What's new? 2008

U.S. Army-donated M-47 tank to remember the "Forgotten War"

On the occasion of the 2005 close-down of the US Army CEBLU warehouse in Bettembourg, Luxembourg, the Commanding Officer, LtCol. Bird and his staff had offered an obsolete U.S. M-47 to the National Museum of Military History in Diekirch. As the rare specimen dates back to the Korean conflict period, the museum was grateful to accept the donation to become part of an outdoor display and monument on the museum compound, planned for 2010 on the occasion of the commemoration of the 60^th anniversary of the Korean War.

M-47 tank on the move to its final destination at the National museum of Military History.

The M-47’s neighbor is the M4A1-E8 HVSS Sherman tank from 1944.

This is especially fitting, as a small contingent of Luxembourg UN soldiers participated in the Korean War as members of a larger Belgian unit, which was incorporated in turn into the 3^rd U.S. Infantry Division, 1952-1953.

Due to construction on the museum compound, the tank itself could not be transferred then and had to be stored until September 2008 in a hangar of the Luxembourg army.

Big "muscle" was needed to lift the M-47 up.

Marion Schaaf, head of the museum’s volunteer working team, making final adjustments.

Last week, the tank was transferred via special Police-escorted convoy from its storage facilities to the museum where an 80 ton crane was needed to lift the M-47 and pose it accurately to its final emplacement. It was thanks to Marion Schaaf, head of the museum’s team of volunteers and his assistants that the entire operation proceeded like clockwork. No need to emphasize that the "flying" M-47 tank on a huge crane hook was a spectacular action catching the attention of the local media.

The M-47 at its final emplacement, where it will be part of a monument dedicated to the Luxembourg UN troops in Korea 1950-53, to be inaugurated in 2010 on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Korean conflict.

Pending the creation of the "Korean War" memorial in 2010, where the M-47 will be an element next to a commemorative plaque and grouping of flags, the tank will continue until then to serve as an eye-catcher for the museum.

DIEKIRCH - Special Summer Mix

On the eve of the Belgian National Holiday (21 July) and under the title of "Diekirch special summer mix", the local tourist board had generated a weekend program of activities in close cooperation with the city authorities, the local merchands’ guilt and the Diekirch museums.

The 4 Diekirch museums participated by offering free admission, free tours, a late night opening and several special extras.  As such, the National Museum of Military history had called on Belgian and Luxembourg reenactors associations and vehicle collectors clubs to stage a mixed static- and dynamic program.  The participants were:

• the 285^th Field Artillery Observation Bn reconstitution group from Bastogne, headed by their chairman, Rudy Fourmois
• the 7e Compagnie under Daniel Reiland
• the 35^th U.S. Infantry Reenactment/vehicle association, chaired by Patrick Beck
• and the “Super Sixth”, headed by Aloyse Mutsch.

The museum’s courtyard was used for a static display of a variety of U.S. and German WWII vehicles, as well as for a "potpourri" of original military equipment, as the reenactors in original WWII uniforms gave explanations to interested audiences and visitors.

The owners of the WWII vintage vehicles gave free tours for old and young and ensured transfers back and forth from the museum to the municipal parc, the venue of a variety of cultural events.

The entire event was prominently attended by local inhabitants and many foreign visitors and tourists.  Altogether way over 1.100 visitors were counted on those two days at the museum.

The event closed on Sunday, July 20 with a giant fireworks at the municipal parc, again attended by large crowds.

Because of the success of this first out-of-museum display, plans are presently being discussed to hold a similar, large scale "dynamic event" once a year at the museum with demonstrations and explanations by reenactors featuring original WWII equipment as a way of "coming to grasp" with living history.

Making a veteran’s story come full circle after 63 years

Echternach was certainly one of the most shot-up towns in Luxembourg when the “Bulge” was over in late January 1945. It was also one of the main crossing sites for Third U.S. Army units (especially the 5th and 76th US Infantry Infantry divisions) during their February 7-11, 1945 Sauer river crossing to “pierce” the German “Westwall” or “Siegfried line,” which marked the beginning of the Rhineland Campaign and the American forces’ drive towards the Rhine. Once again, the town was shelled at the time by defensive fire coming from numerous German bunkers, pillboxes and reinforced defensive structures opposite Echternach in the Irrel/Germany sector.

