Chapter 12
The starting point
Wesel is the starting point for the two car tours; it is five miles west of Junction 6 of the E35 Autobahn. Pedestrian precincts and one-way systems cover large areas of Wesel and you are advised to make use of the on street parking in the surrounding areas if you wish to walk around the town. The Allied bombing on the night before the crossing devastated the town centre and it had to be cleared and rebuilt in the post war years. The few buildings to survive were the town’s churches and the tourist information centre can be found in front of the main church in Grosser Markt, at the western end of the main shopping precinct, Hohn Strasse. The contact details are:
Stadtinformation
Grosser Markt 11
46483 Wesel
Telephone: 0281 24498
Fax 0281 1053
It is open from 09:00 until 12:00 from Monday to Saturday and 14:30 to 17:00 from Monday to Friday.
Cycles are available from 2 Rad Hetkamp Cycle Shop at 19 Korbmarcherstrasse, on the north side of Hohn Strasse, a short distance east of the Tourist Information Centre. They cost around £4 (six euros) per day to hire; a passport is needed for identification.
Staying in Wesel
There are a large selection of hotels in and around Wesel, catering for all tastes and budgets; green tourist signs give directions to them.
|
Hotel |
Address |
|
HAUS POOTH |
Dorfstrasse 3 |
|
HOHE MARK |
Am Reitplatz 9 |
|
HOTEL GALLAND |
Reeser Landstrasse 2 |
|
WACHT AM RHEIN |
Rheinallee 30 |
|
CITY-HOTEL |
Doelenstrasse 8 |
|
HAUS DUDEN |
Konrad-Duden-Strasse 99 |
|
ZUR AUE |
Reeser Landstrasse 14 |
|
KAISERHOF |
Kaiserring 1 |
|
RHEINTERRASSEN |
Rheinpromenade 7 |
|
WELCOME HOTEL |
Am Tannenhäuschen 7 |
There is a full range of facilities in the town and a short walk along Hohe Strasse provides a good insight into the range of shops, restaurants and bars available.
Usually only people who come into regular contact with tourists during their course of work, for example at the tourist information centre and in hotels, have a good understanding of English, so be prepared to speak German and have a phrasebook to hand.
The Kaiser’s Gate opposite the railway station is one of the few surviving relics of the fortifications protecting Wesel.
Touring the Area
Although there are maps in this book, it would be wise to purchase touring maps of the area. Two Kompass 1:50,000 scale maps cover the area. Map Number 752, Niederrhein Nord – Reichswald and Gocher Heide, covers Tour 1 to the west and north of Wesel; Map Number 753, Naturpark – Hohe Mark, covers Tour 2 to the south and east of the town.
Two car tours follow and both start at the railway station (Bahnhof in German) alongside the ring road on the eastern outskirts of the town. Kaiser Tor, the Kaiser’s Gate, is a short walk to the west of the station; it is the last surviving part of the town wall and now houses a restaurant in the old guardhouse on the upper floors.
Tour 1 – 17th Airborne Division’s Perimeter From the railway station head north along Kaiserring and follow Wesel’s ring road as it follows a tree-lined avenue around the northern edge of the town. Following signs for Rees, go straight on at five sets of traffic lights and at the T-Junction at the sixth set of lights, turn right into Reeser Landstrasse, again signposted for Rees. Head out of the suburbs of Wesel, known as Feldmark, keeping straight on and after 1.5 miles, where there is a turning for Rees to the right, keep in the left hand lane, signposted for Flüren, and drive straight ahead at the traffic lights. Turn left at the roundabout after one mile and drive through the centre of Flüren. The road swings to the right and enters open countryside at the far end of the small shopping centre; the start of 17th Airborne Division’s landing grounds. 
507th Parachute Regiment’s drop zone, codenamed Drop Zone W, was Flürener Feld, a small area of open ground at the south-east tip of Diersfordt Forest. The first group of Dakotas misjudged their bearings and dropped 1st Battalion over a mile to the west (right of the road), on the opposite side of the forest, however, the rest of the Regiment landed where Colonel Raff expected astride the Bislich road. 2nd Battalion landed in the fields to the left of the road, where part of the landing ground has now disappeared beneath the Auesee, one of the many lakes alongside the Rhine. 3rd Battalion hit the ground to the right of the road where the modern suburbs of Flüren are. After capturing the German anti-aircraft guns in the area, the two battalions headed west into Diersfordt Forest.
