CHAPTER NINE
Hitler was furious that the Americans had managed to establish a foothold on the east bank of the Rhine, robbing his Armies of the chance to regroup. On 8 March he had recalled Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring, Commander in Chief South (OB SUD) from the Italian front and the following day he replaced Feldmarschall von Rundstedt as Commander in Chief of the West. Kesselring’s orders were simple: eliminate the Remagen bridgehead as soon as possible. Every available infantry and artillery unit was being directed into the Westerwald and the 11th Panzer Division was already approaching the American salient as Kesselring took over his new command.
By first light on 10 March, General Craig’s concerns about the speed the bridgehead was expanding were increasing. Although great advances had been made along the riverbank towards Honnef, it appeared that German resistance was stiffening. Meanwhile, the wooded hills to the northeast and east of the bridge presented few opportunities for exploitation and there concerns that the Germans were preparing to counterattack along the Ohlenberg ridge. Until the high ground overlooking Kretzhaus had been secured, General Craig would be unable to develop the southern tip of the bridgehead. As reinforcements queued up to take their turn to cross the river, the slow expansion of the bridgehead left little room to deploy them. General Craig was finding out for himself why General Bradley’s planners had wanted to avoid crossing the Rhine opposite the difficult terrain of the Westerwald.
Civilians look on as tanks make their way towards Remagen. National Archives 111-SC-202535
The 11th Panzer Division counterattacks Honnef
Although 311th Infantry Regiment had managed to secure the southern half of Honnef, General Craig wanted Colonel Willingham to complete the capture of the town to prevent German forces using it as a base to stage counterattacks. At 08:30 the 1st Battalion renewed house-clearing operations, but once again Lieutenant-Colonel Kennedy’s men found that the
Honnef witnessed bitter street fighting; tanks engage a strongpoint while medics evacuate a wounded GI. National Archives
Germans were determined to hold onto every inch of ground.
The enemy continued to put up a stiff resistance in all sectors. There were no signs of enemy disorganisation or disorder. Every house was fought for and every defence was strongly fortified against our attacks. Enemy fortified positions in the form of metal doors in the enemy held houses, required demolition charges to crack them open.
Fighting continued throughout the day and although Kennedy’s men were making slow progress, during the evening Company C encountered two Tiger tanks. They were the first signs that the 11th Panzer Division had begun to arrive. Although tanks and tank destroyers eventually helped to restore the company’s positions, it was a worrying development. The question was, could Colonel Willingham’s Regiment hold onto the town while fresh reinforcements were brought across the river.
While the 1st Battalion struggled to make headway in Honnef, the 3rd Battalion moved across country to the east to extend the Regiments’ grip on the town. For once, the advance was virtually unopposed and by nightfall, Lieutenant-Colonel Lipscomb’s companies were digging in beyond Mezenberg.
Throughout the 10 March the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 47th Infantry Regiment maintained a defensive position north and east of Bruchhausen. The experience of the previous day had shown General Craig that there was little to gain from advancing in this sector while the Germans could send reinforcements from the Kalenborn area.
The German counterattack at Ohlenberg
The 2nd Battalion of 310th Infantry Regiment had left Heimersheim just after midnight en route for Remagen. The crossing was delayed for a time while engineers struggled to extricate a jeep which had become wedged in a gap in the timber decking. As the GIs waited to cross they watched while shells pounded the area around the bridge, occasionally the boredom was broken when shrapnel hit the steel girders, sending showers of sparks into the night sky. As dawn approached, Colonel Heyes eventually received the all clear from the military police to send his men over the bridge.
They headed east through Kasbach towards Ohlenberg to reinforce the 3rd Battalion of the 47th Infantry Regiment. Although the battalion reached the village in good time as Colonel Heyes briefed his company commanders, the peace was shattered. As the battalion climbed the slopes towards Ohlenberg, a German counterattack had struck the 3/47th Infantry Regiment. Further, as Heyes men assembled, enemy halftracks and infantry suddenly appeared in the midst of their position. There was no time to organise, the battalion would have to fight were they stood. Men scattered to find cover in hedges and ditches, returning fire on anyone who moved. Meanwhile, the machine gun teams set up their weapons where they stood and attempted to provide covering fire. The Battalion mortars did the same, firing indiscriminately in the direction of the German attack.
German armour stumbled on 2/310th Regiment as it assembled in Ohlenberg. National Archives 111-SC-335253
The Battle for Ohlenberg, showing the German breakthrough.
Despite the initial confusion, the Germans were equally as shocked to encounter such fierce opposition. Having swept aside one line of defence they had expected the road down to the river to be clear. Before long they began to retire in disorder. It had been a close call; if the 2/310th Infantry Regiment had arrived minutes later they would have been overrun, leaving the route to the bridge undefended.
