Hello! I was wondering if anyone has a photo of the village Kessel (DEU) during operation Veritable. I have seen the photos from Stolpi's thread (The one about the 51st Highlander Division in operation Veritable. Amazing thread btw.) and it would be great if anyone could show me more. If nobody has any then it would be great if anyone could let me know were I could look for any. Many thanks! Ps: I apologise if this is the wrong place to post this type of question. I'm new here.
I mean the Kessel south of the Reichswald in Germany close to the Dutch border. It lies on the river Niers and is close to the cities of Goch and Cleve.
Good! That is ok now. I can try to call some town officials in Cleve and(or Goch oabout local historians. May take a little while. Do you speak any German? Stefan.
Wann genau war die51. Highlander Division er Nähe von Cleve/Goch? Tag und vielleicht die ungefähre Tageszeit. Stefan.
What pictures are you exactly looking for Trisnam? I was there a week ago and discovered Kessel - apart from being a asparguses town - has deep historical roots, being the place where the German Emperor Otto III saw the light of day. The story goes that his mother, the Byzantine Empress Theophanu, gave birth to him in 980 a.D., while on her way in a carriage from Aachen to Nijmegen (both towns at the time had a imperial palace or Pfalz). He was born in a forest called Ketil (or Ketilwald, as the Reichswald was known at the time, which stretched from Nijmegen all the way to the Hochwald near Xanten). The place next to the village church nowadays is called Kaiser Otto Platz. Below picture of: (1) Otto II with his wife Theophanu. She remained at Nijmegen and died there in 991 a.D.; (2) Otto III as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire; and (3) the small crown of Otto III when he was crowned King of Germany as a three-year- old at Verona shortly after the death of his father Otto II during a campaign against the Byzantines and Sicilians in southern Italy. Otto III died young at Civita Castellana in Italy in 1002 after he had contracted malaria. But these are probably not the kind of pictures you are looking for
In my research I did not find any other pictures of Kessel at the time of Operation Veritable as the one's posted in the thread. I obviously too would be interested in any additional pictures of Kessel and the Reichswald area. I'm glad you liked the thread on the 51st Highland Division.
I also find that very interesting. I dont know if you noticed but in the middle of the Kaiser-Otto-Platz there is a fountain wich spells OTTO. While not that interesting I thought it was kind of neat when I noticed it.
Unfortunate. I hope we get feedback from Stefan if there are any pictures. I'll try to look in the City archives to see if there are any. And on a side note I went to the Reichswald-Forrest-Cemetary last week and I noticed that behind the cemetary there was a memorial dedicated to the fallen Forest officials of the Reichswald. I don't think that many people know about it tho so I'll just mention it here since it fits to the topic.
I now have a contact in the town office of Kleve. As soon as I know what this person can"deliver" I will pass on the contact details. You can then talk/write him/her directly. I was asked however:" would you like to visit Kleve and have a guided tour as well?" Stefan.
Thanks very much! That sounds great. And btw to the question you asked earlier: The towns of Kleve and Goch were captured as part of operation Veritable conducted by British and Canadian forces from the 7. Feb to the 22. Feb 1945. The 51st Highlander was in charge of the southern section of the Reichswald. It continued south of the Reichwald until it reached Goch on the 18. Feb.
Correct ... after Goch the 51st Highland was gradually pinched out of the battle by the advance of the neighbouring units of 30 Corps ... they moved back to Holland to prepare for the Rhine Crossing.
I also am interested in the contact. Would like to visit the Stadarchiv of Kleve if possible (I speak German). A guided tour also would be nice. Kleve is within bicycle distance from where I live - actually I almost visit the town on a weekly basis.
I have a question that hopfully someone has an answer to. I often go to the Reichswald to just look around. I have found many of these "Little bunkers". I don't know what they are. They seem to me as if they were for ammo storage since some of them have hinges on the top. They are also pointing the correct direction to be a fortification for the Geldern Stellung. I also have something that may interest you. I often go to a little restaurant in Asperden. In there they have a little Note from 1944 about the civilian evacuation of Asperden.