Tour 1: 17th Airborne Division’s perimeter.
Continue along the road past Flürener Feld and after a mile the road bends to the right in front of the huge flood bank protecting the Rhine. The forest appears ahead as the road heads west towards Bislich, cutting through the trees after 1.5 miles. 2nd Battalion secured this area, and the paratroopers cleared the thick woods and undergrowth as they moved west towards the British bridgehead. Beyond the woods, the road bends to the right and heads north and after one mile turn right at the crossroads, signposted for Diersfordt. 
Part of Drop Zone W where only part of 507th Parachute Regiment landed; one battalion landed on the far side of Diersfordt Forest in the distance.
Operation TORCHLIGHT had begun at 02:00 hours on 24 March and troops of the 15th (Scottish) Division had crossed the Rhine 1.5 miles west of the crossroads. After securing the riverbank and seizing Bislich village, the Scots began to move east and at 15:00 hours contacted Company F near here. Half an hour later General Ridgway and his staff group drove through 507th Regiment’s area and headed for General Miley’s headquarters.
Heading east, passing a quarry entrance to the left after half a mile, part of 1st Battalion was dropped in the fields to the right of the road. After gathering the men together, Major Paul Smith led them towards their objective, Diersfordt Castle which can be seen beyond the lake (a reclaimed quarry) to the left. Park at the large restaurant, called Haus Constanze, to the right after half a mile. The original driveway leading up to the castle is across the busy road; take a short walk along the overgrown tree-lined avenue to visit the castle.
A large number of high-ranking German officers were captured in Diersfordt Castle.
The ‘castle’ comprises a gatehouse, two large château buildings, a chapel, stables and a disused moat and although the grounds are private it is possible to view the area from the perimeter. As Smith’s group approached from the south and Colonel Raff gathered the rest of 1st Battalion to the north, it became obvious that the complex was strongly held. Machine guns, mortars and anti-aircraft guns increased their fire as the paratroopers worked their way towards the castle. Anti-tank grenades and a 57mm recoilless gun disabled two Panther tanks as they drove down the driveway but the final assault was left to 3rd Battalion, which joined Colonel Raff after moving through the woods to the east. The paratroopers had soon cornered the Germans in the main building and by nightfall a group of senior officers of 84th Division surrendered in the main tower.
Return to your car and continue to head north, parking to the right after a quarter of a mile, at the signpost for Kriegsgräberstätte;
a German military cemetery. During the battle the area was chosen as a casualty station for Allied troops and several hundred were buried in the large grassy area beyond the parking area. After the war Allied war graves were concentrated into large cemeteries to aid future maintenance and 7,647 British and Canadian graves were moved to Reichswald Military Cemetery and another 3,310 soldiers were re-interred at Rheinberg Military Cemetery. Three thousand three hundred and one US casualties were taken to Margraten Military Cemetery in Holland. Only the German graves remain, a sombre burial ground in the woods beyond. Memorials to men from Diersfordt who died in the war flank a large wooden cross at the top of a flight of steps at the far end of the cemetery; the majority were killed on the Russian front.
Diersfordt Forest German Cemetery; the Allied graves were relocated to cemeteries in Holland and Belgium after the war.
Return to your car and turn right out of the parking area, heading north through the woods and continue straight on at the crossroads signposted for Hamminkeln. Leaving the forest, passing the level crossing after half a mile, 
the fields open up either side of the road; the site of 513th Parachute Regiment’s landing zone. Drop Zone E was to the south (right) of the road but, yet again, the pilots of the Dakotas misjudged their target as they flew through the wall of German anti-aircraft fire around Diersfordt Forest.
Colonel Coutts’ men were dropped to the left of the road on the drop zone of the 6th British Airborne Division, in places over 1.5 miles north of where they expected. All three battalions suffered heavy casualties, either from flak in the air or as they gathered on the ground, but before long German resistance faded away. Groups of men soon gathered together and although some headed north, the twin spires of Hamminkeln’s churches helped the officers to correct their error. By mid afternoon 2nd Battalion was heading into Diersfordt Forest to meet 507th Regiment while 3rd Battalion moved east towards the Issel river; 1st Battalion remained in reserve south of the road after clearing Drop Zone E. During the battles on the ground Coutts’ men destroyed two Panzer IVs and a self propelled gun as they drove across the drop zone; they also captured batteries of 88mm guns and turned them against the Germans.
