EuroTour

Last Updated: March 28, 2012

The tour group has shipped out to follow the Timberwolf tracks!

Following In Their Footsteps - Part I
France, Belgium and Holland
October 15, 2011 through October 27, 2011.

Our NTPA Tour Coordinator, Mary Jamieson, sent along daily tour updates
as the 2012 Eurotour rolled its way through the cities and countryside of Europe. Please enjoy the daily updates and photos while riding along on the virtual tour bus with us as we follow the footsteps of the Timberwolves through France, Belgium and Holland.

Day 1 - Arrival in Paris! Bienvenue!

All twenty nine of us including Patrick and our bus driver made our own way to Paris and gathered together for our first dinner on Sunday evening, October 16th, at the new Radisson Blu Hotel near Charles de Gaulle Airport. The hotel is located in the country near a 15th century village, Le Mesnil-Amelot. Very peaceful and pastoral. The weather in Paris is beautiful and sunny! Here are some photos from our Sunday evening gathering where we ate together, got to know each other and listened to Patrick Hinchy, our Milspec Tour Guide describe in detail the next few days' itineraries. As you can see our good friend Esther from the Netherlands is in Paris to greet us. Thank you, Esther!

Day 2 - Excursion Parisienne

We started out the day in Drancey, a suburb of Paris that housed a concentration camp for British and Belgian prisioners of war and later French citizens who were Jewish while they were waiting to be transferred to the death camps during WWII. Today the park is a place of remembrance. From Drancey we drove along the old Roman road, now a highway into Paris through the old gate, Port Villete. We drove through some of the districts of Paris. We saw a peek of Sacre Coeur, stopped at the Eiffel Tower, drove all the way around the Arc de Triomphe, all while moving from the far outer to an inner lane in a huge tour bus. Wait a minute, who am I kidding, they don’t have driving lanes in Paris, they don’t even have stripes on the road; it is a total free for all!! It was pretty amazing and exciting all at the same time!! We took a lovely cruise on the Seine River, seeing many sights including the Louvre, the Notre Dame cathedral, the Assemblee Nationale building, the former train station now a museum housing impressionist artists, including Monet. We stopped for lunch at a food court in the basement of the Louvre, where we had some free time to explore the city center on our own.

Day 3 - Versailles and the Red Ball Express

Off to a bit of a slow start. We had a tour member spend the evening in the hospital, so we went to the hospital in the morning before starting our tour and then headed for Versailles. Besides being the royal palace for the French royalty, Versailles was the World War II Supreme Headquarters for Allied European Forces or SHAEF headquarters as it was known. We had an opportunity to either tour the gardens at Versailles, or walk into town to do some exploring or just sit down and take a long and leisurely lunch. After lunch we followed the route of the famed Red Ball Express which the Timberwolves drove for about a month. John Hobson, on the left of the Red Ball photo, actually drove the Red Ball and was able to share stories about the route, the drive and the experience. Priceless!!

Day 4 - The Normandy Beaches

We stayed in Bayeux last night, home to the famous Bayeux tapestry and Bayeux Cathedral. Bayeux is a beautiful city with many beautiful old buildings and a beautiful old town area. Today we traveled the beaches of Normandy starting at Arromanches near the Canadian and British beaches of Juno and Gold. We saw the remains of German bunkers that still had the remnants of the guns in them. We traveled to Omaha beach and saw the remains of the artificial harbor, Mulberry B, still in the water off the beach. We drove up to the desolate and decimated Point du Hoc that is covered with building-sized craters from the allied bombing runs in conjunction to D-Day. We visited the church where John Steele from the 82nd Airborne Division (think movie: Longest Day with Red Buttons) hung from the steeple of the church in Sainte Mere Eglise and where they have church windows with paratroopers in the stained glass, dedicated to the 82nd rangers. For me, the most memorable thing we sawy today was Utah Beach as it is where my dad landed in France on September 7, 1944, three months following D-Day. The rest the 104th Infantry Division came into France through Cherbourg harbor, which we also visited today, but the 415th Regiment came ashore with a beach landing on Utah Beach. After seeing the town and harbor at Cherbourg, we went to Valognes where we were shown the actual fields where the 104th bivouacked after arriving in France. Then we moved on to Barneville and saw the area in which they bivouacked in Barneville. Talk about following in their footsteps...this is amazing!

