Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
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The Bridge of Remagen
The badly damaged Ludendorff Bridge...
...over the Rhine near Remagen collapses on Saturday, March 17, 1945 due to the constant overload and into the river!
32 American pioneers are killed!
The - at that time still completely undamaged - bridge had been ten days earlier by a surprise attack by a small advance guard of the 9th US Armored Division led by the 22-year-old German-born Second Lieutenant Karl H. Timmermann...
...was taken...:
Allied Commander-in-Chief General Dwight Eisenhower immediately recognized the value of the bridge and exclaimed, "It's worth its weight in gold!"
The 12th US Army under General Omar Bradley was immediately ordered to bring everything that could be crossed the Rhine to the bridge as quickly as possible and form a bridgehead on the other bank.
The following picture shows Eisenhower with General George Patton at the bridge to see for yourself...:
In the ten days leading up to the collapse, the USA were able to get 17 fully armored regiments with tanks and artillery across the bridge...:
Desperate attempts at explosives by the Germans failed, Major Hans Scheller responsible for this (here on his last vacation together with his daughter)...
...was shot by martial law on Hitler's personal orders!
Between March 8th and 9th, 1945, the Nazi Wehrmacht fired about 3000 shells at the bridge, but did not hit it once!
On March 10, 1945, a German counterattack by the LXVII failed. Army Corps, but was too weak to be successful.
The German army command then used everything they still had to destroy the bridge - from combat swimmers to the ultra-modern jet bomber "Arado 234"...
... with the heaviest bombs (this 1000-kilo dud is now on display in the museum on the former bridge)...
... up to V 2 rockets!
All in vain!
On March 12, 1945, at the height of the air battle, the Americans shot down 26 aircraft and damaged nine more out of a total of 91 attacking aircraft.
The German giant mortar "Karl" (caliber 540 mm), which was specially brought within range, also missed its target and had to stop firing after a short time due to technical problems...:
The bridge was not hit once - however, explosive fragments and the blast pressure of close-range hits severely damaged the structure!
Shortly before the collapse, the bridge, which was already shaking dangerously, was closed to all US units!
They were no longer needed!
The units brought over are sufficient to secure the beachhead - and in the meantime US engineers have also built four pontoon bridges across the river, which US supplies and reinforcements are now rolling over.
Nevertheless, four hours before the collapse, the army sends engineers to the structure to stabilize the bridge. The next photo was taken just a few hours before the collapse. Among the soldiers pictured are those 32 who will not survive the collapse...:
The bridge was never rebuilt - only its pillars are still standing today and house a museum...:
Lieutenant Timmermann and the twelve soldiers with whom he took the bridge were all awarded the "Distinguished Service Cross"...:
The badly damaged Ludendorff Bridge...

...over the Rhine near Remagen collapses on Saturday, March 17, 1945 due to the constant overload and into the river!

32 American pioneers are killed!
The - at that time still completely undamaged - bridge had been ten days earlier by a surprise attack by a small advance guard of the 9th US Armored Division led by the 22-year-old German-born Second Lieutenant Karl H. Timmermann...

...was taken...:

Allied Commander-in-Chief General Dwight Eisenhower immediately recognized the value of the bridge and exclaimed, "It's worth its weight in gold!"
The 12th US Army under General Omar Bradley was immediately ordered to bring everything that could be crossed the Rhine to the bridge as quickly as possible and form a bridgehead on the other bank.
The following picture shows Eisenhower with General George Patton at the bridge to see for yourself...:

In the ten days leading up to the collapse, the USA were able to get 17 fully armored regiments with tanks and artillery across the bridge...:

Desperate attempts at explosives by the Germans failed, Major Hans Scheller responsible for this (here on his last vacation together with his daughter)...

...was shot by martial law on Hitler's personal orders!
Between March 8th and 9th, 1945, the Nazi Wehrmacht fired about 3000 shells at the bridge, but did not hit it once!
On March 10, 1945, a German counterattack by the LXVII failed. Army Corps, but was too weak to be successful.
The German army command then used everything they still had to destroy the bridge - from combat swimmers to the ultra-modern jet bomber "Arado 234"...


... with the heaviest bombs (this 1000-kilo dud is now on display in the museum on the former bridge)...

... up to V 2 rockets!
All in vain!
On March 12, 1945, at the height of the air battle, the Americans shot down 26 aircraft and damaged nine more out of a total of 91 attacking aircraft.
The German giant mortar "Karl" (caliber 540 mm), which was specially brought within range, also missed its target and had to stop firing after a short time due to technical problems...:

The bridge was not hit once - however, explosive fragments and the blast pressure of close-range hits severely damaged the structure!
Shortly before the collapse, the bridge, which was already shaking dangerously, was closed to all US units!
They were no longer needed!
The units brought over are sufficient to secure the beachhead - and in the meantime US engineers have also built four pontoon bridges across the river, which US supplies and reinforcements are now rolling over.
Nevertheless, four hours before the collapse, the army sends engineers to the structure to stabilize the bridge. The next photo was taken just a few hours before the collapse. Among the soldiers pictured are those 32 who will not survive the collapse...:

The bridge was never rebuilt - only its pillars are still standing today and house a museum...:




Lieutenant Timmermann and the twelve soldiers with whom he took the bridge were all awarded the "Distinguished Service Cross"...:
