VERITABLE 1945: 15th Scottish & 43rd Wessex Divisions in the Reichswald battle

Discussion in 'NW Europe' started by stolpi, Dec 2, 2013.

  1. BG2012

    BG2012 Member

    This is a fantastic thread ! My Grandfather was in the 73rd ATK , I need to look back at the war dairy to see where they fit in with the detailed infomation you have here.
     
  2. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    Some of the war material left behind in the area has found a more peacefull destination:

    009a.jpg

    A garden gate made up by what looks to me part of a German 75mm tube (?).

    004a.jpg 007a.jpg
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2016
  3. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

  4. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    Owen, there are actually two (pic 1 & 2 are different poles). Not only muzzle brakes, but also the cut off end of the gun barrels. Looks like PAK40, but could also be part of a tank barrel (Jagdpanther/Panther).
     
  5. besteric

    besteric Junior Member

    Pieter,

    I can´t wait to see this.

    Eric
     
    stolpi likes this.
  6. PaulE

    PaulE Senior Member

    What an amazing use for a relic !!
     
  7. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    Sorry guys I really would have loved to finish this thread, but, on March 30, during one of my tours in the Reichswald area, I had a frontal crash with an oncoming biker (his fault) and since then have trouble with my arm and shoulder. Have to take it easy for some time.
     
    Last edited: Aug 26, 2018
  8. BG2012

    BG2012 Member

    Ouch ! There is plenty here for me to read :), hope the arm gets better.
     
  9. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    Slowly picking up work on this thread again. Made a first cycle tour last weekend to the Reichswald and added new pictures to post #4 (Ayr Route/Cranenburgse Straat) and posts # 54 & 56 (headstones).

    Added new pictures to post # 23 Cleve
     
  10. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    Exhibition about the Rhineland battle 1945 near Cleve

    In Spyck near Cleve an exhibition took place about the Rhineland battle 1945, which lasted until 12 October (today). One of the exhibits of this event was this site on the internet, which gives a nice series of photographs: then & now and then meets now: www.das-war-hier.de

    Kleve Kavarinerstrasse 3.jpg

    Kleve Kavarinerstrasse 3a.jpg

    Kleve Kavarinerstrasse 3b.jpg

    For the film sequence see (from 1:07 onwards): The Push In The Rhine - Complete Version
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2016
  11. Really pleased to see an update to this thread, which has to be one of the best posted on this Forum.

    Has you research got as far as 53 Div's battle for Weeze?
     
  12. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    Jonathan - I first have to finish this one: advance to Gocherberg and capture of Goch by 43rd Wessex & 15 Scottish.
     
  13. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    Filmreels re OPERATION VERITABLE to be found on the internet:

    1) The fall of Goch:

    Goch grabbed GOCH GRABBED! - British Pathe

    More pictures of Goch and the anti-tank ditches surrounding the place: INVASION SCENES GERMANY: BRITISH TROOPS - British Pathé

    2) Flooded communication lines:

    Views of the flooded communication lines along the northern fringes and the muddy condition of the roads within the Reichswald, which demonstrates the difficulties the British experienced in keeping the offensive going:

    FLOODED AND MUD BOUND ROADS - British Pathé

    INVASION SCENES - EUROPE - British Pathe

    3) Veritable :



    Not sure where these films were taken, Reichswald, Cleve/Goch (?) the last sequence is 5th Black watch, of the 51st Highland Division in Gennep (from 00.01.48 onwards):

    THE PUSH IN THE RHINE - complete version - British Pathe

    More Veritable from 00.01.13 onwards:

    WEST FRONT WAR REPORT - British Pathe

    I like the umbrella at 00.02.27 marvellous shot.

    Canadian News reel no. 60 operations in the flooded Rhineflats north of the Reichswald & it also gives a good impression of the massive opening bombardment by the artillery



    Battle for Cleve Movietone News reel:




    4) Attack on the Reichswald:

    Finally, this filmreel contains many fragments of the completely shot up Reichswald forest in the 51st Highland Division sector:

    ( INVASION SCENES - EUROPE ) - British Pathe

    Rocket Battery firing near Groesbeek:
    INVASION SCENES EUROPE - British Pathé

    5) Road to Cleve

    INVASION SCENES - British Pathé

    Images of the destroyed town of Cleve
    INVASION SCENES - British Pathé

    6) German Documentary "Krieg am Niederrhein":

    Krieg am Niederrhein - Teil 1 - YouTube (part 1)
    Krieg am Niederrhein - Teil 2 - YouTube (part 2)
    Krieg am Niederrhein - Teil 3 - YouTube (part 3)

    Krieg am Niederrhein ( Gennep NL.) - YouTube

    7) Operation Veritable (general)

    This uploaded documentary on You Tube gives a good overview of the whole Rhineland battle (incl. the Cdn operation Blockbuster).

