Early
2007 I got in contact with Eddie van Kooyk, the son of John van Kooyk,
a member of the Dutch Underground Movement during WWII.
John was portrayed in de tv series Band of Brothers offering his service
to Major Winters down town Eindhoven.(Episode 4)
Eddie gave me all the letters and some photos his father left him after
he passed away in 1995.
This
page shows the letters he wrote to Major Dick Winters during the early
eighties. Nothing has been changed in the text. (except for the notes
of the webmaster.)
Text and photos are copyrighted
My experiences with 2nd.
Bn. 506th P.I.R.during Operation Market Garden.As
an active member of the Dutch Underground Movement I was very well informed
about German activities in and around Eindhoven.
When the 101st was on the move towards Eindhoven I joined them at Eckart,
a few miles on the road to Eindhoven.
A G.I. behind a hedgerow, pointed to Lt. Edward Shames, who introduced me
Colonel Strayer, the Commanding Officer of the 2nd.Bn.506.
At the city limits of Eindhoven I advised Colonel Strayer to send his Men
down the Eckartseweg to the center of Eindhoven to capture the Railroad Station
and the many bridges over the Dommel River. One of my friends of the underground
would lead these men to these objects.
Entering Eindhoven we
were fired upon by German snipers in an old Church Tower, called "De
Oude Toren". ( right)
Eddie Shames took some prisoners and lined them up against the wall of the
Church, corner Kloosterdreef and Pastoriestraat.(far right and below) One
of these prisoners was badly wounded and I allowed him to sit down while Eddie
- for some reason - left.While
he was away Lt.Perdue and his men, led by Henk Staals, a very good friend
of mine, asked me some questions. Henk was going to lead these men to the
88mm. guns at the comer Kloosterdreef - Woenselsestraat
I advised Henk to approach the Guns from three positions, which he did.
In "RENDEVOUS WITH DESTINY" a cousin
of Piet Pulles (Bert) got all the credit for his cooperation. It's about
time, that Henk Staals will be mentioned in future publications for his very
important part of this operation.
Ed shames and Col. Strayer (r)
But it is quite possible that Staals could also have been involved. If I understand the story correctly, two squads from my platoon were involved and maybe Pulles guided one and Staals guided the other."
Henk Staals
The first CP was set up in the Eastern part of Eindhoven, called Tongelre. From Tongelre one road was leading to Nuenen and another one to Geldrop. (note webmaster: The photo above middle shows the former CP in 2007)
It was obvious that the
Germans might try to breakthrough, to join their Forces at Best, North of
Eindhoven, where heavy fighting was going on around the bridge over the Wilhelmina
Canal.
They could try to move from Helmond, via Mierlo Hout, to Aarle Rixtel, Gerwen,
Nuenen, Eckart.
Colonel Strayer was very anxious to know the German positions East of Eindhoven
. Van Lierop, who lived at the comer of the only road to Gerwen and Nuenen,
volunteered to supply Col.Strayer with information about German Troop
Movements.
Eddie Shames and I went to Nuenen, where my wife and children were still living,
but couldn't get to the center of the town because of German Tanks moving
in the direction to Eindhoven via Eckart.
We watched the German
Tanks behind a British tank and I expected they would attack the Germans,
but they didn't. So Eddie and I took shelter in a ditch just in time to see
the British tank hit by the Germans.n St.Oedenrode Eddie and I went to Schijndel,
but had to turn back due to the heavy fighting.
In Veghel, Eddie and I and Capt.Hall, were looking for German snipers when
Capt.Hall got hit by a German sniper in his Forehead and died instantly.
When we were in the Main Street of Veghel we had to take shelter because of
the heavy shelling. Moving down this street I noticed a German at a street-comer
ready to fire at us, but I was a bit faster.
On the way to see Major Leach we had to fire, behind a hedgerow, at German
snipers. When we arrived at the farm where Major Leach had his CP the earth
in front of the Farm was moving. Out of their Dug-out came the Farmer, his
Wife and the Children and
were they glad to see us.
Lt.Winters and I left Veghel to look for supplies when we captured two Germans
hiding in a barn.
In Uden, Col.Sink asked me to find a Laundry to clean the Uniforms.
We went to Eindhoven and made a deal with a Laundry at the Blaarthemseweg.
So we went to Eindhoven many times with truck loads of dirty Uniforms and
collect the clean ones.
Col. Strayer asked me to find some decent silverware which Mother Superior
of the Nunnery lend it to me. She was very excited to see Americans.
I mentioned already going to the town of Zeeland and the discovery of the
Underground Telephone Cable.
On the move to Nijmegen we had to cross the bridge over the Maas River at
Grave. As the Germans were trying to bomb this bridge our Fighter planes were
chasing them away. Col.Charlie Chase and I were watching this Air battle,
when suddenly Col. Chase asked me if
it
was getting dangerous and we better hid behind the Dike. Turning
around I saw every GI laying behind the Dike.
Eddie and I took a different road to Nijmegen close to German territory.
In the pine woods Eddie cut wet branches of pine and built a nice fire.
