Fort Simserhof

This is the entrance to Fort Simserhof, which is now a museum. It had to be completely repaired after the war (and was used for awhile by the French Army). The concrete was in shards over the entrance. Bill Glazier said that the bombs had little effect but the noise and the vibration took its toll on the Germans.

The standard visit is to take a truly disturbing train ride, which provides sounds and sights. The lack of control, slow motion, loud noises, and cold tunnels was a vivid lesson in what it was like to live and fight within the fort--and I know I definitely couldn't have been one of the guys there for long! The film said that the soldiers who served there and were underground for months at a time were subdued and rarely talked.

The reception area--lunch counter and bookstore--with some really interesting books in French.

Luckily for us, we had a special tour of the inner reaches of the fort, which was fascinating. It was still cold and dark--and the hallways ran off in all directions.

This is the surgery for the fort.

These were the bunk beds for the enlisted men--24 in a room and they had 12 hour rotation, so not even the bed was your own. The model for the underground fort is a naval ship.

Our guide was wonderful and so patient--willing to answer all our questions, and we had a lot of them.

This was the officer's mess--wine of course. We inspect the premises.

Mike Escalera, George Byrnes, Mario (I don't know his last name), Diane Byrnes, Elaine Dunn, Dave Smith, Wendy Smith, Bill Glazier, Bill Moseley, and Nat Gattinella checking out the china pattern.

We flunked the quiz about this sink. Our guide pointed out that the bathroom facilities were a long long way away, so to insure sanitation, they made the kitchen sink high. George lends perspective to the sink. We were very sympathetic to the men's predicament because the cold and coffee was badly affecting several of us on the tour.

The halls were long and full of cables and pipes--some old, some new.

The people at Fort Simserhof were wonderful hosts.

While we were touring Simserhof, Shep and John Day were off looking for foxholes.

First off they picked up some maps in Bitche, then got a cab to take them about 17 miles out to the other side of the him toward Reyersviller, where John was during Nordwind. He was looking for his unit's foxholes, but the new road that rises out of town and cuts right through Fort Schiessick and the trees were making it very hard to get his bearings.

They found German positions, judging by Shep's map and the size and number of the holes close to town and they found a big bomb crater.

He remembered that he could see a pillbox from his foxhole, but the ones they found were opposing--covering each otehr in the line of fire. He thought that wasn't right. He was in an outpost at night, but in the foxhole by day because the outpost was too exposed. He watched a company attack that pillbox. He could see it because they used phosphorus which lit up the battle. They tried a fame thrower, but they only drew fire from the crossfire and made no impression.

Near Legare town near Schiessick, a mile from Friedenberg Farm, there's a steep slope. It was open country back then with 4 huge trees, but now the highway cut the huge trees down.

Walking the new highway toward Bitch, he spotted the water tower for teh Maginot forts, and he knew he'd dug in on the other side of it. So they started to walk toward it only to meet a barnyard dog, who got really loud and hostile, so they gave up. A guy walking by said, yes, he encountered dogs like that overseas.

Bitche

At the end of the street that our hotel is on, we joined a main road, right by the tracks, and the Hotel de la Gare, where we had two wonderful suppers, courtesy of Bob Heller's translation abilities.

Across the street from the hotel is the railroad station. This is a view back up the hill at it. The trains were cute commuter trains--two car units with snub-nosed ends both front and back so it could easily reverse direction.

This is the other side of the town gate. I couldn't get over the beautiful French lilacs, the deep deep purple. There are crates between the two sets of gates. It turned out that they were stringing a rope and hose and growing medium arrangement over the space--even before we left, little green leaves were sprouting, so they were creating an arbor.

Next to the town hall is the main Catholic church, which has repaired holes, as though it too saw action during the war. Tucked up between the two is a statue of Joan of Arc.

Taking a detour to the left from the main square, on our way to the post office, Bob Heller pointed out to us the old synagogue of the town, long since boarded up and abandoned. It still has an inscription in Hebrew over the door.

Heading back to complete our loop around the base of the Citadel, we walked through the street fair--mostly clothes, marshmallow snacks, gyros, and sausages.The Chinese restaurant is on the left. The church spire is for the Lutheran church.

In November 2004, I went to the convention, and they showed some film taken during the war, of the band marching up this very street. It looked remarkably the same. Nothing in the U.S. would look so similar 60 years later.

Further up the block is the Hotel Strasbourg. Dave and Wendy Smith said they had a great meal there, but Liz and I never made it over this far--especially after Bob Heller introduced us to the Hotel de la Gare.

This is where Michelle's aunt's flag was hung after the liberation.

Everywhere we walked, the Citadel loomed over the houses at the end of every street. Liz noticed in one of my books that the town had basically grown there because Vauban had needed workers to build the fort. The main employer was still probably the presence of the Camp de Bitche out of town. A garrison town with a tourist business, now that German tourists came to enjoy the surrounding wildlife refuge and the golf course.

Bending around the side of the Citadel, we walked by the former Camp de Bitche--the barracks and buildings that predated the war. Bob Heller remembered that the 325th was bivouacked there in March of 1945.

Below is the Camp de Bitche in March of 1945.

The Citadel from the other angle. A few more steps along this face of the Citadel and we were back at our hotel.

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