1.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
2.
United States Army
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The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President
3.
Armor Branch (United States)
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The Armor Branch of the United States Army is an active combat arms branch. It was created provisionally in 1940 as Armored Force under Chief of the Armored Force, Brigadier General Adna R. Chaffee, Jr. even though the armor branch traces its lineage back to the original cavalry units, its first beginnings date from the First World War. The Tank Service of the National Army was formed on 5 March 1918. the Armored Force was formed on 10 July 1940 and became a permanent branch of the Army in 1950. The United States Army Armor School is now located at Fort Benning, ARMOR is the professional journal of the U. S. Army’s Armor Branch, published by the Chief of Armor at Fort Benning, GA. training center for the Army’s tank and cavalry forces. It is also one of the oldest publications in the U. S. S
4.
Armoured warfare
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Armoured warfare, mechanised warfare or tank warfare is the use of armoured fighting vehicles in modern warfare. It is a component of modern methods of war. The premise of armoured warfare rests on the ability of troops to penetrate defensive lines through use of manoeuvre by armoured units. Under these conditions, any sort of advance was very slow. Tanks were first developed in Britain and France in 1915, as a way of navigating the barbed wire, British Mark I tanks first went to action at the Somme, on 15 September 1916, but did not manage to break the deadlock of trench warfare. The first French employment on 16 April 1917, of the Schneider CA, was also a failure, in the Battle of Cambrai British tanks were more successful, and broke a German trenchline system, the Hindenburg Line. Despite the generally unpromising beginnings, the military and political leadership in both Britain and France during 1917 backed large investments into armoured vehicle production and this led to a sharp increase in the number of available tanks for 1918. The German Empire to the contrary, produced only a few tanks, twenty German A7V tanks were produced during the entire conflict, compared to over 4,400 French and over 2,500 British tanks of various kinds. Tactically, the deployment of armour during the war was typified by an emphasis on direct infantry support. The tanks main tasks were seen as crushing barbed wire and destroying machine-gun nests, theoretical debate largely focussed on the question whether a swarm of light tanks should be used for this or a limited number of potent heavy vehicles. Though in the Battle of Cambrai a large concentration of British heavy tanks effected a breakthrough, the manoeuvrability of the tank should at least in theory regain armies the ability to flank enemy lines. Following the First World War, the technical and doctrinal aspects of armoured warfare became more sophisticated and diverged into multiple schools of doctrinal thought, during the 1920s, only very few tanks were produced. There were however, important theoretical and technical developments, various British and French commanders who had contributed to the origin of the tank, such as Jean Baptiste Eugène Estienne, B. H. Liddell Hart and J. F. C. Fuller, theorised about a future use of independent armoured forces, containing a large concentration of tanks. Especially Liddell Hart wrote many books about the subject, partly propagating Fullers theories, such doctrines were faced with the reality that during the 1920s the armoured vehicles, as early road transport in general, were extremely unreliable, and could not be used in sustained operations. Mainstream thought on the subject was more conservative and tried to integrate armoured vehicles into the infantry and cavalry organisation. To save weight, such designs had thin armour plating and this inspired fitting small-calibre high-velocity guns in turrets, J. Collins, after Fuller refused the function. The unit carried out operations on Salisbury Plain and was observed by the major nations, the United States, Germany
5.
Division (military)
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A division is a large military unit or formation, usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. Infantry divisions during the World Wars ranged between 10,000 and 30,000 in nominal strength, in most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, in turn, several divisions typically make up a corps. In the West, the first general to think of organising an army into smaller units was Maurice de Saxe, Marshal General of France. He died at the age of 54, without having implemented his idea, victor-François de Broglie put the ideas into practice. He conducted successful practical experiments of the system in the Seven Years War. The first war in which the system was used systematically was the French Revolutionary War. It made the more flexible and easy to manoeuvre. Under Napoleon, the divisions were grouped together into corps, because of their increasing size, napoleons military success spread the divisional and corps system all over Europe, by the end of the Napoleonic Wars, all armies in Europe had adopted it. In modern times, most military forces have standardized their divisional structures, the peak use of the division as the primary combat unit occurred during World War II, when the belligerents deployed over a thousand divisions. With technological advances since then, the power of each division has increased. Divisions are often formed to organize units of a particular type together with support units to allow independent operations. In more recent times, divisions have mainly been organized as combined arms units with subordinate units representing various combat arms, in this case, the division often retains the name of a more specialized division, and may still be tasked with a primary role suited to that specialization. For the most part, large cavalry units did not remain after World War II, in general, two new types of cavalry were developed, air cavalry or airmobile, relying on helicopter mobility, and armored cavalry, based on an autonomous armored formation. The former was pioneered by the 11th Air Assault Division, formed on 1 February 1963 at Fort Benning, on 29 June 1965 the division was renamed as the 1st Cavalry Division, before its departure for the Vietnam War. After the end of the Vietnam War, the 1st Cavalry Division was reorganised and re-equipped with tanks, the development of the tank during World War I prompted some nations to experiment with forming them into division-size units. Many did this the way as they did cavalry divisions, by merely replacing cavalry with AFVs. This proved unwieldy in combat, as the units had many tanks, instead, a more balanced approach was taken by adjusting the number of tank, infantry, artillery, and support units. A panzer division was a division of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS of Germany during World War II
6.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
7.
Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine
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The Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine was a phase in the Western European Campaign of World War II. This roughly corresponds with the official United States military European Theater of Operations Rhineland, German forces had been routed during the Allied break-out from Normandy. The Allies advanced rapidly against an enemy that put up little resistance, but after the liberation of Paris in late August 1944, the Allies paused to re-group and organise before continuing their advance from Paris to the River Rhine. The pause allowed the Germans to solidify their lines—something they had been unable to do west of Paris, while Montgomery and Bradley each favored relatively direct thrusts into Germany, General Eisenhower disagreed. The rapid advance through France had caused considerable logistical strain, made worse by the lack of any major port other than the relatively distant Cherbourg in western France. Although Antwerp was seen as the key to solving the Allied logistics problems, as the campaign progressed, all the belligerents, Allied as well as German, felt the effects of the lack of suitable replacements for front-line troops. There were two major obstacles to the Allies. The first was the natural barriers made by the rivers of eastern France, the second was the Siegfried Line, which fell under the command, along with all Wehrmacht forces in the west, of Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt. Although the breakout from Normandy had taken longer than planned, the advances until September had far exceeded expectations, Bradley, for example, by September had four more divisions than planned and all of his forces were 150 miles ahead of their expected position. One effect was that insufficient supplies could be delivered to the fronts to maintain the advance. Much war material still had to be brought ashore across the invasion beaches, the availability of Cherbourg had been valuable until the breakout, but then the shortage of transport to carry supplies to the rapidly advancing armies became the limiting factor. Although fuel was pumped from Britain to Normandy via the Pluto pipeline, this still had to reach the fronts. The railways had been destroyed by Allied attacks and would take much effort to repair. In an attempt to address this shortage of transport, three newly arrived U. S. infantry divisions—the 26th, 95th, and 104th—were stripped of their trucks in order to haul supplies. Advancing divisions of the U. S. 12th Army Group left all their artillery and half their medium artillery west of the Seine. Four British truck companies were loaned to the Americans, unfortunately,1,500 other British trucks were found to have critical engine faults and were unusable, limiting assistance from that quarter. The Red Ball Express was an attempt to expedite deliveries by truck, the 6th Army Group advancing from southern France were supplied adequately from Toulon and Marseille because it had captured ports intact and the local railway system was less damaged. This source supplied about 25% of the Allied needs, the U. S. supply organization—Communications Zone —is perceived to have failed to expedite solutions and to have been far too bureaucratic, employing 11,000 staff
8.
Battle of the Bulge
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The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German offensive campaign of World War II. It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, the surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard. American forces bore the brunt of the attack and incurred their highest casualties of any operation during the war, the battle also severely depleted Germanys armoured forces on the Western Front, and they were largely unable to replace them. German personnel and later, Luftwaffe aircraft, also sustained heavy losses, the Germans officially referred to the offensive as Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein, while the Allies designated it the Ardennes Counteroffensive. The phrase Battle of the Bulge was coined by contemporary press to describe the bulge in German front lines on wartime news maps, once that was accomplished, the German dictator Adolf Hitler believed he could fully concentrate on the Soviets on the Eastern Front. The offensive was planned by the German forces with utmost secrecy, with minimal radio traffic and movements of troops, intercepted German communications indicating a substantial German offensive preparation were not acted upon by the Allies. The Germans achieved total surprise on the morning of 16 December 1944, due to a combination of Allied overconfidence, preoccupation with Allied offensive plans, and poor aerial reconnaissance. The Germans attacked a weakly defended section of the Allied line, columns of armor and infantry that were supposed to advance along parallel routes found themselves on the same roads. This, and terrain that favored the defenders, threw the German advance behind schedule, improved weather conditions permitted air attacks on German forces and supply lines, which sealed the failure of the offensive. In the wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were left severely depleted of men and equipment, the Germans initial attack involved 406,000 men,1,214 tanks, tank destroyers, and assault guns, and 4,224 artillery pieces. These were reinforced a couple of later, bringing the offensives total strength to around 450,000 troops. Between 67,200 and 125,000 of their men were killed, missing, for the Americans, out of 610,000 troops involved in the battle,89,000 were casualties. While some sources report that up to 19,000 were killed, British historian Antony Beevor reports the number killed as 8,407. It was the largest and bloodiest battle fought by the United States in World War II, after the breakout from Normandy at the end of July 1944 and the Allied landings in southern France on 15 August 1944, the Allies advanced toward Germany more quickly than anticipated. The Allies were faced with several military logistics issues, - troops were fatigued by weeks of continuous combat supply lines were stretched extremely thin supplies were dangerously depleted. General Dwight D. Eisenhower and his staff chose to hold the Ardennes region which was occupied by the U. S, the Allies chose to defend the Ardennes with as few troops as possible due to the favorable terrain and limited Allied operational objectives in the area. They also had intelligence that the Wehrmacht was using the area across the German border as an area for its troops. The speed of the Allied advance coupled with a lack of deep-water ports presented the Allies with enormous supply problems
9.