Turn left at the T-junction, one mile from the railway, signposted for Bocholt. Keep straight on past the turning to the left into Hamminkeln and turn right for Brünen after 600m. Cross over a level crossing and turn right into Bruchweg, 250m beyond the entrance for Hamminkeln-Ost 2 factory. Bruchweg heads south, running parallel to the Issel Stream. The river, or rather a canalised stream (protected by two metre high flood banks) is 200m to the left. This area was the northern edge of 513th Regiment’s perimeter and after clearing German troops from the woods, 2nd Battalion met British paratroopers moving south from Hamminkeln on 25 March. After two miles turn left at the crossroads with Vierwinden to visit Bridge 10, stopping in the small parking area alongside the bridge after 300 metres.
513th Parachute Regiment was supposed to land south of the Diersfordt – Hamminkeln road but the majority landed in the British sector to the north; Hamminkeln’s twin church towers in the distance were useful for redirecting the paratroopers to their objectives.
The Issel Stream was an ideal defensive position for the lightly armed paratroopers with its high embankments and deep watercourse. Bridge 10 was on the left of 194th Glider Regiment’s sector. Company C held the area and although enemy activity on the afternoon of 24 March was limited, German reserves attacked in force later that night. Infantry drove a wedge between the Glider Battalion and the paratroopers, crossing the river at Bridge 10, but counter-attacks by Company B stopped them and after hand-to-hand fighting the perimeter was restored:
The Issel Stream was a perfect defensive position for the lightly armed paratroopers.
At dawn only 300 yards separated Company C from the unit on the left and the entire area was filled with German dead. The 300 yards was effectively covered by fire.
Tanks and infantry mounted on halftracks tried to rush the bridge several times the following night but a combination of artillery and mortar fire broke up each column. The attacks eventually came to an end the following morning.
Turning around in the parking space, retrace your route along Vierwinden and turn left back onto Bruchweg. Turn left at the T-junction signposted Bruchweg after 750m and cross the Issel at Bridge 7 after 200m. 
Turn right onto Molkereiweg at the T-Junction and recross the Issel at Bridge 6.
German attacks continued throughout the night of the 24th but the heaviest blow fell on this part of 194th Glider Regiment’s line twenty-four hours later.
Heading south-west, the fields either side of the road are lined with ditches, fences and trees, with farmhouses and outbuildings at regular intervals; hardly the ideal place to land over 300 cumbersome gliders. The area was scattered with flak positions and there were pitched battles between their crews and Colonel Pierce’s men for several hours across this area on the morning of 24 March. Gliders fell burning from the sky as others hit the ground and skidded across the grass and obstacles, spilling their contents onto the ground. Despite the mayhem men gathered into small groups, engaging any German soldiers in sight as more gliders landed.
After ¼ mile take the second turning on the right signposted for Lackhausen; park in the car park after a few metres, outside Hotel Hausdinger.
The hotel was 1052nd Regiment’s headquarters and a field gun positioned in front of the building hit eight of 2nd Battalion’s gliders, one after the other, as they came into land. Enough glider troops survived to overwhelm the garrison and captured 145 prisoners, including the Regiment’s commanding officer. Colonel Pierce set up his headquarters in the building soon afterwards.
Colonel Pierce’s command post. A field gun hit glider after glider with high explosive shells as they came skidding across the fields surrounding the château.
Returning to the main road, turn right and continue to head south, turning left at the T-Junction in ¼ mile signposted for Borken and Brünen. Turn right at the 30mph speed limit after 300 yards, turning left after 50 metres in front of the supermarket and make an immediate right turning into Wurmflakstrasse and head through an estate. The canal once ran parallel to this road, in the trees to the left, and the awkward junction is at the site of Bridge 3.
Continue east out of the houses. Company G’s perimeter ran through the woods to the left, where an embankment marks the line of the abandoned canal, and throughout the afternoon and night after the landing German armour and infantry tried time after time to break through the American lines. The Company was cut off for most of the night and for several hours Colonel Pierce was convinced that it had been overrun; only the sounds of firing in the woods gave him cause to believe that some men were still fighting on. The Germans eventually withdrew at dawn leaving hundreds of dead and wounded behind; the survivors of Company G, although battered, had survived to hold their perimeter.
Bridge 4 at the apex of 194th Glider Regiment’s perimeter was overrun by German attacks several times.
Keep to the narrow road as it turns sharp right and sharp left, followed by a second sharp left after another ½ mile and park in the parking area to the left where the road ends. Take a short walk to the bridge, Bridge 4 where some of the fiercest fighting took place on 194th Regiment’s front.
