Preliminary report on my visit to the Kall Trail, 6 June 92.

Last Saturday, we left very early from our home to reach the Ruhr area before holiday-makers would be crowding the walking paths to and from Vossenack and Schmidt. We arrived atabout 8:30 at the church in Vossenack, had breakfast on the hood of our Suzuki Vitara (4WD) and started to look for the beginning of the trail. It is easy to find these days because a map with all walking paths is provided on the parking zone next to the church. Off we went!

At the actual beginning of the trail is a road sign to tell you it is only for people who live (?) or work alongside it, but we believed we would do no harm to drive down the muddy path. 4 low would do the trick. The first part, towards the entrance of the woods, is easy. The first thing one notices is that it certainly is not a nice place to be when visibility is unlimited. An enemy can look at you from every direction: Brandenberg, Bergstein, Kommerscheidt and Schmidt! (You really feel exposed like a fly on a very white wall.) We went onto the slippery trail and carefully drove down in first low gear.

I estimate it was a 20 to 30 degree angle. It is very narrow and has hardly changed in the last 48 years. I can say this safely because it looks as if it is not used except for some holiday makers. We managed with the car about halfway. Then, the trail was cut by a track to allow foresters to work in the valley.

The beginning of the second part is the narrowest for about 6 to 7 meters. I did not know what would follow, (no turning back!) so I walked the second half. I know now it can still be driven all the way down to Mestrenger Muhle and may even do so, for reasons I will explain later. But, last Saturday we didn't. We took a left turn onto the foresters path completely surprising some foresters cutting trees. To them, it was impossible to come from that direction!

Following a normal road you can reach the mill and the end of the trail and cross a bridge (not the same one as in 1944, it was blown up). In June, it is possible to ford the Kall, there were only 1 1/2 feet of water. (I have no idea what it looks like in November, though.) On the other side of the river, the trail becomes a little road with a few nasty hairpins. This is not nice on tank tracks either.

One turn was so sharp, I had to back the Suzuki up to make the turn. Even the road surface looked like it was made in 1940 Germany. So far as I could see it had no major upgrading for years!

After this last steep climb out of the valley, we came into Kommerscheidt/Schmidt. These days they are probably one town but we saw only the name Schmidt.

Conclusion:

There is a more or less good road from Schmidt to the Mestrenger Muhle, and off the mill to the west and east. But, there never was, or is, a good connection to the north to Vossenack.

Except for some aerial pictures, there was no intel on the condition of the trail which was not only chosen as a main line of attack, but was supposed to be the supply line as well. Ever since I sent down the steep, slippery, narrow trail into the gorge, I have felt the greatest admiration for the battalions of the 112th Inf, the A company of the 707th, the 20th engineer combat battalion and later C company of the 893rd TD battalion and a battalion of the 110th, with TDs and light tanks. (This was TF Ripple.)

What they tried was absolutely impossible: bad weather, hardly any air support, almost total open terrain towards the entrance to the trail. (German OPs must have had a field day!) With insufficient tank support, the infantry was stuck in their objective: Schmidt. I wonder who took the blame for these grave mistakes; that is what they were since the village of Schmidt can only be taken and held from the west.

By the way, the reason for me to go back is a painful one. Two days after we were at the trail, I found I had forgotten to put film in my camera! It happens sometimes during photography-travels, but this was not nice. Maybe it will give me the opportunity to drive the whole trail down, showing in print how narrow it is.

More about the Kall Trail then.

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