April 20, 1945: Hemer Germany, War Memorial

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When driving out of Hemer towards Plettenberg Germany, I noticed this World War I and II memorial dedicated to the solders from Hemer who died in the wars. I usually planned my sketch opportunities in advance by researching the night before, but in this case, I just stumbled across this memorial as I was driving. I pulled off the main road and turned around to sketch.

On April 20, 1945, 300,000 German soldiers surrendered in the Ruhr Pocket. April 21, 1945, was the end of the Ruhr offensive. After seeing Stalag VI-A in Hemer, I started to drive to Plettenberg Germany where the 75th Infantry command post was in operation at the time.

On April 25, 1945, American and Soviet forces met at the Elbe River near Torgau, Germany, a defining, symbolic moment in World War II known as “Elbe Day”. This link-up cut the German army in two, signaling the collapse of the Nazi regime and marking the effective end of the war in Europe. By April 30, 1945, Adolph Hitler had committed suicide in Berlin. The World War in Europe would officially end on May 8, 1945 when Germany surrendered. 1st Lieutenant Joe Colcord of the 75th Infantry Division wrote, “VE Day was quite a celebration as it meant that we were not going to the East to join up with the Russians at the Elba.”

After Germany’s surrender, the 75th Infantry Division became the civil-military government in Westphalia Germany, caring for 175,000 Allied prisoners of war and displaced persons which formed a central part of their duties. On VE Day the 75th Infantry Band marked through the streets.

Lieutenant Paul Cunninham of the 75th Infantry Division, wrote about his experience at a German camp for Russian POWs… “men to sick to work were sent there to recover. In reality they were sent there to starve to die, starved to death. If someone did get well, he was immediately sent to work in the mines. 25,000 men were kept where only 9,000 could be accommodated.”

My Father 1st Lieutenant Arthur Harold Thorspecken was in charge of C-Company in the 1st Battalion of the 75th Infantry Division which was part of the 290th Infantry Division. 290th Infantry Division.

A dedication was sent to all the soldiers after Germany surrendered… “ Today we have achieved final and conclusive victory over Germany. The monster that was Nazism lies crushed and broken. The road to victory has been long and bitter for everyone. It has been built by the unfaltering courage and the steadfast devotion of every man serving under the flags of the Allied nations. The darkest hours have been illuminated by the flames in the hearts of free men fighting indomitably onward to the final victory.

As we are gathered here to celebrate the great day, we must certainly be joined by the spirits of those of our comrades who have sacrificed their lives in order that we might accomplish this victory. To those men whose unselfish devotion to duty shall live forever asa torch of freedom, we most humbly dedicate this day. May God grant men the wisdom needed to carry on ideals for which they have died.

While VE Day is an occasion for thanksgiving and celebration, it comes to us with the realization that long dark months of trails and tribulations lie before us. Not only great dangers, but many more misfortunes, many shortcomings, many mistakes many disappointments will surely be our lot. Death and sorrow will be the companions of our journey, hardship our garment, and valor our shield. We must be united, we must be undaunted, we must be unyielding. Our qualities and deeds must burn and glow through the gloom of the world until they become the veritable beacon of it’s salvation.

Today concludes the first phase of our titanic struggle. A struggle which will ultimately end with our crushing defeat of the last barrier to world peace.”

After Stalag VI-A in Hemer Germany was captured by the Americans, it was renamed Camp Roosevelt. It was a long road to liberate all the POWs in the camp. Hundreds of Soviet POWs kept dying every week from the many months of starvation. Soviet prisoners sent back to Russia would be seen as traitors, so after all the horrors of capture and forced labor they would go back home to be treated with suspicion. Camp Roosevelt  was then used as a camp for detaining Nazi prisoners.