310th Infantry Regiment advances onto Minderberg and Meerberg
As the 2/310th Infantry Regiment reorganised, the Regiment’s 3rd Battalion and the 52nd Armored Infantry Battalion prepared to advance up the St Severinsberg valley. General Craig’s plan was capture the twin peaks of Minderberg and Meerberg that overlooked Kretzhaus junction. General Craig is reported to have told his staff officers that they
must expand in that direction to keep this from becoming a second Anzio beachhead.
As long as the two hills remained in German hands, they would continue to launch counterattacks against Ohlenberg, in the hope of reaching the river.
During the afternoon all three battalions advanced slowly towards their objectives along the steep wooded hillsides. 52nd Armoured Infantry Battalion advanced on the left, moving along the valley floor while the 3/310th Infantry Regiment filed along narrow paths through the woods. Although the 52nd did not encounter any troops, the battalion was periodically shelled as it picked its way forward. The 3/310th was not so lucky, snipers and mortars took their toll as the men climbed the hill. Occasionally German aircraft swooped low over the valley strafing the battalion. The advance continued, but casualties began to mount. A single bomb wiped out an entire squad of Company L and ‘friendly’ artillery fire decimated another squad.
While the two battalions threaded their way through the woods towards Meerberg, 2/310th had recovered from the shock of the German counterattack and reorganised ready to advance towards Minderberg. As the GIs made their way up the slope, they grimly counted the bodies left behind by the fierce firefight. However, they had little time to reflect on the fate of their comrades; as the lead squads left the outskirts of Ohlenberg they were subjected to a terrific mortar barrage. All four company commanders cajoled their men forward, yet dozens of men were killed or wounded by shrapnel, and the battalion had to fall back and regroup several times. Eventually Colonel Heyes’ men managed to penetrate the woods north of Ohlenberg and as it grew dark they dug in close to the summit of Mindenberg. The battalion had suffered grievous losses during the day. Captain Hopkins of Company G had been seriously wounded while Company E had lost all but one of their officers.
Meanwhile, the two battalions heading towards the summit of Meerberg were still advancing slowly. 2/310th Infantry Regiment eventually reached its objective after a strenuous five hour march. Company K established a defensive position northeast of Ohlenberg, alongside 3/310th Infantry Regiment. A Panzer IV supported by machine guns blocked the road heading towards Kretzhaus. Although the Battalion had achieved one of its objectives, its position was far from secure. Company I dug in around the summit and tried to establish contact with the 52nd Armored Infantry Battalion to its left. All the time it was subjected to heavy artillery bombardments.
The two companies of the 52nd Armored Infantry Battalion had continued to make slow progress up the St Severinsberg valley but as it grew dark squad leaders found it increasingly difficult to keep their men together in the woods. Lieutenant-Colonel Prince’s report describes what happened next:
The companies moved up on their objective after dark, but due to complete darkness, intermittent artillery concentrations, breakdown in communications and doubt in the minds of the company commanders as to their positions, the troops were brought off the objective and marched back.
291st Engineer Combat Battalion completed the treadway bridge in record time. National Archives 111-SC-204629
That withdrawal left 3/310th Infantry Regiment alone on Hill 448, with their left flank completely exposed. Fortunately, the Germans were completely unaware of the situation. By first light Companies A and B were back in their assembly area. Prince planned to send his men back up the valley, but orders from above cancelled the advance. The St Severinsberg valley offered few opportunities for exploitation, While Company C remained in place blocking the road into Kasbach, Companies A and C withdrew into reserve.
Despite the fact that 310th Infantry Regiment had managed to achieve some of its objectives, it was still a long way from securing Kretzhaus crossroads. As the GIs dug in on the steep slopes the Germans could be heard moving armour towards the junction. The battle for Kretzhaus was going to be a bitter drawn out duel.
The Battle for Dattenberg
At the southern tip of the bridgehead the 1st Battalion of the 310th Infantry Regiment had been ordered to capture Dattenberg on the last remaining ridge overlooking the Ludendorff Bridge. The plan was to attack three companies abreast. Company A would lead the centre of the attack into the heart of the village, while Company B scaled the heights to the northeast. Meanwhile, Company C would advance along the river road with three tanks to establish a roadblock facing Leubsdorf. Once the objectives had been taken tanks could set up roadblocks around Dattenberg.
