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.

Hemer Germany: Diloh Russian Cemetery

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Diloh Cemetery in Hemer Germany, is further away from the Stalag that the Hochlingerweg Cemetery which had been filled quickly with mass graves from all the Russian solders being starved and worked to death. The Diloh cemetery is a more difficult drive which I can attest to since I drove up there from the Stalag VI-A site. Right next to the cemetery was a military shooting range and the wall where the targets were placed was across from the entrance to the Diloh Cemetery. This military shooting range was surrounded by a high fence and there were always military guards at the site. Locals seldom went there.

This cemetery was also a site for mass burials in open trenches. The bodies were dressed and wrapped in oil paper and then tied up with rope. When no paper was available, in the last weeks of the war, the bodies were thrown naked onto the horse drawn wagon. Locals in the upper floors of the homes along the route had a view of the grisly procession as the horse cart made its way up the hill to the Diloh Cemetery.

POWs in Stalag VI-A were blackmailed with schnapps and special rations to conduct the sad and horrific task of collecting the dead at the Stalag every day. The would load the dead in a horse drawn cart to bring the dead to the Diloh Cemetery. The back of the cart would be opened and the cart tipped to allow the emaciated bodies to roll out into the trench. The inmate could wear protective gloves but there were no masks to hide the stanch of death. Bodies would be stacked, one on top of the other four deep. Once the bodies were stacked, then dirt could be shoveled in to cover the faces of the dead.

Each cart load could bring 25 to 28 bodies up the hill to the cemetery. The process would have to be repeated several times a day. An inmate work crew had to work every day to prepare the long trenches about 10 feet wide and 8 feet deep.
After the liberation of Stalag VI-A on April 14, 1945, the mortality rate remained at about 100 deaths a day. The Americans improved the living conditions by supplying food and drugs, but many of the POWs were already too far gone. Conditions slowly improved. After liberation on April 14, 1945 to April 28, 1945 deaths in the Stalag were kept to 790.

After the end of the war, the Soviet Military mission gave the order to erect a monument which was designed by Russian architect Lieutenant Lewikij. It was erected on October 9, 1945 in the presence of British and Soviet officers as well as the mayor of Hemer Germany. Engraved on the monument is the following… You have suffered all the torments and pains, and tortures. Those who have tortured you to death in the foreign country have not escaped the punishment that has caught up with them. Those who have been swept away today with powerful force have themselves fallen into the grave. Sleep well. From home, beautiful light flows on you in a wide river. The vigilant warriors of the Red Army protect your peace.

The cemetery was remodeled in 1949. Raised ground form the mass grave trenches were leveled and the whole area was sown with grass, to allow for easy mowing and maintenance. The small metal plates which had marked the grave rows were removed. The opinion at the time was that Soviet victims of the war did not need to be buried in a comprehensible manner. And the names of the deceased could no longer be determined.

In 1966 there was a push to erect a new monument which did not have the Soviet star. That project never happened due to a lack of funds. In 1987 plaques were added which translated the Russian engravings and a second panel indicated that the victims were buried after the inhumane treatment of their captors. Those plagues were destroyed and the vandals were never prosecuted. Police had to start patrolling the cemetery to prevent further vandalism.

Stalag VI-A Model

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My father 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken would have been in and around the area of Stalag VI-A in Hemer Germany, helping liberate the prisoners from April 19, 1945 to June 1, 1945, a total of 43 days.

1st Lieutenant Joe Colcord in the 75th Infantry Division wrote… “We captured several unnamed cities in the Ruhr Pocket and liberated a displaced person’s camp, the poor souls were wandering around weakly, near death since the German guards had left. Some lay in stacked beds too weak to walk. All were in effect skeletons. They almost seemed non-human. I suspect this was a work camp.” Joe continued… “There were many Displaced Persons, that by treaty were to be shipped home by the easiest rail line. These people did not want to go East. We had to nail the doors shut on the 40-8’s to keep them on board. At least until they left the marshaling yard. For many there was no home to go to, and this act may have been a death sentence. I can still see the sad faces as they were boxed up to go “home’.” There were literally hundreds of these work camps, so I can not verify if Joe is talking about Stalag VI-A or another work camp.