Wilhelm – above Echternach on the German side of the Sauer river, pointing out to his daughter Mary from where the German bunkers were shelled at in early 1945 by US artillery, as son-in law Steve Smith is videoing the now peaceful and pristine landscape. .font>

"This was more or less the area, where – coming out of our pillbox – In was taken prisoner” Wilhelm noted on the high ground opposite Echternach on the Sauer river.

Amongst those German soldiers defending the “Westwall” and the opposite banks of the Sauer (Sûre) river back then, was Wilhelm Jokiel, actually a forced Polish conscript who had been ordered to this sector as a member of one of the many “Festungs-MG” battallions and “Festungsstamm-Abteilungen” (static defense- and bunker machine gun units), consisting mostly of “elder” soldiers with limited offensive capability.

Wilhelm Jokiel (91), now a British citizen, had a tremendous memory and was in excellent health, when he recently “revisited” the Echternach area together with his daughter Mary and son-in law Steve, who had offered him this trip as a birthday present, but also as a sentimental journey to put long bygone things to rest!

Chris Scholtes recording Wilhelm’s explantions to 1945-dated photos from a book held by Mike Boehler.

Reconstructed (concrete) copy of a 6-gun port steel turret bunker of the type Wilhelm Jokiel was stationed in from Nov 20, 1944 – February 11, 1945.

Born in 1917 in the small village of Stanislawice on the Czech-Polish border, Wilhelm Jokiel, who had been a steel mill worker and subsequently cabinet maker in the pre-WW II period, later one became a forced laborer in Germany (as he had no other choice in respect of his family) after Nazi Germany had occupied Poland. (His brother had escaped the grip of the Nazis and fought later in Western Europe as a member of a Polish armored unit within the allied forces). After a number of forced labor camps in Germany, Wilhelm Jokiel was forced to into the German armed services and thus received “forced” German citizenship. Military training and garrison duties brought him to occupied France and the Belgian coast as a member of engineer- and subsequently static defense troops’ units. Thanks to several hospitalizations, he did not really experience combat until late fall of 1944, when his unit was transferred to reinforce the “Westwall”. So, his unit, the “Festungsstammabteilung 84” (Static defense unit 84) arrived via Trier/Germany and was detailed to the Irrel sector to occupy a defensive line overlooking the town of Echternach/Luxembourg and the Sauer/Sûre river. As a machine gunner he was manning an MG-34 in a 6-gun port and periscope fitted steel cupola mounted pillbox with no electricity in the underground living shelter, he shared with several regular German soldiers.

Two German POWs, who were “blasted” out of the pillbox in February 1945 in the Irrel sector. The effects of the blast can be seen on their faces. They survived, though!.

Destroyed stone bridge at Echternach (February 1945).

Revisiting the area in mid-May 2008, he clearly recalled the location of the various bunkers (now destroyed remains) and especially the Panzerwerk “Katzenkopf” in Irrel/Germany, which can be visited today on Sundays as a museum. It was also here, that towards the end of the year 1944 he was promoted “lance corporal” (Gefreiter). His “job” back then consisted in permanently manning together with his buddies “Panzerkuppel 1515” (steel turret-fitted bunker number 1515). with steel cupola, observe the opposite side, report any suspicious movements and occasionally fire on identified targets across the river. Wilhelm Jokiel thus also witnessed from his bunker the beginning the “Bulge”, when German troops of the 212th Volksgrenadierdivision threw a bridge across the swollen Sauer in mid December 1944, but also remembered an American bomber plane being shot down over Irrel, as well as the Americans crossing the Sauer to attack the “Westwall” in February 1945.

He noted that they had sufficient supplies in the bunker – large amounts of machine gun ammunition and food, some of which was “organized” after dark at regular intervals from abandoned farmhouses in nearby Irrel. Once the Americans had got across the river, the real fighting started. Constant artillery fire pounded the bunker Wilhelm Jokiel was in, leaving no time to get out. "One morning.. I saw what appeared to be haystacks moving and coming from Echternach-Brücke! They were tanks, camouflaged Sherman tanks, which fired point-blank at the steel turret. The bunker was shaking and debris fell from the walls! Finally... we came out and surrendered. The day was probably February 12, 1945,!" so Wilhelm Jokiel.