Company B’s advance north east of the village came under heavy fire from a 20mm AA battery dug in on the high ground. Infantry, armed with machine guns and panzerfausts, supported the battery and they were able to call on an impressive array of mortars and artillery. After suffering heavy casualties Company B withdrew to a safe distance and called for assistance. For the time being the rest of the battalion was fully engaged.
Company A had been able to advance unopposed through the centre of Dattenberg, however, Company C came under fire as soon as it they to move along the riverbank. The Germans were well dug in around a chateau on the slopes overlooking the road. Progress was slow and as 3rd Platoon reached the turn off to Dattenberg, Lieutenant Magura’s tank ran over a mine, killing one of his crew. Men braved sniper fire to probe for further mines and the rest of the platoon gave covering fire to keep men armed with Panzerfausts at bay.
The Battle for Dattenberg.
It appeared that the chateau, a German headquarters and armoury, was the centre of resistance in Dattenberg. While C Company deployed a platoon on the slopes below the building to draw the Germans’ fire, a platoon from Company A approached from the rear and stormed the gates of the building. A few Germans surrendered immediately but the majority sought refuge in the maze of corridors and rooms of the chateau. A nerve racking search followed but eventually 117 prisoners, many of them Waffen SS and paratroopers, were rounded up. The GIs also discovered an impressive arsenal of weapons; seventy-two machine guns and dozens of automatic rifles and machine pistols were found stored in the building. Huge stocks of small arms and ammunition were also uncovered.
Once the chateau had been cleared the infantry on the river road were able to wave Captain Soumas’ tanks on and while two blocked the river road the rest headed up the steep hill into Dattenberg. Two were posted on the southern outskirts of the village, covering the minor road into Leubsdorf; the rest were sent to assist Company B, pinned down north of the village.
A radioman maintains traffic control on Erpel bridge. National Archives 111-SC-411818
As the tanks advanced along the Ronigerhof road, they were joined by a platoon of twelve men and a light machine gun squad for protection. East of the village the task force came under fire and while the tanks engaged in a furious battle with anti-tank guns, the infantry kept the German soldiers at bay. One intrepid German soldier armed with a Panzerfaust managed to creep up close to the tanks and, following a near miss, the infantry fanned out to deal with the future danger of that sort. Eventually, Private Alfredo Lavato managed to locate the German’s position and after creeping close while under fire, he silenced the man with a grenade. The task force continued to push forward and as it approached the anti-aircraft battery, the crew surrendered.
Company B was eventually able to occupy the heights north east of Dattenberg, clearing the last ridge overlooking the Ludendorff Bridge. As they dug in, observers spotted a column of men and transport withdrawing along the valley to the southeast, having escaped from Dattenberg. Due to the fact that they had lost so many comrades earlier that day, the GIs showed no compassion. Opening fire they decimated the column.
1/310th Infantry Regiment had suffered heavy losses during the battle for Dattenberg, sixty men killed and wounded. In return they had captured over 150 prisoners and killed 85. As darkness fell, the last of Captain Soumas’ tanks took up their positions covering the Ronigerhof road; Dattenberg was finally secure.
Work continues on the bridges along the river
While the ground troops expanded the bridgehead to deprive the Germans of the high ground overlooking the bridge, anti-aircraft batteries stationed along the valley were kept busy as the Luftwaffe tried time after time to bomb the bridge. Sixteen raids were made, five planes were shot down and another was damaged. The rest failed to hit the target. As each day passed the number of AA guns in the valley around Remagen was increasing, diminishing the German chances of destroying the Ludendorff Bridge.
Meanwhile, work on the treadway bridge at Erpel, was being delayed by the build up of traffic in the Remagen area. During the afternoon General Millikin visited Colonel Lyons to discuss the progress of the crossings and after hearing about the delays, instructed his staff to make sure the lorries carrying bridging equipment were given priority. 291st Engineer Battalion eventually completed the 1032 feet long treadway bridge at 23:00, ready to open for traffic at first light. It was estimated that it had taken over 11,000 man hours to build what would become the longest tactical bridge of the war.
General Millikin gave lorries carrying pontoons priority on the roads leading to Remagen. National Archives 111-SC-203733
The start of the pontoon bridge at Linz had also been delayed. Although 1159th Engineer Combat Group had expected to start work at dusk on 9 March, the first pontoons did not start to arrive until the following afternoon. 181st and 552nd Engineer Heavy Pontoon Battalions worked throughout, floating pontoons out into the river while the 51st Combat Engineer Battalion positioned pneumatic floats to stabilise the bridge.
By now the majority of the hills overlooking the crossing were in American hands, reducing the threat from German artillery. It meant that Lieutenant-Colonel Harvey Fraser’s men were able to work steadily throughout the night without interference.