Western Allied invasion of Germany
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The Western Allied invasion of Germany was coordinated by the Western Allies during the final months of hostilities in the European theatre of World War II. This is known as the Central Europe Campaign in United States military histories, by early 1945, events favored the Allied forces in Europe. The failure of this offensive exhausted Germanys strategic reserve, leaving it ill-prepared to resist the final Allied campaigns in Europe, additional losses in the Rhineland further weakened the German Army, leaving shattered remnants of units to defend the east bank of the Rhine. On 7 March, the Allies seized the last remaining bridge across the Rhine at Remagen. During Operation Lumberjack and Operation Plunder in February–March 1945, German casualties are estimated at 400,000 men, on the Eastern Front, the Soviet Red Army had liberated most of Poland and were within striking distance of Berlin. The Soviets also pushed deep into Hungary and eastern Czechoslovakia, and these rapid advances on the Eastern Front destroyed additional veteran German combat units and severely limited German Fuhrer Adolf Hitlers ability to reinforce his Rhine defenses. As such, with the Western Allies making final preparations for their powerful offensive into the German heartland, forty-nine of these divisions were American,12 British, eight French, three Canadian and one Polish. Another seven American divisions arrived during February, along with the British 5th Infantry Division and I Canadian Corps, as the invasion of Germany commenced, General Eisenhower had a total of 90 full-strength divisions under his command, with the number of armored divisions now reaching 25. The Allied front along the Rhine stretched 450 miles from the mouth at the North Sea in the Netherlands to the Swiss border in the south. The Allied forces along this line were organized into three army groups, in the north, from the North Sea to a point about 10 miles north of Cologne, was the 21st Army Group commanded by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. Within 21st Army Group the Canadian 1st Army held the left flank of the Allied line, with the British 2nd Army in the center and the U. S. 9th Army to the south. Holding the middle of the Allied line from the 9th Armys right flank to a point about 15 miles south of Mainz was the 12th Army Group under the command of Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, Bradley had two American armies, the U. S. 1st Army on the left and the U. S. 3rd Army on the right, as these three army groups cleared out the Wehrmacht west of the Rhine, Eisenhower began to rethink his plans for the final drive across the Rhine and into the heart of Germany. Originally, General Eisenhower had planned to all his forces up to the west bank of the Rhine. The main thrust beyond the river was to be made in the north by Montgomerys 21 Army Group, 1st Army as it made a secondary advance northeast from below the Ruhr River. If successful, this movement would envelop the industrial Ruhr area. Facing the Allies was Oberbefehlshaber West commanded by Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring, although Kesselring brought an outstanding track record as a defensive strategist with him from the Italian Campaign, he did not have the resources to make a coherent defense. During the fighting west of the Rhine up to March 1945, busch—whose main unit was the German 1st Parachute Army —was to form the right wing of the German defenses
10.
Edward H. Brooks
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Lieutenant General Edward Hale Brooks was a senior officer of the United States Army, a veteran of both World War I and World War II, who commanded the U. S. Second Army during the Korean War. Edward Hale Brooks was born on April 25,1893 in Concord and his father, Edward Waite Brooks, was a Concord grocer. His mother was the former Mary Frances Hale, a native of Dover, Kent, Brooks had three sisters, Harriott, Gertrude and Alice Brooks. Both Gertrude and Alice died in their infancy and he graduated from Concord High School in June 1911, after which he attended Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont, graduating in 1916 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering. He later also received a master of science degree from Norwich University, Brooks began his military career in June 1915 as a captain with the 1st Cavalry Regiment of the Vermont National Guard, a position he held until July 1916. For the following year, he worked as an engineer before his National Guard unit was called up for federal service. On Thanksgiving Day,1917, Brooks married the former Beatrice Aurora Leavitt and they had two children, Elizabeth Allen Brooks and Edward Hale Brooks, Jr. In November 1917, he was transferred to the 76th Field Artillery Regiment at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, moving with his regiment to Camp Merritt, the regiment was part of the 3rd Infantry Division. At that post he was assigned to the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade in command of a detachment that sailed for France in April 1918, Brooks served on the Western Front in the Champagne-Marne Defense, the Aisne-Marne Offensive, the St. Mihiel Offensive and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. On October 5,1918, during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, he earned a Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in action at Montfauçon, France when he. Exposed himself to heavy and accurate artillery fire directed on a train while driving a loaded ammunition truck to safety. Following the Armistice with Germany, he served with the Army of Occupation in Germany until returning to the United States in August 1919 with station at Camp Pike, in July 1920 he was transferred from the Cavalry Branch to the Field Artillery Branch. Upon his return to the United States, Brooks was a member of the Camp Pike football team, Brooks entered the U. S. Army Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in September 1921. In October 1928, he was assigned to the 18th Field Artillery Regiment at Fort Riley, at Fort Riley his artillery battery, a horse drawn outfit, was the first to complete a 100-mile forced march in less than 24 hours. From 1932 to 1934 Brooks attended the U. S. Army Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, then went to Harvard University as an Reserve Officers Training Corps instructor in 1934. He attended the U. S. Army War College from 1936 to 1937 and was detailed as an instructor in the attack section of the Command. By this time he had risen to the rank of lieutenant colonel, in September 1941, Major General Jacob L. Devers requested that Brooks be named to the staff of the new armored force being formed at Fort Knox, Kentucky. With this came promotion to the general officer rank of brigadier general
11.
10th Armored Division (United States)
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The 10th Armored Division was an armored division of the United States Army in World War II. In the European Theater of Operations the 10th Armored Division was part of both the Twelfth United States Army Group and Sixth United States Army Group. Originally assigned to the Third United States Army under General George S. Patton, the 10th Armored Division was inactivated on 13 October 1945 at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia. On 25 February 1953, the division was allotted to the Regular Army, the division was activated on 15 July 1942, at Fort Benning, Georgia. The Tiger nickname of the 10th originates from a division-wide contest held while it was training in the United States, symbolizing the division clawing and mauling its way through the enemy. Leaving Teurtheville,25 October, the Division moved to Mars-la-Tour, later that month, the 10th participated in the capture of Metz. It was the first time in 1500 years that the ancient fortress at Metz fell, after fierce fighting, the 10th moved to the Siegfried Line and led the Third Army into Germany on 19 November 1944. Combat Command-B’s lead Sherman tanks, tank destroyers and half-tracks entered Bastogne 18 December 1944 and these were the first combat troops to reach the threatened city. CCB’s commander, Col. William L. Roberts, split his command to form an arc facing eastward five miles from the city. A task force commanded by Maj. William R. Desobry went north to Noville, while a group under Lt. Col. Henry T. Lt. Col. James OHara’s group shifted southeast to Bras, at the same time, German forces moved westward with increasing momentum. Bastogne, a hub from which seven main roads diverged, was essential to the movement of Rundstedt’s panzers. Before dawn of 19 December five Nazi divisions attacked CCB, bazooka-armed American soldiers and a single platoon of tank destroyers fought a column of German Panzer IV tanks on the Houffalize-Noville highway, turning them back after a furious engagement. More enemy armor followed and with the road blocked, the battle spilled into the fields and woods. For eight hours, CCB alone withstood multiple German attacks before reinforcements arrived from the 101st Airborne Division, the Germans still maintained an advantage and the outnumbered Americans withdrew closer to Bastogne. The Germans sent pincers to the north and south, the night of 21 December, the pincers met and closed west of the city. In the surrounded city, the 10th assembled a reserve force to strike in any direction. CCB endured the cold, artillery barrages and bombing while their supplies, fourth Armored Division tanks finally broke through on 26 December, but CCB continued to fight until 18 January
12.
12th Armored Division (United States)
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The 12th Armored Division was an armored division of the United States Army in World War II. It fought in the European Theater of Operations in France, Germany and Austria, Patton, Jr. to cross the Rhine River. The 12th Armored Division was one of only ten U. S, Divisions during World War II that had African-American combat companies integrated into the Division. The 12th Armored Division was activated on 15 September 1942, organization and initial training was at Camp Campbell, Kentucky, and continued at Camp Barkeley in Abilene, Texas. The division consisted of approximately 11,000 soldiers, and was composed of tank, field artillery, motorized infantry battalions, in early 1943 the Division adopted the nickname The Hellcats, symbolizing its toughness and readiness for combat. While at Camp Barkeley, the 44th Tank Battalion was sent to the Pacific Theater of Operations on a special mission, the 44th was replaced by the 714th Tank Battalion. The 12th was originally organized as an armored division with two armored regiments, the 43rd and 44th, and one armored infantry regiment, the 56th Armored Infantry Regiment. In 1943, it was reorganized from a division to a light division as part of a general streamlining of all armored divisions, except the 2nd Armored Division. The 714th TB was sent to Fort Jackson, SC and the 779th TB went to Fort Knox and it was replaced by the 714th TB which rejoined the 12th AD in November 1943. The 779th TB was sent to the Philippines late in the war in 1945, the 1st Battalion of the 56th AIR became the 66th AIB and the 2nd Battalion of the 56th AIR became the 17th AIB of the 12th Armored Division. The 3rd Battalion of the 56th AIR became the 56th AIB, Companies G, H and I of the 56th AIR became Companies A, B and C of the 56th AIB. After completing training the Division left Abilene and departed from Camp Shanks, New York and it landed at Liverpool, England on 2 October 1944. While awaiting replacement armor which had been borrowed by the U. S, Third Army, the 12th was sent to Tidworth Barracks in Wiltshire, UK. Advance elements met the enemy near Weisslingen in Alsace on 5 December, in its advance, Rohrbach-lès-Bitche and towns surrounding Bettviller were liberated by 12 December 1944, and Utweiler, Germany was seized on 21 December. After a short period of rehabilitation and maintenance, the 12th rolled against the Rhine bridgehead at Herrlisheim that the Germans had established as part of their Operation Nordwind offensive. In order to seal the Battle of the Bulge, units of the Seventh Army were diverted north to assist the Third Army in capturing Bastogne. Due to this, the remainder of the Seventh Army, including the 12th Armored Division, was stretched thin holding a 126 miles long front line with eight divisions. German defenders repulsed two attacks in the most violent fighting in the history of the division, during 8 to 10 January and 16 to 17 January 1945
13.
