Devastation of War

Screaming Eagles" cross the dual railroad tracks while entering the village of Opheusden in the fall of 1944. The soldier in the picture on the right has an "E" on the side of his helmet indicating he is in the 326th Airborne Engineer Battalion, my Father's unit. Pictured below is a patrol walking past a destroyed German tank on Dalwagensweg, the road that the van den Bosch house is on and only a few doors down to the left. Note the massive damage to the houses seen earlier. Also note directly in line with the last soldier is a black hat sitting on a pole. This tank was knocked out by men of the 81st AAA Battalion who had a 37mm anti-tank gun down Dalwagensweg on the curve, thus the crew could see the entire road. The 81st men trained with the 326th Engineers in England at Basildon Park before the D-Day Invasion on 6/6/44. The 81st lost five men that day, including Pvts. Arthur Kurtz and Adam Novak. The 326th lost Captain Froemke and Pvt. Richard Werner of WI. Eleven men of the 326th, including my father, were wounded that day.