CHAPTER TEN
This tour can be conducted as a study in its own right or as a part of a tour of the wider Rhine crossing battlefields (See Battleground Operation PLUNDER). As the first VARSITY stand is just off the main Route 8, the Wesel, Rees, Emmrich road, it is easy to link with the individual TURNSCREW, WIDGEON and TORCHLIGHT (components of PLUNDER) itineraries as required. The tour is designed for light vehicles up to the size of a small mini bus. Width of roads, size of turning points and weight restrictions preclude an unrecced coach tour and even then, the pace of change to local road regulations, as Germany ‘greens’ itself, makes a recent recce advisable. As I have said elsewhere, the Germans do not have the same slightly cavalier attitude road laws, as fellow Europeans further west! Equally, for the car driver, I have avoided directing visitors down roads signed ‘Anliger Fri’ or ‘access only’, similarly I have avoided apparently easily motorable roads that are now dedicated to cyclists.
To save space and repetition and splitting up the story, these tour instructions are brief. Please refer to the text for details of the action.
General
In common with many of the battlefields of North West Europe, time has changed the patterns of human habitation; villages have expanded and roads built or fallen into disuse. However, unlike the immediate Rhine flood plain, where the unparalleled demand for aggregate to rebuild the nearby Ruhr has left its mark on the battlefield, around the Dieserfordterwald there has been little change. Thanks to the German’s traditional farming methods, the country has retained much of its original character, other than the inevitable urban sprawl. Sadly, this is particularly marked around Hamminkeln, which is now a small town rather than a large village, and has spread across LZs O and U to the Issel. Despite these changes, spending half a day plus motoring around this area is thoroughly worthwhile. Those who wish to make use of the network of paths through the Dieserfordterwald, should consult specialist walking maps, as much of the forest is a military training area and rights of way do not necessarily reflect the paths shown on maps.
It is worth avoiding the period late June through to mid late September, as visitors to the VARSITY area during this period find views of battlefields are increasingly obscured by tall maize/corn. It is easier to see and understand the battlefield in autumn and late winter or in the spring.
The VARSITY Tour
The tour starts on the Route 8 Wesel to Rees Road. To reach stand One:
From Wesel, follow the signs to Rees and Emmrich and onto the Route 8. Drive north-west into the forest area. At the Diersfordt cross-roads you will see the green and yellow sign to the Dieserfordter German Cemetery. It is best to visit the cemetery at the end of the tour, so continue over the cross-roads and along the N8. Drive through Bergfurth and pass over the ‘New Cross-Roads’ (signed Bisslich and Hamminkeln), remaining on Route 8, towards the northern end of the forest. 200 yards after the crossroads, the forest ends and one drives out into open fields. Park in the lay-by by the first buildings on the left, taking care not to obstruct the bus stop or the cycle/footpath. Walk back 100 yard and cross the road to a track that leads across DZ A. This is Stand 1.
If approaching from Rees, follow the signs to Wesel, drive through Mehr and past the hamlet of Höfges. Approaching the forest slow and look out for Duisberger Strasse and Alt Poststrasse and park by the buildings. The track to Stand 1 is a further 100 yards towards the wood and across the road. It is advisable not to park in the entrance to the track as it is used with surprising frequency.
Stand 1 – DZ A 3 Para Brigade
Walk north east down the track across DZ A to an extension of the forest (The Axe Handel). To your right, on the forest edge, were the RV’s of 1 Canadian Para. On reaching the wood line turn left off the track and follow the broad field margin to the head which is now significantly wider than it was in 1945. The map on page 107 is an excellent aid to orientating ones self to the ground.
Stand 2 – Bergerfurth, 1 Canadian Para’s Objective
Return to your car and drive into the wood towards Wesel. Turn left (signed Hamminkeln) at the New Cross-Roads. Turn almost immediately right into Bergfurth (no through road) and park where the tracks radiate in all directions. The road you have just followed the line of a forest track. This is the centre of A Company 1 Canadian Para’s defensive area, once the battalion had cleared the hamlet of Bergerfurth.
Stand 3 – Schneppenberg, 9 Para’s Objective
The majority of the deserted wood is now a Bundeswhere military training area and technically off limits. Those proceeding beyond the barrier on the track that extends from the road you parked on, do so at their own risk.
Walk 200 yards through the wood. Take the left turn and follow the track up hill and then right to the crest of the Schnepenberg feature, which was selected from the map as 9 Para’s objective and position from which they would patrol. From this position, the visitor can appreciate 9 Para’s advantages; some good observation and the benefit of high ground against counter-attacking Germans. Their disadvantages; thick undergrowth and some covered approaches for the enemy are equally obvious. In the winter months, depressions in the ground can be clearly seen. It would be nice to think that they were the remains of 9 Para’s trenches but the reality is that they are probably the result of far more recent military training.