Dr. Nikolai Gubarew was a Soviet soldier captured and sent to Stalag VI-A as a 20 year old prisoner in 1942. He remained in the camp until it was liberated in April of 1945. In time he became an assistant to the StalagVI-A Captain Edmund Weller and thus he gained insight into the inner workings of the camp. The camp had a reputation among Soviets as the place Prisoners of War (POWs) went to die. Bread was the only hope to survive. For breakfast there might be a sip of liquid which was a replacement for coffee, lunch might consist of a thin soup with some turnips with unpeeled potatoes, sometimes with a bit of margarine. The best possible bread ration was 8 ounces which allowed for slow starvation. Soviet prisoners were always given the worst rations of food since the Germans considered then sub-human. Soviets would get 1 bowl of broth while other nationalizes got 2 bowls.

Clothing consisted of old uniforms marked with white phosphorus so a prisoner could be identified at night. Instead of shoes, prisoners were given old woolen pants which sometimes covered the feet. Clothing was regularly untied to fight the lice. If clothing got wet with outdoor work, then pneumonia was often the result. Prisoners slept in 3 story bunk beds. Being in the stone buildings was better than being in the wooden barracks since the wooden barracks were very drafty.

The death rates soured for prisoners who had tuberculosis and pneumonia. There were no drugs to treat the patients. Due to the risk of infection, these barracks were never entered by German camp staff. The door to the medial barracks was secured with a padlock and only Soviet medical personnel held the key. The dead would lie with the living in the bunks for a time, this allowed bread rations to be collected from the dead and distributed to the living. When bodies began to bloat, they had to be removed by medical staff with a horse drawn cart.

At 6am each day there was a roll call. If the numbers were not right then prisoners might have to stand for hours until the numbers were correct. Forced Laborers who were worked outside the camp would be marched away. During the night, illumination was provided solely by the beams of guard tower searchlights as they swept across the perimeter fences. Some guards were very brutal. They beat prisoners with truncheons.

POW camp staff enriched themselves by taking prisoner bread and other food. The food would disappear before getting to the camp warehouse. Staff would lift goods from the delivery train at the Hemer station to private trucks. Any meat, fat and bread would often be taken directly from the Stalag kitchen. Moldy bread is what usually would arrive at the Stalag with no replacement shipments. Bombing raids guaranteed late shipments. Potato and turnip supplies did run out. When serving food there was often chaos among the starved inmates.

Russian POW Dimitry Alexandrovich was a talented photographer. While in the Stalag, he was entrusted to work taking the pictures of incoming prisoners which were added to the inmate information card files. He also had to work on the mass burial detail, and at the risk of his own life, he photographed the grisly scenes of emaciated bodied being dumped into mass graves. Thanks to his access to the dark room, he was able to develop and print these scenes of horror.

On April 30, 1945, Adolph Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker.

Russians celebrate May Day on May 1st, which is a celebration of spring and renewal. The 75th Infantry hosted a May Day celebration at the camp where Generals gathered at a podium to speak. POWs lined up in tight military formations. American enlisted men and officers gave up their white bread rations for 3 days, so that the Soviets and other POWs could have more to eat at the ceremony. There was music, marching and the 75th Infantry Division General Ray E. Porter had a banquet set up for the delegates assembled.

May 8, 1945, was Victory in Europe day (VE Day), when Germany officially surrendered.

On June 1, 1945, the 75th Infantry Division was relieved by the British infantry since Stalag VI-A in Hemer Germany was in the British occupation zone.

Russian Memorial Hocklingerweg Hemer, Germany

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In the final months of World War II, the area around Islerohn Germany saw the surrender of German forces to the American troops. My father, 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken with his C-Company in the 75th Infantry Division, moved into Hemer to help liberate Stalag VI-A, one of Germany’s largest POW camps.