Day 5 - Bayeaux and the Road to Belgium

Today we visited the Bayeux Cathedral and tapestry. The Cathedral, Notre-Dame de Bayeux, was most impressive on the outside and very large but I must say, when we went inside, I was a little disappointed as it was not nearly as elaborate or impressive on the inside as it was on the outside. Patrick, our tour guide, mentioned that Bayuex was once a large druid and pagan center of worship. He went on to tell us, whenever the church wished to increase its presence in an area of strong druid and pagan influence, the church built would be much larger and imposing, that other areas where pagan worship was not such a strong influence. Perhaps that explains the extraordinary cathedral on the outside and the quite ordinary church on the inside. The Bayuex tapestry is housed in a separate museum called the Centre Guillaume le Conquérant. It is an amazing “art” history of the Norman Conquest of England. The whole story is embroidered on a piece of cloth about twelve inches wide and 230 feet long. After visiting Bayuex, we continued north through Normandy passing through the city of Caen, across the River Orne, through the Seine River Estuary areas and across the Le Pont de Normandie bridge, the second largest cable stayed bridge in the world, near Honfleur and LeHarve. Near the bridge, between Rouen and LeHarve is where the “cigarette camps” of WWII were located including Camp Lucky Strike, the Camp which the Timberwolves passed through on their way home from Europe. Camp Lucky Strike was on the northwestern side of LeHarve, along the coast. We continued on north for most of the day ending up in Brussels, Belgium at about 8:30 in the evening.

Day 6 - NATO and Henri-Chappelle

Friday we started our day of with a walking tour of the Grand Plaz of Brussels, Belgium, seeing the various Merchant Gild’s ornate buildings. We saw the flower market Brussels is known for as well as many lace and chocolate shops. Yum!! We took a bus tour to see the Royal Palace, Royal Cathedral Notre-Dame au Sablon and saw a beautiful city park. Did, I mention it was the Royal City Park? We visited the wonderful Military/Air Museum in Brussels and were awed by their amazing WWII collection that covered the events leading up to the war and all nations involved in operations within the European Theater. Truly, one of a kind! Then we were on our way to a very special event, lunch at NATO to honor our WWII veterans. We had special security clearance into NATO, which was arranged ahead of time, so when we got to the front gate, our veterans were transferred to a van for a “chauffeured” ride into the NATO headquarters community area. After the rest of our tour delegation had gone through security, a sergeant from NATO security boarded our tour bus, and accompanied the rest of tour delegation directly to the center. When we entered the center, we were greeted by a number of military personnel who escorted us to a dining area complete with linen table cloths, very nice table ware, wine glasses, etc. The veterans each had a member of the armed forces seated next to them, spanning branches and ranks, from a Navy Corpsman to an Army Colonel. Each veteran was introduced and recognized, and presented a plaque. One of the guest’s, LTC Joel Alexander’s wife had a Timberwolf connection. They brought a picture of her great uncle, who was killed in battle at Stolberg, Germany and is buried at Henri Chapelle. After lunch, we left NATO and headed for Henri Chapelle where we were greeted by the Friends of the Timberwolves and the Assistant Superintendant of the Cemetery. We had a short ceremony and wreath laying event under the angel statue. This left us some time to visit some of the 335 graves of Timberwolves who are buried at Henri Chapelle for the rest of our hour at the cemetery. After the cemetery visit concluded, we visited for a short while with the Friends of the Timberwolves and then headed back to Brussels.

A poolside encounter - "Time heals old wounds"

Time Heals Old Wounds
by Patricia Wilens

"My father, Philip Wilens, was wounded in December 1944, in a skirmish at a sports complex at Rolsdorf, Germany, a suburb of Duren...."

Here is the full story as told by Patricia: Time Heals Old Wounds

Day 7 - Holland and The Friends of the Timberwolves!