The Bridge stood at the eastern apex of Colonel Pierce’s perimeter, in an awkward salient. Bridge 5 can be seen to the north-west along the Issel Stream, 1st Battalion’s line. The Issel Canal ran through the trees to the west, 2nd Battalion’s line. If time permits and you want to stretch your legs, it is possible to walk in either direction along 194th Regiment’s perimeter. German troops attacked the bridge time after time, infiltrating the American lines on a number of occasions but by dawn on 25 March the Germans had been beaten. The Regiment had captured over 1,100 prisoners and around forty field and flak guns and they had accounted for fifteen German tanks and SP guns and hundreds of killed or wounded.
Return to your car and retrace your route back to the awkward junction at Bridge 3. Turn right at the end and immediately left onto the main road, heading for the centre of Wesel, or Stadt Mitte. Heading through the suburbs, the road climbs over a huge railway bridge (American paratroopers and British commandos met in the vicinity of the bridge for the first time), turn left signposted for Rhienbrücke onto Wesel Ring Road. The railway station is on the left after a short distance and several sets of traffic lights.
Tour 2 – Crossing the Rhine and the Battle for Staatsforst Wesel Travelling south from the railway station go straight on at the traffic lights and after half a mile turn left at the T-Junction, signposted for Dinslaken and Voerde, where there is a second set of lights (still heading south). The road crosses the Lippe river, a fast moving watercourse that is much wider than the stream on the Airborne perimeter; turn right 200 metres beyond the bridge, heading for Spellen. This marshy strip of land between the Lippe river and the Wesel – Datteln Canal, which is now home to several factories, was not included in XVI Corps plan. While 17th Airborne Division secured the area east of Wesel, 30th Division cleared the area to the south using the canal as a protective flank. Although flak guns and self-propelled guns continued to operate for some time on the north bank as 119th Regiment pushed east, 1052nd Infantry Regiment was forced to withdraw from the exposed salient.
The canal is one mile south of the river. Entering Friedrichsfeld, turn right into Böskenstrasse 300 yards beyond the canal bridge, following the sign for Spellen. The road passes beneath the railway after 500 yards, one of the three bridges on the 119th Regiment’s front; this one was codenamed Joy. The 2nd Battalion was closing in on the bridges and the embankment by dawn on 24 March and aerial observers noted considerable enemy activity on the east side of the railway. Infantry, flak guns and tanks were waiting and targeted the American engineers as they bulldozed through the obstacles beneath the bridge. By mid afternoon the road was clear and after fighter-bombers and artillery had paved the way, tanks passed beneath the bridge while the GIs crossed the embankment. Friedrichsfeld was in American hands by nightfall.
Tour 2 – Part 1: Crossing the Rhine.
The German view of Objective Joy, an underpass on 119th Regiment’s front. Artillery fire and fighter-bombers scattered the infantry and anti-aircraft crews waiting for the Americans.
Continue straight on towards Spellen. 119th Regiment crossed the Rhine to the east of the road and while 2nd Battalion moved towards the railway, 3rd Battalion assembled in woods north of the village. As the spire of Spellen’s church and the north end of the village, codenamed Patty, appears on the horizon, the woods can be seen to the right of the road. Delays on 117th Regiment’s front meant that 3rd Battalion had to take on the 200 strong garrison alone. Resistance collapsed following 117th Regiment’s advance into the southern end of the village supported by Sherman DD tanks two hours later.
Entering Spellen, the road turns sharply to the left in front of the church and right afterwards; turn right into Auf der Gest, a narrow side road, 100 yards beyond the church. Then as the road meanders down towards the Rhine, it is possible to see the enormous embankment stretching from left to right in the distance. As 119th Regiment crossed the dyke to the right, moving towards the northern end of Spellen, 117th Regiment advanced over the fields to the left to seize Ork, a small hamlet. Park at the junction end of the single track road before the no entry sign where Talackerstrasse turns to the left. Take care parking your vehicle (not suitable for anything larger than a car), the road is quite narrow and farmers use it for their tractors. Walking straight on beyond two farms, the road rises onto the top of the embankment overlooking the Rhine.
119th Regiment faced a long fight in the northern outskirts of Spellen, Objective Patty, until 117th Regiment approached from the south.
119th Regiment’s crossing point in front of Spellen.
117th Regiment’s crossing point in front of Ork.