Steel turret of German pillbox with evidence of heavy shelling by 76 mm and 3 Inch gun AP ammunition rounds from Sherman tanks. None went through completely. Wilhelm Jokiel, seeing this picture is almost 100% sure that this could have been his pillbox “Panzerkuppel 1515” .

February 1945 view on the German side of the Sauer river opposite Echternach. There were at least 4 pillboxes in this area subjected to heavy shelling.

He was marched off to the Luxembourg side and had to help carry German wounded on a stretcher via a floating pontoon bridge the Americans had constructed. Together with other German prisoners he was held in a farmhouse to be interrogated. To his astonishment, The American officer who questioned him… spoke Polish! That way he was able to explain his peculiar situation as a “forced conscript” and was even “returned” his watch, but told to carefully hide it, as he had to undergo further POW processing until in Cherbourg/France. Because of his special status, he volunteered and briefly joined a French army center from where he was transferred to England, where he enlisted in a Polish unit in training. World War two ended before his unit saw action. So Wilhelm Jokiel stayed in the UK, married … received British nationality …. raised three children and was fortunate to have survived the horrors of WWII, continuing to live and work in a country that had greatly contributed to defeat Hitler!

His daughter Mary had linked up with the Diekirch museum in an effort to revisit the areas of her father’s 1944/45 overall experience. So Mike Boehler, Luc Scheer, and Roland Gaul were touring the veteran around, as Chris Scholtes recorded Wilhelm Jokiel’s unusual story on video. Everyone was amazed at this 91 year old veteran’s physical condition, but above all – his incredible memory full of details that “popped up”, long hidden until areas revisited! Truly a great human story that made full circle after 63 years!

Daughter Mary Smith talking to Mike’s wife Sylvie, as Luc Scheer, Chris Scholtes and Mike Boehler are listening to Wilhelm Jokiel’s recollections.

High-Level visit by Government of Luxembourg (GOL) representatives.

An on-site working visit by a Member of a Government to an institution is not a common thing and a visit by two Members is even rarer. This was precisely the case on March 27, 2008 when Minister of Justice, Finances & State Treasury Luc FRIEDEN and Secretary of State for Culture, higher Education and Research Octavie MODERT took the time to come and visit the National Museum of Military History and its current exhibits, but also to be briefed on the museum’s future expansion projects. In addition to the two GOL representatives, two delegates from the Luxembourg Ministry of Tourism had joined the museum’s executive board, the aldermen of the city of Diekirch and the museum’s team of volunteers for a constructive dialogue, which was rated by all parties present as a very positive one.

A Museum receptionists Madeleine Peiffer and Mariette Theisen greeted by Secretary of State Octavie Modert and Minister Luc Frieden.font>

SecState Ocatvie Modert shaking hands with volunteer Jean-Paul Sassel.

Speaking for the museum’s executive board, Col (ret) Guy LENZ, former Chief of Staff of the Luxembourg army and now himself a volunteer and member of the museum board, gave a lively and striking briefing on the museum’s development and presented the pillars of its future projects: overall extension of exhibit- and program space, creation of an adjacent “Battle of the Bulge”- and “Luxembourg Military History”-related documentation and research center; creation of a special section dedicated to the Luxembourg “allied soldiers”, who fought with allied troops in WWII, and construction of museum-specific key installations: library, conference and audiovisual presentation rooms, recreational space, museum shop, infrastructural and visitor-friendly improvements, etc. The ensuing discussions centered around the possibility of the entire museum being taken over in the medium run by the State of Luxembourg and thus giving it a durable future with permanent staff and support assets. Both Minister FRIEDEN and Secretary of State MODERT had an open ear for the museum’s projects and requirements and promised to include them in future inter-ministerial discussions.

Minister Frieden and Secstate Modert on their “not every day” visit, discovering the hidden underground “secrets” of the main building of the National museum of Military History.....