He must have been a very good boy scout to built a nice fire from very
wet branches.
Our first Headquarters was set up at "Schoonderlogt",(r) a huge farm, run by the family Mom. These people were very friendly and cooperative and after the War I took many ex-101sters to the family Mom.As I was always moving to get the necessary information, one night a Sentry almost shot me as I mentioned the wrong password. But I kept talking, telling him I was the Dutch Interpreter of Colonel Strayer. That did it. He let me pass.
Many people living close to the Rhine river left their homes as the situation was getting dangerous. Some G.I.'s looted these houses and I complained about it to Col. Strayer.
He took me to Col.Sink and Col.Chase and Col.Sink asked me what I wanted him to do. I said, order your officers to see to it that their Men don't loot the houses of the Dutch people.
I told him. The Germans had entire units to loot factories, food, etc. etc., but if one soldier did some looting, he was shot.
"Disziplin muss sein" or "There must be Discipline” .To make this story short the Apple Cider (so-called Champagne) party at "Schoonderlogt" . provided by Winters, will always be remembered by me. The singing was excellent, especially "Nancy with the Lovely Face" sung by Major Horton. (kia on the Island) (far right) Right middle: Winters and Nixon.
As Colonel Strayer would liked to have some Ice cream we went to Oss, a town between Nijmegen and Den Bosch, to get the necessary ingredients. Each Province (State) in the Netherlands has its own power station and supplies the electricity via sub-stations.And a few of them has a switchboard with enables the manager to contact various towns via an underground telephone cable.
When we moved from Veghel to Uden Eddie Shames and I went on a reconnaissance north of Uden and entered the town of Zeeland.
Nobody was on the street and we were very careful as there might still be Germans. I went in a barbershop to inquire about the enemy, but I was told the Germans had left and we were the very first to enter this town.
While Eddie had a shave and haircut I stayed outside to watch our vehicle. The barber told Eddie he had a brother in Norfolk Virginia who was a Catholic priest in Norfolk. Eddie knew this priest and promised the barber to get in touch with him. Via the Army Postal Service this man got a letter from his brother.
On the way back to Uden I noticed in the woods a Sub-Power Station.
Eddie and I checked this Power Station and noticed a switchboard with telephone connections to many towns in enemy territory.
I phoned 's-Hertogenbosch and the town of Hedel and was told the telephone cable couldn't be tapped so I told the Manager to get in touch with him later.
When I informed Col.Strayer about this unique opportunity to get information behind the enemy line he sent me to Div. Headquarters where I had to explain the possibilities of using this telephone connections.
I was later told via this telephone system they got in touch with Prins Bernhard in Maastricht, who was with the American Army.
John on a German tank after the war
As we were heavily shelled by the Germans I asked for a pair of binoculars to find out where exactly the shells came from.
With my binoculars I went to the top of the Church in Randwijk, close to the river and after several minutes the Germans started shelling the Church and made a few direct hits.
Of course I didn't like it so I ran down the steps and as the Church got a few more hits I ran across the street to a sub power station. Luckily the heavy metal door was open and once inside I closed the door and noticed a switchboard with telephone connections to far behind the German lines.
I called Wageningen, across the Rhine River, and asked the person, who answered my call, if everything was all -right on his side and then I asked him if our conversation could be tapped by the Germans. He then wanted to speak to the manager of this sub station and when he mentioned his name and address I went to look for him. Finally I found him in a dug-out in a Orchard outside Zetten.
This manager assured me that the party on the other side were members of the Dutch Underground.
Colonel Strayer asked me to find out if the Germans were sending reinforcements to Opheusden where heavy fighting was going on.
The rest of my story is mentioned in my letter of December 31, 1987.
John van Kooijk
HQ 2ndLBn.506 PIR 101st.A/B. BASTOGNE
Lt. Winters , Sgt.Campbell and I left Mourmelon Le Grand in a German OPEL KAPITAIN which Eddie Shames and I requisite in Uden.
This car was hit by an 88mm. shell while visiting Lewis Nixon, Dick Winters, Major Horton. etc. The car was parked on the left side of the road next to a ditch and hedgerow. When the Germans started shelling us Nixon went upstairs to get his helmet because it was getting to dangerous.
When the shelling stopped Major Horton said "John you have two minutes to get your car.” I took his advice and ran to the car but a few yards from the car I heard a shell coming in and dove into the ditch. There was a heavy explosion and looking up I noticed the shell had hit the left front door at the height
of the driver's seat. The bottom of the shell got stuck in this good build German car and we never removed it. We considered it “Un souvenir de la guerre.’’
Frosty drove the car and we made a stop at a road cafe in La Porte, not far from Sedan. We had a couple of drinks, but Frosty was in no mood to leave. So he got drunk and didn't behave very well.
When I told him the Germans behaved better than he did he said he would kill me.
I told him he didn't have the guts to do that and reminded him there was a war going on. Then we left.
In Sedan Frosty and Campbell hit another café and I stayed in the car. Suddenly Frosty and Campbell, accompanied by a number of women and a policeman came out of this café and climbed on the hood of the car, the fenders and even on the roof.