Incredible scenes un folded along the river on the morning of 24 March 1945 as Ninth Army unleashed its firepower against the Germans holding the east bank. For an hour, 1,000 shells a minute pounded the riverbank and villages beyond, demoralising the men of 180th Infantry Division. 119th Regiment moved down to the river 500 metres to the north while 117th Regiment crossed 500 metres to the south. As the barrage moved east, dozens of assault boats roared across the fast-flowing river, depositing GIs on the shoreline. Next came the armour and while amphibious Sherman tanks, Alligators and DUKWs swam across, rafts ferried light tanks to the east bank. At first light engineers started work and by the end of 25 March lorries and tanks were able to drive across a treadway bridge, one of the longest ever built.
After taking a short walk along the riverbank, return to your car and follow Talackerstrasse into Ork. 117th Regiment quickly cleared Ork , the 150 strong garrison was still sheltering from the barrage when 1st Battalion moved into the hamlet, but two hours passed while 2nd Battalion waited to be transported across the river. As dawn broke the exhausted GIs advanced alongside Sherman DD tanks into Objective Polly, the southern edge of Spellen. Go straight on at the minor crossroads, turning right onto Mehrumstrasse at the crossroads beyond the hamlet. 2nd Battalion advanced towards Spellen on the horizon straight ahead.
The Rhine as it swings south to 79th Division’s crossing sites.
Head south towards Mehrum and into 120th Regiment’s sector. The dyke to the right is the winter levee, built to protect the village when the river level rises, and Company G crossed the embankment to cut the road. After passing through the centre of Mehrum the road curves to the left at the foot of the river embankment; park in the lay-by on the right and walk to the top of the slope to view the river. From the top of the dyke it is possible to see where the rest of 120th Regiment crossed the river, 500 metres to the right, before entering the village. After 2nd Battalion had taken Mehrum, Company K moved east along the embankment heading for Gotterswickerhamm while the rest of 3rd Battalion waited to be transported across the river.
Return to your car and turn right, following the road along the foot of the embankment towards Gotterswickerhamm and after one mile stop in a second parking place on the right at the outskirts of the village . Looking south, 79th Division crossed the Rhine south of the power station an hour after 30th Division had entered the river. Although the division’s exploits are covered in the book, the tours do not extend as far south as General Wyche’s crossing because industry and nature have successfully conspired to change the area beyond all recognition. A wooded nature reserve, with no access for cars, covers a mile wide strip along the riverbank while the villages captured by 79th Division have expanded into one large conurbation centred on Dinslaken.
Heavy fighting ensued along Gotterswickerhamm’s main street but as soon as the SS leader in the village had been killed, the rest of the garrison surrendered, leaving the way open for 120th Regiment. Entering the village, turn right at the small roundabout and the road bypasses the church before hugging the riverbank as it heads east. Turn right at the T-Junction just beyond the village and take an immediate left in front of the power station, heading through Möllen.
Part 2 Map
After leaving the outskirts of Möllen, head straight on at the crossroads into the woods, signposted for Tenderingssee and after one mile turn right into Schwarzerweg. The thick woods hid Task Force Plummer as it rolled forward, taking the Germans covering the road by surprise. Turn left at the T-Junction after half a mile heading into Bruckhausen noting the high wooded ridge, known locally as Bruckhauser Heide, dominating the skyline; a formidable obstacle to 30th Division’s advance and one that General Hobbs wanted to clear before the Germans reorganised.
Follow Dinslakenstrasse through the centre of Bruckhausen, where the task force paused for the night having made a six-mile penetration into the German lines; on a clear day it is possible to see the power station cooling tower on the east bank of the Rhine away to the left. As Plummer fired into the backs of the enemy positions across the fields, the rest of 120th Regiment pushed forward rounding up dozens of prisoners and by nightfall a large hole had been ripped in 180th Infantry Division’s line.
Tour 2 – Part 2: The Battle for Wesel Forest.
Slow down to turn right at the far end of the village into Bergschlagweg, a minor road (it is just before the large yellow road sign directing traffic left to Bucholt). The narrow road was the only available route for 120th Regiment’s tanks as the GIs advanced up the slopes onto Bruckhauser Heide. The road crosses the Autobahn at the top of the ridge, which was nothing more than a cutting through the forest in 1945, as the war stopped construction . It was a useful staging area for 120th Regiment’s Task Force Hunt on the afternoon of 25 March. 2nd Battalion mounted Chaffee tanks and Hellcat tank destroyers as 3rd Battalion pushed through the woods to the south and east of here, unaware that the advanced elements of 116th Panzer Division had entered the forest.
30th Division used the Autobahn (incomplete in March 1945) to assemble Task Force Hunt and Task Force Harrison.
Wesel Forest is a tangle of trees, undergrowth and marsh; ideal defensive terrain.
Three Chaffee tanks at the head of Task Force Hunt were knocked out on this stretch of road when they ran into 116th Panzer Division’s advanced elements.
Butch’s Night Raiders crossed Schwarze Heide in a cloud of smoke.
Follow the road as it winds through the forest flanked on both sides by ditches and a tangle of trees and undergrowth, while the few open spaces are waterlogged for most of the year round. Wesel Forest was perfect defensive territory where a few roadblocks could easily bring 30th Division’s advance to a grinding halt.
One mile beyond the Autobahn, turn right at the crossroads onto Wilhelmstrasse and left at the T-Junction after another mile, signposted for Kirchhellen. Task Force Hunt came from the right heading towards Schwarze Heide clearing.
The road was narrower in 1945 but on the afternoon of 25 March, General Hobbs was still hopeful that his men could reach the eastern edge of the forest by nightfall. Everything changed when patrols captured an advanced party of 116th Panzer Division and as it grew dark the task force ran headlong into a group of German assault guns and halftracks heading in the opposite direction. 
Three Chaffee tanks were disabled before the American artillery scattered the German battle group, setting vehicles and ammunition dumps on fire, blocking the road until dawn. The edge of the clearings known as Scharwz Heide and Schlägers Heide are only half a mile from the T-Junction but it took 120th Regiment two days of hard fighting to reach the open ground as tanks and Panzergrenadiers fought to block the road.
Head east across the clearing in the forest. 
The first attempt to cross ran headlong into a German counter-attack by tanks on the morning of 26 March and as the Gls fell back in disarray, they had to rely on their artillery to disperse the German battlegroup. By nightfall 120th Regiment had reached the western edge of the clearing and Colonel Purdue had devised a complicated plan to capture Besten airfield at the far side.
Under cover of darkness 1st Battalion, known as Butch’s Night Raiders, sent its leading company forward supported by tanks while the artillery created a U-shaped wall of smoke around the edges of the clearing. Tank destroyers used the roads to cover the flanks while the rest of the battalion hung back in the woods; they ran forward when German artillery had subsided. The advance was a complete success and Lieutenant Colonel Williamson’s men overran the German positions covering the Besten Airfield in a cloud of smoke.
The airfield is signposted on the left after half a mile as Flugplatz Schwarze Heide; turn in the side road and stop in the parking area.
There is a raised viewing area to survey the airfield where fixed 13 anti-aircraft positions and halftracks mounted with 20mm flak guns were captured along with huge stores of ammunition. 1st Battalion’s advance secured 117th Regiment’s position in the woods to the north where the leading battalion lost its way as it advanced in the dark and had to be guided in by white phosphorous shells. With the airfield safely in 120th Regiment’s hands, the end of Wesel Forest was in sight.
There is a café and restaurant at the airfield, and it is a useful stopping place for refreshments. Return to your car, go back to the main road and turn left for Kirchhellen; the edge of the woods is half a mile away and the skyline is dominated by the town’s heavy industry.
120th Regiment’s final objective was to clear the hamlets on the slopes overlooking the town on the night of 27 March. Another smoke box, extending to over a mile wide, was used to cover the infantry, while the armour kept to the roads in close support. There was little resistance as 116th Panzer Division was fully engaged around Besten and Gahlen to the north and the advance opened the way for the tanks and halftracks of the 8th Armoured Division.
The end of Wesel Forest; chimneys and cooling towers dominate the skyline over Kirchhellen.
Turn left at the crossroads for Gahlen, skirting the forest where 120th Regiment dug in to weather the German counter-attack. Take another left at the crossroads in half a mile, again heading for Gahlen and pass through Besten village, 
codenamed Jo-Jo. A single platoon under Lieutenant Shaw mounted a handful of tanks and tank destroyers and raced towards the village to stop the German tanks reaching Kirchhellen. Four Shermans and M18s were knocked out and many of Shaw’s men were killed or injured holding the road but their sacrifice severely restricted 60th Panzergrenadier Regiment and its tanks.
Gahlen seen from the Besten road, site of the German counter-attacks on 27 March.
Continuing past Besten, 119th Regiment was struggling to contain 156th Panzergrenadier Regiment in Gahlen, the village in the valley in the distance. 
Some tanks and halftracks managed to break free on 27 March and, taking advantage of the overcast skies that had grounded the Americans’ air cover, used this road to counter-attack 117th Regiment’s positions along the outskirts of the wood to the left. Intense artillery fire directed by the American observation planes scattered the infantry, leaving the tanks exposed to bazooka teams waiting in the trees.
Gahlen Church. Heavy fighting took place in the village as 119th Regiment tried in vain to stop 156th Panzergrenadier Regiment crossing the Lippe Canal.
Turn left, signposted for Gahlen, after half a mile and follow the road as it winds its way through the centre of the village past the church and watermill. 119th Regiment had hoped that German engineers would blow the bridge over the Lippe Canal if they bypassed the village codenamed Hubert. However, Colonel Baker’s men arrived too late and were pinned down or cut off as they tried to move into the village; the American tanks were easily picked off as they followed along the single road.
At the far end of the village turn left onto the main road and head west, signposted for Hunxe. 119th Regiment was forced to advance on a very narrow front and while log barriers blocked the road, thick woods to the south and the canal to the north hemmed in the infantry. After a mile the road makes a sharp turn to the right and then left as it swings over the canal bridge; the retreating engineers demolished the original bridge as 119th Regiment approached.
30th Division raced 116th Panzer Division along the banks of the Lippe Canal to try stop the Panzers reaching the forest.
Follow the road west along the north side of the canal.
119th Regiment had to push along the narrow forest tracks across the canal to the left while German assault guns roamed along this road looking for targets.
The road crosses the canal after two miles and bypasses Hunxe, which is to the left. Task Force Harrison reached the village on the evening of 25 March as 180th Infantry Division’s resistance collapsed. New development and rebuilding has changed Hunxe completely so keep to the main road, bypassing it. Turn right at the traffic lights and cross the canal signposted for Borken and Bocholt.
The abutments of the original bridge destroyed by the German engineers as Task Force Harrison approached, are to the right of the 16 new bridge. 16 Bypassing Drevenack after one mile, turn left onto the A58 signposted for Wesel. 17 6th British Guards Armoured Brigade, with American paratroopers onboard, drove east along this road heading for Holsterhausen on the morning of 28 March. While 8th Armoured Division was fighting 116th Panzer Division’s cadre in Kirchhellen, the armoured task force on 17th Airborne Division’s front had found a weak spot in the German line. It had reached Haltern by nightfall, an advance of eighteen miles; Operation PLUNDER was underway.
Head back into Wesel five miles to the west. If you want to head onto another destination you may wish to join the E35 Autobahn; there is an intersection half a mile from Drevenack. Head north for Arnhem and Rotterdam or south towards Düsseldorf.
6th Guards Armoured Brigade broke out along the Holsterhausen road on 28 March with 513th Parachute Regiment perched on top of their tanks.
Allied Formations
Supreme Allied Headquarters
(SHAEF)
Army Groups
12 Army Group
21 Army Group
Armies
First Airborne
First Canadian
First US
Second British
Third US
Ninth US
American Formations Corps
XIII
XVI
XIX
XVIII Airborne
Airborne
17th US Airborne Division
194th Glider
507th Parachute
513th Parachute
82nd Airborne Division
101st Airborne Division
Air Force Formations
Eighth US Air Force
9th US Bombardment
Division
29th US Tactical Air Force
Armoured
8th Armoured Division
9th Armoured Division
14th Tank Battalion
18th Tank Battalion
30th Tank Battalion
80th Tank Battalion
605th Tank Destroyer
Battalion