Fort Polk
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Fort Polk is a United States Army installation located in Vernon Parish, approximately ten miles east of Leesville, Louisiana, and thirty miles north of DeRidder in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana. It was named in honor of the Right Reverend Leonidas Polk, the first Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana, and a distinguished Confederate general in the American Civil War. The post encompasses approximately 198,000 acres—100,000 acres are owned by the Department of the Army—98,125 acres by the U. S. Forest Service, Fort Polk is the only Combat Training Center that also trains and deploys combat units. In 2013, there were 10,877 troops stationed at Fort Polk, Louisiana officials lobbied the Army and the United States Congress to keep troop strength at full capacity despite looming defense cuts. Fort Polk began as a base for the Louisiana Maneuvers in the 1940s and it served the 1st Armored Division in the 1950s, and became a basic training post during Vietnam War years of the 1960s and 70s. It hosted the 5th Infantry Division in the 1970s-1980s, and the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in the 1990s and the 1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, and the 162nd Infantry Brigade in the 2000s. The land that is now Fort Polk is part of a region of cultural resources, including sites, historic houses and structures. Construction of Camp Polk began in 1941, thousands of wooden barracks sprang up quickly to support an Army preparing to do battle on the North African, European and Pacific fronts. Soldiers at Polk participated in the Louisiana Maneuvers, which were designed to test U. S. troops preparing for World War II, until 1939, the Army had mostly been an infantry force with supporting artillery, engineer, and cavalry units. Few units had been motorized or mechanized, as U. S. involvement in World War II became more likely, the Army recognized the need to modernize the service. But it also needed large-scale maneuvers to test a fast-growing, inexperienced force and that is where Fort Polk and the Louisiana Maneuvers came in. The Maneuvers involved half a million soldiers in 19 Army Divisions, the troops were divided equal armies of two notional countries, Kotmk and Almat. These countries were fighting over navigation rights for the Mississippi River, the Maneuvers gave Army leadership the chance to test a new doctrine that stressed the need for both mass and mobility. Sixteen armored divisions sprang up during World War II after the lessons learned during the Louisiana Maneuvers were considered and these divisions specialized in moving huge combined-arms mechanized units long distances in combat. On the defensive front, U. S. doctrine was based on two needs, the ability to defeat Blitzkrieg tactics, and how to deal with numbers of German tanks attacking relatively narrow areas. As such, the Maneuvers also tested the concept of the tank destroyer, in this concept, highly mobile guns were held in reserve until friendly forces were attacked by enemy tanks. Then, the destroyers would be rapidly deploy to the flanks of the penetration. Tank destroyers employed aggressive, high-speed hit-and-run tactics, the conclusion drawn was that tank destroyer battalions should be raised
14.
Louisiana
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Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Louisiana is the 31st most extensive and the 25th most populous of the 50 United States and its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the state in the U. S. with political subdivisions termed parishes. The largest parish by population is East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana is bordered by Arkansas to the north, Mississippi to the east, Texas to the west, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. Much of the lands were formed from sediment washed down the Mississippi River, leaving enormous deltas and vast areas of coastal marsh. These contain a rich southern biota, typical examples include birds such as ibis, there are also many species of tree frogs, and fish such as sturgeon and paddlefish. In more elevated areas, fire is a process in the landscape. These support a large number of plant species, including many species of orchids. Louisiana has more Native American tribes than any other state, including four that are federally recognized, ten that are state recognized. Before the American purchase of the territory in 1803, the current Louisiana State had been both a French colony and for a period, a Spanish one. In addition, colonists imported numerous African people as slaves in the 18th century, many came from peoples of the same region of West Africa, thus concentrating their culture. Louisiana was named after Louis XIV, King of France from 1643 to 1715, when René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle claimed the territory drained by the Mississippi River for France, he named it La Louisiane. The suffix -ana is a Latin suffix that can refer to information relating to an individual, subject. Thus, roughly, Louis + ana carries the idea of related to Louis, the Gulf of Mexico did not exist 250 million years ago when there was but one supercontinent, Pangea. As Pangea split apart, the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico opened, Louisiana slowly developed, over millions of years, from water into land, and from north to south. The oldest rocks are exposed in the north, in such as the Kisatchie National Forest. The oldest rocks date back to the early Tertiary Era, some 60 million years ago, the history of the formation of these rocks can be found in D. Spearings Roadside Geology of Louisiana. The sediments were carried north to south by the Mississippi River
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Louisiana Maneuvers
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The Louisiana Maneuvers were a series of U. S. Army exercises held around Northern and Western-Central Louisiana, including Fort Polk, Camp Claiborne and Camp Livingston, in 1940 and 1941. The exercises, which involved some 400,000 troops, were designed to evaluate U. S. training, logistics, doctrine and it was far smaller than most European armies, and few units were motorized or mechanized. As war approached, there was a need to modernize the force and to conduct large-scale maneuvers to test all aspects of a fast-growing. General Leslie McNair and Colonel Mark Wayne Clark picked thousands of acres of unused land in Louisiana as a place for large-scale training. Around 400,000 troops were divided equal armies of two fictitious countries, Kotmk, also called the Red Army, and Almat, or the Blue Army. The troops were organized into a total of 19 divisions, from August to September 1941, the armies fought over 3,400 square miles of Louisiana. The area spanned from the Sabine River east to the Calcasieu River and they fought over navigation rights and strategic points along the Mississippi River. Omar Bradley, who participated in the exercises, later said that Louisianans welcomed the soldiers with open arms, some soldiers even slept in some of the residents houses. Bradley said it was so crowded in those houses sometimes when the soldiers were sleeping, Bradley also said a few of the troops were disrespectful towards the residents land and crops, and would tear down crops for extra food. However, for the most part, residents and soldiers established good relations, during the exercises,26 men died, most from drowning in the Sabine River or in vehicle accidents. One died when struck by lightning, and one had an attack at age 24. This exercise also led to the creation of Fort Polk, named for the Confederate General Leonidas Polk, the U. S. Army fighting doctrine was based around the ideas of mass and mobility. These two legacies shaped U. S. doctrine leading up to World War II, built around a nucleus from Chaffees 7th Mechanized Cavalry, the 1st U. S. The armored division concept was considered sound and led to the formation of 16 U. S. armored divisions during World War II. U. S. defensive doctrine was based on the perceived need to defeat German blitzkrieg tactics, the maneuvers tested the concept of the tank destroyer. This concept, originating with artillery officers, consisted of numbers of highly mobile guns to be held in reserve. Upon an enemy attack, the towed or self-propelled tank destroyers would be rapidly deployed to the flanks of the penetration with the intent of taking a heavy toll of attacking tanks. Tank destroyers were supposed to employ aggressive, high-speed hit-and-run tactics against tanks, the use of these guns was distinct from the forward placement of towed antitank guns assigned as a normal part of the Infantry Regiment
16.
Camp Barkeley
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Camp Barkeley was a large United States Army training installation during World War II. The base was located eleven miles southwest of Abilene, Texas near what is now Dyess Air Force Base, the base was named after David B. Barkley, a Medal of Honor recipient during World War I, the camp was 70,229 acres in size and had a population of 50,000 at its peak of operation. Construction of the began in December 1940 and was completed in July 1941. Before it was finished, the 19,000 man 45th Infantry Division began to occupy the camp, other units that trained at the camp include the 11th Armored Division, and the 12th Armored Division. The Medical Administrative Officer Candidate School was established at Barkeley in May 1942, in 1942, the Abilene Army Air Field opened nearby to train pilots. The field was renamed Dyess Air Force Base in 1956, on February 1,1944, the 1846th Unit POW Camp was activated at Camp Barkeley. At its peak, in March 1945, the POW camp housed 840 German prisoners, according to Krammer, the few escape attempts invariably found the German prisoners sleeping in the bandstand in Abilenes central park. Camp Barkeley was officially closed in September 1945 and dismantled, the land, which was leased, reverted to the original landowners. List of World War II prisoner-of-war camps in the United States
17.
Desert Training Center
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It was a key training facility for units engaged in combat during the 1942–1943 North African campaign. It stretched from the outskirts of Pomona, California eastward to within 50 miles of Phoenix, Arizona, southward to the suburbs of Yuma, Arizona and this simulated theater of operation was the largest military training ground in the history of military maneuvers. A site near Shavers Summit between Indio and Desert Center, was selected as the headquarters of the DTC, the site, called Camp Young, was the worlds largest army post. Major General George S. Patton Jr. came to Camp Young as the first commanding general of the DTC, as a native of southern California, Patton knew the area well from his youth and from having participated in army maneuvers in the Mojave Desert in the 1930s. Patton and his advanced team designated various locations within the area where tent camps would be built, the camps were situated so that each unit could train individually without interfering with the other. Airfields, hospitals, supply depots and sites for other services were selected as was a corps maneuvering area. Upon completion of the exercise, the trained units would leave the DTC, and new units would arrive to begin their training. By March 1943, the North African campaign was in its final stages, by the middle of 1943, the troops who originally came for desert training maneuvers, were now deployed worldwide. Therefore, to reflect that change in mission, the name of the center was changed to the California-Arizona Maneuver Area, the CAMA was to serve as a theater of operations to train combat troops, service units and staffs under conditions similar to those which might be encountered overseas. The CAMA was enlarged to include both a communications zone and combat zone, approximately 350 miles wide and 250 miles long, activated 1 April 1942 Radio message Headquarters, War Department, Washington, D. C. In most cases the only things that remain at the sites are streets, sidewalks, building foundations, patterns of hand-laid rocks for various purposes. Monuments have been erected at some of the sites and there are areas within CAMA that are fenced off with danger signs warning of unexploded ordnance. The General George S. Patton Memorial Museum is located near the entrance of Camp Young. American Theater of World War II Military history of California Henley, the Land That God Forgot, The Saga of Gen. George Pattons Desert Training Camp. Fallon, NV, Western Military History Association, lynch, John S. Pattons Desert Training Center. Ft. Meyer, VA, Council on Americas Military Past. p.56, meller, Sidney L. Army Ground Forces, Washington, DC, Historical Section. History of the Army Ground Forces, the Desert Training Center and C-AMA. Ft. Belvoir, MD, Defense Technical Information Center, cS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list The Army Almanac, A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States, U. S. Government Printing Office,1950 reproduced at CMH
18.