The Americans of the 75th Infantry Division distributed U.S. Military rations to the starving prisoners. Approximately 22,000 men were found at the camp with 9000 of those in the camp “hospital”. Patients suffered from Tuberculosis, Dysentery, Malnutrition, and Typhus fever. Inmates were from the Soviet Union, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Yugoslavia, Romania, Great Britain, Canada and America. American War photographer Joseph D. Karr was on the scene documenting the struggle to keep men alive. Despite being offered food rations, many men were just too far gone. Over 100 men (mostly Soviets) kept dying every day. Soviets were given half or less of the rations that other nationalities were given and over the week before liberation there was no food distributed in the camp since the cooks and guards had retreated East away from the advancing American troops.

Two cemeteries were established for the mass graves for all the men who were dying. The exact number of men who died is hard to calculate. Some researchers think 24,000 men lie in the two cemeteries. Others think that number is too high, while others think that number may be far higher, based on the rising numbers of inmates who died at the end of the war. The goal of commemorating is to never forget. Future generations need to know what man is willing to do in the name of an ideology and how quickly a society is willing to throw away basic moral principles.

Early in the war, the first men who died were buried in a forest near the Stalag. The dead were buried in simple wooden coffins. Most of these men were French (166) and Polish (42). By 1945 there were 335 graves. War graves agreements after the war, insisted that the bodies be returned to home countries. The remaining graves were then moved to the two cemeteries dedicated to the Stalag dead in Hemer.

The numbers of Soviet dead kept growing exponentially. They had been through the hell of war, capture, forced stays in the front-line Stalags followed by excruciatingly long cold train rides into the Reich where they were immediately put into forced labor details. Additional land had to be acquired from a Protestant parish for the hundreds of men who were dying each week. The bodies were carried on a horse drawn carriage on the shortest route up the hills and winding roads to the cemetery. Long excavated trenches had been dug, and the bodies were unceremoniously thrown into the pit. People walking down the street, or passing by train could see the grisly scene. There was no secrecy to the mass murder taking place.

By the end of 1943 all the rows had been filled with bodies. The capacity of the cemetery was exhausted. More than 3,500 Soviet prisoners were buried in 16 mass graves in about 15 months. Since men were buried with bodies stacked on top of one another, about 3 men deep, it became impossible to figure out who was buried where. At first there were distinct rows with metal plates to delineate the rows, but over time the landscape was flattened and a featureless lawn with a few birch trees remains. The metal plates had been discarded or lost.

A small concrete monument had been built by Soviet inmates after the liberation of the camp, but it was replaced by a memorial stone designed by Menden Germany sculptor, Walter Voss. It was dedicated on the Sunday of the Dead, in 1967. The stone says: Rest. Soviet Citizens who died in the years 1941-1945 far from home. The number of deceased, at 3000, was the credible number at the time when the stone was carved. As of 2021, 3,513 of the Soviet prisoners could be named. The exact number may never be known.

April 23, 1945: Hemer Germany, Stalag VI-A

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On April 23, 1945, the 290th Infantry Division relieved the 5th Infantry Division, assuming the duties and responsibilities of occupying, administering and policing the large area in and around Iserlohn Germany. The care, feeding and expeditious evacuation of 90,000 Displaced Persons, coming from every one of the countries Germany had conquered, presented difficult problem. The 75th Infantry had limited personnel and transportation facilities.

Hemer Germany was captured on April 14, 1945. While the German commander of the 512th Heavy Panzerjager Battalion was negotiating a surrender, the American Major Thomas Daily learned about the deteriorating conditions in Hemer’s Stalag VI-A, just to the east of Islerohn. He learned that Russian prisoners had escaped and were looting the city. Most of the camp guards had already been disarmed. Daily quickly realized that the starving prisoners could cause chaos. The prisoners had cut their way through the barbed wire fence and were slipping out in small groups. An order was issued to shoot any armed civilians to restore order. American tanks were deployed to surround the POW camp. The prisoners who escaped were forcibly returned to the camp.

The living conditions I the camp were horrific. There were 9000 patients in the camp “hospital”. Typhoid, pneumonia, fever,  tuberculosis and dysentery raged uncontrolled through the camp.  The clothes of the prisoners were only rags. Body lice was everywhere. The sanitary facilities were dirty and completely inadequate. Even after being liberated, there was an average of 100 to 150 deaths a day. Hundreds of bodies lay on the ground. They needed to be loaded onto army trucks and buried in a mass grave site.