Stand 4 – Bergfurth and Bridge A
To reach the site of 3 Brigade HQ and 224 Field Ambulance either drive back to the New Crossroads, turn left and park near the yellow painted Landgathaus Bergfurth or take the well made footpath from the parking heading through Bergfurth towards the road. The advantage of this is that the visitor sees the small piece of high ground on the left where a Canadian platoon dug-in. Almost opposite the Gasthaus is a large brick building, which was used by the Field Ambulance, walking towards the cross roads HQ 3 Para Brigade was set up in and around house No 421.
Continue towards the New Crossroads and turn left towards Bislich. Bridge A, now a mere culvert on the modern highway is a short distance down the road, adjacent to the gravel works. Going a little further it is possible to appreciate the country across which 15th Scottish approached in their advance from the Rhine.
Stand 5 – FORTNUM (B2)
Return to the Route 8 and at the New Cross Roads take the road signed towards Hamminkeln. After a thousand yards there is a crossroads (the second left turn) onto a minor road (Harderwycker Weg). Follow the road/track due north to a hamlet around a T-junction and park here. The railway crossing is down the track to the right. This is the area where Lieutenant Patterson fought his mobile action around this key gap in the woods that gave access to 5 Para Brigade’s position. This is also the area where the second phase link-up with 15th Scottish Division was made on D+1.
Stand 6 – DZ B 5 Para Brigade
Return to the main road and turn left, crossing the railway line via a modern embankment. At the T-junction, with the tower like, white painted, electricity sub station, turn left towards Mehrhoog. After a thousand yards, the road starts to bend to the left. Slow down and look out for a small turning (Heckenweg) to the right on the crown of the bend. Here it is possible to park safely. DZ B is in the fields to the right of the road. The Brigade’s Supply Drop Point (SDP) is to the left of the road.
Stand 7 – 5 Para Brigade Position
Leaving 7 Para to clear the DZ of supplies, wounded and stray men and to temporarily cover approaches to the Divisional area from the north, the remainder of the Brigade moved a thousand yards south-east towards Hamminkeln to dig-in. Drive back towards the White Tower and the junction. Just before entering the 70 KM speed limit around the junction, turn right onto the old road that runs parallel to the modern highway. Park here. This was the centre of 13 Para’s defensive position. 12 Para were dug-in on open ground, across the main road to the north-east, towards but short of the autobahn. Traffic on the autobahn can be glimpsed between the trees. 7 Para was eventually withdrawn from DZ B, through 13 Para, into reserve.
Stand 8 – Hamminkeln Station
Continue towards Hamminkeln but do not go into town. Instead, follow the main road to the left onto the town’s bypass, signed Ringenberg and 473. At traffic lights/crossroads with the 473 go straight across and turn right just after the Aldi Sud. Follow this road (the railway can be glimpsed between the bushes immediately to the left. Pass the small Hamminkeln station and gasthaus and park on the hard standing. Between this point and the central area of the now sprawling Haminkeln village was LZ O used by the Ox and Bucks LI. Sadly, modern buildings and roads have replaced the stacks of Dieserfordterwald timber awaiting shipment around which the Oxs and Bucks fought in March 1945.
Stand 9 – LZ O1 Road Bridge
Retrace your steps to crossroads and park in or near the Aldi car park. Walk down to the junction; turn right towards Ringenberg, cross the railway line to reach the Road Bridge across the steep banked River Issel. Just to the north (left) is the Railway Bridge (LZ O2). Those visitors expecting to see the Ox and Bucks LI memorial will be disappointed as it was moved when the bridge was replaced and the road widened.
Stand 10 – The Rail Bridge
Having crossed the Road Bridge, take the next left onto a road through some modern housing. Turn left at the T-junction and at the end of the road take the track into the wood. The original rail bridge, captured by B Company 2 Ox and Bucks Light Infantry, is immediately in front of you, complete with bullet holes and strike marks.
Stand 11 LZ X – RUR Bridge
Drive back past Hamminkeln Station, turn left onto the main road and cross the railway line. This is LZ U and the RUR’s objective (U1), the Road Bridge, lies beyond. Being less developed, the action in this area is easier to envisage.
Stand 12 – Hamminkeln outskirts 12 Devons
Drive back to the traffic lights/crossroads with the Route 473 and turn right (Bocholt). At the next crossroads turn left off the 473 on to the bypass (Weststrasse) around the north Hamminkeln. Where the main road makes a sharp bend to the right, take the left turn signed Haminkeln, onto Mehrhoogstrasse. This road into the centre of the village was 12 Devon’s axis of advance to their objective. The buildings are now more densely packed but the older houses were the ones used as cover by Colonel Gleadell and his small group of airborne soldiers.
