Military Government

Notes:

* See notebook diary entries.

** See page on Malmedy and Battle of the Bulge

Captain Spitler's Memoirs:

Then I went back to London and in August of 1944 I landed on Omaha Beach. This is after D-Day. We were here about a week before we began to move. We were on our way to Belgium. We were a Civil Affairs Detachment not any kind of a combat unit. We were sent to literally take care of the Belgian peopie wherever we- went, We.-went in to setup the civil government. The Germans had already been through here and the civil governments were nonexistent. We went through France to Belgium. Wę went through the French city of St. Lo. It had been leveled by American bombings to stop the Germans. There was nothing left. It was an awful sight. We stopped a week at Chartes. This is a beautiful city. We stayed outside the city ańd found a bar and got to know the farmer who owned it. He_made us blood sausages from pig's blood. He also gave us wine. We went into Chartes and found a bath house - I had no idea what a bathhouse was. We found out. An old French woman filled big metal tubs full of steaming hot water and then she scrubbed us from head to toe. She scrubbed so hard we. were-exhausted. We had no idea when we might get a bath again. There was a beautiful cathedral at Chartes. Thể people found out the Germans wer to come through and they. took all the stained glass out of the windows and hid it. After the war they put it back in. Chartes was spared-in the bombing. We continued. through France, through Rheims and the Ardennes. We crossed into Belgium and we hired a guide to take us to Malmedy. All of a sudden at one point I stood up and said, "STOP we are not in Belgium. We're in Germany near Aachen. WE had to go back into Germany to Malmedy. We went through Malmedy to Waimes. In Waimes we set up a civil detachment [see Dad's diary]. We took over Waimes and the area, We were here from about September to December 16, 1944. I became very good friends with the local Priest, Father Francois Toussand. We had breakfast together most days and my cooks Frau Muller and Frau Wansart got steaks for me to give to Father from time to time. They would butcher a white French steer. Good food was scarce. My wife sent me foods to give the kids. She sent me Hershey bars for the kids. Father Toussand wās really the best friend I had during the war apart from my men in my detachment My detachment consisted of 3 officers, 5 enlisted men, 2 jeeps, 2 trailers and 2 typewriters. The Belgian people treated us very well. They had to because we were in charge, but they were also very glad to have us there: They needed food and to be taken care of.

In this area of Waimes, which was _Weismes at one time the people were actually German and most people spoke French and German. My knowledge of German really put me here.

... [See Capt. Spitler's Malmedy memoirs here.]

We got to Spa that night. We got word to move out of Spa before Christmas to. Eupen. We left and headed to Dolhein and the to Hevre, Belgium. We stayed here with a veterinarian and his wife for over a week The weather was terrible. The vet always wore a corderooy suit. He had a room in his surgery that had all the oddities he had collected as a country vet. I remember seeing a two-headed calf. 0n. Christmas day the vet's wife cooked us a- turkey dinner. Someone had managed to get us frozen turkeys. The vet also made and served what he called cognac. It was grain alcohol with peppermint flavoring. Not cognac. A few days after Christmas the weather finally broke anả we went outside in the morning and the air was filled with US planes coming to help end the Battle of the Bulge . They cleared the Germans out and destroyed their equipment. It was quite a sight.

We got word to move out and headed for Eupen. We lived in a house-here and set up the civil government. We were here about 1 1/2 months. On February 2, 1945 we left for Aachen Germany. We came to the Northern outskirts of Cologne by about February 4 or 5. I remember the Peach-trees. were in bloom. It was very cool. Very close to Cologne we came upon a Concentration Camp. The Jewish people had all died or left. My 1s Lt., Henry Silberman, was Jewish and he found many papers of the Jewish people who had- been there. There were still Polish work slaves that the Germans had brought from Poland to do slave labor for them. These people had worked with picks and shovels. The camp was awful. We stayed a time here and set up new tents, dug new ditches for bathrooms, got food and supplies, and got powder to kill the lice on them. We lived in a họuse beside the camp. The Germans who owned it moved into the basement and le us have the house It was a beautiful house owned by an electrician. The baths were all ornate black Italian marble. The Germans here cooperated with us very well. I never thought I would see one of the concentration/work camps but I did.

We moved đown the Rhine towards Koblenz. We crossed the Rhine at Bad Honnef. The Americans has blown up the bridge here earlier to stop the Germans. We crossed on a pontoon type bridge built by Army Engineers. We-headed for Altenkirchen, Germany. Here we set up a Civil Affairs detachment again. I was Military. Governor here from May of 1945 to the end of July of 1945.

We then moved closer to Heidelberg and set up another detachment there..