Today we left Brussels and headed for the Belgian-Holland border. We came first to the Atomium which is on the outer east side of Brussels. The atomium was built for the 1958 World’s Fair. Next we headed for Antwerp and the Shelt Estuary which was a primary focus of the Timberwolf battles in the area of the Belgian/Holland Border. Later we set off for Achtmaal where the friends of the Timberwolves were waiting for us in their WWII uniforms and vehicles. They caravanned with us for the rest of the day as we visited battlefields in the Achtmaal and Zundert area. Peet VanOers told us about each particular battle, showed us any remaining battle damage, and even introduced us to a French man who was a boy living in one of the farm houses at the time it was attacked. We visited battle sites near Achtmaal, Wernhout, and Zundert. We laid a wreath at the Timberwolf memorial in Zundert and we had lunch in Achtmaal and then in the afternoon Peet and Peter Neeb walked/drove us to a place deep in the woods near Rijsbergen where the Germans had burned down a house that belonged to a forester named Neefs and his family. The family had allowed Dutch Resistance soldiers to have a radio post in the house, as it was a perfect remote location. The Dutch Resistance was convinced the liberation was near and unfortunately they were wrong. The liberation was delayed and due partially to the delay and the activity surrounding the residence, the occupants of the residence were betrayed to the Germans. The father, mother, and two of her children, along with the Resistance soldiers who were taking shelter in their house, were killed when the Germans came calling. There was a gunfight in the house and the mother and some of the soldiers took shelter in the basement. The Germans set the house on fire and for the father, mother, two of the children and most of the others it was too late. Only six survived to tell the story of the Forester Neefs. We learned that occupied Belgium and the Netherlands suffered many personal losses to their friends and families. We laid a wreath at this memorial and we thank Peet and Peter for sharing this bit of history with us. For although this history had no direct relationship to the Timberwolves liberating their area, this tells us about the suffering and pain they went through before the Timberwolves arrived and just why they were so grateful to see the 104th Timberwolf Infantry Division arrive in their neighborhoods.

Day 8 - The Wuustwezel Commemoration

We visited both the Oostvogel’s Museum and the Museum from the Friends of the Timberwolves located in Achtmaal. In fact, the Friends of the Timberwolves fixed lunch for us out of a vintage army field kitchen. We ate lunch, looked through both museums and had a great time visiting and taking pictures of each other and also of all of the various restored army vehicles and military equipment located in the museum. After lunch we headed back over the border of Belgium (which really is just a few miles away) to the City of Wuustwezel where sixty-seven years ago, to the day, the 104th Timberwolf Division relieved the British 49th Polar Bear Division at Wuustwezel, and engaged the enemy for the first time, in the liberation of Wuuswezel. Our veterans and entire tour delegation was invited as special guests of the Polar Bear Association and the City of Wuustwezel to a commemoration event in Wuustwezel dedicating a plaque to the Timberwolves. It was a very special event with dignitaries present including the Aide-de-Camp of the King of Belgium, the British Ambassador to Belgium and a representative of the US Defense Attaché from Brussels. There was a marching band, and a chorus, our Timberwolf veterans, the British veterans of the Polar Bear division, speeches and presentations, and a reception for us hosted by the City of Wuustwezel. Wow, what a day! The British and American GIs have been waiting for sixty seven years to meet again and it was an honor to witness their reunion!!

Wuustwezel resident and history teacher, Annelies Van Wassenhove, provided her touching commemoration speech: My Dear Good Friends
A thank you to Peter van Gils, Wezel op de foto, for the use of some photos for this day's slide show: Wuustwezel Commemoration
A local newspaper article here: Britse en Amerikaanse, a translation provided by Miss Esther here: British and American Liberators