Stand 13 – Hamminkeln Orst Mit (Village centre)
The village or now a small town has little remaining of wartime vintage that members of 12 Devons would recognize but the churches have been rebuilt and a number of substantial brick buildings remain amidst the modern constructions. At weekends, Haminkeln makes a good place to stop before completing the tour. There are seven gasthauses or stube to choose from, all serving typically wholesome German food. Midweek visitors, however, will usually have to make do with the Turkish kebab house (open all day), the Chinese restaurant or the inevitable pizzeria.
Stand 14 – LZ P – Kopenhof
From the crossroads at the centre of town, leave Hamminkeln to the south, signed towards Wesel 9 Km, passing on the way out, the new Rathaus (town hall), which stands on the site of that used by the Germans as a headquarters. Join the 473 to Wesel and continue south for four hundred yards.Turn right at the next T – junction, signed Bislich. Take the first right turn after the pylon line and follow a minor road (Westfeldweg) north to LZ P. At the T-junction, turn left and stop by the first farm complex on the left (44 Bislicherstrasse). This is Kopenhof (renamed Steffens), the site of Main HQ 6th Airborne Division in the centre of LZ P.
Stand 15 – Diesterfordter German Cemetery
Return to the Hamminkeln – Bislich road and turn right. Drive south-west across the railway line, along the edge of the wood line and into the Diersfordterwald. Cross the main Route 8 (Emmericherstrasse) following the green and yellow Kriedsgärberstättesigns to the cemetery.
The cemetery is several hundred yards on the left, on the edge of the village of Diersfordt, in the woods.. The remains of 538 soldiers, most of whom were killed on 24 March, were collected from field graves across the battlefield. However, 109 bodies are ‘unknown’, which is a high proportion for the North West European Campaign. This perhaps reflects the less careful approach to burial of the enemy taken by an advancing army. The stone crosses are typical of German military cemeteries, with often two names per grave.
In accordance with German practice, other bodies were repatriated to hometowns for burial or were laid to rest in village cemeteries.
This concludes the tour. Return to the R8 and turn left to Rees or right to Wesel.
The Allied Cemeteries
There are several other cemeteries in the area that will be of interest to those studying Operation VARSITY. These are:
Reichswald Forest Cemetery
This cemetery is sited within the Reichswald Forest on the Route X between Kleve in Germany and Gennep in Holland, on the German side of the border. It is the largest CWGC cemetery, in terms of area, and contains 7,654 graves. One hundred and sixty two of the burials are unknown. There are also 79 graves of other nationalities, most of them Poles who fought with the Polish Armoured Division, as a part of the First Canadian Army.
After the War, thousands of graves of soldiers and airmen were concentrated from burial places across western Germany. Most of the soldiers were killed in the Battle of the Rhineland, some dieing fighting in the forest itself in February 1945. A significant number also died during the early stages of Operation PLUNDER, among them are members of the Highland and Scottish Divisions, along with men of 6th British Airborne Division, whose bodies were moved from Hamminkeln. The Army graves are on the right, as one enters the cemetery.
Nearly 4,000 airmen are buried in the cemetery. Some lost their lives in supporting the advance into Germany but the majority died in during the bomber campaign against targets in Germany, and were brought to the Reichswald from cemeteries in the neighbouring area. Graves were concentrated here from cemeteries in Dusseldorf, Krefeld, Monchen-Gladbach, Essen, Cologne, Aachen, Dortmund and many other places in the area. Some were first buried in isolated graves where their aircraft crashed; by a roadside, a riverbank, in a garden or a forest.
Rheinberg War Cemetery
Rheinberg is a small town to the west of the Rhine, three miles from the River and nine miles south of Wesel. The Cemetery is about two miles south-west of the town on the Kamp-Lintfort road. Most of the 3,335 burials were airmen who died in bombing attacks on Germany. Their graves were concentrated here from cemeteries and isolated, wayside graves near where their aircraft crashed; by a roadside, a river bank, in a garden or a forest. From Cologne alone, over 450 Air Force dead who had been buried by the Germans were re-interned here.
There are also over 400 soldiers buried in the cemetery. Many of whom were killed in the Battle of the Rhineland. Operation PLUNDER and the advance to the Elbe. Among them are West Countrymen and Scots who died in the battle for Goch in February 1945 and others who fell in the stubborn fighting for Lingen, which was cleared by the 3rd Division on 6 April.