Minister of Justice, Finances & State Treasury Luc FRIEDEN and Secretary of State for Culture, Higher Education and Research Octavie MODERT.

The briefing was followed by a tour of the current exhibits, when curator Roland GAUL and the volunteers explained the various dioramas and theme exhibits to their high-ranking VIPs.

Many creative ideas for the future use of the museum building’s underground structures “sparked”, as all attendees realized the potential of this “open secret”. Especially the large, vaulted structure, constructed in the 1870s could provide an ideal venue for a suitable audiovisual theater and conference hall.  The latter one was actually a German battalion command post during the “Bulge”, which provided a shellproof shelter for communications, living quarters and first aid station in December 44- mid January 1945.

The briefing and presentation by Col (ret.) Guy Lenz on the museum’s future projects generated a lively discussion and provided for a positive echo by the two high-ranking GOL representatives.

The highlight, doubtlessly, for all attendees, was an eye-opening “première” visit of the so-far-unused underground basement and vaulted structures of the main museum building (actually a former brewery going back to the 1870s). Volunteers Marion SCHAAF, Yves CLAUDE, Jeannot SCHREINER and Mike BOEHLER, who had spent a great deal of time measuring, plotting and recording all available underground spaces, were leading the tour of the museum’s “secret” dependencies, as all attendees became aware of this tremendous ‘dormant’ potential. Col (ret) Guy LENZ and Roland GAUL then presented a range of ideas for the possible future use of those spaces: galleries, library, conference rooms, audiovisual theater, museum shop & cafeteria that are outlined in a museum concept working paper that was handed over to the GOL representatives for further consideration. Everybody present admitted that this currently-unused space could generate a range of future expansion possibilities for the museum’s future growth and diversity and agreed that detailed planning is now required. And that is exactly what the museum’s board will do in the months ahead in order to continue the dialogue with the Government of Luxembourg to get more support and funding for a worthwhile lengthier project in the interest of preserving the collective memory.

« Westwall » on the move

… or almost!. An impressive, original element of three reinforced concrete « dragon’s teeth » of the former German “Westwall” often also referred to as the “Siegfried Line,” was recently moved to the National Museum of Military History in Diekirch, where it will be on permanent outdoor display next to the M4A1E-8 Sherman tank an the entrance of the museum compound.

The “dragon’s teeth” element had been temporarily stored for several years in front of the “Truschbaum” Museum of the Belgian Army’s Camp Elsenborn, pending its transfer to Diekirch after major construction works at the museum’s compound were finished.

A giant „dental effort“ was needed to extract the dragon’s teeth from the Westwall jaws near Hallschlag/Ormont in spring 2004.

The element itself is one of the 14 “sets” that were “bought” in December 2003 by Mr. H. CROW, an American WWII memorabilia collector from the Federal German Assets Administration. On a battlefield tour on the German-Belgian border strip in the area of Hallschlag and Ormond, Germany, Mr. Crow was stunned with impressive rows of dragon’s teeth as silent remains of the once mighty German “Westwall* fortifications that were first encountered by American GIs and allied soldiers in September 1944. He at once decided that he wanted to have for his collection and for other US museums some of these dragon’s teeth, which are in fact pyramidal humps or obstacles to stop tanks. The first problem was to find out about ownership. Through his excellent contacts with German authorities, Roland Gaul, curator of the NMMH in Diekirch, Luxembourg, found out that it was possible to “legally” acquire remains of the former “Westwall”. The second problem was the enormous weight and size of the “teeth”, which were deeply anchored in the ground in addition to being combined and linked to each other with concrete strips. A specialized Belgian construction company under the supervision of Manfred Klein of the Elsenborn museum was needed in spring of 2004 to first excavate those elements of Mr. Crow’s choice, then huge circular saws had to cut up the row into “transportable” elements. Each element weighted between 17 and 23 metric tons. All in all, a total of 12 elements were then loaded by heavy cranes on flatbed trailers to be hauled by heavy trucks to Bremerhaven/Germany harbor for onward seaborne shipment to Houston/Texas. As a token of gratitude towards the two museums which had facilitated and negotiated the legal release, excavation and transportation of the “dragon’s teeth” bound for the U.S., Mr. Crow “donated” one element each to the Elsenborn and Diekirch museums. Since spring of 2004, both elements had been displayed at the entrance of “Truschbaum” museum in Elsenborn.

