The Americans had by then advanced so far up the Rhine that the swimmers had to enter the river 17 kilometers (11 mi) upstream from the bridge. My men were in squad column and not one of them was hit. German resistance to the British landings continued with some effect, and there were armored counter-attacks. In 1926… The first successful transatlantic radio telephone conversation takes place, between New York City and London. © Copyright 2020 Center for the National Interest All Rights Reserved. [6], On the morning on 8 March, Maj. Herbert Strobel, in charge of the engineers, received conflicting orders. The remaining week was spent in conducting Navy training and maintenance of the boats. Hyde was awarded the Silver Star later in March for his bravery and gallantry under fire on the approach to the bridge. On the night of 23 March, companies E and C of the 17th Armored Engineer Battalion, part of the U.S. 2nd Armored Division, constructed treadway rafts to prepare the crossing of the Rhine about five kilometers south of Wesel. The German General Staff was shocked that Hitler would order the use of the inaccurate weapons on German soil when they would very likely kill German citizens and troops. [127][128] Hyde implemented established rigid traffic patterns to maintain a constant flow of vehicles and troops for more than 15 days. Combat Command B of the 9th Armored was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for capturing the bridge. This was one of the last bridges left spanning the river despite the best efforts of the German to destroy them.

Strobel had ordered Kraft to counterattack which had completely failed. [10] The German commandant at Remagen, Captain Willi Bratge was at first relieved when Scheller announced he was assuming command, but then learned that Scheller had not brought the battalion of reinforcements with him that Botsch had promised to send. On 23 March the long prepared Operation Plunder, commanded by Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, crossed the Rhine in force to the north near Rees and Wesel (North Rhine-Westphalia). [39] If the Germans had mounted an effective counterattack against this small force, they might have prevented the Americans from establishing the bridgehead. Fierce German resistance continued around Bienen, north of Rees, where the entire 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade was needed to relieve the Black Watch. work to create content and resources for the Holocaust Encyclopedia. While this was going on a private led a small group of U.S. infantry­men across the bridge to the east side; they were followed by 120 more men. CBS Radio war correspondent Everett Holles wrote about Timmermann removing the charges in his book, Unconditional Surrender. One week later, another site was opened at Liege with the 297th Engineer Combat Battalion. [110] Historian and author Ken Hechler concluded that "the capture of the Ludendorff Bridge materially hastened the ending of the war". The entire load of traffic, equipment and dead load were supported by the good downstream truss...it buckled completely under a load which of course it was not designed to carry. Then we just sat and waited for others to come. The German divisions on the Rhine's west bank were cut to pieces. This included infantry and armor, howitzers, mortars, floating mines, mined boats, a railroad gun, and the giant 600 mm Karl-Gerät super-heavy mortar.

The east side of the bridge and the town of Erpel was secured overnight by the nine Sherman tanks and the troops of Combat Command B. "[32] In the last week of February, Colonel Charles G. Patterson, the anti-aircraft artillery officer for III Corps, led a meeting for brigade and group commanders during which they discussed what they would do if they were lucky enough to capture a bridge intact. [7] Botsch promised Captain Willi Bratge, the combat commander for the bridge, that he would send a battalion of men to help defend the bridge, but his request was turned down. When the bridge was captured, he escaped out the basement of the tunnel and ran home. [1]:160[111][112] Later on, he commented, "We were across the Rhine, on a permanent bridge; the traditional defensive barrier to the heart of Germany was pierced. Sergeant Joseph DeLisio, Sergeant Michael Chinchar, Sergeant Joseph S. Petrencsik and Sergeant Anthony Samele from Company A also received the DSC. The assault was conducted without prior artillery or air preparation and without any formal plan. One missile struck the 284th Combat Engineers Command Post in Remagen at 12:20 pm, missing the bridge by about 270 meters (890 ft). TTY: 202.488.0406. [42] A Polish worker later said another worker had tampered with the blasting caps, though his claims could not be verified. (German:) Im Gedenken an Major Hans Scheller, Major Herbert Strobel, Major August Kraft, Oberleutnant Karl-Heinz Peters, gekämpft um die Brücke von Remagen, unschuldig zum Tode verurteilt in Rimbach und Oberirsen, standrechtlich erschossen am 13. und 14.3.1945. He regained his senses 15 minutes later and continued towards the tunnel. The towers on the western side of the Rhine have been converted into a memorial museum and are open to the public. The U.S. 30th Infantry Division landed south of Wesel. [121], On the day Scheller and Peters were sentenced, Maj. Herbert Strobel and Maj. August Kraft were summoned to Field Marshal Model's office in Oberirsen,[citation needed] unaware of the charges pending against them.

[34], The explosion blew large holes in the planking covering the rails above the pier, twisted some of the steel supporting girders, and cut a 9.1 meters (30 ft) gap in the truss supporting the southern side of the bridge. This has happened because the responsible leaders have abandoned the bridgehead.

