others might be stopped or delayed by heavy enemy resistance. Communication between companies could be problematic, with radios down or a messenger delayed in delivering a message.

The overall objective of General Ray Porter’s 9th Army Group was to drive east after crossing the Rhine River, and then attack south to defeat the estimated 370,000 German defenders trapped in the Ruhr Pocket. Dortmund Germany was the largest industrial City in the area of attack and Frolinde was on the north West outskirts of Dortmund.

According to the XVICorps estimate, the 75th Infantry would face the veteran 116th Panzer Division’s 16th Panzer Grenadier Regiment. The Germans could convert the villages, cities, and industrial plants into strong points to delay the advance.

Useful information was gained from prisoner of war interrogations. Interrogation teams faced a torrent of German prisoners with more than 3,600 passing through the division’s cages. From this flow came a large amount of all kinds of information, including the insight that the Germans planned to continue delaying actions, withdrawing after the first significant contact.

Major General John B. Anderson, the XVI Corps commander, commended the 75th Infantry Division for its “aggressive patrolling, constant observation, and the activities of [its] intelligence agencies.”

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.

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 27, 1945: Gahlen Germany

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Gahlen Germany is half way between the Rhine River and Dorsten Germany. Gahlen was a scene of fierce fighting as Allied forces, particularly the XVICorps advanced across the Rhine River to the west and Lippe river to the north, with troops moving through Gahlen under heavy artillery and air attack, from German Messerschmitt Bf 109s. The German troops put up intense resistance resulting in heavy destruction typical of the final weeks of the war in the region.

On March 28, 1945 the Americans encountered resistance from the remnants of German 116th Panzer-Division and 15th Panzer Grenadier-Division. The XVICorps included the 290th Infantry, of which the 75th Infantry Division was a part along with the 30th Infantry Division and the 8th Armored Division (The Thundering Herd).

On March 28, 1945 the XVICorps attacked East along the Lippe River and Lippe Canal. On the push to Dorsten, the Americans encountered resistance from the remnants of German 116th Panzer-Division and 15th Panzer Grenadier-Division. 30 Mar 1945,

After crossing the Rhine River, the first goal of the XVICorps was to push west towards Berlin Germany. General William H. Simpson was leading the American 9th Army as they pushed east. Prior to this push he had worked under the British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. The British forces lacked the fire power to make the push on their own, so the American 9th Army assisted.

The Ruhr Pocket was encircled on April 1, 1945 trapping more than 300,000 German soldiers. Once trapped, they became more desperate as the pocket was tightened from the Americans attacking from the north. Old men and children were given weapons and told to fight for their fatherland.

Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower abandoned the idea of pushing to Berlin Germany on April 2, 1945. He decided to leave that prize to the Soviets since the Potsdam agreement had already established how the conquered German territories would be divided.

After Berlin was abandoned by the Americans, the goal became to sweep south right through the center of the Ruhr and crush the industrial area. This would involve prolonged and intense house to house combat in the industrial cities. Eisenhower thought that pushing to Berlin would have to high a price on American casualties, but the Ruhr Pocket was also a highly defended meat grinder.

The overall; movement of the Corps was from West to East along the Lippe Canal which runs West to East. After reaching Dorsten the XVI Corps then moved south, to seize and hold crossings over Rhein-Herne Canal at the junction with the Lippe River, and then continue south to the Ruhr River.

The Gahlen Memorial that I sketched was inaugurated on September 10, 1922. Six marble plaques are inset into the walls of the memorial containing the names of German soldiers who died in World War II. The massive obelisk in the center contains the names of soldiers who died in World War I. These names became severely weathered making them hard to read. In 2004 the weathered plaques were replaced with bronze plaques. The entire monument underwent a full restoration in 2022.

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.