The Police man gave directions where to drive to and stopped close to a Railroad Station. Across the street was a wall and behind this wall some houses. The entire bunch went behind this wall. but I didn't leave the car because we had weapons, ammunition, gasoline, etc. in the car and I didn’t trust these French people.
Suddenly the Frenchman opened the door of the car and told me the Capitain wanted me to join that crowd. When I didn't pay any attention to his message he tried to drag me out of the car and made a big mistake, because I beat the hell out of him.
Then he showed me where to enter the house and the first thing I noticed was a big sign "Venereal Disease. Strictly Off Limits to All Military Personal”.
That made me so mad and then I told him if he wanted to go home as a healthy person. We left immediately and in the middle of the town we ran out of gasoline. The gasoline we poured into the tank was kerosene and as it was already almost dark we changed the gasoline the next morning. Frosty and Campbell stayed with a French family, I stayed in the car all night and nearly froze to death.
When we came to Bouillon the MP gave us our last directions and told us we would be crazy going to Bastogne as everybody was leaving.
In Bastogne I was attached to a nice bunch of fellows of a IPW team.
The first night we stayed in the house of a wholesale dealer, but after a couple of days we had to move. I went to one of these small houses to shave in a kind of kitchen with all women praying. Looking out of the window I saw Germans on Skis, camouflaged with white linen bed sheets. They were too far away for my carbine and there was nobody I could warn of their approach. Later, I found out they had captured our entire Medical team.
From there we to moved to the main street leading to the barracks. While enjoying Belgian waffles on the second floor a 88mm. shell hit the wall of the staircase and exploded in the front of the house.
Then we went downstairs with our prisoners to the basement. Another shell landed across the street.
One of the boys, I think his name was Anderson. asked Capt. Gion to read the story in Luke. 2nd. Chapter, of the Birth of Jesus Christ. He said: "“At home the entire family gathered around the Christmas Tree singing Christmas Carols. Well Capt. Gion couldn't find that Chapter so I read this story.And then we sang Holy Night" and the Germans joined us with " Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht.”
Those poor devils were so grateful and one of them started crying. Those German prisoners were Volksgrenadiers.
Next morning we took the prisoners to the barracks of the GENDARMERIE - The Belgian State Police. Captain Gion asked me to assist in interrogating the German prisoners. They were put In a barn across the Buildings.
Our interrogation was interrupted by heavy shelling and during this shelling the prisoners were scared to death and tried to escape. Pete, a tall Texas boy and I kept them in the barn by occasionally firing a few shots in the barn.
After the shelling I went to see the prisoners and told them they would be shot if trying to escape.
Next morning I left and noticed a number of dead Germans, close to the railway bridge. I Later learned the heavy shelling was to support the German attach, on the bridge and close the only road to Bouillon.
We moved to Hemrouille for a short while and in the kitchen our Driver was heating water in his helmet to clean his penis because he must have been infected by gonorrhea. I told him to see the doctor and never saw him again.
In the woods of Foy I captured a German speaking - so called Forester- and I turned him over to the Gendarmerie. Shortly after that I captured another one. They must been spying on us because they were wearing old German pants and boots.
Our team made a few trips to Foy and Recogne and on the way back and our driver was hit while taking a leak.
On one of these trips we noticed a German Panzer parked in the ditch facing Luzery. I warned the Men to ignore the Panzer as I got very suspicious. Later the crew of the Panzer was taken prisoner and told us they were spying on us.
As I wanted to visit Col. Strayer I had to kill a German to get there. Col. Strayer had his CP in a huge dug-out covered with a tarpaulin. Dick Winters was shaving when suddenly General McAuliffe appeared. Except Col.Strayer nobody paid attention to the General.
One night the Germans bombed and strafed our quarters and everybody went into the basement. The tall Texas boy and I stayed upstairs till the situation got to dangerous. One bomb was dropped in front of the House, another one in the back of the House. Pete, the Texas boy fired at a very low flying plane and must have hit the pilot.
Back in the basement the entire Family was sitting and lying on a large bed and we had to sleep on the concrete floor in a small room where the farmer stored his potatoes and coal. We were lucky to have a few parachutes and had to sleep very close together. When I woke up next morning I had a terrible headache. Looking up this was caused by the dripping snow through the small window.
Then I felt a terrible toothache. Capt. Gion advised me to see the dentist Capt.Phyler (?) He told me he had to pull that big tooth. When I told him to be careful, because the crown could break off, he told me not to worry. His instruments were lying on the floor in a burlap sack.
Well he pulled and had my lip between his pliers and my tooth. So I hit him in his stomach and told him I was not a Kraut. He laughed and said "John I wish you were. Him being a jew I could understand that.
It took an awful time and I asked him if he had to operate me because the crown broke off and he said:
" John, that's what I'm doing the past half hour".
When he finished I wanted to leave but he ordered me to stay. He said: “It's very seldom I had such a brave patient.”
When a big MP came in for a treatment he slapped his face because he protested any time when he touched his teeth.