12 elements and a "pillbox" were shipped to The U.S. from Bremerhaven harbor

One of the „dragon’s teeth“ element sat Elsenborn since 2004. The lower, square part is orginally not visible, as anchored in the ground

Loading in Elsenborn – bound for Diekirch, 01 February, 2008

On February 1, 2008, Marion Schaaf and Marc Baum of the Diekirch museum’s volunteer working team, coordinated the transfer of the smaller of the two “dragon’s teeth” elements from Elsenborn to Diekirch by means of a heavy 60 ton capacity crane and truck. Thanks to their careful planning and expertise, boththe pick-up, transfer and “placing” in front of the museum’s Sherman tank, went like clockwork and on schedule.

„Big muscle“ was again needed (50 to crane) to put the heavy element in pre-excavated place to look natural

The 3-fold” dragon’s teeth” combination consisting of three well-preserved humps of different sizes, is actually a piece of a larger type 1939 pattern element, which were built to counter the development of more powerful tanks. Originally, the inclined side of the hump was facing towards inland Germany, whereas the vertical side was directed towards the enemy. The height of the larger of the three “teeth” measures 1.5 meters, the smaller 0.8 meters. In contrast to many similar obstacles, those now on display at the Diekirch museum, were unpainted.

Video recording the „operation“ for the museum’s archives

The dragon’s teeth as an obstacle in place in front of the Diekirch museum’s M4A1E-8 Sherman tank (3 inch gun)

A more „dramatic“ shot of the Sherman tank in front of the obstacle

Outside the small German Eifel village of Grosskampenberg some 20 KMs from the German-Luxembourg border at Dasburg, long rows of dragon’s teeth can still be seen today

The Diekirch museum plans to create some kind of outdoor diorama with the tank, the dragon’s teeth and other elements. On the other hand, the donated “dragon’s” teeth are intended to point out to interested audiences and visitors of the museum the existence in the region of additional remains of “Westwall fortifications”, such as rows of dragon’s teeth, pillboxes, bunkers, etc. They can be visited primarily in the areas of Grosskampenberg, Lützkampen, Hallschlag, Ormont, Simmerath, Prüm and many other places in the German Eifel. Please refer to the following German museums and organizations that either show “Westwall” remains or organize field trips with multiple visits in combination with AMBA “Battle of the Bulge” museums in the greater, Belgian, German, French and Luxembourg region, packed with history.

• Hürtgenwald Museum, Vossenack: www.huertgenwald.de/hwmuseum.html
• Westwall Museum Sinz, Sinz: www.westwallmuseum-sinz.de/
• Westwall Museum Panzerwek Katzenkopf, Irrel: www.westwallmuseum-irrel.de/
• Westwallzentrum Eifel: www.westwallzentrum.de/
• Hoesdorf/Wallendorf44/45 memorial trail: www.nat-military-museum.lu/pageshtml/bulgetrails.php#2
• Westwall trail – Naturpark Nordeifel, Prüm: www.naturpark-eifel.de
or
• visit www.amba.lu and click on “Westwall trails” of the menu bar.

Announcement:

Temporary removal of diorama

Due to architectural modifications inside the main museum building towards the construction of a Research and Documentation Center and Reference Library, as well as due to maintenance of uniforms and other artifacts on display, the diorama “German antitank Gun position in showroom 1 had to be dismantled temporarily. Additional smaller artifacts will probably have to be removed, as well for a short time. It is estimated that the “renewed” diorama is again on permanent display by end of March 2008. We apologize for this temporary unavailability, nonetheless necessary for the museum’s ongoing expansion. The planned Research and Documentation Center will be available to museum visitors and researchers for on-site consultation at certain hours by mid 2009 and will contain books, technical manuals, photos, documents, military after action reports, essays, monographs, maps and other records on the “Battle of the Bulge” and the war years in Luxembourg, as well as on Luxembourg’s army.