Newbie from Belgium

[jp]

Hi all,

thank you for accepting me on your forum. I'm 62, retired Belgian Air Force Officer pilot. Making some research on the Battle of the Bulge, and because a lot of people talk  about Bastogne, I focusing more on the area of the St Vith - Bleialf axis where the 106th had a very hard time in december 44. I already have some infos from the web, but I would appreciate any help about the Schönberg Linscheid area. Looking for maps and overlays of that time. I wonder also if there is a list of 106th soldiers MIA  in December 1944?
Thanks for any help you could provide.
I'll be walking in that area tomorrow and as the weather should be bright sunshine, will try to post pics of my day.

JP

[connie]

JP,

Welcome to the Discussion Board!

It is good to learn of your interest and it will be interesting to follow your research...and your photos.

Have you met Carl Wouters? He is also a Belgian citizen and has probably done more research on the 106th than than almost anyone...

He has his own website, which includes a list of those from the 106th (and a few other related units) who are still listed as missing in action. The list includes the dates they were first listed as missing, so you can find December dates there: 106thinfantry.webs.com/mia-project

I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for but I hope that it helps.

As far as maps go, there are several you might find interesting in the accounts of Lt. Donald Prell's accounts on the Indiana Military Site: www.indianamilitary.org/German%20PW%20Camps/Prisoner%20of%20War/PW%20Camps/Oflag%20XIII-B/Prell/Prell-Donald.pdf


Several years ago I visited the area you are researching, and Carl helped us find locations of interest. My interest was belatedly sparked by my father's letters from the war. He turned 28 during his Atlantic crossing as a 2nd Lt. with the 590th Field Artillery Battalion's Service Battery. Of course Schönberg is a familiar name. On the 16th of December 1944 Dad was billeted in Heuem (on the road from St. Vith to Schönberg--around a mile west of Schönberg), but most of the men in the 590th were in the Radscheid/ Oberlescheid area of Germany-- a little north of Bleialf. So I have some familiarity with and a deep interest in the area you are exploring. I do not recognize the Linscheid name.

Connie

PS. If you want the discussion board to automatically send you notices when something of interest has been posted on this discussion board, you can find directions for activating this feature here:
106thdivision.proboards.com/post/302/thread

Connie
,

[jp]

Hi Connie! Thanks very much for your very helpful post! I already sent a message to Carl. This afternoon I walk around the area. Lindscheid is the area south East of Schoenberg. (click the name to follow the link to google map).








save instagram pictures chrome extension

[connie]

The photos are great! Thank you!!

[jrwentz]

Hi JP,

Welcome and thank you for posting photos. My Dad was in the 423rd, Company M, on a machine gun squad and among the 7,000 captured. My brother and I visited the area in the Year 2000 with Dad. Last year at this time we were planning a visit with my family for this year. Perhaps we will be able to do it in a year or two. Connie"s recommendation for the auto notification feature is a good one.

Jim Wentz
Ohio

[jp]

Thanks Jim. Yes auto notification is now on. Nice feature. I hope the virus problem will be solved in a near future to allow us to travel again. Here in Belgium I'm starting to feel a little bit like in a fishbowl :-)

[connie]

I'm guessing that these photos were taken in the Lindscheid area..?

The choice of settings to photograph probably holds more history and speculation: two substantial depressions and a dirt vehicle path...

Your thoughts on the pandemic are interesting, too. My travel is, at present, mostly limited to mental journeys into the past. I am glad that technology gives the opportunity for visual connections with others at a distance.

Are there specific units or places or actions of the 106th that hold particular interest to you?

Connie

[jp]

Hi Connie,

how are you doing? I did a 3 hours walk trough that forest last Saturday. In some places it's called Linscheid,but the panels on the access roads talk about the "Our forest" which is the name of the river flowing through Schönberg. I'm interested to that particular area because it's a beautiful area ,and knowing a little bit about the dramatic events that happened there in 44 triggered my interest. The desire to know more about that 106th division and her different battalions pushed me to search the net about it. Of course I'm far far away from the "professionalism" shown by Carl on it's web site.(I contacted him by mail by the way. I'm waiting for him to answer) But well... I sent my 4th letter to the Director of the Wood service in charge of the St Vith zone to ask him the authorization to proceed with my metal detector in that forest. You probably know that Belgium is a small complicated country administratively speaking! So I apply for a permit to use the detector, then I noticed that it was not valid for the german speaking community, so I applied for that one. I have it now. But then I need the authorization of the owner of the woods...which is the region which delivered my first permit :-))) And that region representative employee seems not to accept anybody in "his" woods". Which is a pitty, because during my reconnaissance visit last Saturday, I noticed that the area is visited by "illegal" detectorists. I'm patient, and I'll try all I can to be able to access legally. Take care. JP

[connie]

Hi, JP,

Sorry for the delay in replying. It's amazing how the work load piles up even when isolating and staying at home! Thanks for asking how I am doing. As you noted, these are different times. But we are OK. We may not see our grown offspring or grandkids during the upcoming holidays-- erring on the side of caution-- but thankfully technology allows us to see each other over the computer.

Yes, the name of the Our River is familiar. I have, in the past (and from a distance) traced its course and know its approach to Schönberg, the bend that loops along the road back toward Heuem, and then its return to wrap the base of the Schnee Eifel region. In person I did the drive from St. Vith to Schönberg and then took the right fork in the road leading from Schönberg toward Bleialf, stopping at the sharp bend in the road where the "Engineer Cut-Off" known to the men of the 106th took off toward the Radscheid/ Oberlescheid area... But I think you did a bit more forest exploration on foot than I did in this region. You may have explored areas of final struggles and surrenders that I have not explored or researched in detail yet... Do you know the origin of the depressions that you were photographing?

I hope that you and Carl will able to connect. I believe he has full-time employment as a lawyer. I don't know how he finds the time to do all that he has and does do. But if you are able to connect, he is an amazing resource.

The regional authorization process for permits to use a metal detector sound daunting. Good luck! I guess the metal detector use comes with cautions, too. Finds could include most anything -- including unexploded ordinance. This is not something I had to think about in the Pennsylvania woods I roamed freely in my childhood...

Connie

[jp]

Hi Connie,

2 pictures of the 3 show what's left from foxholes. I've seen around 15 to 20 of them in that wood.

[connie]

Hi, J.P.,

Thanks for the info on the two photos of the depressions on your explorations. I did visit the wooded area where G Company of the 424th was positioned at the onset of the bulge. We had with us a fellow who had been there at the time & he was interested in going back. Carl had located and took us to the site. He did a successful job of locating it. The veteran recognized the site and showed us where his fox hole had been. Those were well-defined positions that had been occupied by members of the 2nd Division before them. What had been his fox hole was, if I remember correctly, a fox hole for two. After all this time it had filled in a lot, but it was still a pretty regular and well-defined depression in the earth-- nothing like the large irregular depressions in the area you were investigating. But I'm guessing the area you were in held much more hastily constructed defensive ditches dug quickly in cold weather & each was probably occupied by more than 2 people...

I am glad there are still people like you who are there and interested in getting all the paper work lined up and learning more of what happened there.

Thanks! Hope all is well with you.

Connie

[jp]

My pleasure Connie. I'll make more posts if I do progress in my searches and access authorizations.