Vandenberg Air Force Base
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Vandenberg Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base 9.2 miles northwest of Lompoc, California. It is under the jurisdiction of the 30th Space Wing, Air Force Space Command, Vandenberg AFB is a Department of Defense space and missile testing base, with a mission of placing satellites into polar orbit from the West Coast using expendable boosters. Wing personnel also support the Services LGM-30G Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Force Development Evaluation program, in addition to its military mission, the base also leases launch pad facilities to SpaceX, as well as 100 acres leased to the California Spaceport in 1995. Established in 1941, the base is named in honor of former Air Force Chief of Staff General Hoyt Vandenberg, the host unit at Vandenberg AFB is the 30th Space Wing. The 30th SW is home to the Western Range, manages Department of Defense space and missile testing, Wing personnel also support the Air Forces Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Force Development Test and Evaluation program. The Western Range begins at the boundaries of Vandenberg and extends westward from the California coast to the Western Pacific. Operations involve dozens of federal and commercial interests, the wing is organized into operations, launch, mission support and medical groups, along with several directly assigned staff agencies. 30th Launch Group The 30th Launch Group is responsible for booster and satellite technical oversight and launch processing activities to launch, integration. The group consists of a military, civilian and contractor team with more than 250 personnel directly supporting operations from the Western Range. 1st Air and Space Test Squadron 4th Space Launch Squadron 30th Operations Group The 30th Operations Group provides the capability for West Coast spacelift. Operations professionals are responsible for operating and maintaining the Western Range for spacelift, missile test launch, aeronautical, 30th Mission Support Group The 30th Mission Support Group supports the third largest Air Force Base in the United States. It is also responsible for quality-of-life needs, housing, personnel, services, civil engineering, contracting, 30th Medical Group The 30th Medical Group provides medical, dental, bio-environmental and public health services for people assigned to Vandenberg Air Force Base, their families and retirees. It is Vandenbergs only National Historic Landmark that is open for scheduled tours through the 30th Space Wings Public Affairs office. The current display area is made up of two exhibits, the Chronology of the Cold War and the Evolution of Technology, there are plans to evolve the center in stages from the current exhibit areas as restorations of additional facilities are completed. In 1941 the United States Army sought more and better training centers for the development of its armored. In March 1941, the Army acquired approximately 86,000 acres of open ranch lands along the Central Coast of California between Lompoc and Santa Maria, most of the land was purchased. Smaller parcels were obtained either by lease, license, or as easements, with its flat plateau, surrounding hills, numerous canyons, and relative remoteness from populated areas, the Army was convinced it had found the ideal training location. Construction of the Army camp began in September 1941, although its completion was still months away, the Army activated the camp on 5 October, and named it Camp Cooke in honor of Major General Phillip St. George Cooke
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Camp Kilmer
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Camp Kilmer, New Jersey is a former United States Army camp that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service Forces Transportation Corps, troops were quartered at Camp Kilmer in preparation for transport to the European Theater of Operations in World War II. Eventually, it became the largest processing center for troops heading overseas and returning from World War II, the camp was named for Joyce Kilmer, a poet killed in World War I while serving with 69th Infantry Regiment. His home was in nearby New Brunswick, New Jersey, the site was selected in 1941 by the War Department as the best site to serve the New York Port of Embarkation. Located in Piscataway Township, New Jersey and Edison Township, New Jersey at 40°31′00″N 74°26′45″W, plainfield was located four miles north of the camp. New York City, about 22 miles to the northeast, could be reached by the mainline of the Pennsylvania Railroad, a flyover loop crossing the four-track mainline allowed movements into the large train loading yards without interference with mainline traffic. Many troop embarkations would be at the New Jersey locations of Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne, the camp was also served by the Port Reading branch of the Reading Railroad and the Amboy branch of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The post was activated in June 1942 and the first unit to arrive at Camp Kilmer was the 332nd Engineer General Service Regiment, the unit arrived July 22,1942 on three separate trains from Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. The buildings were constructed of wood and were painted bright contrasting colors for a camouflage effect and this was similar to the dazzle camouflage used for ships in World War I. The camp primarily consisted of ten Disposition Areas, or sets of barracks in which units, at Camp Kilmer troops sent personal effects home, received medical injections and the supplies needed before loading onto transport ships for travel to the European Theater of Operations. After V-E Day, the post was used to deprocess troops returning from Europe, prior to sending them on to their local Personnel Center, the camp remained active until the fall of 1949 when it was no longer needed. In the fall of 1950, with hostilities in Korea, the camp was reactivated and it was placed on inactive status again in June 1955. In November 1956 it served as a place for housing for refugees from the 1956 Hungarian Revolution until June 1957. In March 1958, Camp Kilmer became Headquarters for the U. S. Army II Corps, Camp Kilmer also housed a maintenance and repair facility supporting the Nike/Hercules missile sites in the greater New York metropolitan area. This facility included large, armored rooms with heavy blast doors where missile engines, during the Cold War after the failed 1956 Hungarian Revolution 30,000 refugees were resettled at Camp Kilmer. Many settled in New Brunswick, which had a thriving Hungarian American community in its Fifth Ward, in 1963, most of the 1600 acres was auctioned and sold to local governments, and Rutgers University. The Livingston College campus currently sits on 540-acres acquired by Rutgers in 1964. Camp Kilmer By the 1960s much of the Camps properties and land were dispersed. The 78th Division, nicknamed the Lightning Division or Jersey Lightning, is the descendant of the 78th Division of World War I
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New Jersey
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New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania, New Jersey is the fourth-smallest state but the 11th-most populous and the most densely populated of the 50 United States. New Jersey lies entirely within the statistical areas of New York City. New Jersey was inhabited by Native Americans for more than 2,800 years, in the early 17th century, the Dutch and the Swedes made the first European settlements. New Jersey was the site of decisive battles during the American Revolutionary War in the 18th century. In the 19th century, factories in cities such as Camden, Paterson, Newark, Trenton, around 180 million years ago, during the Jurassic Period, New Jersey bordered North Africa. The pressure of the collision between North America and Africa gave rise to the Appalachian Mountains, around 18,000 years ago, the Ice Age resulted in glaciers that reached New Jersey. As the glaciers retreated, they left behind Lake Passaic, as well as rivers, swamps. New Jersey was originally settled by Native Americans, with the Lenni-Lenape being dominant at the time of contact, scheyichbi is the Lenape name for the land that is now New Jersey. The Lenape society was divided into clans that were based upon common female ancestors. These clans were organized into three distinct phratries identified by their animal sign, Turtle, Turkey, and Wolf and they first encountered the Dutch in the early 17th century, and their primary relationship with the Europeans was through fur trade. The Dutch became the first Europeans to lay claim to lands in New Jersey, the Dutch colony of New Netherland consisted of parts of modern Middle Atlantic states. Although the European principle of ownership was not recognized by the Lenape. The first to do so was Michiel Pauw who established a patronship called Pavonia in 1630 along the North River which eventually became the Bergen, peter Minuits purchase of lands along the Delaware River established the colony of New Sweden. During the English Civil War, the Channel Island of Jersey remained loyal to the British Crown and it was from the Royal Square in St. Helier that Charles II of England was proclaimed King in 1649, following the execution of his father, Charles I. The North American lands were divided by Charles II, who gave his brother, the Duke of York, the region between New England and Maryland as a proprietary colony. James then granted the land between the Hudson River and the Delaware River to two friends who had remained loyal through the English Civil War, Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley of Stratton, the area was named the Province of New Jersey. Since the states inception, New Jersey has been characterized by ethnic, New England Congregationalists settled alongside Scots Presbyterians and Dutch Reformed migrants
21.
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
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This 1, 500-square-mile port district is generally encompassed within a 25-mile radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. The Port Authority is headquartered at 4 World Trade Center and is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York, the agency has its own 1, 600-member Port Authority Police Department. The Port of New York and New Jersey comprised the main point of embarkation for U. S. troops and supplies sent to Europe during World War I, the solution was the 1921 creation of the Port Authority under the supervision of the governors of the two states. By issuing its own bonds, it was independent of either state. It became one of the agencies of the metropolitan area for large-scale projects. In the early years of the 20th century, there were disputes between the states of New Jersey and New York over rail freights and boundaries. At the time, rail lines terminated on the New Jersey side of the harbor, while shipping was centered on Manhattan. Freight had to be shipped across the Hudson River in barges, the Harbor Development Commission, a joint advisory board set-up in 1917, recommended that a bi-state authority be established to oversee efficient economic development of the port district. The Port of New York Authority was established on April 30,1921 and this was the first such agency in the United States, created under a provision in the Constitution of the United States permitting interstate compacts. The idea for the Port Authority was conceived during the Progressive Era, with the Port Authority at a distance from political pressures, it was able to carry longer-term infrastructure projects irrespective of the election cycles and in a more efficient manner. In 1972 it was renamed the Port Authority of New York, throughout its history, there have been concerns about democratic accountability, or lack thereof at the Port Authority. The Port District is irregularly shaped but comprises a 1, 500-square-mile area roughly within a 25-mile radius of the Statue of Liberty, at the beginning of the 20th century, there were no road bridge or tunnel crossings between the two states. The initial tunnel crossings were completed privately by the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad in 1908 and 1909, under an independent agency, the Holland Tunnel was opened in 1927, with some planning and construction pre-dating the Port Authority. With the rise in traffic, there was demand for more Hudson River crossings. Using its ability to issue bonds and collect revenue, the Port Authority has built, early projects included bridges across the Arthur Kill, which separates Staten Island from New Jersey. The Goethals Bridge, named chief engineer of the Panama Canal Commission General George Washington Goethals, connected Elizabeth, New Jersey and Howland Hook. At the south end of Arthur Kill, the Outerbridge Crossing was built and named after the Port Authoritys first chairman, construction of both bridges was completed in 1928. The Bayonne Bridge, opened in 1931, was built across the Kill van Kull, connecting Staten Island with Bayonne, the bridge was completed in October 1931, ahead of schedule and well under the estimated costs
22.