Well, I had to stay and then the Germans started shelling the barracks. I assisted in taking care of the wounded men, one of them one of our soldiers, who got hysterical and it took four men to keep him down. I knew him and I went to see him. He remember me and I told him he would be home soon, because for
him the war was over.
From Lucery we moved to Foy and Recogne and to Noville, where very heavy fighting was going on about a hundred yards from where our team was interrogating German prisoners around a bomb crater.
Many years later, on the way back from Strasbourg. I stopped in Bastogne to fill up my tank with gasoline. When I asked the owner of that FINA station if his station was built on that bomb crater, he was very surprised and asked me how I did know.
I told him of our interrogation around this bomb crater and he invited me to come inside and have lunch. Well. the coffee and the sandwiches with the famous Ardenner Ham tasted very very good. Later on, on my next trip, I showed him the picture I made and sent him a copy.
From Noville to Veaux. a very small town. The little farm house had little furniture left and the window in our room was gone.
Capt.Thomas left a number of German prisoners to be interrogated. One of them was an Officer and when I addressed him he didn't answer, not in German, English, French or Dutch. He had his badges removed.
I told him to spread his legs against the wall. spread his arms and fingers and gave Corporal Liebgott in German instructions to shoot him if he moved a finger. Liebgott, being Jewish, was waiting for that.
After two hours I came back to the frozen Officer and found out he could speak German but he refused to answer my questions and I told him I would get the answers from his men.
I took him down In the dark corner of our room and had a young prisoner come in. When he said "If he answered your questions I will order him not to answer your questions”. Then I said: "If you open your mouth this corporal will crack your skull”.
This young man was very very nervous so I told him to relax and sit down.
I offered him coffee and a cigarette and then he talked. We got a picture of the German Amy traveling at night because of the many planes attacking them, also the lack of supplies.
When I dismissed him I asked the Officer what he thought of it and he answered "You must have threatened him". I said you pick your men to be Interrogated, he will walk in front of me; you behind me and the Corporal behind you.
He picked an Unterfeldwebel with his leather bag with pencils and maps and once inside this fellow refused to talk. I told him he had the right to be silent and asked him where his family lived in Germany. When he mentioned "Soest" I said: “I feel very sorry for you and hope they will be alive”
Soest is a very important railway junction west of Dortmund and has been bombed many times. When I told him the Americans and the British bombed the town for many days with thousands of bombers, he broke down and said "the damned War". I told him to cooperate as the war was already lost. Well, he did.
took the cigarette and told me where they had laid mine fields In St.Vith and Stavelot .ln the 82nd. area.
The Officer was furious and told the Feldwebel to report this, but the Feldwebel said "Ach Du, Scheisse". And that means SHIT,
We took the prisoners In the kitchen. I gave them a few packs of cigarettes and then one of them wanted to talk to me. He was from Bohemia, the son of a Czech father and German mother. He was an electrician and sent to Auswitz the notorious concentration camp. He told me how a contingent of Hungarian Jews were treated: Young men and women to the right, old men and women to the left and little children were smashed against the wall. The people ordered to the left went straight to the gas chamber. The ones to the right had to work till they couldn’t anymore and also went to the gas chamber.
He asked me to give a message to a Jewish family In Belgium. After the War I contacted three well known Belgian lawyers who promised me to look for this family.
I had quite a conversation with that German Officer, once inside.
He was a very fanatical Nazi and was convinced they would win the War. When I told him the Russians were already In Eastern Germany, the British in North East and one American Army In the South, he said " Es konnte sein dass wir diesen Krieg verlieren, aber der naechste ist schon geplannt und diesen
werden wir gewinnen". Translated "It could be possible we will lose this war but the next one is already planned and that one we'll win".
When I asked him about the killing of the Jews he said they were scum and had to be killed. When I asked him my wife, who is Jewish. should be killed, he hesitated and when I said be honest now he said “YES” That was a very big mistake.He never went back home as he tried to escape. Captain Gion asked me If we did deliver the Officer and I had to tell him he tried to escape. "That's what I thought". When the battle for us was finished I found my German car with all the windows gone and the body of the car like a sieve. But it was still running and the four of us: Capt.Gion, Staff Sgt.Hermann Coquelin, Sgt. Gunther Hyman, left for the Alsace. In Malheureux I had the windows replaced by regular glass and there we went, on a very slippery road and the steering wheel engaged after you turned It at least 4.5 degrees.
We made it to Gironvllle and there this brave car broke down.
I left the car at a mailman (facteur). Twenty five years later I visited this man who told me he used the car for many years and asked me how he had to pay me.
I told him that the American Army had already paid for it. Colonel Sink passed us and said "John, still using that damned car? “ When I told him it broke down he offered me a ride.
Dick, this story has been written in a hurry. I took a lot of pictures and If I can find the negatives I'll send you all of them.
Hope this letter will find you In good health. With my best wishes, also for Ethel and your Family,
Yours
John van Kooijk
ALSACE
After the Battle of Bastogne. Capt.Gion, S.Sgt.Herman Coquelin, Sgt.Hymann
and I were on our way to another unknown destination.