Witten Germany: Berger Memorial

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The Ruhr River was the final objective of the 75th Infantry Division. When the 75th reached this objective they had split the surrounded German troops in half and finally crushed the Industrial Ruhr Pocket. The Berger Memorial sits high on a hillside overlooking on a particularly beautiful section of the river Ruhr River between Wetter and Witten Germany. The memorial was built between 1902 and 1904 to honor Louis Constanz Berger, (1829-1891), an industrialist and community co-founder. Its construction occurred during a period of industrialization and modernization of the Ruhr region. I imagined that my father 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken and his C-Company might have come to this overlook to view their final objective. The memorial would have stood at this spot in April of 1945, having been built between 1902 and 1904,

The monument made of Ruhr sandstone commemorates one of the most important Witten entrepreneur and politician of the early industrialization: Louis Berger. In 1854 Berger father founded a cast steel factory in Witten, which, Louis, developed into one of the first large industrial companies in the Ruhr. The quality of Berger’s cast steel was the “basis” of the Prussian needle gun and Krupp’s gun barrels. The needle gun was ahead of its time allowing a trained soldier to fire 12 rounds a minute. Most countries were still using muzzle-loading flintlocks which only allowed a soldier to fire 3 to 4 rounds a minute. Krupp gun barrels, produced by the German industrial giant Friedrich Krupp AG, were known to be of high quality being made of durable steel.

During WWII, the Krupp steel works in Essen, led by Alfried Krupp from 1943, were the cornerstone of the Nazi war machine, producing artillery, tanks, and u-Boats.  Despite massive Allied bombing, the works managed to remain standing until 1945. The firm heavily utilized over 100,000 forced laborers, prisoners of war, and concentration camp inmates in over 80 plants. Alfried Krupp was convicted of crimes against humanity at Nuremberg Germany, sentenced to 12 years, and had his assets confiscated, but he was released in 1951 by the US, and his fortune was restored.

The Berger Memorial seemed like a monument to a corporate entrepreneur and civic minded politician. But the steel he manufactured became the cornerstone to building the German Military war machine in the first and second World Wars. In that sense it is a monument to the senselessness of war.

Witten-Düren Germany

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Düren is a quarter in Witten Germany just south of Dortmund. Rather than being a town, it is really just farm land. I parked on the side of a muddy farm road and hiked to a trail. That trail made its way along the edges of farm fields at the edge of the woods. A small stream separated the trail form the fields. I jumped the stream and set up to sketch at the edge of a farmers field. I worked quickly, but as I sketched it started to rain. The drops splattered on the page. A German woman was walking her dog on the trail She waved, but must have thought I was crazy to be sketching in the rain.

In April 1945, the 75th Infantry Division, 3rd Battalion followed the 2nd Battalion and then passed through them to attack and capture Düren Germany. With Düren secured they pressed forward and took Stockum Germany.

In the town of Witten, up to 25,000 people from different countries, including several hundred Poles, were forced to work for Nazi regime during the Second World War. The majority of the workforce in the town was made up of forced laborers, who were used mainly to produce weapons. In 1944, a satellite of the Buchenwald concentration camp was even created to accommodate the concentration camp inmates in the Annen Cast Steelworks.

During the WWII, there were a total of around 24,900 forced laborers from all the occupied territories in the area now covered by the town of Witten. On average, they worked for approximately 15 months in the town, and made up the majority of the workforce there. At the beginning of 1945, for example, the forced laborers constituted about 55 % of the total workforce in Witten. The different areas of work that they performed meant that large-scale forced labor camps were needed. As a result, it is thought that between 230 and 250 forced labor camps of different sizes were established in the town during that period.

“It was a beautiful afternoon the day we left Krakow. Our homeland, abused by the occupation, said goodbye to us with a sunny day. The monotonous clatter of the train wheels painfully reminded us that it was taking us away as slaves.”
– Maria Hosajowa, a former Polish forced laborer.

U.S. 75th Infantry Division liberated thousands of forced laborers and Prisoners of War (POWs) from Nazi camps, in the Ruhr Pocket region. Once liberated the infantry had to feed and house the displaced persons and find a way to get them back to their home countries. It was a task they were ill-prepared to carry out. Once liberated, forced laborers looted to began to find the basics for survival and decent clothing, Displaced persons consulted bulletin boards hoping to find out about transportation home. Hitch hiking wasn’t effective in war time. To survive you needed to carry all your belongings.

Marten Germany

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A dawn attack on April 8, 1945 resulted in the 75th Infantry Division capturing Kirchlinde and Marten Germany, cutting the rail lines leading into Dortmund, thus effectively isolating the city from the west. Marten is a district in western Dortmund, Germany, It is directly south of Kirchlinde.

