90th Infantry Division Pic of the Week: Vseruby, Czechoslovakia
November 14, 2011
Posted in 11th Panzer Division, 90th Infantry Division, 90th Infantry Division Pic of the Week
Tags: 11th Panzer Division, 90th Infantry Division, 90th Infantry Division Pic of the Week
A good Monday morning to all. Time for the 90th Infantry Division Pic of the Week. Today we feature a shot of one of those truly historical moments of World War II. Soldiers from the 90th Infantry Division, and interested spectators, wait outside a building where German General Wend Von Wietersheim is signing the surrender of his 11th Panzer Division to U.S. General Herbert Earnest and the 90th Division, just days prior to the end of World War II.
The above picture is just a small view of the surrendering of the 11th
Panzer Division. I was in E. Co. 358 and we passed by this event which
included buses with women and baby buggies, what part they played in
this outfit, is your imagination. They tried to surrender to a Recon
group working with the 90th, but the German General’s ego made him
seek out the 90th who had a Major General as its Commander. This
huge enclosure of German prisoners had each of the four perimeters
with an American haftrack with 50 caliber machine guns in the event
of a problem. My feeling is that they wanted to surrender to the
Americans to avoid any contact with the nearby Russian Army. that
we met in a few days near Klatovy, Czechoslovakia
Thank you for your service! My friend and I just purchased a large grouping of photos taken by one of the photographers of the 166th Photo Signal Co. who witnessed this surrender. We are now researching the incident and would love to be in touch with you. If you see this please contact me at the above email.
Sincerely,
Paul Johnson