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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.
Their only escape route was across the Ludendorff bridge. Written permission was required to destroy the bridge because on 14–15 October 1944, an American bomb had struck the Mulheim Bridge in Cologne and hit the chamber containing the demolition charges, prematurely destroying the bridge. Hitler was angered by this incident and ordered those ...
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
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 Ludendorff Bridge, which for the next few days became the most famous structure on earth, loomed above. A shell struck the bridge's steel girders as the men approached the heavily bombed structure, sending countless sparks into the night sky. [39] [38] "Tally-Ho" Newspaper page 1
U.S. Army Sgt. James Hellard, who returned from Germany August 31, 1946 posed for an action photo with his adopted Nazi-trained war dog, Tiger, at his home in Lexington.
After clearing towns west of the Rhine, it crossed the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen on the 11th. The 99th Infantry Division was the first complete division to cross the Rhine. [14] They continued to Linz am Rhein and to the Wied River. Crossing on the 23d, it pushed east on the Koln-Frankfurt highway to Giessen.