    23rd Field Regiment (S.P.) RCA-Episode 5, Part 2/4 Operation Veritable Part One - YouTube
    23rd Field Regiment (S.P.) RCA-Episode 5, Part 3/4, Operation Veritable Part Two - YouTube

    ... and last, but not least Battle for the Rhineland (IWM Collections):
    BATTLE FOR THE RHINELAND PART 1: OPERATION VERITABLE - THE FIRST THREE DAYS [Main Title]
    BATTLE FOR THE RHINELAND PART 2: OPERATION VERITABLE - FROM KLEVE TO GOCH [Main Title]
    BATTLE FOR THE RHINELAND PART 3: FINAL MOVES [Main Title]
     
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2019
  14. Nijmegen

    Nijmegen Member

    I very much like the overview you get after watching the two parts of point 7!
     
  15. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    Just thought it appropriate to give this thread a little bump: on the eve of the Rhineland-battle ... 70 years ago.
     
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  16. Bedee

    Bedee Well-Known Member

    "They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
    Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
    At the going down of the sun and in the morning
    We will remember them."


    70 years ago, today a small remembrance on the CWGC Groesbeek, many people, many nations, many thoughts.
    My son was there because his school "De Sieppe" was involved in this rememberance. He was one of the 6 children who brought in some Flowers and a Candle.
    It was of the grave of Major John Cambell, Calgary Highlanders 08-02-1944, his daugther was there with a small but impressive speech.
     
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  17. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

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  18. PASSOUT

    PASSOUT Junior Member

    My uncle was with 15scotts. Killed at. Nettle camp. Leonard Sydney Jackson.
     
  19. ForestersFan

    ForestersFan New Member

    Dear Stolpi,
    Firstly, I would like to congratulate you on a fantastic thread, it has been a fascinating and very moving description and the use of the photos to bring the history to life has been inspired.
    Secondly, I must thank you personally for enabling me to find all the information surrounding the loss of my relative Lance Sergeant Leslie Bosworth, 4th Bn SLI in one place. Your research and hard work is much appreciated. I am attending a family gathering tomorrow and I know that many of the Bosworth clan there will be as surprised as me about the details that we now know from here.

    Leslie, like all our family was a Nottingham lad and he came from a military tradition, where his father and many of his uncles had served in the Sherwood Foresters during WWI and even the Boer War. His cousin Joe Bosworth (my grandfather) was out in the North African campaign with the Foresters in WWII as well. Why Leslie ended up in the SLI, I am not sure, but I expect recruits and transfers would come from all over to all regiments as casualties mounted. That said, I would really like to find out when he joined the regiment, to discover how much of the amazing wartime experience of the SLI from Hill 112 in Normandy onwards he witnessed. I am sure that he would have been catching up with the tank crews of the Sherwood Yeomanry on Notts news as they were riding on the tanks towards Kleve on that fateful day of 10 Feb 1945 for his last battle. I must send off for his military records from Glasgow to fill in other parts of his story too.

    There is another fact that makes this family connection so poignant for me. I was actually stationed in Germany between 1988 and 1992 with the RAF and I know the area around Kleve and Goch very well. I even walked along the rows of headstones at the Reichswald cemetery without knowing that a family relative was there at the time. However, I am over near Kleve in August for a local friend's birthday and I intend to visit his grave and also walk the streets, which you have described so well with a new insight.

    Finally, I have found a photo in the old family tin, which I hope might be L/Sgt Bosworth, however, the rank on the sleeve of the wooly pully is that of a staff or colour Sgt. Do you or your fellow experts think the uniform looks correct for the SLI and perhaps he was given acting higher rank before he was sadly killed along with his fellow comrades that day.
    Please keep up the good work and thanks again,
    Steve
    [​IMG]
     
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  20. chrisrowlands

    chrisrowlands New Member

    I have been studying this excellent post as I write up my father's experiences. My father Capt. M Rowlands was OC S Company 5th Wilts during Veritable.
    I am curious to know exactly where he would have been during the mayhem of 12-15th February 1945 south of Bedburg or for that matter in Cleve on 11 February. The War Diary does not give a location for S Company HQ but it does refer to an advanced Btn HQ and a rear Btn HQ. Who normally staffed these two Btn HQs and what were the respectives roles? My father died some 30 years ago so I can't ask him.

    Can anyone enlighten me please?
     

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