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The Ludendorff Bridge (sometimes referred to as the Bridge at Remagen) was a bridge across the river Rhine in Germany which was captured by United States Army forces in early March 1945 during the Battle of Remagen, in the closing weeks of World War II, when it was one of the few remaining bridges in the region and therefore a critical strategic point.
By the time the bridge collapsed 10 days later, more than 25,000 Allied troops had crossed the Ludendorff Bridge and three tactical bridges in the area above and below Remagen had been built. By then the Remagen bridgehead was 8 miles (13 km) deep and 25 miles (40 km) wide, including 11 kilometers (6.8 mi) of the vital Ruhr-Frankfurt autobahn.
A large number of books and articles in newspapers and magazines on the battle for the bridge have been published. The best-known work on the battle is 1957's The Bridge at Remagen by the American author Ken Hechler. [8] In 1968 David L. Wolper produced an American motion picture, The Bridge at Remagen. The film depicts historical events, but ...
One unexpected outcome was the capture of the Ludendorff bridge, a strategic railroad bridge across the Rhine, in the Battle of Remagen. Despite German attempts to destroy the bridge, Allied forces captured it intact and were able to use it along with pontoon and treadway bridges to establish a bridgehead. The bridge finally collapsed at 3:00 ...
After D-Day in June 1944, the Allies began pushing east toward Germany.In March 1945, the Allies crossed the River Rhine.South of the Ruhr, the U.S. 12th Army Group (General Omar Nelson Bradley) pursued the disintegrating German armies and captured the Ludendorff Bridge across the Rhine at Remagen with the 9th Armored Division (U.S.
The battalion led the construction of the first pontoon bridge across the Rhine at Remagen to take traffic pressure off the severely damaged Ludendorff Bridge before its tragic collapse. The span made a material contribution in facilitating the U.S. Army's drive into central Germany. [1]: 267–287
The superb skill, daring and esprit de corps displayed by each officer and man of Combat Command B, 9th Armored Division, in the dash to the Rhine, the capture of the Ludendorff Bridge, and the successful exploitation of this first bridgehead across Germany's formidable river barrier made an outstanding contribution to the defeat of the enemy.
When American forces approached the small town of Remagen, they were surprised to find the Ludendorff Bridge still intact — the Germans had wired it with explosives, but a large number had not ignited. The Americans quickly overwhelmed the local garrison and captured the bridge, then moved six divisions over the bridge in ten days as the ...