Battle of Rethem 1945 (Aller river crossing)

Discussion in 'NW Europe' started by Willem, Jun 10, 2019.

  1. Giberville

    Giberville Junior Member

    Hi,
    This is interesting - would make a good addition to this thread if you could add his experiences as you recall them.
    Cheers
     
  2. Hoover

    Hoover Junior Member

    I have the report of one of the Germans there. A Wasp was stopped before the road bock in the centre of Rethem. It shot an oil blast to a house to the left and soaked a German soldier. But the oil didn´t inginte. But there are no pictures of the Wasp and I don´t know if the 3 crew have been killed or captured.
     
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  3. Hoover

    Hoover Junior Member

    red marked are the remains of the British position, dugouts etc which can still be seen todays. But all positons are heavily searched by collector, I only found a Bren Magazine and some old rations cans.
     

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  4. Hoover

    Hoover Junior Member

    The road from the crossroad at "Scheinebart" to Wohlendorf. Schweinebart is in the bacsk, Wohelndorf in the front. The strogpint Elfriede is 400 meters to the righter (east).
    In the right wood some British dugouts are still to be seen, but forestry vehicles are cleaning the wood of wood and they destroy a lot of foxholes.
     

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  5. Hoover

    Hoover Junior Member

    The Crossroads west of Rethem.
    My position is the former railway track to Rethem
    1. The house is known as the strongpoint Schweinebarth
    2. the road is the todays K112, a small county own road from Rethem via Westen to Verden
    3. the small road leads from the crossroad to Wohlendorf
    4. the Landesstraße 200 leads to Rethem to the right and to Eystrup to the right
    5. the railway track leads to Rethem station to the back right.
     

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  6. Hoover

    Hoover Junior Member

    to the right is the strompoint "von der Kammer", the black square marks the position ofthe 7,5cm PAK AT gun. you can see the very goos fild of fire to road down to the Schweinebarth house. I don´t know why the Pak crew didn´t shot to the Universal Carriers when they came down the road. Maybe the crew were under cover due to the fire from Wohlendorf.
     

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  7. Hoover

    Hoover Junior Member

    The "von der Kammer" house today. After it was burned down completely it was new rebuilt in the 50´s and has been modernized during the 90´s.
     

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  8. Hoover

    Hoover Junior Member

    This is the position of the old Elfiede Barn, but the orignal one is gone. This are new buildings.
     

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  9. Hoover

    Hoover Junior Member

    There still some battle scars to see on the houses in Rethem, but a lot of houses were rebuilt or will be modernized in the future.
     

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  10. Hoover

    Hoover Junior Member

    The view of the Universal Carriers: the black circle it the bridge, only 400 meters away. in the back is "von der Kammer" (730m) and "Schweinebarth" (1500 meters). The red circle is the German roadblock on the Alpe-Bridge. The small creek was an for vehicles unpassable obstacle in the center of Rethem.
     

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  11. Hoover

    Hoover Junior Member

    The Alpe-bridge. The bridge was blocked by some stone filled carts. The Universal Carriers and the Wasps were stopped , and one WASP got lost here. It is said that in the door of the left house a German soldier was soaked by an oil burst of a Wasp but the oil didn´t ignite. I don´t now if a picture of the destroyed WASP exists.
     

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  12. Hoover

    Hoover Junior Member

    The Aller Bridge in 2020. It was rebuilt in 1957. Until then a Britsh Bailey Bridge was used.
     

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  13. Hoover

    Hoover Junior Member

    The Rethem memorial between the town hall and the bridge.
     

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  14. El-gordo

    El-gordo Member

    Hi
    Enclosed file with my Fathers recollections of his experiences...as retold to me for the last 50 years or so!!
     

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  15. JDKR

    JDKR Member

    El-gordo - A great shame I had not seen your father's fascinating account a few weeks back as I would have been delighted to have included parts of it in my forthcoming book - 'Theirs the Strife'. The book is now typeset and ready to go to print (although delayed by the virus) and I am no longer able to make changes.

    Best

    John
     
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  16. Giberville

    Giberville Junior Member

    Thank you for sharing - a great addition to the accounts of fighting in this battle. Actually detailed accounts of a specific action, such as this from an infantryman's perspective, are not that common. It's of great value to add to the dry words of the War Diaries we study. Shame it couldn't make it into John's eagerly awaited book.
     
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  17. JDKR

    JDKR Member

    As my book is delayed due to the virus, I have asked my publisher if he will allow me to include Gordon’s father’s account. It certainly deserves to be included so I’m hopeful. Perhaps one of the very few pluses of the ghastly virus.
     
  18. Andrew Pegler

    Andrew Pegler New Member

    I’m visiting Rethem tomorrow and just wanted to thank you all so much for what you have been posting here, especially Hoover- the information has been comprehensive and will be very useful for understanding what happened there and where it happened.
    Thanks again for all your efforts!
     
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  19. El-Gordon,

    Good morning, A great account from a very brave man. Our Uncle Sam fought with the 1/5 Welch and was killed in he battle at s-Hertogenbosch. I’ve read loads on the Battalion’s movement through the city, but little by way of personal accounts. Did your father ever comment on that battle? If he did I’d love to hear or read them.

    Regards,

    Matt
     
  20. El-gordo

    El-gordo Member

    Hi Matt
    Have you looked on the S'hertogenbosch thread..there's probably lots of info on there..
    My Dad was involved in some serious scrapes there in fact I took him back a couple of times..last time in 04 at the 60th anniversary celebrations. For a more detailed account of the battle try and find a book by Luc van Ghent a local historian, sadly he died a couple of years ago..think it's simply titled S'hertogenbosch. He also produced a video..mines that old it's on betamax!!..which I think you can get on dvd which gives you a good insight into the battle.
    If you get chance you should go in October when the locals still commemorate the liberation of their city..you would be warmly welcomed.

    As for my father's experiences..he was part of one of the first companies in to the city up the railway line at night then was cut off when the bridges were blown..made it back after swimming across a canal and a few other adventures..but I can't give you as complete account as at Rethem..that was more straightforward.
    Also he would argue he wasn't brave..just doing his job and lucky to survive. he was a tough old bigger tho!
     

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