Belgium
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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
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Salisbury Plain
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Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in central southern England covering 300 square miles. It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies within the county of Wiltshire, the plain is famous for its rich archaeology, including Stonehenge, one of Englands best known landmarks. Additionally the plain has arable land, and a few areas of beech trees. Its highest point is Easton Hill, the boundaries of Salisbury Plain have never been truly defined, and there is some difference of opinion as to its exact area. The river valleys surrounding it, and other downs and plains beyond them loosely define its boundaries, to the north the scarp of the downs overlooks the Vale of Pewsey, and to the north west the Bristol Avon. The River Wylye runs along the south west, and the Bourne runs to the east, the Hampshire Avon runs through the eastern half of the plain and to the south the plain peters out as the river valleys close together before meeting at Salisbury. From here the Avon continues south to the English Channel at Christchurch, the Hampshire Downs and the Berkshire Downs are chalk downland to the east and north of Salisbury Plain, and the Dorset Downs is to the south west. In the west and north west the geology is mainly of the clays and limestones of the Blackmore Vale, the A303 road runs along the southern area of the plain, while the A345 and the A360 cut across the centre. Salisbury Plain is famous for its history and archaeology, in the Neolithic period Stone Age man began to settle on the plain, most likely centred around the causewayed enclosure of Robin Hoods Ball. Large long barrows like White Barrow and other earthworks were built across the plain, by 2500 BC areas around Durrington Walls and Stonehenge had become a focus for building, and the southern part of the plain continued to be settled into the Bronze Age. Roman roads are visible features, probably serving a settlement near Old Sarum, villas are sparse, however, and Anglo-Saxon place names suggest that the plain was mostly a grain-producing imperial estate. In the 6th century Anglo-Saxon incomers built planned settlements in the valleys surrounded by strip lynchets, the cathedral is evidence of the prosperity the wool and cloth trade brought to the area. In the mid-19th century the wool and cloth industry began to decline, leading to a decline in the population and change in use from sheep farming to agriculture. Wiltshire became one of the poorest counties in England during this period of decline, there are a number of chalk carvings on the plain, of which the most famous is the Westbury White Horse. The Kennet and Avon Canal was constructed to the north of the plain, in 1896, George Kemp and Guglielmo Marconi experimented with wireless telegraphy on Salisbury Plain, and achieved good results over a distance of 1.75 miles. Media related to Army Training Estate Salisbury Plain at Wikimedia Commons The military training area covers roughly half of the plain, the army first conducted exercises on the plain in 1898. From that time, the Ministry of Defence bought up large areas of land until the Second World War, the MoD now own 150 square miles of land, making it the largest military training area in the United Kingdom. Of this, around 39 square miles are permanently closed to the public, as of 2016, the largest camps and barracks are at Larkhill, Bulford, Tidworth, Trenchard Lines and Warminster
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Normandy
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Normandy is one of the regions of France, roughly corresponding to the historical Duchy of Normandy. Administratively, Normandy is divided into five departments, Calvados, Eure, Manche, Orne and it covers 30,627 km², forming roughly 5% of the territory of France. Its population of 3.37 million accounts for around 5% of the population of France, Normans is the name given to the inhabitants of Normandy, and the region is the homeland of the Norman language. The historical region of Normandy comprised the region of Normandy, as well as small areas now part of the départements, or departments of Mayenne. For a century and a following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, Normandy and England were linked by Norman. Archaeological finds, such as paintings, prove that humans were present in the region in prehistoric times. Celts invaded Normandy in successive waves from the 4th to the 3rd century BC, when Julius Caesar invaded Gaul, there were nine different Celtic tribes living in Normandy. The Romanisation of Normandy was achieved by the methods, Roman roads. Classicists have knowledge of many Gallo-Roman villas in Normandy, in the late 3rd century, barbarian raids devastated Normandy. Coastal settlements were raided by Saxon pirates, Christianity also began to enter the area during this period. In 406, Germanic tribes began invading from the east, while the Saxons subjugated the Norman coast, the Roman Emperor withdrew from most of Normandy. As early as 487, the area between the River Somme and the River Loire came under the control of the Frankish lord Clovis, the Vikings started to raid the Seine Valley during the middle of the 9th century. As early as 841, a Viking fleet appeared at the mouth of the Seine, after attacking and destroying monasteries, including one at Jumièges, they took advantage of the power vacuum created by the disintegration of Charlemagnes empire to take northern France. The fiefdom of Normandy was created for the Norwegian Viking leader Hrólfr Ragnvaldsson, Rollo had besieged Paris but in 911 entered vassalage to the king of the West Franks, Charles the Simple, through the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. In exchange for his homage and fealty, Rollo legally gained the territory which he, the name Normandy reflects Rollos Viking origins. The descendants of Rollo and his followers adopted the local Gallo-Romance language and they became the Normans – a Norman-speaking mixture of Saxons and indigenous Franks and Celts. Besides the Norman conquest of England and the subsequent conquests of Wales and Ireland, Norman families, such as that of Tancred of Hauteville, Rainulf Drengot and Guimond de Moulins played important parts in the Norman conquest of southern Italy and Crusades. They also carved out a place for themselves and their descendants in the Crusader states of Asia Minor, the 14th century Norman explorer Jean de Béthencourt established a kingdom in the Canary Islands
25.
Meuse
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The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea. It has a length of 925 km. Its lower Belgian portion, part of the sillon industriel, was the first fully industrialized area in continental Europe. The Meuse and its crossings were a key objective of the last major German WWII counter-offensive on the Western Front, the Meuse River is represented in the documentary The River People released in 2012 by Xavier Istasse. The name Meuse is derived from the French name of the river, the Dutch name Maas descends from Middle Dutch Mase, which comes from the presumed but unattested Old Dutch form *Masa, from Proto-Germanic *Masō. Only modern Dutch preserves this Germanic form, however, despite the similarity, the Germanic name is not derived from the Latin name, judging from the change from earlier o into a, which is characteristic of the Germanic languages. Therefore, both the Latin and Germanic names were derived from a Proto-Celtic source, which would have been *Mosā. The Meuse rises in Pouilly-en-Bassigny, commune of Le Châtelet-sur-Meuse on the Langres plateau in France from where it flows northwards past Sedan, at Namur it is joined by the River Sambre. Beyond Namur the Meuse winds eastwards, skirting the Ardennes, the river then forms part of the Belgian-Dutch border, except that at Maastricht the border lies further to the west. The river has been divided near Heusden into the Afgedamde Maas on the right, the Bergse Maas continues under the name of Amer, which is part of De Biesbosch. Near Lage Zwaluwe, the Nieuwe Merwede joins the Amer, forming the Hollands Diep, between Maastricht and Maasbracht, an unnavigable section of the Meuse is bypassed by the 36 km Juliana Canal. South of Namur, further upstream, the river can carry more modest vessels. From Givet, the river is canalized over a distance of 272 kilometres, the canalized Meuse used to be called the Canal de lEst — Branche Nord but was recently rebaptized into Canal de la Meuse. The waterway can be used by the smallest barges that are still in use commercially, just upstream of the town of Commercy, the Canal de la Meuse connects with the Marne–Rhine Canal by means of a short diversion canal. The Cretaceous sea reptile Mosasaur is named after the river Meuse, the first fossils of it were discovered outside Maastricht 1780. An international agreement was signed in 2002 in Ghent, Belgium about the management of the river amongst France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, also participating in the agreement were the Belgian regional governments of Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels. Most of the area is in Wallonia, followed by France. An International Commission on the Meuse has the responsibility of the implementation of the treaty, the map of the basin area of Meuse was joined to the text of the treaty
26.
Givet
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Givet is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France very close to the Belgian border. It lies on the river Meuse where Emperor Charles V built the fortress of Charlemont and it borders the French municipalities of Fromelennes to the east and Rancennes to the south and Foisches to the southeast. Later on, another building was added to the fort, the Caserne Rougé, the towns history claims that Saint Hubert lived there in 720 and performed a miracle. The town has changed several times since the Roman era before becoming part of France in 1678. In World War II, Givet was occupied by the Germans on May 12,1940, the city was liberated September 7,1944. By December 1944,11,000 American soldiers were billeted in the ancient Charlemont fortress, the German Ardennes Offensive targeted Givet and its crossing of the Meuse. The British, under Montgomery, organized a defense, and on 24 December. Communes of the Ardennes department INSEE Official Web site Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Givet
27.
Sedan, Ardennes
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Sedan is a commune in France, a sub-prefecture of the Ardennes department in northern France. The historic centre is built on a formed by an arc of the Meuse River. It is around 10 kilometres from the Belgian border, in the sixteenth century Sédan was an asylum for Protestant refugees from the Wars of Religion. Until 1651, the Principality of Sedan belonged to the La Tour dAuvergne family and it was at that time a sovereign principality. Their most illustrious representative, Marshal Turenne, was born at Sedan on 11 September 1611, only a year after that submission, it was annexed to France in return for sparing his life after he became involved in a conspiracy against France. This town was also the birthplace of Jacques MacDonald, a general who served in the Napoleonic Wars, during the Franco-Prussian War, on 2 September 1870 the French emperor Napoleon III was taken prisoner with 100,000 of his soldiers at the First Battle of Sedan. Due to this victory, which also made the unification of Germany possible,2 September was declared Sedan Day. It remained a holiday until 1919, Sedan was occupied by the Germans for four years during World War I. On 13 November 1917, the German Crown Prince paraded the 13th Infantry Division over the course of dAlsace-Lorraine, during World War II the German troops first invaded neutral Belgium and crossed the Meuse River by winning the Second Battle of Sedan that lasted from 12 to 15 May 1940. Today Sedan is known for its castle, that is claimed to be the largest fortified medieval castle in Europe with an area of 30,000 square metres on seven levels. Construction started in 1424 and the defences were constantly improved over the ages. It is the remaining part of the once enormous fortifications in. Jardin botanique de Sedan Festival médiéval de Sedan in May A centre of production, begun under the patronage of Cardinal Mazarin
28.
Bastogne
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Bastogne is a Walloon municipality of Belgium located in the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes. The municipality of Bastogne includes the old communes of Longvilly, Noville, Villers-la-Bonne-Eau, the town is situated on a ridge in the Ardennes at an elevation of 510 metres. At the time of the Roman conquest the region of Bastogne was inhabited by the Treveri, a form of the name Bastogne was first mentioned only much later, in 634, when the local lord ceded these territories to the St Maximins Abbey, near Trier. A century later, the Bastogne area went to the nearby Prüm Abbey, the town of Bastogne and its marketplace are again mentioned in an 887 document. By the 13th century, Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1332, John the Blind, his son, granted the city its charter and had it encircled by defensive walls, part of which, the current Porte de Trèves, still exists. The city’s walls were quite effective at protecting it during the times that followed. The city’s economy actually flourished thanks to the renown of its agricultural, the walls repelled a Dutch attack successfully in 1602. In 1688, they were dismantled by order of King Louis XIV when the town was occupied by French forces during the Nine Years War, the 19th century and Belgiums independence were favourable to Bastogne, as its forest products and cattle fairs became better known abroad. Several railway lines were built to link it to the neighbouring towns and this all came to an end with the German occupation during World War I. Liberated by the Allies in September 1944, Bastogne was attacked by German forces a few months later. Hitlers idea was to control of the Ardennes, splitting British from American forces, then advance to and reoccupy the strategic port of Antwerp. On December 16, taking advantage of cold and fog, German artillery initiated the Battle of the Bulge attacking the American divisions deployed sparsely around Bastogne. On December 22, German emissaries asked for the American surrender, to which the General answered tersely, “Nuts. ”The next day the skies cleared, allowing Allied air forces to retaliate and to much needed food, medicine. On December 26, the Third U. S. Army under the command of General Patton arrived, the official end of the Battle of Bastogne occurred three weeks later, when all fighting in the area ceased. Bastogne is the terminus of the Liberty Road, the way that marks the path of liberating Allied forces. The municipality of Bastogne comprises five sections which were separate municipalities before a merger in 1977, each contains a number of villages. The 101st Airborne Museum includes dioramas and more about the experiences of soldiers, the Bastogne Barracks museum is free and operated by the Belgian Army. It is located in the used as the headquarters of the U. S
29.