Marten was part of a major industrial hub heavily targeted during WWII. As part of the Ruhr region, the area suffered severe destruction, with up to 98% of the inner city was destroyed by March 1945. Local, industrial sites, in Marten, were key targets for Allied bombing.

I found a location near the railway lines to sketch. The neighborhood where I sketched had industrial buildings along the railroad tracks and row houses across the street. This street is right next to the railway lines and an 8 foot high wall obstructed any view of the rails. I could hear the trains roaring by once in a while as I sketched. This building which resembles the bow of a ship on a triangular block in the city. Much of Marten had been flattened by the 75th Infantry artillery before troops did the hard work of mopping up any isolated enemy resistance.

The Germania coal mine (Zeche Germania) was an industrial coal mine located in the Marten district of Dortmund, Germany. It operating from 1854 until its closure in 1930. It therefor wasn’t feeding the German war efforts in 1945. I decided not to sketch Germania.

The 75th Infantry Division freed thousands of Forced Laborers from Nazi Camps. Once freed, the laborers became known as displaced persons and it fell on the 75th Infantry Division to feed and care for them. If they fed the starving inmates too fast they would die. They then needed to send the displaced persons back east where they had been abducted and sent to German forced labor camps. The problem is that the displaced persons would be seen as traitors once they were sent back to Russia or Poland. Many would face certain death back east, or they would be treated as pariahs for the rest of their lives.

1st Lieutenant Joe Colcord of the 75th Infantry Division related the following. “We captured several small un-named cities in the Ruhr Pocket and my only horrible recollection is in the liberation of a displaced person’s camp. Some poor souls were wandering weakly around in near death as the German guards had wisely left. Some were lying in stacked beds too weak to walk and all were in effect skeletons. They almost seemed non-human. I suspect this was a work camp like that of Schindler’s List depiction except the actors in the movie were far too fat by comparison. I cannot recall the name of the place but the inhumanity of this treatment lingers on in my mind. we had a strange task that I have brooded about for years. There were many Displaced Persons (DP’s) that apparently, by treaty, were to be shipped home by the easiest rail line. I, of course, would have given my eyeteeth to be sent home and 50 was thus very perplexed as many of these people did not want to go “east”. In fact, we had to nail the doors shut in the 40-8’s to keep them on board at least until they left the marshaling yard. I now realize that for many there was no “home” and that this act that I considered a good deal was often really a potential death sentence. I can still see the sad faces as they were boxed up to go “home”.

Since Joe served in the same outfit as my father, 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken, I have to wonder if my father lived with the horror of such memories for the rest of his life. If he did , he never spoke about them.

The attack continued through April 9th and 10th, 1945. The 2nd Battalion advanced south, and southeast of Marten Germany.

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.”

April 6, 1945: Castrop-Rauxel Germany

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Castrop-Rauxel was an important Coal mining town North West of Dortmnd Germany. Castrop-Rauxel is near the Rhine-Herne Canal, in the eastern part of the Ruhr industrial district. The 75th Infantry Division, which included my father 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken’s C-Company would have entered the city on April 6, 1945.

The city faced heavy Allied bombing, suffering significant destruction (around 24-26% of all buildings) and was the site of fierce fighting as U.S. forces entered the Ruhr Pocket in April 1945.

The 75th Infantry Division liberated slave laborers and encountered German resistance in its coal mines and synthetic oil plants, which were strategic targets. The fighting involved intense urban combat as American troops pushed through the industrial heartland, leaving a legacy of damaged infrastructure and the complex task of dealing with Displaced Persons.

The 75th Infantry Division held a line from the Zweg Canal on their Western flank east just south of Ickern and Brambauer Germany. The 2nd Battalion of the 291st Infantry Division was given the task of attacking south into Castrop-Rauxel. Company G and F moved into the city with a selection of machine guns, 81mm mortars and a platoon of tanks. Elements of the German Parachute Division lay ahead and heavy resistance was expected. A captured German soldier confirmed the reports.

At 4:30AM on April 6, 1945, G Company soldiers were fed a hot meal from the company kitchen truck which had arrived during the night. The kitchen was set up in a German home and the men ate silently. By 6:45 AM troops were in position and ready to begin the attack.

