de Wijkwebsite voor Nijmegen-Oost

Voltreffer bij zwembad Oost

Wij ontvingen deze foto van Tom Timmermans met een verwijzing naar een spannend verhaal geschreven door Tweede Wereldoorlog historicus Mark Bando. Het gaat over een voltreffer, zeer waarschijnlijk vlak voor het zwembad in Nijmegen-Oost... 

"This photo was taken in November, 1944, in Nijmegen, Holland. The truck is afire, as a result of taking a direct hit from a German artillery shell. Captain Joe Pangerl and his driver, Sgt Fred Patheiger, had driven to this building from the Betuwe (island) to take a shower.

To avoid having their jeep stolen it was necessary for one guy to stay with it at all times. So Pangerl showered first, then switched places with Patheiger. As Joe was waiting for Fred to come out, this truck loaded with 16 members of the 506th PIR, pulled-up, driven by a 506th Service Co. driver. The troopers piled out and went in to take their showers.

Captain Pangerl got out of his jeep and sat in the passenger seat in the cab of the truck, making conversation with the driver. Soon after, another jeep pulled up and parked next to Pangerl’s jeep, a bit farther away from the truck. Joe recognized the officer in that jeep, so he exited the truck and went and sat in the jeep, to talk to the new arrival.

Soon thereafter, a random German shell, fired from miles away, made a direct hit on the cab of the truck which Pangerl had just gotten out of. The shell hit exactly where he had been sitting and killed the driver. Joe’s jeep, which was parked closer to the truck than the one he was sitting-in, also received multiple shell fragments.

It seems that all the 101st paratroopers who survived WW2 combat had similar escapes from death..."