First United States Army
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It now serves as a mobilization, readiness and training command. First Army was established on 10 August 1918 as an army when sufficient American military manpower had arrived in France during World War I. As an element of the American Expeditionary Forces in the stages of World War I it was the first of three field armies established under the AEF. Serving in its ranks were many figures who played important roles in World War II. First Army was inactivated in April 1919, the field armies were established to provide organizational structure for large military organizations that might be mobilized in time of national need. First Army was located in the northeast United States and was activated on 11 September 1933 at Fort Jay, Governors Island, initially activated as a paper army, it was commanded by General Dennis E. Nolan. Until 1942, First Armys commander was always the senior commander of one of its three corps areas, since First Army was only a paper organization in its early days, its staff was the existing staff of the corps areas. The overall mission of the First Army was commanding and training army, army reserve. In the years after World War I, Conner was a mentor in the careers of Dwight Eisenhower. Passed over as a candidate for Army Chief of Staff for Douglas MacArthur, in 1938 First Army came under command of General Hugh A. Drum. Drum who along with a buildup of the Army in 1939 and it began to establish and develop its own staff and participated in the large scale Army maneuvers in Louisiana and North Carolina between 1939 and 1941. As the United States entered World War II, Drum was assigned a new command of the newly established Eastern Defense Command, responsible for coastal, Drum retired in 1943 when he reached mandatory retirement age. Headquarters, First Army was activated In January 1944 at Bristol, upon going ashore on 6 June 1944, D-Day, First Army came under 21st Army Group and commanded all American ground forces during the invasion. Three American divisions were landed by sea at the Western end of the beaches, on Utah Beach the assault troops made good time, but Omaha Beach came nearest of all of the five landing areas to disaster. First Army captured much of the gains of the Allied forces in Normandy. Once the beachheads were joined up, its troops struck west and isolated the Cotentin Peninsula, when the American Mulberry harbour was wrecked by a storm, Cherbourg became even more vital. After the capture of Cherbourg, First Army struck south, in Operation Cobra, its forces finally managed to break through the German lines. The newly established Third Army was then fed through the gap, the Army then passed from the control of 21st Army Group to the newly arrived 12th Army Group
30.
Houffalize
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Houffalize is a Walloon municipality of Belgium located in the province of Luxembourg. On 1 January 2007 the municipality, which covers 166.58 square kilometres, had 4,802 inhabitants, the municipality consists of the following sub-municipalities, Houffalize proper, Mabompré, Mont, Nadrin, Tailles, Tavigny, and Wibrin. Houffalize was a location during the Battle of the Bulge of World War II. Specifically, Generals Montgomery and Patton met up here, Montgomery coming from the north and Patton from the south, in their counter-attack against the German forces remaining in the area. The town was flattened on the night of 5–6 January 1945 by ninety RAF Lancasters of Bomber Command to block the key crossroads for German supply columns, Patton was driven to writing a poem in his diary about the bombing. Houffalize is a member of the Douzelage, a unique town twinning association of 24 towns across the European Union. This active town twinning began in 1991 and there are events, such as a produce market from each of the other countries. Discussions regarding membership are also in hand with three further towns, list of protected heritage sites in Houffalize Brasserie dAchouffe Official website
31.
Siegfried Line
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The original Siegfried Line was a First World War line of defensive forts and tank defences built by Germany in northern France during 1916–17 as a section of the Hindenburg Line. This line stretched more than 630 km and featured more than 18,000 bunkers, tunnels and it was planned in 1936 and built between 1938 and 1940. From September 1944 to March 1945, the Siegfried Line was subject to a large scale Allied offensive, the overall cost of this Campaign in American personnel was close to 140,000. The German losses were not well documented and this standardisation was the most effective use of scarce raw materials, transport and workers. Dragons teeth tank traps were known as Höcker in German because of their shape. These blocks of reinforced concrete stand in rows on a single foundation. There are two sorts of barrier, Type 1938 with four teeth getting higher toward the back. Many other irregular lines of teeth were also built, another design of tank obstacle, known as the Czech hedgehog, was made by welding together several bars of steel in such a way that any tank rolling over it would get stuck. If the contour of the land allowed it, water-filled ditches were dug instead of tank traps, examples of this kind of defence are those north of Aachen near Geilenkirchen. Small bunkers with 50 cm thick walls were set up with three embrasures towards the front, in exposed positions, similar small bunkers were erected with small round armoured lookout sections on the roofs. The Limes Programme began in 1938 following an order by Hitler to strengthen fortifications on the western German border, Limes refers to the former borders of the Roman Empire, the cover story for the programme was that it was an archaeological study. Its Type 10 bunkers were more strongly constructed than the border fortifications. These had 1.5 m thick ceilings and walls, a total of 3,471 were built along the entire length of the Siegfried Line. They featured a room or shelter for 10-12 men with a stepped embrasure facing backwards. This elevated section had embrasures at the front and sides for machine guns, more embrasures were provided for riflemen, and the entire structure was constructed so as to be safe against poison gas. Heating was from a safety oven, the chimney of which was covered with a thick grating, space was tight, with about 1 m2 per soldier, who was given a sleeping-place and a stool, the commanding officer had a chair. Surviving examples still retain signs warning Walls have ears and Lights out when embrasures are open, the Aachen-Saar programme bunkers were similar to those of the Limes programme, Type 107 double MG casemates with concrete walls up to 3.5 m thick. One difference was there were no embrasures at the front
32.
Prum
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Prüm is a town in the Westeifel, Germany. Formerly a district capital, today it is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde Prüm. Prüm lies on the river Prüm at the end of the Schneifel. See main article on the former monastery, Prüm Abbey. In 2005, the Prüm Convention was signed in the city by several European countries, among the largest employers in the region are MUH Arla, Stihl, Streif, Prüm-Türenwerk and Grohmann Engineering. MUH Arla has its office at Pronsfeld,10 kilometres away. Since 1980 it has not been possible to take the train to Prüm, in December 2000 the last train went through Prüm, and this was a special event. Since that time, the tracks have been dismantled. The federal highway B265 and B410 cross in Prüm, the autobahn A60, Prüm Air Station is located just outside Prüm and is operated by the United States Air Force. In July and August Prüm Summer takes place and it begins with a market and a music competition on the streets on the last Sunday in June. During the next eight Thursdays, various guests meet at the town hall, there is also a bicycle rally, a fashion show, and dances included in the program
33.
Gerolstein
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Gerolstein is a town in the Vulkaneifel district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Gerolstein is a municipality of the Verbandsgemeinde Gerolstein. It has been approved as a Luftkurort, gerolsteins subdivisions, besides the main town, are Bewingen, Büscheich-Niedereich, Gees, Hinterhausen, Lissingen, Michelbach, Müllenborn, Oos, and Roth. As early as the Stone Age, there is evidence of habitation in the Buchenloch. In the Bronze Age the Dietzenley was used by the Celts as a refuge castle, in Roman times a temple and dwellings were known to have existed, and remnants of them have been preserved. One form of the name Gerolstein first appeared in connection with the building of the Löwenburg in 1115, town rights were granted to Gerolstein in 1337. In 1691, the town was almost completely destroyed when it was liberated from French occupation by troops from the Duchy of Jülich, after reconstruction, a devastating fire burnt down the town in 1708, and again in 1784. In the 1801 Treaty of Lunéville, Gerolstein, along all of the area on the left bank of the Rhine river, was given to France. It is known that water—from the spring that once was used by the Celts and this still forms the basis for today’s mineral water industry in Gerolstein. Late in the Second World War, in both 1944 and 1945, Gerolstein’s status as a railway junction-town brought Allied air raids down on the town, town rights were granted Gerolstein once again in 1953. Bewingen is Gerolstein’s northernmost outlying centre, or Stadtteil, located three kilometres from the town center, here, the Kyll river flows in a great arc around the mighty dolomite and basalt massif that juts out from the west, eastwards. The valley narrows and there is enough room for the railway line, a field road. The road finds its way to Gerolstein over the Bewinger Höhe, the place-name ending —ingen points to early Frankish settlement. Bewingen was first mentioned in a document in 1218 as a holding of the church, from that mention it is known that the Brothers Theoderich, Alexander, and Albero, from Castle Kerpen, established an endowment for the Premonstratensian nuns in the years between 1162 and 1175. The next documentary mention came in 1282, when Gerhard VI of Blankenheim acquired the land, as well as Steffeln, Niederbettingen, in the Middle Ages, the lords at Kasselburg and those at Castle Gerhardstein held lands and tithing rights in the village. In the time of French rule, beginning in 1794, Bewingen was assigned to the Mairie of Rockeskyll, the formerly self-administering municipality of Bewingen was amalgamated with the town of Gerolstein in 1969. One of the oldest buildings is the chapel consecrated to Saint Brice. Its Late Gothic choir suggests that there was a church here
34.
