…revisiting the past
On the 13th of September the first breakthrough at the Siegfried Line was established at Roetgen, a town at the border of Belgium. A few days earlier (10th of September the first jeep crossed the border). The Siegfried Line was a defence system stretching more than 630 km (390 mi) with more than 18,000 bunkers, tunnels and tank traps.
During the battle for Groningen the Canadians had difficulty gaining ground in the city. It was one of the hardest urban battles the Canadian had to fight during ww2. What it made difficult was the centre of Groningen as it is surrounded with canals and bridges. Only a few here usable.
Infanterie Les Fusiliers, Mt-Royal op de Radesingel. 15 april 1945
This picture clearly shows the hardness to advance to the centre of Groningen.
In for a weekend in Berlin to see the modern highlights of a reborn city with scars of it’s dark past. As a start, we immediately went to a point where the history of Berlin is clearly visible which is the Niederkirchnerstraße. The monument surrounding the horrors of the Nazi regime and part of the Wall dividing East and West that has ruled the city for a long time.
Neuwe Wache – Designed and built in 1816 where it was originally supposed to be a guard house for the troops of the Crown Prince of Prussia for the nearby Kronprinzpalais. It thus served as a replacement for the old artillery guard house. Still used as an important place to remind us of the German fallen in various wars and war zones. It was seriously damaged in the battle for Berlin.
Berliner Dom – In 1935 Hermann Göring – the second-in-command of Nazi Germany – married Emmy Sonnenschein at the cathedral. Hitler was a witness (best man) at the ceremony. The cathedral was badly damaged during the second world war especially with air raids on Berlin on May 24, 1944.
Reichstag – Herman Goringstrasse (now Friedrich Eberstrasse) towards the Reichstag. Happy faced Russian soldiers walk past the Tiergarten park with AA guns in joy that the battle for Berlin is over.
Flakturm III G-Tower Humboldthain – One of the most visible remains of the Second World War in Berlin. Partly buried under the rubble of the city after the war, it can still be visited. Keep in mind that you have a sweater or jacket with you because otherwise it will be too cold and you cannot join the tour (which was unfortunately the case with us). This tower is one of three built in Berlin to protect Berlin from constant attacks by the air force. The others have been cleaned up completely. The roof is 3.5 meters thick!
The Flakturm (Flak Tower) is a concrete bunker that is placed in a city. The bunker was provided with a space where people (the largest tower itself had room for 20,000 people) could shelter during bombings and there was room for storage of goods. In addition, the bunker was equipped with Flak anti-aircraft guns (Flak is the abbreviation for Flugabwehrkanone, also known as Fliegerabwehrkanone).
These large towers were built in the cities of Berlin, Hamburg and Vienna during the Second World War.
Today we are set to go early in the morning to the unique commemoration of airborne landings on Ginkelse Heide near Ede and Arnhem. Decided to go , for the expected number of spectators, to go on bike the last piece of the trip. On arrival it was already pretty busy. Walked to the Airborne Memorial.
In September 1944 it was the largest airborne operation during the 2nd World War. Eventually there where even more droppings than during the D-Day landings. Just like 70 years the fog also played a role in the today droppings. No less than 60,000 visitors had come down to this unique event.
Antwerp was to prove a vital port to the Allies as they pushed towards Germany. The German Oberkommando realized the importance of Antwerp and the Walcheren area had the allies. In September 1944 it was decided to bombard Antwerp with V2 rockets. The number of V2 rockets outnumbered the attacks on London with many. From october 1944 till march 1945 5960 rockets (v1 and v2) were launched in Antwerpen province. ln the early morning of 18 May the first ‘feldgrau’ soldiers from the North came into the city without a fight and the swastika flag was hoisted that same day on the cathedral. The second German occupation within a quarter century was a fact.
It made a lasting impression on all Antwerp. They would soon be confronted with a new order which took 4,5 years to be freed from. But only then the worsted had yet to happen. Germans decided to bombard the Harbours of Antwerp with V1 and V2 rockets because of the strategic importance to the Allies. Nearly 5600 rockets where launched in the province of Antwerp.
On November 27, a terrible incident occurred at a major road junction near the Central Station. Teniers Plaats (Square) was the busiest intersection in town (as it still is today). Military policemen were always regulating the heavy traffic for an Allied convoy passing through the square.
A V-2 came down at ten minutes past noon and exploded in the middle of all this activity. A British convoy was moving through the intersection and was caught in the blast. This particular rocket was believed to have exploded just above ground possibly having struck the overhead tram lines just where the traffic policemen stood. A city water main burst, water bubbling up from the ground. Soon, the whole square was filled with water.