The four days before the Americans arrived, there had been noting to eat in the camp at all. Before that, the prisoners had only been given a thin barley soup, with one bowl a day for each Russian and two bowls a day for the other nationalities along with a single loaf of bread between 10 men. Guards had retreated, knowing hat the Americas were coming. All the Russians suffered from malnutrition. The 99 American prisoners had only recently been captured and they were in comparatively good condition.
At 7p.m. an American Kitchen was set up and all available food was distributed. At first warning shots had to be fired with hand guns and light tank guns over the heads of the prisoners to dissolve a riot among the prisoners. None of the Americans knew how to speak Russian. An armored loudspeaker vehicle was found and it was used to calm the excited crowd with translated announcements.

Prior to the war, Hemer had petitioned to become a military location. The mayor felt that this would boost the city’s economy. The city took the financial risk to build modern brick military barracks. The hope was that the construction would catch the eye of the Nazi Party. War broke out before work was finished on the buildings. With Poland invaded, the unfinished barracks immediately became a Prisoner of War Camp. Hemer became the first prisoner of war camp near Dortmund Germany. Large tents had to be brought in since the buildings were still uninhabitable. At first prisoners had to sleep on the bare concrete floor until the rooms could be equipped with 3 tiered crude bunk beds. Barbed write was quickly unrolled around the complex.

Train loads of prisoners kept arriving which lead to constant overcrowding with insufficient sanitation. Vermin spread disease. Once the buildings were completed, the prisoners in the brick buildings, were better off than other Stalag’s which were quickly constructed with Forced Labor out of wood, mud and hate. But with malnutrition, all prisoners were equal.

POWs were used as forced labor. Those who could not work would be returned to the Stalag where they would languish and die. Treatment by the guards was brutal, hitting prisoners with shovels and sticks. In one instance, a sickly prisoners tried to grab a second serving of soup and run away. A guard hit the prisoner in the head with a thick club, which he nicknamed “Bull Penis”, which he kept ready for just such an occasion. The Russian fell to the ground, blood flowed from his mouth, nose and ears. Military camp personnel did not shy away from torment and isolated murders of the prisoners.

April 19, 1945: Iserlohn Germany

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On April 19, 1945, my father, 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken and his C-Company of the 75th Infantry Division were relieved by elements of the 313th Infantry Division. The 75th was then trucked to several locations in the Ruhr Valley for reassembly, and then sent to Iserlohn Germany. The town east of Iserlohn was Hemer which was the site of Stalag VIA, a large POW Camp. Rather than fighting a battle after the successful capture of the Industrial Ruhr Pocket, the 75th was now tasked with occupation duty.

On the evening of 13 April 1945, the United States Army began bombing the city of Iserlohn Germany. The bombing continued for three days. The bombardment lasted nearly three days but caused only minor damage.

The events of WWII are indelibly etched in the minds of the residents of Iserlohn who lived through the years of the Nazi inhuman racial ideology. The Nazi drive for conquest and annihilation cost countless lives. The exact number of Iserlohn residents who lost their lives due to Nazi doctrine are unknown. Municipal statistics report 776 fallen soldiers and 137 civilians killed by air raids and artillery fire. These numbers do not account for those who died in captivity, nor the number of Jewish residents who were deported from Iserlohn and murdered in concentration camps.

A synagogue was built in Iserlohn in 1829. It was destroyed on the Night of Broken Glass November 9, 1938. The building had to be demolished. The first Jewish deportation began on October 28, 1938. In 1941 the Jewish community that remained was moved to Kluse 18 and deported from there to to the industrial extermination camps of Auschwitz and Theresienstadt Germany.

Because of its metal industry, Iserlohn produced war-relevant products, including brass components, specialized light metal castings for ammunition, and hardware for Stick hand grenades. With every industrial building converted for armaments production. The town was a prime target for Allied bombing.

Iserlohn was therefore a prime target of Allied Air Strikes. The need to take protective measures for the population became apparent by 1943. Construction of the air-raid shelter tunnel under the Supreme City Church began at the end of 1943. This church is an emblem of the city of Iserlohn and also part of its coat of arms. The Supreme City Church in Iserlohn, which dates back to roughly 1350, survived the destruction of World War II.