Andernach
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Andernach is a town in the district of Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, of currently about 30,000 inhabitants. A few hundred metres downstream of Andernach the Rhine valley narrows from both sides forming the part of the romantic Middle Rhine stretch. Already in Roman times the place the narrow passage begins was named Porta Antunnacensis or Andernachian Gate and it is formed by two hills, the Krahnenberg and the Engwetter on the right bank near the wine village Leutesdorf. The crane hill is named after the old crane beneath his foot, as with most German cities, towns and villages, Andernach has its own local dialect – the Andernacher Platt in which Andernach and the local dialect itself is named Annenach and Annenache Platt. Another examples are words like Wind and Winter, which is Weend, the double ee is pronounced like French é. Unlike other dialects in the places the Andernachian dialect is strongly relative to the Ripuarian dialect due its connection to Cologne. For more examples see the German Wikipedia site, the coat of arms of Andernach known since 1344 shows a black cross on a white escutcheon charged with a pair of X-shapedly arranged red keys. It is described in language as Argent a cross sable charged with keys in saltire gules. The black cross on silver symbolizes the governance of the Electorate of Cologne, the red colour adverts to the red cross in the coat of arms of the Electorate of Trier. The oldest town seal shows St. Mary sitting on a throne with a church in her right hand, the seal inscription says, MATER DEI PATRONA CIVIUM ANDERNACENSIUM – Mother of God, patron saint of the Andernachian citizens. The oldest seal was made before 1200, the oldest seal dates from the year 1250. Both the Roman and the Celtic names mean village or farm of Antunnos/us—a man not yet identified and it was the southernmost outpost of the Electorate of Cologne from the 12th to the 19th century. In addition to the touristically appealing medieval remnants of the old town fortifications, for 350 years it was in operation from 1561 to 1911. This treadwheel crane with stone walls is one of only a few of its kind in Europe to have survived, a prince-electoral order or permission was needed to build and operate such a crane in the times of the Holy Roman Empire. The Catholic St. Mary Assumption Parish Church locally known as Church of Our Lady or St. Marys Cathedral is the oldest historical attraction in Andernach, some of which date back to the 11th century. The town palais von der Leyen house, named after its builder district magistrate and governor of the prince-elector, Georg III von der Leyen, built in renaissance and baroque styles it now houses the town museum since 1936 and again since 1969. It displays among others a fine model of the Roman castrum Antunnacum, a 17th-century town model in ~1,600 scale and a thoroughly assembled model of the prince-electoral town castle. One of Andernachs natural attractions is the worlds highest cold-water geyser and it is located a little less than half a mile downstream from the Crane in the Nature Reserve of Namedyer Werth, now a peninsula
35.
Rhine
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The largest city on the river Rhine is Cologne, Germany, with a population of more than 1,050,000 people. It is the second-longest river in Central and Western Europe, at about 1,230 km, with an average discharge of about 2,900 m3/s. The Rhine and the Danube formed most of the inland frontier of the Roman Empire and, since those days. The many castles and fortifications along the Rhine testify to its importance as a waterway in the Holy Roman Empire, in the modern era, it has become a symbol of German nationalism. The variant of the name of the Rhine in modern languages are all derived from the Gaulish name Rēnos, spanish is with French in adopting the Germanic vocalism Rin-, while Italian, Occitan and Portuguese retain the Latin Ren-. The Gaulish name Rēnos belongs to a class of river names built from the PIE root *rei- to move, flow, run, the grammatical gender of the Celtic name is masculine, and the name remains masculine in German, Dutch and French. The Old English river name was variously inflected as masculine or feminine, the length of the Rhine is conventionally measured in Rhine-kilometers, a scale introduced in 1939 which runs from the Old Rhine Bridge at Constance to Hoek van Holland. The river length is shortened from the rivers natural course due to a number of canalisation projects completed in the 19th and 20th century. The total length of the Rhine, to the inclusion of Lake Constance and its course is conventionally divided as follows, The Rhine carries its name without distinctive accessories only from the confluence of the Vorderrhein and Hinterrhein near Tamins-Reichenau. Above this point is the catchment of the headwaters of the Rhine. It belongs almost exclusively to the Swiss Canton of Graubünden, ranging from Gotthard Massif in the west via one valley lying in Ticino, traditionally, Lake Toma near the Oberalp Pass in the Gotthard region is seen as the source of the Vorderrhein and the Rhine as a whole. The Hinterrhein rises in the Rheinwald valley below Mount Rheinwaldhorn, the Vorderrhein, or Anterior Rhine, springs from Lai da Tuma, near the Oberalp Pass and passes the impressive Ruinaulta formed by the largest visible rock slide in the alps, the Flims Rockslide. A multiday trekking route is signposted along the young Rhine called Senda Sursilvana, the Hinterrhein/Rein Posteriur, or Posterior Rhine, starts from the Paradies Glacier, near the Rheinwaldhorn. One of its tributaries, the Reno di Lei, drains the Valle di Lei on politically Italian territory, after three main valleys separated by the two gorges, Roflaschlucht and Viamala, it reaches Reichenau. The Vorderrhein arises from numerous source streams in the upper Surselva, one source is Lai da Tuma with the Rein da Tuma, which is usually indicated as source of the Rhine, flowing through it. Into it flow tributaries from the south, some longer, some equal in length, such as the Reno di Medel, the Rein da Maighels, and the Rein da Curnera. The Cadlimo Valley in the Canton of Ticino is drained by the Reno di Medel, all streams in the source area are partially, sometimes completely, captured and sent to storage reservoirs for the local hydro-electric power plants. In its lower course the Vorderrhein flows through a gorge named Ruinaulta through the Flims Rockslide, the whole stretch of the Vorderrhein to the Rhine confluence near Reichenau-Tamins is accompanied by a long-distance hiking trail called Senda Sursilvana
36.
Saarland
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The Saarland is one of the sixteen states of the Federal Republic of Germany. With its capital at Saarbrücken, it has an area of 2,570 km², in terms of both area and population size – apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg – it is Germanys smallest state. Prior to its creation as the Territory of the Saar Basin by the League of Nations after World War I, until then, some parts of it had been Prussian while others belonged to Bavaria. The inhabitants voted to rejoin Germany in a referendum held in 1935, from 1947 to 1956 the Saarland was a French-occupied territory separate from the rest of Germany. Between 1950 and 1956, Saarland was a member of the Council of Europe, in 1955, in another referendum, the inhabitants were offered independence, but voted instead for the territory to become a state of West Germany. From 1920 to 1935, and again from 1947 to 1959, Saarland is the result of a regulation of the treaty of Versailles and was created in 1919. Prior to this creation, there never existed a comparable administrative unit or a feeling of togetherness, the region of the Saarland was settled by the Celtic tribes of Treveri and Mediomatrici. The most impressive relic of their time is the remains of a fortress of refuge at Otzenhausen in the north of the Saarland, in the 1st century BC, the Roman Empire made the region part of its province of Belgica. The Celtic population mixed with the Roman immigrants, the region gained wealth, which can still be seen in the remains of Roman villas and villages. Roman rule ended in the 5th century, when the Franks conquered the territory, for the next 1,300 years the region shared the history of the Kingdom of the Franks, the Carolingian Empire and of the Holy Roman Empire. The region of the Saarland was divided into small territories. Most important of the rulers were the counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken. It was not the king of France but the armies of the French Revolution who terminated the independence of the states in the region of the Saarland, after 1792 they conquered the region and made it part of the French Republic. While a strip in the west belonged to the Département Moselle, the centre in 1798 became part of the Département de Sarre, after the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, the region was divided again. Most of it part of the Prussian Rhine Province. Another part in the east, corresponding to the present Saarpfalz district, was allocated to the Kingdom of Bavaria, a small part in the northeast was ruled by the Duke of Oldenburg. On 31 July 1870, the French Emperor Napoleon III ordered an invasion across the River Saar to seize Saarbrücken, the first shots of the Franco-Prussian War 1870/71 were fired on the heights of Spichern, south of Saarbrücken. The Saar region became part of the German Empire which came into existence on 18 January 1871, in 1920 the Saargebiet was occupied by Britain and France under the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles
37.
Moselle
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The Moselle is a river flowing through France, Luxembourg, and Germany. It is a tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A small part of Belgium is also drained by the Moselle through the Sauer, the Moselle twists and turns its way between Trier and Koblenz along one of Germanys most beautiful river valleys. It flows through a region that has influenced by mankind since it was first cultivated by the Romans. Today, its hillsides are covered by terraced vineyards where some of the best Rieslings grow, Traben-Trarbach with its art nouveau architecture and Bernkastel-Kues with its traditional market square are two of the many popular tourist attractions on the Moselle river. The name Moselle is derived from the Celtic name form, Moseal, via the Latin Mosella, a form of Mosa, the Latin description of the Meuse. So the Mosella was the Little Meuse, the Moselle is first recorded by Tacitus in Book 13 of his Annals and in Book 4 of his Histories. The Roman poet, Decimius Magnus Ausonius, made it a theme as early as the 4th century. In his poem dated A. D. Ausonius describes flourishing and rich landscapes along the river and in the valley of the Moselle, the river subsequently gave its name to two French republican départements, Moselle and Meurthe-et-Moselle. The source of the Moselle is at 715 metres above sea level on the Col de Bussang on the slopes of the Ballon dAlsace in the Vosges. After 544 kilometres it discharges into the Rhine at the Deutsches Eck in Koblenz at a height of 59 metres above NHN. The length of the river in France is 314 kilometres, for 39 kilometres it forms the border between Germany and Luxembourg, and 208 kilometres are solely within Germany, the Moselle flows through the Lorraine region, west of the Vosges. Further downstream, in Germany, the Moselle valley forms the division between the Eifel and Hunsrück mountain regions. The average flow rate of the Moselle at its mouth is 328 m³/s, making it the second largest tributary of the Rhine by volume after the Aare and bigger than the Main and Neckar. The section of the Moselle from the Franco-German-Luxembourg tripoint to its confluence with the Saar near Konz shortly before Trier is in Germany known as the Upper Moselle. The section from Trier to Pünderich is the Middle Moselle, the section between Pünderich and its mouth in Koblenz as the Lower Moselle or Terraced Moselle. Characteristic of the Middle and Lower Moselle are its wide meanders cut deeply into the highlands of the Rhenish Massif, also typical are its vineyard terraces. From the tripoint the Moselle marks the entire Saarland-Luxembourg, the catchment area of the Moselle is 28,286 km² in area
38.