Day 9 - Crossing the Mark River

Today we follow the Timberwolves through the Battle of the Dikes, seeing where the three regiments, 413th, 414th and 415th crossed the Mark River. First we stopped on the south side of the Mark River, near the old sugar warehouse to see where the 415th Regiment made its central crossing. Then we toured the beautiful Catholic Basilica in Oudenbosch where we were greeted by their mayor who invited us into the church reception hall for coffee tea and delectable treats. After our reception with the mayor, we toured the Basilica which is modeled on the inside after St. Peter’s in Rome and on the outside after St. John Lateran in Rome. Some of us climbed 144 stairs to near the top of the dome to look out over the City of Oudenbosch. It was a beautiful, clear day so we could see far away over the countryside. Following the tour of the Basilica, we went to the Oudenbusch Memorial for those who died in WWII. Veteran Philip Wilens and his daughters, Patricia Wilens and Leslie Curley, laid a wreath on behalf of the Timberwolf veterans and the mayor laid a wreath on behalf of the citizens remembering the dead and commemorating the liberation. From Oudenbosch, we traveled westward to meet the Friends of the Timberwolf who joined us in their army vehicles to see where the 413th crossed the Mark River. At this particular spot, the GI’s of the 413th had crossed the river in boats. Then they crossed a large open field all while under German artillery fire. At the other end of the large open field was a farm with a house and barn. We saw the place where Frank Strebel (413F) who is with us on the tour crossed the Mark River in the battle of the Dikes. He said as they tried to cross the field after making it across the river in the boats, they had absolutely no cover as the Germans were firing from the protection of the farmhouse at the other end of the field. They crossed the Mark the same time of year as we are here touring so he said the field looked the same. Frank who is 92, told us, he lost 30 men from his company that night. The Germans had artillery ensconced at the house and barn. The men of the 413th eventually overtook the barn and house and established a medical aid station and mortuary there. When we drove to the other end of the field, we got out and looked inside of the barn and the house. The woman, Widow Roks (94) who lived at the house told us, through a translator, that her husband grew up on the farm, and lived there during the war. She let us tour her house which is much the same as it was. She showed us pictures of her husband. We learned that after the battle there were bodies in the temporary morgue stacked to the ceiling. They buried both the Germans and Americans at the battle site. The Germans were buried in a mass grave just past the barrier (breezeway) and later repatriated to a German cemetery. The Americans were buried in individual graves and later repatriated to American cemeteries. We traveled both by bus and jeep to the final crossing of the Mark River by the Timberwolves. We stopped at a long a dike where the 415th, first battalion, advanced across the river to the farthest spot north of the three104th Mark River crossings in the Standaarbuiten area. One group of 415th soldiers were cut off and subsisted on nothing but turnips and sugar beets for three days. These 65 men bravely held off the Germans and did not suffer a single casualty. Eventually, the first battalion of the 415th was withdrawn back to the south side of the Mark River and the Timberwolves successfully completed their mission in liberating the area around Standdaarbuiten, crossing this most northern area and pushing the Germans farther towards the final objective, the Maas River. In fact, after the three Timberwolf crossings of the Mark River, and the liberation of the area, most of the Timberwolves were redirected to Aachen and the British remained as an occupational force. A small number of Timberwolves were kept back for the final Timberwolf objective in the area which was to secure the Moerdijk vicinity and completely capture all lands south of the Maas River, thus securing the great port of Antwerp for the Allies to use to supply the allied army to the east. Interesting to note, we learned that a reason for the Battle of the Bulge was Germany’s intent to regain control of the Port of Antwerp. To see the battlefields up close and meet people living in the houses and buildings that still show scars from bullet holes and shelling was just amazing. Everywhere we went there were people whose grandparents or parents told stories of the war events in the area. A story I heard earlier today is a personal favorite. At one of our stops late in the day, as we laid a memorial wreath at another Timberwolf memorial, an elderly gentleman, Piet van de Bom, was introduced to us as having been a young boy in the area during the war. I was talking with him and he was telling me a story how he and his sisters had boxes of apples ready to give to the American GI’s who were coming into town to liberate them. They were very excited! Their house was the house closest to the railroad station and one of the first houses to be contacted by an American soldier. The soldier knocked at their door and they offered him and apple. As he bent down to pick up an apple, the rifle bayonet he carried on his back scratched the door of their house. He said the scratch was still there today, just as it was 67 years ago. He said the soldier’s name and I was so amazed. The soldier’s name was Ralph Bleier, who was from my father’s company, 415D, and who was the Unit Rep for years until I recently replaced him. Ralph Bleier died this past year but his bayonet scar is still upon the door in Holland. Amazing! Later, we stopped in Standdaarbuiten and had coffee at a wonderful museum that used to be a windmill grist mill. We saw a movie of the 104th Timberwolves (Combat Reels) and visited in their museum winding up a long and fruitful day. Today was the sort of tour day that exactly defines “Following in Their Footsteps” and it left me with an exhilaration and pride that is hard to describe. I was interviewed by a local reporter today who asked me why, as the children of the veterans, our organization is holding veteran’s reunions and battlefield tours. I told him that for us, it is imperative that we honor our veterans and that we never let their history and the heroic, historic achievements be lost in history. We will pass this on to their grandchildren, great grandchildren and all their future generations. We owe it to them and to all of them who never made it home. In the evening we had our farewell dinner with the Friends of the Timberwolves from the Netherlands and Belgium. We owe them a huge thank you for their amazing, and detailed battlefield tours these past few days, and their on-going friendship and the love. I call them the Forever Friends of the Timberwolves from the Netherlands and Belgium; someone told me our old friend Cliff Parks called them the Family of the Timberwolves from the Netherlands and Belgium. Perfect!