When the old battered "Opel Kapitan” broke down in Gironville,
I got a lift from Col.Sink to the Alsace.
Our first HQ was set up in the town of Grassendorf. I was staying with a nice
family with two pretty Daughters.
The Mother asked me if she could pendeln me. Pendeln is a typical German kind
of mind-reading. She took a long hair and attached my wedding ring to it and
went to her bedroom.
By using the hair and ring as a pendulum, she then tried to concentrate on
my person and when she got a spiritual contact the hair started to swing like
a Pendulum.
When the séance ended she told me I was married and had two boys, but
I was not an American.And that was correct.For some reason I had to see papa
Oster, a small farmer. Two G.I.'s were with me. He offered us a very strong
schnapps, made of prunes. He took one in the morning and one in the afternoon
and that kept him in good shape. Because the Schnapps was too strong for us
he offered a very strong red wine, which we liked very much.
When we moved to Ringeldorf, Harry Welsh and I went on a so-called advanced
detail and visited the Mayor - in German Bürgermeister.
Iasked him in very broken French (on purpose) if he could provide us with
housing facilities for our soldiers. He told me right away they didn't have
any and when I asked him to investigate we went outside and he called on every
house and told the people "this fellow asks for housing facilities for
his men and I'll tell him you don't have any".
So, when completed our tour he told me he was right, there's no room available.
Then I told him in fluent German "I'll show you how we do it".
I started with his house and we had no trouble whatsoever to find houses for
our men. Very cooperative was a couple by the name of Schaefer. He was in
his late forties, and hated the Germans. Though he suffered from asthma he
was drafted in the Army as a "Volksstürmer". But after a while
they had to discharge him.
Interrogation
Prisoners of War team Bastogne 1944:
Capt. Gion - Sgt Heijmann and Cochran, Priv. Andrews and Cookood and Ltn.
John van Kooijk (3rd from left)
He asked me what kind of a Religion and when I said Protestant he told me we couldn't use the Church, because this was a Catholic Church.
I said "this Church is a House of God and everyone, regardless his Religion, is welcome in the House of The Lord. Then he asked me if our Troops were going into battle. I didn't answer his question.
I must say his wine was excellent. Mr. Jung provided him with the wine. Yeah, Mr. Jung was a nice man, very respectful and a good citizen During the war, when everything was rationed Mr Jung provided him- with milk, butter, cheese, meat and even wine. We should visit Mr.Jung. But we should ignore the Schaefer Family. They were Communists. During the Nazi Regime the Communists were either in jail or in a concentration camp. He should have known that. Well, Mr. Jung was a very pleasant person. Of course, he hated the Nazis.
When I searched his house, in one of the drawers, I found his nice Nazi Party uniform. When we moved out for some reason his barn was on fire. Our boys must have been very careless.After Ringeldorf we moved to Haguenau and set up our HQ in the Infantry barracks. Waiting for our Dinner on the second floor the barracks were shelled by the Germans. The windows were shattered and shrapnel was flying all around us.
Colonel Strayer got very angry and said "damn it Frosty, where are those damned Cooks". The very pale looking Cook brought us our dinner and Dick Winters was asked to say his prayers.
The so-called rapist was a Sergeant and he told me a different story. He and another fellow partied with the woman every night till they got drunk. He supplied her with cigarettes, whiskey and coffee.
He admitted he made love to her because in some way she invited him to. I didn't believe that story for 100% but I had a motive to see the woman.
When I searched her house I found American coffee, whiskey and cigarettes and told her I had to arrest her because of stolen American Army Property.
She started crying and told me the Sergeant gave it to her. I said "Shame on you woman, you partied every night till you got drunk and when you invited him to make love to you you call it rape”.
But I made a deal with her. You see Lt. Mueller and asked him to drop the charges because you've made a mistake. I don't exactly what happened because I was drunk. You do that and I won't arrest you, you may even keep the things the Sergeant gave you.
The so-called rapist was very grateful and where ever I went he was close to me.
I stayed for a while with my Buddy Eddie Shames in a very heavily damaged School, opposite the small river, with the enemy on the east side.
The bridge was blown up and hiding on the second floor behind the curtains I could see some German activities. Germans were spying on us in a sewer and to the left was a rather big House with shutters.
In daylight the Germans had hidden their machine guns, at night they close the shutters. When Eddie caught a civilian who crossed the river I interrogated this man, avery simple person, a miner.
He told me he wanted to see his family in Brumath. When I took him upstairs he showed me a few German C.P's.He wasn't allowed to leave Haguenau because I thought I could use him. It must have been next day when I told me very excitedly that he met the Gardener of the Chateau in "Bois du Chene" he told him the Germans were going to attack us with about 30 Panzers, hidden in Bois du Chene - Oak Forrest.
When I informed Col. Strayer about it I asked permission to check it out, but he refused to let me go. Of course. I did go with the miner and at his family I changed in civilian cloths and on the bikes we left for the Chateau.