Bullay
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Bullay is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Zell, whose seat is in the municipality of Zell an der Mosel, the municipality lies on the river Moselle across from Alf. It is said to be certain there was a Roman settlement within the limits of what is now Bullay. From 1470 to 1550 there was mining in Bullay, four baronial noble families held the lordship in the village, Zand von Merl, Boos von Waldeck, von Metzenhausen and von Kellenbach. Beginning in 1794, Bullay lay under French rule, in 1815 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna. In 1879, the Koblenz–Trier line was opened, since 1946, it has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Under the Verwaltungsvereinfachungsgesetz of 18 July 1970, with effect from 7 November 1970, in 1993 came the highest ever floods in the region, the “Christmas Flood”, also known as the “Flood of the Century”. The council is made up of 16 council members, who were elected by proportional representation at the election held on 7 June 2009. The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results, Bullay’s mayor is Matthias Müller, Bullay also has an “Environmental Railway Station” that has been awarded an architectural prize by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Although in a mainly Catholic area, Bullay has a mosque named Yeşil Camii, all five daily prayers have been offered since March 14,2014. The mosques association is linked to the DITIB, but welcomes Muslims from all countries to join the prayers, Bullay is linked by the double-deck bridge to the Moselle’s left bank, and thereby to Bundesstraßen 49 and 53. Bullay lies on the Koblenz-Trier line, completed in 1879, over which it is linked to the Deutsche Bahn InterCity network, furthermore, the ICE 856/855 stops daily towards 6,00 and 22,00 at Bullay railway station. This “Environmental Railway Station” is moreover the last station on the Moselweinbahn running between Bullay and Traben-Trarbach, from 1905 to 1961, another station, Bullay Süd, was the northern terminus of the Moselbahn running between Trier Nord and Bullay Süd. This line, however, was dismantled in 1961 and replaced with buses, the double-deck bridge, which carries the railway from the station to the Prinzenkopftunnel is a nationally known work of railway construction. Marcus Braun, writer Municipality’s official webpage
39.
Oppenheim
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Oppenheim is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The town is a wine center, being the home of the German Winegrowing Museum. The town lies on the Upper Rhine in Rhenish Hesse between Mainz and Worms and it is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde. In 765, the first documented mention of the Frankish village was recorded in the Lorsch Codex, further portions of Oppenheim were added to the endowment in 774. In 1008, Oppenheim was granted market rights, in October 1076 Oppenheim gained special importance in the Investiture Controversy. At the princely session of Trebur and Oppenheim, the princes called on King Henry IV to undertake the Walk to Canossa, after Oppenheim was returned to the Empire in 1147, it became a Free Imperial City in 1225, during the Staufer Emperor Frederick II’s. At this time, the town was important for its imperial castle, in the 14th century, the town was pledged to the Electorate of Mainz and beginning in 1398, it belonged to the territory of the Electoral Palatinate. In 1621, the Oppenheim town chronicle reports a fire in which the Oppenheim Town Hall was almost completely destroyed. The Electoral Oberamt archive, too, was lost in the fire, on 14 September 1620, Spanish troops overran the town in the Thirty Years War. The Spaniards occupied Oppenheim until 1632, in 1688, French troops overran the town in the Nine Years War. On 31 May 1689, Landskrone Castle and the town were destroyed by the French under General Mélac. Until 1797, Oppenheim remained an Electoral Palatinate holding, after being in French hands, Oppenheim passed, in 1816, to the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt. In March 1945, troops of the 3rd Army under General George S. Patton managed to build a crossing over the Rhine near Oppenheim and to occupy it. All town seals up until 1925 showed a crowned head, but for one, from 1266. Nevertheless, the town adopted arms with this composition while still using the king’s head seal, the arms have not changed since their adoption. The arms have been borne since 1609, the town of Ansbach and the city of Osnabrück were also subsequently chosen. The sponsorship has found expression in, among other things. The old town with its marketplace, town hall from 1621, the town fortifications with the Gautor and Rheintorpforte, clocktower and town wall remnants
40.
Hanau
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Hanau is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main and its station is a major railway junction and it has a port on the river Main, making it an important transport centre. Hanau is known for being the birthplace of Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, since the 16th century it was a centre of precious metal working with many goldsmiths. It is home to Heraeus, one of the largest family-owned companies in Germany, in 1963, the town hosted the third Hessentag state festival. Until 2005, Hanau was the centre of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis. The historic core of Hanau is situated within a semicircle of the river Kinzig which flows into the river Main just west of the town, after this change, Hanau for the first time also extended to the south bank of the Main river. The name is derived of Hagenowe which is an out of Haag. As a place of settlement Hanau was first mentioned in 1143, then it was the site of a castle which used the waters of the river Kinzig as a defense. The castle belonged to a family, calling themselves of Hanau since the 13th century. Starting from this castle a village developed and became a town in 1303, as a result of this history, the main church of Hanau stood outside its walls in the village of Kinzdorf. The villagers moved into the town, Kinzdorf became a village leaving only the church. Only in the 15th century was the status of the Hanau parish church transferred to the church of Mary Magdalene within the town walls, shortly after the first town walls were built at the beginning of the 14th century, the town outgrew this limit. These new fortifications enclosed three elements, The medieval castle, the town of Hanau and the Vorstadt. At the end of the 16th century, Count Philipp Ludwig II attracted Protestant refugees from the Netherlands and this was of high economic interest for him because these Walloons brought high-class trade, their knowledge of jewellery and other production of luxury items and therefore taxes to his county. Out of this tradition, goldsmiths are still trained in Hanau, Hanau also was the site of the first workshop to produce Faience within Germany. These new citizens were granted privileges and they formed their own community, church and it took more than 200 years to amalgamate both. The new town – larger than the old one – was protected by a very modern fortification in Baroque-style which proved a big asset only a few years later in the Thirty Years War. The town survived a siege in 1637 with only minor damage, in 1736 Johann Reinhard III of Hanau-Lichtenberg, the last of the Counts of Hanau, died
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Fulda
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Fulda is a city in Hesse, Germany, it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district. In 1990, the hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. In 744 Saint Sturm, a disciple of Saint Boniface, founded the Benedictine monastery of Fulda as one of Bonifaces outposts in the reorganization of the church in Germany. It later served as a base from which missionaries could accompany Charlemagnes armies in their political and military campaign to fully conquer, the initial grant for the abbey was signed by Carloman, the son of Charles Martel. The support of the Mayors of the Palace and later, the early Pippinid, Fulda also received support from many of the leading families of the Carolingian world. Sturm, whose tenure as abbot lasted from 747 until 779, was most likely related to the Agilolfing dukes of Bavaria. Fulda also received large and constant donations from the Etichonids, a family in Alsace. Under Sturm, the donations Fulda received from these and other important families helped in the establishment of daughter-houses -Johannesberg and Petersberg - near Fulda, after his martyrdom by the Frisians, the relics of Saint Boniface were brought back to Fulda. Because of the stature this afforded the monastery, the donations increased, meanwhile, Saint Lullus, successor of Boniface as archbishop of Mainz, tried to absorb the abbey into his archbishopric, but failed. This was one reason that he founded Hersfeld Abbey - to limit the attempts of the enlargement of Fulda, between 790 and 819 the community rebuilt the main monastery church to more fittingly house the relics. The crypt of the abbey church still holds those relics. A small, 9th-century chapel remains standing within walking distance of the church, rabanus Maurus served as abbot at Fulda from 822 to 842. Prince-abbot Balthasar von Dernbach adopted a policy of counterreformation, in 1571 he called in the Jesuits to found a school and college. He insisted that the members of the chapter should return to a form of life. The foundation of the abbey Fulda and its territory originated with an Imperial grant, Fulda became a bishopric in 1752 and the prince-abbots were given the additional title of prince-bishop. The prince-abbots ruled Fulda and the region until the bishopric was forcibly dissolved by Napoleon in 1802. The city went through a building campaign in the 18th century. This included a remodeling of Fulda Cathedral and of the Stadtschloss by Johann Dientzenhofer, the city parish church, St. Blasius, was built between 1771–85
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Thuringian Forest
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The Thuringian Forest forms a continuous chain of ancient rounded mountains with steep slopes to both sides and poses ample difficulties in transit routing save through a few navigable passes. It is about 70 km long and 20 km wide, the highest elevation is Großer Beerberg at 982 m a. s. l. The Rennsteig is an ancient path following the ridge and connecting the summits. Dialects and traditional customs and costumes are different on either side of the Rennsteig, the Rennsteig is the subject of the song Rennsteiglied, the unofficial hymn of Thuringia. Two more long-distance roads, Bundesstraßen 19 and 84, pass over the parts of the range. A third line, the section of the Plaue–Themar railway, does not use a tunnel. It has only used by museum trains since 1998. The Nuremberg–Erfurt high-speed railway, due to be commissioned in December 2017, crosses the Thuringian Forest with the help of several tunnels and bridges. Thüringerwaldbahn, a line of the Gotha tramway network, serves the northern foothills of the Thuringian Forest between Gotha and Tabarz, including a branch to Waltershausen. The uplift of the fault block was part of the Saxonian tectonic processes and is understood as a long range effect of the Alpine orogeny. It began in the upper Cretaceous era and ended in the late Tertiary after about 40 million years, while the near-surface rocks of the Thuringian Highland comprise mostly the folded Variscan basement, the oldest unfolded overlying strata of this basement are exposed in the Thuringian forest. Common to both ranges, but also to low mountain ranges in Central Europe uplifted at the same time, are the bordering Zechstein deposits which contain Bryozoa reefs. These stretch especially wide on the edge of the Thuringian forest. The Eisenach trough is part of the much larger Werra basin and it was uplifted as one of the fault blocks in the Saxonian tectonic era and is filled with Variscan molasses, named Eisenach formation after the location. It consists mostly of monotonous sequences of reddish conglomerates representing a proximal alluvial fan which originated in debris flows from the Ruhla anticline, dated in the upper Rotliegend, the Eisenach formation consists of some of the youngest geological units in the Thuringian forest. In the Ruhla anticline the basement rocks, folded in the Variscan era, are exposed and they are named Ruhlaer Kristallin after the location and are according to Franz Kossmat considered part of the Central German Crystalline Zone, of which Odenwald and Spessart are also constituents. In the Rotliegend era the region formed the crest of a range where the debris originated that was deposited in the Eisenach trough. The Oberhof trough is by far the largest of the main parts of the Thuringian Forest
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Oberhof, Germany
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Oberhof is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district of Thuringia, Germany. It is a sports center and health resort. It is visited by tenfold as many tourists every year, the town got its official city status in 1985. From the early 1900s onwards, Oberhof became a center for sports, with luge, nordic skiing. In recent years the town has seen the construction of lift-equipped alpine skiing slopes. Their bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track has hosted many world, in August 2009 the first German ski tunnel opened in Oberhof
United States
United States Army