Read the Dutch article here: Trotse Timberwolves, or translated here: Proud Timberwolves. Thanks again, Esther!

This poem was read by our friend Esther Einhuizen as we had our Memorial Service in Standdaarbuiten. It is originally a Dutch poem written for the May 4 (Remembrance Day) Ceremony. Esther read it last year during Standdaarbuiten’s Remembrance Day ceremony. It is about people who didn't experience the war, but heard the stories and saw the 'scars' the war left behind and therefore think it is important to keep remembering. That's why we thought it would be appropriate to use it this time, the first Pups tour. Toine Vermunt and Esther translated it for us and Esther has also sent us the Dutch version.

a .pdf is available here, Debt of Honor

again, a .pdf is available here, Eenvoud

A personal adventure to track a wolf - "Finding Mabry"

This story is the journey of Peggy May (Mayfield) Gouras, who set out on behalf of her family, especially her grandmother, to find Uncle Mabry, (William Mabry Mayfield) who was declared missing in action in Moerdijk, Holland on November 7, 1944.

Here is the story in Peggy’s own words: Finding Mabry

Day 10 - Breda to Rotterdam via the Maas River

We had the morning to ourselves this morning so we took a walk about Breda, returned to the hotel, packed up and headed off north towards Rotterdam. On the way we stopped at Monique Ubagh and her husband Ad’s museum and planetarium Their museum is housed in the school house where the Dutch surrendered Holland to Germany in May of 1940. We watched a multimedia show about the bombing of Rotterdam and then we boarded a water taxi and rode the Maas River into the great port of Rotterdam. It was very cold and blustery but still it was an amazing ride into a city that has totally rebuilt itself after being totally demolished during World War II. From Rotterdam, we boarded the bus again and headed to Amsterdam. We got in about 7:30 pm, just in time for dinner (European time) and some time to walk around the old city of Amsterdam.

A tribute to a friend and a Father - "Sandra's Journey"

In Honor of Cliff Park
By Sandra Park O’Neal

For several years my Dad, Cliff Park, asked me to go with him on the Timberwolf tours to Europe. For a variety of reasons I would not and could not go. Dad died last year and the opportunity to go with him ended...

Here, in her own words, is the journey to honor her father, Cliff Park: Sandra's Journey

Day 11 - Amsterdam Canals

It was a bit cloudy when we awoke this morning with a threat of rain. We walked through old Amsterdam to the location where we boarded our boat to cruise the canals of Amsterdam as well as the port itself. It was a beautiful way to see the city and learn a bit about its history. When we finished our cruise, Patrick took us on a bit of a walking tour through old Amsterdam including a walk through a very secluded housing unit that was originally populated by Catholic women who, although they were not nuns, devoted their lives to the church and doing good works for Christ. They lived in a complex in Amsterdam with all the units faced inward towards a beautiful courtyard. There were no photos allowed inside of the courtyard and we were asked to be quiet and respectful of the peaceful, reverent nature of the complex. It was a moving experience in this quiet, peaceful oasis right in the middle of bustling, worldly, Amsterdam. After our walking tour, we enjoyed free time on our own in Amsterdam. So we were off to shopping, sightseeing and napping! In the evening, we met together for our final farewell dinner. How sad to be ending his tour. We have followed the very footsteps our fathers took sixty-seven years ago as they traveled from their landing in Cherbourg, France through the Battle of the Dikes. We have been blessed to be accompanied by five 104th Timberwolf veterans, Bob Huber, Frank Strebel, Philip Wilens, John Hopson and Ross Turkle, along the way who gave us daily historical narratives and asides. We have made new, forever friends and found closure to life long searches. As this tour comes to an end, we all turn our eyes towards spring of 2013, when we will complete our, “Follow in Their Footsteps Tour.” In 2013, will start in either Amsterdam or Brussels and complete the journey the Timberwolves took through Europe by visiting the battlefields of Germany.

Submitted by Mary Jamieson Tour Coordinator National Timberwolf Pups Association

2011 tour
Official Milspec Battlefield Brochure