Half of the homes in Castrop-Rauxel were two story homes build to wood and stucco. The other half of the city consisted of small industrial factories. Partially destroyed buildings offered good cover for enemy snipers. The German 40mm Anti tank guns were being used to fire on American troops with lethal efficiency. Being hit by one of these large shells would literally cause a soldier to explode.

Many of the homes flew white flags, but the citizens had been recruited as a make shift army known as the Volksstrom. The citizen army would fight fanatically and then surrender in droves. They did not have uniforms and they would surrender in civilian clothes. The Volksstrum did have the assistance of well-trained German officers.

The 75th Infantry faced increasing fire from snipers and 120mm mortars. The first German captured was a Volksstrom and he stepped out waving a white flag. He was shot from behind in the hip, by a soldier from the German 2nd Parachute division. The parachute division had been given orders to fight to the last man.

Coal, known as “Black Gold”, was the life blood of the German war machine. The Germans developed a method of converting coal into a cheap diesel fuel that could be used to power the Panzer tanks and other machines of death. Knowing coal was so important, I decided to go to the Zeche Zollern Coal mine, which is now a museum. The site is famous for its light and airy Art Nouveau style architecture. Miraculously this mine went largely undamaged by Allied bombings. The mine used prisoners of war and forced laborers who suffered immensely under horrific conditions.

The mine became known as the “Castle of Work.” The mine was central to Germany’s war effort, with production focused on supporting military needs. The shaft hall was the link between the working worlds above and below ground. This is where the miners climbed into the cage that took them underground. The work in the shaft hall was considered particularly monotonous and was not very popular. Around 60 miners worked here in noise and dust, unloading the wagons and sorting the waste material. It was loud and stuffy at the sorting belt, unbearably hot in summer and freezing cold in winter – an unpopular place to work.

Mengede Germany: Noah Kirchengeneinde

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I thought that the villages in the Ruhr Pocket of Germany would all be industrial wastelands. I was quite mistaken. Mengede is the picture-perfect German village. German architecture is famous for its timber beams, primarily in the traditional Fachwerk (half-timbered) style, using exposed oak beams forming geometric patterns with infill of plaster, creating iconic, fairy tale-like buildings.

I was staying in the building next to the Noah Evengelical Church. The view from my room window was of the large round stained glass window of the church. I decided to stay here several days to catch my breath after sketching so many cities in a row. I would usually only stay in a city for one day and then follow the my father’s 75th Infantry Division troop movements to the next city.

Being a short distance north west of Dortmund city center, Mengede would have experienced serious destruction from Allied bombings.  Dortmund was the most bombed city in Germany. The bombings destroyed approximately 66% of Dortmund’s homes. The most devastating raid occurred on March 12, 1945, when 1,108 aircraft dropped over 4,800 tons of bombs, destroying 98% of the buildings in the inner city center.

The Noah Kirchengemeinde Mengede church building survived World War II largely intact. In sketching the building I felt that rubble must have been used in some of the reconstruction of sections of the church. Some stones were no longer block shaped but rather random and inconsistent.

I have to wonder where church leadership stood on the question of the final solution. Generally, the leadership of both Protestant and Catholic churches in Germany adopted a cautious approach, during World War II. They often tried to compromise with the Nazi state or avoided confrontation to prevent internal division or antagonizing authorities. Historically the German Evangelical Church viewed itself as one of the pillars of German culture and society, with a theologically grounded tradition of loyalty to the state.

Most church leaders were neither equipped nor financially able to resist the Nazi regime. There was an overall lack of public opposition to antisemitism from church leadership.

The Nazo platform stated: “We demand freedom for all religious denominations in the State, provided they do not threaten its existence nor offend the moral feelings of the German race. The Party, as such, stands for positive Christianity, but does not commit itself to any particular denomination. It combats the Jewish-materialist spirit within and without us, and is convinced that our nation can achieve permanent health only from within on the basis of the principle: The common interest before self-interest.” Most church leaders to embraced the Nazi doctrine.

The Jewish community in Germany was less than 1% of the population. Throughout this period there was virtually no public opposition to antisemitism or any readiness by church leaders to publicly oppose the regime on the issues of antisemitism and state-sanctioned violence against the Jews. Jewish residents faced escalating persecution, and systematic deportation to death camps, with most either murdered or forced out before the war’s end, leaving the area effectively “clean” (judenrein) of Jews.