With an originally planned length of 500 to 550 meters, the air raid shelter was supposed to be able to accommodate up to 6,600 people. By the end of the war, the tunnel had only reached a length of around 200 meters offering refuge for 2,000 residents.
Iserlohn was home to 5 military barracks and other military installations. The old style half-timbered homes were particularly vulnerable to Allied incendiary bombings. The town had 46,000 residents in 1943.

Prisoners of war from Stalag VI-A in Hemer Germany were used for construction. These same workers were not allowed to enter the tunnel during the Allied air raid attacks. Jews were also prohibited from entering the shelter. The Forced Laborers, many of them Russian and Polish, were literally worked to death. The forced laborers were expected to drill and chisel into the rock for 5 meters a week. Drilling operations had to stop due to the appearance of fissures and cracks in the clay. The loose clay and slate offered  unreliable protection against bombings. With only room for one third of the residents, fights broke out for the right to enter the tunnels, resulting in overcrowding.

At midday on April 16, 1945, in Iserlohn, a Jagdtiger Tank Battalion led by Wehrmacht commander Albert Ernst, assembled for its final roll call before surrender to the U.S. 99th Infantry Division. American Major Boyd McCune lead the negotiations, which were eased by the fact that Ernst spoke English   . The Germans lay all their weapons on the pavement of the Iserlohn city market square as the Americans watched.

The air raid shelter construction ended on April 16, 1945 when American forces occupied the city.

April 14, 1945: Wetter Germany

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By mid April, 1945, the Ruhr factories were silenced.  Thousands of German prisoners filled the Allies’ compounds.  Elements of the German army were retreating further east.  Concentration camps were discovered and liberated.  The indescribable conditions at these camps shocked the world.

After the American President, Franklin D. Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, the final stages of the Ruhr battle were still under way.  Vice President Harry Truman was now Commander in Chief. Wetter Germany is on the Ruhr River. It is southeast of Witten. My father, 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken, was leading C-Company of the 75th Infantry Division when they captured Wetter on April 13, 1945. There was desperate German resistance since the German troops knew they were surrounded.

When the 75th came into one German town, they found a barbershop where some of the men decided to stop in to get a haircut and shave. One of the soldiers would stand watch over the others while they were getting a clean shave. The soldier, who was standing guard, left his post early when a chair became available, but before someone else could keep guard. The exposed soldiers felt a bit nervous that the German barbers might cut their throats with the straight edge razors and drag them out back with no one the wiser. Thankfully nothing of the sort occurred and the men tipped the barbers VERY well for the services provided.

Most cities seen by C-Company soldiers were completely demolished.  The Allies encountered pockets of German resistance in the drive to the Ruhr industrial complex.  Hundreds of German soldiers were captured daily. Many were teenagers.  Others were much older—in their sixties or more.  These young and old, made up the untrained German people’s army. Conscripted soldiers from occupied nations were glad to be captured. They were aware a prisoner of war of the Allies was assured of food and shelter—much better than being a weary and starving German soldier.

The truck driver of C-Company was busy transporting food and supplies to the liberated forced labor camps.  Those forced laborers were taken to rail stations to be returned to their homelands.  Most did not know if their homes and families survived the war years. Many would find they would be greeted at traitors when they got back to their home country.

As Allied troops, including the 75th Infantry Division, closed in the SS forced thousands of concentration camp prisoners on “evacuation” marches to prevent their liberation, resulting in mass deaths from hunger, exhaustion, and shooting. Despite the war being clearly lost, Nazi officials continued to demand high-speed production of war materials, with prisoners working in subterranean tunnels, factories, and on construction projects. The liberation of these camps was a slow, sometimes violent process. Many survivors were in critical condition, and thousands died even after liberation.

The 1st and 9th Armies split the Ruhr Industrial Pocket in half by April 14, 1945, specifically in the Hagen-Witten area, which is immediately west of Wetter on the Ruhr River. The organized resistance in this specific area collapsed around April 18, 1945, after the pocket was subdivided.

