Echt Germany was the 75th Infantry Division Command Post after Pannegen Netherlands. Troops were preparing for the move east towards the Rhine River. This was likely the command post as the 75th Infantry advanced from the Roer River to the Rhine River in OPERATION GRENADE. The Roer River had been flooded by the enemy causing a delay in getting across the Roer and advancing to the Rhine River. Operation grenade began February 8th through 5 March, 1945.
This sculpture was created in remembrance of the crash of a Short Stirling Bomber, registration W7630, of 7th Squadron, near the monastery at Echt, Limburg, Netherlands, on September 10, 1942. The plane went down in a boggy marsh near the Monistary. The plane was on its way to bomb targets in Düsseldorf Germany. Tow of the airmen were killed in the crash. One was captured and another escaped, but was later killed in action when his plane was shot down over Luxembourg.
The aircraft was part of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and was engaged in combat operations at the time of the incident. The crash sites does not relate directly to the movements of the 75th Infantry but it shows the overall loss as so many units and divisions advanced on the European campaign.
Echt Susteren was situated under the flight routes of allied bombers heading from Great Britain to wards targets in Germany.The Maas River was a very important landmark for navigators on those flights. There are six crash sites in Echt. Three of the six aircraft were shot down by anti aircraft artillery (FLAQ). 11 of the 63 downed airmen survived the war as prisoners of war.
I parked in the monastery parking lot and walked towards the memorial. A large bus was parked near the memorial but the students were on their way inside the monastery. They were a boisterous crowd. It was a cold fall morning. The sculpture was at the corner edge of a large field. Woods surrounded the field creating a very strong wood funnel that blew hard into the corner opening where the sculpture stood. I picked my location not based on aesthetics, but based on the fact that a sign for the memorial blocked me from being in the worst of the cold winds. The angle worked out well since I love the way the bent propeller is thrust against the light sky.
Besides the propeller, the sculpture had a V sign that holds the propeller up symbolizing victory.