April 6, 1945: Mengede Germany

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Mengede Is a storybook old German town. I was staying in an Air B&B that was identical to the center building in the sketch. I found a perfect little restaurant that served a traditional German breakfast with a hard-boiled egg and assorted meats and cheeses. On this morning unfortunately it was raining. I hiked out anyway, to find a spot to sketch. This location has a nice overhang on the building I was sitting in front of.

The Pfarrkirche St. Remigius in Mengede, Dortmund, is a historic Catholic parish church, part of the larger Dortmund parish, known for its prominent Gothic tower and significant local history, serving the Mengede district within the Ruhr Pocket of Germany. It is the oldest building in the city. It was built in built in 1875-76, and expanded in 1901. The church sustained no significant damage during World War II.

Mengede is just a 25-minute ride to the north west of Dortmund Germany. Mengede was occupied by the 75th Infantry division as they were making their way south towards Dortmund.

On April 6, 1945. My father’s 1st Battalion and the 2nd Battalion jumped off at dawn encountering light resistance initially. My father’s 1st Battalion was delayed by numerous well organized defensive positions which had to be neutralized before the attack could move forward.

Mengede is now part of Dortmund Germany, suffered heavily in WWII as a key Ruhr industrial area, with massive bombing raids destroying its city center, especially in March 1945, leaving much of it in rubble. It’s industrial importance meant widespread infrastructure damage rather than just residential loss, with unexploded bombs still found today

Even after heavy artillery had been dropped on Dortmund, it became apparent that the city was determined to fight on. The 2nd Battalion of the 291st Infantry Division was pinned down by enemy fire which preceded a counter attack by German paratroopers. Allied artillery broke up the dual. On a flank, the 290th Infantry Division with my father’s C-Company cleared several towns (likely including Mengede), then encountered heavy resistance and was forced to dig in for the night.

The German 2nd Parachute Division which had caused so much trouble ever since Normandy France, fought back hard, but the 75th Infantry Division beat off every thrust.

Dortmund-Ems Canal

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On April 1, 1945, the  290th infantry Division which includes the 75th Infantry Division attacked with the 289th Infantry Division through the pinned down 8th Armored Group to reach Dortmund-Ems Canal near Datteln Germany. On the same day, the American 9th Army and American 1st Army met at Lippistadt Germany enclosing the Ruhr Pocket. About 350,000 German soldiers were surrounded.

On April 3 to 5, 1945 the canal was crossed as infantry scaled up and over ladders. Bulldozers worked slowly to bridge the canal. Thr 75th Infantry crossed 0n April 4, 1945.

I hiked along a section of the canal that was cut off and isolated from the main canal. That is where I found these Historical Barrier Gates.The barrier gates were needed during World War II because the Royal Air Force kept bombing critical German supply routes. These gates offered quick deployment as a safety measue to prevent catastrophic water loss and flooding from the damaged canal structures. These wartime gates, along with permanent lock gates, protected vital railway tunnels and controlled water flow, making them key tactical elements in canal defense and operation. They are no longer in use today.

This isolated section of the canal was about a quarter mile long. One of the hiking paths was completely covered with bright orange leaves which had dropped off the trees. This isolated section of canal might have been cut off  when the Americans used bulldozers to fill in to create a soil bridge for Infantry and tanks.

The 75th Infantry reinforced the 320th Regiment, and the 35th Infantry Division. Two  slave labor camps were liberated in the area with 3,000 inmates. An estimated 30,000 forced laborers were deployed in the city of Dortmund alone. Dealing with so many displaced persons became a logistical problem.

Cub planes flew supplies over to the far side of the canal and brought back wounded.

My father, 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken was in charge of C-Company. C-Company soldiers who were killed in action  at the Dortmund-Elms Canal…

Private Howard Hall. Died April 2, 1945. Age 20. From Lynchburg, Moore County Tennessee.

Private First Class Chester W. Novonski, Age 33, Died April 2, 1945. Toward Dortmund-Ems Canal.

Private  William R. Speaker. Toward Dortmund-Ems_ Canal.

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.