April 14, 1945: Herdecke Germany

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The water supply for Herdecke Germany would be influenced by the Ruhr River and managed by the Ruhrverband corporation. In 1935, during the Nazi era, the organization was brought into line with Nazi ideology and placed under the authority of the Reich Office for Spatial Planning. Key infrastructure, such as the Hengsteysee reservoir, played a role in regional water management, with strict quality standards adhering to German drinking water regulation. The heavy Allied bombing of the city likely damaged the water supply.

Once the 75th Infantry Division captured any German city, they would have to establish water points to purify the water for the troops. The job of purifying water was critical. it was necessary test water being used by the troops and also testing was done on the city civilian water supply.

With the troops living so close to one another, the dangers involved in contracting a germ carried by water could result in catastrophe. Therefore to the men of the water points which were set up for the US Troops during the time spent overseas.
Water point signs were set up in each city leading to the purest water. The signs for the 75th Infantry Division were marked diamond, with an arrow pointing towards the freshwater supply.

On a small scale, American soldiers purified water using portable Halazone chlorine tablets for individual canteens. In this way, each soldier was responsible for purifying his own water supply. Halazone tablets were commonly used during World War II by U.S. soldiers for portable water purification, even being included in accessory packs for C-rations.

Engineer water supply platoons set up purification points near streams or ponds. For these larger scale water supplies, ERDLator Units were used. Technically named the “Water Purification Unit, Van-Type, Body Mounted, Electric Motor Driven unit, these were truck-mounted, van-type devices developed by the Engineer Research and Development Laboratory that performed flocking, filtration, and chlorination on water pumped out of local streams.

A passage from a field engineers manual points out the importance of the purification units: “One of the most important units was the water supply platoon. This platoon operated water purification plants called ERDLalators that could remove silt and suspended matter, filter, and purify even contaminated stream water. Producing from 1-3,000 gallons per day — the larger number was achieved using separate large rubberized settling tanks, one unit could adequately supply an infantry battalion under adverse conditions” Drinking impure water could be deadlier than a machine gun bullet.

What seems to have saved many World War II soldiers from disease was the popularity of coffee. As soon as the line of march stopped for more than a moment, the men would fall out and boil up some coffee.

Purified water is stored in large canvas tanks until forward military units need it. Unit tank trailers and 5 gallon metal storage cans are used to transport the water from the engineers water point to the troops. Every unit of 100 men or less is issued a water sterilizing bag, known as a lister bag. It is usually used to store and distribute water that has already been made fit for drinking. The bag can also be used to purify water when the water truck can not get to the front lines. The bag is made of heady duty canvas and can hold 36 gallons of water. It is hung from a tripod of poles or branches. Calcium hypochlorite was used to chlorinate and purify the water. Orthotolidine was used to test the water to see if it has been adequately chlorinated. A deep yellow color indicated that the water was safe to drink. It too3 0 minutes for the chemicals to kill any germs that were in the water.

These efforts, directed by the Corps of Engineers and Medical Corps, ensured safe drinking water in diverse theaters of operation. It was also used to supply fresh drinking water for the thousands of displaced persons who were released from forced labor camps.

April 14, 1945: Old City, Herdecke Germany

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At the little town of Herdecke Germany, the burgomeister formally declared: “I surrender the town of Herdecke to the Allied Military forces at 1000 April 14, 1945. It is understood that from this time forward, control of Herdecke will be by the Allied forces.”

The surrender was to L-Company of the 289th Infantry Division.

Within several days, First Army units to the south of Herdecke had closed in to the other side of the Ruhr River. The battle was over.

Albert Vögler, a prominent industrialist and Nazi supporter, committed suicide while being led away by American soldiers from his luxurious Hause Ende Ville in north Herdecke. He bit down on a hidden cyanide pill, dying instantly. Despite his death, he was still identified as one of the defendants in the Nuremberg trials of prominent industrialists, which prosecuted the group of businessmen who helped Hitler. The industrialists were tried at Nuremberg, for using slave labor, plundering occupied territories, and aiding the Nazi war machine. Most received prison sentences ranging from 2 to 12 years, though many were released early in the 1950s.