We were halted by a Sentry and the miner told him he had to see the Gardener, because his wife was due to get a baby. In the meantime I had an opportunity to search for the Panzers, which were hidden in the Forrest of the Chateau.
I told Col. Strayer about it and he was very excited. Capt. Jackson (?) of the 377th Artillery Unit said he would use his big guns on the Panzers. I advised him not to that, but let the Airforce do the job.
Because we were short of electricity Col. Strayer asked me if I could find him a number of oil lamps. So, Lt. May and I went to Mariaheide to order those oil lamps and on the way back we saw the Air Force bombing some targets which resulted in many heavy explosions. But before we returned to the barracks, we crossed the Rhine at Kehl.
Back at the barracks, everybody was excited. Col. Strayer kissed me and said "John. you s.o.b., we got them all'. Then we realized we had seen the Air Force bombing the Panzers at Bois du Chene. GERMANY
Our first CP was set up in Horrem, a small town close to the town of Dormagen on the Rhine river.
The first two days I was busy taking care of displaced persons and checking out the Town Officials. Of course, the Nazis Party members were gone, so was the Mayor of the town.
So I appointed a devoted Catholic to take his place. A German woman came to see me to complain about a sheep stolen and butchered by two of her displaced workers. I found out these two young men were very well treated during their stay on the Farm. They admitted being well treated, so I put them in jail.
The majority of German men were drafted into the Army so the farmers and industries employed foreign workers. You were very lucky if you were sent to work on a farm because farmers treated their workers very well: good food, more freedom and very little change to be bonded.
A Dutch Captain by the name of Janssen reported that two Germans soldiers crossed the Rhine at night and were hidden in one of the two barges, moored appr. five yards off shore. So Colonel Strayer asked me to assist Capt. Cox and Lt. May in capturing these Germans.
Lt.May was about to take off his cloths when I told him I'll swim to the barges, because he couldn't speak German.
Now I must admit I'm not a good swimmer and the current of the Rhine was very swift, so it took me a couple of efforts to get aboard.
I found the Germans in the second barge and almost naked with no weapons.
I asked them to surrender, which they did. But they were very surprised being taking prisoner by a naked men with no weapons.
To make this story short, they lived on this side of the Rhine and deserted to join their family.
Both of them gave us some good information and that may have been induced Major Leach to cross the Rhine and check the situation there.
Before we moved, Col. Strayer told me to go home for a couple of days and see my family. I took the best German car I could find at the "Bayer" factory and went home. My wife was shocked to see me because she was told I was killed in the Ardennes. I left the car and got a lift back to our unit. But I've never seen this car again.
But before I left Colonel Strayer asked me to interrogate a so-called German spy, a soldier at the Chemical Plant in Zons captured him using his transmitter.
Capt.Gion, Sgts. Coquilin & Sgt. Gunther Hymann were present and so were all the Officers of HQ.2nd.Bn. Capt.Gion asked me to interrogate this spy and I told him I'll do it my way.
The so-called German spy was a man in his sixties, and in front of him was a map of the area between Cologne and Neuss, close to Dusseldorf. His name was Dr.Mueller. To find out if he had written those figures at many towns in black and red, he said no, so I asked him to write down his name. The Dr. was very nervous, so I told him he was being accused of spying and it was my job to find out if he was. If not I would take him home.
So I told him to be honest and answer all my questions truthfully, which he would. First of all I asked him if he had a transmitter, or a radio-transmitter and he said no. Then I asked him if he knew the difference between a transmitter and a radio-transmitter and he said no. I'm not a technician, but a Chemical Doctor.
He served in "The Stahlhelm" during World War I as a Captain. Those figures bothered me and started counting those figures which could be the strength of a Battalion or Company. I asked him if he knew what these figures represented and he said no idea .
Then I asked him where the plant got all the workers from because ZONS was a rather small town on the Rhine River.
He said from the surrounding towns, such as Stutselberg, Hackenbroich. Zons etc etc. I had a notion those figures represented the numbers of workers in various towns and asked him if he knew how many people were employed from the town of Hackenbroich. etc.. before and during the War. Then I was sure those figures were representing the Work Force before the War and during the War.
But now the transmitter. When we took him to the plant he wanted to see his wife because she had a very weak heart. His wife was a nice looking lady and I assured her not to worry. Her husband would be home in minutes.
So we went to see the president of the plant he was living with his family in an underground Air raid shelter.
The President admitted the map was his but he had no transmitter or radio transmitter. He only had a very old PHILIPS radio, built before the war.
I asked the young soldier to show me the Transmitter and he pointed to a beauty of a switch board in which he had put in a lot of bullets. And when I asked him "why" he said he saw red lights.
Lt. Mayer was furious. He had been looking for this switch board for a long time. From the Rhine River to a small town North of Stuttgart. Our CP was set up in a beautiful Villa. The owner Mr.Vielhauer and his wife, were very nice people. He had two Textile factories east of Stuttgart.
Not being allowed to live with Germans I told Mr. Vielhauer he could use his garage and take all the furniture he wanted, provided Mrs.Vielhauer did the cooking for us. And, boy, she did. She was an excellent cook.
