Pipelines in the Lower Rhine Area

Pipelines in the Lower Rhine Area

American and British pipeline systems from the French/Belgian coast to the Netherlands are now quite well documented. The situation is different for the Lower Rhine, where I have only found some fragmentary information, which I will briefly list here. As far as can be seen, the Emmerich Pipeline was British, the Wesel Pipeline American. Perhaps one or the other forum member has more information.




British pipeline
- from Antwerp to Eindhoven (Aalst)
- to Kleve (Materborn)
- Rhine crossing near Emmerich




American pipeline
- from Antwerp to Maastricht
- When the Army reached the Rhine, a new terminus was selected for the pipeline at Alpen, southwest of Wesel, and construction was begun on a new tank farm there.

- A major factor in relieving the amount of supply traffic that had to be routed over the Rhine bridges was the rapidity with which Advance Section, Communications Zone, extended the gasoline pipeline from its former terminus at Alpen, southwest of Wesel. The pipeline was crossed over the Rhine on one of the floating bridges almost as soon as the bridge was completed, and a new tank farm was constructed at Wesel.


German Pipeline
The following pages are taken from a British Intelligence Report, and tell on a fragmentary pipeline in the Wesel area, totally new to me.

 

If you search online with: "pipelines" + "rhine" site:ww2talk.com a few threads are found. Changing to: "pipeline" + "rhine" site:ww2talk.com finds more (with some duplicates).I have not looked at them.

 

Checked that already, nothing about the Lower Rhine Area, but thx anyway.

 

I found this information, I don’t know if it helps……maps are very hard to read

Source: Page 173 - US, WWII European Theater Army Records, 1941-1946 - Fold3

 

Indeed .. they are. But I think these sheets cover the french area. My main interest is the region between the rivers Maas and Rhine as shown on the map. Thanks, Temujin.

 

Got it. I’ll see if their is anything more

Cheers

 

Some basic thoughts / infos

The pipelines were normally laid above ground. They were only laid underground if roads, bridges or bodies of water had to be crossed. Where it made sense, the pipelines were laid in the immediate vicinity of the transportation routes. Here, of course, the pipelines were constantly at risk if accidents occurred.



The Bailey bridges were certainly used to cross the Meuse, Niers and Rhine. For the British pipeline, Lottum, Well, Bergen or Gennep could probably be considered, with Gennep seeming the most likely. The map is from 2nd Army and shows the main transportation routes for PLUNDER.

 

More Basic Information

British Pipeline
The Royal Engineers and the Royal Army Service Corps built a continually lengthening pipeline that stretched from Boulogne to Antwerp to Eindhoven to Emerich. This long trunkline was simply called the major system, and on September 23, 1944, it all came under the control of a single agency of the Office of the Chief Engineer, European Theater of Operations, known as the Military Pipeline Service. There were problems, to be sure. Because of the inexperience of the personnel, the constant pressure for speed, and the battle-scarred terrain, there were numerous breaks along the way. In addition, there was much indiscriminate tapping of the lines by the simple process of punching holes in the pipe; it was apparently randomly used by retreating German soldiers, advancing Allied troops, and French farmers. (Source: Operation PLUTO, A. Krammer)

US Pipeline
Early results of the operation of the pipelines indicated that pipeline operations, construction, and maintenance should be coordinated and controlled by one organization. After studying these results, the Commanding General, Communications Zone, organized the Military Pipeline Service on September 23, 1944, under the control of the Chief Engineer, Communications Zone. The chief engineer was made responsible for its technical supervision and operation. The Corps of Engineers was given the responsibility for the construction, maintenance and operation of petroleum-products pipelines and storage facilities.

According to the plans, this system was to follow a line from Antwerp to Maastricht to Cologne. But when Maastricht was reached in midwinter, the routing of the line was altered so that it took a northeasterly bend to Wesel near the point where the Rhine crossing of the Ninth Army occurred. When the section to Wesel was completed, the northern system consisted of 190 miles of 6- inch piping and 408 miles of 4- inch piping; one 6- inch and two 4- inch for MT 80 gasoline and two 4- inch for AV 100 gasoline . (Source: History and Traditions of the Corps of Engineers)

Later ...

 

Some kind of upcycling

Section of 3 inch HAIS pipeline converted to an ashtray. This short section of pipe has been converted to an ashtray by having a metal dish inserted into the top and thick red felt stuck to the base. Source: Australian War Memorial

 

Pipeline Impressions

Some snapshots from the NARA pool showing American pipeline scenes, pic2 most probably a tank farm.
Don't know what we see in the 3rd pic - tapping point or manometer installation? Location maybe France?