717th Tank Battalion
743rd Tank Battalion
744th Tank Battalion
771st Tank Battalion
813th Tank Destroyer
Battalion
823rd Tank Destroyer
Battalion
843rd Tank Destroyer
Battalion
Artillery
89th Chemical Mortar
Battalion
144th Anti-Tank Battery
155th Anti-Tank Battalion
387th AA Automatic Weapons
Battalion
692nd Field Artillery
Battalion
Engineers
105th Engineers
1153rd Engineer Combat
Group
Infantry
5th Infantry Division 30th Infantry Division 117th Regiment
119th Regiment
120th Regiment
35th Division 75th Division
79th Division
313th Regiment 314th Regiment
315th Regiment
7th Armd Inf Bat
27th Armd Inf Bat
49th Armd Inf Bat
58th Armd Inf Bat
British Formations Airborne
1st Airborne Division
6th Airborne Division
6th Air Landing Brigade
3rd Parachute Brigade
5th Parachute Brigade
Air Force
2nd Tactical Air Force
Royal Air Force
Armoured
6th Guards Armoured
Brigade
Infantry
1st Commando Brigade
15th (Scottish) Division
51st (Highland) Division
53rd Division
German Formations
Army Group H
Armies
First Parachute
Fifteenth
Corps
LXXXVI
LXIII
XXXXVII Panzerkorps
Divisions
2nd Parachute
6th Parachute
7th Parachute
8th Parachute
11th Panzer
15th Panzergrenadier
84th Infantry
116th Panzer
180th Infantry
Hamburg
Regiments
60th Panzergrenadier
156th Panzergrenadier
588th Infantry
1052nd Infantry
1221st Infantry
Operations
FLASHPOINT
GRENADE
INTERDICT NORTHWEST
GERMANY
MARKET GARDEN
OVERLORD
PLUNDER
TORCHLIGHT
TURNSCREW
VARSITYet al
WIDGEON
Personnel, Allied
Anderson, General John B
Baade, Major-General Paul
Baker, Colonel Russell A
Bradley, General Omar
Cantey, Colonel
Colson, Brigadier Charles
Coutts, Colonel James
Dempsey, General Miles
Devine, Brigadier General
John M
Eisenhower, General Dwight D9
Gibney, Colonel Jesse
Harrison, Brigadier General
William
Heslong, Lieutenant Colonel
Hobbs, General Leland S
Hodges, General Courtney
Hunt, Colonel Richard
Johnson, Colonel Walter
Kent, Colonel
King, Colonel Norman
McCown, Lieutenant Colonel
McCullough, Major Chris
Moncrieff, Captain Charles
Montgomery, Field Marshal
Bernard
Patton, General George S
Pierce, Colonel James
Purdue, Colonel Branner
Raff, Colonel Edson
Ridgway, General Matthew
Robinson, Colonel Warren
Schriner, Colonel Andrew
Simpson, General William
Stewart, Lieutenant Colonel
Van Bibber, Colonel Edwin
Wallace, Colonel Robert
Wyche, General Ira T
Personnel, German
Abraham, General Erich
Blaskowitz, General Johannes
Kesselring, Feldmarschall
Albert
Meindl, General Eugen
Rundstedt, Feldmarschall
Gerd von
Schlemm, General Albert
Strabe, General Erich
Places
Aachen
Antwerp
Arnhem Ardennes
Bastogne
Besten
Bruckhausen
Bruckhauser Heide
Brunen
Buchholt
Düsseldorf
Diersfordt
Dinslaken
Dorsten
Eickhof
Eindhoven
Ekamp
Emmerich
Eppinghoven
Gahlen
Gotterswickerhamm
Holten
Holsterhausen
Holthausen
Hovelsberg
Hunxe
Hurtgen Forest
Issel Canal
Issel Stream
Janinhof
Kirchhellen
Koblenz
Lippe Canal
Lippe River
Lohnen
Maas River
Meesenhof
Mehrum
Möllen
Neue-Ernscher Canal
Nijmegen
Rees
Remagen
Rheinberg
Röer River
St Vith
Schanzenberg
Scheldt Estuary
Schermbeck
Schlagers Heide
Spellen
Vierlinden
Walsum
Warnung Woods
Wehofen
Wesel
Wurm-Gotterswick
Xanten
US Airborne forces in training. Firing a Browning MG, M1919A6, .30.
Landing craft on the east bank of the Rhine, off-loading men of the 79th Division near Orsoy.
General George S. Patton Third Army’s flamboyant leader. He stole the limelight by crossing the Rhine twenty-four hours before the Ninth US Army.
A bridge across the Rhine in the area of General Patch’s 7th Army. The barrier the the heart of Germany was being successfully ‘bounced’ along its entire length.
Top left: Shoulder flash of the 9th Army.
Left: 79th Infantry Division, ‘Lorraine’. Inclusion of the Cross of Lorraine stemmed from service in France during the First World War.
Below left: 30th Infantry Division, ‘Old Hickory’. They took the nickname of President Andrew Jackson, in whose home state, Tennessee, the unit was raised.
Top: The 17th Airborne Division ‘Thunder from Heaven’ was a new division activated in April 1943 at Camp Mackall, North Carolina.