Eddie Shames and I went on a reconnaissance trip and found a number of dead bodies in the woods. Americans, killed by the Germans. One of them was shot in his face and the sight was horrible. Well, the Medics took care of them. Our next destination was Buchloe, south of Landsberg, where Hitler spent some time in jail after his revolt in Munich. In this Jail he wrote his notorious MEIN KAMPF (My Strugle).
Mayor and I arrived there earlier after a rather adventurous trip via the towns of Memmingen, Ulm, Augsburg, etc.
In Buchloe I was attached to Lt. Harry Welsh, nice fellow this Harry. We had Office hours in the Town Hall to meet displaced persons, allied prisoners and so on.
One morning a German woman came storming into our Office and demanded to know why her people had to leave the houses to make room for the Americans. Harry whispered in my ear "John she's worth a million of Dollars" and he was right. She was very pretty.
I told her we didn't started the War and the American Army behaved much better than the German Army.
She was in charge of refugees - women and children - from the Rhine Land.
I told her I would see what I could do for these women and children and ordered the Mayor to take care of these people. And he really did. That pretty woman was Frau Bilo and her husband was a Major in the German Anti-Aircraft.
Frau Bilo was living with the Rau Family. He was a well known painter and knew a lot of Berchtesgarden. Harry and I were very busy checking out the Country and noticed a concentration camp close to Landsberg.
Colonel Strayer asked me to accompany a M.D., a Capt. I forgot his name. What we saw was horrible? People living almost underground, they looked like skeletons and were very sick.
So the Captain and his Staff took care of them. One day, Captain Thomas asked me to interrogate a German prisoner and when I went to see him in his room, all of his man were watching.
The prisoner didn't look like a German and when I addressed him in German he didn't answer. So I talked to him in French, English, Dutch and a few Polish words but no response. So I got very suspicious, moreover, he didn't look like a German soldier, his uniform was not correct; pants and jacket didn't match and he was wearing American Boots. Then I knew . I asked if he was searched and they said no, so I searched him and found a holster with a 7.65 pistol.
Then I said in English "you're not a German, but a spy, and I'm going to shoot you and pointed his pistol to his breast. And in plain English he shouted "John, don't shoot, we were just having fun".
This was a test case but I didn't fall for it. When he asked for his pistol and said no. "You were having fun, now I'm having fun".
This pistol saved my life in Austria.
On the move again, this time with Harry Welsh. Harry requisitioned a very small car from Buchloe, a 500cc. made by Renault and was called "a Nutshell".
While waiting to cross the River between Sherman Tanks, I saw a tank moving towards us and a grappled Harry and pulled him out of the car. Then this huge tank ran over this little car and crushed it. So Harry owes me one.
After one of our reconnaissances Col.Strayer said "John where have you been. You have to speak to this little boy. We can't understand him".
Well this little boy of appr. 14 years old, told me he lived in a nearby little town. called Weicht, south east of Buchloe. He told me there were many German Soldiers.
Our CP was set up in a nice House of Mr.Bosch, a wholesale dealer in Dairy Products. I put on one of his suits and went with this little Boy to check out the situation there. When I passed our Sentry I told him I'll be back, soon. I told the Boy, you wait here and if I'm not back in one hour go back and tell the Colonel.
I went to see the Mayor of this little town and asked him if I could see the Commanding German Officer. This very nice looking Officer was a Kapitain of the regular German Army.
When he drew his revolver and said he would shoot me, because he didn't believe me. Then I said "I'm an American Intelligent Officer and if you kill me, the entire 2nd. Bn. of the 506 P.I.R. of the 101st. Airborne Division will be here in one hour and when they find me killed none of you will survive”
I said "Herr Hauptmann, the War is over. You're surrounded by the French, who may be here any moment and by us the 101st. American Airborne Division".
"You better surrender and follow me to Buchloe, because if the French capture your outfit, I don't have to tell you how they treat German prisoners.
"You leave all your weapons here, but you may keep your revolver. If you think I'm lying than shoot me".
His entire Company with Russian prisoners, prostitutes, etc. followed behind me and when we arrived in the Buchloe area, the Sentry stood at attention and I winked to him and said "At Ease Soldier”.
I delivered the prisoners at the Railway Station and told the Captain to follow me to our Headquarters, but you better give me your revolver, otherwise you get shot before we get there.
The Captain was a nice fellow and our Officers enjoyed talking to him, especially about his experience at the Russian Front.
I think he told Dick Winters "Der Mann hat keine Nerven" when he told them about me- Translated "this man has no nerves".
When dear Harry and I finally crossed the river Lech we arrived South East of Munich, as I remember well. not far from Rosenheim.
On the Autobahn we saw two skeletons, Jewish men from a nearby concentration camp. We gave them a ride and when we offered them cigarettes, they almost passed out.
From our K-rations I offered them a bar of chocolate and told them to suck on it, not chew. Well. they didn't and vomited.
