The capture of the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen in March 1945 was one of those unplanned events in history, the consequences of which far outweigh the effort expended. Casualties were a fraction of other important engagements, and the number of men involved in the initial crossing only amounted to a few dozen. Yet the news that an intact bridge over the Rhine had been captured rocked the Western World. In America the event was considered to be so important that the meeting in progress at the US Senate was halted to announce the news. Many books have been written about the crossing of the bridge, and in 1969 Wolper Pictures Limited produced an action packed film based on the events at Remagen. This book is not about Hollywood, it is an attempt to describe the events leading up to the capture of the bridge and the fierce fighting that followed on the east bank of the Rhine, an aspect that has been overlooked in previous accounts. Crossing the bridge at Remagen was only the start of the battle and many GIs memories of Rhineland focus on the battle for the Westerwald. Hopefully, the balance is right.
A number of people have helped me write this book, and my research would have been incomplete without their assistance. All the staff at the US National Archives in Washington DC, made me feel extremely welcome and helped to make my visit to the USA both fruitful and memorable. There are, however, a handful of people who took me under their wing and deserve a special mention. In particular I would like to thank David Giodarno, who initially gave me a guided tour through the printed documents archives and continued to keep an eye on my progress, giving useful tips as the days passed; his assistance was invaluable. Beth Lipford’s ongoing guidance as I worked through the indexing system to order documents meant that I received the material I wanted in good time. Meanwhile, Tom McAnear worked hard to locate and copy the maps I required in the cartography room. Holly Reed in the photographic department also made sure that I obtained the photographs I needed. As my departure date drew near, everyone worked hard to make sure that I collected the material I required; customer service is certainly uppermost in the minds of the staff at the NARA.
Kurt Kleemann, curator of the Brücke von Remagen (Bridge at Remagen) museum has been particularly helpful. During our long meeting at his office, I was able to discuss many of the myths that surround the capture of the bridge. A second opinion from someone who has studied the events at Remagen for years proved invaluable, dispelling a number of doubts I had concerning the events on 7 March 1945. I would also like to thank Herr Kleemann for giving me permission to use a number of photographs from the museum’s collection, depicting German subjects. They have helped to give the book the balance I wanted.
Following the capture of the bridge the Germans attempted to bring it down by various means – here an artillery shell explodes in the Rhine.
Although I never knew them and probably never shall, I will always have a high regard for the men who kept the Army records in March 1945. Their unit diaries, signal records, after-action reports and interviews have formed the basis for my research. The records were put together under difficult circumstances and one particular report, the signal records for the 14th Tank Battalion, brought it home to me that these reports were taken in real time. Line after line of messages fill the pages, each one timed and referenced; an invaluable aid to the historian wishing to track the events as they unfold. Yet the thing that struck me was that the handwriting was shaky; this man was on the move as he made his notes, sat at the side of his officer as their Jeep drives towards Remagen. Only on this day he will record the capture of a bridge that will be front page news across the world and later be described by Eisenhower as ‘worth its weight in gold’. Without records like these it would have been impossible to write this book.
As my own son Alex approaches his teenage years and watches world events unfold on the television, I am reminded that young men are still going to war, leaving their families and loved ones behind. They have the same hopes and fears as those soldiers at Remagen in March 1945; let us never forget that.