Post by OnlyMark on Dec 27, 2020 16:10:11 GMT 2
The title is a little misleading in that it wasn’t me going to Berlin, it was the Allied forces in WWII.
Throughout the war there were innumerable examples of important moments. There were the turning the tide moments, the pivotal moments, the moments that if such and such hadn’t happened the end result may well have been different, or delayed at best.
One such is here, the subject of the report.
Remagen, specifically the Ludendorff Bridge.
The Allies landed in France on the 6th June 1944. By March 1945 they were approaching a major obstacle, the Rhine river. Numerous bridges spanned the river, 22 road and 25 rail, but by the beginning of March, only four were left.
This is partially due to the Allied bombing raids trying to destroy them to prevent reinforcements arriving from the east plus the German forces subsequently blowing them up to prevent the Allies crossing over.
The four were from north to south, in Cologne, Bonn, Remagen and Urmitz (north of Koblenz).
On the 6th March the one at Cologne was destroyed by the German forces, Bonn on the 8th and Urmitz on the 9th.
But - on the 7th March 1945 at 12.56, reconnaissance troops of the U.S. Army's 9th Armoured Division reached a point overlooking Remagen and were surprised to find the bridge intact.
They saw retreating German vehicles and forces filling Remagen's streets, all heading over the bridge, which was full of soldiers, civilians, vehicles and even livestock.
The details of the ensuing battle are comprehensive and far too lengthy to write it all down here.
Suffice to say the Wiki links are long and gives a good picture of the events -
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Remagen
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludendorff_Bridge
The bridge was 400m long, constructed of steel, named after a German WWI General who had pushed for a bridge at this location to be built and started in 1916 using Russian prisoners of war.
Each end are stone towers built in such a way that they could accommodate a Battalion of troops. It carried both rail and road traffic.
By late afternoon on the same day the bridge was taken. Due to ineffective demolition charges and confusion, the Germans had tried to blow the structure but failed.
Ten days later, “after months of aircraft bombing, direct artillery hits, near misses, and deliberate demolition attempts, the Ludendorff Bridge finally collapsed on 17 March at about 3:00 pm (killing twenty eight). From its capture 10 days before, over 25,000 troops and thousands of vehicles had crossed the bridge and the other two newly built tactical bridges.”
Time for some photos.
On walking towards the town the sun was as usual on the other side. I’d waited for a spell of fine weather that always just happens mid-afternoon when the side I want to be is in shadow.
Nice for the other side -
Dotted on the frontage to the river are old photos. You can just make out the bridge in the background -
This is the view nearby today. In the far distance on the other side of the river just after the houses is the east bank tower -
The same towers closer up -
These are the west bank ones -
There are a series of plaques attached to them -
All that is left of the steel structure -
More information -
Working my way behind the towers, some of the stone approaches remain -
A modern map of the town but notice the red, green and blue lines to the left labelled A4, A3, A2 and A5. These detail circular walks ranging from 5km to 13km in the surroundings. Certainly if I’m here again I’ll see about doing a couple of them -
Not far from the river is a cemetery. The first part is dedicated to those from WWI -
Then, attached to a wall are these. Lists of local soldiers who lost their life in WWII, plus, ‘An Den Kriegsfolgen Starben - died in the aftermath of the war, ‘Vermisst Blieben’ - still missing and ‘Bei Bombenangriffen kamen Ums Leben’ - people who died in bombing raids -
It’s all a quiet place now -
Throughout the war there were innumerable examples of important moments. There were the turning the tide moments, the pivotal moments, the moments that if such and such hadn’t happened the end result may well have been different, or delayed at best.
One such is here, the subject of the report.
Remagen, specifically the Ludendorff Bridge.
The Allies landed in France on the 6th June 1944. By March 1945 they were approaching a major obstacle, the Rhine river. Numerous bridges spanned the river, 22 road and 25 rail, but by the beginning of March, only four were left.
This is partially due to the Allied bombing raids trying to destroy them to prevent reinforcements arriving from the east plus the German forces subsequently blowing them up to prevent the Allies crossing over.
The four were from north to south, in Cologne, Bonn, Remagen and Urmitz (north of Koblenz).
On the 6th March the one at Cologne was destroyed by the German forces, Bonn on the 8th and Urmitz on the 9th.
But - on the 7th March 1945 at 12.56, reconnaissance troops of the U.S. Army's 9th Armoured Division reached a point overlooking Remagen and were surprised to find the bridge intact.
They saw retreating German vehicles and forces filling Remagen's streets, all heading over the bridge, which was full of soldiers, civilians, vehicles and even livestock.
The details of the ensuing battle are comprehensive and far too lengthy to write it all down here.
Suffice to say the Wiki links are long and gives a good picture of the events -
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Remagen
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludendorff_Bridge
The bridge was 400m long, constructed of steel, named after a German WWI General who had pushed for a bridge at this location to be built and started in 1916 using Russian prisoners of war.
Each end are stone towers built in such a way that they could accommodate a Battalion of troops. It carried both rail and road traffic.
By late afternoon on the same day the bridge was taken. Due to ineffective demolition charges and confusion, the Germans had tried to blow the structure but failed.
Ten days later, “after months of aircraft bombing, direct artillery hits, near misses, and deliberate demolition attempts, the Ludendorff Bridge finally collapsed on 17 March at about 3:00 pm (killing twenty eight). From its capture 10 days before, over 25,000 troops and thousands of vehicles had crossed the bridge and the other two newly built tactical bridges.”
Time for some photos.
On walking towards the town the sun was as usual on the other side. I’d waited for a spell of fine weather that always just happens mid-afternoon when the side I want to be is in shadow.
Nice for the other side -
Dotted on the frontage to the river are old photos. You can just make out the bridge in the background -
This is the view nearby today. In the far distance on the other side of the river just after the houses is the east bank tower -
The same towers closer up -
These are the west bank ones -
There are a series of plaques attached to them -
All that is left of the steel structure -
More information -
Working my way behind the towers, some of the stone approaches remain -
A modern map of the town but notice the red, green and blue lines to the left labelled A4, A3, A2 and A5. These detail circular walks ranging from 5km to 13km in the surroundings. Certainly if I’m here again I’ll see about doing a couple of them -
Not far from the river is a cemetery. The first part is dedicated to those from WWI -
Then, attached to a wall are these. Lists of local soldiers who lost their life in WWII, plus, ‘An Den Kriegsfolgen Starben - died in the aftermath of the war, ‘Vermisst Blieben’ - still missing and ‘Bei Bombenangriffen kamen Ums Leben’ - people who died in bombing raids -
It’s all a quiet place now -