The Nazis initiated a conscious policy of “annihilation through work,” under which certain categories of prisoners were literally worked to death. Camp prisoners were forced to work under conditions that would directly and deliberately lead to illness, injury, and death.

Vögler an important executive in the munitions industry during World War II was an industrialist who financed the Nazis, Vögler was a member of the Circle of Friends of the Economy, which was a of German industrialists whose aim was to strengthen the ties between the Nazi Party and business and industry. As a business man, Vögler feared the rise of communism in Germany. Records of donations from Vögler to the Nazi Party from as early as 1931 exist. Vögler met Adolf Hitler on September 11, 1931. Beginning in 1932, Vögler openly funded the Nazi Party.

Vögler invited Hitler several times to his Haus Ended estate. Hitler did not feel safe at the estate at the beginning of the war, so Vögler spared no expense and effort to develop a huge bunker system and to install extensive security measures for the protection of his villa.

After 1940, Vögler was heavily involved with the manufacture of munitions. The armaments industry used much forced labor as well as slave labor so the costs of manufacturing were minimal. Albert had his fingers in many industrial pies, he was involved with United Steel Works in Düsseldorf as Chairman of the Board,. He was also associated with the German-Luxembourg Mining and Smelting Company and Rhein-Westphalian Coal Syndicate in Essen Germany. In the end his guilt over the blood money he had made resulted in his suicide by cyanide.

April 14, 1945: Herdecke Germany, Ruhr River Viaduct

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The Ruhr River-Viaduct was opened in 1879 as part of the Düsseldorf-Derendorf–Dortmund South Railway, In May 1943, it was damaged by a flood wave following Operation Chastise (Dambusters Raid ). 19 British Lancaster bombers from Royal Air Force 617 Squadron aimed to destroy the Möhne, Eder, and Sorpe dams using “Upkeep” bombs, designed to skip across water and sink against the dam wall. The Möhne and Eder dams were breached, releasing massive floods. The Sorpe dam sustained little damage.

The devastating floodwaters traveled down the Ruhr river, impacting several towns and villages downstream in the Ruhr Valley, including the area surrounding Herdecke Germany, which is situated on the Ruhr between the Sorpe dam and the Rhine. The flood wave swept away a pillar of the viaduct, narrowly missing an approaching train. The destruction caused massive, though temporary, damage to water, power, and industrial infrastructure in the region. Over 1,600 people died in the flooding, a significant portion being allied prisoners of war and forced laborers.

Forced labor was used to reconstruct the arch destroyed in the floodwaters of the Dambusters Raid, but then in 1945, the Wehrmacht demolished two of the Viaduct’s arches to hinder Allied advances.

The three battalions of the 75th Infantry Division continued to press south towards the Ruhr River. Every yard was bitterly contested by the German enemy whose freedom of movement was limited and compressed on all sides. German troops were hopelessly trapped and were being fired upon by artillery from all sides. The American foot troops continued to press forward three abreast. The Germans were attempting to prevent the Americans from capturing a main road that could offer an escape route across the Ruhr River.

The 2nd Battalion found resistance weakening, and they took advantage of this to drive south through to the Ruhr River. E- Company of the 2nd Battalion wrestled their objective from the enemy. My father 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken was in the 1st Battalion which found it’s sector crumbling and they reached the Ruhr without major difficulty.

The 3rd Battalion encountered stiff resistance from Germans who had entrenched themselves on the opposite slope of a hill slightly north of the river with the intention of defending that high ground at all cost. As elements of the 3rd Battalion advanced toward the hilltop, F-Company of the 289th Infantry Division, pushed through on the enemy right flank, catching the enemy in a deadly cross fire.

The German positions collapsed and the advance continued to Herdecke with the enemy fighting a delaying action as they retreated. An airstrike was made on the town of Herdecke, and the city was offered an opportunity to surrender by L-Company. The offer was accepted and K and L Companies crossed the Ruhr River on the south side of the town.

The 290th Infantry Division was relieved on April 14, 1945 by elements of the 313th and 314th Infantry in what would prove to be the final battle action in the European Campaign.