At the next town I delivered them to a - in my opinion - a wealthy looking Farmer and told him to take care of these people. Treat them very well. Don't give them fatty food. but skim milk and bread, till their stomach get used to it. And when I come back and find out you didn’t treat them well I burn your house.
I'm sure they got the best treatment. On the other hand I told these poor people to behave.
We had a lot of prisoners to be transported. Capt. Cox drove a truck load of prisoners and one of them was a nice good looking young man of about 24 years old. When he pointed to a farm far away he cried and told me "Herr Ober Leutnant, da drueben, da wohne ich". Translation :Lieutenant. overthere, that's where I live.” I told him get the hell out here before I change my mind.
Our next CP was in Berchtesgarden, in a nice looking Hotel. Harry Welsh said "John, where do we get some German pistols" and I told him we do have to capture some Germans. So off we went, into the mountains surrounding Berchtesgarden. After probably forty curves we arrived at an plateau and saw an German Unit with a truck. Harry said "what do we do now, John" and I said you wait here, take my carbine and use it if necessary. So, without a weapon I walked over there and told the German Unterfeldwebel: "You get the hell out of here before the French get here. Leave all you weapons here, take your truck and report to Capt.Gion of I.P.W. in Berchtesgarden" and gave him a slip of paper to report to our I.P.W.
We searched some Houses on that plateau just to show our authority then left. Down the mountain we spotted a German Staff Car, a Horch Benz.
We couldn't get it started because they drained the gasoline. But Harry made from nearby wood a plug, poured gasoline into the tank and drove the car to our Headquarters.
Next morning, I went back into the mountains to visit Hitler's Lair. I met a French Captain and while talking to him a noticed the German Unterfeldwebel with a shovel. I went over to see him and asked how he got
here. He said coming down the mountain with his crew the French took him and his men prisoners. He asked me if I could do something to get him out and I said "You've been stationed here a while ago and know everything about this place”. He said, he was never stationed here and didn't know a damn thing. I told him I'll asked the French Captain if I may take you to our Headquarters to interrogate you. Well, the Captain didn't object.
This German soldier was a very nice man and a big help around our CP. Well, Dick Winters can tell you more about it.
Dick asked me to find a German Cook so I visited a German Woman with her daughter and she said she would come. But she didn't; she sent her daughter, a very pretty young woman, but far from a cook.
Before we moved again I gave the German Unterfeldwebel a slip of paper to show American Authorities to support this man going home, because he was a big help to us.
AUSTRIA
Via Lofer, Saalfelden. Zeil am See. we arrived at Kaprun on our way to Piesendorf. But before dear Harry and I got there, German Units from Italy came down the very narrow mountain road. I told Harry "These men are the best German soldiers Hitler put into action.
Our CP was set up high in the mountains in Hotel "Zur Post". A German Mountaineer (Bergjaeger) from Austria and I went to a big ravine to detonate a lot of Germans hand grenades, so-called "Panzer Fauste".
High up in these mountains was a huge Power Plant, build before the war by Siemens and General Electric.
We had a few cases of rape and Col. Strayer asked me to investigate these cases. One concerned a young Austrian woman, a farmer's daughter, who was mute. She was raped by one of our men and reported the true Story to Col. Strayer.
Another case of rape happened in the village of Piesendorf and when I got to see the victim she was a 14 year old girl. I was told two American soldiers of normal height and one very young soldier who looked like a boy came to see this family to buy eggs.Well the very young American soldier was a displaced person of Polish Nationality. His uniform was much too big for him. The young boy could speak a broken German.
Well, I found this boy and he told me the story. The soldiers were from D-Company.
I took the young victim up to D-Company and Col. Strayer ordered Capt.Mc. Millen (?) to line up his men so the Girl could identify the rapist. Well, she did. and Capt. McMillen was furious and didn't speak to me ever since.
A very nervous German came to see me. His name was Dr. Referendar Heinrich. He told me he, Dr. Masing and Dr.Dietrich invented a improved V.2 rocket, hidden somewhere in the Thueringer Wald.' Forrest in Thuringen. He wanted to go to the United States and gave all the information about this prototype V.2 rocket.
I advised Col. Strayer to take him down to Zell am See to the Engineering Corps, which I did. There I told them get all the information you want and promise this fellow to enter the United States. Then, dump him.
Shortly after this event a German General by the name of von Welch (if I remember well) wished to see the Commanding Officer and wanted to shake hands, which I ignored.
That pistol I kept from that so-called German spy in Buchloe saved my life. Col. Strayer sent me with a message to -as I understood- Bruch. But I was stopped by a Russian soldier, who pointed his rifle at me, took my carbine and jeep and pointed in the direction I came from. When he turned I took the 7.65 and shot him. I drove back as fast as I could to avoid being caught by the Russians.
After this operation I went Home via Salzburg to join my family. In the meantime, my daughter Nettie was born. What a surprise.
Note ; Lt. Maier of Communication was a Captain. John (note: Mc.Millen could have been Mc.Millan)
Above left the van Kooijk family with Eddie and Nettie (the children)
Above middle: John van Kooijk in 1992.
Above right: The Obituary of John van Kooijk
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