 

By the end of January a further two lines of PLUTO making twelve in all had been laid and 1,400 tons were being pumped across the Channel daily. Work was in hand to connect the PLUTO lines with the ANTWERP/EINDHOVEN pipe which was almost complete. In February the pipeline from BOULOGNE to GHENT was completed and the ANTWERP/ EINDHOVEN line was in operation.

The connection between GHENT and ANTWERP was made in March and a single line was laid NORTH from EINDHOVEN to ST ANTHONIS. PLUTO was now giving an average of 3,388 tons per day. By the end of April two lines were laid across the RHINE to EMMERICH and one was already in operation. The last length of pipe was fitted by the QMG at a ceremony near TERMONDE on 10 May 45, and from that day two lines were in operation to GERMANY from the fifteen PLUTO lines at BOULOGNE. Later a further extension was laid to BOCHOLT.
(Admin History 21 Army Group)

St. Anthonis is a small dutch village some 10 km to the SW of Gennep.



Bulk filling trees by the side of the wood in the Eindhoven area and pipelines leading from a tank.


RE depot at Lommel, pipes are loaded on to trucks. All images © Imperial War Museums

 

I’m not sure if you have these documents??

Petroleum, oil and lubricants supply and distribution in the European Theater of Operations, Communications Zone

https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/collection/p4013coll8/id/4827/download

Petroleum facilities of Belgium and Luxembourg

https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/collection/p4013coll8/id/4449/download

 

Thank you, Temujin, for this wonderful find, which contains a lot of background information. I was already familiar with the second report, and I still find the level of detail astonishing. It was certainly invaluable for anything POL related.

 

Nothing new on the German side regarding the pipelines. But during my research, I came across two interesting news items from the Netherlands.

Soil remediation completed
NEUNEN - The province of North Brabant has completed the soil remediation project on Gerwenseweg-Kerkakkers in the municipality of Nuenen and is starting the groundwater remediation. The soil was likely contaminated by tapping into a pipeline during World War II. The contaminated soil was excavated from the gardens of residents on Gerwenseweg and Kerkakkers.

Reach of pollution
The contamination does not extend beyond the back gardens along Gerwenseweg and Kerkakkers. Limited oil contamination from the former Pluto pipeline has been found elsewhere in Brabant (Aalst and Waalre), but not elsewhere in Brabant. When complaints are received, such as in the Gerwenseweg-Kerkakkers case, they are addressed. This means the province has not actively inspected the former pipeline route and will not do so. Source: dagbladeindhoven.nl (Netherland)


A small remnant of the PLUTO pipeline can be found in the Netherlands, 15 km northeast of Eindhoven in Beek en Donk. Source: Pluto pipeline - Beek en Donk - TracesOfWar.com

 

The last piece of the puzzle
Further details regarding the pipeline’s route in the Gennep area were found in a newsletter of the "Groesbeek Airborne Vrienden". Thus, the general route between LOMMEL in Belgium and EMMERICH in Germany has been established. As previously described, the pipeline mostly followed the main troop transport routes. The section described was approximately 120 km long and ran largely through the Netherlands.

Here is the translation of the article from Dutch.

Pipeline from England to Germany
The petrol pipelines were laid on land by the British Royal Engineers and Pioneers, keeping pace with the advancing front. In March 1945, work was also underway in our region on a pipeline running from France via Belgium, Lommel, Eindhoven, Beek en Donk, Gennep and Kleve, all the way to Emmerich on the Rhine.


The main network of the PLUTO pipeline from England to Germany.

It was completed on 10 April 1945 when Quartermaster-General Sir Thomas Riddell-Webster officially commissioned the pipeline. Sections of this fixed pipeline, consisting of pipes with couplings in between, can still be found here and there. For instance, in Beek en Donk there is still a section of pipe in the ground that runs under a canal, and in a house cellar in Ottersum, sections of pipe were recently found that ran through the Reichswald to Materborn/Kleve. These sections have, incidentally, been reused in a barn. A few metres of pipe have thus been preserved from the pipeline, which was over 1,100 kilometres long in total. The remaining nearly 50,000 tonnes of steel were, in fact, almost entirely reused in the British steel industry immediately after the war.


Remnants of the pipeline reused in Ottersum

Source: Groesbeek Airborne Vrienden Nieuwsbrief 12-2021

 

.


The map shows the route of the pipeline from Belgium to Germany based on the locations mentioned in this thread. If additional information is found, it may be possible to map out an even more detailed route.

No details are currently available regarding the route of the American pipeline between Maastricht and Wesel.