Plans for Operation Plunder had begun in England in August 1944,[25] almost since Operation Market Garden failed. This seemed cold and inhuman, as our buddies were our life. The foot soldiers dodged around discarded equipment, weapons, helmets, and packs. Lt. Timmermann, who had been born in Frankfurt am Main about 160 kilometres (99 mi) from their position, was the first American officer to cross the bridge. On the morning of 7 March, German engineers put down wood planks to allow vehicles to use the bridge. An unintended consequence was that German forces paid less attention to the bridges across the Rhine.

[125][126]:44 1st LT John Hyde of the 9th Military Police Company was Bridge Control Officer. The bridge was also defended by an engineer company of 125 men commanded by Captain Karl Friesenhahn, 180 Hitlerjugend, a Luftwaffe antiaircraft unit of 200 men, 20 men from Company 3./FlakLehruVersAbt 900 (rocket battery), 120 Eastern "volunteers," and roughly 500 civilian Volksturm, totalling about 1000 troops. As a result, the Americans advanced even more rapidly towards the Rhine. By the end of March, all four US armies fighting in western Europe were east of the Rhine. [98] The crews and the bridge were repeatedly struck by artillery, suffering several direct hits that destroyed equipment and killed and wounded troops, and slowing work on the bridge. amzn_assoc_region = "US"; The prisoners were forced to sleep on the ground. Medic! [8][9], On 14 March, German Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler ordered Schutzstaffel (SS) General Hans Kammler to fire V2 rockets to destroy the bridge. The Allies used the bridge for truck and tank traffic, and eight thousand soldiers crossed it during the first 24 hours after capture. Generalleutnant Kurt von Berg, in charge of Combat Area XII North, ordered him to gather every man available and counterattack. —B.C. The first was to prevent German forces defending the west bank of the Rhine River from escaping to the east bank. [citation needed], Model gave Bayerlein 24 hours to come up with a plan. [23], During the two weeks that the valley was flooded, Hitler refused to allow Gerd von Rundstedt, Commander-in-Chief of the Western Front, to withdraw German forces to the east side of the Rhine. Late on March 23, two British and two US divisions (from the US Ninth Army) began to cross the river near Wesel. On March 22, 1945, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.’s U.S. Third Army made a surprise hasty crossing of the German Rhine River in the vicinity of Oppenheim at the village of Nierstein. It was obvious why we could not clog the traffic. In this photo taken four hours before the bridge col­lapsed with­out warning on the after­noon of March 17, combat engi­neers are busy repairing steel supports beneath the road surface.

[7][34][111][113] General Omar N. Bradley praised the capture of the bridge. When they finally engaged the American armor around Herborn, Jagdtigers began to attack U.S. tanks at long range and claimed it destroyed 30 U.S. tanks, but no strategic victory was gained. Peters was a passerby trying to get his experimental anti-aircraft system back across the Rhine. [3], Bayerlein could not muster the forces at his disposal into an effective counterattack. Peters, commanding Group 3./FlakLehruVersAbt 900 (a rocket battery of "3rd Anti-Aircraft Training and Testing Division"), was in charge of the new, top secret Henschel Hs 297 rocket launcher system. The town was rebuilt each time. In March 1945 about 5,000 people lived in the small resort town. [42] After capturing Limburg, the 9th Armored Division's Combat Command B covered 108 kilometers (67 mi) in one day during the drive to the north, and Combat Command A advanced 110 kilometers (68 mi) in 11 hours. The Germans relied for local defense on Volksturm, citizens who were conscripted close to their homes in the belief that they would defend their towns and villages. To the southeast, the 60th Infantry Regiment advanced, and in the south, Combat Command B, 9th Armored Division, moved forward south of Linz. Despite heavy resistance to the airdrops and afterward, the airborne troops made progress and repelled counterattacks. Once it was captured, the German troops began desperate efforts to damage it or slow the Allies’ use of it. [1], On 14 March Hitler ordered SS General Hans Kammler to attack the bridge with V2 ballistic missiles. Some German and American military authorities agreed that capturing the bridge shortened the war, although one German general disputed this.

The troops and tanks arrived at about the same time and advanced quickly through Remagen against light resistance.

Among the naval participants was Seaman First Class Richard Michael Birkler, U.S. [64], The 47th Infantry Regiment, which was the first to cross the Rhine on 8 March, bore the brunt of the aggressive German counterattack. In an indication of their dire military situation, Hermann Göring initially sought volunteers from among Messerschmitt 262A pilots for suicide missions to attack the bridge, but the aircraft's bomb targeting sight prevented their use in this way.

[130][139] Exhibits include a history of the bridge, a video documentary, information on the bridge's construction, and documentation about more than 200 wars in the region.

On 11 March, the 9th AIB captured Linz and at 7:00 pm, 27 hours after beginning construction, the engineers completed the second bridge, the fastest built floating bridge ever completed by the engineers while under fire.