March 26, 1945: Expansion of the Rhine Bridgehead

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After crossing the Rhine River, on the evening of March 26, 1945, my father 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken and the men of C-Company of the 75th Infantry Division would have passed the Friedrickfeld Lock as they cleared the strip of land between the Lippe River and the Lippe Canal (the actual name today is the Wesel-Datteln Canal). The Lippe Canal empties into the Rhine River and just to the north of the canal is the winding Lippe River. The lock first began operating on 1930.

Large steel panels can be lowered into place and the lock filled so the water level rises and then the barges can rise to the upper water level and sail onward. Getting through the canal takes 30 minutes. I watched the gates rise and fall several times as I sketched.

The locks are very important in transporting coal and other war time supplies so this was an important military target. In March 1945, as American troops advanced, German soldiers were taken prisoner near the village of Friedrichsfeld and held in a temporary enclosure.

The Friedrichfeld Lock was destroyed by Allied bombings during World War II. Wesel Germany which is a short distance to the north was absolutely flattened by the Allies. Allied bombing campaigns targeting German industry and infrastructure. The Wesel town center and industrial targets in similar nearby areas were subject to heavy high-explosive and incendiary bombs, leading to widespread destruction.

I drove into Wesel Germany hoping to renew my car rental agreement. There were no old historic buildings. There was non of the old world charm I had seen west of the Ruhr River. Wesel resembles the boring and sprawling strip malls of Florida. There was a Subway Sandwich Shop next to the car rental place, so I ordered a good old American sub for lunch.

The guy in the car rental shop said he could not renew the rental and I would have to drive back to France to re-rent the car. He just didn’t want to do his job, because I ultimately did renew the rental in the next city as I pressed deeper into Germany. This happens often where I am told things just can’t be done, I pressed on and got it done anyway.

The 75th Infantry Division passed through this area along with the 8th Armored Division. The three battalions of the 75th Infantry Division fought with the armored division through March 31, 1945. They moved towards Dorsten Germany as their objective.

Attached to the XVI Corps, the ultimate goal of the 75th Infantry Division was to destroy the important Ruhr Industrial area which supplied coal, steel, iron, synthetic rubber and chemicals for the German war machine. With the Ruhr crippled the German war effort would grind to a halt.

Major General Ray E. Porter said of the 75th, “Crossing the Rhine you attacked successfully for fourteen successive days against the determined resistance of four German divisions, two of them being among the enemy’s best remaining divisions.” After crossing the Rhine River the 75th engaged with remnants of German resistance after the 79th and 30th Divisions had broken through the German lines. Battles happened from city to city as the 75th Infantry Division moved east between the Lippe River and Lippe Canal. They pushed in the direction of Dorsten which is just south of the Lippe Canal.

By March 27, 1945 , the 75th Infantry and 8th Armored Divisions had advanced as far as an assembly area near Hunxe Germany.

 

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 1945: Kaldenkirchen Germany

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Gasthause Luthemuhle was the Inn I stayed in as I explored and sketched Kaldenkirchen Germany. It was a really nice place right on a lake and there were two horses who grazed right outside my window as the sun set. It was a quiet peaceful retreat which is the polar opposite of the 80 year old war zone I was trying to find evidence of.

The quick sketch is of the dining room. The Inn was far from the town of Kaldenkirchen, so I at here several times.

There was little resistance when 8th Armored Division first took Kaldenkirchen on March 1, 1945. My father, 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken and the men of C-Company of the 75th Infantry Division were in this area from March 8th to March 11, 1945 clearing isolated pockets of German resistance. They did the same in Venlo Netherlands and Roermund Netherlands which are both close to Kaldenkirchen Germany.

XVI Corps command post, was located in Kaldenkirchen Germany in early March 1945. The 75th Infantry Division was assigned to the XVI Corps for OPERATION GRENADE. That Operation had the troops advancing across the Ruhr River  which had been flooded by the retreating Germans, to the western side of the Rhine River. The British and Canadians were to the north as the troops advanced towards the Rhine River.